Baptism Delayed

Erika had a meeting with the elders and didn't answer the questions to satisfaction. I think part of her expressive language is a problem. To articulate in English, complex ideas is hard for her. So, we are going to work with her a little more and help her understand.

We had a great talk with one of our elders tonight. He said they did not question her faith at all, they just want her to be able to express it verbally.

I have many questions about the baptism process and probably fall more along covanental lines regarding baptism.

This same elder plans to talk with Erika Sunday to make sure she understands that they are not questioning her faith. She thought they had said, "Think about it a little longer if you really want to follow Jesus."

So the August 31 date is null and void. I'll let ya'll know when it happens.
I wouldn't have posted it WAS going to happen until after the elders visited her.
There was abit of confusion. 2 elders approved the week before, but then there were some more that wanted to meet. The 2nd meeting is the one that took place today, and they have asked her to wait.

So, we'll wait some more and maybe learn abit about patience and study up some on doctrine.

The Turning 50 Hair Cut

I said I would cut my hair when I turn 50. I did it 4 days early. :)

To Zip or Not to Zip

Erika and her friend Brittany, watching Jerroth go up the zip line.....




THE MANY FACES OF ERIKA IN THE MIDST OF DECISION ON WEATHER OR NOT TO GO ALL THE WAY UP THAT ZIP LINE AND SLING HER BODY OFF INTO OBLIVION.........







She went up 1/2 way, touched the wood and then chose to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground! There is NEXT YEAR! :)

Camp Out On A Limb

We always joke that it should be called Camp Out OF A Limb.... Erika and I had a wonderful time once again at Peaceable Kingdom Camp for Children. As for me, I waited an entire year just to go down that Zip Line once again! Erika was looking so forward to horse back riding. On the way home, I asked her, "What was your favorite thing about Camp this year?" There was a thoughtful pause, and she said, "Horses, Golf, Swimming,Scuba diving, Movies, Games, eating in the cafeteria, talking with Shawn late at night in the bathroom, and making friends with Brittany.

Shawn had a pow-wow meeting with the girls late on the last night we were there. She was so funny teaching them a special signal to use if they wanted to talk. This time it was the "blink your eyes if you want to speak signal". It was comical watching a bunch of little girls blinking frantically to be called on. Erika enjoyed the talk in the bathroom after they finished scaring the boys. Shawn asked about what they do if others make fun or tease them. Erika listened to the answers, and then poetically, when we got home, we played the DVD handed out at camp called, "No Arms, No Legs, No Problem". He covered some really great answers to that issue, and talked about who we are on the INSIDE is what matters.

What our children look like on the outside is not what defines them, but who they are on the inside. This is really what Peaceable Kingdom Camp brings out in our kids.

Imagine a young man 14 years old with no arms and no legs, dancing his heart out, and everybody just loves it. How about an arm wrestling match between a guy with 1/2 an arm against a guy with no legs? How about a little girl doing ballet taking her legs off to perform? How about a little boy with one arm doing hand stands, hurling his body into the air to balance? How about a child who is blind, autistic, missing lower legs, has just one finger on one hand and a nub on the other, playing the piano beautifully and singing Amazing Grace? Let me tell you, I don't know if there were any dry eyes.

There were the typical pranks and kids play, or was that the adults pulling off those pranks? There were Bugs and snakes, saran wrap on the toilet seat, sneaking over and knocking on the window late at night, and the typical, "I don't know WHO used all that toilet paper!" "Silly String?" "Isn't that a thing of the past???" The swim basket ball games and just great fun hanging out together.

The children were drawn together for a wonderful week of friendship and partnership. I saw children help each other, build each other up and just have an all around great time. It didn't matter that the cabin was strewn with extra legs, prosthetic socks, little kids looking for their own....."Mom, do you know where my leg is?" "Take your legs off sweetie." "Do you need to put your legs back on?"
It was all pretty normal.

There were also the important friendships developed among the parents. Other than going to the hospital and camp, we have never, ever, seen another child who has limb loss or limb differences. It is refreshing to be with other parents who live similar lives with their children, who hurt for their children's losses, yet cheer them on to do wonderful things in life. These parents have the patience of Job. They have deep abiding love, they are proud of their children, and they are brave enough to let their children fall, try and try again, which will result in them blossoming and growing in both personal strength and creative independence.

Thank you so very much Peaceable Kingdom Camp for Children and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and your awesome dedicated staff. Had it not been for you, Erika would not know that she can do so very many things like SCUBA DIVING and I STILL would have never gone down a zip line. And that zip line is WAY COOL!

Miracles

You know, there is a time to talk about Miracles. REAL Miracles. For me, the time is now, as it is on my heart.

Just a little over 4 years ago, Mike and I were near empty nesters. Our last son was in college and had moved home to save for marriage.

Then came our Anna. A little girl who had been in the foster care system. She brightened our lives and through her simple little prayer of wanting a sister, drew us into a whole new world of girls, adoption, private adoption because of disruption, international adoption, early childhood trauma, attachement disorder, reactive attachment disorder, post traumatic stress, restrictive band syndrome, arthrogryposis, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, bilateral foot amputation, hip surgery, boney overgrowth surgery, hand surgery,knee surgery, therapy, Ukraine ministry, the plight of orphans in the world, Russian, Home education again, Out on a Limb Camp, and much, much, much more.

IN ALL OF THAT..... numerous miracles took place in our lives. Engergy for one. :)

But seriously, introducing the gospel of Jesus Christ, the fact that we are born "dead", but are only truly alive in Christ Jesus, to an international child is an amazing experience.
I remember the first time that Erika watched The Gospel of John on DVD (the word for word put to video) she had just been speaking english a few months so her understanding was limited. But we were able to communicate with her the basics. She saw that they were putting Jesus Christ on Trial, being mean to him, and then crucifying the one she knew we loved. This look of perplexed, mournful sadness overcame her and she began to weep.

"Why did they do that to him? WHY?"

We began to explain that God KNEW His son would be crucified for our sins. That BECAUSE of what He did for us, we can now live. A little light turned on in her heart.
She had been exposed to the gospel with Papa Dima in Ukraine, but there were parts she didn't yet understand. Some of these things are hard to grasp even for adults.

Yet, she DID grasp it, and about a week later, trusted Jesus Christ, with full understanding for her salvation.

It is a miracle. It is THE miracle, of going from Death to life.

Why do I post a picture of her standing at the table without feet?

Because some would see that a real miracle would be for God to give her new feet.
Indeed, that would be an amazing miracle, and I truly believe GOD COULD, if he so chose.
BUT what many of us fail to see, is the real miracle of being RAISED FROM THE DEAD.
Erika is ALIVE in Christ. New feet wouldn't make her alive in Christ, but a renewed SPIRIT does.

Each of our girlies have gone through the same process of understanding, and each have received Jesus Christ as their savior. And we truly praise the Lord for that.
Because with HIM, all those beginning things I wrote about above, would be the things that took over their lives.
Instead, the LORD has taken over, and those things are fading, faded, and many times just gone.
Their old lives are just a shadow of their new lives. Their new lives are exciting!
They are full of life. They are ALIVE.

Oh, rejoice with me, as I have witnessed so many miracles in their little lives. The miracles of forgiveness; forgiveness of those who hurt them, abandoned them, harmed them, rejected them; just as we had rejected Christ, hurt Him, abandoned HIM.
For THOUGH WE WERE YET SINNER'S, CHRIST DIED FOR US.....

On August 31,2008, Erika will be baptized. She will make a public profession that Jesus Christ is her Lord, Her Savior, Her King, Her All!

And, I am so very HAPPY, that we get to be a part her life.

Soakin' Up Love

Daddy caught Anna and I in a love soakin' moment. :)

School or School? Part 2

Well,
Mike and I have had some talks, and come to the conclusion that we are already doing the right thing. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" came to mind, after a friend mentioned it to me.

I really like that phrase. It makes so much sense.

The girls are not cookie cutter children. If I were to put them into school, I don't know that I'd get much rest anyway. I'm already exhausted just from the few conversations I have had about what it will require to get the right services and placements. Then, the politics, and then of course I'd want to volunteer etc.

I'm having dejavu' flash backs of when the boys went to school.

Thanks too Melissa for making me look at what I was saying. I don't have time to be tired. If I'm tired, I need to take my iron like I'm supposed to be doing. :)

So, it is time to get lesson plan's going for next year. Erika and I go to camp next week and then it will be time to buckle down and finish our plans.

Thanks so much for all of you who have prayed and made me think.

Sarah's Story

This is Sarah, reading to us her latest words from her heart:




She has started a diary. Right now she is writing about her life. so far.......

UNCLE BOB IS HERE!

SURPRISE!

Pretty and Clean

Today we were scrubbing furniture and chairs with Murphy's Oil soap. The girls were doing a great job. Then Anna wanted to get a new cloth to go under the lamp. The one there was rather dusty. She found a floral napkin and said, "How about this?" "It is pretty and clean and that is all that matters!"

I said, "Oh, that is pretty and clean, just like you!"

She said, "Oh mama, I'm not clean, I touched Turtle poop today!" :)

School or School? That is the Question

Here is a picture of Erika and I on a field trip. We took Papa Dima to take a Hospital Tour. I think Erika LOVES her teacher. :)



My life sometimes seems like a whirlwind of activity.

I have been homeschooling kids since Marcus was in 2nd grade for the 2nd time. :)
I believe it was 1992 when we embarked on our Homeschooling Adventure, and it didn't end until Marcus went to college.

Then, came Anna. She was so needy and so fragile I didn't even consider school for her.
The same with Sarah, and the same with Erika. Homeschooling has worked out very well for them, and they are all at their grade level in most subjects. Probably in all subjects, but I don't know that for sure. :)

The truth is, however, I am tired. Very tired. The girls have all settled in, they all know English well, they are all reading and doing math and most importantly, they are all attached to us and know that we love them with our whole hearts.

I am considering checking out the local schools in our area. Schools in our area are rated quite well and we are supposedly in a top school district. I think they would all do well, and I am considering trying out the school waters for them.
I will be going on an information mission first.

The biggest thing is, I want to do what is best for them. It might be good for them to see what public school is like; what it is like to ride the school bus and have homework and what it is like to get up at 5:30 to catch the bus by 7:00.

IF, and I do mean IF we choose to do this, I will work in the office with Mike again and work on my writing projects.

What do ya'll think?

Girl Time

Our precious grand daughter Katie, now known as Kate, is visiting for a couple of days.

We started our Kid day on Sunday with a visit to Cheddars and the local water park.

Boy those places can be hard on a mom. There are so many themes I could write about I wouldn't know where to start.

I'll start with.... I just LOVE my grand daughter. She didn't come into our family until she was 5. She came with a fantastic mommy who is now my daughter.

The first time Katie spent the night, I had this great idea to buy her an outfit.
I did. I just didn't realize at that time that little girls had taste in clothing at such a young age, and my taste was definitely NOT hers. I had her try on my prized outfit to which she said, "GRAMMM! I LOOK LIKE A CLOWN!" dang..... I told her to go show grampa to which he sympathetically said, "honey, she does kind of look like a clown." To which my first gramma outfit feelings were hurt, but I bucked up and dealt with it. She wore her jeans to church. :)

So here we are, 4 weddings and 3 adoptions later and she still loves me. I haven't purchased ANYTHING for her to wear unless she gives the green light. I guess I've improved because she usually does. :) What a good sport.

So, back to yesterday.....

She was so great at the waterpark. 2 of the girls cannot wear their legs at the park so they either have to hop (sarah) or be carried (erika). Katie generously gave Sarah piggy pack rides all afternoon. Erika and I hung out most of the time in the wading pool or lazy river while Dad, and the other girls climbed all those stairs to the water slides.

I am so amazed that Sarah could hop with a big inner tube, drag that thing up all those stairs slide down and have the energy to do it all over again!

I liked the Lazy river. :)

Erika started her afternoon hoping that I would drag her up those stairs, but I just couldn't. If I had been younger, or had a different body, I probably would have tried, but that isn't my or her reality. I simply said, "some things we are going to have to accept that we cannot do, and we need to be joyful for others who CAN do it, and cheer them on!" So, her sisters and daddy and Katie thought of her often when they were at the tops of those towers, always looking down to wave and catch her eye so she could see how high they were, to which I would say, "aren't you glad you didn't have to climb that?" and she'd grin.....

She liked the lazy river too.

One great thing about their ages, is we can let them go in a certain area and give directions to where we are seated and they can meet us back after a few times on a slide. This was the first time we had done this and it worked out great.

Instead of taking Kate back home last night, she and the girls schemed for her to spend the night. I wanted her to anyhoo, all along really.... so she got permission and is here today. I have had a pedicure and manicure, a nap, and the girls have cleaned their room. Then they decided they will be putting on a play tonight and right now they are playing store. They also painted some cool pictures.

I just love having them in our lives.

Thanks Chuck and Jodie for sharing Kate with us. :)

I have pictures of today, but we forgot the camera at the waterpark.... dang.:(

Sisterly Love

This morning Anna and Sarah went out to take care of the animals and didn't come in for a while. I glanced out the window, and saw them sitting on Mount Baldy. (that is our hill in the front yard that never grows grass on top) I went out and took a few pictures. They were digging for treasure and enjoying each others company.







And so where is Erika? She is getting her beauty sleep of course. :)

Reality

I had to take Erika to the Doctor today as her right leg was giving her trouble. She was having so much pain we couldn't get her legs on the other day. I found the "spot" that was giving her trouble, and then made the appointment. Today, some reality set in.
She isn't going to be able to be as active as she wants to be. Not without paying a price anyway. We probably didn't NEED the appointment. She she just needed to rest because of so much activity last week.
When we do alot, she pays the price in pain. I had to turn down a really nice invitation to go to the Arboretum this week because I knew she wouldn't be able to walk that much without more issues.

This brings me back to memories with our Tim. I think we might be needing to invest in a wheel chair. I hate that. I don't know why, other than it seems like a "failure" to me. A failure on my part to fix the problem to the point she doesn't need one. But the truth is, she most likely DOES need one, at least part of the time. When we go places, shopping etc. She probably would do best to have a wheelchair.

Why am I so bothered by that? I don't really know. Maybe because it seems like "giving up?" It says, "I'm not like everybody else."

Well, the truth is: She isn't like everybody else. She is a HARD worker, but she is limited by her condition. And mama needs to "deal with it." :)

My beautiful, energetic, delightful daughter cannot do all she likes, and cannot keep up. She has special needs for rest and she can't over do it.

Lessons, lessons and more lessons.

Can I Inherit This?

That was the question of the day yesterday. "Mama, Can I inherit this?" I turned around to see what treasure Erika was speaking of, and this is what I saw....



It is actually a .99 cent deviled egg plastic dish that I found at Walmart. I had gotten it out for the girls to use with water color paints... it makes a great pallet!

Then, came that simple question when we were cleaning up.

I told Erika, if it is still around when you are grown, you can "inherit it". LOL

But my mind got to thinking about our REAL inheritance. Many times I hear people speak of that "mansion on a hilltop in that fair place where we'll never grow old".... and it is always far off, sort of "untouchable" and distant... but here, we just sadly wait.. and wait... and WAIT......
not knowing or understanding that our INHERITANCE is CHRIST! It is NOW! Our life is NOW! It has already begun. Many times we don't see the riches and treasures we have in this life, because our minds are on the material and not on what is important.

We settle in our minds that our inheritance is far off, and then we settle in our minds for that cheap egg dish. When, in reality, the riches of Christ are not those kinds of things but the things we cannot fathom or touch.

We have a RICH inheritance that we can partake in NOW. It is there for the taking or should I say, receiving.

And it is a RICH inheritance, not a cheap walmart egg dish. :)

Will

And here is a little guy who LOVES his mommy! Look at that adoring look he is giving her. :)

Joe and Sam

Isn't this a sweet picture? :) Daddy and Son sleeping away......

Hair Dresser

Now here is something I never saw the guys do!

Blending

No, this isn't about "blending things", but about blending families. Actually, blending the same family, but we are all spread out! We are spread out in age, situation, circumstance, and even in the churches we attend.

When we adopted our Anna, 3 out of 4 of our children were married. Our youngest son Marcus had moved home in order to save money for his upcoming marriage too. So Marcus is the only one of the 4 oldest kids who was living at home when we had a little girl in the house.

I remember him talking about cringing under the blankets early in the morning when he would hear her little foot steps headed for his room to wake him up. MAUCUS! (she couldn't pronounce her R's yet... and she was so funny. "Caful, I bwuise wike a gwape!" (that one was my favowite)

Pretty soon, Marcus married and moved out and then Sarah came, and then Erika came and then there were the surgeries, and more surgeries, and more surgeries, and locations changed and before we knew it, the girls were getting bigger and we had 4 grandchildren, 2 foster grand children, and it goes on and on and on!

I have more gray hairs than I can count now, and more lost socks.....

I have unending guilt about not spending enough time with the older kids and grand kids and being a good gramma. Yet, I'm still a mama, and can't get away very often.

Yesterday we were housebound all day because Erika's legs were sore and she couldn't walk. Today she is fine, but I wouldn't dare chance taking her out anywhere as when ever pain strikes, that is it, and I would have to carry her to the car. :)

So, trying to blend everybody together as brothers and sisters is no small feat.
I get the feeling, in reality, we are raising 2 separate families and that is how it is.

I think everybody cares very much for each other, but they are not all the same ages.
It is more like having uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews instead of brothers and sisters.

I know the guys are close and I know the girls are close, and it may be that they won't be as close with each other because they don't have the same life experiences together. They just share the same parents. And even then maybe not... the guys got the younger version of what the girls have. :)

I wonder if this is just part of having a large family.

My Mike

You know, I have always called Mike, (since we were married) My Mike.
I told him one time, now I won't call you "Mike, but "My Mike".

And he is..... :)

I just wanted to say how very much I love him. He is a wonderful, husband and father.
Tonight, he took Anna with him to a distant part of Texas to get a trailer. Then, he took her to dinner. She was so excited to spend "alone time" with dad. :)

I love to spend "alone time " with dad, which is rare, but we savor the times we do have.

Our anniversary is coming up, and we have a kid volunteer to babysit; one of the older kids... and I am going to take them up on it for sure.

Now, to think... What should we do?
Our real celebration will come in September when we leave on our missions trip.
But, on our anniversary weekend..... we will take advantage of the generous invitation to go out on a REAL date. :)