Finding my peace in Him alone...

After our refreshing day at the lake and cold showers to get all the sand off, the little boys were up in their room for quite a while. They came down in these outfits...'basketball' socks (actually the big boys' old baseball socks!) and basketball shirts... it was 95 degrees out and I was sweating just looking at them in these goofy socks :)

Yesterday was one of the most humid, uncomfortable days of the summer so far and we along with a few other families were blessed to enjoy the day at a lake with friends who are members. We spent most of the day in the refreshing water...it was one of those magical days where everyone played beautifully together (there were 24 kiddos in all!) and the moms took turns escorting the kids out to a floating dock where they jumped into the water... while the kids jumped , the moms chatted as we floated on 'noodles'-refreshing all the way around!!

G and Miss Felicia in her adorable swim gear~

Sunday best...L saw this suit in his closet and wanted to wear it for playtime to be a 'detective'...I told him he could wear it instead on Sunday and he relented. He surprised me by remembering as soon as he woke up Sunday morning- then Odesco was a bit 'put out' that he was not dappered up and chose to wear the duds above. In his (and Mercy's too) mind anyone wearing a tie is a pastor...too funny!

The other morning the kids put on the cd of Watoto African children's choir and danced their hearts out. Odesco got out the drum and G pulled out a box of instuments from her closet...I was hanging laundry during their 'performance' and needed to take a break to close the doors since they were SOOO LOUD (happy sounds, though) ~ I didn't want to offend our neighbors! The kids seemed to gravitate to the position Mercy is in for this picture so that they could watch themselves in the reflection on the TV :)

I caught these 2 in a sweet moment...L was 'teaching' Odesco to play tic-tac-toe

On Saturday in the midst of our normal weekend 'to do ' list, we were able to squeeze in special time with each of the kiddos. Daddy took the little boys out for breakfast- they were so excited and adorable as they snuck outside at 6:45...then Mercy and I went on a long walk and just 'happened' to end up at Dunkin Donuts where I bought her a treat...later G and I were able to go out for a little trip for her to finally use a birthday coupon (her bday was in April!!) and later Daddy took the big boys for a long bike ride while I took the littles for a swim next door. I was grateful for these little windows of time to spend 1:1 or 2:2 time with the kiddos as things can get rather chaotic when the whole gang is together :)

Puzzle time...I'm trying to have the littles do this world puzzle a few times a week..then we sing the "continent song" (From Geography songs for all you homeschool moms!) It's fun because the kids have friends from North America, Central America, Asia and of course Africa!! Odesco and Mercy are learning to locate Liberia and enjoy seeing the route their plane flew when they came to America.

Cooling down on a humid evening at our generous neighbor's pool! For you obsevant people wondering where our L is, he is drying off on a lounge chair~

Math time...the 3 youngest were learning the difference between quadrilaterals and triangles and created many using crayons and pencils~Yep-that's a sticker on Odesco's forehead :)

Seeing Odesco in his swim attire just cracks me up...he and Mercy are like little fish...loving our pool times at various friends' homes and doing so well in their lessons- their acclimation to the water has been a huge blessing as we go swimming several times a week!

P and Odesco just hanging around waiting for the others to finish their swim lessons at a friend's house.

We have been enjoying the change of pace that summer brings. We are still trying to get a bit of school done in the morning since our afternoons are usually errand running or 'pool mooching' :)
I am also getting the kid's portfolios together from this past school year and planning out our next year. One trivial project I completed was to organize our junk drawer...so now in the midst of the craziness and clutter when I need a "fix" , I walk over to that drawer open it..breathe deeply and enjoy this one corner of order :) Silly, I know but I am so enjoying the visible and relatively long lasting fruits of my labor( it has stayed organized for a whopping week already!!) For most moms out there I know you can relate to the feeling that everything we do gets undone rather quickly...we wash dishes, put them away and it is soon mealtime again... we do laundry, fold it and before it even gets put away, there is another pile looming in the laundry room...we straighten and clean and then our little blessings awaken and it's hard to tell we ever did anything in the first place...so, this drawer of order and my crazed enjoyment of it is a reminder that I need to find my peace in Him alone. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with order-in fact, God is the author of order and demonstrates order in creation itself. I am actually putting a few organizational tips I learned from a seminar I just heard into practice, hoping to add some order to our busy home.I once heard clutter and disorganization described as 'visual noise' -- I can so relate to that description! When things are grossly out of order it feels loud to me- it seems like all of those out of place items are screaming,"put me back where I belong!!"-strange, I know :) My problem is that when our home is disorderly and the kids' stuff abounds in places it shouldn't be, my heart is tempted to fret and feel unsettled and the fruit of this is sadly a discontent, snarly, irritable Mommy. So, I am realizing once again my need to find peace in Him alone - no matter what the condition of our home is. Sometimes "visual noise" is not the issue but instead, it is the real thing...literal noise due to sibling conflict, whiny attitudes or just plain old defiance. Again, my peace needs to be in Him regardless of the storm raging around me.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord God is an everlasting rock"Isaiah 26:3

"Let the peace of God rule in your hearts" Colossians 3:5

God's word always cuts right to the heart...If the peace of God truly reigns and rules my heart, I will not be ruled by my idol of order and craving for external peace. How kind of the Lord to use the crucible of our home once again to reveal my desperate need for Him to rule me and change me from within.

Growing in finding my peace in Him alone~
Mama B.

Giving Honor to Whom Honor is Due....

Happy Father's Day....Daddy was blessed with many dollar store practical finds including: dress socks for work, wipes to clean the car, bungie cords, and a paint brush!! It was quite an adventure making these purchases last week with the 4 littles. I'm sure we provided entertainment for all the other shoppers as we walked the aisles and discussed appropriate gift options . He also received candy (which he generously shared with the rest of his pleading family!), a biography about Douglas MacArthur that C thought would make a great read aloud with his Dad, and the dvd Flywheel. We watched it last night and I highly recommend it-it was produced by the makers of Facing the Giants and was an amazing story about God's miraculous redemptive work in the heart of a dishonest carsalesman. I laughed and cried...a great family flick! Probably ranks on my all time favorite list!!

Inspired by my dear friend's public letter to her hubby on Father's Day(it is a beautiful letter-check it out here : http://www.graceunchanging.blogspot.com/) I did not want to miss an opportunity to honor my husband in his role as Daddy to 6! This morning I was reminded of a Father's Day 12 years ago when I had the privilege to honor M in front of our church and his visiting family. He had only been a Daddy for 6 weeks and it happened to be Dedication Day for our eldest son. As we were overjoyed with the long awaited arrival of our baby boy, I remember being overcome with emotion saying , "In my mind's eye, I can see P following his Daddy around coiling cords and setting up chairs each Sunday morning as he joins his father in serving the church." Well, that is exactly what does happen each Sunday morning as our 2 oldest sons eagerly join their Dad ( with the added motivation of seeing a few of their buddies on some weeks) leaving our house at 7:15 to go assist in the setting up of Sovereign Grace church. M has by example taught these 2 to be cheerful servants~ every Sunday for the past 14+ years M has diligently and faithfully served (with the exception of a few weeks of transition when our little Liberians joined the family and the few Sundays we have been away on vacation). I am so grateful for his faithful , unwavering example. I am grateful for the way he has led our family in building our lives around the local church...I am thankful that he is teaching our children to serve cheerfully(well, that's the goal anyway :) in our home and within our church community .
Yesterday during our morning church service, a touching video was shown... children in our congregation were creatively telling their Dads what they loved about them... some were hysterical, others were sentimental-like when Mercy shared in her beautiful Liberian accent," I love my Daddy because he cares for me-Happy Father's Day!!" ...and others were just well- practical. That would have been P when he shared ,"Thanks Dad for teaching me how to work!" Everyone got a good laugh out of that and it became the joke of the day... but truthfully, I am so very grateful that my hubby is instilling in our boys especially, the value and importance of hard work. Already, they have 2 lawn mowing jobs for neighbors and are learning to serve 'as unto the Lord' in our home. This is a gift they will take with them to their future employers and future spouses...a gift they will one day, Lord willing, instill in their own children.
So, to my hubby: I am so grateful for the heritage of service you are building in our family, I am grateful for your faithful provision so that I can be right where the Lord wants me...the best place on earth...here in our bustling home. As challenging as our days can be, there is truly no place I would rather be and everytime I get to go on a field trip with the kids, buy them a new pair of shoes or just a special treat I try to remember to tell them to thank you for working so hard to make it all possible. Thank you for saying ,"yes" to the privilege and call of adoption...knowing it would not be an easy road but one we would be blessed and honored to travel upon together. Thank you for your faithful support of our homeschooling...thankyou for the many times you have given me opportunities to 'be with the ladies' to get refreshed. Thankyou for encouraging me to have a one night 'retreat' just this past weekend...God envisioned my heart and renewed my appreciation for the wonderful gift He has given me in you and our precious children ! I hope you felt honored and loved by all of us yesterday... Happy belated Father's Day!!
You are very much appreciated and loved!!

Psalm 126:3- The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad!! - Mercy and Odesco's 6 month-i-versary!

THEN: One of the few pictures of Mercy and Odesco together ~we received this while the kids were still at AOH..I remember thinking they looked so sad ...

THEN: immediately after getting off the plane with "Auntie Melodie"-dazed, confused and overwhelmed!

NOW: What a difference 6 months makes...here are Mercy, Jenkins and Odesco swimming in our friend's beautiful pool!

NOW: Celebrating "Officer"Jenkin's K's 6th birthday last week. How blessed we are to be on this journey with our good friends, the K's. And how fortunate our newest blessings are to have kindred friends from AOH whom they see on a regular basis at homeschool activities, church , and just for fun !

Mercy's sunflower in "Nana's garden"... a timely reminder of blossoming where God has planted her~ here in our family!


Hope has come again~both literally and figuratively . I needed a pep talk and some new ideas for styling Mercy's hair. Thanks Hope for your creative handiwork, friendship, and encouragement!!

It has been a little over 6 months since our precious Liberians joined the B family! There have been so many changes, so many evidences of God's grace at work in the hearts of these 2 little people. I know I use that phrase 'evidence of grace' almost every time I write an update... I hope it does not 'cheapen' the significance of what our BIG and powerful God is doing in 2 little hearts and in the hearts of the rest of us! As challenging as these 6 months have been, I honestly can not imagine a better fit in our family than Mercy and Odesco. The Lord hand picked us for them and them for us and I am so grateful for the bedrock assurance that trusting in His sovereignty can bring. I am reading the biography of George Mueller to the little ones and today this statement resonated in my heart...it is referring to the large sum of money required to build a new orphanage and George Mueller's response of faith but I found it so fitting in our current situation. (see my post from May 19th)

"The greatness of the sum required affords me a kind of secret joy; for the greater the difficulty to be overcome, the more will it be seen to the glory of God how much can be done by prayer and faith"

So, I look forward to seeing how the Lord is going to work out the many challenges that still arise on a regular basis and I rejoice in the major work He has already accomplished!

Now for some highlights since my last post:
* Last weekend all 4 littles spent an overnight at Mimi and Pop-Pop's (my parents) so that my hubby and I and our 2 eldest could serve at our state homeschool convention. I only signed up to serve on Friday so that I could be free to leave should Mimi need me to come get them for some reason. I am happy to report, I was able to stay the entire time and aside from small manageable squalls, Mimi reported that things went quite well. This was Mercy and Odesco's first trip ever to Mimi and Pop-Pop's...they did many special things...went 'swimming' in storage bins ( see picture below), ate Mickey Mouse pancakes and 'shausa' (sausage) for breakfast, went out to lunch one day and dinner the next...all very special treats. Our kiddos are so blessed to have 2 sets of godly grandparents... I am taking notes and want to be just like them!!
The 4 littles 'swim in boxes'...they were so excited to tell me this when I called to check in on them while we were away at the homeschool convention. Funny thing is, knowing the resourcefulness of my mom, I could picture exactly what they meant without an explanation from Mimi.

* Last nite' I was reading a bedtime story to the 4 little ones...at the end of the chapter one of the questions was ," How has God shown His love to you?" I started with Mercy and was so blessed by her response...especially in light of our conversation after her meltdown a few weeks ago. She said , "God showed His love to me by bringing me to America and giving me a new family." Odesco is not one to express original thoughts yet with open ended questions and following Mercy's lead, he said something quite similar. My heart was so encouraged...small steps, small steps!!!
* Yesterday Odesco taught L how to 'pump' his own swing...a skill he mastered just last week. So now our 2 little guys can swing themselves and boy, are they proud!
* This morning, Mercy patiently waited as I prepared breakfast for the crew and gave the toasted bagels to all her siblings before taking one herself...
*On Wednesday, we had a 'nurses visit' at our pediatricians office for Mercy and Odesco to receive their next round of shots (or "jukes" as they refer to them). They were not happy to hear about this doctor visit but we prayed and I reviewed with them what behaviors were acceptable.(ie: they can say "Ouch" but no screaming /out of control behavior) Mimi and Pop-Pop came for a last minute visit which was a nice diversion throughout the day.There were several meltdowns that day and I suspected much of it was due to the anticipation of the 4 pm appointment so it gave further opportunity to talk about their fears and that God would be with them and help them. We talked also of the purpose of the 'jukes' and that we could be grateful that here we have medicine to prevent them from getting sicknesses that children in Liberian and other places die from. Due to the behaviors displayed during the day, I was a bit apprehensive heading into this appointment but I am happy to report that they were champs during the shots and rose to the occasion...we were soooo proud of their self control! They were both extemely fearful ( I don't blame them) but with coaching from Daddy to look the other way, it was over before they knew what happened. Odesco had 4 and Mercy had 2....when it was all over, they even thanked the nurse and emerged from the room with smiles on their faces anticipating the 4 stickers they would soon choose. On the way home, Mercy commented that Jesus helped her not to be afraid. Wow, what a difference 6 months and the grace of God makes!! (remember our visit on 12/5/06???)

Thank you for checking in, praying for us, and rejoicing with us~
To God be the glory-GREAT things He has done!!!
Love,Mama B.