Happy Birthday Jesus!

I'm so glad it's Christmas

All the tinsel and lights

And the presents are nice

But the real gift is You.

written by Carol Cymbala

Everything seemed so busy leading up to Christmas Day....searching for the perfect gifts for the special people in our lives. It gets so stressful because you really want that person to know how much you love and care about them through a gift. You really try to put so much thought into it because you can't wait to see the joy that the gift brings.

Then, suddenly, you realize that is what the Heavenly Father did. He wanted us to know that He loves us so much that He was willing to let His One and Only Son, Whom He loved, suffer and die for our sins and then raise Him from the grave so that we could have a relationship with Him. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 3:23). It was God's precious Gift to us. He couldn't wait for everyone to "see" Him whether in Bethlehem or through our own eyes of faith. He offered this Gift to us NOT BECAUSE OF HOW GOOD WE WERE but because of HOW GREAT HE IS (Ephesians 2:8-9). His desire was for us to experience the joy of receiving the Gift.

Since we have received that precious Gift into our hearts and lives, He only ask that we do everything to pass on the Gift, Jesus Christ, to those who don't know Him so they, too, can experience that same joy. God could have done it Himself but He chose us, like the shepherds "to spread the word" so that everyone could come and "see".

So many want peace in their homes, in their marriages and around the world in the Middle East and across the nations. Peace can only come through the Prince of Peace. May we do everything in and through His power by praying for opportunities to share the Gift and to support missions to reach those across the other side of the world. May we do so we the same desire, urgency and determination as we do when we are trying to give that special gift to someone special because we can't wait to "see" the joy that the Gift will bring to them.

God Of This City

You're the God of this city

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You Are

lyrics by Chris Tomlin

(Photo taken 10/31/2008)

I know with everything going on with the world today, I can really allow fear to creep into my mind. I can worry about what decision our leaders are going to make and what the outcome will be for our future. But I must always remember that God is our King. He is Lord of this nation. He is the God of our cities. He is the One and Only. There is none like Him nor will there ever be. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. HE IS!!!

"Sing praises to God, sing praises;

Sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is the King of all the earth;

Sing to him a psalm of praise.

God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne."

Psalm 47:6-8

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.