I feel like maybe my thoughts have been a little bit on the “downer” side lately. God has been allowing me to wrestle with some thoughts on the brokenness of this world and ultimately it comes back to reliance on Him … for everything. I always enjoy the holidays and look forward to the things we do to celebrate the birth of Christ and just having time together as a family … without distractions. ...
The past four months since being matched with our (most precious beautiful unbelievably squeezable) twins from Congo have been–different–than expected. I quite honestly have been dreading this part of the process: knowing their faces and names and yet being helpless to do anything about bringing them home. And yet, the Lord has used these past few months in some unexpected ways–He always does! ...
I was struck today,once again, by the method God uses to redeem the World. The creator of the Universe, the great “I AM”, has chosen to use His creation. One by one. Each faith-filled life. Lowly humans. Mere men and woman. He has chosen to reveal His love for the World and His desire to be back in right relationship with them through people. People who humble themselves and place their trust in Jesus instead of in themselves. I...
What do you do when the days are hard? What do you do when hard stuff happens? What do you do when you don’t know where to turn? ...
Today is Black Friday. I confess that I bought nothing. At least not yet. I still have 2 hours and 21 minutes….just in case I find a good on-line deal or two. Roger went for Christmas lights, I stayed home. I intended to shop a bit but life took hold and it just never happened. We went to chop down our Christmas tree today as we have for 18 years running. ...
Our seven year old, adopted at 11 months, is in the living room whooping it up as I am blogging. She has a trumpet, a drum, a friend, and her sister to help with her noise making. Needless to say, this house is not a haven of rest on this pre-holiday Saturday afternoon. Our sweetie has sensory processing issues, like many children adopted from hard places. Strong sensory input can cause her to overload. When she was younger, she would often...
Life … a beautiful thing. I again had the privilege of meeting new life that entered the world recently. The sweet gal who chose adoption for her child walked through the doors of the journey of saying good-bye to her precious child. She was confident and had no reservations in placing her child in the arms of the adoptive family, but oh, the pain that comes with that choice. ...
Many articles I read on the effects of trauma on the child’s brain leave me saying, “Oh, that makes sense. No wonder my kid…” This is one such article. When children experience trauma it suppresses the function of the left side of their brain which is in charge of logic, sequence, and organization. This piece gives ideas to help in the repairing process. http://tlcinstitute.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/get-up-off-the-chair-repairing-the-relationship-to-the-body/ ...
Our three-year old daughter was an instrument in the Lord’s hands this past week. We are currently waiting to bring home our twin boys from DR Congo and while we are intentional (at least aiming to be) in living each day fully as a family of four until the boys come home, the wait is hard. Each update we get, each new photo, is an enormous encouragement. ...