Shine, Jesus, Shine

Lord the light of Your love is shining

In the midst of the darkness, shining

Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us

Set us free by the truth You now bring us

Shine on me

Shine, Jesus, shine

lyrics by Cliff Richard

Joseph went for his physical on August 12th. Today, we got the results back from his blood work and his x-rays. The doctor said that his blood work was all fine but his x-rays showed that he had a mild case of Rickets. "Rickets is a failure of the proper development of growing bone because of a deficiency of Vitamin D due either to not enough direct sunlight or not enough intake of Vitamin D in their diet, or both. Sunlight is necessary for the formation of Vitamin D in the human body and Vitamin D is necessary to make bone in the human body." Of course, I have been giving Joseph a diet that includes lots of Vitamin D but I have also tried to give him plenty of sunlight. Most of all, I am praying that Jesus, the Great Light of the World, would continue to shine on Joseph and heal his little body. Shine, Jesus, Shine!

"Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the Light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." John 8:12 (NLT).

Let Them Be Little

How it amazes me

you're changin' with every blink.

Faster than a flower blooms,

they grow up all too soon.

So let them be little,

'Cause they're only that way for a while.

lyrics by Billy Dean

Today, my girls started school. Sami is in 2nd Grade and Mali and Lili are both in Kindergarten. The girls were really excited. I kept praying that they would not be nervous and that God would give them peace. The funny thing is that they were fine and I was the one that was so nervous. After I dropped them off, it hit me that they were growing up on me and, of course, I cried. Suddenly, I missed their laughter, their silly songs and all of their performances in the living room. I just missed them. I could tell Joseph missed them, too, and he had only been with them for 3 weeks.

As a Mom, I have tried so many times to make them be little grown ups. Now all I wanted was to let them be little and not be so grown up.

Turn It Around

You have turned my mourning to dancing

You've turned my sorrow to joy

You have turned my whole life around

And I thank You, thank You Lord

lyrics by Israel Houghton

(Our Swim Team)

The girls were really excited about the Olympics being held in China. We were able to watch the Opening Ceremony and it was totally amazing! The girls also love watching the games especially gymnastics and swimming. In fact, one night, after watching the gymnastics, they put a sign on my bedroom door labeled "Gymnastics Room". I walked in my bedroom with Joseph and they were doing head stands on the wall. Joseph wanted to be a part of the Olympic Games, too, and he tried to do a head stand. So with a little help from Baba, "the coach" (the girls called him), Joseph made a Perfect 10. Then, the next day, we were off to Grandma's Pool so that the swim team could practice their racing. :)

Look to You

As I look into the sky above
Wonder how my life has changed
Wonder how Your love, it came to me
As I look into the sky above
All my fears, so far away
All I hear is heaven calling me
So I look to You
No one else will do

lyrics by Hillsong

Joseph has really been good with the girls. Sami is even able to pick him up now, all 23 lbs. of him! They even joke back and forth with each other in their own little way. Mali keeps saying that "Joseph is doing so good in our family" and he really is. Lili keeps saying that "Joseph is better than having a dog" and is constantly petting him on the head. He "barks" back at her just to keep her in line but you can still feel the love. :)

I can't imagine our family without him and I know God couldn't either. "You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!" (Psalm 139:16-17).

Great Adventure

We'll travel over, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all we'll find that
This is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see
The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams
lyrics by Steven Curtis Chapman

My girls have these mini cardboard suitcases that are filled with craft supplies in their room. Joseph has been carrying the suitcases around the house and has even put them in the girl's plastic shopping cart. The other day, he was standing at the door with his two suitcases looking packed and ready for his next adventure. Suddenly, it hit me that he thinks the shopping cart is his luggage cart and he is ready to catch his next plane. He was so cute that I was ready to give him some peanuts and a drink. Of course, only after, I directed him to his seat, made sure his hand luggage was securely stowed, his seat was in the upright position and his seat belt was securely fastened.

I Scream, You Scream

We all scream for Ice Cream!

lyrics by Johnson, Moll, King

("Tough Guy")

When we were in China, we tried several times to give ice cream to Joseph. Every time, he reacted the same way by spitting it out and giving you the expression of "Someone forgot to heat this up!". When we got home, our friend, Bridget Sands, made an Ice Cream Sandwich Cake for us. We gave Joseph a bite, fully expecting him to do the same thing as he had before. This time, he made a face but when I reached to take the bowl from him, he put his hand on it like, "Give me a second". From then on, he loved ice cream!

Last night, after eating chocolate ice cream, Chris was throwing him up in the air and Joseph was laughing so hard. Chris put him down and then I heard Chris start laughing. Joseph had picked up Lili's hat off the floor, put it on sideways and was screaming with laughter with a big ring around his mouth of chocolate ice cream. When some of the girls came running to see what was so funny, Joseph quit laughing, put his "tough guy" image back on and then threw Lili's hat on the floor. :)

If You're Happy And You Know It

then your face will surely show it!

lyrics by Alfred B. Smith

Last night, the girls came out of their room dressed up in their hats. I remembered that by nephew, Ryan, had left his hat when he came to visit so I put it on Joseph to try to take a picture. He was not too happy about the hat nor about the girls getting into his "space". Joseph started making his "noises" again for everyone to back off but, as you can see, it didn't faze Lili a bit. She just put him in a head lock and hugged him anyway.

After the picture, the girls skipped off and Joseph threw his hat onto the floor with the expression of "What have I gotten myself into?". Then he got on his John Deere Loader, which is way too big for him, and he was off to work again, Large and In Charge.