Give Me Your Eyes

For just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
lyrics by Brandon Heath

I have been blinded with the busyness of life and almost missed seeing the blessings of God all around me. "I was blind but now I see" and want to share with you all that God has been doing in our lives.

First of all, Joseph has been sleeping through the night! I can tell he feels more secure and so much more peaceful. He has even been holding and kissing his little bear that we gave him when we first got him. In China, I tried to give it to him and he would have nothing to do with it. Now, he sleeps with him, takes him to breakfast and plays with him. Yesterday, he even put his little bear beside him on his picnic table while he was playing with his Doodle Board. I ran and got my camera and had to take a picture of it before I just cried.

He is also wanting to do whatever his sisters can do. When the girls say their memory verse for school, I always yell in excitement and say "Great Job"! Well, Joseph wants to say his memory verse, too, in his own little way. It is hysterical watching him go on and on. When he is done, he will yell in excitement like I do. I crack up every single time.

We also went to Florida with our friends, the Beatys, and we had a wonderful time. At home, Joseph loves playing in the sand box and taking a bath so the sandy beach and the endless ocean were like a dream come true to him. If we would have let him stay all night in the sand, I know he would have....all 27.5 lbs of him!!!!!

Last night, while we were saying our prayers at bedtime, Joseph started praying.....in his own way. I wanted to cry again because even though we didn't understand what he was saying, I knew God did. I would give anything to know but if I had to guess it would be "Thank you God for my Daddy, for my Mommy, for my sisters and my little bear." :)

Lord, I Give You My Heart

I give You my soul
I live for You alone
lyrics by Darlene Zschech

On Friday, September 12th, 2008, Sami, Lili and Mali will be baptized at 7:00 p.m. at Crossroads Church at 2564 Highway 154 in Newnan, Georgia in the Worship Center. Please come join us as we celebrate and praise God for all that He has done!

Call My Name

Say it now

I want you to never doubt

The love I have for you is so alive

You just call my name

lyrics by Third Day

Today, Lili went to a friend's birthday party that had the Wizard of Oz theme. You were suppose to come dressed as your favorite character from the Wizard of Oz. Lili dressed up as Dorothy. I wanted to dress up as the Scare Crow and sing "If I only had a brain...." because Joseph is still not sleeping through the night and my brain is mush. He usually cries out about 1:00 a.m., then 2:00 a.m., then 3:00 a.m., and then 4:00 a.m. Last night, he cried out every hour after 1:00 a.m. until 6:30 a.m. I have tried for several weeks to figure out what is keeping him up in the middle of the night...... "Does his stomach hurt?" "Is he hungry?" "Did he take too long of a nap?" "Does he still need a nap?" Did he poo-poo?" "Is it a night terror?" "Is he cold?" "Is he hot?" Then after I have exhausted my brain, I can't go back to sleep. If I do, Joseph wakes me up again.

Before I got Joseph, I prayed that God would help me to know what Joseph needs. Time after time, God has answered this prayer and He has totally amazed me. One day, Joseph walked up to me and just looked at me with a painful look on his face. He couldn't lift his foot to show me that he had something on the bottom of his foot that was hurting him but I knew, immediately, what was wrong and removed it. I could go on and on about other situations. What I couldn't understand is why I could not figure the nighttime situation out. I have prayed and prayed for God to give me wisdom and for Joseph to sleep through the night but Joseph continues to wake up. This morning, I cried out to God again and ask him, "Why won't you show me what to do? I can't, physically, keep doing this." I was not really expecting an answer but, at that moment, God spoke to my heart and reminded me that Joseph just needs to know that I am there. Joseph cried out for 3 years and no one came. He just needs to know that when he cries out, you will be there. I cried because, suddenly, it made so much sense. When Joseph cries out, I go to his room and when he hears my voice or feels my presence, he, immediately, quits crying and goes back to sleep. Even though I knew that he would probably continue to wake up in the middle of the night, it took the burden off of me of trying to figure it out. The "figuring it out" is what really keeps me up and prevents me from going back to sleep. I also knew that, in time, Joseph would become more secure as he continues to see and trusts that we will be there for him.

Isn't that a perfect picture of how God treats us. When we are afraid, we can just cry out to God and He lets us know that He is there. His ears are attentive to our cry (Psalm 34:15). Even when we doubt it, He is still faithful to keep showing us, again and again, that He is with us and will NEVER leave us (Joshua 1:5).

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).