I AM JUST BESIDE MYSELF!

God is so so good. I mean He is just SO GOOD. There was an extended period time in my life where I didn't believe that and there are still times even today where I have to choose to believe His Word. But oh my, to get to actually experience The Almighty! When evidence of His Mighty Hand is so vividly seen that all you are physically able to do is just worship! Yesterday was that day. I was talking on the phone with a friend who has been going through Mercy Street's training to become a mentor and she was excited to tell me that she got matched. I asked who it was wondering if I might now her...she pronounced the name 'Sha Keerah'. It didn't sound familiar and so I asked her what school and she said 'Carver'. I thought, 'Hmmm...that's odd because Watermark has started to partner with Carr elementary so all new mentors should recieve a mentee from Carr.' She double checked and sure enough it was Carver...the same school my mentee, Dajia goes to. It couldn't be Shakira could it? Dajia's best friend? But, no, it just couldn't. Her mom won't let her have one and I just saw her last week and surely she would have told me if her mom finally consented?? My friend told me what her last name was but it didn't help since I didn't know it. I told her I was going to find out so I made a phone call and by golly it is her!!!!!!!! I called my friend back, screaming, ecstatic telling her it is her, it is her!!! Tears formed in her eyes and she got goosebumps. She told me that it was my blog on Shakira that caused her to want to mentor. And now to know that she got this precious girl that her heart was aching for!!! I was just beside myself. I don't know if the angels and the heavens can see when our bodies are welled in holy laughter but I knew He was smiling at my discovery to His happenings. I have meditated many times on Psalm 37:23 "He delights in every detail of our lives." And I choose to believe it. BUT to see His Divine hand moving, happening, aligning. It is too much for my heart to intake. All I can respond with is 'thank you Lord for allowing me to see your goodness and for answering prayers for Shakira and allowing a friend to journey with me in this journey of mentoring.' That's all I can say but my heart and soul feel so much more and I know He knows...

Picture Updates

So much has gone by since my last post! Since 'a picture is worth a thousand words', here is a recap via photos...

Caitlin's 3rd birthday party! She had a princess party where the girls did a craft, recieved makeovers and
were served brunch by the boys:)

We adopted sweet Molly after Floyd passed away and we couldn't have asked for a better dog. She has been a wonderful addition to our family. Such a great family dog. Caleb loves that she sleeps on his bed every night.

Caleb's basketball team was undefeated in the SVAA league and won first place in the playoff's. Way to go Hawks!!

Spring festivals are a big deal at the boys' school. And here we are at Caleb's 2nd grade Rome and Greek festival. Each kid had to present a one minute presentation and the festival concluded with lunch and games. Caleb did a great job presenting his presentation on weapons.

Christopher's first grade class had an Egyptian festival. Christopher's presentation was on Pharoah Menes. Each kid has to have a visual aid to show and we bought clay from Hobby Lobby and sculpted Menes's face and then painted it gold. It was very cool. Too bad Christopher forgot to show it when he presented.

The boys' have started taking tennis lessons at our nearby rec center. Caitlin, Molly and I enjoy hanging out watching:)

Caleb celebrated his 9th birthday in New Braunfels. He asked for a family birthday and a cheesecake. We delivered. Happy Birthday Caleb!

Our first time to swim during Spring Break! (The pool was heated so that helped:)

Bubbles in New Braunfels...

Brian and the boys, along with some help from a neighbor kid, raked up 34 bags of leaves. Whew!!!

We had a fun visit with Grammie and Papa where we went to the Arboretum, celebrated Betsy's birthday at Texas De Brazil and celebrated mine at Fireside Pies.

I love taking pictures at the Arboretum:)

Some things I decided not to capture on film, like when Caitlin decided to pull her pants down in the backyard and take a dump. She sure was proud of herself though.

What's next? Well I've started a tennis league and have a match today; which has been fun exercise. Brian has his Rock and Roll marathon tomorrow and Caleb and I are going on a special 'mommy-son' date to Canton next weekend. He is super excited! Me too!

Shakira

Shakira is Dajia's best friend. When the teachers aren't paying attention she will come and eat lunch with us sometimes. (They have a rule that mentors can only eat lunch with their mentees) I've gotten to know her a little bit over the year and a half I've been mentoring Dajia and have been able to help the two girls reconcile through a rough patch in their friendship.
She is very different from Dajia. Not so much in personality but in the way she interacts. I see life in Dajia's spirit. She is dearly loved at home and has lots of extended family that cares for her. She goes to church every Sunday and you can see that she is delighted in from those who care for her. She smiles a lot, carries conversations well and enjoys her school and life.
Shakira hardly ever looks me in the eye. You'll see her often keep her head down even when you are talking with her. I've heard the statistic that 1 in 4 kids in West Dallas come from abusive homes and I'm concerned for her. I was able to drop the two of them off at her apartment a while back and she invited me in. It was very dark. No lights were on but there were 2 men on the couch who just looked at us as we walked in. She took me to her mother's room and her mother was half asleep lying in bed. It was the middle of the afternoon. She said hi to me but stayed in bed. I asked Shakira why she doesn't have a mentor and she said her mom won't let her. She said her mom doesn't want anyone in her business. I think about Shakira and pray for her when she comes to mind.
Before I headed out to Dajia's school today I scrounged up some of Caitlin's leftover Valentine's cards/lollipop's and set aside three. One to give to Dajia, her brother and Shakira. When I got to her school her friends told me that Dajia wasn't at school today so I gathered up my stuff to leave but then saw Shakira carrying her lunch to the table. I called out for her and she saw me and walked towards me with her head down. I gave her a hug, made some small talk and told her I had something for her. She never once looked up or said anything. I pulled out the Valentine and told her that I think about her often and that she is such a special girl and then I saw her smile. She still wasn't looking at me but I saw her smile.
I sure hope she reads the note on the back that I wrote her that says that she is loved by God, wonderfully made and a daughter of a King. I hope that God's love for her penetrates into her heart and she believes that she is so much more than what she thinks.

A girl after my own heart

Growing up I always wanted to be a dancer. Any kind of dancer. I loved ballet, hip hop, tap, you name it, I wanted to do it. I wasn't allowed to take any classes though. My parents saw my natural talent in tennis and kept me on the straight and narrow with that. But that's ok because I probably wouldn't have gone to college without it:)

When I was little (ok, more like 12 but whatever:) I created my own 'dances' and had my parents video tape my performances. And my poor half-sister, Susannah, would get pulled into the act. She is blind and in a wheel chair and I had her play the piano while I danced away.

However, as soon as tennis season was over when I was a college senior you know what I did? I signed up for ballet classes. That's right. Got the dance outfit, styled my hair in a bun and loved every minute of it until I pulled a leg muscle by trying to show off how limber I was. It was a short dance career.

But oh, God has given me a girl after my own heart!! Caitlin loves to dance. I mean this girl loves to dance! Our routine almost every night after dinner consists of Caitlin putting on her dance outfits and dancing for us. How I delight in this little girl. It is so fun and I love watching her take joy in dancing.

You can watch Caitlin dance here....

Christmas cont'd....

I am just now getting around to posting pictures of the rest of our Christmas!

About a week before Christmas Dajia and Treveon came over for dinner. We had baked spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. I guess they are not used to family meals at the table because they asked if we do that every night. I could tell Dajia was enjoying it but Treveon took about two bites and was off playing.
We had a present for each of them...Dajia loved her new purse that contained fun goodies and I think Treveon liked his football but he said, "Is that it?":) (He told us that for Christmas he asked for an XBOX, a DS, a Wii and whatever other video game contraption I'm leaving out.) So I guess it's safe to say he did not like his present.

On Christmas Eve we went to Brother Bill's in the morning in West Dallas to help out with their Christmas party. (Brother Bill's is a faith based non-profit organization that assists those in need in WD) This is a picture of the people who had been waiting for an hour in line in the freezing cold for it to start.

Our job was to be a host. As a host we would be paired up with another family and took them to each station where they got to take a picture with Santa, pick out a few gifts, recieve a free turkey and gift card and listen to carols. Our family had a 6 and 3 year old boy that lived with their grandma and uncle. In the picture below is the 6 year old, Ryan, with Caleb and Christopher. I spoke with his grandma and asked her what they were doing for Christmas and she told me their family was coming over....which included about a hundred people; in which, she made 32 dozen, yes, 32 dozen tamales the day before!! Wow, that's a lot of tamales!!!

We finished off our Christmas celebration with Leslie and Betsy who stayed with us through Christmas. In the center of the table is our Jesus cake which is a pavlova; a dessert, that Betsy is able to eat since it doesn't contain any flour. It isn't the 'typical' birthday cake but....

do you think that bothered us?? We destroyed that sucker...and with no help from the kids, mind you.

So as we say goodbye to 2010 I'll leave you with a sweet picture of the kiddos after we got home from Christmas Eve service...


Happy New Year everybody!!!!

Lotsa

Lotsa family, lotsa friends and lotsa celebratin!

We had a community group Christmas party where we began with the kids making Christmas ornaments...

Here is Caitlin with her ornament...

Then we had an appetizer and dessert spread...

Then we had our 'gift exchange'. Each child chose a gift on behalf of another child for someone in need. Caleb and Christopher each chose a pair of rabbits and Caitlin chose a pair of chickens through Gospel For Asia which will provide income for some folks across the world. Each kid drew a picture of what they picked, wrapped it up and got to open it up in front of everyone and share what they chose. Great job Tracey for walking the kiddos through Scripture explaining why they were doing that!

Then we went out caroling and blessed some folks with our voices and herd of children:)


We came back and warmed ourselves by fire and hot cocoa. What a fun night! Thanks Lakeys for hosting!

The following week we trekked down to Houston for Aunt Nancy's birthday. She's so happy because Caleb guessed she was 38 years old:)





Aunt Nancy and the kids...

Poor Nancy got about 10-15minutes of celebrating her birthday and then it was Christmas...

Caitlin modeling her new barrettes and her Thomas pj's; which were Christopher's when he was little. Isn't that sweet??

Drum roll...and then came the TREASURE HUNT! My dad made maps of the house, put X's on where treasuse is hiding and your off in search of a goldmine!

On the way home back to Dallas we stopped in Montgomery to visit Brian's grandma, Aunt Linda and cousins. Brian's parents were there visting too which was fun. We feasted, rolled ourselves back into the car and tried to keep our eyes open as we drove back to Dallas. :)

A Different Kind of Christmas

We went to Robert and Janelle's today in Malakoff, TX to do Christmas with their family but instead of the typical exchange of presents we have started a new tradition. Janelle had the awesome idea to donate money or gifts to a ministry on behalf of the other family in lieu of a gift exchange. I thought it was genius and today was the start of a new tradition and I don't think anyone missed the old one!

On our behalf they purchased a pair of chickens and a pair of bunnies through 'Gospel for Asia' which will allow a poverty stricken family to provide income for their families. They also donated to Brian's 'worthrunningfor' ministry. How cool is that?!?! It's neat to know that instead of some random toy that will get tossed aside in a matter of weeks we are giving hope to someone across the country. I also love how we are cultivating in the kids' hearts to live out Matthew 25:40 which says, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me."

We shared with them about the Karen refugees from Burma that have fled religious persecution and are now living in Dallas; specifically Lake Highlands, where we used to live. They do not speak English, many don't have jobs and there are about 7 people living per apartment. Suffice to say, they are struggling just to provide for their families. Our kids' school are partnering with other churches to provide baskets of necessities for these families. So today the kids made Christmas cards to give them in their Christmas baskets. Here they are making the cards and how they turned out...

.

We also toured the new Cole Farm, played with their new kitty cats, chased after chickens, roasted marshmellows in a bonfire and had a great brunch. The kids loved it so much that we plan on dropping them off come May and picking them up sometime in August. I'm sure Robert adn Janelle won't mind:)