I AM SO EXCITED!

The little boy that reminds us of Noah. We took this picture when he was here a few years ago. It is my understanding that he is not returning this year.
Yeshoda from Nepal.
Rose from Uganda
The Central Team Choir


Almost 6 years ago our family had the opportunity to see worship at it finest. In October of Kayla's second grade year our church held it's first Global Impact Celebration "GIC". This was an amazing experience for our family and it was a huge milestone in the life of our church. Hundreds of people came forward and surrendered their hearts and lives to the mission field.

James and I were one of the many that went forward that night confirming that during the next two years we would seek God's direction concerning missions. We pledged that we would allow God to send us on the field for either a short term mission trip or full time missions. We left that evening so excited yet nervous wondering what God had in store for us.

That evening our children's choir preformed for the missionaries that had come for GIC. The children selected a country that they wanted to represent and then dressed accordingly. Kayla choose China, so the search began. We were able to find a precious outfit and even had her hair done in these braids that were wrapped in fabric and then tied up in circles. After the kids sang they were taken upstairs to play until the rest of the service was over. After the service I wanted to get a picture of Kayla with the Chinese flag. I waited and waited for James to bring her back down and began to get a little frustrated because he was taking so long. I decided to hunt him down and see what was taking so long. When I found him he said that Kayla had hurt her thumb and was upset. I asked some questions and tried to look at it while James went to get the car. It was late and she had school the next day. While I was waiting for him Kayla kept crying so I looked at her thumb again and tried to have her move it. At that point I knew we had a problem. I felt the thumb move in and out of the socket. We went directly to the ER (in full Chinese dress) where her injuries were confirmed. She had dislocated the thumb, hyper extended it and broke the growth plate. They were now calling in a surgeon. We were told to expect emergency surgery. Thankfully after the surgeon reviewed the ex rays he was able to determine that the thumb was properly set and that we could return home with a splint. We could then see him the next day at his office where they would cast it. Needless to say we returned home with only a glimpse of the mission field on our minds.

The story actually starts the night before when our plumbing burst and flooded our house. We actually returned home to carpets pulled up and huge fans drying our floors and walls. We were spending every night at the church and our days at the orthopedists and working with our insurance adjuster.

So back to the reason I started this post. The Children of the World Choir preformed at our First GIC. They also returned to preform at our last GIC a few years ago. We were so blessed by these amazing children. The second time we saw them preform we had just brought Noah home from Guatemala. One of the little boys that preformed reminded us so much of Noah. Several people in the church picked up on this. At the time Noah was the only young child that attended our church that had been adopted internationally so he was well known. While this little boy gave his testimony I just wept. It was such a privilege to experience the worship that these precious children gave so freely and it was humbling to see them through an adoptive parents eyes. God had rescued our son and had placed him into our family. He had spared him the hardships that these young children had already gone through. I thanked God so much for what he had already done in Noah's life. Since that night I have wanted to be a host family to these children. I had hoped that our church would be able to have them back and that some how we could get on the list to host them.

So....the Children of the World are returning to our church and will be preforming at our GIC in March. We had our first host family meeting and we received the names of the two girls that will be staying with us. I am so excited. One of the little girls is from Uganda and the other is form Nepal. Noah is very excited and Kayla has chosen not to attend the youth weekend so that she can be with the girls. Did I say that I am so excited! I am so giddy that one might think that we are going to keep them forever. Maybe not forever but I have no doubt that the few days we have to spend with them will be eternally rewarding. We are so privileged to have this opportunity and can't wait to meet them in person.

PS We did end up going on the mission field just not as soon as we had thought. While traveling to Guatemala was not a "mission trip " it was life changing for our family and it paved the way for us to spend 17 days in Thailand. While we were in Guatemala we were able to share what God had done in our family and we were able to reach out to our Lawyer and to Noah's foster mom. So in a way we were on the mission field.

Ice Storm 2009

Cleanup is over till spring
This entire area was piled high with limbs after the storm

I woke up to this truck picking up limbs in our front yard

Kayla and I were a little jealous that this claw picked up this pile in 30 minuets when it took so many people days to put it there.
Bon Fire any one?

The picture does not even begin to show how big this pile was. When the red truck above arrived at our house it was empty. They filled the truck and continued to smash down the pile of branches in the truck and still had to go dump before they started the next yard.
Our favorite maple tree. We will not know if it will survive until Spring. It will possibly have to come down because it does not have enough support.
The tops are gone out of these trees. They were so thick that you could not see between them. Now they are so bare and top less.
This is our favorite tree in the yard. The blooms arepurple in the spring.
Not sure what will come of this one. The picture right below is of our neighbors tree that we see out our front window. The entire top of the tree fell to the ground. The tree is aprox 60-80 feet tall (at least it use to be)







These are a few pictures taken during and after the storm. It was very difficult to capture what it was really like. I wish that I had taken video but we were not able to get out of our car unless we were in our driveway due to power lines that were down. We are planning to wait till spring and see what recovers and what still needs attention. We are still loosing limbs when the wind kicks up. We are also going to have to repair the end of our drive as we now have a lake. Even our road is starting to buckle because of all the moisture.

I am looking forward to things drying out a little bit and looking forward to the warmer days ahead.

We have a new pet.

Yes we have a new pet...pet rock that is. For some reason Noah has latched on to a rock that he found in the drive way. So far it has been banned from Church but has accompanied us to the dinner table and other such places. It sleeps in "Penny's bed." That would be his build a bear puppy's bed that he got from Aunt April at Christmas. When I asked him to leave his rock outside he said "but it is special to me!" I asked him what he was going to do with it and he said "wuv it." How can I say no at that point. I thought that it would not last past the end of the day but it is still holding a special place in his heart today. So for now as long as it behaves we have a pet rock.

Sorry to disappoint those who were looking for the cute pictures of something furry. I must say I am growing fond of this pet that does not require house training or regular feedings. We may be onto something. I guess this is what happens when "Penny" the real puppy goes home.