Four Years!!!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High~
Psalm9:1,2

On December 2nd, we celebrated the 4th anniversary of Mercy and Odesco's homecoming. It is good to slow down and recount all the amazing work of His hands. At times, I can forget how far He has brought us as I am caught up in the issues of the moment. Adoption has stretched us all...in ways we expected and in many ways we did not expect. What a comfort to know that it is all for our good and ultimately His glory. It has not been an easy path, but it has been a path marked by the mercy and goodness of God in the midst of it all. The pictures tell the story best :)

THEN:

This is the first picture we received of Odesco back in the early spring of 2006! I'll never forget how we all were glued to the computer as updates came in:)

Another orphanage picture. Don't his eyes look like they are smiling? This picture makes me laugh because it looks like the nannies dressed him in girl clothes on this day!

One of the first pictures we received of Mercy~With her beautiful smile that lights up a room!

Here she is with a 'red palm oil face'...not in the mood for the camera on this day!

This is the first picture we received of the 2 of them together...looks like Odesco is not too happy to have his arm posed around Mercy :)...I am so grateful that the orphanage sent us all of these pictures as these are now a part of Mercy and Odesco's story...a story of God's faithfulness to bring us together.

Our first picture of our 'smiling eyed boy' with smiling lips!! I'll never forget how we studied this picture and were just overjoyed to finally see him smile. I also remember wistfully looking at Mercy's missing tooth and thinking how much time was passing as we waited and waited for passports and visas...

This picture was taken right before Jenkins, Odesco, Mercy, and "Auntie" Melodie left for the airport to come to America. Felicia was a foster child with Melodie's parents and she would be escorted to the States a few weeks later after all of her paperwork was processed. Their eyes look so sad and frightened in this picture...this is the way I remember them looking when they arrived at JFK...just overwhelmed trying to process it all~

Here they are in the airport during their layover in Brussels. Melodie was quite the trooper traveling over 30 hours with 3 kiddos all alone and taking pictures for us !

This picture amazes me...look how big his pants and sneakers were...within months after coming home, he had grown into them! Mercy and Odesco walked so awkwardly upon their homecoming since they had never worn shoes before! They were typically barefoot in Liberia and ocassionally given the chance to wear 'slippers' (flip flops) if a pair was available~

Mercy still talks about all the food on the flight home...she remembers the boys sleeping while she ate and ate! No wonder she is smiling!!

Our boy with the smiling eyes on his trip home:)

...AND NOW~4 YEARS LATER....

I still can't believe how much Odesco has grown!

And Mercy is becoming a young lady right before our eyes!!!

Together these 2 are quite the pair! The other day they dressed up in each other's clothes and tried to trick me into thinking they were the other person. It was still dark and early so they thought they had a chance. Actually, a while ago when they tried this, they actually fooled me!! All morning they were answering to the other sibling's name...they even switched chores! I drew the line at swapping schoolwork!!! It drove the rest of us a bit bonkers after the first few minutes but they kept at it until lunch!

Each year we try to take an evening to celebrate Mercy and Odesco's homecoming.Last year we had a "Christmas picnic" with loads of finger foods and treats I typically never make...they requested this again! Each year on their anniversary they also receive a new Christmas ornament to add to their collection.

Our Liberian nativity...one of my favorite Christmas decorations :)

The gang at our 'Christmas picnic' in the living room...

Every year we also try to watch the homecoming video and the footage from their first weeks home...Mercy doesn't understand why I cry every time I watch it! To hear their thick accents and watch them interact on video is just priceless~ it also reminds me of the faithfulness of God and how far He has brought them and us as a family. Those early days of transition were so intense and challenging. Yet God's grace met us again and again...it is a well that will never run dry. How grateful I am for abundant, sustaining, amazing grace! And how grateful I am that the Lord in His perfect wisdom and love chose these 2 children from the foundations of the earth to become a part of our family. Thanks for sharing our joy!!

Home Ec 101....

We have had fun this fall spending some time with our special friends, the E's who are teaching us how to can fruits. The girls have time together in the kitchen while the little boys and their friend I are busy doing 'boy things'....Our first project was making jam~

We learned that with jam precision is key both with the amount of ingredients used and the time you boil the fruit! A good lesson for my girl who loves to cook but isn't so keen on reading the directions completely first!! Thankfully there were no mishaps...Mrs. E was there to keep that from happening :)

We made peach and strawberry jam and it was so delicious!!!

Ready to boil...

Hot, hot jars of jam out of the canner and ready to cool on the counter~

A few weeks later, our next project was applesauce....

My smart shopping friend purchased all these apples for $10!!

How grateful I am for enthusiastic kitchen helpers. The girls spent at least an hour helping to scrub and slice apples...of course they were able to put aside book work so that's always a nice motivator!!

Getting ready for the E's...

Now the fun part...using the food mill to mash the cooked apples~

Thank goodness for eager hands ...

and many workers!!

The boys and the littlest E took a brief turn milling but quickly concluded Legos were more fun!!

Getting them ready for boiling...

Boiled and ready to cool...

A job well done...what a sense of accomplishment to have all of this to show for a few hours of labor!! We will enjoy the fruits of our labor all winter long :)

I am so grateful for friends who I can glean from and make memories with!!

Happy Belated Birthday, Odesco!

Yes, I am officially 6 weeks behind on posting...now that Mercy's birthday is just days away, I am a bit compelled to get Odesco's birthday post on here...as you can tell, life has been full in the B household. We had our family vacation in September this year and Odesco actually celebrated his birthday in Florida! Pictures forthcoming on another post. Homeschooling is in full swing and we have been busy preparing for our outside coop classes. It's all good and a blessing though...now that some of my outside teaching responsibilities are behind me, I hope to keep up with our family archive here.
It is hard to believe that our youngest son is now 7 years old and a 2nd grader~ We are so grateful to the Lord for adding this little guy to our family almost 4 years ago! Some things I love about our boy:

*He has a very unique sense of humor and keeps us laughing~ He also is quite the dancer...showing his moves when he thinks no one is watching!
*His hidden talent:he can wipe his mouth without a napkin...he has the longest, most agile tongue I have ever seen. Now, this is a 'skill' I try to discourage with the use of a napkin but being practical he wonders,"Why waste a napkin, when I can just lick it off!?"

*He is a deep thinker: One evening he was pondering the workings of heaven and trying to wrap his brain around the details we had read in the book Heaven for Kids. He was worried and concerned and I was so grateful he allowed his Daddy and me into his world to talk about eternity.
* He loves to invent things and is often the culprit behind my empty scotch tape dispenser :) With paper and gobs of tape, this little guy can come up with some pretty ingenious inventions!
I'm so grateful this little man is a part of our family!!

P bought Odesco all these balls...he loves balls and has been known to actually name them...Sadly, he lost 'Jimmy' on the roof at church...you would have thought this was a family member the way his siblings ran to tell me "Jimmy is up on the roof".... my mind raced as I tried to figure out who Jimmy's mom was so we could rescue the little guy...phew, was I relieved when the kids reminded me it was Odesco's favorite ball!!

I try to take out one of the kiddos each week for 1:1 time...thankfully we have lots of coupons from birthday clubs and other venues so we can keep it cost effective. Odesco's turn just happened to be right in time to use his Bob Evans Birthday club coupon...he enjoyed this meal to the last crumb...but he did share his french fries with me because he wanted me to have more than just a cup of coffee :)!!

Odesco really wanted a 'ripstick' for his birthday. It is a fancy skateboard and quite pricey. I looked on Craigs list and found one for $20 but the lady never contacted me. While we were in Florida she finally returned my email and the day we returned home I went and picked it up as a gift from Mimi and Pop-Pop. It is in like new condition and even came with a dvd and a new set of wheels...he has spent many hours in our cul-de- sac perfecting his skills:) How kind of the Lord to provide in this way~

Odesco was very patient in waiting for his birthday dinner since we were in Florida on his special day. He requested meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and potato green soup...he and Mercy were the only ones who ate that up. I love his 'potato green soup' smile~ in many of the pictures we received while the kids were still in Liberia, they would have shiny mouths... after they came home,I finally realized it was the red palm oil from this dish~

Thanks for still checking in in spite of my delinquent posts!

Now to Him who is Able....

Yesterday we held our first Homeschooler's Day Out in our OWN building!!!! I never did post about our 'Grand Opening Summer' as we are now settling into our new beautiful building which officially opened the beginning of June. It still seems surreal that after 17 years of holding meetings in schools and hotels, we finally have a church home. It was very moving when we recounted the mercies, favor, and grace of God upon our church family through these years. God has met us mightily in hotel ballrooms, school cafeterias, and auditoriums. He moved in our midst regardless of our lack of air conditioning and comfy chairs. Now that we do have this amazing place to call home, we are positioned to reach out in new venues that were not possible previously. It really is an exciting time in the life of Sovereign Grace Church! As I have said so many times, I am so grateful to be planted in such fertile soil. I am overwhelmed with gratitude that our children have the privilege to grow up in such a loving, supportive environment. There's no place I'd rather be than here, where the Lord transplanted us 17 years ago!!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Ephesians 3:20

Our new building!!

Aren't the rocking chairs so inviting??

The warm and cozy lobby where we hold smaller meetings, youth group and even some HDO classes!

The well equipped nursery :)

G was thrilled to be able to help with this wee one during her free period~

L and Odesco, hard at work in their Hands on History class:)

Mercy showing of her timeline~

If you click on this picture, you can see the full schedule offered to our students... it really amazes me that our little group can offer so much!

Moms hanging out during our lunch break

Four Square is making a comeback!! Our kids play it all the time now in the court in front of our house~

Knitting/crocheting class...I love how our girls are becoming proficient at this skill and using this to bless others with their projects!

Felicia is old enough now to join Knitting Class...Mercy was trying to help her get started!

G with her newly rolled ball of yarn in her favorite color!!

I took this picture in our last class of the day...it's not great quality but it is significant. I am including a quote from my dear friend, KB who sent out a followup email after our first HDO.
"I have to admit, I got a little teary today in the last class of the day. It was our Tapestry of Grace class with the older children and what struck me was that we had more people in that room than we had on our church planting team in 1993! No one on the team back then would have ever imagined a building of our own...with a homeschooling group of our own...with all of the wonderful people God has added through the years. Yes, Lord, You certainly do more than we could ever ask or imagine!!"
I also was undone to consider all that the Lord has done...here I was sitting in a class with my favorite people including my 2 oldest sons...
Yes, He has done more than we could ask or imagine!!