I love being a mom to TWO little girls again (plus my 3 older girls, too, of course). This week I promised Sarah Mei and Isabelle we'd polish their toenails. Then we put on their matching sandals, and we were out the door! It's so fun when they'll still let you dress them up!!



Yesterday we had one of those days in homeschooling that I love. Michaela and AnnaGrace were completing their last day of required annual standardized testing. In the state of NC, all homeschoolers are required to administer standardized tests each year, just to monitor the progress of their students. While the big girls were testing, the little girls and I snuck out to the front porch for some reading time.

Accompanied by one of our cats, Buster, and our faithful Australian Shepherd, Zoe, (it just makes me want to say "and their good old bulldog Jack"...I hope some of you are Little House on the Prairie fans or you have NO idea what I'm talking about:), we covered up with blankets, sat on the rocking chairs and read away.


Sarah Mei's current favorites are Make Way for Ducklings, Ferdinand and Ping. Yesterday we also read The Big Green Pocketbook.

These moments are one of the many things I love about homeschooling.

(***Just a note about yesterday's post...lest you think I don't have a 401K or have never played tennis, had botox, bought flowers, etc., you'd be mistaken. My point is NOT that there is anything inherently wrong with any of these things, but when I start letting them become my "gods", I have to go back to boot camp and get new marching orders. I have a focus problem:) So I get to attend boot camp regularly!!***)

Ouch...God stepped on my toes last night...

During the last few days the Lord has impressed upon me the importance of the following verses:

3"Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs - he wants to please his commanding officer." 2 Timothy 2:3,4


My Dad in Uniform


Growing up in a military family - my father served in both the Marines and the Air Force - my husband graduated from The Citadel and my little sister has served both active duty in the Air Force and is still a reservist - I understand what military service means. I admire the wholehearted devotion and self-discipline it requires, the denial of self and the attention to the "master" while denying civilian interests.


Using that analogy, the Lord has been whispering to me recently - "are you involved in any civilian affairs?" You know...the things that "moth and rust will destroy..." After all...the Lord is my commanding officer.


19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matt. 6:19-21


Despite the Lord's prompting, I had been fairly successfully in squelching the Holy Spirit's still small voice...you know what I mean...


"but Lord, I know I could give the money that I made from the garage sale and the items I sold on E-Bay to help a child, but I really "need" some flowers for my front porch and I "need" to reupholster my dining room chair. After all we have adopted twice in three years and have had three open-heart surgeries in that same amount of time. I think that's enough for right now don't you?" (I'm not proud of this...just being honest.)


But in God's tender mercy He continued to pursue me. He used a post from Kisses from Katie to get my attention again. She is a young American woman in her twenties who has given it ALL up to live in Africa and show the love of Christ. This is what she writes:


"The projects Amazima has started in this community, are wonderful, but only meet the needs of some of the people, only scratching the surface of the problems. God assures me this is OK. If I continue to preach the Gospel and more importantly LIVE the Gospel in this community, though the outward conditions of the people may never change or may change very slowly, but if these people can come with us to Heaven, a few years of suffering will pale in comparison. In the mean time, He allows me to see Him in their faces and to love Him in bandaging their wounds and letting their charcoal and mud covered children curl up in my lap."


(If you've never read this blog...it's a MUST read. This is one wise young woman with an incredible heart for the Lord's work!!)


Then the Holy Spirit got my attention with a blog post from A Place Called Simplicity (another one of my favorite blogs). Her post is called I Didn't Get The Memo which talks about not getting the memo that says we have the right to do what we want to, to decorate our house, have our botox, play our golf or tennis games, pursue our hobbies, retire with our 401K, while those around us are suffering. Funny...I didn't get that memo either...hmmm...


Then I sat down and read Tom Davis's book, Red Letters, Living A Faith That Bleeds. "Okay, okay, Lord. I'm ready to bend a knee. I'm ready to let you be my commander...once again."


I "happened" upon a picture of a little girl, on Tom Davis organization's website - Children's HopeChest, who lives in Swaziland (if you're like me, and I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I had to run to my world map on the wall to find out where Swaziland is. Just an FYI - it's a country located in NorthEast South Africa.)

Thabile is 4ish (birthdays aren't a big deal in Swaziland where only 1 in 10 children will live to be 32) and is in need of a sponsor to make sure she has food in her belly, basic medical care, someone to hug her and tell her that Jesus loves her. So with the money I had in my "garage sale" envelope, I'm going to help little Thabile.

If you come to my house you'll see empty spaces where I usually have flowers...


And my chairs might have a few cracks in them...

But when you look at the windowsill over my kitchen sink you'll see the sweetest face looking back at you...

And in the words of Katie...if she can come to Heaven with me (through having a full belly and some one's loving touch and words that tell her about her Savior, Jesus), it will all be worth it!!

Finally....An Update

It's amazing what three months can do....January 18, 2010


April, 2010 - just 3 months later...


Isabelle is doing wonderfully. Her heart function continues to look good. She is on a monthly schedule with the pediatric cardiologist and is only on 2 medicines. Her oxygen saturation levels remain in the low 80's.

When Isabelle was placed in our arms three months ago, she couldn't walk. Now she is walking everywhere and even trying her version of running. She started physical therapy this week. Our physical therapist, Nikki, who also worked with Sarah Mei, is amazed that Isabelle does not know how to scoot, crawl or use any parts of her body independently. She feels that she was probably propped in a crib and never allowed to move. Amazingly Isabelle can stand up in the middle of a room and walk but can't figure out how to crawl to pick up a toy a few feet away from her. Nikki has her work cut out for her with this one:)

Isabelle has adjusted to family life beautifully. Every so often she'll look around at each of us and then break out in a huge grin as if to say "I love being part of a family." It melts our hearts.

Bed time on the other hand is a different story!! She has only slept through the night once since arriving from China. I have to confess that I was spoiled with our last 2 adoptions. Both AnnaGrace and Sarah Mei slept through the night from the night they were placed in my arms. Isabelle...not so much.

We've tried walking, rocking, sleeping in bed with us, sleeping in a port-a-crib next to our bed, sleeping in a crib next to Sarah Mei's bed, etc. You name it; we've tried it. Our nights go pretty much like this: We put Isabelle in bed with us while she commences to scream for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. After she falls soundly asleep, I gingerly move her to the port-a-crib next to our bed. She sleeps fitfully until around 4:30 a.m. when she wakes up screaming. I pick her up and put her back in bed with us. She fights going back to sleep and then sleeps fitfully for another few hours.

Oh, what I would give for 7 or 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep...sigh. Oh well, this too shall pass. I have to say one of the wonderful things about being an "older" parent (and yes, I got the "are you the grandmother question" while I was in the hospital...huff!!), is I have an entirely different perspective on parenting issues. If I would have had these sleep issues with our first two girls, I would have been reading parenting books, checking Internet sources, reassuring myself that I was doing it all right or all wrong (depending on my mood). Now I just look at the sweet little face next to me and realize that this won't last forever. I'll sleep through the night again someday. In the meantime I look forward to nap time as much as Sarah Mei and Isabelle!!



A few weeks ago we went to a horse show, and Phil took the little girls to a park for some swing time. And below...only a dad would think to do this...Phil gave Isabelle a ride on the suitcase. Who needs an amusement park!



For Easter the girls all dressed in their Easter outfits. The little girls outfits looked a bit like pajamas, but they were still pretty cute.

Trying to get five girls - ages 19 to 23 months - to smile AND look at the camera, all at the same time, was IMPOSSIBLE!! This one was the best...


Can you tell she already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger!!


By this time Isabelle was finished with pictures, so Torie and Michaela had "Izzy duty".


Torie and Michaela in their matching China outfits.


Sarah Mei continues the sunshine for our family. Here she celebrates my mother's birthday along with my little sister, Lora, who got to come visit and meet Isabelle.



AnnaGrace has developed a real nurturing spirit with Isabelle. It's SO sweet to watch her take Isabelle outside and play with her. One of the wonderful things about a big family is watching the interaction between siblings.


Michaela is staying busy with her homeschool year at The Potter's School, a virtual on-line school, where she takes some of her courses. For one of her classes she had to dress up as a character from a G.A. Henty book set in medieval times. Here she is on her pony, Popcorn.

Michaela's interest in all things medieval has spurred her on to take fencing lessons. She has a very lucrative dog-sitting job which is funding her lessons. She attended the first class last week. I can't wait to get some pictures of that!

Michaela is a HUGE help to me in the home. I have NO doubt that the Lord is calling her to a life of full-time missions to orphans and/or a mother to a huge family. She is patient and nurturing, and I can't imagine day to day life in our home without her sweet spirit and help.


Torie is campaigning TheOrignial Mr.Simon aka Brego, a 9 year old Thoroughbred gelding, that she has trained. She took him to his first event (where they competed in three phases - dressage, stadium jumping and cross-country jumping)a few weeks ago and were thrilled to walk away with a first place.

Torie was supposed to leave for Austria, this weekend, for a 8 week session at a Bible college. Unfortunately, thanks to the volcano in Iceland, the flights were grounded and the trip aborted. The good news...she'll be going to the Bible college in the fall and will get to stay for 12 weeks! Until then she continues her classes at UNCC, majoring in Biology.


Phil and I are "hanging on for the ride" as the Lord takes us on this adventure. We count it a privilege to see what each new chapter brings in our life!!