What was your best Christmas present?

I confess. I am a member of a chat board with a bunch of great ladies who are all adoptive moms. We share and help each other with many things that are particularly related to adoption issues that others may not understand. We also just chat; ask each other questions and poke fun at some of life’s issues. (Alright, we poke fun quite a lot at things. But, hey! It’s “fun and educational” so it must be o.k., right?)

One lady on the board asked the other day, “What was your favorite Christmas present and why?” I gave an answer about some nice little thing I got I wasn’t expecting. A good answer, but in my heart it didn’t feel it was the “right” answer. Then about two days after Christmas (while cleaning up some of the big mess from the big day) I looked out the window and figured out what the “right” answer was.

My two year old was giggling and crossing the yard after our cat. Somehow he had gotten our small digital camera and was trying his best to take a picture of the cat. (Years ago I would have fretted over wasted film… thank you Lord for digital!) He had figured out how to press the button, but not quite how to aim the camera in the direction of the subject that you want to take the picture of. I chuckled at his efforts. Then I called my husband on his cell phone in his little work shed to tell him (to think… we used to just yell out the back door when we needed someone!).

....sample of what most his pictures turned out to be...

Well, a few seconds later I see my husband’s head pop out of the shed and start walking towards the camera laden two year old. He called out to get the attention of the little amateur photographer. Next, instead of walking over to take the camera, my husband stops in his tracks, leans down, and strikes a crazy-silly pose for the child to take a picture of (the two year old obliged). Then my husband squats down and stretches his arms out …. You should have seen the smile on both their faces as the two year old ran like the wind to his daddy’s arms and almost knocked him over with a hug. Amazingly, the two year old willingly gave the camera up for his daddy to use.

...he actually got Daddy's feet in the picture...

What a scene. In my mind I visualized a similar scene of redemption for us. We are God’s “two years olds”, if you will. Go ahead and confess it. We DO act like two year olds many times. We constantly are getting into things we shouldn’t and God pops his head out of the shed to get our attention, reminds us of what we should be doing and loves us through it. God loves us so greatly and is just waiting like a Daddy for us to bowl Him over with our love right back.

...the elusive cat...

My favorite gift this year… the smiles?.... the hugs?... the family time?... Those are all great and I really do appreciate them, but not THE best. The best is God’s love and how it affects my family. It makes us different… improves us… helps us… makes us laugh at our mistakes, forgive and try harder. It is our hope and our redemption. I can’t imagine life without God’s love.

So, uh…. What was your favorite gift this year? And how does it affect you?

Romans 5:8 (New International Version)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Psalm 52:8
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.
Psalm 136:2
Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.

P.S.

For those who asked....

Nate's minor outpatient proceedure went fine. I don't think he missed one beat from all his activities. Thanks for those who prayed and asked.

For those who wondered...

The Christmas cards are a commin'... with the mail what it is don't expect them until slightly after Christmas. If they show up sooner.. be pleasantly surprised!

Growth

This year is just racing to an end! Each morning it is: hurry and get ready, a pow wow with the family and check list for the day; encouraging [read "pushing" here] kids to finish every task; heading to any and all appointments/ practices/ rehearsals/ lessons/ or doctor's appointments; and then figuring out what to feed the little chickens for dinner, Bible reading, kisses, talks and bed. I seem to face each evening with a very disheartened face with the reality of what "still needs to be done". [Not to mention mounds of laundry]

It seems we run continuously at high speeds. Yet it's like driving out West where the roads are so long and straight the distance you must travel to your destination continously eludes you. Every so often I just have to stop and ponder... then look back to see just how far we have come. Nope, I'm not "looking back from my plow" and wrecking the row in front of me.... just stopping for a cold glass of lemonade and admiring the work done. [I have to... the laundry is taunting me.]

So our word for this year: GROWTH!
On so many levels.... spiritual, physical, emotional, health, patience [maturing can be a hard thing to do], cooking [it's a long story].


This year started with family and friends visiting and Daniel traveling. It seems to always happen, when Daddy's gone we have little emergencies. We spent the better part of this year figuring out why our little seven year old seemed to have juvenile arthritis in one of his knees. Praise the Lord for great friends and good doctors who helped put all the pieces of the puzzle together and Gabe has been symptom free for several months now!

We've loved on some neighbors and learned how to love neighbors. We've watched good friends move away, people lose their faith, and people grow in faith. We've learned what it means to live with an "adult child" in the house. [Forgive me M for using the word "child".] Hey! I even baked my first wedding cake! Our sweet 9 year old got out of braces and her older brother got into them. We've celebrated with friends growing older and mourned with friends who have lost. We've met people who have challenged us greatly in areas where we just plain needed it! Daniel has become a much better compounding pharmacist and learned so much about different areas of medicine that he had little oportunity to see before in the retail world. We even started building on his life long dream of an airplane.


We've homeschooled our little chick-a-dees. I've watched the incredible growth this year with 2 more readers in the house, a toddler with a passion to climb things and one pre-adolescent young man whose intelligence keeps his parents on their toes. Zeke has transitioned from his baby bed, bottle and baby food to definite toddler status. Between Daniel's trips to El Salvador in the Spring and Ethiopia in November he finished his first year as the teacher of the Adventure Rangers and all the camping and activities that come with that. [Talk about growth... for someone who never considered himself a teacher...] We spent not a few hours studying for Ranger of the Year Testings with our 2 older boys. [That's worth another post to tell you about the growth and what was spoken into our boys' lives there!]

In the mist of it all life happened.....and growth.

There have been late night conversations and heart searching questions to answer. There have been "ta-dah!" moments when something you've tried to put your finger on for years finally makes it way to the front of your brain. There has been great sadnesses, great moments of understanding, great lessons learned and even great silliness. [Great laundry piles also... I think it multiplies by itself!]

Sometimes I wonder how we can possibly grow in the mist of all the chaos life brings. Then I remember that God is working on us through it all.... and I smile and question how one "grows" from doing the laundry... [It is a very good thing God understands my humor and loves me anyway.]

Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Lord help us to be like that tree... growing and producing fruit for You.

Merriest of Christmases to you all! Stop and look back to ponder where you've come from and the "Reason for the Season".

Hugs & Blessings from one laundry surfing mama!

Ethiopia Update

Well we have certainly taken long enough to update on that marvelous trip. I've just thought and thought of how to post about it, but words fail me on this one. You know, most medical teams go to give and bless others with their medical talents. Funny thing is that so many times you receive back what you could never give in the first place. Such spiritual blessings outpoured on this trip. The medical team was just overwhelmed with God's Spirit filling them up. If you wanna' know the details, you will just have to give us a call and we will fill you in!

A few photos...


Oh, yea... they saw over 1000 patients too! An interesting tibit of info: the country is seriously lacking in dentist. They were working with local medical doctors there to train them in dentistry so they can service the people's needs.

It's That Time of Year....

.... when the World celebrates Christmas!
Here's a picture of us with some extended family having a crazy fun time at a tree farm picking out the Grands Christmas Tree (it was actually at Thanksgiving)!

Praying for you to have a little real fun this Christmas in the mist of all the "have to dos". So turn off the tv and go run around some trees outside. You'll get cold, but that's what hot chocolate is for, right?! :o)