Friday, February 28, 2014

Day 257 Prayer Request

Please pray for wisdom as important decisions need to be made soon.

Annette (Momma to many)

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Day 256 Prayer Request

Please pray for my child's healing, however God wants to do it.

Annette (Momma to many)

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Psalm 96:6

 
 



Look around you.  Can you see it?

"Splendor and majesty are
before him;
strength and beauty are in
his sanctuary."
Psalm 96:6
 


He is everywhere. 

He is wonderful. 

He loves you.

Day 254 Prayer Request

Please pray for marriages.  The enemy has his eye on the marriages of adopted children.  Please pray for all marriages to know the grace only God can give.

Annette (Momma to many)

Monday, February 24, 2014

Day 253 Prayer Request

Please pray I will remember we are part of one body.

Jane (Momma to 2)

Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Choice Ship

My voice raised before I realized, as I shouted to her, "that ship has sailed!"

She stopped cold, twirled her six-year-old body right in my direction and inquired, "What does that mean?"

"It means you made the wrong choice, and your ship is sailing away from you in the opposite direction."

"Is the ship full of choices?"

Her twin piped in quickly.  "No, just all the good choices."

She rolled her eyes, turned away from me and proclaimed, "that wasn't the ship I wanted to be on anyway!  My ship is a better ship", she points her finger down the hall, "in this direction!"

And right there and then I knew we were in exactly the same battle.  I'm guilty of standing on this boardwalk, feeling like the perfect ship is drifting away from me right before my eyes.  And there's nothing I can do, it's sailing away fast, and I'm stranded, helpless, without hope, without purpose.  And I'm angry too, fibbing to everyone that my choice ship is really in the opposite direction. 

But everyone around me is smart enough to figure that there is no such ship waiting for me in the opposing direction.  In that direction there is nothing but blue sky and rough land.

Sometimes a girl just wants to board a ship and escape away.  Standing still upon the boardwalk requires more faith than she can muster up.

But a Momma, she knows she chooses to keep standing on the boardwalk.  She understands her broken dreams have nothing to do with her actions.  She knows how abandoned hurts, how the name orphan resonates in her very soul.  The enemy has made sure she fully comprehends alone. 

This Momma, she chooses to take Him right at His very Word:

"I will not leave you orphans;
I will come to you." 
John 14:18
 
Standing tall on this boardwalk is leaving me sunburned, angry at times, and feeling abandoned.  This boardwalk is beginning to creak beneath my weight, and just might crumble apart right beneath my feet.
 
But no matter how much I feel like an orphan, forgotten and alone, the truth is written firm.  I am an orphan-no-more.  He will not leave me.  He will always come to get me.
 
Yes, she and I, we are chosen.  We are orphans-no-more, despite our attitude, our belief (or lack of belief), our disappointments, our failed expectations.  Our ship full of all the good choices is not sailing away on the high sea.  Our ship is not the make-believe ship our brains falsely manufactured sitting on top of the mountain in the opposite direction. 
 
Our ship, the only ship we really want to board, the ship of our dreams, the true ship of escape and purpose, is coming.  And the captain has already stolen our hearts away, and offered the greatest choice ever given.
 
No orphans board His ship.
 
Orphan care, and orphan-no-more care is serious business to Him. 
 
This Momma will choose to believe this truth, and wait for His ship. 

Day 252 Prayer Request

Please pray for continued healing for our child as we see a therapist weekly for EMDR sessions.

Danielle (Momma to3)

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Day 251 Prayer Request

Please pray for direction for me in making decisions to go back to teaching or pursue another avenue.

Danielle (Momma to 3)

Friday, February 21, 2014

Day 250 Prayer Request

Please pray for me to focus on being aware of God's presence and responding with the fruits of the Spirit.

Jane (Momma to 2)

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Day 249 Prayer Request

Please pray for the adjustment period for our child trying new medication.

Danielle (Momma to 3)

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Letting Go of the Ball

Somedays I look around and wonder just what I am doing?  How did this chaos really become my "normal"?

I am on a time crunch.  If I'm honest, almost all the time.  I have been trained to be a scheduler - this is how to keep the ball rolling smoothly, or roughly. 

No matter how the ball rolls, it must keep moving.

I've dreamed of the stop.  I've nightmared of the stop.  Moments in my days remind me the stop is inevitable.  My mind always jerks right back, telling my body, "not today".  And I travel right back to the schedule, right back to routine.

But where is the joy?

I've taken a risk, over the past few months of my life.  I've dared to escape the schedule.  I've slept a little later each morning and allowed the television back into my home to run a few extra miles each day.  I've mixed up the rigid routine of my three sensory-seekers, tipped our world to that slippery edge.  I've cut back a little on our therapies, trusting Him to enrich our family time.  I've actually dusted off my paintbrushes, written a few words, and stopped to listen to the lyrics.  I have blasted the music and danced.

Granted, we have endured one-too-many sensory meltdowns, myself included.  But, I am learning a few valuable lessons:

At the end of each day, we are still family, regardless of whether we like each other or not.  We choose to love family.


We are all created different.  This difference is not just genetic.  He made us each unique, with unique needs.  It is my job to seek this uniqueness and give them wings to fly.  They will never be little me's (Praise the Lord!).
 

Changing the routine is hard, hard work.  It is much easier to give in each day to the schedule and coast through our days.  But, when we coast, we stunt our growth, and miss out on special grace kisses He kisses just for us, on the other side of our beaten path. 
 

We all need respite, including the fab four.  God created us for community and we have to emerge from our cocoon.  If we remain nestled safely in our shelter, no one is blessed by the beautiful wings He created for us to spread.  Not only the world needs to witness this beauty.  We each need to open our eyes and truly see the person in the mirror He created us to be. 
 

We don't have to redefine "normal".  We just get to accept that we are not it.  This doesn't make us unacceptable.  This doesn't mean He loves us less.  This means He created us in particular, for a variant, beautiful purpose.  Embracing and celebrating this actuality is part of our beauty.  
 

 The ball hasn't stopped yet.  I know the day will come.  We'll all fall apart a little, but I know He'll pick up the pieces and put us all back together again. 

I'm choosing to live the joy through all the crazy.  I just have to keep reaching my hand high to the sky, pointing right to my Savior, let go of the ball, and trust Him. 

So, so hard loosening this grip, but He is so worthy. 

Day 248 Prayer Request

Please pray for patience for my boys.

Marie (Momma to 4)

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Day 247 Prayer Request

Please pray for my grandma who is in the hospital.  Please pray for peace for her and clarity for doctors.

Marie (Momma to 4)

Monday, February 17, 2014

Day 246 Prayer Request

Please pray that I will be able to balance grace and truth as I parent my children.

Ann (Momma to 6)

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Rest

 
I fall upon the beauty of Your world
and rest within
sounds of wind and wave.
Waiting here to hear Your voice
I do.
For You who made the darkness
crafted light and all the good.
Your wonders are about me
ever new.
You hold me and the world.
Here in Your palm
I rest.
 
Grace
 
 

Day 245 Prayer Request

Please pray for wisdom for the parents in this household.

Reagan (Momma to 4)

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Day 244 Prayer Request

Please pray that our son will understand that his behaviors now effect his future.

Ann (Momma to 6)

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Heart Day!

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth."
1 Corinthians 13:4-6
Jesus is Love.
I pray He surrounds you today with His wonderful arms and you feel His lovingkindness hug your soul. 
Some hearts for you...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Day 243 Prayer Request

Please pray that my kids would show empathy to each other.

Marie (Momma to 4)

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Day 242 Prayer Request

Please pray for me to forgive myself and my child.

Jane (Momma to 2)

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Abundant, Tender Mercy

I thought I heard a faint chirp this morning.  My heart skipped a beat.

I long for spring.

I saw my first robin last week.

God is here, everywhere, reminding of His faithfulness.

Look, dear sister, He is all around loving you with His abundant, tender mercy.


"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
1 Peter 1:3
 
"Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindness,
For they are from of old."
Psalm 25:6

Day 241 Prayer Request

Please pray for our child as new meds are introduced.  Pray we ease into them and find the right dose and there are no side effects.

Danielle (Momma to 3)

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Monday, February 10, 2014

Day 239 Prayer Request

Please pray for total surrender with the ability to really trust God to take all of our circumstances and use them for His glory.

Annette (Momma to many)

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Isaiah 26:3

"You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You."
Isaiah 26:3
 
 

Day 238 Prayer Request

Please pray for open communication about our kids with my husband.

Annette (Momma to many)

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Day 237 Prayer Request

Please pray that I will see beyond behavior to the heart.

Ann (Momma to 6)

Friday, February 7, 2014

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Day 235 Prayer Request

Please pray I will let the peace of God rule in my heart.

Jane (Momma to 2)

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Day 234 Prayer Request

Please pray for her heart to be warmed by His closeness, His loving touch.

Reagan (Momma to 4)

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Hope for a Tree

"For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender shoots will not cease.
Though its root may grow old in the earth,
And its stump may die in the ground
Yet at the scent of water it will bud
And bring forth branches like a plant."
Job 14:7-9
 
We, you and I, we are like the tree.
 
We have both stood tall, arrayed in His glory.  At the touch of His finger, our true beauty broke through in magnificent shades of autumn golds, violets, rouge.

We have both experienced the surprising shock of the enemy's razor blade, slicing away at our very souls - abandoning us with bare, deep brokenness.

We know what it feels like to sit naked, without the wind break, bare to the bitter chill of the lashing. 

We have both pondered the question of "Why?" and journeyed our own pathway for the answer.
  
 
I sit here on this cold winter day trying to dodge the chasing memories of 8 foot sunflowers, early morning chats with my Savior under the shade of the ash, the monarch fluttering all about me. 

I long for the warm, the new life to spring. 

But, (dare I say?) if I didn't know the chill to the core of my shaking bones of the cold, dark, and longing, I would never cherish and chase for the Light with such desperation. 

I desperately want His Living Water to flow over me, sprout something new, tender, refreshing, and beautiful.
 
 
This blistering cold is pruning me, reminding of all I have in Him.  

Reminding me of all I am in Him.

There is hope for you and I.  

There is hope for these trees.  

Day 233 Prayer Request

Please pray for health as we have all been sick.

Marie (Momma to 4)

Monday, February 3, 2014

Day 232 Prayer Request

Please pray I will have the strength through physical issues to take care of the many needs of my family.

Ann (Momma to 6)

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Day 231 Prayer Request

Please pray for energy and encouragement.

Marie (Momma to 4)

Saturday, February 1, 2014

John 1:5






Day 230 Prayer Request

Please pray that I would have patience and strength this weekend as my husband will be at a class.

Ann (Momma to 5)