Instead of Halloween, Can we Have Prayer Please?

I know.  I promised part 2 of Halloween Revisited.  I am working on it and I will post it soon. 

However, more than a few major things are happening right now and we would just like to ask you to come alongside us and join in prayer asking the Lord for wisdom, guidance, peace, and that He would move on our behalf.  We are trusting Him and are finding a great amount of rest and peace amidst a whole lot of seeming chaos (but we KNOW He is in control!). 

Finding Joy here:



"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." 

and

"But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”  We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.  That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 

 

For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 

 

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, 

we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. 

For the things we see now will soon be gone, but 

the things we cannot see will last forever."

Thank you for your prayers! 

Do you know about the Holocaust?

*warning* there are some strong images in this film that may not be suitable for your young children.

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?

Praying for Movement

Lord,

move in the hearts of your people to stop standing still in fear and to start moving out in faith!

To start saying "YES!" to the wonderful plans you have for them: plans to prosper and not to harm them, plans to bring them (and others) a future and Hope, plans that will bring you glory.

For more encouragement today, please stop by and see what Amy has to say at BUILDING THE BLOCKS...: What's stopping you?

and 3 more makes 10

just a quick update here. . .

We are all set to pick up our 3 boys on Monday. For any new readers out there, these are the 3 biological brothers of the 3 sisters we have had with us for the past 2 months. . . we are adopting all of them out of the U.S. Foster Care System. Everyone around our house is thrilled and we hear that the oldest boy (Mr. J - age 8) is really excited to see his sisters again and to finally get to be a part of our family. The other boys are quite young (2 and 3) and we aren't sure they have any idea what is really going on, but we are all ready to pour on the love and are praying that they will receive it and that the attachment and bonding process will move along well, according to the Lord's will.

We would really appreciate your prayers, as we have definitely had a bit of a spiritual battle going on here lately (especially with our health). Also, if you would please pray for Kim and Ben and their family, that would be awesome. They have had a hard couple of months but continue to faithfully serve Him and trust Him. What a blessing to be able to lift them up and intercede on their behalf.

please pray today

it is such a spiritual battle here today. of one thing I am sure, we don't war against flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness. Adoption is one thing that the enemy hates for sure, especially when children who would have maybe never even heard the name of Christ are now going to be brought up in a home who tries to glorify and worship him with their whole lives.

pray for our family and families surrounding us today.

there is an important court hearing today. pray that God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

pray for truth to be known and lies to be exposed.

pray that He might be glorified as people look at what He is doing in our family.

Sick! Please Pray!

Of course, it doesn't surprise me but I am a bit bummed that almost all of us are feeling quite under the weather here. . . I'm sure this is a part of the spiritual battle going on (husband agrees). Poor Little Missy is having some migraine headaches again. Jeff is battling allergies. Miss C and Miss D seem to have a cough/sore throat tonight, and I have a definite head cold. . .

The first few weeks of adjustment are hard already and I definitely didn't want to be sick during this time! But, the Lord never gives us more than we can handle, right?!

So, I would love it if you would pray that we would all be feeling better soon. Also, continue to pray for the girls heartstrings to be tied to ours and pray for all of the children's adjustment to each other. Pray that all of our children would come to know the love of the Savior in a very real way. Pray for spiritual protection from the enemy especially during this transition time. Pray that my joy might not be stolen away even in the midst of feeling quite terrible! Thanks!

Our girls are gone for now

Sad. We had an amazing 11 days with them. It was incredible. It is as if they have always been ours.

Now they are gone (for now) and we must simply wait. and trust. and pray.

please pray with us.

Still going great!

We are on day 9 of "the girls" being here with us for a visit. I'm thankful and thrilled to report that things are still going very well. Today we spent the day at a family reunion picnic at a local park and the kids all had a blast. It has been great to watch all 7 children begin to watch out for each other and look to each other as siblings. We are in awe of how quickly this is happening!

It's not that the girls haven't tested or acted out at all, but overall, they have been very responsive to correction and teaching. More than anything, all of us (husband, myself, our children, and the girls) just know that this is the Lord's plan for our family! It is hard to describe or explain how instantaneously everyone has just sort of taken to each other. Definitely NOT the way it was when we adopted the first time. LOL!

The sad part is that we will be needing to bring the girls back to their current foster family in just a few days. It is going to be VERY hard to let them go (even though it is a great family!). . . we are ready for them to be with us forever!

Please pray for us and them in the next few weeks. There will be a lot happening and many emotions as well as decisions that need to be made. Pray for protection for all of us from spiritual attacks as well. Thanks so much!

Plus 3

We're picking up "the girls" tomorrow for an 11 day visit. For those of you who don't know, you can find out more about this HERE.

There are 3 girls in the sibling group of 6. They have the boys and girls split up into 2 separate foster homes and we all felt like it would be better for the boys not to come up for an 11 day visit at this point. Mostly, this is because the two youngest boys are only 2 and 3 and are very secure where they are right now.

My momma heart is ready for all 6 to just come and be here permanently NOW! I'm trying to be patient and wait on the Lord and at the same time balance that with the urgency we feel to give the buraucracy a swift kick in the pants. LOL!

Pray for us and the girls. Pray that the Lord would give us clear direction and wisdom. Pray that we would be a blessing to the girls as we LOVE on them and enjoy them. Pray that they would feel the love of Christ through us. Pray for our kiddos that they would be able to show love and to also continue to feel secure in their place in our family. We're not sure what to expect. . .

I'm guessing it'll be an adventure. . .

it always is!

Jeff and Jen plus 10?

Well, what do you think?  It had your attention, didn't it!?

I wish I could share more but, in the interest of the children (as in, the 6 children other than our 4 who are on our sidebar. . . ), it will have to wait.  

BUT, 

will you PLEASE pray for us today and for the next week or so as we make a decision that will affect MANY lives in the very near future?  Thank you SO much! 

Our prayer is that God would be glorified through this whole process as we seek to serve and follow with our whole hearts!

Please pray for Speedy Mo

I know I've been a little "quiet" on the blog for the past few weeks.  Speedy Mo got quite ill right around Christmas time and still has not fully recovered.  We always know when he doesn't feel good because he actually sits still for more than 10 seconds and he doesn't want to eat very much.  LOL!  But I digress, so. . .  after a full course of antibiotics, 14 days of on and off again fevers, and a 3 day virus type rash (measles?), he still has some mysterious swollen lymph nodes.  We will be taking him in for blood work and further testing early this week.  

Obviously we are praying that he will be healed and that this will turn out to be just a weakened immune system, but I also would ask for all of you to pray that (no matter what) the Lord would be glorified in Speedy Mo's life and in our lives.  We know and believe that God is both Sovereign and Good and we fully trust him but we also know that we are depraved and weak and in need of his grace to help us in our unbelief.  

I am also sensing some spiritual oppression within our family right now - just seems like something has been intensifying over the past week or so.  Please pray that the power of the Holy Spirit would be at work here in our home and in our lives and that the enemy would have NO foothold in any of our lives or in our home.  

Thank you for praying and I will let you know what we find out.  

The "messiah" who promises to murder

Elizabeth Foss over at In the Heart of my Home asked this to be passed along since it has not appeared in the newspaper she originally wrote it for.  I couldn't agree with her more that

THE IRONY IS HEARTBREAKING

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in February, my children rudely asked a woman we know how she had cast her ballot in the Virginia primary. She named a candidate who is adamantly pro-choice. They were horrified. “How can you vote for someone who is for abortion?” one of them blurted indignantly.

“I’m more concerned with the people who are already alive than the ones who aren’t yet,” came the steady reply.

I’m ashamed to admit that an uncomfortable silence settled over the room. We were stunned and I was too intimidated by the context of the conversation to say anything more. I still regret that.

Within a few weeks of that conversation, I learned I was pregnant. I had a raging case of the flu at that time. As I fought to keep my fever down in order to protect the tiny being growing within me, I was very much aware that my baby was alive and I wanted her to stay that way.

As the flu subsided, hyperemesis set in. Now, the goal was to control vomiting and stay hydrated in order to protect the baby. I got a glimpse of her via sonogram. I was eight weeks pregnant and we could see her heart beat steadily and surely—a perfect little person who only needed time to grow.

Just as the hyperemesis began to wane, I had another sonogram. There we discovered that the placenta, the organ created by God for each pregnancy to nourish the baby, was in the wrong place and its location threatened both the baby and me. At that sonogram, we also saw her wave her arms and touch her feet to her head. And we clearly saw that she is a girl. But that placenta was troubling. Thus began the odyssey of frequent sonograms and very careful management of a high risk pregnancy. A whole team of doctors was called into to guard the life of this baby—a baby who was already very much a part of our family. A baby with a name we remembered constantly in family prayers. A baby who squirmed and wiggled and kicked and delighted her siblings with her gymnastics. A baby who could have been legally aborted.

And so this pregnancy has progressed. It began early in the election season and has unfolded rather dramatically, a parallel story to the drama in our nation. I lie here on my side now, day after day, counting every precious kick, taking care not to turn the wrong way or sneeze without protecting my belly. Just one life—just one precious child—has a whole army of people working hard to protect her very existence, while out there in the world thousands of people throng at campaign events for a man who has said he wouldn’t want his daughters punished with a baby. In the years since our country legalized abortion, nearly 50 million tiny lives have been ended. While I lie here and pray that my baby is healthy and is born well, I watch in horror as throngs of people cheer a man who would make abortion even more accessible.

I want to show them the latest sonogram. The one where you can see the tiny hairs on her head. The one that always calls to mind those words from Matthew: Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father: but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31

What treasures women are privileged to hold within them! What creatures of infinite value! Our Lord tells us to fear not. He values us and He values the tiny baby whose wisps of hair can be seen and counted by us well before she is born. Who knows the plans He had for those 50 million babies? And who knows the plans He had for their mothers, plans for their good and the good of their souls? There is a man out there being likened to a Messiah. He promises to allow harm to come to the babies. From my horizontal perspective, here in this bed, the irony is heartbreaking.

Adoption and health care question

A soon to be adoptive family posted the following question on a group chat recently

We have been using a family practice doctor for our kids. It has been
fine because they don't have any health problems. But I've noticed
that he doesn't go through the list of developmental milestones, ect.
like our old pediatrician did. 
I think I am going to need a Pediatrician for our new kids. Do you all
agree? If so, do I need to find a special pediatrician that has
experience with internationally adopted children or anything like
that?

I think this is a GREAT question and probably one that many soon to be adoptive parents have. While I am sure there are differing opinions on this, my response  was:

I think you should probably do whatever you and your husband think is best for your family. We tend to have more of a
natural, holistic approach to health and medicines in our family, so that carried over in our care for our adopted children
too. We got them home, started feeding them healthy foods (lots of fruits and veggies, protein and whole grains, almost no
sugar and NO preservatives and food dyes), loved on them, and watched and waited. Their little round, hard bellies that
everyone was so concerned about started softening up, they started growing, they didn't have any signs of serious illness,
etc. . . so we didn't worry. We took them in for initial check-ups but didn't do 8 million tests - just some basics. They have
had NO health problems other than an allergy which manifests itself as a raised rash around their iris in their eye which we
have to use some special eyedrops for (a few months out of the year).

For us, this works. For some of you reading this, it probably freaks you out that we didn't go to specialists and test for
everything. If it makes you feel better to get everything checked out and tested, then do it - it will make you a better parent
if you aren't stressed about health. If going to get 8 million tests stresses you out and you don't see any real reason to go,
then just watch and wait. AND, pray - God gives wisdom to those who ask!

How about all of you readers out there? Are there questions about adopting, adopting older children, or adopting from Liberia that you have? I would be happy to try to let you know what our experience has been! Please leave a question or comment - I'd love to know who's been "lurking!"

Prayer and Perseverance

I would love to have the time to post more in depth, but I don't, so all I can ask is that if the Lord brings our family or another family to your mind (especially any who have adopted or are in the process of adopting Liberian children), just please be obedient and pray for us/them and for the children of Liberia in general.  There seems to be an intensified spiritual battle this week and we know that we fight this kind of battle on our knees.  May the Lord give us all grace and may he be glorified as He wins these battles for the souls of our children.  

If you are a family of adopted Liberian children (or soon to be), be alert to the schemes of the enemy this week, be prayerful in all things and especially over your children.  Do NOT listen to the LIES of the enemy.  For the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of self-discipline.  Persevere and pray, my dear friends.  He never promised this would be easy and comfortable - dying on the cross was neither of those for Jesus! - but He has promised that it will be good!

What is it that gets in the way?

What is it that gets in my way of following after the One True God WHOLEHEARTEDLY?   A similar question was posed in our home bible study group tonight and it had me thinking.  Someone commented that, for them, it really did mean selling most of what they had and giving their money to the poor.  We talked about how George Mueller (get his bio and read it if you haven't!) chose to give up all money in the form of a salary and/or possessions because he knew that, for him, it just got in the way.  I would dare to say that for most of us, money and "stuff" often get in the way and I'm sure I could stand to live with a LOT less than what we have but as I really asked the Lord "What gets in my way?," I knew that there was something else. . . 

As I pondered this thought this evening, I was thinking about how I LOVE to learn and LOVE to read and LOVE books (Oh, no, I thought. . . do I have to give up my books and reading?!?!). . . and then I came across this timely and insightful post by a woman who I greatly admire and who has spoken (through her written word) blessing and truth into my life many times.  Sally Clarkson, HERE, posts about what I think gets in my way all too often:  too many choices! Really, it is an incredible post, go and read it before reading further.

 I SO often allow all of these choices and how much I read about them and research them and talk about them and think through them and think about if it is the right one, and re-think through them, and ask others what they think, and on and on. . . I allow the choices to take up so much of my time that I have little time left for the actual following after God wholeheartedly.  

I mean, what would I do if I didn't have a choice of what wonderful new homeschooling curriculum I would use this year or what sports my child should play, or what author's discipline method was best in each case, or what bedding to buy for my room, or what new bible study book to read now?    I don't exactly know (which is sort of the problem!), but I think maybe I would just use a Bible to teach my child to read and maybe take a walk with my children to look at the world the Lord has made while we got some needed fresh air and exercise.  I would try to love and shepherd my child according to God's word and Christ's example, I would sleep under whatever blankets we had around, and I would spend my time reading and re-reading the only book that really matters.   I would spend less time thinking and planning and talking and more time praying and serving and listening and loving. . . 

What about you?  What is it that gets in your way?  I would love to hear from you!  Pray for me as I think about how to minimize all of the choices in my life so I might just make the one choice necessary - that I might choose as Mary chose - to sit at the feet of my Savior!

They are home!

Thank you for all of your prayers!  I haven't heard the details yet, but another group of Liberian orphans are home with their adoptive families after God worked some more incredible miracles so that they could leave Liberia.  Check out the Steps Established By Him blog (link on my sidebar) to hear more of the incredible story. 

Also, to learn how you can help Addy's Hope and Greater Love Children's Home to build a new facility that will be able to serve 100 Liberian orphans, click on the "Help Orphans" button on my sidebar and make a small donation towards the effort!

Liberian Adoptions

Please pray for Addy's Hope (the adoption ministry that helped us bring home our children) right now as they are in Liberia and hoping to bring home more children TODAY (if they are allowed out of the country).  There are a lot of "political" issues and games being played right now within the Liberian government and the adoption agencies and ministries are taking quite a beating.  You can read more here.  

However, we serve a GREAT and LOVING God who wants these children to know His love.  We know that He has a purpose and a plan for their lives and trust in His Sovereignty in all situations - be they seemingly awful or wonderfully blessed.  

Please pray for the Lord's favor for these families and children this week.  We pray for them to be allowed to leave Liberia soon and be "carried home" to their adoptive families who are waiting to pour out God's love upon them.  Pray also for the children who are left in Liberia, that they might be provided for. . . 

ask yourself how you might show the Love of God to them . . . 

Please Pray for Baby Joe!

Please pray for this very young and very ill baby.  Baby Joe is part of a wonderful family whose mother (Kendra) has a wonderfully helpful blog over at Preschooler's and Peace.  Please pray for them and their family and check for updates at preschoolersandpeace.com