Heavy Heart

With a heavy heart, I ask for your prayers for the Loux Family (http://louxfamilyblog.com/). Husband and father, Derek Loux was involved in a fatal car accident. He and his wife, Renee, have 10 children, 8 of whom are adopted. Though I did not know Derek, I do know that he was a lover of God and a champion for the orphan. He and his wife were involved in the International House of Prayer, and also started the the Josiah Fund (www.josiahfund.org), in an effort to bring life and prayer to orphans with special needs.

May God raise up many more champions in the faith, such as Derek Loux, who will pray (day and night) for justice and abundant life for the 143 million orphans of this world.

Wordless Wednesday (sweet sister hugs)

Oh my Lily-girl!

I tell you what...this sweet girl just gets to me. She is one complex little creature...full of true affection, love and boldness, with just a touch of spice. In the picture above, she had just finished singing a solo for the homeschool program. As I watched her up on that stage, with her beautiful voice, radiating the sort of true confidence that comes from within, tears welled up in my eyes. I thought of Lily's birthmother and wished that I could meet the sort of woman who would give birth to such a child! I thought of the loss that this world would experience if Lily were not in it. I thought of the great wonder and gifts that I would have missed out on if this Lily were not my daughter. I thought of the many other "Lilys" who will spend their lives in an orphanage...in a place where they will not receive love, without a chance to learn to love others boldly in this world.

The concert was almost a month ago, but I just can't get it out of my mind.

This sweet girl just gets to me...

On Christmas day, my Lily-girl gave me this card.

Oh, Lil! You just get to me...

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Just lovin' my girl!

Jesus

Doesn't His name just take your breath away? I find it absolutely incredible that The Altogether Lovely One chose to come down to earth to live among His people. Sometimes His goodness hits me so hard that I'm ruined for the day. It's one of those days...thank you Jesus.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A sweet day

The Lord has been speaking to me about so many things lately--His Kingdom, His Church, relationships, love, money, orphans...the list could go on and on. I'm hoping to to get a chance to share some of it sometime in the next couple of days, because He is so good and I want to see Him glorified more!

But, since my time is short today (!), I just want to share a quick post about the sweet day that we had yesterday.

In the morning, David and the boys joined some other boys from our church to help clean up the yard of a single mom, who takes care of her grandmother. They had such a great time helping out this lady, and can't wait until they have another opportunity to do it again!

Since I had the camera, and was spending a morning of leisure (while the boys worked!) with the girls, I didn't get any pictures of the boys. But, I did get some pictures of the girls and my craft day. We had such a fun time making snowmen and snowflakes.

Didn't they turn out cute?

After David and the boys got home, I took Lily out for a date. We had such a nice time. We ate a late lunch together, talked, and Lily got some Christmas shopping done.

I took Lily to her friend's house, because they were celebrating her birthday. Don't these two look alike??! Well, they are alike--in so many ways. They have such a fun time together--they are two peas in a pod.

After dinner, the rest of us enjoyed reading the next chapter of Jotham's Journey. We love reading this book during Advent. I'd highly recommend it.

Hmmm...like a pile of cute little puppies!

Thank you, Lord, for such a lovely day--a precious gift from a loving Father.

Love is...

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres. Love never fails." I Corinthians 13

14 years ago, in the midst of a Minnesota snowstorm, I married the kindest, humblest, most patient man that I know.

I love you, sweetheart. Thank you for making these past 14 years a joy and a pleasure. You are a gift to me every day.

Thankful Thursday

On Thanksgiving, David started a dinnertime topic of conversation: "What is one of the most loving things that someone has ever done for you?"

Lily immediately responded: "You and Mom adopted me!"

Oh my Lily-girl, you are such a gift to us! What would we ever do without you?!

Don't let that cute, innocent face fool ya!

Jadon went to the dentist today. He has an incredible dentist. This dentist loves kids. He always jokes around with Jadon and makes him feel at ease. I don't go back into the office with Jadon, but I can see him through a glass window.

Today, I saw him giggling a lot...

After Jadon's appointment the dental technician called me back to talk about Jadon's teeth. She handed me the little bag that had his new toothbrush, floss and a toy in it. She also handed me some play money.

"Jadon won some extra money today," she mentioned.

"Oh...?"

"Dr. Greg was telling the kids that he'd give them $100 (play) dollars if they would tell him a secret. Jadon said, 'I have a secret! I have a secret!"

"Hmmm...what was his secret?"

"Well, he said that he blew his nose with his underwear today. The other kids all thought that it was hilarious!"

Yup. You read that right...my son blew his nose with his underwear. And yup...he told the whole dentist's office about it.

I hope that it was a clean pair of underwear...

Through different eyes...

We had such a nice time with my parents visiting us in Colorado. On the second night after they arrived, we were sitting at the table after dinner. Suddenly, Yana exclaimed, "Grandpa! You are so cute. Mom, take a picture!"

Yana and my dad have always had a special relationship. He appreciatiates her servant spirit, and she appreciates being appreciated! I had never really thought of my dad as "cute" but obviously Yana has the eyes to see something that I could not see.

Thank you, Yana, for helping me to see my dad through different eyes. What do you think? He really is cute, isn't he?!