Fri 3/31--Thank you

To the ladies of AOL's Giving Tree Talk board, thank you for the Walmart gift card. It was a sweet contribution to my grocery bill last night! :)

To the anonymous donor(s) at Rose Heights, we are blessed by your love offering. Thank you!! It's hard to know what words to use when things are done anonymously, but please know how much we appreciate your gift. We haven't chosen a particular use for it yet, but we want you to know, we will be good stewards of it.

Wed March 15

This morning, Samuel & Andrew were talking about how cool it would be to have a time machine. Andrew said "Yeah, I'd want to go back & see how my mom died." This is one of the first comments he's made about her dying....and I found it odd that he didn't say 'I'd like to go back & save my mom from dying.' Anyway, he asked me a question or two about how she died, so I was as honest as I could be & explained her injuries to him. He took it very matter of factly & just moved on. I'm glad. I figure being up front about everything is the best way to handle things because if you remove all the mystery from it, it won't be scary. And like they always say, not knowing is harder than knowing. I think that holds true here. After we talked about Kelly's injuries, Andrew said he wanted to go see where the wreck happened.
Larry got home about 11:00 & we took off. We had to go pick up the girls (who all spent the night with my mom last night) and then headed to Palestine, where we visited with G at the jail. It was such a sad place to be. The tiny waiting room was crammed full of families with little bitty children. How awful that all these sweet kids are having to go there to visit a father/mother/sister/brother. A&K don't seem to grasp that this is really unusual. They were just excited to see their dad. It's funny how innocent children are & how they're proud of mom/dad no matter what they do or who they are. When I stepped into the visiting room, Kourtney was jumping up & down, pointing & saying "there's my dad! there's my dad!" as if she was pointing out a movie star. I'm glad that their relationship is still good & she's happy to see her dad, but at the same time, saddened that it has to be done this way. We only had a 30 minute visit & he spent most of that time talking to the kids.
When we left the jail, we went to the site of the wreck. The kids were all interested in the neon orange paint on the road marking where they van came to rest after the accident, the tree that was hit, the pine straw that is still bunched up in a little pile from where the tires landed. Larry asked the kids if they had any questions. Andrew didn't, but Kourtney said she did. Rather than a question, she went into a speech about how this was just an accident...that mommy & daddy loved her...and that her mommy is watching over her now. I guess she just felt the need to clarify all that for us. :)
Then we went to the cemetary to visit Kelly's grave. As we pulled into the cemetary, Kourtney said something & sounded like she was about to burst into tears, but she quickly perked back up & never cried. I'm still not really sure what it was she said, though. We pulled up right beside Kelly's grave & went over to sit on the ground beside it. The kids & I read the little grave marker & realized that tomorrow would've been her birthday. I think we're going to go get some balloons & release them. The kids want to send balloons to Heaven for mommy. Kourtney actually wants to get a BUNCH of balloons & attach a birthday cake to the bottom for mommy, but somehow I don't think we can get that many balloons! <giggle> We walked around the cemetary picking all the little wildflowers & put them onto Kelly's grave. We had to dispel the theory that if you step on a grave the person inside will come out & get you (not sure who told them that one!)....but we did tell them that it's not respectful to intentionally walk all over a grave, so they learned some cemetary etiquette today as well.
By the time we left the cemetary, we were all needing a little break from the emotion-filled things of the day, so we went over & spent some time at Larry's dad's house. The kids got a couple of more toys they'd left behind and we packed a big box full of movies that they'd left when they moved last month. (I made sure to LEAVE a few of the ones we picked through....sorry, guys.....no R-rated movies for the kiddies! Yikes!)
After our visit, we headed home. :::yawn::: It's been a long day.
On a sweet note, it's been really neat to see Andrew learning to love the Kids Praise music CD I got them. He loves the song "All the Earth Will Sing His Praises". I'm including the lyrics below (or as many as I can remember anyway!). Every time it comes on, he says "I love this song! Turn it up!"
I have to work tomorrow & the kids are on Spring Break, so mom is going to take Savannah & Kourtney to her house for the day and a friend from church is watching the boys for me. Sarah & I will have a Western Day at school (while we study Texas). Kourtney will start Mother's Day Out with us on Tuesday.
So there ya have it....our crazy day! Time to head to bed!
All the Earth Will Sing His Praises
Chorus: You lived. You died. You said in 3 days you would rise. You did. You're alive! You rose, you reign. You said you're coming back again. I know, you will, and all the earth will sing your praises. (drum solo) All the earth will sing your praises. (drums) All the earth will sing your praises.
You took, you take, our sins away, oh God. You give, you gave your life away for us. You came down, you saved us through the cross. Our lives are changed because of your sweet love.
Chorus

Sunday March 5

These first two weeks have been good. While there are challenging moments that make me sigh & some that make me want to scream, we've been blessed with an abundance of awesome moments that have made it all soooooooo worth while.

On the night that A & K arrived, I was totally blown away. The exhaustion I felt that first night knocked me off my feet at 10pm & I slept like a log. The emotional rollercoaster that I felt like we'd spent the prior week riding had finally slowed down long enough for me to put on my seatbelt & get a firm grip.... and boy what a ride it's been ever since.

These days, I find that things are no more complicated or crazy than they were with 3 kids. I mean, the same struggles exist---getting rooms cleaned, sibling rivalry, sharing toys, the usual stuff. I feel like the kids have already molded themselves into our little family & are a part of us so completely. These sweet little ones are so flexible & willing to go with us, do with us...whatever we need to do, they're right there with us, anxious to fit right into the family. It's almost like they are made of clay---fitting the form & molding right into the group so smoothly. :)

The oldest of my brood, Savannah, is doing well. She's had several breakdowns since A&K arrived, but is doing well overall. She's learning compassion & understanding and is having fun with another brother. She & Andrew are best buddies most of the time. On Friday night, she spent the night with a friend. The rest of the crew spent the night in one room (our usual Friday night "party" over here!). When Andrew realized that Savannah was not going to be there w/ him, he said "It's just not as much fun without Savannah." She is well-loved and honored as the oldest "smartest" one. Everyone loves for Savannah to read them stories and play with them.

The second oldest of our crew, Andrew, is doing really well. The longer he's here, the more the walls fall down. I'm seeing a child emerge from behind the big tough guy walls. Last night I saw him cry for the first time. He was playing with one of my little hand-held weights that I use to work out & dropped it on his finger. OUCH! Two weeks ago, I suspect he would've sucked up the tears & acted like a soldier...but last night, he was a little boy! He came & snuggled in my lap, let me kiss his booboo & was able to be a little kid. What a blessing! I pray that those walls continue to fall. He's doing well in school, making friends and generally enjoying himself. I asked him tonight if he liked living here--and made sure to tell him that he could be honest if he didn't like it. He grinned from ear to ear, yanked me down beside him with a big hug & said "Yes! Yes! I love it here!". I'm so glad.....I love having him here, too!

Next in line is Mr. Samuel. Sambo has been so easy-going about all of this. Having a brother to make those nice armpit-farting noises with is his idea of paradise. (I'm so proud.....Savannah can do it, too.) Samuel has loved sharing a room with Andrew, but thinks that Kourtney is a bratty girl. Of course, he thinks that about Savannah & Sarah too. Only in the past week have I seen Samuel start to fuss about "having" to share his room. He doesn't so much mind Andrew being there...but he wants his bed! ha!

Miss Kourtney continues to do very well, too. She still says that she doesn't like school & wants to stay at home, though. When she moved in we felt like it was best for her to continue in Pre-K since that's what she was already doing....but I hate making her go now that she's saying she wants to stay home with Sarah & I. Considering that they only have 2 months to go and Sarah is needing some private mommy time, I guess I'll let her finish out the year, but I suspect I will continue to hear complaints. :( Her teacher says she is very pleasant & has many friends and she's doing great in school....so maybe she's fine once she gets there. Last week she made up a story to tell her class about what happened to her mom. Of course, what she made up with a million times worse than the truth. I didn't know what was going on in her little mind until the teacher told me what she'd said. Yikes! We talked about it & as it turns out, she doesn't want to discuss the true story at school, so she made up something that, to her, was better than the truth. We made sure to help her understand that if she doesn't want to talk about it, she can just say so....but making up stories isn't ok. She seems to get that now. I've noticed that Kourtney has a vivid imagination & makes up a lot of stories--- someone hit her (but they weren't in the room at the time!)...someone took her toy (but she's still holding it)....things like that. I think that she's dealing with things slowly & part of her adjusting to a new home/siblings/family is trying to figure out where her "place" is in this group. Poor kiddo has a lot of "new" to adjust to!

And last is Miss Sarah. Sarah has probably had the hardest time (of my bio 3) adjusting to all of this. Before A&K arrived, she was already feeling a shift of my attention & started regressing into whining & crying (loudly!) over things. She wants to make sure that I don't forget her, so she's throwing huge fits over the smallest thing. If she can't find her shoes, oh the waterworks.......... if she can't get a shirt off, oh my gosh, warn the ambulance crews.......you get the idea. You'd think, by the size of her tears, that she's been abused & forgotten about. I've made it my goal to spend as much of my Mon/Wed/Fri days off with her as possible. Of course, I still have dishes & laundry & vacuuming & errands & such to do........but I'm trying to take her to a special lunch every Friday and spend lots of time playing games with her and coloring pictures together, etc. With the increased focused attention, she's starting to move back in the direction of my "old Sarah". She is such a precious sweetie....I hate to see her feeling like we've forgotten her.

As for Larry & I, we're doing ok. Larry has really stepped up & begun helping me out more at home. It's not uncommon to see him working on a load of laundry before he leaves for work in the morning or emptying the dishwasher when he comes home or overseeing a shower in the bathroom at night. Good daddy! I'm doing alright, too. The initial adjustment phase seems to have passed & things are getting back to normal now. That's not to say that we were ever really normal anyway (ha ha!), but things are moving in the right direction....and that is good.

Galatians 6:9 "Do not grow weary in doing what is right, for at the proper time, you will reap the harvest if you don't give up."

Matthew 11:28 & 30 "Come to me all who labor and are heavily burdened & I will give you rest......for my yoke is easy & my burden is light."

Luke 18:17 "Suffer not the little children....let them come unto me."

Hebrews 10:25 "Don't forsake the gathering together with believers."

Having a great family of believers surrounding us on all sides is such a blessing. Thank you for your continued prayers and all the encouragement you offer us each time we're with you. It is not going unnoticed!

For those of you who've asked for specific prayer requests, here ya go.

For Savannah--continued understanding of the task we've taken on as a family and the compassion to help us in this journey.

For Andrew--he appears to be very close to a deeper understanding of God's love for him. Please pray that he will go beyond that simple understanding to a full relationship with Christ. Pray for him to reach a place where he can really mourn his mom's death and the "loss" of his dad. He will answer questions about it now if he's asked but doesn't volunteer the conversation.

For Samuel--to continue being flexible & loving with his new siblings.

For Kourtney--to grow to enjoy school.

For Sarah--greater understanding of the circumstances and to "grow" back to the place she was before.

For Larry & I-- to be able to continue ministering at Rose Heights as effectively as we did prior to our new family changes and to assimilate the kids into that lifestyle easily. For continued strength & boldness every day.

Give thanks to the Lord....His love endures!

With each passing day, I'm finding new ways to praise Him for all He's doing & how active His hand is in all of this! Gosh, God's good! The communion with our Father is so sweet... being on the lookout for ways to say "Well, there He is again!" is fun!

1. Today we received another Walmart gift card. This one came from an email loop I've been a part of off & on for the past several years. You Savvy SAHMs are sweeties! Thank you! Miss Kourtney will get a bunch of spring clothes because of you ladies! :)

2. God protected A & K from the stomach bug we all passed around this weekend! I was really dreading the possibility that one of them might get it. Andrew's had a stuffy nose ever since he got here, but doesn't appear to be bothered by it. I think it's just allergies.

3. Big praise--Andrew went to choir tonight & sang!!!! He told me that he was going to just go stand in the hall & watch through the doorway again, but he actually went in! I went to the restroom during class tonight & passed by to check on him & found him in with the rest of the group on the stage, practicing their song! They have a little mini-concert on Sunday during the preschool kids' promotion ceremony so he'll get to sing for Kourtney's promotion. I'll take pictures! He was pretty proud of himself, too. He made sure to tell me tonight that he'd need to wear a certain color shirt on Sunday for the concert. Oh....and he has a school program later this month that he's getting excited about, too! They have a program where they sing for the parents & then Open House is afterward.

4. Kourtney had a screening at school today to see if she's doing ok academically. I had worried that she might be a little behind, but according to her test today, she is doing just fine. That's good to know! :)

5. Andrew starts soccer on Saturday & will play for several weeks w/ the YMCA. Larry will take him tomorrow afternoon to find shin guards & shorts for the big day.

God is just so good......I can't get enough of Him! :)

Thank you!

To whomever mailed us a gift card anonymously today, thank you! I checked the balance for it on the Walmart website & was a little blown away! THANK YOU!

(I'm just assuming that whomever sent it is reading this....it came with a typed card that included several sweet scriptures......I hope you know who you are!!)

Also, a very big thanks to my JUMs group, Marilyn C., friends from church, family members & all the manyyyyyyy others who are giving & helping us financially, physically & with gifts of all sorts. We love you & appreciate every prayer & every gift!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Friday 2/24/06

Last night was rough. Savannah woke up about 11:30 throwing up & then proceeded to do it every 30 minutes or so throughout the rest of the night. Poor baby girl! I sure hope no one else catches it! I spent most of today holding a trashbag for her & Lysoling the house like crazy. So far, no one else seems sick.....

We went to see the doc this morning for Sarah's 5yr old check up & ear re-check (she had an infection about 2 weeks ago). Apparently she still has the chronic fluid build up (which she's had most of her life) but it's no longer infected. Whew!

Samuel said he didn't really want to go to school this morning (claiming illness) but I think he's fine. He went on to school & made it through the whole day, then came home giggly & bouncing. I bet he's ok!

Andrew had a good day. This afternoon was his first art class. He loved it! Miss Jan (our friend from church, the teacher) said he did really well. I'm still amazed at the blessings God is providing, like this art class. Truely a work of the Lord....for her to feel the Spirit telling her to give Andrew art classes....for me to have just found out 24 hours prior from a friend who worked at his old school that he really loves art.....wow. God is good. He takes care of all the details, doesn't he?

Kourtney is...well, Kourtney. She is pretty much perpetually happy & smiling. I've only seen her sad/mad/upset/whatever a couple of times since she got here. It's hard to wipe the grin off her face. Thank you, Father, for the sweet spirit of this little gal. :)

Needs list--updated again!

I'm going to start deleting some of the "covered" needs after I let you know they were taken care of so that you don't feel like you're reading the same list over & over!

Needs:

towel hooks to install in bedrooms for kids (1 hook for each child)

expenses/labor to add a garbage disposal to the kitchen sink A friend is buying & installing this for us tomorrow!! Thank you John!!!!!

attorney fees

full-sized sheets for Andrew's bed

Prayer needs:

smooth transition into new schools

prayer warriors who are willing to take on one of the children or one of us as their personal "project" & the willingness of those warriors to commit to daily prayers long-term for that particular family member

the salvation & knowledge of Christ as Saviour for the new kiddos, spiritual walk for all of us who will interact with them to be good examples & good representatives of Jesus to them

Good teachers, friends @ school & church for the kids

Praises:

So many needs have been filled...so many prayers already answered! Where can I possibly begin? Thank you Lord for your unconditional love for us, your ultimate provision of all our needs before we even ask. Thank you for preparing our hearts for the idea of adoption before this ever came about. Thank you for the awesome church we are a part of & all the loving people who've reached out to help & all the sweet family members & friends who are giving & sharing of their time to help make this transition smooth. You are soooooo good! Praise you Jesus!

What a difference 24 hours make!

Last night, I was so physically & emotionally exhausted that I sort of collapsed into bed about 10:20 & passed out. I slept about 8 1/2 hours & then needed a nap after church today! Boy was I tired! I guess the week of preparations finally caught up with me. Larry & I had been staying up til 1-2am every night this week working on things or just not sleeping b/c we were so keyed up about all that was going on.
Yesterday afternoon & last night was hard. The kids were not all that cooperative & testing all the boundaries with us. Each step of the way was a struggle, but we did eventually get them bathed & into bed last night. I had a moment of "what have I gotten myself into???" before I hit the bed last night.
But ya know....God is so good! This morning we got everyone up, dressed & ready for church on time (wow!). The kids really liked our church & had a good time w/ their teachers & new friends. I think Kourtney & Sarah stuck together like glue the whole time. Andrew was in Worship World w/ Savannah & Samuel, so he had a couple of buddies, too. He thought it was really neat that our children's pastor played a clip from Star Wars in part of his lesson today.
The service this morning was really good for me. I needed that refueling & had myself a good cry in church. A good friend reminded me of one of my favorite verses: "Don't grow weary in doing what is right, for at the proper time you will reap the harvest if you don't give up!" (Galations 6:9) God really used her mentioning that to remind me of another verse--the one in Proverbs about "training up a child in the way he should go....". I know that this task of raising two new children will be both hard & a veryyyy big blessing. Just watching their little personalities change in the past 24 hours has been so sweet.
I was a little nervous about what the afternoon would bring---we usually have quiet time & take a nap on Sunday afternoons, but I wasn't sure if that would work out today. Things ended up going smoothly! Sarah & Kourtney went into their room for a little down time, Samuel went into the boy's room. Andrew brought his box of dominoes & Matchbox cars to the living room & watched George of the Jungle while Savannah played on the computer. Larry & I actually took a short nap...maybe an hour? It was nice to feel like things worked as smoothly as "normal". :)
This afternoon I gave Kourtney a Bible that a friend from church had bought for her. It's got a soft red leather cover with a neat little fold-over strap to close it with a big flower on it. She LOVES it. Watching her carry it around like her most prized possesion was so sweet! She clearly adored her new Bible & teasingly told the boys that they couldn't touch it b/c it was a "girl Bible". :)
Once Andrew realized that Kourtney had her own Bible, he wanted to know where his was. I pulled it out of our bedroom (a gift from the same friend who bought Kourtney's) & he was amazed that some stranger had bought it for him. He started flipping through the pages & that it was really cool! He took it to church with him tonight & was really interested in trying to find the verses the pastor was using in his sermon.
Watching him get so excited about his Bible & seeing Kourtney tote hers around was so sweet! Thank you Don & Melody! You've truely given them a great gift!
Today has been so much sweeter on an emotional level, too. When Kourtney first arrived yesterday, it was clear that she didn't want to talk to much too much. I guess she felt like I was the intruding "mama" & she wanted to be left alone. By the time she went to bed tonight, I was getting hugs & kisses. This afternoon, she asked me to come watch a movie with her. We snuggled up in Larry's big recliner under a blanket & watched Alvin & the Chipmunks for a while. She's a good snugglebug! :) I saw a lot more smiles on her face today, too! She mentioned her mom several times today..just very matter of factly...but she brings her up. We are trying to make sure & include G & Kelly in daily conversations so that they're never forgotten or lost in their little memories.
Andrew was the one who provided more of a struggle yesterday, but today he was a doll. He's still a wild monkey boy.....but I have another one of those & he seems to fit right in! :) He responded a lot better to our corrections today than he did yesterday & was willing to go along with whatever we needed him to do. I can see the ADD stuff in the early morning (when his med hasn't had time to kick in yet) & late evening (when it's worn off) the most. As long as you stay nearby & give him frequent (ok, constant...) reminders of what he's supposed to be doing, he gets it done, but Lord help us if he gets distracted. Tonight he sat so still & quiet in church...it was obvious that Kelly had him trained well on church behavior! I told him tonight how proud I was of him. He did better than Samuel has EVER done in church! Way to go, Andrew! It was interesting to me to see his little personality come out more today. He is such a sweet, provider, protector type of kid. I can tell he'll be a good daddy one day!
Oh....and a neat thing happened at church tonight!!! One of Andrew's teachers in their last school told us that Andrew is really good at art. We have a lady in the singles dept who teaches private art classes in her home. She walked up to me tonight & said "God told me I need to give one of your new kiddos free art lessons....do you think one of them might be interested??" I almost cried! Yes.....we'd love that! Andrew seemed to think it was a really cool idea, too! He'll go every Friday from 3:30-5:00 starting this week!
Keep us in your prayers as we enroll the kids in school tomorrow. Andrew says that he's a little nervous. Kourtney doesn't seem to be the least bit concerned, even looking forward to it! She's a brave girl--in so many ways! We didn't realize it until Fri when we were withdrawing the kids from their old school that Andrew was in some special ed. classes. Since we didn't have that info earlier, I'm hoping that it won't throw a monkey wrench into getting him enrolled here. He seems to recognize all his numbers, but doesn't appear to be reading yet at all. Otherwise, he seems to be on-track academics wise.
Thank you for all the continued prayers! We can feel them. God has been so faithful (see the updated needs list in the next post).

List updated again!

Needs:

towel hooks to install in bedrooms for kids (1 hook for each child)

curtains/spring tension rods/tie backs for girls' closet doors (2) --- we have had a couple of people offer us the rods, so that is covered & the curtains were bought today!

shoes for Andrew & Kourtney (would require taking them shopping, so maybe a gift card?)

clothes for both kids--have had offers from multiple people & we're already getting bags of goodies dropped off on our doorstep....so I think we're ok for now. Give us some time to sort through what we've received & I'll post if we need anything more. THANK YOU to all who've given

school supplies ---backpacks have been covered, school has offered the supplies for Andrew, won't know til Monday what Kourtney needs

storage building & bathroom)---friends from Larry's old job have offered supplies, labor, etc to build these. Not sure when that will happen, but it looks like this is mostly covered!

expenses/labor to add a garbage disposal to the kitchen sink

attorney fees

children's Bibles for the kids---purchased

pillowcases

single swing to replace a broken one on our swingset---covered!

someone to help Larry assemble/install a set of bunk beds for the girl's room--call him for a time on this ---done!

Prayer needs:

a smooth transition into our home -- a new place with new boundaries & new rules on TV watching, etc, etc, etc.....

smooth transition into new schools

provision of all needs

prayer warriors who are willing to take on one of the children or one of us as their personal "project" & the willingness of those warriors to commit to daily prayers long-term for that particular family member

the salvation & knowledge of Christ as Saviour for the new kiddos, spiritual walk for all of us who will interact with them to be good examples & good representatives of Jesus to them

Good teachers, friends @ school & church for the kids

New: easy withdrawal from old school system today---UPDATE: this went as smooth as smooth can be!!!! Amazingly well!

2/17/06

Last night we set up the 2nd set of bunks in the girls' room. This morning, my mom & dad came over to help get the bedroom situated & cleaned up. What a HUGE help that was! Lots of sweat went into the room & I'm proud of how it's turned out! Thanks mama & daddy!!

My sister kept the kids today while we went to withdraw Andrew & Kourtney from school in Elkhart. I'm not sure what I expected, but I expected it to be harder than it was. Fortunately, when we walked in the door, the receptionist said something to the effect of "They're here to withdraw the kids." They knew we were coming & had been given a heads-up by Larry's dad, so they had every piece of paper we could possibly need sitting there ready. All we had to do was sign 1 piece of paper & we were done. Whew! We picked the kids up & took them on home. It was about 30 minutes early, but we figured we'd take them back to Larry's dad's house & spend a little time with them. It was fun to interact with the sweet kids & see how they like to spend their afternoons.

Kourtney & I went through their movies (they have a TON of them!) trying to decide which ones they want to bring with them. Pretty much everything they own is good stuff...only a few that I'll have to turn down if they show up with them. Hopefully it won't be an issue & they'll forget about those "if-fy" movies. Kourtney wanted to watch cartoons, so I plopped down onto the couch with her. They are allowed to watch one particular cartoon that we don't let our kids watch, but we sat there & watched it today. I figure "one last time" wouldn't hurt.

Andrew came in & was watching with us when an ad for a Spongebob movie came on. He said he wants to see it. It's supposed to come on in the theaters next week I think. He asked if we could go see it. We talked about how expensive it'll be to take 7 people to the movie & how we'd have to use it as a special treat now & then. He promptly ran off to bring in his piggy bank to see if he had enough money. What a sweetie! After counting his money with him, Larry played a couple hands of dominoes with him. He's a good kid!

When we left, they seemed really excited about moving in tomorrow. I'm encouraged by their behavior. In the past, they've been a little bitof a discipline problem, so it's good to see them acting so sweetly. That's not to say that we won't see any issues arise later, but for now, I'm encouraged!

The asst. principal was talking to the kids before they left today & asking who lives at their new house. They were all grins saying that they'd have "2 sisters & 1 brother". :) I almost cried hearing them call their cousins siblings!

God is just sooo good. He continues to astound me with the way He's encouraged me this past week. Last week in church, He showed me a vision of Andrew being baptised right there in our church's baptistry. I didn't mention it to Larry, but the following morning, Larry had the EXACT same vision! All throughout the week, He has provided meals, friends who called to love on us at just the right moment, music that has lifted me, hands to help with physical projects that needed to be done, etc. Tonight at Walmart, I bought a Nicole C. Mullin CD & was listening to it on the way home. As I listened (ok, well, let's be honest, I was squealing it at the top of my lungs), I couldn't help but cry the most profoundly intense tears of joy. My REDEEMER LIVES! As I cried, I was praying that God will help us teach these children, that He will give us supernatural strength, that He will show Himself to them immediately when they walk through our doors....and thanking Him for the oppurtunity to love my niece & nephew in such a special way!

Thank you Jesus! You are soooo good!