Eph 3:20 - Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us
Friday, November 26, 2010
Joseph needs help now
Below is a letter from the director or Global orphan outreach. We are needing
medical help for Joseph soon... time is running out. He will need FREE medical
care including a hospital and Doctor. Or...someone willing to put him on their
medical insurance. There is a list of host requriements.....
Please feel free to contact me or Global for more information.
RonTanya777@aol.com
Hello all-
Joseph is the boy that I have known now for 3 years and have tried to advocate for medical care for him. He dreams of being a geologist one day and does well in school when he does attend. His father is in college to become an accountant.They love their son...
I have been helping with Joseph medical bills about every 6 months. He has a lung abscess that has requires Dr. Sherman to punch a large needle in his chest and draw the fluids away from his heart and lung so that he can breath better. Dr. Sherman has stated that Joseph needs a shunt put in his chest to draw this fluid away. The problem is Joseph isnt a cute 2 year old where every one jumps in wanting to help... he turns 17 this Christmas. We need someone to see his awesome potential and help him for who he is- a bright boy who aspires to live and and have a future like any teenager.
PLEASE pass this info onto others- perhaps there is someone who can help. It will take another $200 for his procedure to be done but that just buys him time and the time between treatments is becoming shorter and shorter. If there is anyone who can help with his medical visa, host, doctor/hospitals, please contact me today. Thank you, Donna
Hi Sis. Donna:
We write you with the deteriorating condition of our beloved son, Joseph Darwar Jr who is coughing up blood through his mouth and nose upon your recent departure from Liberia the cough intensified. He is right now out of school. Your humanitarian consideration to help take this boy back to the hospital will be awesome.
Sis. Donna, I am still a student without any source of funding to even feed myself, family, etc. My wife is willing to go into business to help handle some of these emergencies, but I am squarely incapacitated.
The worst of all these experience is the illness of my dear son. Help my son not to die as I cannot help as a father with my background mentioned above.
Yours, anticipating your consideration,
Joseph Darwar- Liberia
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Driving from Texas to California
The motel sign we saw from the road before the bus broke down.
The tire just broke off from the bus
I have been trying hard to blog about our trip from Texas to California last month.
But.... dial up computer service has put a serious dent in doing ANYTHING on the computer.
On the first of November we loaded up our bus with 18 kids and 7 dogs pulling a small trailor. My husband was the bus driver. I was driving our 15 passenger van
with 10 cats,2 geese,4 ducks,3 chickens and a rabbit. Oh yeah the pot bellie pig was in the trailor. We had accumilated a whole load of animals living on 20 acres and
didn't have anyone to watch them.
Actually the trip went really well until we reached Ash fork Arizona. We had decided
to save on motel fee's and had just slept a few hours in our bus the night before.
Ron, my husband can sleep anywhere but I have severe insomnia even under the best conditions, so I slept very little. By the time we made it to Ash Fork I was feeling
pretty tired. I heard the HOLY SPIRIT say to me that we needed to stop in Ash Fork.
I was having my daughter Sierra check my banking account when I saw the bus tire
roll across the road in front of me. It had just broke off from the bus! The metal
was scraping the freeway and my husband was trying to control the bus. Little did
I know that all the kids where screaming and my husband was scared to death the bus
would roll or worse yet, the sparks from the metal would catch the gas tank of fire.
I felt none of that fear because at the moment the tire broke off a unbelievable peace surrounded me and again the spirit of God said "everything is fine I am in control."
So we all pulled over to the side of the road and proceeded to decided what was next.
Of course I knew already, God had said we were to stay at the little motel in Ash Fork....
So I loaded up the kids and dogs and headed for the motel. The motel had to be a hundred years old and I couldn't see anyone in sight. A note was attached to the motel check in door "at the store I will be back in a minute." I waited and sure enough a elderly woman with a walker came a few minutes later.
You know she could of been an angel.
I felt a real presense of God in that hotel lobby and proceeded to tell her
all that had happened. She told me she felt it was sometimes God delays us for
a reason... many times to save our life. She told me how she was delayed once and it prvented her from being in a huge pile up on the freeway.
We had been led to a DIVINE stop on the freeway.
So we checked in everyone, unloaded our personal belongings and settled in for
the night.
The next morning we found a place to store our bus just across the street.
Loaded up everything we had to have in the van and trailor and headed for California.
The motel lady prayed over us.
Thanks again Lord for loving us so much to take care of us no matter where we are or what we are doing. Thank you that I felt your presence so strongly.....
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Large special needs family in California
www.allourboys.com
We are a very large family built through adoption. As such, many people are curious about our family life. We are often asked questions about our family. "How do the boys get along with each other?" "What does your family do for fun?" "Do you have any pets?" "What does Christmas look like at your house?"
For some of our children, our family is their first family. Prior to joining our family they may have lived in hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages or group homes. Other children have had multiple family experiences. Some have been abusive and other have simply "not worked out." Many of the boys joined our family through the state foster care system, other through international adoptions, still others through disrupted adoptions, finally a few through private adoptions. Our children have come from all over the world with many different life experiences, as well as, a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It is our job then, as their forever mom and dad, to bring all of these strangers together and form a well-bonded and loving family.
This is the Silcock family in California. I started talking to Ann several years
ago when we first entered the adoption process.
Her heart is to take in only special needs BOYS.
The saddest realization for me was that many of these precious children came from nursing homes, private homes, orphanages and even hospitals.
Many "put away" because they were not wanted.
And many of these children still linger in the United States.... yes I said United
States without homes.
How can this be? In a country so full of blessing how can we let children linger
in nursing homes? It breaks my heart.
Thank you Ann for giving these children a forever home.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
In this video her sons sings of how his life has changed since being in her home.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Hiking to a remote village in Africa
Six months ago I was in Africa and one of the highlights of our trip was hiking up into a remote village.
A child that had an adoptive home died due to contaminated water. The adoptive parents, along with the global director, put in a well. The village was SO
THANKFUL they macheted a road all the way to the village so they could put on a celebration for us.
It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. Who would of ever thought I would be hiking into a remote village in Africa!!
Of course along with all that excitement and joy came great sadness. People were starving, without any sanitary facilities and no medical help. A little girl
was crying in her brothers arms and holding her stomach. I asked what was wrong.
Her brother said that she has been in pain for several days. Of course being a nurse I had to investigate. Poor little girl was really distended.
I asked the pastor we were with how we could get her help. He said there is no money for medical help and any hospital is 3 hrs away. So the pastor arranged to come back and get her (six hour trip) the next day. One of the team members paid for the trip.
What happens when we are not there though?
My heart breaks at the thought.
Pastor Peter that serves his country so diligently is from the village we visited.
He has seen first hand the death of his people and recently the death of his sister...he now cares for her child.
So we join hands with Pastor Peter to touch the hearts and hands of Liberia in Christs love.....
Psa 46:1-3 — God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
What I would like to accomplish in a day
Kids learning to Paint
My husband who is a painting carpenter by trade decided ALL the kids were going
to paint the outside of the house. Now my husband is pretty amazing but this
even amazed me! 18 kids 4-17 painting.....
While driving home from the Library field trip yesterday I just started to think and
write what things I REALLY wanted to accomplish in a day.
Now let me tell you right off the bat I NEVER accomplish all these things but we have to have something to aim for right?
I WANT to wake up early every morning and spend time ALONE with God.
I WANT to hear from God every day the direction he wants me to take.
Jesus tells us that His sheep hear His voice (John 10:27).
I WANT to homeschool every day with joy and a gentle spirit.
I WANT to always remember to pray, do devotions and have worship.
I WANT to serve Liberia Africa.
I WANT to always appreciate my husband.
I WANT to always remember to pray for our adult kids and grandkids.
I want to always serve nutritious meals.
Oh and I am sure I could think of tons more.
I know it all boils down to one thing.
SURRENDER
Believing that if my heart is right......
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Lu 6:45)
and...if I lay all of my wants at the SAVIORS feet everything HE wants will be accomplished.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Patience needs a home.
Sweet little Patience age 3 with downs syndrome needs a home. The goverment
in Liberia has given us permission to find a home for her.
I spent time with Patience last April and she was a little jewel. She was
so quiet and "PATIENT." Amazing how the little girl just lives up to her name.
She was abandoned in a feeding center in Liberia Africa and she was referred
to our special needs program.
If interested e-mail me at RonTanya777@aol.com
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Fun after church
Monday, September 27, 2010
What we drive
What a family of 20 drives
Whenever we go somewhere and people start asking quesitons one of the first is "what do you drive." Well her it is!!
When we first got our bus I was scared to drive it. It just seemed so overwhelming and big. bit after many attempts to stuff all the kids in our 15 passenger van, I just had to get behind the wheel. Now I cannot imagine not driving the bus... so much room!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Children looking for adoptive homes.
Monday, September 13, 2010
ACE homeschooling
Supervisors training for ACE homeschooling.
Someone forwarded this from a homeschooling blog and I just had to post it here. Homeschooling has been one of my most difficult challenges. I feel that using ACE has brought me a lifeline of hope, that I can homeschool 18 kids and keep my sanity.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Matthew 16:26
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (5) You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. (7) You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (8) You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (9) You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Had to memorize this at ACE training!
Are you SURE you have the right curriculum?
Wednesday, 25. August 2010 by Renee Ellison
Burnout
The single biggest cause of homeschooling burnout is choosing the WRONG curriculum. For most homeschoolers, veterans and beginners alike, the illusion is that you will always have perfect days in which to teach, but the reality is that you’ll SELDOM have even ONE perfect homeschooling day. If your schooling centers on you as the teacher, it will simply slip through the cracks on days when other demands take over. Because schooling is THE ONE flexible/negotiable part of the day (no one is watching), it often gets put on the back burner (for far too many days, for months on end), because today we can’t do it RIGHT, using what you THOUGHT was the ideal curriculum.
Now that school is beginning again this fall, mothers are scrambling to make out their schedules, get last minute supplies, etc. This feels exhilarating…at least, initially. Aha…a fresh start. But talk to those same moms one month from now and they are in tears, feeling guilty, and nothing is going according to plan. Hubby is threatening to put the children back in public school because ANYTHING is better than the fiasco he sees going on day after day in his own home with his stressed-out wife and inconsolable children. Because they’ve got the WRONG curriculum.
Haven’t seen the big picture
Moms, by and large, because they have never been down this path before (they graduated from NURSING school, or BUSINESS school…), inadvertently choose and purchase curriculums that are heavily MOTHER-dependent. They purchase curriculum based on TOPICS that they wish they had had in school, or books that LOOK fabulous, or techniques that seem new and innovative and far superior to the way THEY were taught. But the problem is not the content or style of the program, at all, but rather it is one of ADMINISTRATION. Is this curriculum going to be easy to get through each day, especially when I’m preoccupied with little Johnny who just threw up, or on an emergency phone call, or have unexpected company? THEN what happens? What happens when I’m up all night with another child and have to sleep IN in the morning? Let’s see…hmm… 5 children times 2 “mom-isn’t-available-to-teach” hours per student equals ten wasted hours for the family that morning.
Because we have been in the movement for over 20 years as vendors, we have seen children who are now the GROWN products of this little daily nightmare, and it isn’t pretty.
Unit studies…the kick with a bite
In far too many cases, these idealistic theories about curriculum have been murdered by a few brutal facts…embarrassing facts. The children didn’t get thoroughly educated…not even as much as WE were educated in inferior secular schools. Scores of excited moms who have never taught a child through all twelve grade levels tell me sentences like this: “This fall we are going to study George Washington—in fact, we’ll do a unit study on him!” The problem is that the mom doesn’t see the 12-year big picture that there are over 34,000 concepts to cover to even make your child AWARE of the most rudimentary components of the big wide world out there. Giving three months to one concept just isn’t gonna cut it. While mom is fixated on her one euphoric idea of what SHE will teach, time is wasting…sand literally POURS through the hour glass of childhood. What she is not aware of is that children can learn ten times faster than she can even dream up the topics, let alone provide a newly hunted down perfect book to teach it with.
Moms with extra time, huh?
Go ahead and buy all of the super-idealized curriculum you want. But this year try teaching it in the evenings or on the weekends when you get that one “supercharged-mommy-moment” a week, but for all the REST of the time, for all those “barely-making-it” hours, get a curriculum that your children can do WITHOUT you. Waltz onto their page on any day at any time that you want to teach them from your own academic passions…we always teach our passions best…but for all the OTHER days, and the OTHER hours, keep your children’s noses to the grindstone of an established curriculum that gets the job DONE without you.
Ask yourself a question: How much EXTRA time did I have yesterday to write out lesson plans, or to thumb through a textbook to figure out what my child should be doing today? Was it three minutes? 30 seconds? Oops, just couldn’t get to it? Then what makes you think you’ll have that time TOMORROW? If you’ve gotta read a teacher’s edition to figure out what your child should do, you are already sunk before you start.
All the “not-so-hot” choices out there
Some love those big companies that sell you the huge textbook for every subject, so that your school curriculum can look just like the public school’s. But quickly you’ll find that the sheer size of the books scares your kids off (they are a pain in the neck to haul around), and parents by the scores have already discovered that they are “drill and kill and over-kill” curriculums, despite the expensive packaging! They cost too much, weigh too much, take too much preparation out of YOUR hide, and bore your children to tears with excessive unnecessary mental labor.
Then there are the super dense SPIRITUAL curriculums. ALL the family reads this and that and does this project and that project on ONE character trait, TOGETHER. Fine. Purchase those and teach one every Sabbath, or work through one for one evening a week to gather as a WHOLE family to study. But for two-to-six hours a day every day of the week, they require too much of mama…and too much of everyone else. On most days, one can’t even FIND the whole family to study with, let alone DO it. If you use one of these programs, you’ll burn out, guaranteed.
Then there is the sensational one book for this and one book for that — the eclectic approach. I hope you like shopping… because your children will read them and finish them on the way to the car.
Then there is the hands-on…build everything you read about…pyramids under the kitchen table approach. This approach absorbs far too much time spent on “pyramids”...single subjects… (which a child can readily understand just by looking at a few pictures), to the exclusion of time that could have been spent on other equally important concepts/subjects. Life isn’t just endless time on your hands. Time spent under the table is time lost practicing a new scale on an instrument.
Then there is the “read-every-book-in-sight” curriculum. Just read. Tons of homeschooling families pride themselves on what good readers their children have become. They congratulate themselves on having exceptional readers…which they mistakenly think then makes them exempt from producing anything else. The only problem is,.they just don’t know that ALL homeschooling families produce good readers. This is commonplace, with few exceptions. They can’t see it, because they live in ONLY their own house. Moreover, reading is not the whole picture. What if your car ONLY had a motor, no steering wheel, no brakes, no seats. Math is important, writing is important, physics is important, spelling is important, each of them requiring very little reading and a great deal of DOING. The first time your child hears about atoms and molecules and has only read history books, he is apt to say “Huh?” or worse yet, start FEELING the “Huh?” going on inside himself everywhere he turns. A general education requires gaining basic familiarity with thousands of DIVERSE concepts.
Grading your children’s work…whatever for?
If you want to grade all your children’s work, go ahead, have at it. But THEY won’t grow, if YOU do their evaluation. Weeks worth of stacked papers that mom will someday get around to grading trains your child in absolutely nothing. When your children get back all your delayed grading with your meticulous and conscientious red marks, they will mindlessly throw those same papers into the trash. Sound familiar? If they grade their own AS SOON AS THEY FINISH EACH PAGE, they will be invested in it THEMSELVES, to their own surprise. It is that simple. CORRECTING one’s work is where ALL the growth takes place. Do you REALLY have THIS much EXTRA time? Would you not rather read a good book, or take a walk with your child?
A long ride
Go ahead, buy whatever curriculum you want, or insist upon having….but ALSO, this year, try buying ACE to use as your daily work horse. You can’t see the full extent of it all now, but you’ll ride to the schooling-pasture and back to the barn EVERY DAY for two to six hours a day for 12 years with this schooling business…so you’ve gotta have a dependable horse to get you there and back…unless you want a circus at your house every day, if you didn’t spend two hours last night prepping for some other scenario.
Even if your child is only EXPOSED to this sequential, consecutive, line upon line, precept upon precept material and skips half of the fill in the blanks, or merely answers the questions aloud, or even just hears them read to him by an older sibling on sick days, or isn’t multi-sensing every concept… he will be light years ahead of the child who hasn’t. He will have at least encountered ALL these thousands of concepts. Four pace booklets a day, four concepts per booklet, 5 days a week, 36 weeks a year, for twelve years, yields 34,560 concepts. Ta-dah !!!! Did you catch that? This is all done FOR you. You didn’t have to even get out of your easy chair. This year, try teaching whatever ELSE you want ON TOP of that… but not in place of it. Countless very burned out families have switched to ACE after trying everything else they had in mind, and the smiles have returned. There have been no regrets!
We recommend ACE for these 12 very tight and succinct reasons:
1. ACE is taught using THIN booklets…as in… easy to haul on errands.
2. ACE is comprehensive…as in… nothing will fall through the cracks.
3. ACE is spiritual…as in… you won’t produce an intelligent drunk.
4. ACE is engaging, uplifting and KEEPS their interest both academically and spiritually…as in…children end up LOVING God THROUGH their subjects.
5. ACE is self-taught…as in…not mommy dependent…as in… it actually HAPPENS every day regardless of the chaos mom is embroiled in at the moment.
6. ACE is self-corrected…as in…the student has instant feedback.
7. ACE is the curriculum for tear reduction…as in ...momma doesn’t burn out…she actually likes her children AND gets dinner on the table…and wants to continue homeschooling next year.
8. ACE is priced at the low end of curriculums…as in… you don’t have to rob a bank or incur debt to buy it. The entire year costs less than one month’s tuition at any private Christian school. It is so inexpensive, the grandparents can purchase it for you. You won’t grow bitter halfway through the year because you sank 2 grand into a curriculum and now you hate the stuff but can’t possibly switch because you mortgaged the house to get it.
9. ACE trains OUTSTANDING character, woven into the full page text of every subject…as in…not tacked on as a token at the end of the entire day just to make it LOOK spiritual.
10. Employers love to hire ACE graduates for any type of work, because they have found year after year that these students’ cheerful work-ethic is second to none.
11. ACE is in 135 countries and currently educates well over 3 million children…as in…tried and true…kids actually graduate…they actually score high on standardized tests…they actually get scholarships at colleges.
12. ACE is guilt free…school happens.
Have your children read history and biography and how-to books voraciously in the evenings. Train them in domestic skills. Teach them how to earn and save a dollar. And turn off the TV and videos and stop the endless “goes nowhere” recreational FANTASY reading, and you’ll produce SUPER CHILDREN.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
My daughter Paige and grandson Zach loving being kissed.
My son Wes and my Brother Art
Blake, Wesley (sons) Treva (daughter-in-law), Crystal (girlfriend) and Mason.
Recently I took a trip to California by myself. I had to have some dental work done, (a lot less expensive in Ca) needed to do some business, but the biggest treat was spending time with my grown kids and grandkids. I stated with my son Wesley and his wife Treva and my grandson Zach. All of the family is so easy going that staying with them was like being at home. My son Blake was home for his two weeks from work (Alaska oil rigs) and he picked me up and we spent a lot of time also. Blake is my baby of the grown kids. Funny how your babies are always your babies. He has a wonderful girlfriend with a little boy name Mason.
Paige my daughter who lives with Wes was in and out when she wasn't working. It was the first time in a very long time that I had time to spend with my grown kids without a lot of distractions. I attended Zach's football game and Mason's birthday..
just being a grandma for that day.
I also took a trip to see a very close friend who has been ill for a number of years.
We talked for hours about everything.... it was awesome. Blake, Paige and his family picked me up and we headed to Oceanside to see my other son Dwayne and his family. Of course my camera went out before we got there and I couldn't get pictures of their family. Dwanye recently bought a home and it was lovely about ten minutes from the beach.
Lily his wife (from Panama) was such a loving and attentive daughter-in-law, taking
us to the beach, inviting us in the jacuzzi and even bringing me a blanket when I was cold. I felt so spoiled. Dwanyne works for the nuclear power plant and was called in unexpectedly, but we still had time to talk about one of favorite subjects, reading. He had bought me a Christian/suspense book and I read over it every spare minute I had. Before leaving I was able to see my grandson Roland play baseball, just like his daddy, he is natural at sports.
Opps, almost forgot about my baby brother Art. He drove down with his youngest daughter Cassie to visit for a couple of days. Art the baby of my family has always been like one of my own kids. Coming from a very dis functional family I was left to raise my brother and sister (died) most of my life. While I wasn't very fond of all that mothering when I was young, it created a very strong bond between my brother and I. And then something new happened. I accepted Christ at 17. I prayed and prayed my brother would come to know Christ and in his early 20's he accepted Christ also.
I have never seen a more devout turnover to serving Christ than my brother. From the minute he surrendered he never looked back and disciple many of my children. So when we get together we talk about "JESUS" most of the time. He is the love of both our lives and we can't help but tell every detail on how he is making life amazing!
When reading my devotional today I just couldn't help but want to put it on my blog.
My Utmost For His Highest has always seem to touch me exactly where I need the spirit to go. Today it talked about keeping "MY" eyes on Christ first and foremost and let the other things fall into place. So many times with 18 kids, homeschooling, Africa and just daily living, I feel pulled in several directions. Christ has been trying to tell me to seek him first, REALLY seek him first and let him add the rest.
"Simple concept Lord help me to get it deep in my spirit I keep letting it go."
My Utmost for His Highest
Text Size: . . do you love Me? . . . Tend My sheep —John 21:16
Jesus did not say to make converts to your way of thinking, but He said to look after His sheep, to see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Him. We consider what we do in the way of Christian work as service, yet Jesus Christ calls service to be what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following after a particular belief or doctrine. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate . . . , he cannot be My disciple” ( Luke 14:26 ). In this verse, there is no argument and no pressure from Jesus to follow Him; He is simply saying, in effect, “If you want to be My disciple, you must be devoted solely to Me.” A person touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says, “Now I see who Jesus is!”— that is the source of devotion.
Today we have substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many people are devoted to causes and so few are devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not really want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is deeply offensive to the educated minds of today, to those who only want Him to be their Friend, and who are unwilling to accept Him in any other way. Our Lord’s primary obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of people— the saving of people was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted solely to the cause of humanity, I will soon be exhausted and come to the point where my love will waver and stumble. But if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity, even though people may treat me like a “doormat.” The secret of a disciple’s life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of that life is its seeming insignificance and its meekness. Yet it is like a grain of wheat that “falls into the ground and dies”— it will spring up and change the entire landscape ( John 12:24 ).
Friday, August 27, 2010
Proof of it being a rattlesnake
Ron holding a rattlesnake
Our Boys
Our girls
There are things I really love about Texas but rattlesnakes are not one of them.
We moved here a year ago and were warned about the rattlesnakes but we didn't see one until now. I had convinced myself that if we hadn't seen one in a year, they probabley were staying away because of the noisy kids, birds (chickens, geese, ducks)and eight barking dogs, but I was wrong. Joe was pulling up a tarp
by the garden and a snake tried to bite him in the foot. Oh thank you Jesus he had
boots on and reacted quickly by kicking it away. I was in California when my
husband called and told me what happened and I just cried. Just the thought of it
was terrifying. My husband a lot less emotional then I just went outside and killed the snake and brought it in for some teaching.
This is what you do not go near!
We were in Sam's club recently, well come to think of it I am ALWAYS in Sam's club buying groceries, but they offered some old time picures. I was really happy that they turned out so well and love looking at my beautiful kids.
Of course while we were there the guy taking the pictures was totally freaked out on how he was going to get 20 people in one photo (we did a family picture too) but he
calmed down when he realized my kids were going to cooperate.
He then wanted to know about adoption.
I hear constantly from people that they have always wanted to adopt... but then
come the millions of excuses why they don't. My husband won't let me (that is a good one I have to admit), we never could afford it, what if something happened and they
couldn't stay (foster care) and the list goes on.
I am always happey to tell them ways to make it happen if they really want to. I am living proof that foster children do go into adoptions, private birth adoptions really happen and you can adopt internationally and not be wealthy.
And most importantly you can adopt and make a difference in a child's life and survive.
Yes sometimes there are dissapointments, fear, feelings like why did I ever put myself through all this pain, but anything in life that is worth doing involves some risk.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Tim. 1:7
Monday, August 23, 2010
My heart part 2
Kenneth age 2
Kenneth died. I can still remember holding him in my arms last April...only two but the size of a nine month old. So tiny, but I though to myself what a strong little boy. But like so many children in Liberia he got Malaria even with all the precautions like mosquito nets, healthy diet, solid home to live and medical care.
But with cerbral palsy, his little lungs were to weak to fight off the Malaria and he got pneumonia.
As my children joined together for prayer tonight they prayed "Jesus, I hope
you are having lots of fun with Martina, Kenneth and Varney." "Thank you Lord that they are with your safe and never feeling any pain again." Because they believed, just in faith that being in the arms of Jesus had to be better than anything
this earth had to offer.
Oh Lord thank you for children's hearts. For allowing me to see through their eyes, and not my own.....
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
(Matthew 18:2-6 ESV)
Sunday, August 22, 2010
What is in my heart Part 1
Sweet adorable Martina
A week ago three children in Liberia died. Two in the Forget-Me-Not children's program and one in the medical outreach program. It was heartbreaking, painful and I am still questioning why. By the worlds standards I know why, it is because medical care in
Liberia is inadequate. Children without special needs die every day, but have
cerbral palsy and get sick....
We are not even sure why Martina died she just died in her sleep.
I have heard many people tell me how much better the kids are in the arms of Jesus,
now without pain and sorrow.... but I first imagined them
in the arms of "adoptive parents." I first imagined them in the U.S. with really
great medical treatment loved and lavished in a home that adored them, but the Lord
had other plans.
I remember when I used to dream of adopting a child from another country. I would
watch all the ads on the T.V. about starving children and want to help them. I wondered how I could help with SO many needing assistance.
But now this is REAL. I have been to Liberia Africa, held these children in my arms,
advocated for them, prayed for them. This is PERSONAL.
FAITH
Heb 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
It is the process of going through the trials that make us stronger?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
He will never leave us or forsake us
I got new pictures of Varney in the mail today. Maybe it is just me but he looks
incredibly beautiful. Even with his really large head he looks good and all the
sores he had on his head are gone. How could those sores, pressure sores from
laying on that huge head all the time be gone.....Jesus. The minute I opened
the pictures I cried and in my heart and my spirit I could see the face of God
illuminating through that little boy.
Once again we might of found hope for Varney and his mom. I joined a yahoo
group with a passionate group of women for Christ and met someone who wanted
to help me find help for him. Another someone who doesn't believe that he is
a hopeless cause, yep she knows the same Jesus I know. You know the guy who
laid hands on the lepers, blind, crippled and demon possessed? Even dead
people were not in the hopeless stage, a few of them were raised up also.
13:8 it states Jesus is the same today, yesterday, and forever!
So we have a hospital and Doctor in Ghana willing to see him and do the treatment necessary but we are waiting on the full cost. Then we will have to obtain a birth
certificate and a passport and a ticket for his mom and him. And none of this is easy but WITH CHRIST all things are possible.
I am so thankful I don't have to do this by myself. I find myself constantly going to the faith station for a fill up. Getting down on my knees, locking the bathroom (even with kids pounding on the door)and saying "It's me again God I so need your help,
direction and I need that faith you promised." And you know that enemy God, he is
being a real pain in the butt!! Send a couple of real strong angels to kick his butt! Because every ounce of Glory is going straight to you when Varney is well.
So PLEASE PRAY if you read this blog that we can get all of the things this little
boy needs lined up for him to go to Ghana to get medical help. And then Pray we can raise the money he need also.
Thank you Lord....
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Another Amazing Person
The Professor giving a speech thanking Global for starting a fund to build wheel
chair ramps.
Professor Flomo teaching people about the Caustic Program.
During my trip to Africa in April we visited an amazing man and his family. I was told
that Global was raising money for a college in Liberia that needed wheel chair ramps, but being my focus is mainly on Forget-Me-Not children, I wasn't prepared for what blessings would come from that donation.
We had to drive three hours to a college campus. Once we arrived we were driven to several on campus homes to see if any would accommodate myself and my four other companions. After we settled in we were invited to Professor Flomos home for dinner.
I felt like honored royalty at his home. All of his family, wife and children, served us something to drink and carried all of their living room furniture outdoors
so we could sit in the open air. No one in Liberia has air conditioning and the only electricity is generators which, few can afford.
A goat was slaughtered for our dinner earlier, meat being a rare treat in Liberia and we were served a delicious meal with rice.
Shortly after the meal the Professor started telling us his life story and we all stayed on the end of seats in anticipation of everything he was telling us.
At age ten he was taken to the Dr. for a boil on his head. They gave him a shot
in the hip and from that time on he could not walk. The shot paralyzed his legs.
Now in America this would be a tragedy, in Liberia it was devastation.
But the Professor, with an amazingly determined spirit insisted he still needed to
go to school. So after bugging his father over and over he allowed him to go.
There were no wheelchairs or cars to drive him so he had to crawl. He would have
to take an extra pair of pants with him because he would be covered in dirt when
he got there.
Now when he told us this I just had to breath a huge breath of air out and ponder
how ANYONE could have that kind of drive. He wasn't just driven to go through
high school but continued on to college.
Oh and that is just his scholastic story. The one that touched my heart to tears was
his falling in love with the woman he was determined to marry. He told us from
the minute he layed eyes on his wife he knew he would marry her... but things
were just not that easy for a man in a wheel chair.
You see Liberians see a disability as a curse. The father of this woman also believed
that he could never take care of his daughter and he refused the request of marriage.
No way was Professor taking that for an final answer. Now come on, the man had crawled to school.... he could get her dad to change his mind. So he continued
to ask and God opened up the perfect circumstance for the Dad to finally agree.
And as he finished telling us this story he called his wife over, sat her in front of
him, leaned over to her and said "and I still love this woman today." Ok, I am crying now and so sure I had just heard one of the most beautiful love stories ever
told.
That wasn't the only person he was absolutely and totally in love with. He proceeded to tell us about his love for Christ. How he had walked with him all his life and that he believed, with all his heart, if he followed his commands he would be blessed.. and you know what, he is.
And those blessing fall over to us and our program. The professor is on Global Orphan's board of directors in Liberia. Also the little brother he raised, who loves Christ with that same passion is our nurse for our program. Now who else could bring
us a CHRISTIAN nurse, raised by a handicapped brother, who was driven and still
is to overcome his disability and help others overcome theres, but Jesus?
This year the college opened there doors to 11 special needs students... unheard of
in Liberia Africa. Without special equipment, special teachers or even knowing how they would afford it, but stepping out in faith with the professors help.
So this loving, humble, amazing man's car breaks down, his only means of transportation. And he has asked for our help. The car will take 2000
dollars to fix, a million dollars in Liberia.
So again I cry out to God to send people willing to donate to someone they don't
even know.... in faith. Because it doesn't matter that he is in Africa, France
or China, he is our brother in Christ and he needs help.
My god promises to supply all our needs.
So I wait in faith......
My Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10) and the earth is His and the fullness thereof (Psalm 50:12).
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 KJV)
Friday, July 9, 2010
MIRACLES ARE STILL HAPPENING
Korpu laughing and playing.
Korpu when she came into our program with failure to thrive.
Abigail 2 1/2 months later. Notice those chubby cheeks!
Abigail when she started in our outreach program
Kenneth now standing against the wall.
Kenneth when he came into the forget me not program
I have to be so careful to notice EVERY little miracle that God sends my way.
Some are huge and obvious like Kenneth and Abigail and others are slow... miracles
that happen one step at a time.
Abigail had gained 4 lbs and is crawling! Now for a four year old that might not seem like a miracle... but when I held her in Liberia last April, she could barley
hold up her head, seemed unaware of where she was and didn't care who held her.
Kenneth, small adorable Kenneth is standing against the wall. How is that even possible? Tiny and fragile he just seemed like a small infant in my arms just a few months ago.
Luke 4:18 (New International Version)
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
And let's not forget Korpu. She came to us with failure to thrive... dying slowly, and now she not only lives but is HAPPY.
Personal miracles abound also....
My son Joe was stung by a bee and we found out he was allergic. I gave him benadryl right away but the swelling continued and he broke out in an awful rash and had numbness and pain. Being a nurse I knew full well what COULD happen if I couldn't get him to a hospital fast enough. So I jumped in the van and headed to the nearest hospital twenty minutes away. Now I would like to say I was in full control but when it comes to my kids I am one lousy nurse. So I drove and prayed..... knowing that everything that happens is in the hands of my God. And as I have read this week in Luke.. the spirit of God was on me. His presence filled my heart and my soul with his peace and Joe continued to breath.
Was this a miracle? I would say so. How many times has God intervened and I didnt' even know it? I am not sure, but I will Praise him for the mircles I can see and the ones I can't.
Our pastor has given us a challenge to read the bible in a year and handed out an outline on how to accomplish this. At first I was hesitant. I read my bible most days, feel I am pretty familiar with the word do I really want to take this on? Well I did and I was terribly wrong. Already I am amazed at what Jesus is teaching me.
Luke 9:23 (New International Version)
23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me
So Lord, I am going to look for miracles every day and even if I don't SEE one I will
know that they are still there, both in Liberia and here at home.
And if I forget to tell you Lord.... Thanks for all you do.
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