Surviving the cold last week: 'The littles' with their Lincoln Logs....quite a mess but they did make some cool creations . Today, it was so nice to take a break from our typical indoor winter activities to get some of this....
Ahhh, fresh air and baseball :)!!
Odesco and L as they were asking me if I could 'pretty please' open up the shed so that they could get Odesco's baseball batting game out. How could I refuse these yummy boys?!
The first sign of spring...normally finding a a dandelion is not a celebrated event but it was today!!!
Nothing like a good old fashioned rope swing...this picture was taken outside of the church where the 3 oldest take piano lessons. We all decided that we'd stay outside today and play !I love these spring teaser days as they remind me that truly"He makes all things new." In the doldrums and monotony of winter, my soul needed this :)!! I've had some discouraging mommy days in the past few weeks...including some difficult conversations with Mercy regarding why she is here in America. Adopting an older child is a blessing in many ways as they can talk and open windows of their past when they are ready but the reality of their past will never go away. I can't fix it or make her pain go away....I can't resolve the conflicting issues in her heart as she attaches to us and yet still remembers the love she has for her Liberian family. I can only direct her to her Heavenly Father who lovingly orchestrates all things for her good and His glory...a sovereign God who is altogether wise. I can also speak truth as God directs...truth that will hopefully set her heart free from the things which are entangling her.
On Saturday evening, I went to an adoption seminar entitled ," Adoption: The children are home, the honeymoon is over, now what?" The speaker was an adoptive mom herself and specializes in attachment. She had some great insight having experienced the joys and heartaches of adoption firsthand. One thing she said was we need to have a long term perspective...I'm paraphrasing her here but she said," Our goal is 35(as in 35 years old!!)....all of our parenting now (Lord willing) will impact them when they are mature adults... " Wow, 35...that's a longterm perspective but a great reminder to not be so caught up in the here and now. I am so grateful for the little glimpses the Lord does give me now of His hand at work in the hearts of our children. I am reminded of the timeliness of an email devotional by Nancy Campbell(who happens to be a new adoptive mom of 4 Liberian teens!) that I received last week right when I was in the thick of some heavy duty days.
Malachi 3:17, "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels."
Every saint is a jewel of God. I am convicted by God to look at people (and also my children) in this light. Often we cannot see the jewel as it hides behind the rough exterior. All we see is unsightly hard rock, but God wants us to look beyond what we see on the surface.
We sometimes hear the phrase, "He's a rough diamond." This means that the person is pretty rough on the outside but inside they have a heart of gold. We need to be reminded that there is a diamond, or perhaps a sapphire, an emerald, an opal, a ruby or an amethyst in each person. The jewel in every person is different. Each jewel will reveal different colors and lights of God's character. But we cannot see the beauty shining from the jewel until it has been cut and polished. And what a painful process this is. Much cutting has to be done o reveal the many-faceted hues and beauty of the gem. The cutting goes on and on. And when it is finished, the polishing starts. It hurts
I know God has to do so much more cutting and polishing with me. May we let Him do His work and cut away all the roughness and hardness. May we also have patience with all God's saints, even those who are still rough and uncut.
May God give us patience with our children. God has given us the task of being a lapidary (a cutter and polisher of gems). It is the lapidary's art to reveal the gem. Sometimes we may feel it is a hopeless job. But we must never give up hope. There is a jewel in every child of God. There is a precious jewel in every one of our children that waits to be revealed. We must see it by faith. We must pray it into being. May God give us vision, patience and understanding as we fulfill this great task. It does not happen over night. It is painstaking and time-consuming.
Another timely reminder to not lose hope and to trust that He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it!! This applies to my wayward heart along with the hearts of my children. The 'roughness' of the jewel gives the Lord that much more opportunity for His glory to shine forth.
I am thanking Him today for the gift of a sunny day, renewed hope, and the privilege of being His lapidary in the lives of the jewels He has graciously entrusted to my care,
MamaB
PS: I am way behind in updating so things will be out of order when I finally do get to post. Last week we had 2 memorable (in a good way!!) days skiing together and Saturday our big boys won their Salao soccer tournament. Quite an exciting week in our house. Pictures are forthcoming :)!!
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