I Am Blessed

The Lord has blessed me so incredibly, beyond what I could ever have imagined.  I have an incredible husband, who loves the Lord, me and our children

and our six wonderful kids

Daniel

Elaina

Nicholas

Naomi

Jeremiah

Deanna

and praying that the Lord would give us more to love and raise for His Glory.

Michelle

11

How do they get so big so quickly??! This past weekend we celebrated Elaina's 11th birthday.

I have been amazed as I have watched the Lord work in her life. From bringing her through extreme prematurity (born at 26 weeks) and challenging illnesses, she is now changing into a beautiful strong young woman.  One of these days I will get around to writing her life story, but for now I just thank the Lord for bringing this precious girl into our family.

Interview Date

Today we heard from the American Embassy but I thought I would let Elaina tell you about it.  Below is what she wrote in her journal (of course I got her permission to share her thoughts with you  :)

News from the Embassy today.  Mom's interview is in October (8th).  After my birthday! After Deanna's birthday!  In six weeks.

I wish we could be on the plane right now, but all the wishing in the world won't get us what we want.  

Through all tough times, we must remember to trust in God.

Elaina

She Caught the Vision

The other day Elaina came into see me at about 9:30 at night. She was sobbing. I asked her what was wrong and she answered that she didn't want to go to Africa because she didn't want to see children dying in our home!!

I held her and hugged her. I reassured her that I knew of several people that were taking care of orphans who had not had a single child die in their home. But I couldn't promise her it wouldn't happen. What I did promise her, and can promise her is that God will be with us through every trial, every heartache and He will give us enough strength to cope with whatever happens. While it would be very hard, the Lord is our Father who will comfort us and heal us.

We continued to talk and I asked her what would happen if we didn't go. She came to the conclusion that the child would still die, but may die alone, on the streets and most devastatingly without knowing the love of Jesus.

Then I asked her what would happen if we took care of that child. Together we concluded that if they were still going to die, they would leave this world having known the love of a family, having heard the love of Jesus and if they accept Christ then they would die with the hope and promise of eternal life with Him.

Suddenly Elaina's face lit up. She saw the vision, the purpose for our going. Not only to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, but to tell them the good news of Christ.

I was so pleased when I saw her turn and literally skip back to bed. The Lord had not just given her a peace about going, but JOY!!

Michelle