A HANDSOME BOY

A FIRST SNOW MAN

DERARA ENJOYS HIS FIRST SNOW MAN.

EAR CANDLES ANYONE?

A FUN FATHER DAUGHTER EXPERIENCE, WELL SORT OF.

Dr. Seuss has a birthday

Beniam's school celebrated Dr. Seuss birthday - 104!

DON'T MISS THE JOURNEY

I listened to a fantastic sermon from Menlo Park Presbyterian (on my ipod) by a guy who works for an international justice group. Micah 6:8 was one of his foundation verses. He told the story of going to Mt. Ranier with his father and then not going on the hike after he'd read all the scarey caution signs. He went on the trip but never made the journey he goes on to say. He asks the question of where would Jesus be? Certainly not sitting in the visitor center. It led me to ask the question what keeps we Christians for doing more for the Kingdom? It must be the same reason that he had as a boy, fear. It made me remember the great poem by Marianne Williamson, Our Deepest Fear:
OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS NOT THAT WE ARE INADEQUATE-
OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS THAT
WE ARE POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE.
IT IS OUR LIGHT, NOT OUR DARKNESS, THAT FRIGHTENS US.
WE ASK OURSELVES, 'WHO AM I TO BE
BRILLIANT, GORGEOUS, TALENTED, FABULOUS?'

ACTUALLY, WHO ARE YOU NOT TO BE?

YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD.
YOUR PLAYING SMALL DOESN'T SERVE THE WORLD.
THERE'S NOTHING ENLIGHTENED ABOUT SHRINKING
SO THAT OTHER PEOPLE WON'T FEEL INSECURE AROUND YOU.

WE ARE BORN TO MAKE MANIFEST
THE GLORY OF GOD THAT IS WITHIN US.
IT'S NOT JUST IN SOME OF US; IT'S IN EVERYONE.
AND AS WE LET OUR LIGHT SHINE, WE UNCONSCIOUSLY
GIVE OTHER PEOPLE PERMISSION TO DO THE SAME.
AS WE ARE LIBERATED FROM OUR OWN FEAR,
OUR PRESENCE AUTOMATICALLY LIBERATES OTHERS.

Benaim, our youngest, claims to have a brother in Ethiopia. Our records show him to have no brother. Believing this to be only in his imagination, I emailed the adoption agency we used for his adoption, CWA. They emailed me back and have assigned someone to investigate. When I read their email, I was a bit taken aback. I expected the response, "Our records show him to have no siblings." I was not expecting an investigation. Then my mind goes to what if? What if he does have a brother? Who am I to adopt more children? 6 is enough. But just as in the poem, WHO AM I TO NOT? I am a CHILD of GOD. I am a 34 year old woman who grew up in a double wide trailor in Barbourville Kentucky. I am a survivor of rape, divorce, co-dependency, abuse. I went to college as a single mother. I married a Doctor. I made it to AFrica, a life long dream, and my barefeet walked the African soil with monkeys playing along side me. WHO AM I TO NOT? My first fear thought is usually GOD WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY? WHO IS GOD TO NOT? HE has always proven faithful to deliver me, restore me and redeem me. WHO AM I TO NOT? WHO ARE YOU TO NOT? Lets not go on the trip and miss the journey.

MICAH 6:8

One of our scriptures this weekend was Micah 6:8. It is a very special verse to me. It is while teaching my kids this verse that I settled on the name Mercy. The verse reads: "He has told you o man what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to walk justly, to love MERCY, and to walk humbly with your God?" As you can see our daughter to be's name is a bit difficult. Even after I tell people it is NOT CALEB it is KaLAb, they still say "When is Caleb coming home?" We haven't decided yet if we will call her Kalab or Mercy, for now she is Kalab Mercy, and we feel led that we must LOVE her as in the scripture. Adoption is truly a miracle. Human nature does not allow us to love a child that we did not birth and do not know, only GOD gives us such a blessing. There have been many naysayers along our journey. I might say there have been so few people who have encouraged us I can count them on a couple fingers. Mostly all we have heard is "Don't beat yourself up if you don't love them." "What if they don't like you?" "Why would you do this to you child/dren?" "Are they black?" I particularly love that one. I am dying to say "No they were the only white ones in Ethiopia so we grabbed them." Please be kind when you are talking to adoptive parents. Adoption is a miracle but like most growing processes it is painful at times. These courageous folks need encouragement. Please don't say things like "Which ones are your real kids?" I didn't know I had any artificial children. If you are close to a person you may ask about their choice to adopt versus birth a child. ADOPTION IS NOT SECOND TO CHILDBIRTH. Adopted children are not second place kids. There are many places in scripture which talk about our spiritual adoption, by which we become "joint heirs". Not servants but JOINT HEIRS! Our kids truly become our kids. Just as we are predestined into the family of God, we believe our kids were made in their birth mothers wombs with our home a stop on their journey back to the one who created them. Ephesians 1:5 says : He predestined us to ADOPTION as sons through Jesus Christ himself, according to the kind intention of HIS will." If you don't understand adoption, turn to the one who designed it and pray for wisdom on this matter. If you'd like to help a child have a home, contact us and you can make a tax free donation.

GOD SPEAK THRU CROOKED OLD LADIES AND I REPENT

I WAS TELLING MY MOM THE OTHER DAY ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO WORK OUT AT THE GYM I ATTEND, WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO WORK OUT. ONE PARTICULAR LADY STOOD OUT IN MY MIND. SHE IS OLDER AND SHE CARRIES A FULLY OPENED NEWSPAPER AND GOES MACHINE TO MACHINE DOING THEM ALL. SHE WEARS BLACK SHORTS PULLED UP UNDER HER BREASTS AND BLACK SOCKS AND WHITE TENNIS SHOES. AFTER THE CONVERSATION WITH MY MOM, I WENT TO WORK OUT AND THERE SHE WAS. ONLY THIS TIME SHE WAS WALKING ON THE TRACK. I COULD SEE HER FULLY NOW, NOT HIDING BEHIND A MACHINE OR A NEWSPAPER. SOME DISEASE HAS DEFORMED HER BODY. SHE HAS A SPINE RESEMBLING SCOLIOSIS AND HER LIMBS ARE ALL CROOKED AND SWING WHEN SHE WALKS. HER FACE WAS WHAT CAUGHT MY BREATH THOUGH. IT WAS REDDENED AND WET WITH SWEAT AND PAIN WAS WRITTEN ON EVERY LINE. GOD WAS SPEAKING TO ME. SHE WORKS THRU THE PAIN. AND THOUGH SHE IS STRONG ENOUGH TO WORK THRU THE PAIN, SHE IS SELF CONSCIOUS. SHE USES THAT NEWSPAPER TO HIDE. TO HIDE FROM PEOPLE LIKE ME, WITH LAUGHING EYES. I REPENT OF THIS SIN, TO THE ONE WHO CREATED THIS BRAVE LADY. THE ONE WHOSE IMAGE SHE BEARS. WOULD I WORK THRU THE PAIN?
HOW MUCH GOD CAN TEACH US THRU EVEN CROOKED OLD LADIES. PRAISE HE WHO FORGIVES.