Taste and see

Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Psalm 34:8

This is the best crop of peaches we have had in years and they are SO sweet. Yes, that is a horse feed bucket that is overflowing. I wish someone had the camera out tonight when I was covered in peach juice up to my eyebrows as we pealed most of them to freeze. I kept thinking of this verse as I was tasting the juicy peaches and how God is so good if we just take the time to truly taste His goodness!

A NEW YEAR....NEW OPPORTUNITIES!

I've rearranged my classroom, gone to workshops, read, planned, shopped, gotten haircuts(and colored unfortunately), cleaned house, done all the laundry, etc., etc., etc....

Now it's time for a new school year.

I can look at it with dread as I have to start getting up early once again and
I know there will be kids that will try my last nerve,

OR....

I can look at it with excitement, knowing that God has blessed me with another day, and He alone has given me the ability to teach kids from every walk of life.
He has blessed me with a job for which I am exceptionally thankful, some wonderful new friends, and new experiences every day. So for today, I will say...

This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!

At this moment I will get to meet 85 new students tomorrow and I pray I will get to share the love of the Lord with each one of them throughout this school year. Yes, I teach in a public school, so I can't TELL them about Jesus, but it is my heart's desire that my life will be a light on a hill that can not be hidden! I hope I can SHOW them my JESUS!

My youngest son, just came through the door aand told me he was leaving to go to the school to pick up his

"Last, first day of school shirt!"

He didn't really say that and not expect tears from mom did he?
Yes, that brought tears to my eyes as I realize my babies are growing up so quickly
and this is his senior year.
So,
Rather than ever have an empty nest I also look with anticipation on the day (hopefully soon), that we will bring our little girl home from China. This Thursday we go for our fingerprint appointment, so hopefully our dossier will be on the way to China within a month!

Unique....different.....special

In reading through my newest Homelife magazine I found an article on the back page that really caught my attention today. Just to make sure I give due credit and don't take it on my own, make sure and take a look at Homelife if you need a good magazine.

The article brought to my mind how we are each so individual and how God created each one of us in His image to reflect part of His image. Do you ever wonder why you cry so easily or why others seem to be so unemotional? How quickly are we to judge others, especially in a crisis, as having a lack of heart because we think they don't cry enough, or still others as needing to "get over it" when they cry for too long.

Have we stopped to think that each one of us are unique and we are all displaying just a small part of HIS image? Can you imagine God saying this to you:

"I wanted someone to share My tears, so I carved you from
the most tender part of My heart.
I have created others to be the strong presence in crisis,
and still others to be the muscles for the weak. "

How do you display HIS character?

There have been some seasons of my life that have brought bucket loads of tears that I thought would never dry up. It was during one of these seasons that I learned how He catches my tears and holds each one. One of my dearest friends gave me a little keepsake as a reminder that we are to bear one another's burdens and that there is never a wasted tear to our Heavenly Father.

" You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?"

Psalm 56:8 (New King James Version)

Spending time with the girls

After spending plenty of time shopping with the big girls we had to take time out
for our newest friend, Sophie, designed at Build-a-Bear.

Just a few of our girls in front of "The Alamo" at the Gaylord after a night of little sleep.

I guess this alligator didn't scare them too much.

What a fun group of girls taking a photo in front of the Rainforest Cafe.

And this was the birthday girl and her cake baked and decorated on her own.
Isn't that awesome?

Girls, Girls, Girls...

I am getting well educated in life with teenage girls. After raising three boys I haven't spent much time with teen girls since I was one and that was quite some time ago(ok, friends, no tacky comments here!). My friend Kris invited Tia and I to go to the Gaylord Hotel for two nights for her daughter's 16th birthday. It has been a blast and oh so interesting! The giggles haven't stopped, but what a blast listening to them have so much fun.

Crazy pictures to follow when we get home since I forgot the card reader for my computer.

Praises and Prayers!

It has been a busy week and I haven't had time to update so here's a great deal of random information that I hope you can share with me in rejoicing and lifting up in prayer.

Some great adoption news, getting us one step closer: We got our confirmation letter from the USCIS last week and our fingerprint appointment. It is set for the first week of school, so we are trying to see if there is any way we can get in a little earlier. I really need to save my days off for our trip to China.

It has been a busy summer with workshops to prepare me for next year. God has been SO faithful sending opportunities our way to help with adoption costs. One workshop was for mentoring and it will pay me at the end of the year. Another was an Apple training for our school computers. These are both wonderful educational opportunities for me, but also God providing an additional income!

My FATHER owns the cattle on a thousand hills, why wouldn't HE provide?

Last weekend our church, First Baptist Church Decatur, had a garage sale to help with our adoption expenses. Even during the heavy rain, people kept coming. We raised $1800.00! Yippee! God is so good! There were many people that donated and I can't begin to thank them all, but we couldn't have raised this amount without every one of them! Thank you all! I would especially like to thank, our middle son, Nathan, for all of his help in picking up and moving items and to Paul and Beth and Ricky and Judy, for their constant help throughout the two days. Stop by their blogs and be blessed. They are wonderful families that have a heart for God and a love for adoption.

This is a small sample of all of the things donated! WOW! It was overwhelming!

On the way to the garage sale Saturday, my mom had to turn around and go to the hospital with my grandmother, thinking she was having a heart attack. Praise God, it was just severe pain and no heart attack. God is so AMAZING!

A few prayer requests:

Our boys have begun football two-a-day practices. Please keep them in your prayers during this heat. I don't know how they do it!

I would also like to ask for your prayers for our friends, The Askey family, serving as missionaries in Mexico. They are doing an incredible work for the Lord. Rebecca has a new blog that will totally bless you and give glory to God. Go check it out and PLEASE leave her a comment!

Brittany, a 10 year old, going through surgery in the morning for a tumor in her ear. She has already lost hearing and I am praying that God will restore her hearing and the doctor's will have wisdom during the surgery.

Healing for another friend's mom in the hospital with a blood clot in her leg.

Our newest friend, Jaden, adopted from China, had her cleft palate repaired yesterday. Asking God for a quick healing and little pain.