Sunday... a day of praise

After a great day at church with our family in the Lord, we came home to a taco dinner. The kids love beans so I made a corn and bean hot salsa and they loved it. I always like to find things that they REALLY like. This was one of them.

As I sit here watching football, the kids are playing with lincoln logs and singing:

"Lord of all, yes, I believe. Thats was God is. God of glory, God of grace. God my rock and hiding place. He is great and powerful, thats what God is . Ruler of everything. I believe, thats what God is. "

Now that absolutely warms my heart. They cannot speak much English but can sing that like never before. I am so very proud of them.

Joshua's writing essay

Joshua had to write about what makes a person great. He put the following and I am paraphrasing. He has to write in complete sentences. hee hee
- God made us all different
- The Lord gave us a mind to think
- God has a specific plan to do great things for him
- God has planned every second of your life.

then there was more....

The next part of the essay was for him to write about a person who was great. He wrote:

- The urologist is a great person because he will save my daddy of cancer in his prostate.

Thanksgiving Day

It was their first Thanksgiving and they did not understand what was going on. We made turkey hats, read books about Thanksgiving, watched Snoopy's T-Day celebration, ate turkey, made cards of thanks...... But, thru it all, Mari'An just said, "Happy Christ-giving" or " Happy Birth- giving" Just another day, I guess. They did not understand it all. I guess it is a bit confusing when the Christmas tree is up and all they see everywhere is Christmas stuff. They never had that either. So, who knows????
At dinner, we did get a "WOW- very good mommy- excellent. No in Sheshemene." (Sheshemene is the orphanage) All of them said "Good."

We could not be more thankful to the Lord for our lives. Dan's cancer has really put a lot of things into perspective. We have spent a lot of time doing things that, in the end, really do not matter to our eternity. Our views on how clean the house is, unused vacation days, our family time on Sunday's, and much more, has been brought to the forefront of our minds. Yesterday was an amazing day as we just played with the kids, finished decorating the Christmas tree, sang songs and just loved on one another. It was a great day. May each of you that has not been faced with the big "C"ancer, realize what you have and how you are wasting time on things that do not matter. Your family, your spouse, your children are precious. Enjoy every moment with them.

Update on Dan

Dan had more tests on Friday to check his heart for surgery. The results will be in this week. We are all very nervous about the surgery. We know that the Lord was watching out for us as this cancer was caught so early. We were devasted the week we found out, but we know that the Lord did not give this disease to Dan, the world did. The sins of the world have resulted in cancers, diseases, etc. It is how one deals with what they are given that makes the difference.

So, since we are here and cannot do anything about it, we pray that we can continue to give God the glory for His amazing gifts and blessings we receive. We are here on this Earth for such a small blip in time. Our eternity and the eternity of others is the utmost importance. We cannot add one day to our lives by worrying about all of this. God breathed life into us and He will stop it when the time is right- in His time. Until then, we will take one day at a time. Preparing for surgery on Dec 3, is scary but we know we are in the Lord's hands. May each of you know the peace that only comes from our Lord and Savior.

Things we have learned about the kids....

In talking to them about differences from America and Sheshemene, Africa, here are a few of the things not in Africa:

* No jeans - Neat to have jeans and jean jackets. They love these
* No Christmas
* No birthday presents- never a gift of any kind
* They have heard the birthday song on TV
* No seatbelts to wear
* No tennis shoes
* No kleenex- Soft was toilet paper used for everything when they had it
* No liquid soap- this is cool for them
* No bikes
* Not allowed to play outside - ??
* No swings


Showed them the RV last night getting it ready for family to stay in. They just walked thru it saying, "Oh, my goodness" They kept asking- drive house. So, the RV is now the "car house." That was as close as I could get to explain it. Can't wait for their first vacation in it.
THey are just loving everything. So much for them to learn and experience. They are still doing pretty well. Prayers are still needed as they continue the adjustment.

I was disturbed by a story I heard of a family that was not able to keep an adopted child they adopted. We have a HUGE passion for adoption and hearing this makes my heart weep. When I speak with someone that is considering adoption for the first time, the first thing that comes out of my mouth is for them to PRAY about it. Adoption can be very difficult, even if you have children prior. This cannot be taken lightly or cannot be done on one's own power. If you are called to adopt and truly believe you are supposed to, then the Lord will give you the child that HE has chosen for your family. Giving that child up is a difficult place to be. Be prayer as you walk down this road. If a door closese, then it is not of God. Serve and care for orphans in another way. Seek Him with your whole heart and He will guide you in everything.

Operation Christmas Child

I am so excited to report that the Graceland family gave 621 shoeboxes. I am humbled to be part of such a giving church in the middle of this economic craziness. Thanks to all who gave to provide a child with an opportunity to learn about our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

YEH!!! Keep praying that the boxes go to the just the right kiddo.

Mari'An shares

Mari'An shared a bit of her past that brought tears to my eyes.

This is how it went. We were at the laundromat and she was looking at the magazines on the table. She saw a picture of a little black girl picking up food off the ground. She ran to me and said that was "ME." In broken English, she shared with me that she did not have food and that she and her brothers and sisters ate off the ground. She said she was very hungry but no food. She then showed me a picture of a house of stucco material and said she lived in a house like that. She then with her arms and sounds said the house fell down and she had no more home. She pointed to the sidewalk in front of this house and said that she slept there. Her mother had 2 dresses- one she wore and one she put on the ground so all her brothers and sisters could sleep on it. She said it rained and the dress was destroyed, ruined, or taken away. Then she said that her mother took her to the orphanage with her mothers friends daughter (would love to find her and get her a family close too. I will have to pray about that!) She then had food but did not go out to play.

Next story was of the birth of the baby sister, Mar. She said that her mother had a C-Section and 2 babies came out. One boy and one girl. The girl Mar was ok. The boy was not breathing and died. Of course, all of this is with charades and words and things. But, I could make this stuff out pretty clearly.

My heart goes out to the mom as she had to do something that I can not EVER imagine doing. I applaud her for not aborting her babies but giving life to them. Even if that life is one of severe poverty. I pray that other families can walk out in faith and help these moms who make the choice to keep their babies. As a Believer we talk about being pro-life but seldom are we willing to help the orphans. Should we have just aborted them? We need to do something.

The results

We got Dan's results and all is negative. The cancer has not spread. We are SOOO thankful for this huge blessing. The cancer is contained within the prostate and will be removed on Dec 3. There are still many emotions but are taking one day- one week at a time. It is too overwhelming to think about it all. So, now Dan is taking antibiotics and letting his prostate heal from the biopsy. Prayers for that.

The Lord is so very gracious and merciful. He did not give us this; a fallen world did. But, He showed His amazing love for us by catching this early. It was no accident or coincidence. Thanks for all the continued prayers. We have some amazing friends that we are so very thankful for.

THings they say and do...

Luke- After a bath one evening, he went to get his pj's on . He runs back into the bath with a HUGE smile. He says, "Mommy. Me pajama - spiderman." "I like I like I like." Then he runs over shoves his head into my armpit and gives me the biggest hug imaginable. WOW!!!! OVer hand-me-down spiderman pj's. I love that kid. He is so wonderful. Puts life into perspective.

Kayleb - While on the mower with me, I explained that Christmas this year was not going to be as BIG as other years. With daddy sick, getting the kids, and med bills with the new kids, we do not have the money we had in years past. We are fine but just do not have the over abundance of the past. Anyway, his response was, "That is fine. Christmas is not about presents. It is much better to have brothers and sisters than gifts. We will all share and it will be fine. " Gotta love that kid too! What a heart. Thank you Jesus for that. "Love is not selfish..." 1 Corinthians

The new 4 - They will eat spaghetti with their hands but a breadstick with a fork. Go figure???

Nadia- "My mommy" Melts my heart.

Joshua- He cracks me up whenever he talks with the 4. He talks in broken English, they speak back in Amharic, and then he tells us in good English what they said. We laugh! He just loves those kiddos.

J'Dyn - She is doing much better on not being a mother hen. We are so proud of her. This is a tough one but she is getting there.

Mari'an- She is doing great with her English. At the table the other evening, she said, "Zip the lip and eat. " Too funny!

Amelia - She is doing great! Her smile warms a room and her silliness makes us laugh. She puts her hands on her hips and says, "What's up girl.' It is just plain funny.

We are so blessed with all our children. I cannot believe that I am saying having 7 is not so bad, but I am . They are too cute!

What a week this has been.....

Well, I am not sure where to begin. This week has been one filled with many emotions. On Tuesday, Dan found out he has prostate cancer. The word "CANCER" scares us tremendously. I truly never thought we would be here and definitely did not foresee this on the near radar for our life. We are very thankful that it has been caught early, we have the latest technology here in Louisville, and the cure rate is very high. Our lives this year have been filled with many trials. We are not sure why we are going thru this, but we are . We pray that we can give the Lord the praise and glory that he rightly deserves. He did not give us the cancer-- this fallen sinful world did that. The Lord will get us thru it though. He provides when we do not know He is there. He will be here with us for this too.

We ask for prayers for our kids. Our new 4 still do not speak English and do not understand what is happening. They can see us crying and they know something is going on. I hope our hugs and kisses reassure them that all is good. I wish I could tell them that Jesus Loves them and will protect them and provide.
We ask for prayers for Josh, Kayleb and J'Dyn. They have been great with this. The day Dan found out, we sat down with them and told them eveything. They had a few questions, but totally said all will be ok. THey said the Lord will provide. They are right! Love the faith of a child. They have had a few questions since but they seem to be doing well. Jesus is so amazing to protect their hearts and comfort them. YEH!
We ask for prayers for the tests that Dan has taken and will take this week to all come back fine. The test are done to reveal if the cancer has spread. We do not want that!
We ask for prayers of comfort for us. This has been a huge kick in the gut for us. We still are waiting to wake from the nightmare. May we be glorifing to the Lord thru it all. May HE use us to share His faithfulness to those that do not know HIm.

The Dedication

Sunday was a great day as we dedicated the kids to the Lord. We commit ourselves to parent our new kiddos in such a way to teach them about Jesus. We want them to grow to know Him and make a decision to make Jesus Savior of their lives.

For those that do not understand what that means, we teach our children that there is a God- only one God- of the universe. That God, sent His Son Jesus to this Earth over 2000 years ago. He walked the earth to share who He was and what He could do for us. He had to die on the cross in order to save us. To some that may seem crazy but it is truth. Jesus had to shed His blood to cover our sins. The Old Testament law (books of the Bible like Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Joshua, Proverbs....) stated that in order to be forgiven of sins, one had to kill an animal. The blood that was shed from that animal would cover them of their sins. So, they would take the best lamb, for example, and kill it to sacrifice for a sin in their life. God set this up so that everyone could see how they truly could not live up to the law. There is not one that could go there life without committing one of the Ten Commandments. We all do it. So, God sent his Son to die, shed his blood, as the last sacrifice that needed to be done. He died to cover the sins of the past, present and future. His only requirement is that one has to confess with ones mouth that Jesus is Lord of their Life. If you accept Jesus as your Savior, and confess your sins, you will be forgiven. People have a hard time with this as there is nothing concrete one can do other than words and a change of heart that gets them to heaven. No acts of service will get you there.
So, with that said, we are teaching our kids about what the Bible says, not a church, pastor, priest, our family tradition, etc. It is strictly what the Bible says. When they are able to understand what Jesus has done for them, we pray that they will accept Him into their heart. So, our committment Sunday, was to tell God and the church, that we will do all we can to show and teach our kids about Jesus.
If you do not know Jesus, I pray that you get a Bible and start with the New Testament. Pray that the Lord will reveal himself to you. Heaven is eternity and that is a long time..... You only have this life to get in. :)

Dedication this Sunday

We will be dedicating the kids this Sunday during first service. We have not done this with our other children as we felt like we did not want anything to overshadow the importance of accepting the Lord and baptism. But, this time we have decided to as a way to make a formal committment to raise these children in the Lord, ask others to assist us in the process (volunteers who help in the kids programs), and to thank all you prayed and supported us.

Updates:
Mari'An asked to pray last night before bed. It went something like this: " Dear Jesus. Thank you for today. Thank you for mommy, daddy, Joshua, Luke, Kayleb, J'Dyn, Amelia, Nadia, Mari'An. Thank you God for Sheshemene (the orphanage) and mommy daddy come take me to America. In Jesus name we pray, Amen."
She thanked God for us coming to get her. YEH!!! She is wonderful. What a joy.
Luke- He has really opened up this week. He says lots of English words; they do not make sense in a sentence but none the less, they are English words. We have also found out that he is an amazing builder. We give him legos, lincoln logs, tinker toys, .... and he builds amazing things. Very smart! He is still SOOOO smiley.
Amelia- She continues to do better and better each week. The "fits" are pretty much gone. She has struggled this week with a cough. ?? She is not sick at all, but then has a coughing fit. ?? She also had all her teeth fixed. We are now done at the dentist. We are so thankful for Dr. Dale and his staff. They have been so kind and loving to our children. They are a blessing.
Nadia- Can I just say CUTE! She continues to just love on everyone. She has started to "ca ca" on the potty on her own. We are still not wanting to push it as there are so many new things. So, we are letting her do it on her own. Her talking is limited. It sounds like she can speak pretty well in AmHaric, but when i try to teach her in English her sounds are different. We will see if she needs help with that.
J'Dyn is doing much better on being a sister than a mother. That is a blessing!
Joshua and Kayleb are such helpers and love these kids like I could not have imagined. They are still asking us to get more. I LOVE their heart. We will see on the additions. THe Lord will have to open the doors.

Blessings to all.
Cyndee

Cute!

Luke: He wanted to pray for lunch today. It went like this:
" Dear Jesus. Thank you for today. Thank you for this food. Thank you for my family. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!"

I loved the FAMILY part. He is so cute


Mari'An: While reading a book about Jesus, I showed a picture of the manger scene. Mari'An knew who Mary was, who Jesus was, and then paused and could not think of Joseph. She said, "Tengen." Tengen is a friend that was adopted to a family in Florida. They re-named him JOSEPH. TOO cute! She then said, 'me and Tengen." I explained that Mary's name is Mary not Mari'An.

Helpers

These kids are amazing helpers. They pitch right in and do their best to clean, pickup, and help with whatever we are doing. Mari'An saw me cleaning the kitchen and wanted to help. She ended up wiping all the tables, chairs and counters off. Then she found the broom to sweep the floor. She followed me around wanting more to do. She washed the windows and mirrors and then I called it quits for her. Luke was great at shoe duty and folding towels. Amelia wanted to play but did great at cleaning up the toys. Nadia liked to make a mess. :) Josh, Kayleb and J'Dyn did their normal chores. THey are so good at helping.
Then on Sunday, they were HUGE helpers. Operation Christmas Child started up this weekend. All of the kids except for Nadia, pitched right in to create boxes and the older ones helped hand them out to people. What a blessing it is to teach them how to serve at 4, 5,6 ,7,8,9... YEH!! They can do so much more than what we give them credit for.
Now it is Monday and the weekend is no more. WOW did it go by fast! Homeschooling is going very well. I redid the schedule so that I school all the work on Monday, catch up on Tuesday for things I missed Monday, and then Wed and Thurs are light for me while the kids work independently. Friday is test day. I can do this while watching the new 4. So far this is working out great.
There are some days I think, "WHAT AM I THINKING! Why am I doing all this?" Then the Lord reminds me thru various ways that He has called our family to this. We need to be at home so that we can teach them about Jesus first and foremost and then allow the kids to be kids. I know that I would REALLY miss my kiddos if they were gone all the time. We are able to have lots of fun together-- hiking to find the biggest leaves, searching for pine cones, planting acorns, watching their eyes light up at the first sight something new (that I showed them or taught them). These are precious moments that I do not want anyone other than ME and Dan to experience. This is not the life for everyone, but I am glad that the Lord opened our eyes and hearts to it. The positives far outweigh the negatives.
The new 4 are saying more English words everyday. We are thankful for that. Luke is still relying on his sister for help. We need to work on that.
Joshua and Kayleb are doing great with the changes. They still want more! AHH- not right now.
J'Dyn is having a hard time controlling her "mother" qualities. I try to tell her that she is not going to make friends with her new sis's if she bosses... hmm hmm... I mean tells them what to do all the time. They do not listen to her but she still tries. We are working on this too. :) It is hard to be the big sister at 40 pounds soaking wet.
This has been a good week and we are thankful for that. A friend came up to me this weekend at church and has offered to come over to love on our new kiddos for me. LOVE THAT!!! We will see if our schedules can match up. What a blessing that would be for me! The Lord will provide.
We are dedicating the kids this weekend at first service. WE are SOOO excited to give them to the Lord, promising to raise them to know HIM. This weekend Mari'An was talking about her mommy and her orphanage mommy. She said her mommy wears the head wrap as she is a Muslim and her Orphanage mommy did not wear a head wrap because she loved Jesus. We asked her if she learned about Jesus and she said YES! Another answered prayer. In the middle of a country filled with M, our kiddos end up in a Believing orphanage. Only a God thing. He is so good.
November is Adoption month. Our prayer continues to be that if there is someone out there touched by our kiddso journey, that they would step up, pray, pray some more, and walk out in faith. The Lord will give you a child that will be a blessing like you never imagined.
Sorry, we are pretty passionate about adoption. It is wonderful!
Have a great day!