The day I got married, one of my closest friends looked me in the eye and said "God has many wild and wonderful things ahead for you and Jeremy."

Being called mom by 7 kids is definitely wild. Each day I look for the wonder in it all...and give thanks.

Partnering with my husband in life, parenting, work and serving is definitely wonderful. He is my favorite.



Friday, February 25, 2011

Emilyism


Sometimes having a daughter on the spectrum can be challenging, overwhelming and downright frustrating.

I have been known to say that
9 times out of 10 I can handle our challenges with grace....but THIS.....this is day 10.

=)
it's true
=/

At other times, having a kid on the spectrum is....

a blessing

FUN

and downright hilarious!

I love it when I get a glimpse of how she sees things. 
And I love that it is not the same way a "typical" kid sees things.


In our family, we have Emilyisms. 

Something Emily says that just makes you think.....and LAUGH! 
And Emily laughs with us.

The other day, she and I were in the car listening to a song on youtube.  When we stopped for dinner and were sitting in the restaurant, I said, "Oh I still have that song in my head."

She looked at me with surprise and said, "Me too!  Can you hear it?"

I laughed and explained what I meant by having it in my head.  I said, "So you have it in your head too."  She looked around the room and said, "Wow, it's almost like you can hear it playing in the room."

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

happy birthday to me


My birthday was this past weekend and it was like no other birthday before!  I got to enjoy Friday night and Saturday with these two gals--Emily and my niece, A.G.

We went to a "Living For Him" retreat for 5th-6th graders and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it....
so I think I will show you....

Hayride under the starry night

 S'mores of course!!

Fun on the water!
The weather was perfect all weekend--thank you, God!
 A.G.'s first time to kayak
Nearly soaked from almost falling in!


Time to climb!!
(my first time to climb and yes I did make it to the top
woo-hoo!!)

Sunday, we headed out to cheer Jeremy on in his 5th marathon
 The girls did an awesome job cheering!
Wesley helped Jeremy finish at mile 26
(so proud of those guys!)

I thoroughly enjoyed my birthday weekend.

Monday, February 21, 2011

How in the WORLD??

A few days (or weeks...how long has it been?) I told you I was thinking about

HOMESCHOOL

Now I am thinking.....

WHY do I want to homeschool?

HOW in the world can I do it??

I have been analyzing my days as I work and go about the daily house stuff, errands, etc. and think.....

I don't know if this is such a good idea.

There has been more than one day that I have thought---No school would have been accomplished today.

But I can't have too many of those kind of days and think that I can really be successful at homeschool.

And then the FEARS come upon me....
will I totally fail?
will we just start to argue and fuss at one another all the time?
what if I can't do it?
Then what?

Other days, I think it is possible.

I think...we can restructure everything. 
How and when stuff gets done. 
Maybe it would be a good thing. 
And I would share some of the tasks that I tend to just do myself cause it's easier.

One kid wants to homeschool, another doesn't.  She has specifically mentioned that she hopes God tells me to not homeschool her until High school.  She wants to go to middle school---lockers, changing classrooms more, being with her friends, and I think it also has something to do with a special interest in a BOY.

So I don't have an answer
YET.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Dear Church,

I love you.  But I must write this letter because I am deeply grieved.  We have failed.  We come together each week and in our midst are families that are
D-Y-I-N-G.  
Wives are sitting next to husbands who have become their enemy and they cannot cry out because they have to go home with him.

And what will people think?
And what good does it do anyway?

Families are dissolving in our midst and we do nothing. 
Maybe we don't know them. 
Maybe we're scared,
inadequate,
we don't know what to say. 

But as we say nothing and do nothing,
couples collapse,
families dissolve.

Those that have courage to ask for help, for prayer, become numb by our silence.  They think maybe God's silence, our silence, is permission to quit.  Their marriage, their hopes, must be too difficult for God.  Their dreams for a thriving, godly union must be impossible.

But GOD says

Behold, I am the LORD,
the GOD of all flesh;
is anything too difficult for Me?
Jeremiah 32:27

Jesus says

With people it is impossible,
but not with God;
for all things are possible with God.
Mark 10:27

Dear Church,
dear brothers,
dear sisters,

IF you are at the end of your rope, you have tried everything, done everything, please know that I am crying out to God on your behalf.  Like Aaron and Hur who held up Moses' arms during the battle between Joshua and Amalek, and as his arms were held up, the Isrealites prevailed.  So it is as we hold you up, the Enemy will be defeated. (Exodus 17: 8-16)

You are not alone. 

We will no longer be silent.  Church, we MUST come beside our hurting brothers and sisters NOW.  Lives are at stake.  The Enemy is prevailing because we are not holding them up.

Brother, sister, I am praying that the arm, the mighty arm of God that stretched out the Heavens,
will hold your marriage together.  

And Church, I am praying that we become more like Jesus.  That we weep with those who weep, bring healing and hope, bear one another's burdens, and point one another to obedience to Christ.

Church, we don't need initials at the end of our name to be qualified to come along side these hurting families.  We don't pretend to have solutions, a step by step process guaranteed to work, interventions. 

BUT we have GOD!

OUR GOD IS GREATER!

MIGHTY IN POWER!

His Word is our Counselor!

God says

I will counsel you with My eye upon you
Psalm 32:8b
  
God is not silent
and we must no longer sit in silence
as marriages and families
dissolve
in our midst

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Our God is Greater

THIS is the truth that keeps coming to mind in recent weeks...

OUR GOD IS GREATER

He whispers it in my mind
Let's me hear it in a song
I get to sing it with 400 other people on Sunday morning
He speaks it through a friend
a message
through His creation
through His GLORY

Greater than...
my concerns for next school year
closed doors in front of me
past pains
broken families
my BIGGEST dreams

GREATER than...
the gap between now and bringing home our first child from Rwanda
my weaknesses
my insecurities
my hopes

GREATER THAN...
the debts we owe
my deepest fears
disability
my desires

Our God is Greater!

Today, pray with me for God to move some mountains...

in a dissolving marriage
for orphans to come home to a forever family
for needs to be met
for healing