Mail Call

My heart is overflowing with love.

These days my life has revolved around our three children we are sponsoring. They occupy my thoughts and prayers. In one word, I have become obsessed. It's a strength of mine, and a weakness. On the one hand I am able with God's help to accomplish much; however, I sometimes do it at the expense of other things.

I'm trying to figure out a balance. It's been very difficult to say the least.

Right now I'm waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

I have three children we have agreed to sponsor and correspond with. But it doesn't stop there. I want to keep adding children to the family. I want to send as much mail to them as possible. I want to buy them small gifts. I want to learn about them and their lives. I've got this obsession in me. It's like a red blinking light that yells their names.

Aberu. Yeabsira. Meyli.

I have so much love in me that it's overflowing and spilling out. I can't contain it. I keep seeing all these beautiful faces, and they are calling to me. Begging me for help.

But I am only one person. I am not God. And I do not have His complete power to do whatever I want. I have His power in me to do His will, not mine. I don't know what lies ahead. But I do know that I have been given an order. I am to wait. And wait I have done.

This week the wait has been briefly lifted. The letters are coming in.

Saturday we received our first letter from Aberu in Ethiopia.

Hope to meet in our next letter. Until then, May God bless you and keep you safe.

I loved the closing statement in Aberu's letter. We may never meet in person, but we will meet monthly in our letters. I cried when I read her mention of God. I thought I would never be allowed to mention Him, but on further inquiry, I am not allowed to mention "Jesus" or the "salvation message". But I am free to talk about God and tell her that I am praying for her. I was overjoyed to find that I am given at least this liberty.

Thursday we received our first letter from Yeabsira in Ethiopia. I cried and laughed when I read it. Here's a short excerpt.

My family and I are happy that you are willing to be my Sponsor. Thank you. Do you have many chickens? What do they eat?

And today we received an email from Compassion saying our first letter is on its way from Meyli in Peru.

My heart is full. My cup is overflowing. My love has multiplied.

I have spent hours and days scouring the Compassion and World Vision websites. And I have come to this conclusion. Your money means a lot to these children, but your words are a lifeline to them. Letters and packages to these kids are equated with your love. A sponsor who writes and sends words to these children, shares their greatest treasure, themselves. A sponsor who shares their money is of value, but the kids still end up feeling unworthy when the letters don't come.

I have recently been extremely discouraged. I overextend myself, and I feel stretched thin. I have many commitments but not enough of myself to commit. I know something needed to change. I was lost as to what. I pushed all these thoughts aside and made myself available no matter how I felt. I smiled when I felt like crying. I felt underappreciated and overworked. Let's just say, I wasn't happy.

Mothers are good at detecting those things. Mine called me on it. She told me I needed to do some serious praying and asking God what He wanted me to do. And maybe all the other things I would need to let go. She phrased the question like this.

If you had to give up everything you do, and asked God what He wanted you to do. What comes to mind?

I had a hard time answering through the tears. The only thing I could say with complete assurance, "I want to work with kids."

I have never been so certain in my life about anything. God has called me to children. I believe I have found my calling. I'm exactly where I need to be with them. I'm teaching and loving them. I'm trying to pour into their lives.

Compassion and World Vision has added a new dimension to this calling. I firmly believe that I am to invest in these sponsored children's lives. I am fulfilled.

Unfortunately the road to fulfillment is not always easy. There have been several bumps along the way. Anytime you do something to fulfill your calling to follow God with your whole heart, the enemy does not like it. We have had many days over the past few months that I honestly feel like we've been in a battlefield. I have lain there wounded, from the arrows that have touched me. I'm trying to keep up my spiritual armor, but it's difficult. Failure comes. Discouragement creeps in.

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

For now, I wait again on God. I have three very precious children that I can write to. Someday I may have more, but for now I wait, and hope in the Lord.

I wanted to share another aspect of Compassion that some of you may not be familiar with. Remember earlier, how I said these letters are a lifeline to these children? You can have the opportunity to be that to as many children as you'd like.

If your first response is, I don't have the money. I have great news for you! Neither do I. If you're like me and your heart is bigger than your wallet, keep reading.

Compassion has a correspondence program that is not heavily advertised. For financial sponsors who do not have the time to put into writing letters and building the personal relationship, they can sign their children up for a correspondent sponsor.

This is the answer you have been waiting for. You can be used by God no matter what your circumstances are. God is looking for willing people to work through. You can be that vessel.

"Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:18 (NIV)

We are correspondent sponsors for Meyli. We do not financially support her. We are responsible for the personal relationship with her. We exchange letters back and forth. And as far as I'm aware, you can choose to correspond with as many children as you would like. The only thing Compassion asks is that you are willing to write 3 letters per year.

Everyone has this unique chance to change a child's life. It's so simple, and money is not a requirement. You need only give time from yourself, and a little bit of your heart. You will be richly rewarded by building a relationship with your sponsored child.

Now if finances are really tight, and you're still thinking, I don't even have the money for a stamp. Don't give up! God can still use your willingness to serve. On Compassion's website you can email your child for free. You can upload photos onto beautifully colored templates and Compassion will print them out and mail them to the country of your child. All you need is internet access, and most libraries have free internet access. I don't want anyone to miss out on this opportunity. It's a chance to change a child's life and it's available to everyone.

Now that I find exciting!

To sign up to be a correspondent for a child you can contact Compassion by phone or email. If you are already a sponsor you can email Compassion with your sponsor number and they will place you on the waiting list to correspond with a child. If you are not a sponsor, include the following information in your email: Name, Address, Phone Number, and Email Address.

I believe Yeabsira is learning English in school!

Lead With Your Ears

Yesterday we went on a hunt for anger. Not a hunt to discover our dark sides; a hunt to understand and cope with anger. A couple months ago I posted about The Hunt for Easter that our church puts together. I had the idea then to duplicate this event with my children. We did. And it was so much fun.

I knew anger would be an appropriate topic to cover. It has felt a little like World War III in my home these days. Emotions have been flying and words followed by actions have been played out to my dissatisfaction. We needed a lesson from the Bible.

To go about our hunt, we had 5 different location clues around town. At each location we had some Bible trivia questions. The kids were required to bring Bibles and we looked up numerous references. There were two examples about angry individuals, and one about God. We then had a reflection question. Once the reflection question was answered, they were given a puzzle piece to our map for the treasure. It was so much fun and took us 3 hours to complete!

Our first clue read:

If you love Jesus you take this with you wherever you go. Jesus wants us to be this to others that don't know Him. You are this on your own but He really loves it when at least two or three are this together. But you are really looking for a symbol of this.

ANSWER: Church

First Stop Trivia:
1) Why was Cain angry with Abel?
(Genesis 4:1-16)

2) Why was Esau angry with Jacob?
(Genesis 27:34, 41)

3) Why was God angry with the Israelites at Mount Sinai?
(Exodus 32:9-14)

Reflection: What feelings or thoughts motivated their anger?

Our second clue read:

Stefanie misses Colorado. :'( If you wanted to help her feel better you might take her here on a date. It is not quite as high as Pikes Peak but does have being burned in common with the Rockies. You won't be able to see the evidence of it now though because it is all green again.

ANSWER: The tallest place in our city

Second Stop Trivia:
1) Why was Balaam angry with his donkey?
(Numbers 22:27-29)

2) Why was Saul angry with Jonathan?
(1 Samuel 20: 30-31)

3) Why was God angry with Solomon?
(1 Kings 11:1-10)

Reflection: What "idols" or other "gods" do we serve?

Our third clue read:

This place could be considered an activity for the insane. "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" There is a lot of motion going on here but you never really get anywhere.

ANSWER: Carousel

Third Stop Trivia:
1) Why was Naaman angry with Elisha?
(2 Kings 5:11)

2) Why was Haman angry with Mordecai?
(Esther 3:5-6)

3) Why was God angry with Moses?
(Exodus 4:13-14)

Reflection: Why do we get angry?
1. Treated unfairly.
2. Blamed for something that isn't my fault.
3. Not treated with proper respect.
4. They didn’t do what I wanted them to do.
5. They aren't on my side.
6. That person dared to tell me I was wrong.

Our fourth clue read:

Have you ever played King of the Mountain? Whoever is at the top is the king until someone knocks him off. This place is not quite a mountain and no one will literally knock the "king" off but he cannot stay there forever. Eight years at a time and then the next "king" gets rule of the mountain.

ANSWER: Governor's Mansion

Fourth Stop Trivia:
1) Why was Nebuchadnezzar angry?
(Daniel 3:16-33)

2) Why was Jonah angry with God?
(Jonah 4:5-11)

3) Why was Jesus angry at the temple?
(John 2: 13-17)

Reflection: Why do we not have a right to respond in anger to every perceived sin?
1. My perception may be wrong.
2. My anger may be only for the purpose of punishing the person.
3. I may be equating personal embarrassment or inconvenience with sin.

Our fifth clue read:

All of us want to be perfect but really we all make mistakes and are like so many pieces of broken glass. But not to worry because God takes all of our pieces and makes those beautiful like a kaleidoscope. If you come here you don't have to worry about crossing all your "teas". But I wouldn't start throwing the scones into the water.

ANSWER:  Park where we have a tea party each summer

Fifth Stop Trivia:
1) Why was Herod angry with the wise men?
(Matthew 2:16)

2) Why was the older brother angry with his father in the story of the prodigal son?
(Luke 15:28-32)

3) Why was Jesus angry with the Pharisees?
(Matthew 23)

Reflection: Biblical Instructions Concerning Anger
1. We are to be angry, but without sin. (Ecclesiastes 5:6, Ephesians 4:26, Ephesians 4:31).
2. We are to look at the effects and consequences of our anger (Matthew 5:22, James 1:20).
3. We are to be slow to anger (Proverbs 14:29; James. 1:19).
4. How we are to deal with other people’s anger (Proverbs 15:1, 19:19).
5. We are to avoid stirring up anger in others (Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21)

We were all amazed to find that almost every single example we read about, the anger always seemed to stem from pride. All these people got puffed up and thought they deserved better treatment, or more respect than they were given. Only God had the right to demand the respect, and only God deserved it.

"Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, and then follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life." James 1:19-21

We chose to focus on the beginning of this verse. Lead with your ears, then follow up with your tongue. Too many times our tongues do the talking before we've thought or even heard what the other person had to say. If we would do more leading with our ears, we might hear the exasperation, disappointment, or hurt in their voices.

Lead with your ears! Listen to those around you. Hear their thoughts and feelings, and LISTEN. We don't want to be a snake, spilling our venom, leading with our tongues or our anger.

Our final part of the hunt was putting together the pieces of the treasure map that we had collected along the way. This led to our tangible treasure, although I do believe the real treasure lied within all of our discussion and hunting through scriptures.

This treasure specifically led to a soda shop in the park. This is a place where you can get specialty drinks and ice cream. Once we ordered our drinks, we gathered round to answer our final question. "How can we respond in love, not anger?"

"All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God!
Thank him to his face!
He gets angry once in a while, but across
a lifetime there is only love." Psalm 30:4-5
I think the next Bible hunt we go on might be to study LOVE.

Prayer Changes Everything

"The family that prays together stays together."

When my daughter was a small infant, I read this bummer sticker. It has never been far from mind. Prayer is the glue that holds us all together. It's communication with God, a direct connection with the maker of the universe.

The older my children get, the more mature their prayers become. I have tried to emphasize prayer daily with my kids. Before school each morning, we write in our prayer journals. We enjoy attending church prayer meetings together. When we hear of a specific need, we stop and have a prayer meeting in our home. Anything that touches the heart, we pray about it. I have been so blessed to see this growth in my children. From the oldest to the youngest, prayer is a huge priority. Prayer is at the center of it all.

We have specifically "adopted" three children for a reason. I have three kids of my own. I wanted each of my kids to have a connection with a child, their own special friend. I will say I did it for selfish reasons too. Compassion and World Vision has been laid on my heart. I crave being used by God to make a difference. I won't be giving up my three "adopted" children completely to my kids. I plan to share.

This week my kids have each "adopted" or chose their own brother/sister. I explained to them all the things they could do for this new sibling.

• Write letters
• Share their favorite Bible verses
• Buy, with their own money, small paper gifts to mail
• When they make a fun craft or paper at church, they can send it
• Draw pictures
• Send photos
• Write stories for them
• Make paper crafts
• They can PRAY

I have been extremely touched at how serious they have taken this new role. I don't need to remind them to pray. It has come about without my help. Each day one of my children has always brought it up, and encouraged the others to participate. We are praying together as a family more than ever before. I am so pleased with how things have been progressing. I know that God is going to do amazing things in these children we've been given. They are prayed for over and over again by my family.

When you agree to sponsor a Compassion child, you will receive a welcome packet in the mail with your child's information and picture. One of the things they include is a bookmark with a prayer list suggestion on the backside. It has something to pray about every day of the month. We have found this to be extremely helpful. It keeps you from praying the same thing every day. In the beginning there were a lot of prayers that went, "Help Aberu to have a good day. Help Yeabsira to sleep well. Help Meyli to have enough food and clothes." With this list my kids have begun to get a bigger picture of the needs and things to be thinking of. Their prayers have changed drastically, and deepened.

This would be a great thing to use to pray over your own children with! It covers all areas, and each day gives you something to target. I know sometimes it can be a challenge to know what to pray about. This solves that for you.

"Day 1 - to accept Jesus as Savior and grow in Christ
Day 2 - to trust God for everything
Day 3 - to do well in school
Day 4 - for the Compassion center leaders
Day 5 - for his/her family
Day 6 - to resist negative peer pressure
Day 7 - to practice good hygiene
Day 8 - for good nutrition
Day 9 - for strong friendships
Day 10 - to develop a tender heart
Day 11 - to learn God's word
Day 12 - for protection from natural disasters
Day 13 - to use good social skills
Day 14 - for a bright future
Day 15 - to develop his/her skills and talents
Day 16 - to learn from the center programs
Day 17 - to make wise decisions
Day 18 - for safety in daily activities
Day 19 - for freedom from fear
Day 20 - for patience and perseverance
Day 21 - to resist temptation
Day 22 - to always tell the truth
Day 23 - for the desire to follow God's will
Day 24 - for good sibling relationships
Day 25 - for physical health and strength
Day 26 - to honor his/her parents
Day 27 - for a spirit of hope and joy
Day 28 - to grow closer to God in prayer
Day 29 - for comfort in sadness
Day 30 - for stability for his/her family
Day 31 - for solid self-esteem"
-Compassion International-
I believe God gave each child to our family for a reason. It was so easy for my kids to match up with their "adopted" sibling.

Gabe wanted Aberu because she is the same age as him, and he's excited about the challenge she poses to him. We are not allowed to talk about Jesus or anything spiritual with Aberu. She is in an area of Ethiopia where this could be a security risk to her and the center where she is at. However, we can still show her the love of Jesus without using His name. Gabe has a drive in him to tell the world about Jesus. It seemed most appropriate that he "adopt" the child who potentially still needs to meet and accept Jesus.

Gabriel has "adopted" Aberu

Ariel knew immediately that she wanted to "adopt" Meyli, our three year old from Peru. She had an instant connection after seeing her sweet little face. My daughter has always shown an interest in little ones, and they love her back the same.

Ariel has "adopted" Meyli

Yeabsira is five years old, the same age as Zechariah. They were the perfect match! I have been most impressed with Zechariah's heart for this sponsorship. He is the child who has brought up prayer the most. Every day he excitedly brings me his calendar and asks for explanation of what to pray over Yeabsira. Zech is also the first to bring up Yeabsira when we are praying over dinner. He has passionately put action to this adoption process.

Zechariah has "adopted" Yeabsira

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” — Matthew 21:22 NIV

5th Annual Graduation Luau

Officially summer vacation has begun! Every year the start of summer is marked by our Annual Graduation Luau. I think out of all the things I do with my extended family, this has to be my favorite. It's a time to dress up, eat some good food, watch some entertainment, and give honor to our children. The weather always cooperates and is beautiful. It makes for an unforgettable night spending quality time as a family!

We are very proud of our graduates this year! We have one going into kindergarten, and one starting high school! Where does the time go?








This year we started our evening with the ceremony. We wanted to make sure all the kids remained cleaned and polished for photos; a must for mom. We grilled Hawaiian Chicken for our after party. It was delicious!


Ariel and Gabriel led us in the elementary school song and pledge. You can see from the photo that it's been a little too long for Ariel.

Everyone's favorite part of the evening is the talent portion. All of the kids get the opportunity to share with us something special they learned from the past year.

 Zechariah started off by impressing us all with his Bible memory verses. Each time he does Bible study with Grandma; his homework is to work on a specific verse that goes along with the lesson. He excels at this!

  

He quoted for us:

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11

Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.
Luke 2:52

When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, then I will remember my promise with you and all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.
Genesis 9:14-15

My son, keep the teaching of your father, and don’t turn away from the teaching of your mother. Always hold it in your heart.
Proverbs 6:20-21

Gabriel tried to explain to us a new math concept he learned this year. Lattice Multiplication. He showed us a very large number, and gave us the answer after explaining how he got there. For most of us, this was over our heads. We smiled and applauded his words of wisdom, trusting he knew what he was talking about.

You can tell Gabriel really enjoys being in the limelight. He took as much time as we would let him. Towards the end of the school year, his class studied crayfish. We were all fortunate to hear his extended report on the inner workings of the crayfish.

Ariel played us a few short songs on her oboe. She has improved greatly over the last year, and promises that she will stick with this instrument next year too.


This year at school, Mikaela learned several different dances. She was kind enough to give us a couple dance lessons. We learned the Electric Slide and the Tush Push.

Once the talent part of the evening was complete, we did something new. I love new ideas! We all filled out a worksheet to put inside our school time capsule. We didn't share our answers out loud; we simply folded the paper up, and put our name on the outside. In the next few years we will be able to read our answers, and fill out new worksheets. It should be interesting to see how our lives progress and our knowledge expands.

The questions we answered:

What did you learn this year as a ... Student, Dad, or Mom?

What did you like best about your teacher?

What was the best thing your teacher taught you?

Most interesting project you did this school year?

What did you learn about yourself?

What miracle did God do for you this year?

How have you grown physically, spiritually, and mentally?

The last part of the ceremony is the presenting of certificates and diplomas. Each child receives a certificate for their participation of doing Bible study with Grandma. The diplomas focus on their completion of the grade they were in, and their special abilities.

Let it be known that Zechariah did an awesome job learning addition and subtraction, calculator skills, and excelling at winning games!

This certificate is presented to Gabriel for excellence in completion of the third grade with special interest in planetary science, for hitting 8000 in his number book, and winning 3rd place in the KidZone essay contest!

This award is presented to Ariel for outstanding achievement in completion of the sixth grade with gifted classes and the arts including drama, drawing, and oboe.

I present to you the Class of 2013!

Child Advocacy

My world is changing. It's expanding into something beautiful. My heart is flooding with emotion that I cannot put words to. I have wanted to share about the past month of my life, but every time I try the words don't come. I am overwhelmed by the feelings I've been having. God has been tapping on my heart. Although some days it has felt more like a hammer driving in the nails.

I'm going to attempt to tell you about this life-changing decision I have made. My words may fail me, but I want to try. My heart is overflowing with emotion. I am filled with love, but at the same time I am filled with pain. I am only one person, and I can only do so much. I cannot save all the little children of the world. But Jesus can. He knows them all by name. He knows when they are hurting, and He knows when they are rejoicing. He walks along beside every single one of them. Where I can't go, He does.

In the past month, our family has expanded by 3. That's a pretty big jump, you might think, but it still doesn't feel like it's enough. Will it ever be?

For two years now, I have wanted to sponsor a child through World Vision. I attended a ladies conference a couple years ago, and witnessed a very powerful friendship. God brought together child and sponsor. Neither were ever the same again. I wanted what that woman had, but I was afraid.

Afraid of the commitment. Afraid of the money. Afraid of the relationship.

Isn't it weird how we can be afraid of something we want so badly?

I put it off, and pushed it to the back of my mind. We give money to church. I don't have to do everything. I don't need to give away it all, do I? It seemed there was no room for extra. Or so my heart told me.

Every Christmas I receive a World Vision catalog showing me all the animals and gifts I could buy for families in other countries. I wanted to help. I really did. But other things came up. And I didn't give. I went to Mexico and gave to some other very special children. God is always leading me somewhere, to someone.

If you've been around for awhile, you know my heart has been with the elementary age kids at my church. I teach four times a month; two Sunday's and two Wednesday's. These children have been my treasure. My resources and time have gone into building relationships. I know that God has called me to work with children. Whenever I think of the kids, my heart swells up and tears begin to fall. God has put a heart for kids in me that will never grow hard. I love children, and I want to make a difference in their lives. If I could, I would spend every week with the kids. When it's time for a break, a part of me is always wishing I could be with them instead. But I know in order to be an effective minister, I must first take care of myself. My pitcher must be full.

April 21st was Compassion Sunday. A woman in our church stood up and spoke about Compassion International. If you've been to many Christian concerts you've probably encountered one or two speeches for this sponsorship program. For $38 a month, you can provide a child in another country with education, healthcare, nutrition, and regular Christian training.

I wasn't in the service that day; I was in the classroom with the kids. But I saw the table after the service. Several people crowded around, looking at the faces of the children needing a sponsor. The excitement was contagious. They were adopting children into their families and life. I wanted that too.

In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate (ad·vo·ca·cy: noun, To take action for another.) for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults. Compassion helps more than 1.2 million children in 26 countries.

I no longer was at a place in my life where I could put it off or say no. This was promised to be a year of stretching for me.

I didn't sign up that day. I have always felt a pull towards World Vision, a similar program to Compassion. One of the biggest differences between World Vision and Compassion is how the money is distributed. World Vision places a larger emphasis on changing the community, not just the child. When you give to Compassion, your money goes all to a specific child. World Vision is done on a larger scale too. They reach approximately 100 million children in 100 countries. I believe both programs have their advantages, and it was very difficult to choose which would capture my heart. Honestly, both did. I wanted to have an affect on an entire community, and I wanted to change a child's life.

Both things are possible, with both programs. It took a lot of prayer to make a decision. For my first child sponsorship, I went with World Vision. That is where I first developed those feelings of wanting to make a difference. To be used to change lives.

It took me a week of browsing faces before I would make a final commitment. I looked for children who shared Ariel's birthday, then Gabriel's, then Zech's. I couldn't decide. I searched for children that shared my kid's names. I wanted some kind of connection. I needed confirmation that I was choosing the right child for our family. It needed to be a perfect "God" fit.

On May 9th, we welcomed a nine year old girl, Aberu, into our family. I know this is not an adoption by most people's standards, but to me, I was agreeing to bring her into my heart, just as I would a child of my own. I wish I could share a photo of Aberu with you, but I'm not allowed. She is absolutely beautiful! She lives in an area of Ethiopia where Jesus is not allowed. For security reasons I am not allowed to share her picture over the internet. But that won't stop me from sharing it in my home!

Aberu represents to me each of my children. She is a girl like Ariel. Aberu is the same age as Gabriel, and she shares a birthday with Zechariah. As soon as her face appeared on my computer screen, I knew she was the "God" fit. I couldn't stop the tears from streaming. I felt like a proud mother, holding her baby for the first time.

I know I may never meet Aberu, but she has a very special place in my heart. She is my first "adopted" child.

God is softening my heart. I am opening my life to new possibilities. Our family is growing. We are no longer a family of five. We are now eight. My heart has continually been pulled in the direction of these child sponsorship programs. I felt God was drawing me to help other children. My family has now adopted one World Vision child, and two Compassion children. We now have Aberu and Yeabsira from Ethiopia. And we recently were given Meyli, from Peru.

Yeabsira
5 years old

Meyli
3 years old

All three children have captured my heart. I cannot wait to see how God works in these relationships. My heart is brimming with love for these children. My thoughts and prayers are with them constantly.

For the past several months I have had this Bible verse stuck to my bathroom mirror. God was preparing my heart months before I took this step of faith. I am so excited to see what good things God has planned for me and my family, all 6 of my children!

"Seek justice,encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” — Isaiah 1:17

Fried Rice

The most generous treat for our family would be dinner at Kiku Steakhouse of Japan. Our kids love the food and atmosphere! All meals are prepared before your eyes on the hibachi grill which makes a fun evening all around. The prices are a little bit higher than we normally spend on dining out, so we usually go but once a year.

Fried rice comes with every meal, and tastes phenomenal. Our kids have requested on many occasions that we try to make our own version for dinner. Over the past few months, my husband has perfected his recipe. I bought him a wok for his birthday and a rice cooker for Valentine's Day. We now have Kiku's rice in our own home almost every week. It makes a great quick lunch on Saturdays, or a fast dinner on weeknights when we haven't much time to spare. There are never leftovers, and every child consumes their entire plateful!

I don't have an exact recipe to share with you, as my husband doesn't measure out his ingredients. Each time it comes out a little different in flavor, but the end result is always delicious!

I start by cooking the rice. We have a rice cooker that does all the work for us. All we do is add rice and water. When we make this as a meal, we normally will do about 3 cups of uncooked rice. I'm not sure how many cups of cooked rice it will end up. It's plenty for our family of five. The rice takes the longest to cook and should be finished before you start frying.

Once the rice is cooked, in your wok, you add a few tablespoons of oil, and a chopped onion. We fry the onion on high until soft or lightly browned.

Add three eggs, and fry. Our ratio is 1 egg to 1 cup of uncooked rice.

Add rice. When we add the spices and soy sauce, we turn it down to a low heat in order to keep it from burning.

We're going to add a few spices now. I don't have exact measurements here. We sprinkle until there is a generous layer covering the top of the rice. We layer each spice, starting with salt. Then we add pepper, ginger, and a final layer of sesame seeds. Mix well.

Our last step is adding the soy sauce, the most crucial ingredient. We add a generous helping of soy sauce. I wish I could give you an exact amount, but it changes every time. Notice we do not fully saturate all the rice. It would be quite salty if we did. Play with it a little and see how much you like.

Once the soy sauce is added, we fry the rice for a little longer, once again on high. We do this for a few minutes, no longer than five minutes. My kids don't like it very crispy, but that's their personal preference.



We love to eat this as a meal, but it also is great as a side dish! To make it more substantial consider frying some shrimp, chicken, or vegetables. Enjoy!

Cherished Memories

Sunday morning I awoke to the house full of bustling activity. Children were actively preparing for my arrival. I was being treated to breakfast and gifts. As I donned my fuzzy pink bathrobe, I was bombarded with excited children. You'd think it was Christmas morning and they were receiving the gifts.

My first gift was from Gabriel. He made me a yellow and green tile that reads, "Happy Mother's Day."

My second gift came wrapped up in a Sesame Street birthday bag. I found a small piece of paper hiding inside. It showed a cake, along with a drawing of me and Zechariah.

My favorite part of my gift from Zech was the dried flowers I received. Once upon a time they were alive, I'm sure. But after sitting under my son's bed for the last week, the leaves dried out. Zech communicated that they were my flowers and I must put them in water quickly before they die. I found the flowers to be some of the most beautiful I had ever seen.

These are the cherished memories of motherhood. The sweetly chosen flowers that came from the outside bush in the backyard.

My third and final gift was from my daughter. She woke up very early to bake some sour cream coffee cake, a specialty of hers. Ariel also spent a lot of time sketching a masterpiece. No longer are they stick figures, and childlike drawings. My daughter is showing the talent of an artist. Each year she surprises me with a new drawing of flowers.



God took the fragrance of a flower...
The majesty of a tree...
The gentleness of morning dew...
The calm of a quiet sea...
The beauty of the twilight hour...
The soul of a starry night...
The laughter of a rippling brook...
The grace of a bird in flight...
Then God fashioned from these things
A creation like no other,
And when his masterpiece was through
He called it simply – Mother.
- Herbert Farnham -



It was my week to be in KidZone at church with the elementary age children. I was given the opportunity to come up with a card for the kids to bestow upon their mothers. Gabriel fashioned this one for me.

My favorite responses from the kids were, "Mom, you are pretty exciting." and another little boy who doesn't quite know how to spell requested I write on his card, "pretty". I was particularly touched by my son's note. It read, "Dear Mom thank you for teaching me about God."

It's the simple, sweet things that make life worth living!
“Finally, brothers and sisters, keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable.” -Philippians 4:8-