The Moments that Make it All Worth It (#1)

So, I know you're not supposed to just copy and paste someone else's blog. . . but since this is from my dear husband, I guess it isn't exactly plagiarism, right?

For those of you familiar with my children, "boy 1" here is Speedy Mo, and "boy 2" is Chatty.

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Creeping Boys and Nighttime Confessions

Last night (about 10:30...well after bedtime) I could hear my two nine year old boys creeping toward the kitchen as I sat with my wife on the couch preparing to watch a movie. Here's how it played out:

Dad (D): Yes?

Boys (B): *silence*

D: Come here.

B: Dad, we want to tell you something. (How many of us dad's have heard this one before? I braced for discovering the inevitable...that I would indeed have to replace something, again.) We've been talking.

D: Okay...

B1: Dad, I'm sorry I haven't been respecting you and mom and not obeying you. Will you forgive me? I want to repent to God and give God glory and not be in charge of my own life anymore. I want to follow Jesus even if it's hard.

B2: Mom, Dad, I'm sorry too that I haven't been obeying and respecting you. Will you forgive me? I want to repent to God and follow Jesus, even if it's hard. I want God to get all the glory.

Mom (M) & D: We forgive you and we love you. Do you want to pray and tell God all of this too?

So they prayed. Then I prayed. They cried. We talked a while longer. It was special.

Instead of having to replace something, God had done that already...and the boys just wanted to tell me about it. God had been pursuing them since they had come to be in our family (B1...adopted almost four years ago and B2...adopted 1 1/2 years ago)...and they finally understood that they were sinners in need of forgiveness and grace (not just from Mom & Dad, but from God). God replaced their hearts of stone with hearts of flesh...softened enough to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to them and courageous enough to "get out of bed" to come talk to us about it.

I'm proud of my boys, praising God for their nine-year old confession, and looking forward to the Holy Spirit's work in their hearts and lives. I think I need God to continue to soften my heart too, so I can keep hearing Him more clearly; that I would be reminded of my own sinfulness; and that I would "repent to God" more often than I do.

Of Birthdays and Backyards

Today was Speedy Mo's 9th birthday.

Have you ever heard about children from "hard places" sabotaging their own birthdays?

Did you know that, for boys (at least for mine), "9" is a hard year?

Well, let's just put those two things together and then mix in it being a Sunday (my husband is a pastor) and throw in a few (well, 5) sick children and you pretty much have

a recipe for disaster.

well. . . I guess not exactly disaster, but it most definitely did not make for a great day for little Speedy.

Ah, well, we are going to try actually having a celebration later this week and Speedy Mo seemed content tonight when we talked about it.

Our normal birthday routine (pretty much) goes something like this:

Drive-thru the coffee stop with Dad early in the morning for a special birthday drink

Breakfast of choice

(Speedy will probably pick sausage, eggs, and pancakes) w/ our family

Presents from Grandmas and Grandpas and maybe from a family friend or two

and either

a small party with family & friends or a day out with mom and dad to do something special

(Speedy Mo chose going to a "race car track" with mom and dad this year)

and the child's dinner of choice

(Speedy wants "meat and noodles" - translation: beef of some kind and noodles with garlic, basil, and butter, and a cesaer salad).

ha ha - typing that out makes it seem like SO much!

Of course, we try to make birthdays extra special as one way to make each of our children know we value them as individuals. . . but our birthdays are far from the themed plates, pony rides, and gift bags craze that seems to dominate our current American child culture.

Anyways. . .

on a completely different note:

We have outgrown our backyard!

Yep. It's true.

The suburban lot on .25 (or less) of an acre with a backyard smaller than your average swimming pool just doesn't cut it for a family with 10 kids.

We had NO idea when we moved in to our WONDERFUL home that we would ever have 10 children. We certainly didn't expect them to arrive 6 at a time!

And now, with 8 of our children between the ages of 7 and 13, we are seeing the need for a little more space out of doors to play AND to work.

We actually have plenty of house space. Less would be fine. It is that outside area that we are finding to be so crucial - and not available in our current residence.

While it isn't the greatest time to be selling a house, we are really praying that the Lord would move mightily on our behalf and send someone to whom this house and great neighborhood will truly be a blessing and then, that He would place us somewhere that will be helpful to the continued healing our our children "from hard places" and any other children he may someday bring our way.

Would you please pray with us?

Crazy Cousin Camp (part 2)

Our first year of "Cousin Camp" would have been busy enough with the morning sessions of basketball camp (see cousin camp part 1),

BUT,

this was also the week of our church's annual Teamworks! Soccer Camp (our unique alternative to VBS). So, every evening from 5-8, we were all up either volunteering or participating in soccer skills, drills, and games and hearing about our real Coach and King, Jesus Christ.

Not only was my dear husband the primary administrator of the whole thing, but I was also in charge of refreshments each evening! Praise the Lord for a wonderful team of people from our church who came together to really love and serve the children in our community. We had almost 60 volunteers and 95 children each evening. MOST of the children were not from families who attend church or who know Christ. How awesome for

them to be able to hear the Word and see the love of God's people in action!

Here are some pics of the week:

first picture above is of "Smarty" with her team (she "coached" an Under 6 team and did a GREAT job!)

Chatty was on the orange U-10 team with my little half brother - his "Uncle John." LOL!

Little Missy took over the Under 8's and scored many goals, but we were most proud of her helpful spirit of being a peacemaker for her teammates!

Big Joe, Mr. Z, and Speedy Mo all competed in the U-12 group. Speedy is only 8, but he is quite skilled with the soccer ball (as are his brothers!)

oops, a few more pics to follow in the next post

Crazy Cousin Camp (part 1)

Last week was a WHIRLWIND of excitement around here! I'm one tired mama!

This was the crazy, fun, exhausting week of our first annual "Cousin Camp."

For years I have been hoping to host "cousin camp" for my 4 nephews (ages 6-12) and my younger half-siblings (ages 8 and 12) to come and spend time with our family. This year I was finally able to convince both my dad AND my sister to send almost all of their children up for a week. . . but only because there were two sports camps for their kids to take part in. LOL!

So, crazy cousin camp started late Sunday evening when my younger sister and brother and two of my nephews joined us for dinner and a movie and settled in.

That brought us to a total of 14 children for the week - ages 2,4,6,6,7,8,8,8,10,10,10,12,12,12!

The week was FULL of activity and adventures.

Our first big activity of the week was Basketball Camp for 8 of the 14 children. It was M-F from 8-12. Here is Speedy Mo showing off his skills and below is a picture of my little brother and my nephew. All of the actual "cousins" loved saying that this little guy (on the left) was their uncle!

One morning, my dear husband took 3 of the remaining children with him to set up Soccer Camp (more on that later) which left me with ONLY a 6, 4, and 2 year old! Now, I know for most mamas, the years of a 6, 4, and 2 year old at home can be rough, but that morning I was thinking,

"Wow, this is CAKE! I can't believe how much I'm getting done, how happy the kids are, how quiet it is. . . "

They do say it is all about perspective!

Still Alive

yes, we're still alive (but just barely! LOL!).

We spent the first 3 weeks of April fighting a terrible virus that just kept traveling in circles through the 12 of us. Both Jeff and I were sick almost the whole time and all of the kiddos had it at some point too! ugh! We're glad that is over!

So, after adding in Easter Weekend celebrations, Big Joe's 10th birthday, our Liberian children's 3rd Gotcha Day, the beginning of Little League (which Big Joe and Speedy Mo are trying this year), visits from social workers, gobs of paperwork for our foster agency and the adoption process, gobs MORE paperwork for our charter school (x 8), AND my dear husband preaching for 6 weeks. . .

which doesn't sound like that much, except when we add in the reality that we have had 6 of our 10 children for less than 8 months - so, most days, we're still in basic "make it through the day" mode (while trying to be ultra-intentional to help our hurting children heal and bond).

I'm actually not complaining. It just helps me to write it out so I can "see" the reality. I so often find myself wondering why I just can't "get it together" some days. . . I so often think of our lives as totally normal and get frustrated by the daily struggle for peace and contentment to reign in our home and in our hearts.

But, when I look at the big picture, I see that we're not only still alive, but that in so many ways, we are actually thriving. The change in our newest 6 children has been incredible. They are healthy and happy and growing in godliness. We have all REALLY bonded as a family faster than any of us thought was possible. God has been so good and this journey has been quite amazing. I just have to remember to see the forest through the trees, cause sometimes those daily "trees" just seem really overwhelming but the forest really is lovely!

well, that's why the blog has been silent for over a month! I'm hoping to post a few updates soon and I'm thinking about spending the summer posting lots of pictures!

Freddy, these are for you!

What happens when you let your 7 year old, who is an insanely gifted athlete, build a skateboard ramp and then watch the X games?

This is the boy we affectionately call "Speedy Mo!"

I must be the mother of many boys: this wasn't worrying me a bit! In fact I was telling him to go faster to get more air. LOL!

Oh, do you see our pop up tent trailer back there? I'll have to post about our trip to the Oregon coast! It was awesome!

Frances, incase you were wondering, he was consistently landing these jumps AND then started trying to kick-flip the board while in the air! Crazy!