Having some sweet time with God this morning as I cleaned out my freezer of ruined food. Thomas woke me up at 5 with a sore throat this morning and when I went to get him ice water, the light was flashing on the freezer door. It was cracked open. (like not shut all the way)
So, I just spent the last 1/2 hour cleaning out the entire freezer worth of soft food. Soft broccoli and partially thawed out chicken are on the stove for a casserole. The rest sits by the fridge in a jumbo black trash bag that is too heavy for me to lift.
So many nights, I've been out in my community- serving the poor, bringing them food. I had way more in that freezer than most have. I know that full well. This experience just humbled me--- and I love staring my day with a thankful heart... not just an attitude of gratefulness... but really understanding the undeserved favor (grace) that God has placed on my family.
Here is the truth....
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Psalm 145:8-9,Psalm 145:14-21 (emphasis mine)
Friday, August 31, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Swim lessons
I'm so proud of my sweet son, Matthew. He jumped in with Mrs. Jill (swim instructor extraordinaire).
... and he flapped those sweet little feet!
... and Thomas decided to be brave! He lunged- and off the side he went.
The, the Princess took a turn. She surprised us all!!!
She hung on and waiting for her cue to "blast off!"
She gave a push and flapped her feet.
She came up for breath with a huge smile!
... and couldn't get enough.
She is a little fish.
All of my little lovies made me so proud!
All of my little lovies made me so proud!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Ethiopia: part 1
I've only been home from Ethiopia for less than 48 hours. Physically, I feel a little tired, but emotionally, I am still in shock. I'm quite and still... waiting for this to all make sense.
My cousin, Tracy, invited me to go with her only days after we got back from China with Matthew in November. The trip was through Visiting Orphans and I never turn down a new experience. We had a great flight over and were anxious to get started "loving the least!!!"
Within minutes of landing, I could feel my heart racing. The air was thin and a faint smell of wood-burning greeted me as I stepped off of the plane.
We went through customs and made our way to the parking lot of the airport where our buses and translators waited for us. Our team of 18 watched in amazement as one of the translators, Sammi, lifted our 50 lb. luggage bags and tossed them effortlessly to the top of the van where the smaller translator, AB, caught each piece and placed it strategically before tying them all down for our ride.
By the time we made it to the guest house, my head was spinning. I was nauseated and weak. I medicated myself and laid down. It was hard to form words or even sit up. Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia is at 8,200 ft. elevation and many people suffer from altitude sickness.... I was no exception.
I woke the next morning feeling much better. We drove 5 hours to Shashamane, stopping for breakfast. The workers started a coffee ceremony while we were there, burning incense and filling the place with smoke and a strong scent. It was hard to breath and even harder to eat. We returned to the van and hit the road for more driving.
Driving is much different in Ethiopia. All type of cattle, goats, horses, etc.... make their way across the street without notice. The drivers seem to have free reign over both sides of the road.
We passed sights I had only seen online or on TV, typical Africa. There were ant hills up to 6 ft. high scattered throughout the African plains.
We reached Shashamane and the boarding school where many children from Korah attended, if they were lucky enough to have sponsors. (If you watch the video attached, I spent the whole week with Sammy, the guy introducing Korah.)
We loved on them.
We told them that they are loved and valued.
We loved them like Jesus would.
... and they loved us back. Serving us....
My cousin, Tracy, invited me to go with her only days after we got back from China with Matthew in November. The trip was through Visiting Orphans and I never turn down a new experience. We had a great flight over and were anxious to get started "loving the least!!!"
Within minutes of landing, I could feel my heart racing. The air was thin and a faint smell of wood-burning greeted me as I stepped off of the plane.
We went through customs and made our way to the parking lot of the airport where our buses and translators waited for us. Our team of 18 watched in amazement as one of the translators, Sammi, lifted our 50 lb. luggage bags and tossed them effortlessly to the top of the van where the smaller translator, AB, caught each piece and placed it strategically before tying them all down for our ride.
By the time we made it to the guest house, my head was spinning. I was nauseated and weak. I medicated myself and laid down. It was hard to form words or even sit up. Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia is at 8,200 ft. elevation and many people suffer from altitude sickness.... I was no exception.
I woke the next morning feeling much better. We drove 5 hours to Shashamane, stopping for breakfast. The workers started a coffee ceremony while we were there, burning incense and filling the place with smoke and a strong scent. It was hard to breath and even harder to eat. We returned to the van and hit the road for more driving.
Driving is much different in Ethiopia. All type of cattle, goats, horses, etc.... make their way across the street without notice. The drivers seem to have free reign over both sides of the road.
We passed sights I had only seen online or on TV, typical Africa. There were ant hills up to 6 ft. high scattered throughout the African plains.
We reached Shashamane and the boarding school where many children from Korah attended, if they were lucky enough to have sponsors. (If you watch the video attached, I spent the whole week with Sammy, the guy introducing Korah.)
We loved on them.
We told them that they are loved and valued.
We loved them like Jesus would.
... and they loved us back. Serving us....
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Thomas Learns to Ride!
We hit a milestone yesterday!
Thomas has been riding his bike with training wheels for the past year or so. Using his wishes as guidance, we've tried adjusting his training wheels and even taking his training wheels off a couple of times over the past few months to allow him to learn how to ride, and each time he has gotten frustrated and wanted them back on. I had resigned myself to the expectation that one of his uncles or a friend of mine was going to have to teach him how to ride his bicycle.
That is, until yesterday.
Thomas's school, Providence Christian Academy, had basically a "play day" for the preschoolers where everybody brought their bikes to school and rode around in the parking lot. I watched Thomas as he rode his own bike for a few minutes, and watched him as he looked at the other kids, some of whom were still using training wheels and some of whom were not.
One of his friends (named Josh) was not using his bike at the time. I watched my son get on his friend's bike and start to ride. This bike was the exact same model as Thomas's -- a Huffy, probably purchased at Wal-Mart like Thomas's -- but this one didn't have training wheels on it. I watched my son start to pedal that bike, wobbly at first, but quickly gaining momentum. My eyes filled with tears as I watched him take off on that bike and begin to ride it with no problems whatsoever.
I turned to one of the dads who was there watching his daughter and told him, "The training wheels are coming off!" I grabbed a wrench from my father-in-law who came to watch as well, and quickly took the training wheels off Thomas's bike.
I called out encouragement to Thomas. I ran after him, trying to video him using Sarah's cellphone (mine had died). He knocked into someone and fell off, and his friend Josh came over and reclaimed his bike. I asked Thomas if he wanted to ride his own bike now. He didn't. "I fell off mine," he reminded me, as if to say his own bike was tainted with failure. "I want one like Josh's."
I knelt down and had Thomas look me in the eyes. "Thomas," I said, "Your bike is the same as his."
Sometimes my son doesn't believe me when I tell him things like this. This time, he did.
His eyes got as big as saucers. He stepped over to his own bike, hopped on, and began to pedal away just like he did with Josh's. "It is like his!" he shouted. "I can balance it!"
Something snapped in my son's mind that day. Something switched in his heart. And many changes keep happening in my own heart, too, as I engage my family and watch them grow. I can't help but think if I had pestered Thomas about riding his bike and tried to get him to do it on my terms, in my timing, I would have missed watching him jump on a bike and learn to ride it without his dad's help. I'm so glad I didn't miss that.
Thomas has been riding his bike with training wheels for the past year or so. Using his wishes as guidance, we've tried adjusting his training wheels and even taking his training wheels off a couple of times over the past few months to allow him to learn how to ride, and each time he has gotten frustrated and wanted them back on. I had resigned myself to the expectation that one of his uncles or a friend of mine was going to have to teach him how to ride his bicycle.
That is, until yesterday.
Thomas's school, Providence Christian Academy, had basically a "play day" for the preschoolers where everybody brought their bikes to school and rode around in the parking lot. I watched Thomas as he rode his own bike for a few minutes, and watched him as he looked at the other kids, some of whom were still using training wheels and some of whom were not.
One of his friends (named Josh) was not using his bike at the time. I watched my son get on his friend's bike and start to ride. This bike was the exact same model as Thomas's -- a Huffy, probably purchased at Wal-Mart like Thomas's -- but this one didn't have training wheels on it. I watched my son start to pedal that bike, wobbly at first, but quickly gaining momentum. My eyes filled with tears as I watched him take off on that bike and begin to ride it with no problems whatsoever.
I turned to one of the dads who was there watching his daughter and told him, "The training wheels are coming off!" I grabbed a wrench from my father-in-law who came to watch as well, and quickly took the training wheels off Thomas's bike.
I called out encouragement to Thomas. I ran after him, trying to video him using Sarah's cellphone (mine had died). He knocked into someone and fell off, and his friend Josh came over and reclaimed his bike. I asked Thomas if he wanted to ride his own bike now. He didn't. "I fell off mine," he reminded me, as if to say his own bike was tainted with failure. "I want one like Josh's."
I knelt down and had Thomas look me in the eyes. "Thomas," I said, "Your bike is the same as his."
Sometimes my son doesn't believe me when I tell him things like this. This time, he did.
His eyes got as big as saucers. He stepped over to his own bike, hopped on, and began to pedal away just like he did with Josh's. "It is like his!" he shouted. "I can balance it!"
Something snapped in my son's mind that day. Something switched in his heart. And many changes keep happening in my own heart, too, as I engage my family and watch them grow. I can't help but think if I had pestered Thomas about riding his bike and tried to get him to do it on my terms, in my timing, I would have missed watching him jump on a bike and learn to ride it without his dad's help. I'm so glad I didn't miss that.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Late night flight...
 |
| Pilot, Gabe Henkel |
 |
| Dad (moral support), Ashley, Brittany & Caki |
 |
| Brittany |
 |
| Joe, Ashley, Matthew, Caki, Matthew, Mom, and Brittany |
 |
| Matthew checking it out |
 |
| the innards |
 |
| the safety speech |
 |
| Caki boarding |
 |
| Brittany boarding |
 |
| Caki- ready to go |
 | |||
| SOOOO PROUD! |
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