Girls Day Out!

Today we enjoyed a girls day out...just myself, M and her favorite friend. A ride on the carousel, ice cream at Friendly's, and a field trip to the Piercing Pagoda. I'm hoping to convince M that earrings would be a great birthday present someday. Since her friend loves to tell about her experience, I thought it would be smart to have her show where she did it and how it happened. M LOVED the jewelry and ooh'd and ahh'd...but still thinks it sounds too painful to endure! Good thing her birthday isn't until December!

All smiles...

Until it starts moving! Too precious!

You know that scary carousel...:-)

To End All Wars

Hi. R. Here. I read a good book last week, "To End All Wars." Check out my brief description of the book here. I used this in Sunday's sermon on Jesus' teaching to "Love Your Enemies."

That's Just TOO Far

After yesterday's deeper post, today's will seem wild.

But that's life around here. One moment purposeful and the next ridiculous.

So our boys were in the basement tonight and we could hear them through the closed door.

"OWWWW!" Then hilarious laughing by the person who had just sounded injured. Then, "do it again!"

Over and over.

We decided we had better investigate. They were intentionally throwing ping pong balls at each other bare chested to leave marks! Apparently inspired by the antics of their beloved Tar Heel player Tyler Hansbrough, they thought circle marks all over their bodies would be impressive at school tomorrow. And they thought this was FUN.

In no time, the MOTHER in me said, "It sounds like fun to you guys, but when someone hits a brother with a ping pong in the EYE and I have to take him to the hospital and I have to explain all these welts to DCF workers, it will cease to be FUNNY!"

I then said that if it happened, I would put the caseworkers in touch with my obsessed father in law. I hope you're reading, Bill! ;-)

One Less

Any minute, there will be one less orphan in the world. Grace Migneault will have a family...FOREVER! My heart is in my throat with anticipation. It's on my mind constantly. After spending all her life in an institution, precious Grace will know what it's like to have a mom tuck her into bed with books and kisses, a dad to tickle her and teach her hit a baseball (who can also do a mean hair braid, by the way)...and the best brothers and sister a girl could hope for!

Tonight I read a startling statistic...last year international adoptions were down 13%. Why? Some has to do with the country of Guatemala closing. Some has to do with China tightening restrictions on who can adopt. I'm sure some has to do with the poor economy. These are real reasons that adoptions can be hard to achieve. And yet...

There are millions of orphans without homes.

Millions of children who are hungry, cold, lonely, scared. Many, like our precious M was, in need of medical care. They are young and old and everything in between. They are healthy and unhealthy, and every color skin you can paint.

So what holds so many of us back from adopting?

For lots of people I talk to, it's fear.

"That's GREAT, but I could NEVER do that."

Oh, but you could.

"We could never afford it."

God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He'll provide. Just ask the Migneault's. And it doesn't hurt that the government offers a HUGE tax credit to defer much of the expense. ;-)

"What if the child has NEEDS?"

Do you any child that doesn't? Every child needs to feel loved, accepted, and safe. Biological or adopted. Every child has fears and character flaws, as well as gifts and talents.

"We have a lot of children already."

My grandfather was one of 13. I bet you've got relatives just a few generations ago who had similar sizes. Since when did we begin to think that 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 children was A LOT?

Please don't misunderstand. There are some legitimate reasons not to adopt...really poor health or debilitating illness or disease, unstable marriages, struggling family dynamics, a child that needs one on one attention, etc. But I fear that too many of us (our family included!) give ourselves excuses to avoid doing what God has so clearly called His people to do....care for orphans. And in giving in to our fears, we can miss out on some of the biggest blessings God wants to pour into our lives.

It's easy to shake our heads and pray that God cares for the needy, but what if the answer to our prayers is us?

With millions of orphans in the world, and millions of starving people, and millions of people with HIV, it's easy to feel like nothing we do will make a difference.

But just ask Grace Migneault how great it feels to be ONE LESS.

Grace has come home. Grace has found love.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God."
1 John 4:7