Hindsight

I wrote this after an encounter I had at Riverside Park. Please, read. And learn. I delight in supposing that one of you could learn from this failure.

She did not have the appearance I expected.
A faded, blue and yellow Michigan jacket.
Dark skin.
Rotten teeth.

She did not use words of eloquence.
Mostly slang and poor grammar.
Obviously uneducated.

Something brought her closer.
A timid smile.
A simple offer.

A gentle whisper in my heart pleaded, "Love her."
I returned her smile.
Her offer I declined.

The sweet smile fell.
Eyes were averted.
A hasty retreat.

Wait... something beneath the blue & yellow.
A brilliant robe!
Brighter than the sun.

My spirit crumbled within me.
My heart flooded with anguish.
Through tears I clearly saw.

He'd come. One of the LEAST.

Isaiah 53:2-3 "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him... he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

Matt 25:44-45 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"

God's Math

God truly multiplied what we brought before Him at our sale this weekend. We raised $3,200 for Kyle! It was such a humbling experience and I am thankful God chose me to participate. People were amazingly generous in large and small amounts, and touched our hearts in more ways than you can count! Please continue to pray for Kyle as they march closer to their fundraising goal. You can read more about him on his website.

I finally am going to be gradually coming back to the Blogger world. I thought I would bring along some pictures of my kids from the past month-or-so that I've been gone.

My precious boy - this one was right around his 3-month birthday:


Will loves to bring his hands together, then hold them up and watch them:


He also LOVES that tongue:


Daddy helps Sophie dream up fun new games quite often:


Sophie's dolls, of course, do everything that Will does:


And sometimes Sophie does what Will does, also:


Big sister LOVES to help and frequently "reads" to her brother:


My two cutie-patooties!!

Sale-ing Through the Summer

I'm back momentarily...


This is Kyle.



He is a young man who lives in Wichita. He is 18-years-old and has a skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa. Kyle needs a bone marrow transplant, but his insurance doesn't cover it. Thus, my class from church is having a garage sale for Kyle to help with his fundraising efforts (he still needs to raise around $200,000). We have SO much stuff and I'm very excited to see what God does for Kyle!


PLEASE come out and take part in God's work for Kyle!


Where: 636 N. Fairway (west Wichita)
When: Thurs-Sat, June 11-13


100% of profit goes to Kyle!!

Respite

Signing off for awhile. I'm not sure how long... please don't forget about me in the meantime.

In lieu of the 60 seconds you'd spend checking my blog, whisper a prayer of thanksgiving to the One whose love for you is constant and unconditional. Yes, even you.

Same Kind of Different As Me

I read while my children napped. I read while I nursed my little guy. I read into the wee hours of the night. I rolled with laughter. I wept uncontrollably while my insides ached as if it were my family, my life. I heard every word that God whispered to my heart. This book was written for me.

I am inspired. It was phenomenal.

It's Simple As Do-Re-Mi

Lay Off the Reality TV

You know you watch too much Dancing with the Stars when you have a dream that Karina Smirnoff is your kids' babysitter.

Where the Wind Comes Sweepin' Down the Plain

Saturday we got the kids up bright and early and headed south to Oklahoma City. We had a packed weekend of visiting lots of old friends.

This is my dear friend, Ashley, who is a speechie that I used to work with. She is still Sophie's "Auntie Ashley," even though it looks like Sophie is scared of her in this picture. It was also great to see my other speechie friend, Jennifer, and her growing, handsome boys!


We had some wonderful friends in Edmond who were our "adoptive parents" while we were college students. Their names are Bill and Amy Arbuckle. We grew very close to them and their kids - Will, Justin and Jemma. Our Will is of course named after both grandpas (William Robert), but we call him Will after Will Arbuckle.

Here are Will and Will:


All 3 Arbuckle kiddos with Will:


I had to throw this one in for my brother - sportin' his Marines' gear:


Saturday night we stayed with my fabulous friend, Heather, who I grew close to in grad school. Her little girl, Emelyn (Emme), is 2 weeks older than Sophie. It was so fun to have the girls together again.

Here are Soph and Emme at 1.5 months:


Emme now:


Kisses for an "old" friend:


Emme was kindly checking Sophie's heart for her:

And yet again, Emme was helping out Sophie - fixing the velcro on her shoe:

We also spent Sunday morning/afternoon with our old church friends, the Carters and the Hagers... might I add how above-and-beyond Kellee Hager went for us in helping clean up Will & Ben's clothes after a massive blowout (Ben's a little old to still be having those).

The last thing on the agenda was a Sunday evening trip to Capitol Hill to visit the kiddos that we used to work with. It was great to see everyone so grown up, and especially beautiful to see two of our kids who are now in college and leading God-honoring lives.

Everyone Should Get M&Ms When They Potty

Translations:

"E-na lolly" = Elmo Potty

"Di-ee baa-bee" = Silly Baby

"ya-ya" = lion

"Bye-bye lolly" = Bye-bye potty

And of course, there is frequent use of M&M - it's obvious what motivates this child!

Beautiful Music

In the week-and-a-half since we've had his hearing aids, Will has suddenly become quite verbal. His coos and goos are the most exquisite melody this Mommy's ears have known.