Living by Faith

2012-01-27T19:08:00.000-06:00

And now these three remain:

faith, hope and love.

A few weeks have passed, but at least I'm still posting pictures in the same month!

Thanks to our wonderful family, we were able to share our 25th wedding anniversary with many friends and relatives. What a joy to share special memories with

precious people who have seen us through the good times and the struggles.

I never want to take one moment for granted for the gift God gave me in an amazing Godly man with whom I get to share life's ups and downs.

Many years ago, our pastor, Bro. Greene was there when I was born,

he baptized both of us

and all three of our boys, and now, many years later we

had the privilege of having Bro. Greene renew our wedding vows.

It's those vows and that commitment that have kept our love

alive when the struggles of this world would have told us to quit.

Thanks to my sweet friend, Rebecca, for the beautiful cake,

my mom for her creative decorations, and the rest

of my family for transforming our new garage into a

wonderful place to celebrate.

Also, thanks to my cousins, at Zinnia Photography, for

capturing our day in photos we will treasure for many

years to come

But the greatest of these is

love.

1 Cor. 13

Forever in our hearts

2012-01-07T21:10:00.000-06:00

It is a genuine treasure when someone impacts your life in such a way that you know will never be forgotten. I've heard it said that often times people come into our lives for a reason or for a season. We had one such person come into our lives for a very short season and it is a story that needs to be heard and remembered.

I hope and pray you will read this story and then cherish each person in your life and realize they may only be there for a season.

This story began August 11, 2010 and came to a temporary end last week. Temporary, because it will be continued when we all see Jesus face to face; a time I look forward to with great anticipation!

After Lia's heart surgery last year at our wonderful children's hospital we were supposed to have a translator come in since she had only been home for two months and was speaking little English. When the translator didn't show up, we asked if there was someone to translate for her so she could understand what all was going on. The hospital said there was a doctor on staff who spoke Mandarin who might be able to visit. Later that day, a new face came into our room and began speaking to Lia in the most gentle voice ever. He introduced himself as Dr. Benjamin Siu and said he was a pediatric cardiologist who was in the operating room during her heart surgery. See, he didn't just care about our baby's heart, he also truly helped hold her heart. After a caring conversation with Lia and time spent with David and I, Dr. Siu reached behind our backs and gently closed the door. He then began to pray THE MOST amazing prayer I have ever heard in my life. He didn't just pray a wordy prayer, but a prayer straight from the heart asking God for healing and to bless our baby girl's life. He prayed that she would grow up and make an impact on others and share the love of the Lord with people in her birth county. He prayed for her mental, physical and spiritual well being and brought many tears to my eyes. If I never saw him again, that one moment would have made an impact I would never forget.

Two weeks later as we prepared to leave the hospital we had to tell which cardiologist we would follow up with. We had already seen another wonderful doctor and didn't want to hurt her feelings by not continuing care with her. We were told though that they were all in the same group and it would be no problem to change. So, as God led us, we continued our follow up care with Dr. Siu. Each visit was the same with him first speaking in Mandarin to Lia and lovingly reassuring her of what was happening. Then he took as much time as needed to speak with us and explain anything we didn't understand. Each visit ended the same with his arms around us and hand upon Lia and praying a prayer from the depth of his heart. I asked Lia what the last thing was she remember about Dr. Siu and she remembered him handing her a cookie as we left his office in June and reminding her to also share a cookie with her mommy. See that is the kind of man he was. Always thinking of the needs of others. He told us to come back next year and we expected to see him again in June.

God however chose to take him home through a very tragic accident and we now pray for his family left behind. Please keep them in your prayers and PLEASE watch this video to see what a wonderful man we had the privilege of knowing for a short time. (Since it was on the local news I guess I can not upload it to my blog.)

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Cardiologist-killed-in-bike-crash-left-a-worldwide-legacy-136855773.html

Dr. Siu, we thank you for teaching us what a true follower of Christ

looks like and for giving our daughter someone to look up to!

You were a servant of God whom we will never forget.

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Matthew 7:20

The Reason we celebrate

2011-12-30T01:19:00.000-06:00

The past month has been a month of celebrating the joyous birth of our Lord and Savior in so many ways. Shortly after Thanksgiving we began decorating and planning and I decided to do something I hadn't done in a long time. When the boys were little we had many friends with kids the same age and we had a Christmas party for all of the kids at our house.

Many years later, I once again enjoyed planning a

Happy Birthday Jesus party.

What a perfect way to combine the fun part of Christmas and the reason we truly celebrate by having Santa tell us the Christmas story and share with us why Jesus is better than Santa...

Santa comes but once a year

and

Jesus is with us all of the time when He lives in our heart.

The day after school was out we had a fun filled time of serving lunch at the Ronald McDonald House and then ventured next door to the hospital to take some pictures and enjoy the Christmas entertainment.

As the Christmas holidays grew closer, I wished for one gift more than any other;

The gift of having all of my family together.

And that is exactly what I got and it couldn't have been any sweeter!

We spent Friday night with David's family, and Saturday night after our beautiful candlelight service we had our family dinner and gift exchange.

Then Sunday morning we dug through stockings and saw what Santa left before going to church

to sing Praises to THE ONE who came to this earth all because of

LOVE for YOU and for ME!

After church, we went to my mom's house to have lunch and fun with my Mom, Nannie

and sister's families. We seemed to string this celebration out for awhile, but it was so nice to really have time with each family and not feel rushed. Soon, the gifts will be forgotten, but the time we spent together LOVING one another will always hold beautiful memories in our hearts.

My family showered me with wonderful gifts,

and when mom says NO to a game for Christmas,

I guess you can count on big brother to get it for you!

I wasn't impressed, but it certainly made for many laughs.

With legs as long as hers are getting, it was definitely time for a new bike,

and anything zebra print will put a smile on her face!

Many more pictures to follow, but blogger is not allowing me to upload anymore tonight! It might have something to do with the late hour, but if any of my blogger friends have ideas on how to upload photos a little quicker please let me know! They seem to be taking forever to upload!

Thankfulness and Black Friday

2011-11-24T21:44:00.000-06:00

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

After sharing our day with so many loved ones and enjoying a feast like no other we broke out the sale ads to check out all of the bargains.

Here is THE ABSOLUTE BEST BARGAIN I found:

Open publication - Free publishing - More holiday gifts

Every dollar you spend will supply a need for an orphan and you will also get a

tax credit from
LOVE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES.

Can you find a sale any better than that?

Do you like the new header photo?

We had fun playing in the middle of this road today taking family pictures, so a new one will be soon to follow with

this crazy family for which I am beyond

THANKFUL!

My favorite....

2011-11-12T11:43:00.000-06:00

No not my kids that is, but my favorite verse is this:

Don't you just LOVE this piece of artwork!

I received this as a gift last night when I had the opportunity to share my testimony to a wonderful group of ladies at First Baptist Church Hurst. What an incredible blessing it was to be able to stand up and share the many ways the Lord has been working in our lives in the past few years. Not only did I get to share on Veteran's Day, a day very dear to my heart, and National Adoption Month, a super special month, I also got to share on

11-11-11!

All of those 1's and I had the awesome chance to point to

THE ONE and ONLY!

It doesn't get much better than that!

Speaking of favorites, I really don't have favorite kids, but it is much easier to get pictures of some of them than others. We have been very busy lately and I often don't have time to update my blog, so here are a few of the things I may have missed!

A fun evening with some very special girls eating at Babe's Chicken-YUM!

My two oldest teaching each other how to shoot a gun!

SO VERY GLAD we don't live in the city!

Watching my oldest carry the cross!

So glad I had a camera in hand to snap this photo

as they were cleaning up things in the barn and he was moving this to another location.

What a reminder that we must carry the cross everyday!

The beautiful kitchen remodel we just completed along with the pantries my

crafty husband completed. The best gift ever to finally have a nice place for storage.

My middle son who travels often and we treasure the little bit of time we get to see him!

Cousins sharing a moment together!

Some beautiful flowers and even more beautiful girls.

Lia reading me the card she made telling me I was her BFF!

Sharing a wonderful Thai dinner with our youngest son, Brandon,

and the special love of his life, Baleigh

along with the LOVE of my life!

Shoelaces and shovels

2011-10-22T00:17:00.000-05:00

How will my girls ever learn to look for a young man who treats them well and values them? Hopefully they will learn because they have been taught those lessons from a daddy who daily teaches them and values them for who God created them to be.

Those little lessons like learning to plant flowers and learning to tie your shoes

bring with them much deeper

life lessons they don't even realize right now.

Lessons like....

He wants to spend time with me...

I'm important...

I'm beautiful....

I'm his favorite...

Nothing is too insignificant for him.....

things every young girl needs to know.

And in the not so distant future when those sweet little eyes begin to look at others I pray they can see their heavenly Father's eyes above all others because they saw it through

their earthly father's eyes first.

Those are the same eyes that could see this momma had endured a long week at school and

I came home to find these beautiful flowers today.

Reminds me of these words by Amy Grant:

She's got her father's eyes
Her father's eyes
Eyes that find the good in things
When good is not around
Eyes that find the source of help, when help just can't be found
Eyes full of compassion, seein' every pain
Knowing what you're going through, and feelin' it the same

Just like my father's eyes
my father's eyes

On that day when we will pay for all the deeds we've done
Good and bad they'll all be had to see by everyone
And when you're called to stand and tell just what you saw in me
More than anything I know, I want your words to be

She had her father's eyes, her father's eyes
eyes that found the good in things when good was not around
eyes that found the source of help when help would not be found
Eyes full of compassion, seein' every pain
Knowin' what you're goin' through and feelin it the same

Just like my father's eyes,

Finally here-maybe

2011-10-18T20:26:00.001-05:00

After a scorching summer, we've had hints of fall, but summer seems to creep back in each time. Last night, the winds started blowing and along with the hard winds came window clattering thunder, lightning and rain(the rain we still desperately needed). The temperature dropped about 20 degrees and I think Fall is finally here. What better way to celebrate the changing of the seasons than with a few pictures of a cute little pumpkin.

   “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
   wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
   he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
   and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
   he knows what lies in darkness,
   and light dwells with him.

I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

Daniel 2:20-23

What a beautiful verse this is becoming to me! These past few weeks during our study of Daniel we have been challenged to memorize this verse and I love how God knows just the words we need at just the perfect time. I don't know about you, but it sure is comforting knowing HE sees what lies in darkness and just like HE changes the seasons, HE has the
power to change circumstances beyond our control.

Oh, believe me, there are some circumstances I would change if it were in my power,
but I know it is His power that will change them in the perfect way and at the perfect time and I can't wish for anything better than HIS PERFECTION!

Reminders

2011-09-19T23:18:00.000-05:00

Some days there are reminders during those moments of routine that even though it seems like Lia has been in our family forever, it has really only been 15 months. Such a short time, but I can hardly imagine our life without her and the joy she brings. She has adapted better than I would have ever dreamed and we have our new routine with a young one around again. Sometimes those reminders are funny and others times they bring tears to my eyes.

There are moments like tonight when she wanted to draw with the sidewalk chalk outside and not remembering the correct word, in her precious little voice she said, "I want to porkchop." Huh? You want to what? I guess, porkchop and sidewalk chalk have about the same ring to them. Pretty cute porkchop I must admit!

Then there are the gentle reminders of the tough days with very little that she experienced. I occasionally ask her if she remembers something from her time in China simply so I can record it for her for later. Tonight, after bath time, while she was carrying her clothes to the laundry room I asked her what she did with her clothes in the orphanage. She said we just put them in a box so someone else could wear them the next day. She said, "we had to share clothes."Sometimes they didn't smell good cause we all wear them." Now, one of her most exciting things to do, is pick out her clothes for the next day. Can you blame her?

Then, there was the short moment tonight that was a gentle reminder that she has experienced more abandonment than most of us will ever know. While I was outside she was a bit stressed when she couldn't find me and I was only around the corner. Once again, I promised her I would NEVER leave her and we went to prepare for bed. I snapped this photo with my phone the other night, but it is the same cherished scene most nights. She wants to make sure we are VERY close before falling asleep and then I can quietly sneak out of the bed.

As we snuggled into bed and read a book, she decided tonight that she didn't want her pillow. It was yet another reminder that she slept on a hard metal bed for a few years and sometimes she just reverts back.

Just like a couple of mornings ago I saw this sunrise and was reminded of God's faithful new mercies every morning. I am so thankful for the new life He has given each of us who believe and that He promises never to leave us or forsake us.

And then we have little reminders like really cool t-shirts matching big sister to remind

us to think on the good things.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Phil 4:8

How do you measure LOVE?

2011-08-30T23:05:00.000-05:00

Around this house with a sweet little 5 year old we get lots of lovin! After storing it up for four years with no one to share it with, there is more than enough to go around.

We play a little game and say, "I love you to ____ and back." It usually goes something like this, "I love you to China and back." Then the other person says, "I love you to the moon and back."

Tonight, it went like this:

Me: "I love you to the moon and back."

Lia: "Well, I love you to China and back."

Me: "Well, I love you to Australia and back."

Lia: "Well, I love you to

AND BACK, AND TO

AND BACK!

Now that's what I call a LOT of LOVIN!

School days and play days

2011-08-24T00:06:00.000-05:00

The lazy days of summer have come to an end and the routine of another school year is now upon us. As much as I like a routine, I don't like the early mornings that accompany it and the fast paced evenings in order to get to bed early.

As we prepared for this new year, I was so proud to be part of a church that spent Sunday afternoon walking the halls of our schools and praying for the students and staff who would soon fill the buildings. Teaching is a huge responsibility, but one I can face with confidence because I know that my heavenly Father is the One who gives me wisdom and endurance to face each new situation.

I am thankful to all the prayer warriors that daily bear our burdens

in the classroom and lift them up to heaven on our behalf.

I have the awesome privilege this year of having Tia in my reading and writing class and will cherish this year and the time we get to spend together. She made me promise not to embarrass her, but I wonder if that is possible! Isn't that our goal as parents-to embarrass our children?

I did promise to be on my best behavior!

Do I have to?

We have had two great days and I look forward to an exciting year and making lots of memories. Lia is loving kindergarten, although the rigor is quite exhausting. She asked yesterday, "When is rest time?" Obviously, the powers that be have decided that 5 year olds no longer need rest time. It has certainly made for an early and easy bedtime and a very tired little girl!

First day of kindergarten

Day two and still smiling!

After sending Brandon off of to college again last week David and I looked at each other and said, "I guess we could have been enjoying the empty nest now."

Well, as much as we love our time alone, we are so glad our nest isn't empty!

We are having a BLAST with our two girls and the laughter they bring to an otherwise stressful journey with young adult children.

Who wouldn't have fun when every mealtime is a new adventure...

and we get to once again enjoy the simple pleasures like ice cream sundaes and merry go rounds?

This ride was the one and only thing Lia wanted to do all summer and

for $2.50 she was one happy girl!

We try not to take a single moment for granted as we know too well how quickly this time will pass and other challenges will arise. I am trying to keep my sanity as my FAITH grows daily while my boys are facing difficult situations. My morning devotion is spent in prayer and reading The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children, by Stormie Omartian, which is helping me keep focused.

Please keep our boys in your prayers as Justin is traveling back from Mexico again this week, Nathan is working a very dangerous oil field job

and Brandon is in a new college town(enough said on that!)

All your children will be taught by the LORD,
and great will be their peace.

Isaiah 54:13

Look what you could win!

2011-08-13T23:24:00.000-05:00

I hope you will click on the above link to read the story about a precious little orphan in China who was taken from this world so early but who will never be forgotten.

In memory of this little one, Wild Olive, is given away 15 t-shirts with 100% of the profits going toward heart surgery for another little one so he/she can pass on some love!

The deadline is tomorrow to win a shirt just like this one.

Follow the link to enter to win!

Moments to treasure

2011-07-31T00:17:00.001-05:00

As a teacher the quickest months of the year are June and July. August is approaching quickly and that means school will begin again very soon. Our summer has been busy and yet given us time to enjoy one another and relax some also. I have taken a break from blogging for the past few weeks as I spent time with my family and tried to enjoy every moment of each day.

Two weeks ago, David and Justin went with our church to Mexico on a mission trip where our friends serve on the mission field at a children's home. When it was time to return, Justin decided to stay there to help serve, and from what I have heard it has been a wonderful experience for him. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as he serves and grows closer to the Lord. It is NO coincidence that my devotion the day they left said, "God's glory often appears in desert places." Exodus 3:12 said, "...I will be with you....you will worship God on this mountain." That is exactly what my son has been doing and I praise God for giving me His words and for giving Justin this time on the mountain.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you

and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11

While they were gone, Tia also enjoyed time at church camp with her friends and when asked what the favorite part was she responded with, "worship time." Those were pleasant words to hear!

Tia and her friend, Hannah, leaving for camp

I think someone missed big sister A LOT!

Oh, how I wished I could have gone on a mission trip this summer also, but quickly remembered that my home is my mission field and I know that this summer I was right where God wanted me, playing with my sweet girl and loving on each other. Lia had the chance to have her friends over to play the other day.

Lia and her friend Ali enjoying a favorite treat!

I loved listening to the precious conversations that were going on during play.

A couple of them were as follows:

Kids:"We leaving."

Me: "Where are you going?"

Kids: "We going on a mission trip."

How I hope they will always grow up having the desire to go on a mission trip to

love on and care for others because, "the closer we grow toward Jesus, the less we are concerned with ourselves."(Journey devo)

Next, as they were playing house, including taking turns being the mommy, daddy and baby and getting the sleeping bags and kitchen all set up I heard this conversation that gave me a little grin:

Kids: "We sleep together cause we married."

Oh, how I pray they always remember that is how God intends it; a mommy and a daddy sleep together AFTER they are married.

I have so many more pictures to share, but it is late so I will leave you with one more conversation from tonight when one of our boys came home and was preparing to leave again.

Dad: "Son, will we see you at church in the morning?"

Son: "Yes"

Lia: "On time?"

Son: "Yes(big sigh), on time!"

You can bet she has heard those words many times!

So, I hope you also are ON TIME to worship our Lord and Saviour this Sunday morning!

Be blessed and be a blessing!

When Daddy says no more adoptions...

2011-07-06T23:49:00.000-05:00

but Daddy knows there are so many orphans and we are called to be HIS hands and feet, then he said we could do the next best thing and sponsor a precious baby girl.
Announcing:

HOPE

Oh, how I wish I could reach out and touch this sweet baby and wrap her in my arms and show her the love of a family. Unfortunately, that won't be happening because she is in an orphanage in a far away land. Born in May to a mother that either could not or would not be able to raise her, she was left abandoned. Fortunately, through an amazing organization called

Love Without Boundaries

we have the opportunity to make a difference in her life. Since we were the first family to sponsor her through LWB we were allowed to give her the US name that she will be referred to until she is hopefully adopted. We will also be sent updates on her once a month along with photos to see how she is doing. It is our hope that by sponsoring her she will know the love of a foster family instead of being one of MANY in an orphanage.

Why would we choose to do this when there are SO many?

We may not be able to make a difference to many, but to this ONE it is our HOPE that we will make a difference.

Just in case you are interested, Hope still needs two more sponsors and there are MANY
others who also need sponsors to either live in a foster home or for surgeries.

But God will never forget the needy;
the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

Psalm 9:18

Love like crazy

2011-07-06T01:49:00.001-05:00

"Mommy,"

"Yes, Lia"

"I love you, I love you like crazy cakes"

"Baby girl, I love you too, like crazy cakes!"

This was just one of our conversations tonight between Lia and I while swimming.

After all of the depressing news media today, sharing those sweet words became even more precious.

There is nothing in this life that is more important than to love and if you come back by tomorrow I will share with you how we are going to share it a little more.

Any guesses?

...if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

I Cor 13:2

July 4, 2010

2011-07-05T00:07:00.003-05:00

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.

Psalm 33:12

I feel very blessed today that I had the freedom to enjoy a day doing a little bit of nothing. What and awesome feeling it is to know my eternal freedom is secure by THE ONE who gives the ultimate freedom and my earthly freedom is protected by men and women far and near giving of themselves to protect our country.

Thank you seems so little, but I am so thankful to have the ability to live in a country

that allows me the opportunity to live the life God called me to live

without persecution and raise these two blessings:

Happy Birthday

2011-07-04T00:09:00.000-05:00

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

Happy birthday to my oldest.

What a joy it is to see how God is directing Justin's paths and growing him into such a

wonderful young man.

He also has the pleasure of sharing his birthday with Uncle Mike and a half birthday with his cousin, Blake. What a day of celebration we enjoyed!

Thanks, guys, for having another birthday so we have occasion to have a party and lots of good food!

Loving our good news!

2011-06-16T14:28:00.000-05:00

Like a little girl loves chocolate with sprinkles

(yummy cakes made at Cakes by Leisha)

Or loving on her special, puppy dog

This momma LOVES sharing my good news!

Tuesday, we went for Lia's follow up appointment at the cardiologist and after a three hour visit she was such a trooper! He said her heart sounded wonderful and was so happy with the way everything looked. We were given the go ahead to stop her blood pressure medicine as soon as it is gone and just continue her baby aspirin once a day(probably for the rest of her life). That's ok though, because it tastes ok, is cheap, and is

OH, so much better than being on so many meds!! Dr. Sui is an incredible man of God and prayed over her a prayer that was so beautiful and then said, "I'll see you in a year!" Such pleasant words to hear after we took this step of faith and had no idea what the future would hold for her.

GOD IS GOOD

and

HE IS THE TRUE HEALER

BROKEN HEARTS!

____________________________________________________________________________

Now could I ask one big, favor?

PLEASE?

It has been one year this month since we brought Lia home and I would really like to publish my blog into a book for her to have when she is older. Remember, she is the 5th child and of course doesn't have a baby book(we don't even have pictures of her baby days) or a scrapbook like the other four kids. I would be SO thrilled if you would add a comment here on my blog,

reminding her that you have prayed for her this past year or how blessed we have all been by God adding her to our family. She is young enough that she likely won't remember these days when she is older and this will be such a gift for her to keep and recall how God provided for her and how many people prayed her through.

I know we have had a multitude of prayer warriors and I can't thank you all enough!

Oh, but God will bless you indeed someday for the prayers you have prayed and ways you have provided for us and for her!

If you are reading this on facebook I can't publish those, so please leave your comments HERE. You don't have to be a follower of my blog to comment (but I would be blessed if you chose to follow by clicking on the "follower" link on the right.

Your comments will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!

So Loved

2011-06-13T23:58:00.003-05:00

For God SO LOVED that He gave....

EVERYTHING...

For YOU and ME!

And how can we ever begin to show our thanks?

We LOVE in return

and get back much more love than we ever give away.

I just had to share a picture of my new t-shirt that I got in the mail on Sat.

I LOVE it and the beautiful reminder it is of a small way I was able to help bring home another precious little girl. You will be so blessed by reading the story of this sweet family and their journey to China which you can find by clicking on the following link:

Ni Hao Yall

Sunday night we began VBS for this year and you guessed it, our theme is

The Big Apple.

We are having a blast and it is my prayer that lives will be touched and

hearts will be turned heavenward. Tonight we were blessed with almost 200 children.

Please pray with us for softened hearts ready to hear HIS word.

Reminders

2011-06-11T01:02:00.000-05:00

I have reminded Lia that if she wakes up and can't find mommy in the early morning, I am in my favorite spot on the patio spending time with God. As I looked up this morning she came

out with her typical smile holding her bible and was ready to read it.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

3 John 1:4

Now that school is out, I am trying to get back into the habit of walking, something I have really neglected lately. Twice this week I got up early and tried to walk before the heat of the day was so overpowering. Walking down our country road is relaxing and quiet, and gives me time to listen to some good praise music or just hear God speak to me. Pictures do not do the following scenes justice since I took them with my cellphone on my walk, but each scene

reminded me of a scripture that I felt God wanted me to hear and

I hope you will enjoy me sharing.

"for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills."

Psalm 50:10

like cattle that go down to the plain,
they were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD.
This is how you guided your people
to make for yourself a glorious name.

Isaiah 63:14

I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!

They are ripe for harvest.

John 4:35

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.

Psalm 18:2

He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit,
and I will live to enjoy the light.’

Job 33:28

This bush has the sweetest aroma and reminded me that,

'we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are

being saved and those who are perishing'

2 Cor. 2:15

and thankfully,

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

and these beautiful weeds reminded me of the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13 and

how the weeds may look so beautiful, but Christ knows the difference and

He will separate them in HIS perfect time.

And how could I not be reminded of His words as I watched this beautiful white horse?

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse,

whose rider is called Faithful and True. Rev. 19:11

Just as I was feeling exhausted, yet thrilled that I had walked SIX miles, I came home to find these on the cabinet. Is Satan real or what? Thank goodness there was only one donut left and one little girl more than ready to eat it so I didn't have to succumb to the temptation!

I was quickly reminded that,

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful;

he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,

he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

I Cor. 10:13

Gotcha Day

2011-06-01T23:01:00.000-05:00

One year ago this scared little girl walked into our lives and we haven't been the same since.

We have endured many emotions,

from grief and sadness,

to abundant joy and lots of laughs.

We have grown to love more deeply, share more freely and trust

God's faithfulness in new ways.

And we couldn't have done it without each other, our friends, and family and

our faithful prayer warriors.

And through it all we have been able to

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

Psalm 34:8

Weekend

2011-05-30T00:19:00.003-05:00

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

2011-05-24T22:47:00.000-05:00

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

2011-05-19T22:56:00.002-05:00

“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

2011-05-08T21:59:00.000-05:00

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

2011-05-04T22:54:00.001-05:00

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.

Bruises, bloodwork and bravery

2011-04-11T23:30:00.000-05:00

About a week ago we noticed a bruise on Lia's tummy, and then her shoulder and then her back. These weren't just any bruises, but large dark ones that looked like they really hurt. She had been to the park to play but never seemed to get hurt that anyone was aware of. She didn't complain and seemed to be as happy as ever. Not being one to rush to the dr. at the sight of a bruise, I just watched them but didn't do anything about it. Finally, today I took her to the dr. to have bloodwork done just to make sure it wasn't anything of concern. She is certainly one brave little girl! I do NOT like needles and the sight of them causes me to get a little woozy, but she just plops that little arm out and watches as they take her blood and never flinches. You should have seen the excitement on her face when she got not ONE, but FOUR Hannah Montana sticker's! You would have thought someone gave her a million dollars! After bloodwork we went to the dr. and got the results of her platelet counts and clotting and whatever else they tested. Everything looked great and she is a healthy little bundle of energy. So, tonight we are rejoicing in HIS complete healing yet again!

Two weeks ago when she got her ears pierced.

Did you see it?

2011-04-02T21:45:00.000-05:00

Apparently my sweet little Lia decided it had been too long since I had blogged! I gave her my cell phone to play with as we were driving home tonight and she somehow figured out how to send her message to my blog. I deleted it since it was sent as a photo somehow. She seems to think that at 5 yrs old she should have her own cell phone or ipod. Sorry, sister, but that won't be happening for a long time. I am getting the same message from an darling 11 yr old and she doesn't have one yet either. Amazingly, I think life will go on without her having a cellphone. The boys didn't get theirs until they started driving, so we will see how long I can hold out this time.

I had the awesome opportunity to share my testimony at my ladies luncheon today. What a joy it is to have the chance to share how God has been working in our lives the past few years. My prayer lately has been that God would use the same mouth that gets me in trouble quite often to honor and glorify Him. The theme today was "Things Remembered," and as I prepared I certainly had lots of memories to recall. I thank my heavenly Father for His faithfulness in my life and for giving me the chance to share that with others.

Children of God

2011-03-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

Remember to turn off the music at the bottom and take a 5 minutes out to watch. You will be blessed for it. We are all His adopted children.

In just one week...

2011-03-12T01:39:00.000-06:00

Reflecting on the past week, I am amazed at how much I have seen, felt, and shared in just 7 days. Some of the moments I have pictures to share and some of them will be engraved in the memory of my heart, mind and soul.

One week ago, I was able to celebrate my husband's birthday with most of our family, minus one special son. Nathan has been working out of town and we miss seeing him and will celebrate his birthday late when he finally returns. This is the first time he hasn't been able to celebrate along with his daddy in 21 years and we sure did miss it!

On Monday, I shared in the joy and heartbreak with a sweet mom as she prepared to adopt a little boy, knowing this was the best thing for him, yet sad for the birthmom unable to care for him. What bittersweet emotions!

On Tuesday, I had the awesome opportunity to share my testimony and our journey of faith with the local women's club about how God has led us to share in the lives of children around the world and to adopt our two girls. Then as I put my sweet baby girl to bed she told me, "Mommy, I love you," on her own without me saying it first. What an absolute joy to hear her say those sweet words!

On Wednesday, I shared in the joys and fears with a friend as she watched her sister give birth to her precious pre-term baby girl at only 25 weeks, weighing only 1.10 pounds. Please pray that God will continue to strengthen this family in the months ahead as this sweet baby matures on her long road ahead.

On Thursday, I visited with a sweet friend as she travels on the hard road that this nasty disease called cancer causes so many of us to walk down. Praying God gives her direction and wisdom to make the proper decisions.

And today, I watched, as most of you did, the devastation caused by earthquakes and tsunamis around the world. My heart breaks as I think of the families lives that will be changed forever and I am reminded, yet again, at how fragile and precious life truly is.

Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Pain, Relief, Hurt, Praise....so many emotions we experience but ONE GOD that loves us and has already walked this journey, knowing exactly what we will face and which people we need to lift us up as we travel the pathways of life. I love you sweet friends and am praying for many of you now!

Be still and listen

2011-03-06T00:43:00.000-06:00

After a VERY long day at school one day this week, I came home more than ready to relax. Since the weather was beautiful, Lia and I took a walk and talked about all of the beautiful sounds of nature and sights that God has given us. We stopped to look and listen to the birds singing as we walked, so stopping me to get my attention wasn't really a big deal. The following conversation, though, was what really caught my attention:

"Mommy, could you stop please?"
"Ok, why?"
"Cause I hear Jesus talking."
"What's He saying?"
"He saying He loves you,""you have to be still and listen."

With big tears in my eyes, I said, "Yes, we have to be still to hear God don't we."

He knows just what we need and when we need to hear it and it couldn't have sounded any sweeter!

Beauty

2011-02-23T07:46:00.001-06:00

Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him,

for he is your Lord.

Psalm 45:11

These two girls may not have been born where they were treated as Princesses, but hopefully we are making up for that. I hope they grow up knowing that when the world calls them names, puts them down or criticizes them, there is ONE who is ENTHRALLED with their beauty and a family that feels the same!

They certainly dressed differently this morning! One in shorts and short sleeves and one in pants, boots and a big jacket. I love this time of year when we are fine either way!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Thank you, Lord!

2011-02-20T23:44:00.000-06:00

I don't know what all Lia learned in Awana's tonight, but apparently she learned the most important thing of all: to praise God at all times! Throughout the rest of the evening you could hear her in that sweet little (loud) Chinese/American accent saying,

THANK YOU, LORD!

It was too cute!

Yesterday, we spent the day watching Tia and her team play basketball. After four games they won the championship game and were SO excited. I tried to take pictures, but unfortunately, my camera gave me a message saying "battery exhausted." So was I at that point, after sitting on the hard bleachers for many hours! Mimi got some cute ones, so I'll post them later. We had a great time and it was so much fun cheering on our girls. They worked hard and made us proud! I guess I will never cease to be amazed at parents though. Some of them obviously haven't figured out yet that the world does NOT revolve around our kids sports. I had a parent from the opposing team yelling in my ear that we were cheating as she was making a complete fool of herself. It really took some restraint on my part to keep from explaining some things to her!

Today was such a joy as we had a time of sharing our "cardboard testimonies" at church. What an incredible way to share so much without ever uttering a word. It was powerful and God was glorified. Check out some of the videos on youtube if you want to see some wonderful testimonies. I'll let you know if ours was recorded or not later. Tonight, was a truly humbling experience as David was voted on to serve as a deacon in our church. This is not something we take lightly and know that with the honor comes great responsibilities. We look forward to serving in this capacity and thank those that put the faith in his ability to serve.

Finding time to blog is not always easy so in case you don't hear from me again for a little while:

Have a great week, be blessed and be a blessing!

Childlike understanding

2011-02-05T12:49:00.000-06:00

This morning Lia was looking at my notebook with the following scripture,

"I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength."

Phil. 4:13

and she asked, "What does that mean?"
I told her it means we can do ANYTHING when Jesus helps us,
trying to explain to the understanding of a 5 year old still learning the language.

I asked her, "What is something that is hard for you to do?"

She replied, "Like cleaning my room?"

Yes, even cleaning our room!

Oh, how I wish that was the hardest thing I had to do these days!

To have the faith of a child, isn't that what we are all called to have?

Here are our photos from another day at home as we enjoyed the snow:

My two angels, making snow angels

Time for building a snowman with Daddy

The finished product sporting his new USMC hat!

Sliding is fun in any weather!

David even got out the bread maker that hadn't been out of the cabinet in years.

Cinnamon raisin bread certainly made for a wonderful smell and the taste was YUM!

This picture of my road reminded me of "A Road Less Traveled," by Robert Frost.

As I follow the Lord, I know there are times when I will have to take that road, but I will continue to remember that He will give me the strength for the journey.

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Wintery, crazy days

2011-02-02T14:58:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning when the blizzard blew in my girls were so excited to get outside. It didn't take long for them to realize how cold it really was and to quickly come back in, thus the reason for me not insisting on them taking off the cute pajamas under their coats-one less load of laundry!

We have some snow every year or so, but not in many years have we had temperatures this low. Last night I think it got down to about 6 degrees with the wind chill around -3 and yes, we live in TEXAS! I am beginning to wonder if the superbowl teams just decided to bring the weather with them.

If so, I sure hope they take it back home when they go.

To many people this barn is just an ugly structure that needs to come down, but to me I see its beauty and wish it weren't so expensive for us to salvage it. I wonder how many families before us have used this barn and how many different animals have taken shelter here in the past. The snow storm last year took a toll on it and it is leaning more and more.

This morning when I awoke I heard water dripping, which I thought was good, knowing that the pipes hadn't frozen. Well, it wasn't so good, since it was not from the faucets I purposely left dripping. Obviously, there is a leak from the upstairs that we thought was fixed and as you can tell is not. I had been hoping to do some redecorating in my kitchen, but it was not in the immediate schedule. I was so thankful that Nathan was home and able to help, and that my wonderful neighbor gladly came to the rescue. They had to cut a hole in the sheet rock to relieve the pressure and keep the ceiling from collapsing while I kept buckets to catch the water.

You don't think anyone will notice if I just leave it like this do you?

During the past two days I have spent more time than I should have reading friends info on facebook and have seen lots of complaining about the weather conditions. So, I am going to see how many of you can leave me a comment about what you are thankful for despite the weather related problems.

Here is my list:

Despite the fact that parts of my house are 60 degrees because of minimal insulation and 120 year old windows, I am thankful that I have a warm fire and lots of blankets.

Despite the fact that my washing machine is frozen, I did ALL of my laundry yesterday and only have some wet towels today.

Despite the fact that I have a lovely hole in my ceiling, I have a roof over my head and a beautiful family to share my home.

Despite the fact that I haven't seen my husband in three days while he de-ices airplanes, we are thankful that he has a job!

Despite the fact that my floors can not stay clean in this mess, I have an amazing son who is

helping me around the house and helping to entertain his sisters.

Despite the fact that I have two very busy girls and I haven't even had a chance to read my book, I have gotten to look at these beautiful faces constantly for the past two days.

That, my friends, is what helps me when I am tempted to complain to remember the words of Paul when he said,

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."Phil 2:5

French fries

2011-01-25T23:45:00.001-06:00

Yes, you read the title correctly.

It was that one greasy french fry that caused me to forget where my mind was

originally focused when I awoke this morning.

See, some of you have been such an inspiration to me for so many different reasons.

People like my friends at
Psalm51ministeries,
who are participating in a 21 day corporate fast,
and my dear friend,
Rebecca, at Our Journey.
who spends 24/7 ministering to children far from her home and family.
Then there is Amy at Building the Blocks,
whose family is leaving to go into full-time mission work.

Yesterday, one of those inspirations came from
Emma, at Emonamission,
as she wrote about the orphans that burdened her heart. She was fasting and praying today for the God of heaven to pave the way for the adoptions of the least of these. I chose to join her, to fast and pray and cry out to God for hearts to be softened for these precious babies. My focus had remained throughout the breakfast and lunch hours and up until my sweet Lia came into my classroom with that greasy french fry and ever so sweetly offered me one. I began to eat a couple before I ever remembered my focus for the day.

As I thought about what had just happened, I realized just how quickly Satan can cause us to loose our focus on whatever God desires for us. It takes so little to cause our mind to forget whatever it is that we desire to do for the One who gave His life for us. I could have said, "Oh well, my fast is blown and over now," or I could choose to set my eyes on Him again. Really, no one else knew anyway and why did it matter? It mattered because God knew and He and I are the very best of friends. I wasn't doing it for me, my family, friends or anyone else but The One who truly mattered. So, I walked away from the fries and asked the Lord to be my strength in my weakness and to raise up people who will have a desire to provide a forever home to little girls like Lia's dear friend who LWB is advocating for today.

I am so glad this little girl is finally on a list to possibly find her family. Lia has asked me many times when I tell her it took us a long time to find her, "Why you take so long?" I told her we were waiting for the call to go get her. I have some sweet pictures of the two of them together and ask that you join me in praying for her family to hear the call.

Turning my frown upside down

2011-01-18T23:51:00.000-06:00

After I spent the day grading papers, then fought the crowd at W*lmart, then came

home to a washing machine that was started at

7 am and was still running at 7 pm....

having a little funny face like this certainly brings a smile to my face!

If you can't tell, she liked dinner that her sister made tonight. Yes, it came out of a box, but Tia made it all by herself while Justin and I tried to figure out how to turn off the water to the washer. Thank you, Tia, YOU ARE THE BEST BIG SISTER!

Fortunately, the washer was on an outside wall and drains under the house

so the house wasn't flooded.

We've also had the pleasure of that experience many years ago and know how unpleasant it was!

She seems to know how to capture everyone's attention around here.

And just in case big brother isn't listening, she pulls out all of the punches, including

the look and pointing finger, which typically gets her just about anything she wants.

Just in case any of you are considering adoption, but like me, think you are too old to adopt

because you have grown children,

take a look at these two faces, 18 years apart, and see the LOVE.

(As I type this, the song, "God Gave Me You," by Dave Barnes is playing. How perfect!)

True Love

2011-01-09T23:01:00.000-06:00

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Overcomers

2011-01-08T12:38:00.000-06:00

I honestly think this is what it means to "meditate" on the word of God...to really think about what it means and how it affects my life. For some reason this word just stuck out to me this morning like never before as I was reading Revelation. Yes, I'm behind and still trying to finish reading through the bible for 2010, but I'm still growing in the word, and 2010 was VERY BUSY!

To overcome?

What does that really mean?

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial,

because when he has stood the test,

he will receive the crown of life

that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

After my friends posted this verse on their facebook page the other day, I thought about what joy we will have when we finally overcome and receive that promised crown of life. Just like the song says, "I can only imagine!" Friends, my heart pounds a little faster at the thought of how beautiful we will all look wearing our crowns.

I don't know about you, but many times I don't feel like I am doing a very good job handling the daily struggles of life. Struggles like finances, health, whiny kids, students who don't care, adult children(need I say more on that one!), and the idea that so many are hurting and dying in this world without knowing the LOVE of God. So many struggles we face leave us with the feeling of frustration and the hurt of knowing there is sometime little that we can do about it other than pray without ceasing. My heart is burdened for babies and children that go to bed every night and wake up every morning with no family to love them or kiss them when they cry. I pray for friends dealing with cancer and lost loved ones, drugs and alcohol that are destroying families, friends living in a foreign country without family, and the hurt that accompanies this and so much more.

So how do we keep on through the struggles and not give up? How do we have the joy of the Lord when our hearts are breaking? How do we build others up when we are crumbling on the inside? The only answer is....

GOD,

and the knowledge of all we will be and have once we overcome.

The following verses spoke volumes to me today as I realized all I have to look forward to once I "overcome" this world and all it has to dish out. I hope you will read them and reflect on all you have to overcome in 2011(much of it you may not even know will come your way yet). The world will fight against us, but fortunately we have ONE fighting those battles for us and

we will be OVERCOMERS through HIM.

They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 1:18-19

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Rev. 2:6-8

He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. Rev. 2:10-12

To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. Rev. 2:16-18

To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
Rev. 2:25-27

Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. Rev. 3:11-13

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. Rev. 3:20-22

And the best one of all....

He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. Rev. 21:6-8

Now, I'm going to overcome getting these Christmas decorations put away today if it get's the best of me or not. What do you have to overcome?

Reading from our favorite book

2011-01-05T21:04:00.000-06:00

(Remember to turn off the music at the bottom of the page)

Happy New Year

2011-01-02T00:51:00.000-06:00

With a new year we welcome new beginnings, new challenges and fortunately, His new mercies with each day. As we wind down 2010 and begin 2011, I am looking forward to whatever God has in store for us this year. In our family, there never seems to be a dull moment and we seem to be pretty used to that way of life. Last year was one of the most challenging years our family has ever faced and also one of the most amazingly beautiful and memorable years. We truly learned to appreciate each and every moment of life as we saw first hand the delicate nature of every breath we are given. I am so thankful to God that His plans are so much greater than ours and that we have had faithful friends to love and support us through the good times and difficult. It is my prayer that each of you will have a blessed year and above all:

your FAITH will grow deeper

you will have HOPE for each tomorrow

and LOVE will embrace you on your journey.

What's a mom to do?

2010-12-29T01:37:00.001-06:00

An evening without kids is certainly a rarity these days and one I would NOT want to experience very often. Occasionally though, it is nice to have a little bit of time alone. So what's a mom to do without little girls running around? First, I spent 2.5 hours catching up over

dinner with a special friend that I do not get to visit with near enough!

Then, I shopped for a little while before stopping by Starbucks on my way home to get a

drink(with my gift card, thanks to Mom!)

to enjoy on the drive home. Once home, I got a non-weight watchers bowl

of ice cream to enjoy in my bed while I took time to catch up on some important reading material like facebook and blogs! Then, I finally had the chance to share some photos taken over the holidays that I haven't had a moment to share until now.

Thanks to my sweet sister and brother-in-law our family had a wonderful evening looking at Christmas lights in a luxury hummer limo. We certainly had some great laughs together!

On Tuesday I took these sweet girls to the nursing home to sing Christmas carols

and read to our friend.

You can tell by the looks on their faces how much fun they had.

Then I had the joy of serving a meal alongside the man of my dreams and my other family and

friends at the Ronald McDonald House. I hope we were able to bless the

families there even half as much as they blessed us.

Christmas Eve was spent quickly wrapping and decorating gifts before they

were unwrapped. I wrapped in white and let the girls decorate however they chose.

Look at their beautiful artwork!

The best evening of all this season was having all of my kids at home to worship our Saviour and celebrate His birth at our candle light service on Christmas Eve.

And before bedtime watching big brother read to his sister brought a tear to my eye

as I saw the love in both of their eyes.

Last night, we had a small family dinner to celebrate turning FIVE years old. In order not to have a party two days after Christmas we had already had the Princess party in November.

When we got home she used her new Princess phone to tell me "I texting my friends."
When I politely told her they could not come visit at 10 pm she used her new favorite word, "Whatevvver!" Oh, this girl has some spunk, and that is our Christmas miracle.

This season has left us with many wonderful memories that will last way
beyond the gifts that were opened. I pray, you also, were able to enjoy special moments
with those you hold dear.

How will I answer this one?

2010-12-21T16:31:00.000-06:00

Having a little girl that asks a million in one questions can sometimes get quite interesting! This morning I was reading her a small pop-up book about the birth of Jesus. I explained that baby Jesus was in Mary's tummy and He came out. Quickly, she asked in her sweet little inquisitive voice, "How he come out?" I had to quickly decide how I was going to answer this question, because after five children, I have discovered that they often don't want as much info as we tend to give. So, I told her that God puts babies in Mommy's tummy's and then they come out, waiting to see if more questions would follow. That answer was enough to satisfy her curious little mind and she said, "What about Daddy's?" I told her Daddy's don't have babies and she said,"Aww, poor Daddy's!"

Mommy's aren't you glad He chose us to bear His children? I bet the Daddy's are too!

One week from now...

2010-12-19T16:24:00.000-06:00

One week from today it will all be over...the shopping will be done...the presents will be opened...and the food will all be gone (or at least added to our hips.) That means that we have one week left to prepare for the biggest day of the year. We have one week to decide how we are going to glorify THE ONE who humbled himself and came to earth to be placed in a manger for you and for me.

Yesterday, as I entered the mall for the first time in a long time I saw so many people in a hurry to pick out just the right gift. I wondered how many would even be giving a thought to what they will give to the Christ child this Christmas. I had the opportunity a few days ago to share the story, "What Jesus Wants For Christmas" with our Mission Friends. As I watched their little faces open the last box with a mirror inside and sweetly proclaim, "ME!" I was reminded that we are all He really wants.

I realize finances are tight for many of us this year, but I hope you will consider how you can give of yourself this Christmas to make it a little more blessed for someone else. The Chip-in on my blog will be available for another week to make a contribution to The Children's Welfare Institute in Zhejiang, China, the orphanage that cared for and loved our baby girl for three years until we could bring her home. I appreciate the donations that have been given online and personally. I can't wait to send our donation and know that many children will be blessed because of the generosity of some of you. We received a sweet letter from the assistant director this last week asking how Lia was doing and thanking us again for giving her a forever family. We are the ones who are blessed this year as we are able to experience the awe of Christmas through the eyes of a little girl for her first time.

I hope you will take time this week to also experience

the awe of His birth.

Paying it Forward

2010-12-09T00:00:00.002-06:00

Caring for orphans seems like an impossible task when you think that there are over

147 million in the world.

How can you and I make a difference with such an overwhelming number?

Of course everyone isn't going to go out and adopt, but can't everyone do something?

As I've been reading through scripture this year, I am more convinced than ever that

we are ALL called to provide in

some way, shape or form for the least of these. As we said prayers tonight,

I listened to my girls pray for children that have no mommy and daddy and it

just continues to break my heart.

So what can I do about it?

I hope you will join us in sending a little something to some of those children without families to love them. Lia wants to send her friends at the orphanage a present for Christmas and we thought you might like to help. I LOVE to see who is following my blog and believe me I read every comment. I see that there are 61 followers and if each of you clicked on the "chip in" button on the right and chip in as little as $2(the price of your Sonic drink) we could make a big difference in a child's life. It would be REALLY COOL if all of you sweeties that tell me you read my blog would become followers and also add to that number! I am only leaving this on for two weeks so that I can send our financial gift along with a picture she is drawing to those still waiting for forever families.

One organization that is making a huge difference in the lives of orphans is Love Without Boundaries. If you look at their home page today you will see our precious girl (on the far right) and the excitement on her face last year when she got some new clothes and shoes. It wasn't the newest gadget or toys that brought a smile to her face, but simply some shoes and clothes to keep her warm. You see, it doesn't take much to make a child smile when they know they are loved!

For my friends on facebook, PLEASE take about 30 seconds to click on the video "Focus on Formula" by Suzanne and vote "Love it," to help win $10,000 for LWB to provide formula for orphans.

Whether it is around the world or in our own backyard, I am reminded of Matthew 25:40 when Jesus tells us,

"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine,

you did it unto me."

Merry Christmas

2010-12-06T19:46:00.001-06:00

Experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a child for the first time takes on a brand new meaning. I pray that we can each believe in the miracles of the season with the

faith and love of the children around us.

Celebrating the miracle of healed hearts tonight with the cardiologists, Santa,

and lots of little ones at the children's hospital.

Six months...so many changes!

2010-12-01T23:07:00.000-06:00

Six months ago we looked into the eyes of a scared little orphan girl and

at that moment our lives would forever be changed.

June 1, 2010

was a day we will forever remember when the Lord

brought Lia into our family and continued to work in our lives

in ways we could have never dreamed. He created a love within our hearts that we
didn't even know existed and brought with it an incredible joy.

Wondering for 18 long months whether we had

really heard God speak clearly, it was on this day that we wondered no longer.
We had without a doubt heard His still small voice and there was no mistaking
the fact that we could have easily missed this moment.

I praise Him today for not giving up on us

as we continued to seek and pray for His will while our baby girl waited a little longer
for a family to love her. Oh how I wish we had been there to love her
when she was younger, but God knew the perfect moment when all of our hearts
would be ready to fall in love.

Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.

They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.

It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms.

But once you do, everything changes.
Radical by David Platt

Giveaways!

2010-11-30T22:57:00.000-06:00

I'm a little late with the information, but that seems pretty typical for me. So if you are ready to win some fun stuff for that special Christmas gift take a look at this great blog and all of the giveaways she has in store. Hope we win!

Who is that?

2010-11-26T13:48:00.000-06:00

That, little sister, is baby Jesus and the reason for the season! There isn't a black Friday sale that could compete with the excitement I'm experiencing around our house today. What a joy it is to explain for the first time why we really celebrate Christmas. Having all of my kids at home, helping to decorate for the greatest day of the year. It doesn't get much better than that!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Spirit of Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T11:36:00.000-06:00

If you frequently stop by my blog you will notice some changes. I wanted to add our family photo, but the other background just didn't look well with it, so I hope you like the look. If not, stick around and if you know me very well, you know it probably won't last too long! You may also notice the new song I added today. Take a minute and really listen to the words and cherish the thought that HE is the one we can praise through the storms of life.

Why on Earth would I add such a song when it is Thanksgiving? I have come to realize that being thankful often takes work and effort. The work and effort that are sometimes hard and take thought. As Christians living in America, we are blessed beyond measure and want to be thankful, but when the storms of life come, thankfulness is easier said than done. That's where we have to make a choice. Are we going to let the storms of life steal our joy and thankfulness or are we going to praise HIM through the storm.

The storm clouds have moved our way recently, but I am CHOOSING to praise my heavenly Father, my refuge and strength, my very great reward. He is MY miracle-working God and the ONE in whom I place my trust. He is the reason I can celebrate Thanksgiving no matter what circumstances ever come my way. I hope and pray you too will CHOOSE to be thankful, no matter what is happening around you.

These are some of the things that help me make the choice to be thankful:

A precious four year old, singing Jesus Loves Me...funny how she forgot the words and needed my help with, "they are weak, but He is strong." Yes, those were the words I needed to remember!

A beautiful, fun spirited, eleven year old who plays with her little sister when I am too tired!

Son's who love their momma even though they may not always show it,

and care enough about their little sister to make her feel special.

A husband that ADORES his family and places each of our interests before his own.

Then there are the words of encouragement from faithful friends and family that

brighten my day at just the right moment.

Such moments can not be captured by a photo, but will forever be captured in the memory of my heart. You are the ones that help me remember that no matter how hard the storm rages,

I have more to be thankful for than any storm could ever blow away!

Praising Him for His promises!

2010-11-22T08:09:00.001-06:00

"I have loved you with an everlasting love...This is what the Lord says:
"Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,"
declares the Lord.
"They will return from the land of the enemy.
So there is hope for your future,"
declares the Lord.
"Your children will return to their own land. (Jeremiah 31:3,16-17)

Thank you Jesus that I
can cling to
YOUR word!

As a parent, I try to be careful what I say on my blog so as to keep some privacy, especially for my grown children. I can tell you though that the enemy is very much alive and trying to ruin what we have worked so hard to build into our families. However, my God is so much more powerful than any enemy and I am choosing to listen to His word! Would you please join me in praying that His word would be the words we hear and that we won't believe the lies of the enemy?
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

What will $500 buy?

2010-11-18T08:47:00.000-06:00

At this time of year we all start thinking about the many things we need to spend money on and the list seems to go on and on. I know I could certainly use and extra $500 right now!

More than that though, I can help bring another orphan home.

Please take a moment before 3:30 CST today and look at the blog of this wonderful family at

One More Ladybug

as they try to raise the funds to bring home this sweet little angel. Not only could you win a $500 Walmart gift card to be delivered before Black Friday, but you could help a precious family give an orphan a forever home. So what are you waiting for, click on the link above and be blessed!

A birthday to remember

2010-11-14T23:04:00.000-06:00

After having our post placement visit for our adoption and then "China school" we came

home to a great time of family, friends, and birthday celebrations.

You see, every since Lia came home, she has wanted to have a birthday party and be a Princess. Tia had a birthday celebration a few weeks ago and Lia wanted to know when her birthday was. She has never really had a birthday, more than just the cake and stuffed animal that we sent her last year. I explained that my birthday was next, but I couldn't imagine her having to watch one more birthday celebration that wasn't for her. So, considering the fact that I REALLY didn't want to draw too much attention to my birthday, and that is all she has dreamed of, I decided that we would just party together and that is just what we did!

We had a Princess cake and cupcakes with plenty to spare!

There were 5 candles for her to blow out

and I didn't have to get out the fire extinquisher for all of mine!

We had balloons in her favorite colors-

PINK and PURPLE

and lots of little Princesses to share our party

and a special gift that Daddy picked out just for his little Princess

which is of course where we spent the afternoon today;

riding the jeep in the beautiful fall leaves

While putting her to bed last night David asked her if she liked her jeep.

She said yes, and asked, "Why you bought it for me?" In all his daddy wisdom

he told her we wanted her to have it for her special birthday.

She said, "Why? Because I'm being good?"

No, it's just because we love you and

there are no conditions attached.

Kinda a hard concept for a little girl.

Reminds me of the Love my Heavenly Father has for us.

We may not be good, and I know I am NOT deserving, but He

LOVES me anyway and pours out His gifts to me.

Most of those gifts look like this:

While we had Tia's friend over to visit I let her snap a few

family photos with all seven of us in the beautiful fall leaves

while I actually had everyone at home.

It may not be professional, but she is only 10 and I think she

did a pretty good job.

So that, my friends, is hopefully a birthday celebration she will remember,

and times that I will always cherish.

Orphan Sunday

2010-11-07T20:15:00.000-06:00

Please take just a minute and watch this great video in honor of Orphan Sunday. Don't forget to turn off the great new song, "What if God's People Prayed," by Casting Crowns at the bottom of the page.

Then turn the song back up, nice and loud, and tell me what you think!

Why Love Orphans? from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Why Love Orphans? from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

What does God look like?

2010-10-27T20:02:00.000-05:00

David and I taught Mission Friends for the first time tonight and what fun! We taught the story of God talking to Samuel (1 Sam 3). Afterward, I asked the kids to draw a picture of what God looks like when He talks to them. What precious pictures to see their view of God and how He is so much bigger than the others in the picture. Our sweet girl surprised us with God and His green hair bow. They each had a different picture of God but one thing they all had in common was that He was big and he loves them. I guess that is what's really important anyway. Oh, to have a childlike faith!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Use your imagination

2010-10-25T20:53:00.000-05:00

I have so many things I would like to post, but time just doesn't allow. I'm only sitting down right now because I have two girls attempting to make me beautiful. I have tried countless times to take a picture, but they are NOT worth posting - Trust me on this one! Both of my sweet girls are standing behind me arguing over which one is making my hair look the best. From what I can see, I have pieces of hair sticking out in many different directions and I'm praying a good shampoo job will put it back in place before morning!

So, until I have time for something more profound, please enjoy pictures of our crazy weekend of birthday celebrations. I'm still trying to catch up on sleep after a slumber party with 12 10/11 year old girls on Friday night. I have lots of fun pictures, but try to be careful not to post photos of other kiddos without parent's permission, so you will just have to visualize this one also. Total craziness is all I can say! On Sunday, we celebrated Tia's birthday and Mimi's birthday together and although it was a bit more calm, getting this family together always calls for a bit of craziness.

Sweet girl, your smile will light up a room and has been lighting up our family for 11 years now. Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with her sweetness!

Bobbing for apples was everyone's favorite.

Lia was SO happy to see her big brother come home from college!

Is there anything better than a Daddy preparing

smores for the Princesses in his life?

Missing one of my big boys, but I have to take a photo when I can.

Pictures are few and far

between with my boys these days.

Tia "11" and Mimi is ?

Lia loves to have her Aunt Sherri read to her.

Happiness

2010-10-21T21:44:00.000-05:00

What does it take to make you happy?

Really.

Do you have to have the best house or the newest vehicle on the market? Or would it be that beautiful new outfit or the newest gadget on the shelves? So many times in my life I've thought, "If I just had that ____ my life would be so much better or easier." I remember one time I just HAD to have that new vehicle because I'd never had a new one before. Amazingly, as soon as we drove it off the lot it was no longer new. Then through the joy of raising three boys, I quickly learned that anything new and nice in my house would soon be held together by super glue, so I better not get too attached to it. How many times have we thought that our kids "needed" that newest toy only to play with it for a time or two and never to look at it again.

Yesterday, my little artist drew two pictures at preschool that she told me about when she got home. This is a child who is happy with the simpliest things in life and other than today when she didn't get a nap, usually has a smile on her face.
When I asked her to tell me about the pictures she had drawn, she said this friend was sad because she had no mommy and no daddy.
The letters are just her way of writing new letters to tell her story.

The next picture is a friend that is happy because she has a mommy, daddy, brothers and sister. The letters are writing, "I LOVE YOU," as she is learning new letters.

That's all it took to turn her picture from a sad face to one with a smile. It wasn't toys or new clothes. It was just a family to call her own.

How sad to think that so many other children are sitting in an orphanage or foster care somewhere, waiting on the one thing that will make them happy,

A Family.

Breakfast of Champions!

2010-10-16T09:40:00.000-05:00

I'm sure there are donuts in China, but it is a new food to our sweet girl and obviously one she LOVES just like her big brothers!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

A day at the pumpkin patch

2010-10-13T22:19:00.000-05:00

What is better than a beautiful fall day? Spending it at the pumpkin patch with a happy little girl. Seeing the excitement in the eyes and faces of four year olds was a such a joy.

Picking out that special pumpkin with a sweet friend.

So many new experiences as she takes it all in.

Chinese Moon Festival

2010-09-22T22:39:00.002-05:00

Today in China many people celebrated the Moon Festival. Lia had the wonderful opportunity to also celebrate a few of the same traditions with a few of her Chinese "sisters," Allie, Jaden and Amelia. They had a great time making papers lanterns, watching Kai Lan's Moon Festival, eating traditional Chinese Moon Cakes and dressing up in their pretty dresses.

The countdown - ZERO days!

2010-09-21T23:20:00.000-05:00

Sisters have the best hands to hold!

Today is the day for which we have been counting down and we are now on ZERO days left - that is days left til she can really have fun again. It was exactly six weeks ago today that our little Lia spent 9.5 hours in the operating room having her heart repaired through the Fontan surgery for tricuspid atresia, hypoplastic right heart syndrome. This was her second surgery, with the first, the Glenn, done at 18 months old in China without a mommy or daddy by her side. We are so glad we were able to love her through this surgery every step of the way.

This time the doctors had to get through quite a bit of scar tissue before even beginning her surgery. She spent four days in PICU and nine days on the cardiac wing in recovery. Her little heart was on the heart/lung bypass maching for 158 minutes and she lost a large amount of blood during surgery.

Today, though, only six weeks later, she is so excited that she gets to swing and slide and ride her bike beginning tomorrow. Everyday, for the past week we have counted down the days and today was ZERO! YEA! God is good and He is a miracle working God!

Tonight, though, she really gave me a scare and I ask that you please pray that everything is ok. I will be calling the doctor in the morning to hopefully get some answers. This past Saturday night, Lia began crying with a terrible headache, out of the blue while we were driving. We got her some motrin and it went away pretty quickly. I assumed it was just allergies since she seemed to be a little stuffy and was outside much of the day. She has been fine since then until today. This morning shc woke up at 4 am and just didn't feel well. I gave her tylenol and she was fine all day. She went to school and played all day without any problems. Tonight, while bathing her, she began screaming with a terrible headache again. I called the hospital to ask if there was something that I needed to be aware of. The nurse didn't know of anything, told me to give her motrin and to bring her in if it didn't stop within an hour. I was prepared to head to the hospital tonight, but she fell asleep and is sleeping soundly now. This is not anything that we were warned of and after all she has been through, it breaks my heart to watch her holding her little head and crying in such pain.

Please join us in praying that everything is ok and she can enjoy really playing tomorrow and celebrating a wonderful recovery with many of the things she loves!

Just a few pictures I have taken the past week with my school camera,

since my other is still out of commission. I just love these,

but didn't get to post them

since I had misplaced my card reader.


First Sunday back to Sunday School to play with her friend, Allie


In awe of the fireworks we saw on Saturday.

Mommy's sunglasses are better for this Eagle fan!

Need some advice

2010-09-17T00:03:00.002-05:00

Can someone please tell me what happened to the alignment on my most recent post? I can NOT figure out how to change the way it appeared. I did not do anything different. Thanks!

Refrigerator

2010-09-16T23:56:00.010-05:00

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on
it. If He had a wallet, Your photo would be in it. He 
sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every
morning.  Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.
He could live anywhere in the universe, and He chose 
your heart. What about the Christmas gift He sent you

in Bethlehem; not to mention that Friday at Calvary.

Face it, He's crazy about

 you!

What a joy it is to know that He is

crazy about me!

I watched the joy in Lia's face tonight  as I asked her if we could

hang her picture on the refrigerator.  You see, I wonder how many times

she has ever had someone think she was special enough to hang her artwork

 for all to see.  Can you imagine what it  would be like to live in a home with about

90 other children all clamoring for attention?

Unfortunately, many children will never experience the joy of pulling

that new piece of scotch tape and taping that picture in just the perfect place,

making certain that it had enough pieces of tape so it wouldn't fall.

Just last week I was looking on the Love Without Boundaries

 website at the picture of a precious little girl that was Lia's playmate

just a few months ago.

"Rochelle" is still sitting and waiting for a family, hoping that

someday she too will get to put her picture somewhere special.

Wondering if she will ever get adopted, because, you see, she has a

special need.  As I looked intently at her picture, I noticed the sweet

little girl in the background and the sad look upon her face.

It only took a second for me to realize that sad little girl in the background

 is now the one that I kiss to sleep every night and tell her how beautiful her

pictures are everyday.  How I wish I could have held her then and been there to

 comfort her, but God's timing is perfect and May 31, 2010 was the date He had

planned for our lives to meet.

What a difference it makes to know you are special!  Please join me

in praying for little "Rochelle" and maybe even ask God if she could be

your little girl.

From the sounds of her profile, I bet she has some beautiful artwork

to decorate your refrigerator!

Tissue alert

2010-09-14T23:09:00.002-05:00

I heard the song, "Temporary Home," this morning on my way to work and decided to watch the video tonight. Since tears were already fresh on my eyes from my previous conversation with Lia, I knew it would be even more of a tear jerker. It seems that every night as I put her to bed she reveals just a little more of herself and the thoughts that are circulating through her head. She talks non-stop until she falls asleep trying her hardest to tell us many different stories. Tonight we had to discuss the fact that she has a FOREVER HOME and even if she acts "bad" she will always have our home. She informed me that "bad girls go China" and "good girls go home." Someday we will visit her homeland again, but for now I am so glad God allowed that to be her temporary home on her journey to our family. Our lives are so much richer since God poured out His love through our little brown eyed girl. It broke my heart to wonder what she has been told in her few short years and how many other little boys and girls think that they don't have a mommy or daddy just because they aren't good enough. My confidence comes from the fact that I know this is just our TEMPORARY HOME, and if we know Him we are just passing through on our way to our Forever home.

(Don't forget to scroll to the bottom of the page and turn off the music so you can listen to this beautiful song.)

First Day of School

2010-09-11T00:44:00.000-05:00

Ready to go to school

Lia with her new Pre-K teacher, Mrs. Hinson

Today was the long awaited day! It was finally here and Lia was ready to go to school. She had her purple dress, new shoes, a princess backpack and best of all her big sister and daddy to take her to school. I hated not being there for her excitement, but I got the next best thing. She is surrounded by my dear friends who love her already and sent me messages throughout the morning. I got a photo and a text proving how well she was doing and then when school was over David brought her to see me during my lunch so she could tell me all about it. She got to play babies, cook(pretend), eat, color and play. What more could a four year old ask for? Not only did she get to experience school for the first time, she also got to experience her first football game cheering on the Eagles. She was, however, rather disappointed when the Eagle mascot left and she didn't get to see it in time. I have no doubt she will have many more opportunities, but not getting to see it tonight, was a little too heart breaking. We just never know from day to day what may upset her, but we do know that she has plenty of people to love on her to help make it all better.

Having a great time with many new friends

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY....

2010-09-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

but I can NOT wait until then to tell you all what happened today! After a day that did not start off too well, it took a whole new turn and ended perfectly! We had originally seen a cardiologist who was wonderful prior to Lia's surgery, but while she was in PICU another pediatric cardiologist came to visit us. We chose to continue seeing this cardiologist for follow-up because he also spoke Mandarin and was able to really speak to Lia and comfort her. We were told we would have to go to his other office that was much further for us so that we could be seen quickly and then we could go to his other office. When we got there today, he wasn't even there due to a conflict in his schedule. After much discussion with the nurse and dr. on call we were sent to his hospital office where he was today. Dr. Sui had a wonderful converstaion with Lia in her native language, apologized profusely for the confusion and spent a great deal of time with us explaining every detail of Lia's health including the huge strides that medicine has come in the past few years. The best part came after the technician finished the echocardiogram. Dr. Sui gently closed the door, placed one hand on Lia, who was in her daddy's arms, the other on me and began to pray the MOST amazing prayer you can imagine. He didn't just pray for her physical healing, but for her spiritual and emotional healing as well. After his beautiful prayer was complete I told her she could ask him to answer the question she was longing to hear the answer to. She asked if she could go to school and he said yes. She is overjoyed! Her eyes lit up and she wanted to tell everyone she spoke to that tomorrow she would get to go to school. We went to lunch and of course celebrated with ice cream and then went shopping so she could pick out her new outfit for school. It didn't take long for this girly, girl to decide that purple and pink are her favorite colors. So tomorrow, she will celebrate her successful one month open heart surgery anniversary, with the gift she has been longing for - SCHOOL! To God be the glory!

Ezekiel 36:26 says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you..."

This is exactly what He is doing in our little angel as she continually reminds us of His mighty power in her life both physically and spiritually.

2010-09-04T21:57:00.000-05:00

We will never know what all Lia went through prior to May 31, 2010. However, there is one thing we know beyond the shadow of a doubt: we are here for her forever through the good times and the not so good as we all adjust to the many changes.

Thanks to the generosity of wonderful friends and family she is outfitted like a true Princess so even when she pouts she sure is cute!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Perfect weather for a walk!

2010-09-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

(Un)Adopted

2010-09-02T00:48:00.001-05:00

What does it mean to be (un)adopted?

To be (un)adopted means that I am lonely, even in an orphanage filled with children. To be (un)adopted means I have no future, even though I am pretty sure I will get out of bed tomorrow, next week, or next month. To be (un)adopted means I am left behind, as I see dozens of families coming to get the other children. Does my life matter to anyone? (an excerpt taken from Lifelines website today. PLEASE click on the link and read the rest.)

This very thought was made even more real to me today as Lia and I were driving and passed an apartment complex which obviously reminded her of her orphanage in China. She pointed and excitedly said, "My friend!" She was insistent that her friend was there. She told me that her friend "went bye bye." When I asked if she went with her mommy and daddy, thinking that maybe she had been adopted, she said, "No mommy daddy." Tears stung my eyes as I saw the hurt in hers. I felt so priveleged that God had given us the opportunity to give her a gift that countless children all over the world will never know.

I don't know what she was thinking about her friend, but I do know that she knows exactly what it means to get to go home to a mommy and daddy and be loved with an unconditional love. Something many of her other friends are still waiting for.

Today, her physical heart is healing beautifully, thanks to the amazing work of Dr. Tam and his wonderful team. However, it is moments such as these that show that her emotional heart is still grieving.

He is an amazingly brilliant AND loving doctor! Love this photo!

As she has gained more language recently, she has begun talking about her home in China. Her prayers bring a tear to my eyes most nights as she prays for her friends that don't have a mommy and daddy while we read, I Love You Like Crazy Cakes and talk about how we will always love her and never leave her.

A couple of blogs really caught my attention today that I hope you will take the opportunity to click on and read. One was a post at Building the Blocks and one at Where Learning Flows. Each of these blogs show such a heart for the orphans of the world and a desire to live out His commandments in James 1:27. I know that we are not all called to adopt, but we are all called to pray and love and care. Won't you pray for the least of these today? After all, if you remember, you were also adopted:

...he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ,

in accordance with his pleasure and will—Ephesians 1:5

One last pose before my camera got broken.
This is what happens when sisters play!

Beauty to behold

2010-08-26T23:49:00.000-05:00

The beauty of the morning as I left for work today.

..."Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings

and a revealer of mysteries...Daniel 2:47

The importance of words

2010-08-25T00:25:00.001-05:00

There will be no pictures for now, since my camera was dropped yesterday and broken while two sisters where trying to capture the following hairdo. Glad Aunt Sherri was able to get the picture and share it with me.

I am constantly trying to teach my students the importance of the meaning of words and using them properly so I guess I better take my own advice. It is amazing how quickly Lia is picking up English especially since she mimics everything we say. Just a couple of days ago I heard her say, "Oh my gosh!" I told her "Oh my goodness" really sounds better so she is so cute and is constantly saying, "Oh my goodness," with the sweetest little voice. Tonight as I was trying to give her medicine to her she thought maybe she had a choice in the matter and said to me, "I'm not sure?" Unfortunately, she didn't have a choice, as she repeated herself again and grudgingly took her meds. It is very obvious which ones don't taste too well. Hopefully this one won't be a forever medicine, like the other one probably will. Each new day we are experiencing the newness of her precious language and we especially love it when we say, "I love you" and she says, "I love you more!"

We went for xrays again today to make sure there wasn't too much fluid building up around her heart and lungs. The cardiologist wanted to look at the xray while we were there and she said everything looked about the same. There is some fluid, but not too much and it isn't increasing so they seem to think this is ok and she is recovering well.

Yes, we are going HOME!

2010-08-21T12:19:00.000-05:00

Chest xrays looked good and after we pack up and get discharge papers we will be on our way!

God has blessed us in a mighty way and we are looking forward to a life of health and happiness with our youngest Princess!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Going home???

2010-08-21T09:59:00.001-05:00

We just completed hopefully our last xray at the hospital. If everything looks good we get to go home today! We will update when we know the results, but Lia is feeling very good and the smiles are returning! We even got to sleep last night without too many interruptions!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

No more tubes!

2010-08-19T23:38:00.000-05:00

Lia's last chest tube came out and the only thing she has hooked to her now is her telemetry box that monitors her heart. No IV's, no tubes, no needles and this box is just attached with five small leads so it isn't painful. She looks like a little pin cushion, with bruises and holes all over her little body. She had an xray this morning and the doctor said it all looked good and they were very pleased with her progress. We will be at the hospital just a little longer and they will do another xray and bloodwork on Sat. morning. If it looks good we will be going HOME! We couldn't have asked for a better place to be for her surgery, but we are more than ready for a FULL nights sleep in our own bed.

Sisters passing time

2010-08-18T19:01:00.001-05:00

Spending time in a hospital can be very tiring and boring, but having a sister to share time with certainly helps. We are so happy to be at a wonderful hospital with a fun playroom and nurses that are genuinely caring. They do their best to help kids enjoy their time here as much as possible.

Lia is feeling much better today and her chest tubes have slowed draining significantly. We have an early xray in the morning and if there isn't fluid around her lungs we may be coming home soon. I'll update tomorrow when we get results.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

What two can do...

2010-08-16T23:05:00.006-05:00

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work.
Eccl. 4:9

Today was the first day I had to go back to school and David had to work. With Princess #2 in the hospital, we had to decide whether one of us would be missing work or we would accept help from others. Amazingly, here are the words from my Journey devotional for today:

"If we continually reject offers to assist us, we're depriving them
and ourselves of a blessing. God didn't intend for us to do everything by ourselves.
He has placed us in the body of Christ to help one another."

It was difficult leaving Lia this morning as I left the hospital, but Mimi stayed with her and it was obvious that they had a great time together, and this is what I found when I returned:

A very happy little girl and a Mimi who seemed to have enjoyed her day,
even though it was spent at a hospital.

Here are a few other photos showing what happens when you are bored in a hospital bed, but you have friends and relatives that like to help entertain.

Lia and her friend, Alli blowing bubbles together.

Lia and Teta demonstrating the many uses of tissue paper.

Lia and Daddy calling each other.

As I was posting this David was putting her back in bed for the evening and her chest tube accidentally got pulled. The nurse was afraid it had pulled away from her lung, so we went for an xray at midnight. Fortunately, the xray came back good and she was able to rest well with the help of a little pain medicine.

Now it's back to work for another day of inservice and she gets to stay and play with Aunt Sherri today and then Maw Maw tomorrow. Words can't express how grateful we are for the help we have been given from our wonderful family and friends and prayer warriors.

2010-08-15T22:42:00.001-05:00

God answered our prayers tonight in an amazing way. Lia took her medicine perfectly! This may seem minor to some, but this morning it took three of us holding her down to give it to her. Then this afternoon we met a lady whose little boy had the same surgery a few weeks ago and guess what? She speaks Mandarin and talked to Lia about taking her medicine. I really don't know what all she told her, but tonight Lia took all three meds and gave them to herself without even a tear. We said, "thank you God," the whole time as we watched in amazement. Then we praised her, ate some chocolate, and did the happy dance while she said,"settle down!"
Thank You Jesus for sending our answer to prayer through a beautiful lady.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Playtime

2010-08-15T12:31:00.000-05:00

Lia finally walked a little and made it to the playroom. We are having a terrible time administering her meds, so please pray this gets better soon.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Such a small thing, but such a big deal

2010-08-15T07:27:00.002-05:00

After Lia's central line was removed, she had to begin having her medicines orally. This has not been easy and last night was a nightmare. She is on three medicines and has to get used to this, because at least one of these will probably be a way of life for a long time and the other two may be temporary. She screamed and cried and we offered every form of bribery we could think of. Hopefully we finally got them in her, but I think about half of each one was spit back out. Please pray that she begins to accept these better. The doses are too small to put in pill form so she just has to take the liquid for now. Honestly, this was much worse than taking out the chest tubes and we hated to see her crying and fighting like this. She has been the best patient we could ask for so it made this even more difficult to put her through this pain. Her English is good enough that she quickly told us, "medicine, no like it!" That was quite obvious!

We were awakened at 5:00 am to a nurse coming to draw blood after we were told that they wouldn't be doing this today. Orders changed, but no one told us and poor baby was in a deep sleep(I'm glad someone was)and was awakened with a huge needle thus causing even more tears.

I was in the bed beside her comforting her after this ordeal and she finally fell back asleep. About 6:00 am when she was sleeping comfortably again, I heard her breathe three little words that made my heart smile...

I LOVE YOU!

Oh, baby girl, how we love you and wish we could make the pain go away. Unfortunately, this is all part of the process we have to go through to make your heart better.

Thanks for the prayers and support!

Progress

2010-08-14T12:27:00.001-05:00

After a very hard day yesterday and a screaming hard morning during blood work, Lia is doing great. We were moved out of PICU and upstairs to a regular room! We are in Rm 318 at Cooks and will be here until her chest tube stops draining. That could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. She can not go home with a chest tube so please pray it slows the drainage.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Tubes are out

2010-08-13T16:40:00.006-05:00

Some of the tubes are out and thanks to our Child Life Specialist, Angie, Lia did amazing! Angie helped entertain her and gave her some fun games to play on her ipod. We hope to move to a room within the next couple of days.

Now we are one step closer to looking like this again:

We are ready to see this smile again!

Tubes coming out soon

2010-08-13T12:43:00.001-05:00

We are waiting on the dr to start removing tubes now. Lia will have her catheter, central line and two chest tubes removed. She is on morphine to hopefully take off some of the pain. Please pray God takes away the rest! Let you know how it goes soon.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Chest tubes

2010-08-13T09:47:00.001-05:00

Lia woke up in a happy mood this am, but nausea quickly set in again. They say this is all normal and not to expect an appetite for awhile. Her little body is having to adjust to a big change as her path of blood has been totally rerouted. They are hoping to take out one or two out of the three chest tubes today. This will probably be a very painful process so please pray for minimal pain. Her chest incision looks great and does not give her any pain that we are aware of, but the chest tubes are painful. The drs are trying to get us a translator now to help talk to her, so if you speak Mandarin please come for a visit!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Power of prayer

2010-08-12T17:28:00.009-05:00

How many times do we doubt the power of prayer and think our little measly prayer isn't effective.? We say we will pray for someone and often forget, wondering if it really matters anyway.

Let me tell you that we have truly felt the power of so many prayers the past few days! The peace that God has given us during such a difficult time has been amazing. Watching your baby suffer is not easy and this morning she was having a very hard time. Nausea was getting the best of her and she was just so SAD! When my sister asked how my day was I told her, "Terrible, sorry, but you asked." I know she asked some of you to pray(I saw it on her FB page). Guess what, Lia began feeling better, which meant that mommy did too! She actually tolerated a popsicle and some sprite.

Then this afternoon she had a few more bouts with nausea and was completely solemn. She didn't speak and didn't have hardly any emotion. It was so hard watching our almost always happy little girl like this. We are so thankful that my mom has been coming to give me a break during the day to go clean up and David's parents have been relieving us to go eat.

We have a room at the Ronald McDonald House and this has been such a blessing to us. I hope you will click on the link and see what a wonderful place this is. They provide us with meals in the evening all cooked by volunteers.

This evening while Aunt Sherri was visiting, Lia called Uncle Mike in the waiting room and talked to him. We saw our first smile when he began to tease her. After that, she ate a few bites of ice cream and talked to us and we even got a few more smiles. That certainly did our hearts good.

They were able to take out a few of her iv's and her pacer wires. You may notice the dark area in the picture under her arm. This is a chemical burn from some of the cleaning solution they used before surgery that dripped onto her skin and didn't get washed off. She is still draining far too much fluid from around her lungs to take out any of her chest tubes so please continue to pray that the drainage begins slow down very soon.

I also want to report what a blessing it was to visit with baby Landry's parents tonight. I found out she is 10 days old and has had two heart surgeries. I told them that many of us had been praying for her and they were so thankful! They almost lost her the other night when I asked you to pray and I am happy to report that she is doing much better.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 5:16

2:00 am bath and bows

2010-08-12T03:24:00.000-05:00

Lia was sleeping so well earlier that the nurses left her alone. That meant that at 2:00 am it was time for clean up. She was such a great patient as they ever so gently bathed her and changed her sheets. They are so good about making this painful process as good as possible. After the wound cleansing, teeth brushing, new sheets, and being weighed she and Princess bear were given matching hair bows. She also had a popsicle with her favorite color purple on top. Now it is 3:00 am and we can catch a few more zzz's.

For an update on baby Landry you prayed for: I haven't had a chance to speak with her parents, but was so encouraged to see them with her at the end of our room in icu. Praise the Lord, God must be healing her tiny body!

There is a also a story in the star-telegram and mineral wells paper about baby Peyton Hood who passed away. This is such a reminder of the brevity of life and how we should cherish every moment. It should also remind us to be so careful this time of year when the snakes are out.

So we are seeing that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

Kiss your babies and cherish each moment. I know I am seeing the gift of life in a whole new way lately.

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

A new day

2010-08-11T08:50:00.000-05:00

Lia is finally getting ice chips and is beginning to wake up. Just as I typed this she threw up the ice. She lost quite a bit of blood, but is doing better.

We had a very depressing night and ask that you pray for Paytons family. We wish they could have had the miracle we all prayed for, but we now pray for God to comfort them in their sorrow.

Lia is resting well now and our family will help give us breaks through the day. Thank you for all of the prayers and please continue!

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Resting

2010-08-11T04:11:00.001-05:00

We were finally able to get back to see Lia around 1:30 am. Her vitals are good and O2 sats are already at 98 after being at 83-85 earlier. She is breathing on her own now with a little oxygen. She has lost a lot of blood and has had to have blood, platelets and plasma. She is getting more now. They gave her benadryl for nausea and she is sleeping so I am going to take a short rest also.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Payton

2010-08-11T00:43:00.001-05:00

Baby Payton just went home to be with our Lord. Please pray for this family. We are grieving with them as we wait to see our Lia.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

PICU-A hard place to be

2010-08-11T00:32:00.001-05:00

PLEASE lift up a little girl named Payton that is in very critical condition. She is two and had the worst snake bite the dr has seen. Drs can't save her now. Only God can. They have a huge team working to save her. We can wait to see Lia as we pray they can save this little one!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Out of surgery!

2010-08-10T23:33:00.002-05:00

Lia is out of surgery and we just got to see her as they were wheeling her to PICU. She looked better than we expected, but she is still on the breathing tube and will probably be for the next few hours. Dr. Tam met with us and said everything went well during the surgery. We are waiting to go see her in PICU. Thank you to all of our family and friends that sat with us throughout the day. We truly appreciate the love, prayers and concern from so many of you. It has been a very long day but we are praising God that it has been so successful. Lia has a long road to recovery, but knowing her fighting spirit we know she will pull through in no time.

I will be spending the night in PICU while David takes a short nap at the Ronald McDonald house across the street before heading to work in the morning.

9:45 pm update

2010-08-10T21:48:00.002-05:00

Praise God her little heart is beating on its own again! We just got the best news saying that it is beating and Dr. Tam is sewing her up. The nurses sew up the outer layer, but he does all the inside layers. They did have to give her platelets for her blood clotting. We are so excited to hear that our Lord that held her little heart and protected it while the dr. did the work has allowed it to beat on its own once again. We have about another hour to go and we should get to talk to the surgeon that has been working on her for the past 5 hours.

To Him Be the Glory! We are tired but very encouraged! His peace has been perfect through this day. Please pray for strong stomaches on our part as we see our baby girl hooked up to so many tubes and machines.

8:40 hourly update

2010-08-10T20:35:00.003-05:00

Nurse Dee just called and Dr. Tam is finishing up his part of the surgery now. His part started at 4:45 so he has been working about 4 hours now. Lia is still on the bypass so it all depends on when her little heart wants to start beating again as to when surgery will be over. Please pray that her sweet little heart will start working again on its own. They will call again in an hour to update. I hope to hear that her heart is beating on its own by then. Once the dr. finishes, the nurses will be doing all of the sewing back up. One of the nurses told us that he lets the ladies do the sewing so that it looks pretty!

I hope this makes sense. My mind is getting very tired now after such a long day.

2010-08-10T19:29:00.001-05:00

We just got the message from a nurse that she is still on the bypass as Dr. Tam works. She is stable but they needed to give her heart a rest.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Jesus is holding her heart now

2010-08-10T16:57:00.000-05:00

We just got the call at 4:35 pm saying surgery just now got started and they are hooking Lia up to the bypass machine at this time. This seems like such a long time, but Dr. Tam explained that it could take a few hours before he even got to her. There is much to do esp. if they run into any scar tissue before he can even do his work. So at this moment a machine is pumping Lia's blood while her heart is stopped for him to work on it. Please pray for steady hands, wisdom for those working and Lia's little heart to restart the way it needs to in a few hours.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

In the best of hands

2010-08-10T15:37:00.001-05:00

Lia is officially in surgery now. They carried her off sleeping peacefully to get her ready. Dr. Tam then met with us for about an hour giving thorough information. He went back to do his magic while God does his miracles at about 3pm. It should take about 5 hrs from this point but they promise to update through the surgery. I will update when we hear something. My dear prayer warriors, you are the best!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

IMG00299.jpg

2010-08-10T13:59:00.000-05:00

Finding comfort in big sister's arms while we wait even longer. She finally fell asleep while we talked to the anesthesiologist. This is good because she was getting very anxious! LOVE how God calms our anxiety!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Still waiting

2010-08-10T12:04:00.001-05:00

We are waiting for them to come get Lia for surgery. We were told we have the BEST doctor, BUT not to be surprised if he runs late. This is typical. We thought they were taking her at 11, but no one has come yet. I wish we could just avoid this, but since that isn't possible we are ready to get this show on the road.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®