He will surely do it...

Our days have been busy gradually transitioning into school mode while still taking advantage of the last opportunities for pool days and summertime events. Today the big boys are floating down the Delaware River in tubes with a group of moms and kids from church. I am grateful for my friends who are willing to be 'mom ' to 2 more boys for the day so that P and C can enjoy this activity. I'm not yet daring enough to try that with all 6 ...no bathrooms and the need for self control for4 hours... I don't think we can manage that one yet :)!!

As I have been preparing for our school year over these past weeks,I will admit there have been many moments of feeling daunted at the upcoming challenges of dealing with behaviors and relational/sibling 'issues' while schooling all 6 kiddos and still maintaining the home, meals, laundry etc. One morning while I was out on my walk I was praying about this and the Lord in His kindness brought a verse to my remembrance:

"He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it"

As I plodded along, I meditated on this promise. He called me to the privilege of mothering these 6 children, He has called us to homeschooling, He has called me to faithfully be a keeper in our home...so, if He has called me, He will surely enable me through the power of his boundless grace to do all He has for me to do. When I came home I looked up the verse and found the beginning of it even more encouraging...

I Thessalonians 5:23
"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless as the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it"
If He is able to completely sanctify my often unbelieving, impatient and sin- filled heart, how much more is He able to help me do what He has created me to do in the first place? This has infused my heart with hope.
In God's perfect timing, I was also able to get my hands on the brand new book by Carolyn Mahaney and her 3 daughters entitled, "Shopping For Time~ How to Do it All and Not Be Overwhelmed" ...here's the link to whet your appetite.
http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Resources/Publishing/ShoppingForTime.aspx This book is a must have for any woman no matter what season of life you find yourself in. It truly ministered to my heart as I sat poolside and finished it in one sitting (while I supervised 9 kiddos as they enjoyed summer fun :)
This book along with resources from Titus2.com (see links below) have really helped to adjust my Mommy heart. I always have enough time to do what HE has called me to do...often I 'feel overwhelmed' because I am taking on a project or trying to keep standards I am not supposed to.With this in mind, I shelved my annual 'Christmas ornament' making project that I usually tackle in August. How freeing to put aside something that I was not supposed to be doing -at least this summer. At other times I 'feel overwhelmed' simply because I lack the faith for the task He has called me to (such as homeschooling 6 children :) In these instances, I need to believe that He will indeed give me everything I need to accomplish what He has called me to. I have been prayerfully compiling my MOTH schedule ( Stands for Managers of Their Homes) and new chorepacks for all 6 kiddos to assist in keeping some semblance of order to our soon to be very full school days. http://www.titus2.com/ecommerce/products/prod_listing.php/1150
http://www.titus2.com/ecommerce/products/prod_listing.php/1100
So, although I am still tempted to be anxious about the upcoming school year I believe God has used some valuable resources to help get my heart and home ready. I am clinging to His promise that He who calls me will be ever faithful!!
Now onto some household happenings:

*Mercy and Odesco are talking so much lately about Liberia. The other day they were singing/chanting,
"Judas died today we will bury him tomorrow!" This is a reference to "Judas Day" which is a true Liberian holiday celebrated around Easter. Mercy spoke of how her family would stuff a pair of pants and shirt and make a fake Judas... then they would carry it around her village singing this song... some people would beat Judas with a stick or throw rocks at it while he 'sat' in a chair! Here is something I read a while ago on another blog of a mom who was in Liberia during the Easter holiday when this is 'celebrated'.
Today is Good Friday, but here it is "Beat the Judas" day. There are stuffed people laying all over the sides of roads or up on poles, and people beat and beat and beat them with sticks in "celebration" of Judas betraying Jesus. It's a very unusual focus of the Easter season, but considering what Liberians have been through it is not surprising.
Wow, just another reminder of where our children have come from! Seems so sad and warped to make this the focus of the holiday which celebrates the GOOD NEWS that Christ died and rose again. To Mercy and Odesco, this is a fun memory...of course they don't see the irony in it that we do. I am grateful for yet another glimpse into the lives of our little Liberians before they came to us.
*This morning Mercy told me that when she lived in Liberia, she had a big puffy thing on her thumb( maybe a blister or a boil?) She would take a stick and 'bust it' and then rub it with a 'medicine' leaf. Homeopathic medicine, perhaps in its more primitive form?

Also some funny Liberian sayings heard frequently in our household recently:
*" I'm bigger by you! " or "God is bigger by us all!" Meaning I am bigger than you...God is bigger than all of us.
*"I scary!!"...this is said instead of ,"I'm scared." It just sounds so odd when they are truly frightened about something and they declare loudly,"I scary!!!"
* One night at dinner Mercy was being silly and began eating her rice one grain at a time ...Odesco quickly followed her lead. When I inquired as to what in the world they were doing she went on to explain that she was showing me how to 'meesh". Evidently at AOH this was a way they would tease one another because soon after mealtime it was naptime/bedtime. If they dawdled or 'meeshed', the other kids would get upset thinking they(the 'meesher' ?!)would be able to stay awake longer since it takes a long time to consume a bowl of rice one grain at a time. Just for the record, this is the slowest I have ever seen either Mercy or Odesco eat as usually we are working with them on slowing down the pace. They can still pack in the volume during mealtime!!!
* When Mercy gets in the mood to clean, she can do a mighty fine job!! The other day she got down on her belly after pulling the drawer out from under our stove and cleaned the entire area finding all sorts of missing items in the process... a few hair beads, a marble and some petrified food. She told me that at AOH the nannies would get a big bucket of water and put it in the middle of the floor. The children would each get a rag for washing and a towel for drying which they would place over their shoulder. They would get down on all 4's and scrub the floor with the rag, then stand up and use the towel to dry their area using their foot ( like they were skating). All 4 littles were very excited about this and asked when I would set them loose on the kitchen floor... maybe some day I'll get desperate enough but I have visions of that bucket filled with water doing more damage than good!! I might just have to have one helper at a time for now :)!!
* Mercy and G are really becoming sweet friends (when they aren't in conflict!!) Each night before bed, they snuggle together on the bottom bunk and G reads stories to Mercy...sometimes I hear them just talking -often about Mercy's life in Liberia. Mercy often gets put out when G asks to sleep alone on the top bunk...typically G never makes it up top though as they both fall asleep in the middle of one of the stories G was reading. It is funny to peek in on them soundly sleeping on the bottom bunk with books in between them, on top of them, and underneath them!
* When Mercy has had a day marked by obedience she is so proud to tell Daddy that there are no 'is-shues' (aka: issues) to deal with!
*Tonight Daddy was late in getting home...I said, "He probably got tied up at work and will be home soon." Odesco who is not accustomed to our figurative language had a very worried look on his face and made motions with his hands modelling Daddy's hands being literally tied up...I explained to him in a hurry what I really meant...we all got a little chuckle out of that and our little boy was most relieved!!
Thanks for checking in...
Grateful that He will surely show Himself faithful!!
MamaB

The K kiddos joined us for a day...look what they all found in our yard...All of these cucumbers grew in our compost pile--NOT in our garden. The sign was a futile but resourceful entrepreneurial attempt by the kiddos to sell them at the corner of our street! We actually gave them all away to church friends the following morning.I think even those with bulging cucumber surplus of their own took some because who can resist a cucumber toting kid?? Especially when the cucumber basket is expertly balanced on said child's head?!

Busy Boys doing some productive work for mommy...if I can ignore the streaks :)

Sweet Sisters in a still moment~

Mercy with one of her favorite people...'Miss Brittany' one of our beloved babysitters
Pool Day...after days of rain, the kids were glad to get out of the house but it took awhile before they warmed up enough to get in the water.

Mercy teaching her siblings the ins and outs of deep cleaning!

One afternoon I went upstairs to see what G was doing...she was sitting on her bed listening to the Anne of Green Gables cd and wiping off the boots she is wearing above...a few minutes earlier she asked if I'd braid her hair...hmmm can you guess who she is? Pretty good Anne look alike, don't you think?! I'd say the 'scope of her imagination 'is pretty active!!

Recently we've had the joy of watching some of the K kiddos. What special friends they are to our kids. Mercy especially has such a tender spot in her heart for sweet Felicia...she's quite the doting nurturer.

Odesco and Jenkins....they love dressing up and whacking each other with light sabres and swords!!
Friday nite' we had a houseful of kids and fun!! The girls wrote a song and dedicated it to Acres of Hope...these are the words:
"An orphanage in need is calling you to help.
It only takes 25 cents to help.
Somewhere in the world they are calling for help in the orphanage. Can you apply for the job?"
Too sweet -it was great to see these 4 working together and putting on a 'performance' ...there were lots of giggles but I must admit that the first time I heard it I misted up . Here's my little girl who only 8 months ago was in an orphanage and today she's singing songs about the children there needing help !

The littles learned that one of their new Friday chores would be to clean out under the chairs and couch in the family room...Mercy and Odesco on their own figured out how to effectively get the job done- even if it was only Monday!!

Here they are with their 'hot off the presses' chorepacks(see link above)....let's hope their enthusiasm continues :)!!