Making Special Time

We are adjusting and getting settled here with our new addition.  When there is a new kid in the house, there is a little less time for everyone else.  I am doing my best to meet everyone's needs but it is hard.  The other night, Sam and I snuck away for some special time to a nearby park.  Here are a few pics I managed to take on that outing.

Walking That Road Again

I haven't been a great blogger lately because my energy has been other places, but I wanted to take a moment to share with you what God has been doing in our family the last several months.  In February, we received a call that a relative needed someone to care for her two small children because she was no longer able. Our immediate (terrified) response was absolutely.  Well, that didn't end up happening but God used those few weeks to water a seed in our hearts for foster care.

We finished the required classes about 6 weeks ago to become licensed foster parents.  I will go ahead and confess that I was all about letting God know what child would fit best in our home.  I wanted a 6 month old (sleeping through the night) little girl (so we would have 2 of each) who was 1/2 african american and 1/2 hispanic (those babies are GORGEOUS) and had fat rolls (none of my other kids did and I still feel cheated).  I mean that is not too much to ask right?  After all, I am agreeing to take in another child! :)

Well, as usual, God's plans were different from my own.  We had a few calls in the first few weeks but for different reasons they did not end up in our home.  Then last Monday I awoke with a strange sense of peace.  I just felt like it was going to be the day for our placement.  At breakfast we prayed as a family specifically for a placement that day which was out of the ordinary for us to be that specific.  Late morning I received a call for a young boy with needs that were a little more involved than I had prepared myself for but I knew that we were supposed to say yes.  We brought him home that evening and have spent the last week helping him heal and incorporating him into our family.

I have watched this child go from being a terrified boy to a trusting child who has started calling my husband, "daddy".  Caring for his emotional and physical needs is not easy.  My husband spent most of today at the hospital for his treatment, with our other 3 kids, while I was work.  It is a family sacrifice, but we are better for it.  Our kids are learning to extend grace to someone who has not had all of the luxuries and positive upbringing that they have, they are seeing first hand how their own challenges can pale in comparison to someone else's story, and they are teaching Trent and I how to love immediately and unconditionally not because something was done for you first but because God commands us to.  

I have to be limited in what I share publicly here out of respect for the privacy of our new addition but I do hope to share about the lessons God teaches us as we walk faithfully down this path He has set before us.  It won't be easy, but it will be so worth it.

New Chair and a photog outing with my baby girl

I have a pretty awesome mother-in-law and she has been scoring me some great finds from estate sales. She found this chair and it needed some color and a new cover.  I am so glad she had vision for it and snagged it for me because after just a few minutes, it was transformed into my favorite new prop.   My next project is to paint some suitcases that she picked up for me.

Sam's Baptism

My sweet boy was baptized on his birthday.  He was so excited to be "bab-i-tized" and "tell all those people that he was a follower of Jesus".

Six Flags

I can't believe that I forgot to post these.   When we went to Dallas last weekend, we spent Saturday at Six Flags with cousins.  Ruthie was big enough to ride a few roller coasters and was fearless.  Jack, on the other hand, chose to sit most of them out.  Love that boy and his cautious ways.

Happy Birthday Sam

We've had a very busy weekend celebrating Sam's 8th birthday.  It was so busy that it will take 3 posts to cover it all.   We headed to Dallas on Thursday to spend Friday at the Perot Museum with my Aunt Penny.  

It has only been open for a few months and is quite impressive.  Each floor has it's own theme and is both educational and interactive.

The kids had a blast doing things like programming their own robot and seeing if they could run faster than a dinosaur.  We also watched a great 3D movie on weather in space.

It was a fun filled day.  Thanks Aunt Penny for the memories.

Soccer Time

Well it is soccer season around here and that has us running between games and practices.  Jack has been a good sport tagging along for all of the activities.  Here are a few pics from last Saturday.

This is my sweet friend, Holly, playing with Ruthie while Sam and her son played in their game.  She is also a lover of photography and is uber talented. 

A Day Off

I love my days off when I get to keep Ruthie home and play.  I had Tuesday and Thursday off this week and it was wonderful!  On one of those days, we went on a walk and stopped at a patch of flowers in the neighborhood.  Good times.

What If...

I have been thinking today about something.

I wonder what the world and our lives would look like if we all consistently prayed the prayer, "Lord break my heart for what breaks yours."

Would we spend less time and less energy pursuing our own comfort?

Would we pray more?

Would we complain less and act more?

Would we respond to stories on the news with responsive action instead of just entertainment?

Would our homes be full of children who weren't born to us?

Would we spend our money or our time differently?

There was a story on the news this morning about a 10 month old who died from burns inflicted on him by his parents.  If we prayed the prayer, "break our heart for what breaks yours", would we respond to stories like this with more than just a head shake?

Oh Lord please break my heart for what breaks yours!

We Were Egged!

We walked out this morning to a really fun surprise! Some sweet friends from church "egged" our house last night.

Of course we weren't going to send the kids off to school and hope that the eggs would still be there when they returned.  So we had a little egg hunt before heading out. 

It was a great way to start the day and now we have some extra goodies laying around.

Catching up

My dad reminded me today that I have been a bad blogger.  Jack had surgery 2 weeks ago so I have had my hands tied up with him.  He is recovering well and we are excited to see what this procedure will do for him and his ability to walk.

Here are a few pictures that I took of Ruthie at a playdate a few days ago.