Glory to God.

I just returned home from Christmas caroling with the youth group that I serve in.  It is something that we do every year and probably the 5th or 6th year that I have gone. The night began up at church where we divided into six groups and then traveled to as many nursing homes around the area.  Nursing homes tend to be uncomfortable places for a lot of people.  Ever since becoming a physical therapist, I have spent a great deal of time in nursing homes, so for me, I feel very much at ease.  It is familiar.  I do my best to encourage the youth {and my own children} to interact with the people and to talk and ask questions of them while we spend time there.  The residents are often lonely and can feel forgotten.  I have found that they love the excitement that children and young adults bring.  This would be an opportunity to bless and care for the widows in our midst.  So, while spending time in a nursing home is not unusual for me, tonight would be very different.

The group that I was assigned to lead consisted of about 15-20 high school seniors and two other adult leaders.  When we arrived at the facility, we were told that several residents had been brought into a common sitting area so that we could sing for them all together.  The nurse then pulled me aside to ask if several of us would mind singing for a woman in her room once we had finished caroling with the group.  She was in hospice care the nurse added.

And she explained this may be her last night.

I told her absolutely.

We would consider it an honor.

After singing with the residents for about 30 minutes, I found the nurse to tell her that a smaller group of us were ready to sing for the woman that she had mentioned.  We followed her while the others stayed behind to visit with the residents.

The nurse led us down the hallway to a quiet room.

Seven of us entered a small room to see a frail woman lying alone.
The nurse went to her side.

Her eyes followed us.

We watched as the nurse kept the woman comfortable with a damp washcloth to her lips.

We had decided to sing Oh Holy Night.

And we did.

Her breaths were shallow, but her eyes remained on us.

After we finished, we asked if she would like one more song.

She did not respond, but I felt as though her eyes were asking us to stay.

I turned to our small group and whispered to do Angels We Have Heard On High.

We began and it was really beautiful.

Our little hodge-podge group was bringing graceful harmonies to this room in ways that could not have come from ourselves.  I was stirred by its beauty.

All the while we were singing, I found myself praying.

I was completely moved by the opportunity to share this time with her, singing praises to my King, in what may have been her last night.

And then just as we finished the second chorus of Gloria in excelsis Deo,

she took her last breath.


She was gone.


Just like that.  She was gone.


The nurse made eye contact with me and confirmed what I already knew.  I have no idea how I knew, but I did.  I turned to the teens and explained what happened and we quietly exited.

As we left the room, I saw the name plate near her door.

Her name was Gloria.

The last words we sang were Gloria in excelsis Deo.


Glory to God in the highest.


Everyone in that room tonight was powerfully impacted by what we experienced.

A memory that will be forever seared in my mind and theirs.

We were given the privilege to sing Gloria into eternity.

The Lord literally allowed us to usher her toward His throne, while we sang Glory to His Name.

I have no idea why the Lord allowed us to be a part of that tonight, but I am grateful.


The nurse later shared with me that Gloria had been fearful of death all day because she felt far from the Lord.  It was the reason the nurse had asked us to sing.

I pray that we brought peace.  The peace of God.  I pray that God's truth was clear through the lyrics that we chose.  I pray that she had trusted in Jesus and was welcomed home.

What an unbelievable opportunity.

Life is fragile.
Eternity is real.

I pray that everyone I know and love is ready to stand before the Lord.

There is a choice to be made here that will forever impact eternity.

May Jesus be the Lord of your life.  And mine.
Salvation is found in Him alone.


Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Glory to God in the highest.

Life Lessons

{October 20, 2011}

Today, I spent some time working with Mia on her Pre-K homework.  I was truly overwhelmed as I heard her early reading skills with the books she has been learning at school.  She has been home just over a year.  What. A. Miracle.  And Mia is REALLY excited about it too.

As part of her homework, we had to talk about what she wanted to be when she grew up.  I was not sure if she would totally understand the concept, but I decided to ask anyway.

Me:  Mia, what do you want to be when you grow up?  What job would you like to have?

Mia:  A momma and a teacher. 

{great choices - I guess she understood}


Then Mia had to describe each job. 


Me:  What does a teacher do, Mia?

Mia:  Reads books.

Me:  Good job, Mia.  And what does a momma do, Mia?

Mia:  Bible studies.

Warmed my heart.

{For the record, I do a few more things around here too}

:)

Happy Family Day!

One year ago, the Lord gave a beautiful little orphan girl in Beijing China a family.
Simultaneously, He gave a praying and waiting family a beautiful new daughter to love. 
As I reflect on all that He has done to orchestrate every last detail so that we would find each other, I am overwhelmed.
We are so grateful for His sovereign plan. 

There has been unbelieveable growth and change in one short year.  Praise God.

When we met Mia...

  *she weighed 34 pounds and was 35.5 inches.  Today she weighs the same 34 pounds, but she has grown FOUR and a 1/2 inches! 
  *she could not run or climb stairs.  Today she is racing after her brothers and sister.
  *she could barely hold a crayon to scribble.  Today she is drawing adorable pictures {mostly of her family} and writes all of her letters.
  *she was a special needs child with a diagnosis of epilepsy on medication 3x/day.  Today she is a perfectly healthy little girl without epilepsy or medication!  What. A. Miracle.
  *she did not know a single word of English.  Today she cannot stop talking - much like the others around here and she knows her entire alphabet!
  *her mouth was filled with constant pain and widespread decay.  Today she has a painfree, gorgeous smile and loves to brush her teeth.
  *she was TERRIFIED of the water.  Today she is splashing around the pool in floaties all on her own.
  *she regularly threw tantrums when she did not get her way.  Today she demonstrates incredible self-control.
  *she rarely smiled.  Today she has a quick smile and constant, crazy belly laughs.
  *she had never ridden a bicycle.  Today she pedals all around the neighborhood with her siblings.
  *she protected herself.  Today she trusts her mommy & daddy to protect her.
  *she had never eaten pizza or a cheeseburger.  Today they are her absolute favorites.
  *she held tightly to her things.  Today she shares freely.
  *she had never been on a swing.  Today she is pumping her little legs all on her own and soaring into the air.
  *she did not know that she had a family who had been praying for her for almost 3 years.  Today she sees and hears and knows our love & prayers.
  *she rejected the affections of her new father. Today she ADORES her Daddy and runs to his arms.

  *she had never. heard. of. Jesus.  Today she sings her little heart out to praise & worship music and whispers the sweetest prayers to her Savior whom we pray she will one day fall in love with...
 
When we met Mia, she was a scared, lonely and insecure little girl desperate for love, but afraid to fully give it. 

Today she is not the same little girl. 

Praise. His. Name. 

By God's grace, Mia has come so far in this short year. 

We have seen her learn to trust. 
We have seen her overcome fear.
We have seen her open her heart.
We have seen her learn to love.

Thank you to all who have prayed for our precious little girl.  Thank you for walking alongside us in this journey.  Is there still more work to be done?  Sure.  But the Lord still has a lot of work to do in me too.

We love you Mia. 
Forever and Ever.

Chloe's birthday celebration

Our little girl turned SIX almost 2 weeks ago.  {sniff...sniff}

We had a great day as a family celebrating her life.

We reminisced about the day the Lord brought her into the world...4 weeks early.

A baby girl after two busy boys.

Chloe brought a sweetness and gentleness to our home from the first moment she arrived.

I miss those baby days, but I really love the season we are in now too.

We thank the Lord for her daily.

.....

Chloe decided that she would like to go out for lunch with two pals for her "party" the following weekend.

{She is so much like her momma.}

It was wonderful to escort those 3 little ladies all dressed up.

The day was filled with giggles.

Chloe was thrilled and I absolutely loved it too!

                                                     Our SIX year old.

                                                   A camera of her own!                           

                                          All dressed up & out for lunch. 

                                                        The girls.

                                         A little ice cream treat to follow!


Thank you Lord for the JOY of children.

I am ever grateful to be a momma.

Chloe vs. Walter & Surprise Blessings.

Just over two weeks ago on an usually warm day, Chloe asked to ride her scooter to the neighbors driveway where she saw one of her little pals outside playing.  I agreed and watched her go.  Also, outside was the neighbor's HUGE puppy, Walter.  Walter, is a friendly dog, but he is very much a puppy in a full-grown body.  Chloe has always loved dogs, so she was eager to pet Walter as he came bounding over.  After some amount of time, Chloe got a little nervous by all of his energy and decided to leave.  She started to run toward her scooter and then stopped to pick up her helmet.  When she stopped, Walter ran right into the back of her and knocked Chloe off her feet.  Because she was already bending down to grab her helmet, Chloe was unable to catch herself and her face, nose and mouth broke the fall to the concrete driveway.  I unfortunately watched the entire incident happen from two driveways down. :(   

Chloe, who is generally very tough for her little size, burst into tears.  As I ran to her, I could see that she was bleeding - A LOT.  She was covering her face, so I could not immediately assess the damage, but I knew that it was going to be pretty bad.  As I tried to calm & comfort her, she sobbed that her tooth was "wrong."  {uh oh.}  Chloe alternated between tears over her nose and tears over her mouth - both of which had plenty of blood pouring from them. 

It was quite a while before I even tried to look at the damage.  Once I did, I found that her front tooth had been pushed back and turned completely sideways.  I could not tell if her nose was broken, but I was concerned that it may be...  I called the dentist and we were encouraged to come in.  We had an hour to wait so I just spent the time doing my best to comfort her.  This was definitely one of those moments where I desperately wished I could take the pain for her - she was trying so hard to be brave. 

At some point, Chloe asked for her blankie which she is very attached to and is a huge source of comfort.  As I gave it to her, Chloe went to put her thumb in her mouth {as she is in the habit of doing}.  But as her thumb reached her mouth, she got a look of horror on her face.  I am sure that it must have hurt incredibly badly.  I explained that she needed to keep her thumb out of her mouth to protect her tooth.  She was sad devastated.

In a nutshell, the dentist felt her tooth would likely migrate back to it's normal position.  And it has.  He was hopeful that the tooth would not die.  It has not.  Her face was scraped up pretty badly, but her nose was only swollen, not broken.  I allowed her to stay home from school the next day because she was still quite sore and a little self-conscious about her scabs.  But praise the Lord, Chloe is healing well.  Her scabs are now all gone and her nose just remains extra pink in some spots.  But the greatest blessing that has come from all of this is that,

since her fall,

Chloe has completely

stopped sucking her thumb. 

COMPLETELY.

I wish I could tell you what a MIRACLE that is...

Chloe had such an intense habit of thumb-sucking, that I often had to ask her to take her thumb out of her mouth while she was talking to me.  We had tried all kinds of things to help her break the habit - to no avail.  {See this post we've got thumb issues}  Now it has been over two weeks without any thumb and we are so proud of her!  We had an ice cream cone celebration and Chloe was able to pick out a special gift at the store.  She chose a Bell bike kit that included a bike lock, water bottle & bottle cage, a rearview mirror and horn for her bike. {This girl loves her accessories!} 

The pictures below are from a few days into the healing process.  The last one is from one week ago with her pal, Alaina at their One Way Club awards night. 

It is a kind of strange, now that Chloe is all done sucking her thumb

{which I desperately wanted for her}...

I am a little bit sad.

I know, I'm crazy.

It's just this constant struggle between keeping them little and encouraging them to grow.

One more sign that my little girl is growing up. 

{Sigh.}

My Savior LIVES!

We had such a wonderful weekend celebrating the resurrection of Our Savior! Easter is absolutely my favorite holiday. We enjoyed time as a family and with dear friends. It was so fun to share more firsts and traditions with Mia!  Resurrection eggs, Easter egg hunts, searching for hidden Easter baskets, a pancake breakfast at church and a big meal with dear friends.  The weather went from cold, dark and rainy on Good Friday to gorgeous sunshine on Sunday morning - it provided a perfect illustration for the kids as we spoke about all that happened on those days some 2000 years ago.  And we were able to worship with one of my new favorite songs...

  Living He loved me,

  Dying He saved me,

  Buried He carried,

  my sins far away.

  Rising He justified,

  freely forever.

  One day He's coming

  OH GLORIOUS DAY!



He is Risen!

Another Birthday in the house...

Our Lukers is EIGHT.
How can that be?
He brings so much joy to our home.
He has an infectious smile and a contagious laugh.
We love him so much.
Thank you Lord for choosing him for our family.




Our big EIGHT year old.



    Luke with his pile of presents in Door County.



Luke's cake made by Daddy...{he requested a guitar}





Luke at the bowling alley for his party with his pals.

Happy Birthday Mia!

Our little Mia turned FIVE today and had a wonderful day celebrating her first birthday with her forever family!  We started the day {way too early} with birthday singing from Caleb, Luke and Chloe to their little sister... who was still resting in bed.  Sleeping or not, Mia was thrilled to finally hear the birthday song with HER name in it.  Next came a special breakfast made by Daddy where Mia was seated with her birthday balloons.  Grandma & Grandpa V. had flown in a few days earlier and were there to help us celebrate too.  Mia opened some presents from Aunt Kathy, Uncle Mark, Rachel & Auds and from Uncle Craig, Aunt Leslie, Ryan, Tyler & Kylie.  She LOVED every minute.  We spent the rest of the morning getting ready for her party and playing with her new things.

At noon, Mia had 5 little pals come over {in addition to her siblings} and their mommas for a special birthday party.  We enjoyed lunch, making candy necklaces, playing together, "going fishing" for goodie bags and opening more presents.  It was such a joy watching Mia take it all in.  Mia was coming down with a cold and had been fighting a fever for days, but nothing was going to stop her from enjoying these moments.  After the party, Mia crashed for a few hours on the couch...preparing for the next round of celebrating.

For dinner we met Daddy at our favorite Chinese restaurant at the exact same table where we had celebrated one year before in honor of Mia's 4th birthday but without Mia.  We are so grateful that the Lord has brought her home.  We ate lots of yummy food and opened her family presents from Mommy, Daddy, Caleb, Luke & Chloe and Grandma & Grandpa V.  The server brought her a mango sorbet with candles and we sang again.  I really think that was Mia's favorite part.  She never grows tired of hearing her name in the birthday song.

It was a great day.
Thank you Jesus.
It was a little bit emotional too {big surprise}.
It is wonderful to FINALLY have Mia home.  We are so grateful to pour out our love on her in ways that she has always deserved.  At the same time, my heart was heavy for all the moments that we have missed.  I long to know all of her history.  I spent time praying for her birth mother.  I wondered if, for her, today would be a difficult day.  I pray that she knows Jesus.  I am forever grateful that she chose life.  I pray that she has a supernatural peace and understanding that her baby girl was found and is finally home.  And loved.
We love you Mia Jane Hui.
Only Jesus can make beauty from ashes.

Wordless Wednesday

{finally a decent family photo of 6...thank you Christy!!!}

Blocks, Matchbox Cars, Tea Parties, School and Tattoos

I thought I would post some snapshots of our daily happenings around here...since in the midst of the tough stuff there is a whole lot of joy & normal too...

The month after we moved here, Steve built some large wooden shelves in our storage area.  With the remaining wood, he cut up blocks (squares, rectangles- small & large, and triangles) and then he sanded the sides of each and every one for his sons to enjoy.  All of those blocks filled a huge rubbermaid tub to overflowing and the boys were thrilled.  At that time, Caleb was 3 years old and Luke was 18 months.  That was almost 7 years ago.  Let's just say that those blocks have proven to be the very best gift our children have ever received {we're talking earthly gift -obviously}.  No bells.  No whistles.  No batteries necessary.  Just blocks of wood.  But they have gotten more use than anything else that has entered our home.  Hands down.  And they still do. 

Those blocks have become hundreds of massive towers over the years.  They have become as many fancy houses and architectural masterpieces.  They have been forts for stuffed animals and garages for cars.  They have been safe "rocks" to jump to when they could not touch the "lava" {carpet}.  They have been ramps for trucks, weights for blankets and lifts for race tracks.  And they have served as a stage for the kids' countless performances.  Below is a picture of one of the shows that Luke & Chloe recently put on for us.  Only a portion of the blocks were used, but Steve, Caleb, Mia and I were invited to the event {audience chairs provided, of course}.  We watched matchbox cars launch down tracks, through block tunnels, under the couch and around again, while the train made loops through the action.  The pictures can hardly capture their enthusiasm.  I only wish I had taken more over the years...

The next photos are from Chloe and Mia having one of their many, many tea parties.  More often than not I am invited too which is a wonderful privilege.  It has been a great place to talk about manners and table etiquette and just enjoy time with my girls.  Chloe makes sure we have tea {or water}, a snack and usually a Bible study too.  That cracks me up since clearly she has seen many a Bible study accompanied by tea and a snack.  Is there any better way?  =)  Mia is always happy to join in and generally attends in princess wear.

Oh how I hope they never end.

Another of the girls' recent passtimes is playing school.  Chloe plays an excellent little teacher.  She has number work, map work, reading, sounds and puzzle words.  She even uses a little bell to announce to all of her students {Mia} that it is time for snack.  Mia is eager to work on her letters and color so they make a great team - most of the time.  =)  Chloe & Mia are only separated by 10 months, a few inches and 1 pound and they are sisters in every way.  It really is such a joy watching them play with one another and teach one another.

The next photo is one I just snapped this morning before we headed out to church.  The girls both wore purple in honor of their pal, Alaina.  You see, Alaina's FAVORITE color is purple and today was her birthday.  They were thrilled to greet Alaina this morning with happy birthday hugs and she was, of course, wearing purple too.  The simple joys.

Finally, this last photo is for my dad.  Caleb and Luke were at a birthday party Friday night with one of their favorite pals.  They ended up with a bunch of tattoos from the tiny arcade at the pizzeria where they celebrated.  When the boys returned home they were excited to show me all of their new treasures...especially the tattoos.  Luke really wanted to put them on and take a picture just for Boppa {he knows how much Boppa loves despises tattoos}.  I asked them to wait until after we did some family pictures we had scheduled for Saturday morning {big THANK YOU Christy}.  Not five minutes after Christy left, Luke walked out with the tattoos in hand.  The next thing I knew Steve and the boys disappeared into the bathroom and these were the tough guys who returned.  Sorry Dad!  I think you have made quite an impression.  They would never dare get the real thing and have to face you.  :)

Until next time...

Grateful for the crew that the Lord has entrusted to us.

Do I Hunger for Righteousness?

Without a thought, my response would be yes.

But when I pause, do I really?

Hunger?

For Righteousness.

Yesterday was one of those mornings where I felt the Lord speaking directly to me through His Word and through the faithful teaching of our pastor.  It was certainly not the first time.  We are so grateful for the church home that the Lord has blessed us with here.  We are so fortunate to be a part of a body that is led by humble servants of Christ and filled with people who we dearly love.  They are family. 

This weekend was an incredibly difficult one with Mia.  She has been demonstrating some significant lying and I am having a hard time.  A really hard time.  You see,  in our house, truth is one of those battles we are willing to fight.  It is a hill we have always been prepared to die on.  And now with Mia all bets are off.  When she decides to lie she has no intentions of backing down.  None.  Even when we are certain she is not speaking the truth. 

She will say, "I want to lie to Momma."

Let that sit for a second.

Because for me that statement cuts me to the core.  Lying is no greater sin than the greediness underlying a child's unwillingness to share with a sibling or the pride found in a boastful child.  But lying feels so much more personal to me.  It feels like a personal offense.  And my reaction, as a result, is so much more intense.  It breaks relationship.  It breaks trust.  It breaks fragile, growing bonds. 

I know that I need to recognize this is absolutely typical behavior of a child adopted at Mia's age.  It is likely the behavior that allowed Mia to survive her former circumstances.  I am certain that lying was a regular part of her life in an orphanage.  I am also fairly sure that lying was done to protect herself from potentially awful consequences.  And culturally, at times we experienced an acceptance, even expectation, of lying while we were in China.  So we have some real work to do.  And it is hard.  And painful.  I need to get some tougher skin.  I need to have right expectations.  I need to learn to live and respond like Christ.  To love extravagantly in the face of personal offense.

I do hunger for righteousness. 

Until it gets hard.

And then it seems I want the easy path to righteousness.



But refining requires fire.

I want to be in a place where I welcome the flames. 

Because I know on the other side is a beautiful reflection of Christ
and His redemptive work in me.

The song below has been ministering to me in huge ways this weekend.  The Lord brought it to me at just the right time.  And He provided wisdom and tenderness and understanding from my husband and boys who were away for the weekend.  He provided comfort from my friend Christy even all the way in Ohio.  And Jess who did not need to stop by, but did.  He provided His sweetness through my sister ready to drop everything and drive here.  And He showed His love through the dear friends who cared about us on Sunday morning even in the midst of their own busy weekends. 
Thank you to each of you.  

God is good.

I have prayed for this to pass.

But His love is too great to give us lesser things. 


So if the fire is what I need
and if the fire is what will bring Him Glory,

then yes please, bring the flames.

I hope this song will minister to you too (make sure to turn off my player at the bottom of my blog so that you can listen).






Truly Hungering for Righteousness,

Karen

A Month in Review

Again, I have neglected the blog...

And there is tons to update, but here is the month in review.  Mia is doing very well at pre-school.  She loves it.  She is playing with friends and gaining confidence in her language.  We have made some real progress in many areas.  For a period of about 4 weeks Mia was waking in the night and crying.  This was a brand new issue.  Mia had never demonstrated any difficulty with sleeping or crying in the night.  From the day we met her in China, she would lay down and go to sleep at bedtime.  Why now we questioned?  I knew from our reading that there are often new layers of grieving and new layers to attachment that present themselves periodically.  Is that what this was?  It began when she was sick with pneumonia and then continued for weeks after she was healthy again.  It was really difficult and we had no idea how to handle it.  She was able to be consoled after some amount of time.  Eventually Mia would stop crying, but if we left she would begin again and it was escalated into yelling and screaming. {MAD!}

She was sad and she was angry.  It turned into a pattern of behavior where she was seeking our attention and love in the middle of the night.  It went on for 1-2 hours some nights.  Not so fun for anyone.  We spent a lot of awake time and sleep time talking about how she could be sure of our love.  We talked about how if she wakes up and is afraid or sad we would come and give hugs and kisses and pray, but then it was time to sleep again.  We spent a lot of time in prayer.  There were times that I felt so helpless.  And times when I was very frustrated and exhausted.  There were other times I just felt so sad for the insecurities that she must have in order to carry on in this way. 

It is times like these when I really question how to parent.  We knew that she was manipulating us and yet we knew that it was coming from such a fragile, emotional unmet need.  We made sure to give a lot of extra love and kisses and snuggle time during the day.  We talked a lot about what to do if she would wake up in the night {hug her baby, snuggle her blankies, ask for Mommy & Daddy if she needed our love}.  We also told her that we were always available to give hugs and pray in the middle of the night, but afterward we would expect her to go back to sleep.  We told her there would be consequences if she chose to continue to yell and scream.  And we followed through.   Her consequences were a nap the next afternoon and no treats after lunch or dinner the next day.  I really had no idea if that would be effective, but we prayed desperately for her success.  I am beyond grateful to say that Mia has now been sleeping through the night again without crying or yelling for over 3 weeks.  Praise. The. Lord.  And all glory to Him.

We have other issues that come up, but for the most part Mia is doing unbelievably well.  I think because she is doing so well overall there are times that my expectations for her are way too high.  I need to remind myself that she has only been in our family for 7 months.  In many ways I believe emotionally Mia is much like a 2 year old.

{just a note...that is really hard to remember when she is in an almost 5 year old body and such a bright little girl}

Mia is gaining ground every day that she realizes the security she has in our family.

But trust takes time. 

Mia continues to have an intense fear of dogs. 

Unreasonably intense. 

She clings to me (or Steve) with such grip & fear if a dog is even in the same room.  She sobs and begs and pleads for the dog to be removed.  It is so upsetting to me that she does not understand that she can trust us.  I have seen fear in my other children before, but when they are in my arms they are comforted.  For Mia, it is as though she does not believe that we will protect her.  It is heartbreaking. 

But we have gained ground here too.   Just last night we went to our friend's home who have a sweet black lab.  As soon as Mia heard that we would be going there, she said "I scared puppy."  We spent a lot of time talking about the dog before we arrived.  We spent a lot of time talking about how God gave her mommy & daddy to help protect her. 

We talked about trust. 

And for the first time, we were able to walk past the dog without gripping fear and tears.  Mia said, "Hi puppy" as we walked past the dog and she allowed us to carry her inside.  Don't get me wrong, Mia still was not interested in the dog being indoors or near her for any length of time, but she demonstrated a level of security and comfort in Steve's arms with the dog nearby that she has never shown before. 
Even if it was brief. 

That's victory.
Thank you Jesus.

On another note, Steve and I had the wonderful opportunity to getaway for 5 nights when we went on a cruise to the Bahamas at the beginning of the month.  It was a much needed break for us.  It was the first time away that Steve and I had taken since China {which was not a vacation}.   Just saying.   =)  We went with 2 other couples who are dear friends and we had a blast.  We made sure to have time alone as couples and then had lots of fun as a group during the evenings.   My parents stayed with the kids and did a fantastic job managing all of the schedules, feeding the V. Crew and keeping life in order.   We appreciated their sacrifice beyond measure.  Steve and I both find it so important to have time away as a couple to pour into our marriage.  My parents willingness to make that happen is a precious gift to us.  Thank you Mom & Dad. 

Until next time, we are thanking the Lord for His work in our lives and our family.


Below are a couple photos from the trip ...









It's February.

We have had so much going on in the last month and of course, as a result, I have failed to update the blog. :) There have been many special times including Mia's dedication service on Pro-Life Sunday. It was such an appropriate time for her precious life to be dedicated to the Lord. It was incredibly meaningful for our family. I promise to update with more details and photos soon.

We have also seen new milestones for Mia as she enjoys her mornings at pre-school. She is really thriving there. I also believe that we have been seeing new layers of grieving for Mia and perhaps some new attachment related behaviors. I have been spending much time in prayer over these areas and would love for your prayers as well. Sometimes it is messy and emotional for Mia. And sometimes it is messy and emotional for me.

Parenting Mia has rocked my confidence as a parent more than I could have imagined. I really didn't believe that I had it all figured out before Mia arrived, but when you get to #4... I guess I thought I may have had at least some of it down {by God's grace}. Now there are times when I question everything that I do. It has humbled me. It has revealed more junk in my own heart that the Lord needs to transform. Ouch.

But, that is a good thing.

More to come soon {hopefully}.

Thankful for His Mercy,
Karen

A BIG day for our little girl!

Today was Mia's first day of pre-school.
It could not have gone more perfectly.

Mia has been anxiously awaiting this day for months. She has told countless dozens of friends and strangers about "my school." Every time we passed her school, Mia would point and say "that's my school." We have been preparing for this day for quite some time. We role played our goodbyes, we role played our pick ups, we role played making friends and sharing toys. We practiced "My name is Mia" over and over again. We have worked on letters and identifying her written name for months. And then today came...

Mia awoke with a smile on her face and was all ready to get the day started. She knew today was her big day. We had breakfast, brushed teeth, got dressed, and made beds. I was busy making sure all four were doing each of those things in addition to starting laundry, making lunches, cleaning up the kitchen and getting myself ready. We had just enough time to squeeze in a few pictures before I sent the boys off {walking} to school around 8:10am and then loaded the girls into the car by 8:15am.

Chloe was first for drop off at 8:30am. She gave her usual squeezes to Mia with an extra special smile today. Chloe had been hoping to be taken to school second and was disappointed to miss Mia's first drop off, but she rolled with it well. Before she headed into school, she stopped and told Mia to have fun and be kind.
{great big sister advice}

We piled back into the car and arrived at Mia's school for an 8:45am start. When we arrived, Mia was ready to go. We stopped and prayed and then ventured inside. I helped Mia find her spot to hang her coat and backpack and within a minute, her teacher came out and said, "It's time for school." Mia and I walked into the classroom behind two other children and their parents. As we walked in, we stopped at the table where Mia was supposed to find the button with her name on it. I explained to her what she needed to do and Mia proceeded to pick her button right up (out 15 buttons!) and put it in the basket. I could not believe it. We shared a quick little hug and kiss and Mia headed right in without looking back. [wow.]

I knew I had better not linger, so I smiled and told the teachers that I would remain in the building for a while and be very accessible if needed for the morning. After I left the classroom, I stood in the hallway stunned for a minute. It went so well. No tears. No fits. No peeling her off of me. {all of which we have seen before} Thank you Jesus.

She was ready.

She was excited.

So was I.

When I returned at 11:30, Mia ran to me with a smile as she came out the door. Her teachers told me that she did a great job. They said it was as if she had been there all year. She followed the routines. She listened. She played. And she was happy. What answered prayers.
Thank you Jesus.


And that precious little girl beamed the entire way home.