Crazy Cousin Camp (part 3)

(the rest of the pictures from Teamworks! Soccer Camp - see CCC part 2 )

Here is our Sweetie who decided Teamworks! was a great place to decide if she wanted to actually play "real" soccer in the fall. . .

She doesn't!

BUT, she did come to me on Wednesday evening and announce that she knows what she wants to do now

She wants to "take art lessons, draw in her sketchbook, play the guitar, be a mama and write music."

WOW! (this coming from a girl who had ZERO sense of vision for her future when she came into our family just 9 months ago)

That is absolutely how God has gifted her. She is so creative, thoughtful, reflective.

Even the little guys, Happy and Mama's Angel, got in on the action. Mama's Angel is throwing a small fit because Happy has the ball. Hee hee

They played a little soccer. . .

BUT, mostly

they REALLY liked sitting with their coaches at "half time"

and took more than a few snack breaks!

Gotta love those grapes!

New Names

With our Liberian adoption we were often asked if we were going to change our children's names once they got home. We thought about it and heard some of the reasons for changing or not changing them but when it came down to it, after months of waiting and praying and talking about "Big Jo, Speedy Mo, and Little Missy," their names (their real names - not blog names!) were a big part of who they were.

After they got home and settled in just a bit, we discussed the idea with them just to see how they felt about it. None of them felt strongly that they wanted to change their names except for "Speedy Mo" who thought his name should be Bob. Um, no, I don't think you are a "Bob." LOL!

Nothing wrong with the name Bob, but "Speedy Mo" was just joking around as we would come to find out was very much a part of his personality!

So, their names stayed the same and it (for us) has been a really good thing. There are, by the way, good reasons for changing a child's name too or for giving them another name and using their given name as a middle name, etc. . .

But, I am proud to announce that I AM giving new names to my 3 new girls. Well, really it is just new bloggy names since Miss C, Miss D, and Miss A were sort of boring and lacked a sense of their personalities. Now that we know them better, I think we will use the names "Smarty," "Sweetie," and "Spunky" here on the blog. . . if you know them in real life, I think you will agree that these are quite fitting! LOL!

"The girls" are home!

Miss C, Miss D, and Miss A officially joined our family on Thursday! It has been a long and exhausting but very exciting weekend.

I am so amazed at all that has happened in the past 4 months. It was actually exactly 4 months ago to the day (May 17th) when I first sent an email inquiring about 4 children in foster care who would be available for adoption. A few emails later, there were actually 6 children (all siblings)! Well, in July we visited them. In August, 3 of them visited us (the girls), and on Sept. 17th, they joined our family forever! Wow!

I am forever thankful to some really wonderful friends (you know who you are!) that have helped us plan and prepare our hearts and homes for these children. Without all of the prayers and physical help of the whole body of Christ, we truly would not be able to do this! Thank you so much!

Besides all of the very real physical settling that is happening right now (going through clothes, organizing, etc. . . ), we are also having to do a LOT of VERY intentional parenting. I think that we always try to be intentional. . . but this is constantly engaged, maximum in intentionality, intense parenting AND there is a very real spiritual battle going on right now too. Please pray for us and for all of our children.

Just tonight, Little Miss A woke up crying a few hours after bedtime and she was scared and sad. It wasn't night terrors (seen those!) or a nightmare. . . it was something else that we have seen before. . . something more spiritual in nature. I held her and rocked her and spoke words of comfort over her but most importantly I prayed aloud over her. As I prayed, I realized that the enemy is NOT happy about these precious children being here in a home where they are going to hear about and experience the love of Christ. Satan's plan was for their lives to be stolen and destroyed by drugs, gangs, teen pregnancies, and a complete lack of knowledge of the Lord.

BUT, Praise the Lord, His plan is for them to be redeemed. We, amazingly, get to be a part of the amazing process of watching how God "buys back" their lives. . . how He is rescuing their hearts. . . how he is restoring their souls. . . how he is refreshing their spirits. . . and renewing their minds. We are SO BLESSED to get to be a part of this once again!

I am very thankful that my husband had the wisdom to realize that, while we could have said "no, this will be too hard, let's not "mess up our lives that much,"' it would have also meant saying "no" to being a part of and watching this redemption story God is writing in the lives of Miss C, Miss D, and Miss A. I don't want to miss it!

now. . . if I can just remember this on the hard days. . . LOL!