princes and princesses...

Psalm 72 is quite possibly my favorite chapter of the Bible (although, it's a little hard to pick just one favorite chapter). 

In the psalm, David is instructing Solomon regarding what it means to be a Righteous King.  Of course, the psalm is ultimately about the King who is above all Kings!

Verses 12-14 give us an incredible picture of how the King of the Ages cares for those who are needy:

For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who has no helper.  He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save.  He will rescue their life from oppression and violence; and their blood will be preciou in his sight.

Last year, at this time, the Lord began emphasizing to me that I am His daughter.  And, as His daughter, I can carry out works of mercy on His behalf.  Just think of it!  The King of the Universe invites me (and you) to be His hands and feet to this hurting world.  We are His princes and princesses.  We can love on His behalf.

There are so many who are responding to the call of our King to reach out to those who are suffering--to rescue precious lives from oppression and violence.  It is beautiful to me that our King invites us to help in all sorts of different ways.

There are three families on my heart at the moment.  Each of these families is stepping forward to adopt not one, but two children.  All of them have seen the Lord provide in His great goodness, and are eager to see how God will provide the rest.  Can you (as a daughter or son of the King of Kings) offer help on your Father's behalf?

Family #1

I've known about Isaiah and Ruth for almost a year now, and I am so very grateful to the Lord that this family has stepped forward to adopt these beautiful children.  ohhh...they are going to have so much fun!!

Check out the giveaway that they are holding on their blog right now.

Family #2

Oh my goodness!  Look at these two cuties!

They're joining a wonderful, big 'ol family!  What a blast they will have!

Check out the cool auction that they are having right now, as well.

Family #3

This family will be going to get these two darlin's very soon!  Don't you just want to squeeze them?!  God has provided for this family throughout the whole adoption process.  Just a little more to go...

Small amounts can really add up and any donation is encouraging to a family who is fundraising for their sweet children.  But, even if you aren't able to give financially to these beautiful families, you can definitely pray for them!  They would be so encouraged to know that many people are lifting up their children and families in prayer.  What an honor it is to serve our precious King in this way!

Looking for a fun family game?

I'm always looking for games that can span the ages in our home.  So, when our neighbor, Lindsay, gave Lily this game for Christmas, I was eager to see how the kids would like it.  It's called 100 Dumb (we say "silly" instead, since we don't like that other word) Things You Have to Do While Playing This Game.

 .

Honestly, it's been the best game.  Everyone LOVES it, and it's great for family time.

We laugh the whole time.

Have fun!

so grateful...

I am so grateful, today, for a church family who:

-love our Lord and seek after Him with their whole hearts.

-are committed to love one another, even when it is difficult.

-prize unity (Ephesians 4) and humility.
(As a side note, I'm also grateful for the book of Ephesians,
where I've been stuck for the past couple of months and am lovin' it!)
 -will speak the truth, but always in love.

-submit to one another, in love.

-offer lavish forgiveness and grace.
-truly love those who aren't always so loveable.

Thank you, Jesus, for this place!

finally...

So, I'm finally going to post a bit about my trip to MN!
It was such a last-minute decision to go and God really worked out all of the details.
I'm so glad that we were able to do it.

Here's a photo of the two main reasons for my trip...

Love this photo!

It was my mom's 70th birthday,

so we had to celebrate!

Also, my dad was recovering from hip surgery (one of many surgeries that he's had in the past few years), so Adam and I wanted to see what we could do to help.  Turns out, the best help is often just a little company.  I had some great conversations with my dad.  Please pray for his health and for his heart...he is softening as he grows older.

It was so fun to be with Adam.  He is just such a joy!

(I'm wanting to plan a special trip with each of my children...a special time just for them.)

We spent Saturday decorating for my mom's party.

Hannah and Jonathan (my parent's neighbor's children) helped.

The boys decorated this room completely on their own...I love, love, love it...it says 12-year-old boy all the way, doesn't it?  Very fun!

My sister, Angela, planned the menu.  She's an incredible cook (more about that in a later post).  

Here's my mom, stuffing peppers.

My mom, me and my sister, Angela.

I love you, Adam!

My mom's friend brought the crown!

The decorators.

Couldn't believe that my dad agreed to the party hat.

Way to get into the spirit of things, dad!

Some of my mom's friends.

My grand-niece (Sarah), my brother, Phil and his wife, Annette, and my parent's neighbors, Ronnie and Terri.

My parents really have incredible neighbors.

Terri has shoveled my parents snow, done minor fix-ups and is always so very kind.

Ronnie has been their neighbor since I was a kid...always so fun to see him.

Lighting the candles.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I love you so much and was so glad that we could be there to celebrate with you.

a lot going on (2)...

Whew!  It's been quite a week.

These three cuties have been really sick, but things are looking up today (hooray!).

They've gone from laying on their beds, 104 fevers, and small sips of gatorade,

to eating popsicles, playing UNO, a good night's sleep last night, doing a little bit of schoolwork and smiling.

Thank you, Jesus!

(And thank you, Uncle Kirk, for coming over to pray for us!)

Our dishwasher broke a couple of weeks ago and we've been working hard at keeping up with seven people's dishes (getting all of those germs off in hot water!).  Such a silly little thing.  Really not improtant at all, but it takes up time I'd rather spend with my sweet kiddos (also, three of them can't help with the dishes at the moment at all!).

Makes me really grateful for all of the conveniences we have in the U.S.

Maple, our dog, got spayed last Wednesday.  The vet said no running or jumping for seven days.  uhhh...okay.  She hasn't liked it too much and she's been letting us know (think lots of whining).  So today (day 5), we decided that we'd need to just let this one go...trusting God that her stitches won't come out.  Maple is running free today!  hehe

Friends, I am so very grateful to you for your prayers for the situation that I mentioned in my last post.  Your comments and prayers are such a wonderful encouragement!  I'll be honest, it has been really hard.  But, our God is so very faithful!  Please keep praying in faith...pray that our Lord would be glorified in this situation.  We love Jesus so much and want to love this friend with same sort of selfless love that God has shown to us.  The Lord reminded me on Friday that the best thing that I can do is spend time with Him..to trust myself and the situation completely to Him:

Never miss these times.  It is not what I reveal to you so much as the linking up of your frail natures with the limitless Divine One.  Already forces are set in motion.  Only My Will is coming to pass.  And now God is blessing you very richly.

You think that there is much to do in a crisis like this.  There is only one thing to do.  Link your lives on to the Divine One, and then, it is as much My work to see those lives and their affairs run in an orderly right manner as to see that tomorrow's sun rises.

It is not passionate appeal that gains the Divine Ear so much as the quiet placing of the difficulty and worry in the Divine Hands. So trust and be no more afraid than a child would be, who places its tangled skein of wool in the hands of a loving mother, and runs out to play, pleasing the mother more by its unquestioning confidence than if it went down on its knees and implored her help, which would pain her the rather, as it would imply she was not eager to help when help was needed.

God Calling, February 18

Still planning on writing about my trip to MN...hopefully soon!

a lot going on...

Hey friends, I would so appreciate your prayers.  There is a situation going on with a friend for which we really need the Lord's intervention.  I can't share any details, but I can say that it's a fairly heavy situation and also that David and I are pretty worn out.  We so want our precious Jesus to be glorified!

Thanks so much,

two (make that three!) special valentines

This afternoon, I found a package tucked away in my prayer bag (it had arrived while I was in MN).
It came from Jennifer and contained this beautiful cross (that her wonderful hubby made!),
as well as Valentines for all of my kiddos.
How sweet is that?!

Got this special Valentine in my inbox on Monday morning,

and I have to say

I love it!

Isn't she sweet?!

And then since I was far away, in the frozen north, and my hubby was back in CO,

this beautiful bouquet arrived at the door.

Such a wonderful guy.

love, love love him!

Hope you had a special Valentine's day, as well.

it wasn't even planned...

well, except maybe by God

While on my trip to Minnesota (more on that soon), my sister, Angela, and I visited the church that she has been going to.

What do you think the pastor's sermon was about?

adoption

yes. very cool.

The pastor was talking about Ephesians 1 and how we are adopted into the family of God.

Don't you just love that?

He adopted us as His very own.

very. very. cool.

The pastor said that he had never thought that much about adoption before, but that he couldn't stop thinking about/reading about/even dreaming about adoption for the past couple of weeks.  He said that his wife had asked him (with some surprise), "Are we going to adopt?" 

"I don't think so," he answered (somewhat unconvincingly).

Well, okay, so unconvicingly that my sister and I went to talk with the pastor afterwards and I told him, "Maybe you are supposed to adopt.  There are 163 million orphans in the world.  What about an older child?"

So....we'll see what God does.

Something good, I'm sure.

Oh, and by the way, my sister Angela is adopted.

very. very. cool

adoption

it's a good thing

Ordinary Hero Valentine Vote

Kelly, over at Ordinary Hero, is holding a kid's T-shirt design contest.  What a great way for kids to think about orphans and how they can "Change the World for One".  There are some great designs, so go and check them out and vote for your favorite.  Voting is today only.

Here's Lily with her T-shrit design.

I'll be updating about my trip soon :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

little journey

Adam and I are on a little trip...will update soon.

Our Jadon

  Eight years ago today, Jadon XiaoWei joined our family!

 

And to think--

we almost missed him!

You see, we had asked to be matched with a waiting child.

Our parameters were pretty wide.
But they did not include a child just six months younger than Lily.

So, when we heard about a little 19 month old boy

whom the CCAA wanted to match with our family,

we were pretty tentative.

We asked for the weekend to think about it.

We didn't even look at his picture.

On Monday,

the CCAA gave us another referral.

This little boy was 9 months old.

We talked to the waiting child coordinator at our adoption agency and she said that she would email both files.

After getting off the phone with the coordinator, David and I decided that we would not even look at the older boy's file.

So, we went to the computer and opened up the 9 month old boy's file.

or so we thought

And there was the sweetest, most soulful looking face...

sad, longing eyes.

A little boy who needed a family.

God led us to our little boy.

And we were in love.

Four months later we were holding our little treasure in our arms.

Eight years later, our little treasure still has that soulful look at times.

But, ususally, it goes along with a silly smile.

And maybe a little Saturday Night Fever dancing.

Happy Gotcha Day, Jadon!

We are so grateful for you...

for your hugs,

for your smiles,

for your 10 times a day "I love you" and "your the best mom (dad) in the whole world,"

for your silliness

and for your oh-so-crazy boyishness.

We love you, our precious son.

925 million

people worldwide are chronically hungry...

146 million children in developing countries are underweight...

1 in 5 children worldwide die from diarrhea...

Father, these people are precious, precious jewels.

Though they are often forgotten on this earth,

they are never forgotten by You.

 All-consuming Fire,

may the flame of your love ignite my heart in love for these beautiful ones,

whom you have created,

out of Your great love.

May I never live my life as if these precious ones did not matter.

Break my heart with the things that break Yours, dear Father.

Break the heart of your Church with the things that break Yours...