My baby!

I just got my first letter from my adoptee in Uganda.....YAY! His name is Amanya and he is 4. He can't really write so he just draws me pictures and tells his translator what to write to me. It made me cry, joy like no other...
He listed all of his family members for me:
he has 3 brothers (20, 18, 12)
one sister (16)
his mom is 33 and his dad is 39

He said his best friend is named Talemwa (aw, I bet they look so cute together playing football, aka:soccer)

His favorite food is rice and meat, nothing specific just rice and meat (I wonder if he had ever had gravy?)

His favorite color is blue and his favorite sport is football

Oh and this was my favorite part...his favorite song is Talemwa Katonda which his translator tells me means "Jesus never fails". How friggin awesome is that!
If he could visit anywhere it would be the village that his grandmother lives in because he loves her. He drew me some squiggles and told the translator that he wrote that he is excited that we loved him as our sponsor child...this is where I cried.

He wants to be a pilot and he currently has the flu and wants me to pray that he gets better soon (so if you happen to read this give up a prayer for little amanya please)

He even signed his little name which was of course more squiggles and put his fingerprint on the letter too. It was the tiniest little finger!

I am so excited! I can't wait until I hear from little Catherine. She is only 5 but she attends school already so she may be able to write some....put probably not too much.

I'm just grateful and happy...

Yay!

We sold our Flip house! PTL! I'll update more details later! Wooo Whooo!

I want to yearn

"But if God is so good as you represent Him, and if He knows all that we need, and better far than we do ourselves, why should it be necessary to ask Him for anything? I answer, What if He knows PRAYER to be the thing we need first and most? What if the main object in God's idea of prayer be the supplying of our great, our endless need --the need of Himself...Hunger may drive the runaway child home, and he may or may not be fed at once, but he needs his mother more than his dinner. Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other needs; prayer is the beginning of that communion, and some need is the motive of that prayer...So begins a communion, a talking with God, a coming-to-one with Him, which is the sole end of prayer, yea, of existence itself in its infinite phases. We must ask that we may receive; but that we should receive what we ask in respect of our lower needs, is not God's end in making us pray, for He could give us everything without that; to bring His child to his knee, God withholds that man may ask."
~George MacDonald


Lord I want to yearn for you
I want to burn with passion
over you, and only you

kids are a jungle...

So remember when they said that teachers get the summer off...someone LIED! I feel like I've been busier these last few months than I was the entire school year! So it all started when Jessica (my lil sis) came in town, even before school was out...She ended up staying for almost two entire weeks and we had a blast! I don't really remember everything we did but most of it involved the beach. Oh yeah and making foam crowns for ourselves and of course the King of the household...Jus. He was lovin' him some crown okay. It was quite manly if you ask me, with turkey feathers and all. Anyway, soon after that was VBS at our church in which I was teaching the 5th graders. I don't know if normal people are like this...wait, nope, normal people are definitely NOT like this...I just have to make everything perfect. They said our rooms were supposed to look like locker rooms so I jump into the idea that I am going to make three deminsional lockers and sports equipment, and let me just say......by the third or fourth day of spray painting and gluing and cutting, I was soooo over it! I always do that to myself. But VBS went well and out of the 12 kids I had in my class 6 of them had already accepted christ and I got to pray with the other 6 to recieve him!! PTL, it was all worth it after that.

Whew! So the day bible school ended I jumped in the car and headed straight to Bama for my mom's surprise 50th bday party. It was awesome. I had worked so hard to keep everything a secret and it totally paid off! She was terrified when she walked in the door! haha. I'll have to post the pictures when I get them on my computer.

So immediately after that weekend we left for Student Life Camp with the high schoolers, which I wrote about in my previous blog so I won't bore you again...

The next week was semi-free of stress. I mostly slept to re-coop from the weeks prior. Then lots of old friends came in town for Heather's wedding. We did some awesome pictures on the beach (which I'll post more of when I have copies) and Heather's wedding was awesome. In the middle of that somewhere I went back up to Bama for a few days to go to the Shakespeare Festival with my mom and sisters.

The next week Brandy (my oldest sis) and Jeff and their 4 kids came to visit for a while.

Things are hectic with all those kids but I liked it...kind of reminded me of my childhood =) We spent a few days at the beach (of course!)
Here is Jeff and Tyler posin' but I'm not sure what Tyler is trying to look like here??? a ganster?? who knows?
Cole and Cory spent most of their time standing at the very edge of the water and watching their big brother and dad boogey board. They seriously spent hours standing just like this, haha.
And my little Tatum bug spent her time in the sand with the girls (her mom and I). She was lovin' some sea shells but when it was time to go made the entire beach laugh as she threw herself in the sand and refused to get up. It was seriously hard to scold her while everyone around is laughing histerically. she was so dramatic about it that it wasn't even one of those annoying fits that kids throw, more entertaining really. Gotta love her.The boys spent the rest of their time wrestling with Justin or boxing with Justin's oversized boxing gear. They were stinkin' hilarious. Then of course Tatum HAD to get in on the action.
Here is Tatum after I put this keychain type thing on her pacey. She called it her pacey "bling bling". It was so funny, even when I took it off she would frantically start looking for it, and asking for it! ha

Then she proceeded to put every bow that she owned in her hair and crack up laughing when everyone looked at her funny. She is such a ham at age 2!

While there were here we had a 4th of July cookout at our house. The place was packed and Justin grilled his fingers to the bone so all ba-gillion of us could eat. It was Goooood.
Here is Whit and I enjoying watching all the boys playing badmitton (sp?) in the front yard...this is their new sport of choice, weirdos. We all spent the rest of the day playing a massive game of trivial pursuit, boys against girls. There was like 15 people on each team, hahaha, and we STILL managed to get questions wrong.

This is just a great picture of Tatum in her ballerina gear. Prima Ballerina!

The next night we took Brandy and the fam to see "Cinderella:The True Story" at the church. It was a Dinner theatre and it was GREAT! The dinner was especially amazing. We beached it up a few more days and they sadly had to go. And now Sharry and Josh are coming this weekend and we are all going canoeing and camping. fun fun!

So, in the meantime I'll be playing with my sweet Audrey until she leave a few days nevermore to be seen again (or like two years from now). Oh yeah, that reminds me during all this chaos I had to say goodbye to Kristi as she headed off the Europe, but she will be back again before leaving for Africa, thank goodness.

Two URGENT prayer requests: I know most of you don't know these people but the more prayer warriors the better: Shannon and Robert Carver had a little baby girl yesterday afternoon, her name is Cori. She was born with a cleft lip and no hard pallette, but worse is that her lungs and heart are not functioning correctly. she is currently at Sacred Heart on 6 different machines. Doctors have given her a 50/50 chance at survival. They are now flying her to Birmingham. Please pray and pray hard for complete healing for little baby cori and comfort and strength to her mom and dad who will be here in Pensacola.

#2 - Greg and Ashley (I forgot their last names) are expecting their first child (7 months pregnant). Greg is only 32 and has just been diagnosed with the more rare type of cancer. I can't tell you the name of it but in all cases when treated with Chemo it has always come back immediately. Best case scenario for him would be life-long chemo. Now he has blood clots and they have had to put filters in his lungs. Prognosis is grime but God is in the healing business. Pray!

I'm not supposed to be learning here...

Be doers of the word of God, Not simply those who hear.
James 1:22

So, I went to Student Life camp as a chaperone with the Youth Group at Olive. Of course, I went into the week expecting to teach lessons, discipline children and pray tremendously about how in the world I can help them be in the world and not of it. I mean, I've been to youth camps and conferences galore when I was a youth and now it's my turn to pour the knowledge I've gained over the years on these precious souls, you can't honestly think that I'm supposed to be learning anything here can you? Ha ha, Just when you've mounted your high hourse and gently placed yourself on your seemingly deserved pedestal God comes along like that guy with Roid Rage at the fair who completely demolishes the weighted milk bottles that everyone else thought so impossible to knock over. yep, that was me this week, the milk bottles. Although, slightly less painful.

I do think that God used my past experiences and knowledge to help the kids that were, by no coincidence, in my family group. But he also used this week to make me rethink my christian walk. The speaker was Dave Rhodes and his focus for the week was "Here and Now", focusing on what you do TODAY. Meanwhile, I'm busy planning all the things I need to get done when I get back from camp the next week...sometimes I'm a real idiot you know.

Well, on to the point, we talked about two different types of sin in our lives, sins of omission (those are the things God tells us to omit from our lives...sexual immorality, drunkeness, lust, greed, hate, etc) and the sins of commision (these are the things God tells us to DO....feed the poor, be a father to the fatherless, take care of widows and orphans, Go and make disciples of all nations, etc.) Dave told us a little about his own life and he sounded a lot like me. Basically a big RULE FOLLOWER! I know this about myself, I know that I like rules and wouldn't break them for pretty much anything. I've always been that way. Well, he went on to tell of an epiphany God gave him...(Imagine at this point the audible booming voice of God)..."You're SO proud of the things you DON'T do, but you DON'T do anything!"

Woah...

I tend to focus on those sins of omission (because it is hard for us to live in the world and actually omit these things) and these are the sins we confess, and feel convicted over. And I found myself asking, "When was the last time i was convicted of my sins of comission???" Am I feeding the poor? clothing those without? taking care of widows and orphans? No wonder people look at christianity like bondage and depravity...I'm so focused on the things I Can't do because I'm a christian that this is where my life has pointed. I know that God is so proud of me for following his commands and not giving in to the temptations of this world but now he is urging me..."where are your actions, you're not DOING anything!" this is how we show the world a victorious, joyous christian life, by the things we DO do.

So my first action of conviction was to buy two children in Uganda...haha, not really buying them, just helping make a difference in their lives. But still this tiny act is not enough...Sacrifice is not about how much you've given, but about how much you have left over after you've given. Did it cost me anything? So pray that God will keep my eyes open for opportunities to give, to serve, to take care of those whom I am called. Here and Now...

Most of all...

Would I
have built you an ark
while others
laughed and scorned

Would I
journey to a country
one that I
had never seen before

Would I
have stepped into the red sea
despite
the wind and the waves

And bow
my head before you
while others
watch me pray

I don't have the faith of Moses
I can't proclaim the strength of Paul
but I want to follow you my savior
that's what I want
Most of all

Would I
carry my sick child
and lay him
dying at your feet

Would I
have given up my luch
so that thousands
more could eat

Would I
boldly preach your name
if it meant
I'd go to jail

Or would I
turn like the rich man
who sadly
walked away

I don't have the faith of Moses
I can't proclaim the strength of Paul
but I want
to follow you my savior
that's what I want
most of all

When you ask me if I love you
do I turn and walk with you
Or do I cling to my possessions
and make up some excuse
do I value your approval
over what my friends might say
do I grasp your nail-scarred hands
or do I turn and walk away

I don't have the faith of Moses
I can't proclaim the strength of Paul
but I want
to follow you my savior
that's what I want
most of all...

What's Next??

Seems that every conversation I've had lately has been re-routed to the same place, contentment. Whether it was meeting Audrey for a quick lunch to catch up on the day and soon we start pouring out the desires of our hearts, sharing the things we are currently praying for, and realizing together how dis-contented we are. Or reading Jill's last post about her newest book and the quote that I absoltely have taken to be my new life's motto, "Contentment is accepting from the hand of God what he gives because we KNOW that he is good and therefore, IT is GOOD!", and even sitting down to celebrate a birthday dinner with some old friends and in the midst of our loud conversations and enormous outbursts of laughter, beginning to remember how much I take for granted yet still ask for more more more...

I've decided I am an un-content person with life. Wow, that sounds so negative. I mean, I love life, I love my husband, I am completely in love with my God! But, I find I am always holding out for the next exciting event. There aren't many times that I just sit back and smile about what I have already been blessed with. Although that is what I have been trying to do these last couple of weeks. There are certainly moments when I praise God for what I have, especially my Jus and my Jesus. But, I want more of a content lifestyle, not just some moments here or there. If you don't truly understand what I mean here are a few examples... When I was in high school I remember praying for the day I would graduate and finally get to go to college, then I got there and all I wanted was to hurry up and graduate so that I could get into the real world, get married, be an adult, and now I'm here so I find myself asking what's next?

You get the drift. I get the impression that it hurts God's feelings for me to be this way, always asking "What's next?" "I know you've given me every little thing I've wanted and everything I need but, what else can I get?" I want to be content. I want to accept from the hand of God what he has given me because I KNOW that he is good and therefore whatever he gives, or doesn't give IS good. That's my prayer.