Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Happy Birthday my dear FD!

Though I can't tell you her name...or her story...or share any pictures of her with you...she's very real in our life.  She's our Foster Daughter and today is her birthday.  

When celebrating the birthdays of my biological children I reminisce all throughout the day what was going on the day they were born.  We share that story with them and talk about how wonderful it was when we first laid eyes on them.  What a gift!

Though I don't know the story of her birth and I only know bits and pieces of her life...she is equally as much of a gift!  Though it's not her birth story, I do remember getting the phone call asking us to become her foster parents.  I remember hanging up the phone and talking about it with our family and sensing God's leading to say 'yes', calling back to say 'yes' (even though we had originally planned to take younger children), finding out that they didn't need a placement for her, the confusion on God's prompting to say 'yes', then the following week getting called again asking if we'd still consider taking her in and finding out she would be coming the following week.  What a roller-coaster of emotions!  

Though so different in many ways, the anticipation of meeting you for the first time was similar to that of anticipating a birth.  I clearly remember seeing you for the first time...loving you instantly...my heart melted...and broke...realizing that a beautiful little girl was hurting inside...

My sweet FD, I have seen so much growth in you just over the last 27 days that you've been in our life.  Your trust for us has grown exponentially.  You have called us 'mom' and 'dad' since day 2, you do that because you have a huge desire to feel safe and secure...and to belong.  I get that and I truly desire that for you too.  I can't make promises and I won't make promises about your future, my only promises lie in the Truth of who Jesus is and who He wants to be in your life.  I see your desire to know Truth because without having words to say it, I think your heart realizes that Jesus Christ is the only thing in your life that can and will be constant.  Hearing you ask if you could pray at supper and the sweetness of your prayer melted my heart and I KNOW it melted God's heart.  You love our reading times at night along with praying and singing before bed...you ask each night just to be sure it's going to happen again.  You have lots of questions and a desire to learn more, I pray that you continue wanting to know more about Him.

Today, we celebrate your life!!  We celebrate that God has placed your in our home for this season and I pray that you feel loved and cared for...that we can truly be the hands and feet of Jesus to you.  We love you!!      

Monday, July 2, 2012

A few snapshots from our life...

It's an understatement to say that we've had quite a bit going on lately, but it's been lots of fun!  Here's a tiny peek into the past few weeks...

Still crazy!

Happy Fathers Day to an AWESOME dad!

First Bonfire of the season

Landscaping nearly complete and borrowing the tractor for a bit was lots of fun!

STEM Camp was a definite highlight for this budding engineer, he had a BLAST!

A couple days away as a couple with Dan's brother and sis in law was just what we needed!

fishing...

ok, maybe we didn't catch the 'big one'

taking in some shops...please ignore the lack of showering!

successful water skiing

kickball with friends

 Josiah enjoyed special time with Grandpa Holder...fishing and tubing were definitely top on his list!


 Again...our crazy kid who comes up with such funny ideas (sleeping with his goggles on) :)


My pretty girl is sick.sick.sick...no fun!!!

Some key moments that I don't have pictures of:
- Grandma Camp 2012 in St. Cloud -- all grandkids (this year 11) who are going into K and finishing 6th grade are welcome to enjoy a FUN week...Seth is really looking forward to joining the crew next year!


- We also received a call for our first Foster Child placement.  We are blessed to care for a 7 year old little girl.