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.