A glimpse of God's heart?

As I type this I'm listening to my daughter sing along to worship songs...she is a monotone not so great singer right now, but oddly enough I love listening to her.  I wonder if that's how the Lord hears us...He loves the sound of our heart, not the sound of our voice....

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Do you see what I see??

We went to the eye Dr today.  The whole family got their eyes checked. Josiah is far sighted, but at his age that will hopefully correct itself.  Seth also is far sighted and it's possible he will need glasses in the next couple years.  It was his first time at the eye doctor and he thought it was pretty fun!

Alayna is far sighted along with her brothers, but twice as much as Josiah.  She needs glasses for school and reading.  We picked out her glasses and they are ADORABLE...much cuter than my first pair...though they are purple just like mine were.  :-)  She's not thrilled with the idea and she was worried about being teased.We read "You are special" by Max Lucado tonight and it was just what she needed to hear.  After that, she realized how many people/friends wear glasses and she was excited about them.  We will get them just in time for school to start.  Hopefully her excitement will continue!

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A weekend away!

Dan came home from work Thursday with great news...after a long week and some late nights, he had Friday off!  We were able to leave earlier than expected and we headed to his dad's lake cabin.  Our family of 6 in their RV...it was a great time away.  Four wheeling, boating, tubing, skiing, fort building, roasting marshmallows and overall time away.  It was great!  Our phone died Friday night and we forgot a charger so I only have pictures from Friday, and honestly, I loved not feeling pressure to capture family moments for my kids to have...it's not natural for me at all!!!

Feelings...nothing more than feelings

Those are the lyrics to an old song, but it came to mind today as I was thinking about how often in this world we rely on our 'feelings'.  

When we meet a potential spouse we rely on how we 'feel' initially to let us know whether to continue getting to know them or not.  Now I don't want to totally discount 'feelings', but we rely on them FAR too often.  Marriages have ended because the initial 'feeling' has gone away and people want to live on that emotional high.   

We also rely on feelings when it comes to parenting, we want to become a parent and imagine all that it will entail....then we have kids and realize all that we dreamt about parenting is in reality, a very small part and decide it's too much work to teach and train...hopefully somebody else will do it.  It is consistent work, constant love, and dedicated caring.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mom, but not because I always 'feel' like it.

Why in the world was I thinking about all of this today??  Well, some days being a Foster Parent is easier than others.  Sometimes I don't 'feel' like doing this anymore (I could make that decision and we would be done) yet, I know without a doubt that this is where God has called our family for this season of our life.  

It's not always easy loving a child when you don't understand all the reasons they do what they do, when they are clingy, when they try to manipulate using emotions, etc. (the other kids do the same things at times).  She needs constant love, dedicated caring, and people pointing her to the One that can provide that for her...the same as all of our children.  I pray that our actions reflect that of our Father, I know we fail, (but my prayer is that "...where sin increased, grace abounded all the more Romans 5:20) and that even in our failings, I pray that she (and all of our kids) can see the reflection of Jesus in our life.  I'm honestly thankful for all that we have learned and been able to teach our kids through being a foster family...our FD has been a wonderful blessing, but like each of our kids, some days are better than others.    

Today I have been reminding myself to 'Get Dressed':

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:12-13

I continue to love, care and point ALL my kids to the Lord...not because I always 'feel' like it but because it is what I have been "called" and "set apart" to do in the lives of each of my children as well as others that the Lord brings into my life.  How could I NOT forgive others when the Lord forgives me over and over and over again.

After that long reminder of who God is and what He has done for me...I know He is enough to help me finish the day!

June & July

Here's a look at June...we enjoyed time at the lake, the kids had 'Grandma Camp' in St. Cloud,  our Foster Daughter moved into our home, Josiah & Alayna each had basketball camp, Josiah went to Mind Storm Lego Camp, we did our landscaping, Seth learned to ride a bike, and too many other smaller things to list, but here is a small peak at our life in June!

Here's a look at July...swimming lessons for all 4 kids (the 3 older ones passed, but Seth needs to work on his arm strokes), Josiah had football camp, we finished our landscaping, took a trip to St. Cloud, went to the lake a couple times, had family over, Alayna got horribly sick...lots of things...but here are a few pictures to capture the month of July!

Though I realize I just tried to capture 2 months (that involved lots of adjustments, changes, fun, sickness, family, friends, camps, etc.) in 1 short post...I had to do something so I could start blogging about our current life and not get bogged down with reliving the past couple months.  Maybe I will be more consistent again...but don't hold your breath waiting! :)

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!!      

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.