He gives strength to the weary...

In process!
Voila! All done, finally!!!
The girlies with their Mimi!

While I was cooking dinner, Mercy was busy discovering the chalk in the basement! I had to take a picture before we washed it off...never a dull moment with this spunky girl around :)
I know you can't tell but it really is snowing in this picture. How fun to watch these 2 chase snowflakes around the yard-Their first time ever experiencing this aspect of God's creation! Here Odesco is trying to catch a flake on his tongue...to no avail~
Our silly little guy decided he wanted to 'dress up' for the day with a necktie...he is showing off his wedgit creation here as I tried to keep him occupied during school time!


But they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up on wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint... Isaiah 40:31

I confess that my post adoption adrenline rush has officially ceased! I am very aware of my need to value God's perspective through every moment of the day because quite often, it feels as if my yoke is hard and my burden is heavy. A sad but very honest confession. Some days, the continual clamor and the perpetual need for little hearts to be redirected or adjusted in the midst of homemaking, meal making, and homeschool can be well, wearying!
Today as I read a selection from Spurgeon I was so encouraged by these words... Faith goes straight to the throne and pleads,"Lord, here is the promise. Do as thou has said." Our heavenly banker delights to cash His own notes. Never let the promise rust. Do not think that God will be troubled by your persistence in reminding Him of His promises. It is His delight to grant favors. He is more ready to hear than you are to ask. The sun is not weary of shining, nor the fountain of flowing. It is God's nature to keep His promises; therefore, go at once to the throne with "Do as thou hast said."
So today my prayer is that God would supernaturally infuse my heart with His eternal perspective...that in Him I would find rest for my soul and that He would make my yoke easy and my burden light. How amazing are His promises!! He will renew my strength... He will reap a harvest of righteousness (in the lives of our children), if I do not give up (Galatians 5:9)....He gently leads those that are with young (Is40:11). How encouraging to think that He who upholds the stars in heaven(and amazingly, knows them all by name!) , and maintains the order of the universe has heard my pleas for help and delights to assist me!! Truly, His power is perfected in my weakness.

The days around here seem to just speed by! Last Thursday through Saturday, M along with many men from our church and other team related churches attended a men's retreat in Hershey. I am so grateful he was able to get away to be refreshed, foster friendships with other men in our church and to receive further equipping for the daunting(but doable, with God's help) task of leading our family! On Thursday , our homeschool coop of 6 families went on a field trip followed by a delicious dinner at our house prepared by all the other ladies. Having the day full followed by a time for all the kids to play (17 in all) helped to make the time go quickly! Thanks, friends...how rich I am because of your frendships!! From Friday morning until my hubby arrived home on Saturday afternoon, I was blessed with the capable hands of Mimi(my mom) and Pop-pop who arrived toting a cooler of frozen meals for our family that she had prepared earlier in the week. What a blessing to have a freezer full of already prepared dinners...thanks , Mom for serving our family (especially me!) in this very practical way! The kids loved having them here... Pop- Pop loves playing games, doing crosswords and throwing the football around!He also took the big boys to their indoor soccer games. Mimi helped to keep the girls busy reading books, playing games, and doing girlie things :) I think she spent the majority of her time helping to do Mercy's hair! The process started Friday night...between Grace and Mimi it took probably close to 2 hours to unplait her braids (Hope's beautiful handiwork!) ...then on to the shampooing and conditioning. The next morning we began to restyle our squirmy little girl's beautiful head! It took 4 hours between wiggle breaks, meal preparation and squabble patrol! But, I was able to finally do "flat twists" and then Mimi helped me put the beads (paco-yocos to Mercy!) on each individual twist. Mercy, though not always pleased with the process, loved the end result and enjoys clicking her new 'do'. She watched many bible videos throughout the process... starting from the birth of Christ.. and finally ending with the Cross...no joke!
I'm hoping this style will last at least a week and I'm counting on getting much faster with experience and will definately be calling in the reinforcements ( our new friend,Hope) when needed.
While adopting older children has some unique challenges, I am so grateful for the window into our childrens' Liberian past. Often we get glimpses through their play time or just in their conversations. The other day, afterI washed a mountain of laundry, Odesco and Mercy decided they would do the same just like the nannies at AOH. They carried a bundle on their heads and then took each article of clothing and whacked the life out of it on the floor...then they would scrub at it, wring it out and hang it on the stair railing to dry. Now I have heard that AOH is constantly in need of clothing donations, not only because of the many children they serve but because each item is washed in this manner. While I'm sure, our little actor and actress added a bit of drama to the process, in reality the clothes just don't withstand more than a few washings before they need to be replaced. Now I know why!!
Another fun thing they do is cook...they pretend to pick beans off the trees, mash palm nuts to make palm butter soup, add potato greens and of course, Mercy adds hot peppa(hot pepper!). Mercy then demonstates how she plucks out the eyes and removes the innards of a fish and then throws it in the pot to cook. Of couse, no soup meal is complete without Mercy pretending she is eating it and declaring quite loudly, "It's soooo sweet!"
Sometimes, I can totally envison her in her little village...fetching a bucket of water and carrying it on her head...her little flat feet bare and caked with mud...or helping out with a baby snug on her back in a lapa while she helps stir a pot of soup...singing in her very deep and loud voice with her thick Liberian accent... it's hard to believe that just 2 short years ago, I had no idea where Liberia was on the globe(shameful, I know!) and now, this war torn nation holds such significance in my heart and has changed the fabric of our family forever. How grateful I am that God has led us on this path....it is not easy by any means , but it is His best for all of us including the precious children we now call our own. I trust that God will be glorified (and I will be sanctified!!) as we continue to walk on this path of His sovereign choosing.
Some other tidbits:
*Every nite' during tucking in time, B4 asks,"Are all the doors locked? I don't want the bugs to get in!"
*Yesterday morning all 4 littles joined me for snuggle time before getting up and ready for church. I was smothered in kisses as all 4 planted smackerels all over my face...these sweet moments make the trying ones totally worth it!
* Every nite' as I am tucking in the girls and Daddy has finished his routine with the little boys, the call from the Odesco is,"Mooom, are you comi to pra for u?!" (Mom, are you coming to pray for us!) I love the fact that our routine is now his routine and that this prayer time ritual has become important to our littlest man.
* For the past week, Mercy and Odesco have boycotted rice~ then yesterday afternoon they both were in the mood for their old staple again :)
* Some new Liberian phrases:
** ground peas= peanuts
**far sky= stars (Mercy kept telling me she wanted fa-ska on her hair...I was stumped until she pulled out the bag with the star shaped hair snaps!)
** cu off the li= cut off the light= turn off the light
**is it da-bre?= is it daybreak?=is it morning? Yes , these two are often up before the light of day!
Well, the kids playdough time (my writing time) is coming to a close...
Thanks for checking in~
Grateful for His renewing strength!
MamaB