Saving Hailee

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to take care of the widows and orphans in their distress."


I was so touched by the Salem family who have been led by the Lord to adopt Hailee.

She is a precious child of God who is waiting in an Eastern European orphanage for a family. Hailee has downs syndrome. She is 4 years old yet only weighs 15lbs.

Please pray with us for Hailee and her new family as they wait to be together.

It brings such joy to my heart to see a special needs child like Hailee find a home. It was not an easy decision for the Salems but God called them to adopt her and they are obeying. It is a delight to read their story and to hear how much they love this little girl.

Now, I know not all are called to adopt, but I know there must be many out there who are called, but don't respond because they are afraid. Afraid of the unknown, afraid of the cost of adoption, afraid of the future, afraid of what people will think, afraid of being able to meet the child's needs ... etc, etc.

I understand that fear, we have been there. BUT, God calls us not to fear, instead we are to obey. He will supply all our needs and give us the strength we need, when we need it.

There are way too many orphans in the world, waiting for a family ... could they be waiting for you?
(James 4:17 Anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.)

Please if He is calling, take that step of faith and TRUST IN HIM.

Michelle

On the Radio

As part of the radio course that is held here, the students have to come up with topics to discuss on air. One group decided to approach the subject of bedtime stories and how they are good for children.

So they asked to interview our children. Of course we said yes, and the kids seemed quite excited. BUT, when they were put in the studio and front of a microphone, they suddenly became very quiet!! The interviewer asked a couple of questions and getting any answers out of the children was like getting blood out of a stone.

Thankfully their answers were recorded and will be edited before broadcast tomorrow. It should be fun to hear how it turns out.

Michelle

Naomi's Birthday

Hard to believe another year has passed for Naomi. Last weekend she turned 8 and on July 23rd we will celebrate her being with us for 8 years. This year she has been aware of the calander and had been counting down the days to her birthday for over 2 weeks. She was so excited when it finally arrived.

She is developing into a beautiful girl who loves to help around the house and be a second mom to Deanna. She will make someone a great wife and mother one day.

I think she had a fun day. We spent most of the afternoon at Rothwell Carnival. She (and the other girls) certainly came back different than when she went.

Michelle

Rothwell Carnival

Last Saturday was the Rothwell Carnival. The main attraction was a family stunt team. The kids loved to watch the jumps that they performed on their motorbikes etc. Especially, when it involved fire!

During one stunt they asked for volunteers. Many raised their hands and Elaina and Jeremiah were chosen along with 8 other children. Jeremiah was the smallest by far. Do you see where he was laying? Right at the end, in the most dangerous place for when the motorbike would fly over him. All the older kids were too scared and led close to the ramp!!

During the week of the carnival the members of Radio Worldwide (along with the students on the annual radio training course) go on air and broadcast from the event and continue to be on air for the following week.

This was the 601st year of Rothwell carnival, but was probably the last as the organizers are stepping down and there doesn't seem to be anyone willing to take their place. We were pleased that we were able to attend this year, especially if it won't happen again.

Michelle

The Work Continues

After 3 months of work, the roofs are finally finished and most of the scaffolding has been removed at the Springhead Park House property.

While the contractors were replacing the roofs they discovered that the chimneys were in very bad condition and needed tearing down and rebuilding. Before they could do this the pest control man had to come in and take care of some bees. He was shocked to find a honeycomb that was over 6 ft in length. He said he had never seen one that large and it must have taken years for the bees to build it. It was a shame they had to poison it - there was several black sacks of honey that had to be just thrown away.

Gary has been busy trying to get an apartment ready for the new Managers that are arriving next week. Along with this he has also had to convert a ladies bathroom into a new server room and move people's offices to accommodate the new managers! Not to mention the meetings with contractors about the roof and chimney work and repairs that come up during the course of a day.

He was very grateful for the help he received last week from a couple of men from Liverpool who were here for a few days (pictured above). After he gets these jobs done, he then has to concentrate on moving people around, redecorating and fixing other apartments ready for several new people to join the team here. This work includes the conversion of an old workshop into a new apartment. Once this is done he can then concentrate on repairing the many years of damage that the water has done through the leaky roofs.

This is a lot of work, especially for 1 person - so if anyone feels led to come and help for a short time (maybe combine it with a vacation??!!) - Gary would certainly appreciate it!!

Please continue to pray for Gary as he does this work. Firstly, that he would be able to accomplish the work needed by the deadlines and secondly,that his body would hold up to the work, as he currently works in pain most days.

Thanks

Michelle

A Beautiful Country

I know this post is a little late, but on Father's Day we kidnapped Gary after church and took him up to the Yorkshire Moors.

The pictures really don't do the view justice, but it was really stunning to sit and see God's beautiful creation.
We spent about 3 hours walking the moors and climbing rocks.

Oh, can't forget, the kids also loved chasing the sheep. (Can you spot the sheep on the rock in the middle of the picture?)

Michelle

A Surprise Visit

 

Two weeks ago we received an email from a friend from our home church which said she would be in our area on Monday and she asked if she could she stop by.

Of course we said yes. Monday came and we waited and waited and waited for her arrival. By 11pm we gave up waiting and went to bed. The kids arose the next morning excited to see our guest only to discover she hadn't made it. We were all a little confused and I have to admit we were getting a little worried about what had happened to her.

Kim finally arrived Tuesday evening (she had got her days mixed up). We had a wonderful time visiting places around Leeds with her and getting to know her better. She stayed until Saturday when she left to travel back to Ireland to get her flight back to America.

If anyone else would like to 'stop by' for a visit you would be more than welcome :-)

Michelle

Light Nights

 

Sleep is a problem around here these days. The kids are not getting enough of it because they are having a hard time going to sleep when there is still daylight outside.

The above picture (please forgive the poor quality) was taken at 10.30pm. There is still light in the sky. When darkness does finally arrive, it doesn't stay for long. By 3.30am the sky is no longer dark.

This takes some getting used to!!

Michelle

The Lord's Protection

Today I am truly grateful to the Lord for his protection over our children. This weekend there were two accidents in which the kids could have been seriously hurt or even killed.

On Saturday we went to a friend's house from church for dinner. We had a wonderful time and after we ate we played American football (it was an American friend!) in the back yard. Jeremiah was running fast to try and catch the ball but wasn't looking where he was going. He ran right into Gary, bounced off of him and fell. He landed on the back of his neck on the edge of a fairly large concrete flower pot. He hit it so hard that he moved the pot several inches. I watched it happen and am amazed that he did not split his head open or do serious damage to his neck. That incident alone had me aware of the Lord's protection.

The second accident happened yesterday. We spent several hours at a church picnic and had a wonderful time getting to know other people and watching the kids play. Then about 4pm Deanna was playing with a friend on a fallen tree not too far from us (most of the other kids had been playing there during the afternoon). Every couple of minutes I would turn to check on her and make sure she was okay. Once I turned and she was not there. Gary said he would go check on her. As he was walking over there another man was carrying her back to us soaking wet. What I had not known was that a little way behind the tree was a river. Apparently Deanna and her friend wondered off and had moved too close to the river. Deanna slipped and fell into the river. Deanna cannot swim. I do not know how deep the river was but she was wet up to her chest and even the bottom of her hair got wet. She was clearly shaken up by the incident and has stayed close to me ever since. I am so grateful the current wasn't strong and she was actually pulling herself out of the river when she was found. My gratitude to the Lord is overwhelming when I consider what could have happened.

How fragile life is and how grateful I am that the Lord protected our children from harm. He is watching ALL the time and for that I am so very thankful.

Michelle

A Changing World

Please take the time to read this post, watch the video and prayerfully consider how the Lord would want you to respond.

I am not an elegant writer, nor one that can use persuasive speech, but I hope you hear my passion on this subject.

Several years ago Shannon opened my eyes to the fact that we should be raising our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph 6:4), and by doing so we would be raising the next generation of Christians who would be the leaders and decision makers of the world. I totally agree with this and her clarity gave me new zeal in my parenting. But I didn't realize until recently how important that will be until, last week when Gary came across demographics showing that Europe has a declining birth rate and that many Muslim nations have an increasing birth rate. Added to this is the fact that many many Muslims are immigrating to Europe. Suddenly my eyes were opened and I saw that within a generation or two Europe will be a Muslim continent.

Today I found this video through Voddie Baucham's blog post. Please take the 7 minutes to watch it. It is so important.



This will continue unless we start reproducing more (which was a command from God - not to just replace ourselves by having 2 children, but to multiply - Gen 1:28); take seriously our role to raise our children to serve the Lord (currently 70-80% of children are leaving the church by their college years) and be more determined in our witness to Muslims. Or we could just wait for the Lord to return. While He may return soon we do not have the option just to sit and wait. We are told in the Great Commission (Matt 28:19) to go into all the world and make disciples. This starts at home with the discipleship of our own children (Deut 6:6-9) and also includes reaching out to others.

The subject of Muslim domination has been on my heart for awhile and this is my response. I pray the Lord will give us the strength to teach our children well and bring them up to love Him and follow Him. I am also praying that the Lord will increase our family (either biologically or through adoption), so we can raise more children to walk in His ways. Finally, I pray that the Lord will put us in the path of Muslims already here so we can share the gospel with them. And come soon Lord Jesus!!

What will your response be?

Michelle

Day at the Beach

Three of our kids have never been to the beach, and the other 3 were too young to remember. So last Tuesday was a very special, exciting day as we took them to Scarborough, to the beach. It was made even more special because we met my brother, his wife and son there.

Scarborough is less than 2 hours away, but it was a long drive for 6 excited children. I wish you could have seen their faces when we came over the top of a hill and the North Sea was immediately in front of us. After parking they wouldn't let us do anything else except go to the beach.

It was a cool day, probably low 60's and there was a light rain when we arrived, but that did not stop them wanting to get in the water. Most of them had shorts on so we told them they could paddle. The North Sea is a cold body of water and we had no idea that the kids would have any desire to let the water get above their knees. We were wrong. Before we knew it their clothes were wet (thankfully we had brought spares) but they had a blast. The look on their faces and sounds of "WOW" and "COOL" were like music to my ears as I watched them run carefree in and out of the water.

Obviously it didn't take them long to get cold. But after a change of clothes and a short walk they were warm again - at least for a while!! After a picnic we were able to take them on a boat ride out on the North Sea. The sea was a pretty rough that day and I was concerned about Nicholas' motion sickness. We didn't mention anything hoping that he wouldn't think about it. Thankfully he spent most of his time looking out over the side of the boat watching the Sea and didn't feel sick at all.

After the boat ride we stopped for ice cream and due to constant pressure from the kids, returned to the beach. This time the sun was out and it was slightly warmer. The kids had so much fun running from the waves, sometimes making it back before the waves hit them, sometimes not.

The drive home was long as we had some tired children, but we kept hearing "when can we go to the beach again?" That was a day I will remember and treasure for a long time.

Michelle

Baking Brownies

Sunday afternoon, perfect time for baking brownies. Unfortunately Naomi was unable to help as she is in bed sick. As you can see Deanna had a great time making a mess, er... I mean baking!!

As Elaina was working hard stirring the batter, Deanna decided to sneak a quick taste.

The best bit ... licking the utensils.

That's my girls!!!

Michelle

A few pictures

Below are a few pictures of the family over the last month. Hope you enjoy!!



Michelle

When the shipping boxes are empty ...

 

They are useful for sitting in to watch a movie!!!

Michelle

Finally Arrived

Finally, after 17 weeks (instead of the promised 4-6 weeks!!) our shipping boxes arrived. Well, at least most of them! We loaded the truck in St Louis with 28 boxes, but this truck arrived with only 27. The box that is missing doesn't contain much of monetary value, but it's sentimental value is priceless, as it contains photos. They have promised to look for it at the warehouse, hopefully it will arrive - sometime!

The children were so pleased to see their boxes arrive. Daniel and Nicholas even constructed their own pallets for the boxes to sit on while they opened them. The excitement level equated to that of a Christmas morning.

It was such a joy to watch them dig in and discover their things that they had not seen in 4 months. I often heard comments like "Mom, do you remember this?", or "Wow! I forgot I had this".

We were also grateful for Gary's tools and the children's school books arriving safely. Now Gary can accomplish his work a little easier and the kids and I have some education to catch up on this Summer.

Michelle