Uganda on My Mind

I left a piece of my heart in Uganda last Tuesday. I was so ready to be home and see my dear chicks and my love, that I didn't realize I would still be missing someone in the the world.

Heidi and I left Feb. 14th to go and get her children. I was travelling with her because Jason wasn't able to go yet and she needed to be with them before their upcoming court date.

The week was wonderful and hard, and lovely and sad, and I

was blessed to have been a part of it. There were many hours of sitting and playing, sitting and waiting, and sitting while flying. In all that sitting, I fell in love with 3 little dark-skinned beauties, who will always know me as Aunty Sam.

Heidi is still there, working hard to bring home her children. I feel like my affections will be complete when I see their sweet faces at the airport and know they are ours ( i mean theirs).

Thoughts on Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is nearly here! Sometimes the busyness of the holiday season causes me to stress out, worry about money and forget to find peaceful moments to spend with my Jesus. This Christmas has been different than all others, and this is why:

Somewhere in world there is little boy or girl, made in the precious image of God, my Father, spending another Christmas without a mommy or daddy. One day, he or she may be ours. I can't do anything else but pray when the reality of that sinks into my heart. Heavy stuff, I know!

Over the last four months my little ones have learned to open their hearts to the needy and orphaned in this world. Hannah and I sit together and look through agency sites at the dear little faces looking back. We choose one that speaks to us and we all start praying for him/her and speaking as if they will join our family shortly! We rejoice (and cry) when we see their picture with a "my family has found me" label.

This is what the Gospel is all about! The Good News that God loved us so much that Jesus came to earth as that tiny, helpless babe, lived a perfect life for me and died a sacrificial death so that I could be called a child of God. To be adopted by the Father of Creation, made heirs with Christ, loved eternally and given a glorious home! It is the story of Christmas, and adoption.

It is my story, and I hope it is yours!

Merry Christmas, friends!

Thank You, Father

A poem, by John Piper

Thank you, Father, for my life.
Thank you for my precious wife.

Thank you, Father, for my girl.
Thank you for this deep-sea pearl.

Thank you, Father, for my sons,
Fathers, wives, the little ones.

Thank you for the church I serve,
Staff and friends I don’t deserve.

Thank you, Father, for my birth,
Who can measure parents’ worth?

Thank you, Father, for the schools,
Mental tools, and passion fuels.

Thank you, Father, for my eyes,
Wonders of the earth and skies.

Thank you, Father, for my ears,
Priceless music through the years.

Thank you, Father, for my friends,
Comrades, care, and common ends.

Thank you, Father, for the books,
Deeper currents, distant looks.

Thank you, Father, for my home,
Sweetest pocket of shalom.

Thank you for the maple tree,
The swing, the yellow canopy.

Thank you for the neighborhood,
The interwoven bad and good.

Thank you, Father, for the tears,
Dying darkness yet appears.

Thank you, Father, for your word
Silver, honey, eaten, heard.

Thank you, Father, for your Son,
Stripes, the bruise, the mission done.

Thank you for the Spirit too,
Wak’ning, filling, giving—You.

Father, Father, can it be?
Thank you for adopting me.

Depraved Indifference

I feel as though I have been asleep. I have been a Christian since I was eleven and am only now starting to understand a fraction of God's love and mercy for the world. I praise Him for waking me up and for showing me that I have a part in spreading His glory and love to people everywhere. My heart has been broken over and over again as I finally see, to a small extent, what He sees as He looks at the millions of people who are without His love and mercy and salvation.

My Father has opened my eyes and my heart to the orphans and widows, to "the least of these" in our world.

For so long adoption, poverty, homelessness, has been around me, crossing my path at different moments in my life. I've looked, shed an honest tear and then moved on with my comfortable life. I've thought that helping "the least of these" is a calling for certain Christians...."oh, isn't that great they're adopting, I could never do that!"

No more!! If I am a follower of God, then His words to me are clear and true and strong! And they are for all of us!

"Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow"

This is just one of so many times that God directs us to care for the oppressed, the fatherless, the widowed...

I have so much more on my heart concerning all of this, but lest I make this post into a book, I'll continue at a different time.

This video challenges, encourages and moves me to action.

Valentine's Day

I can't believe its been almost 2+ years since I have written here. Its Valentine's Day and amid all the chocolate, paper hearts and sappy jewelry commercials, I am feeling so very grateful for those I love. I can't elaborate right now. We need to finish school, its a balmy 70 degrees today and the park is calling our names. Hopefully I'll be back ( but no promises) soon!

Hannah and Ethan in HSM 3

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Amicalola Falls

Oh my goodness , I've been gone quite awhile, so I will just try to catch up with our latest family outing!
We have decided to try and camp at least once a month, so for our June trip we headed up to Amicalola Falls in the North Georgia mountains. I was a little apprehensive because of it being summer in GA and all...but the weather was just fine and we ended up having a grand time!

On Friday we set up our tent and took a hike to check out the area. We've been to the Falls many a time but this was our first time camping there. Friday night the park offered a "furry friends" program where the kids were able to touch "skins" of many of the animals in GA. It was great fun for them and the best part was meeting a real live opossum named Posey!

Saturday morning we had a great pancake breakfast and then took off to Dahlonega for ice and a little window shopping.

The next program for kids was called "snakes alive" where we learned about the 44 snakes which live in GA. It was very interesting and at the end we were able to touch 4 of the non-venomous variety! We found out that Jonah is a true snake lover and every picture I took at that event shows him touching at least one snake.

Since we were visiting one of the prettiest falls in GA we decided it was time to take the hike to see them. I can tell we've been hiking a lot as the kids seemed to run most of the way up! On the way back down those dark clouds that we had been watching suspiciously all day opened up and it poured! Lucky for us David was totally prepared and we grabbed our ponchos and rain jackets from the backpack and hiked in relative dryness all the way down.

In the afternoon, the park offered a scavenger hunt for the kids in their visitor center/museum. I have to say, I really am impressed with our state parks and the programs they have to offer the kids. I was a little worried that we would be unable to find many things to do, but our weekend was packed!
The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing at the campsite, reading, napping ( Ethan) and the kids playing their own version of "Meerkat Manor" ( let's hear it for Animal Planet!) After dinner we met the rangers and other campers for a campfire. We roasted marshmallows, sang songs, acted out a story and even got to pet Posey again!

The Astronomy Club from North GA college arrived with all of their expensive equipment and we spent the rest of the evening making our own solar systems, watching a slide show and seeing the moon, Arcturus and Saturn through a real fancy, shmancy telescope!

The weekend ended with a great Father's Day brunch at the Lodge and three happy,sleepy kiddos ( and parents!)