Weekend

 I honestly can not think of one thing I would rather do 

than sit back, relax and spend time with the ones that mean the world to me. 

That is exactly what this weekend has been full of...

 
Sisters playing and 

catching fireflies at night,

watching my boys chatting with each other

in my sister's new pool

 

 eating til our tummies were so full,

but always leaving room for home made ice cream,

enjoying my youngest son and his new love 

have fun together,

 then watching emotions go from happy,

to hesitant,

 to scared to death,

 

but confident in the hands that hold her,

 and catch her,

and lift her up,

 and help her live life to the fullest.

  I hope you have also had a great time with those whom you cherish.

Words and weather

Watching the stages of new language acquisition for our little one has constantly amazed me this passed year. We've gone from absolutely NO English one year ago to carrying on non-stop conversations now. There are still times when she occasionally has to search for a word and I love watching her little mind as she tries to decide which word to use.  Tonight, on our way to big sister's program at school,  we were once again having a discussion about what was going on.  Lia asked if that man was going to be there.  We were going through the list trying to determine who she was talking about when she said, "You know, the King!" To which I said, "Oh, you mean the Principal?"  Yes, that is exactly who she meant.  So, Mr. Sorg, You are officially "The King" in our household this evening!


I had hoped to get a few good pictures of our 5th grade program tonight, but things got a little crazy with a fast approaching storm.  The program ended quickly with all of us taking shelter due to a tornado warning.  It was scary, but we are praising God for His hand of protection tonight.  There were tornadoes all around us, baseball sized hail at my sister's house and my son was saved from a near terrible accident while driving in the pouring rain and approaching tornado. Moments like these certainly make me realize just how quickly life can change and how thankful I am for God's hand of protection upon my family. We are continuing to pray for those affected by these tornadoes in areas all around us.

 

Taken at my sister's house tonight

Sharing the Love - Thank you

    “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for 

one of the least of these brothers of mine, 

you did for me." 
(Matt. 25:40)

I realize it has been a few months since the fundraiser, but I just recently got the information so that I can pass it along to you.  Around Christmas last year, we decided to host a fundraiser to send to the precious children in the orphanage that cared for Lia until last year.  We ended up combining our funds raised with another fundraiser for the orphanage so that it would go a little further.  The wonderful non-profit organization, Love Without Boundaries, supports this orphanage, so the funds were donated and dispersed through them with 100% of the money going directly to this orphanage. 

I am happy to report that you helped us raise $550.00 to purchase

diapers and clothing for the children.  

THANK YOU SO MUCH

for caring for the least of these!

The picture below is a copy of the thank you card sent to me, 

but meant for all of you that donated or prayed for these children.

The next picture is some of the precious clothing that we collected through our church and 

delivered to our local Rainbow Room, supporting our children in CPS custody. 

 

So, whether nearby or on the other side of the world, 

whether 

RED, YELLOW, BLACK or WHITE

Jesus loves the little children of the world 

and He uses our arms, feet and finances to share His love with the world. 

PLEASE Scroll over the words below to see photos of the newsletter

(I couldn't figure out how to post it here)

 

Lishui Orphanage Assistance Project 2011 

and if you follow this next link you can see what a difference this assistance made for 

our little girl one year ago when she was the recipient of some of these donations.

Lishui Orphanage Assistance 2010

(Lia is the sweet one on the right with the big smile in the picture)

and here she is today sharing that big smile with us!

Blessed beyond words

This morning I awoke to hear the sound of birds singing and what a joy it was since I've had a ruptured ear drum and have not been hearing much the past few weeks. 

Thank you, Lord for my hearing!

Then I was able to see the sun rise; 

Thank you, Lord for eyes to see your beauty.

 Then early this morning I had this precious angel look up at me with arms wide open and say,  

"Happy Mother's Day, I Love you!"  

Thank you, Lord that You loved her so much to give her a birth mom who gave her life, a nannie to care for her for 3 years and for placing her in my life to love 

FOREVER!

(The gift she made for me at school and was so excited to give me)

Then it was on to church where I was so blessed to have all five of my children with me; 

Thank you, Lord for the freedom to worship you without persecution with my family.

After church, we had a wonderful lunch with my mom, sisters and Nannie; Thank you, Lord for these special ladies who love you and have been a Godly example to me for so many years. 

Next, it was on to see David's parents; Thank you, Lord for wonderful in-laws who love you and their children and grandchildren. 

Thank you, MawMaw for raising a young man who is such a

Godly example to our children.

And last, but not least, 

Thank you, Lord for this family....

Thank you for three boys who bless me so much and especially today.

Thank you for our gift of adoption of two precious girls, 

a perfect earthly example of the way you have also 

adopted us and will love us FOREVER

All of my goodies from a special day

Catching up

The past month has been incredibly busy and we have experienced so many emotions from the mountaintop to the valley.  I wanted to add a few pictures and recap a little of what has been going on, even though I have little time to go into many details. 

David was selected as the newest deacon to serve our body of believers.  We are so humbled that he was chosen and look forward to serving in the years ahead.  The night of his ordination was THE MOST amazing service and God was definitely among us. From the laying on of hands, to the words of wisdom spoken by so many, to the fact that almost all of our family was there with us, we will remember this night that was ordained by God forever.  The best piece of advice we were given was, 

Guard your heart!

and

Be DESPERATE for Jesus! 

Those are words we needed to hear as just the next week we got word that my father would be going home to see Jesus soon.  My sister and I boarded a plane for Tennessee and were able to speak with him before he closed his eyes to this world and opened them to his perfect world.  The following pictures were taken from his beautiful home.  I had some of the most glorious meetings with my heavenly Father sitting looking at this amazing view.  And what a beautiful sight it was to see my hubby and kiddos arrive in time to accompany us to the funeral.  

Sweet sisters

We arrived home in time to celebrate her first Easter and what a joy it was to hear why we celebrate from the mouth of this precious child of God.  In her own words, 

 

"HE'S ALIVE!"

Our first experience coloring eggs

 Missing my middle son so as much as I love this picture it's just not complete

Cousins-Can it get any cuter?

These are many of the specials ladies in my life.  What a joy to 

celebrate our Risen Savior with them on Easter.