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.