I want one of these

I want one of these... it's from the same place my birthday gift was from.  The Adopt Shoppe



Photo credit We are THAT Family blog

New Study

Some friends invited me to join them in a new Bible study and it is interesting and enlightening so far.

I know God has things to teach me through this study and I continue to pray that my heart & eyes are open and that I'm ready to learn, more importantly - that I'm ready to be changed.

Blessings on the journey~

Better

Today was the first Sunday since Mother's Day (5/8) that I've gotten to be in worship service.  I didn't realize how badly I'd missed it ... until I started singing.. and my heart wanted to burst with joy at be able to sing praises to my Lord with my church family.

This song really sums it up.

Birthday Beach Day

Yesterday was Steve's birthday. 
The kids and I got new shirts to help celebrate the awesomeness of the man God has given us in him.

He took the day off of work and we headed out to Hampton for the day to play.  It was an awesome day!

I only look tall because I was the only one in shoes and the wind was blowing my hair UP all day. But yes... the kids really are almost as tall as us already!

We had a fabulous time and the sun came out shortly after that photo was taken.  Everyone but me is sporting strips of sunburn in various locations to prove it.

Sunday

May you all enjoy a day of joy & peace on this Sunday.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
~ Ephesians 2:13

Blessings on the journey~



Photo credit Steve Wolfe

Another Addition to Our Family

Guess what happened today?
God did something cool!  Okay...so He does that all the time - everywhere - every moment.  But today He did something cool HERE at my house, for us.
There is a Compassion Blogger Trip going on right now in the Philippines.


I am already a regular reader of a few of the bloggers on this trip, so I thought that was pretty cool when I found out they were going on a trip with Shaun Groves to spread the word about Compassion International.  I've followed two prior trips like this, one to Kenya & one to Guatemala and as a result we sponsor two children through Compassion.  Get it?  2 trips = 2 kids that God has given to our hearts.  Makes sense right?

Fred is our first sponsored child and he was chosen after many tears over blog posts and quite a bit of time poring over photos and bios on the Compassion site.  He has grown a lot since the first photo we had of him!

Next came Blanca in Guatemala whom we only were blessed to sponsor for a brief time as she left the program due to school pressures.

Then God sent us Fernando - in a part of the world where Christianity is beyond a minority.  He is the same age as B and we hope that they will eventually become friends & pen-pals.

So... to the cool thing God did today for us.
I've been reading posts and trying to not get too involved... I've been feeling a bit maxed out emotionally lately and was afraid of the raw feeling of life in places of desperate need that is always right at the surface of these blogger trips. 
You try and keep arms-length when you read posts like this, and this, and this.  I dare you!

I'd already been feeling God tugging me about sponsoring a third child - a girl - J's age (like Blanca had been).  We have three kids at home, we should have three kids out there.  Makes sense in my head & heart.  But I've been putting that feeling aside - not wanting to stretch the budget a bit more just yet.

Today's mail brought an envelope from Compassion with a letter that told me how they have over 1,900 older children waiting for sponsors - and their definition of 'older' means 10 years old or more.  Not exactly OLD.  Seems lots of people - bless their generous hearts - are taken with the photos of little ones, and no one faults them one bit!  They are some cuties!  But the older kids are often overlooked.  Compassion serves these kids amazingly and you can read more in Shaun's post here.

So on a whim (who knew God used whims?), I clicked over to the Compassion site and did a quick search (female, waiting more than 6 months for a sponsor, birthday in the same month & year as J).  Nothing too demanding, didn't choose a country or anything other than those 3 criteria.  Guess how many girls popped onto my screen?

Just. this. one. 
Isn't she beautiful?

Her name is Diosenie.  She lives in the Philippines.  Right where those amazing bloggers are traveling this week.  I know that isn't a coincidence.

So that is my really cool thing that God did today.  Won't you prayerfully consider sponsoring a child in Jesus' name?  There is a special one that God has chosen for you.  I just know it.

Blessings on the journey,

A Long Weekend

It is a long weekend here. 
       4 days of no paid work or plans written in ink. 

Days to squint in the sun as you lie around doing nothing much of anything.

The "to do" lists may have some things marked off or they may be untouched as we hang out, play and enjoy the sunshine.
After day 1, it's shaping up to be a great weekend of 'nothing much' and it is all very good.

Blessings on the journey~