Milestones

Well, as you can tell we have hit a milestone, Josie has lost her first tooth. I was so happy to get to share that with her. She was so proud that she lost her tooth. For about 2 weeks now we have heard from her that her "tooth is shaking", that is her version of her tooth is loose. She asked Mike over and over to take it out, but it was never quite ready to get out. Last night it was finally ready to take out. She was very brave and didn't cry at all. We explained the "tooth fairy" to her and she was excited this morning to awaken to $1 from the "toot fairy" as she calls her. It is just so cute to see her grow and change and I feel so blessed to be a part of that. There are times I think about the milestones that I have missed, but I am so happy at the ones that I share now with her and will in the future. I do think about her mother in Liberia and how she is missing all of these wonderful things. I spoke with her one the phone the other day, she just told me to tell Josephine that she loved her. I told her that I could sure do that. I tell Josephine that she has two mommys that love her very much and want the best for her, one of those mommys is me and the other one is in Liberia and loved her so much she wanted her to be safe and have a better life. So with these pictures that I show, I will also be sending them to Liberia to her other mother in Africa, so that she can share these milestones with us.

More of Him

We went to revival tonight at our church. I was so happy to have went, the message was very good. It was about wanting more of God himself, not more of what he can give. The evangelist talked about grandkids being excited when he would come to visit because they always new that he would bring a surprise with him and they would want to carry his bags so that they could see the surprise. He also said that when he would come back from a trip, his wife would always be standing at the door when he pulling in the garage, just waiting for him to come home, and so excited to see him because she missed him. He said that he would be very sad if she was just happy to see him to see what he brought for her. He pointed out that our relationship with God is a bit like the first part of his story. We are running to God or waiting on our relationship with him and excited because of "what he can do for us", instead we should be wanting more of God and not so much of what he can give us. I thought about that, and I will admit I have ran to God and been there to see what he can give or do for us. He is wonderful and loves doing things for us, but he wants that relationship with him to be what we crave, not what we can get. The preacher also talked about loving God so much that you just know that God will provide what we need just when we need it. That really spoke to my heart. I have been worrying lately about different things and how different things will turn out, but I have learned that God will take care of things and already know what I need before I need it. God wants us to love him so much that we just know he will take care of us. That is not to say that we won't go through hard times, that just means that God will carry us and provide what we need, even if that is just strength to get through the situation. God has always gotten me through my situations and has provided what I need, and I am confident in know that God will continue. I want more of Him, as the preacher said, not "more of what is in God's suitcase."

Don't Give Up

It has been a long night and day! Thomas has been sick for a couple of days. He has woke up at night complaining of horrible stomach cramps. The dr. had him get check and stomach x-rays, which thank God showed nothing, so we are thinking it may be a virus. Then, last night Josie woke up at about 12:30a.m. and said that her stomach was hurt, which eventually led to her throwing up 3 different times throughout the night. So, to say the least we haven't been getting very much sleep at night. She seems to be a little better, but everyone is very tired tonight. Then on the way to work this afternoon Mike ran over a bungy cord and it got caught in the truck tire and also hit our tail light and broke it along with giving us a flat tire (not to mention is was very cold out and Mike didn't take a coat with him). So we are all ready for a new day, but I did tell Mike that at least he came home to a warm home and to a family that loves him. So, that has been the last couple of days for us, hopefully the rest of Spring Break will be better.
The title of this blog just really spoke to me. On Sunday the preacher spoke about not giving up. What really caught me was when he said that God NEVER gave up on us. Even when the devil was tempting Jesus, especially on the cross which some believe was the greatest temptation to give up, he didn't. Even when he all the reasons in the world to give up on us humans, he didn't. He suffered the ultimate sacrifice for us, even when we didn't even come close to deserving it. Then, the preacher said, we should never give up on God. When things don't go according to our plan, or our timeline, we shouldn't give up on God, because He didn't give up on us, as he does know best. That really hit home. We all go through things, and some really hard and bad things at that. There are times when some of us just feel that we are done and we aren't even going to try anymore, because why, it doesn't seem to be helping at all. I am not going to pretend that I haven't been there, b/c I have, but that message just reminded me to never give up. After all God did for me, there is no excuse to give up on Him. God knows our future and he sees our true heart, and what he does, he does because he loves us. When I think about what Jesus endured for me, and the torture he put upon himself and didn't choose to take the easy way out, I have no excuse to give up or question him. When I think about
God giving his one and only son up for us, I am overwhelmed and in ah with his love for us. When he asks me to do something, I have to know that he knows what's best. I think of what he went through and what he watched his son go through, people making fun of him, laughing at him, beating him, spitting on him, his own people denying him, it makes me sick and sad. But happiness overcomes me also, that my God loves me that much. I know when he asked me to go to Africa I was always questioning if it was what he really wanted me to do. People laughed at me when I told them that I felt that God wanted me to go, some to my face and some behind my back. I was yelled at and made fun of at times. Many gave disapproving looks, questioned what in the world I was doing, couldn't believe that God had wanted me to do this and many didn't really believe that I felt God calling me. But, I knew that deep down in my heart that it was exactly what he was wanting me to do. I didn't even come close to going through what Jesus did, but it sure helped me to understand him better. It showed me that He knew what was best and that he knew the future and that as crazy as life and people for that matter get, he doesn't want us to give up. He doesn't want us to give up even when we don't know the future or why we are going through what we are, but all that matters is that he knows that future and why we are going through what we are. He doesn't want us to give up, afterall, He NEVER gave up on US.

It's All Worth It

Oh how that title is true! It truly is ALL worth it. I had my little girl with me today in the grocery store, or "market" as she calls it. She got a little restless for a little bit and wasn't real happy that she had to sit in the cart, but as we went on, she got over that and she was happy again. Then, she had gotten in my purse and I looked at her and she had her shoes off and her pant legs rolled up and she was rubbing lotion all over herself. She looked at me and said, "I dry", all I could do was smile and laugh at her and just let her go on and continue to rub the lotion on herself. She was just so sweet sitting there doing that. Then, when we paid for everything and went to the truck, I got her out of the cart to put her in her carseat and she hugged me with everything she had in her and she kissed me and said, "I love you so much mommy and I love being with you." At that point, all I could do was smile. God knew that was just what I needed to hear. It doesn't matter all of the sacrifices we had to make to get her here, or the ones that we continue to make because we are still paying what we borrowed, because those words were priceless. When I think about what her life could still be in Liberia, and how she could be hungry and suffering right now, not to mention what her future could have been there, there is NO sacrifice to big for her or for any of my children for that fact. I was talking to my brother tonight about this and he said, that it won't matter what type of house I have or didn't have or car we drove or didn't drive, but that when I am older and Josie is an adult, just to know that she had a better life and that she was loved with all of our hearts is what will matter. We have made sacrifices over the past couple of years, (as I know others have as well) so that we could get our children and bring them home. Some people will never know or understand our decisions, some will always criticize, and I say that I am sad that they have not experienced this kind of love. Love that you sacrifice anything for, because all the sacrifices that we have made for each of our children have been "all worth it". Just the way God feels about us! WOW, I love the way that our God just slides those lessons into our lives in the quietest of ways:). Thank you God for sacrificing for me!

God Reminds Me

Well, it has been a busy week. The boys have had 2 soccer games so far (Thomas scored 3 goals tonight, and Steven was goalie and did not allow any goals to score tonigh--:)). I also took Josie for her Kindergarten registration tonight. My baby girl will be a big Kindergartener come the end of August. Thomas also got citizen of the month today, I was so proud of him as he has been working so hard. Josie is so excited about going to school, I know she will love it, if only she can wait until August (she has already told me that she wants a Dora backpack:)). But with the excitement of that, a bit of saddness creeps in b/c Steven will be a 5th grader and goes to a new school next year. I will miss him so much.
With all of the activities going on, things get a little hectic and at times everyone is going every direction. Well, the other day the kids were having a hard time listening, mostly the two older ones and it had been a long day and I just thought, why can't they just listen. I thought I love them so much, why can't they just listen to me and do what I ask, I know what is best for them. Well, bedtime came and when I knelt by my bed at night to pray, God really hit me over the head when I was praying. I felt him saying, "you know Andrea, I feel the same way about you sometimes, why don't you just listen to me all of the time, I know what is best for you and I love you more than you will ever know". I just stopped and thought about that for a minute, I do the same thing to God sometimes. I don't listen sometimes, even when he is right in my face telling me something, I just seem to not listen and continue arguing or ignoring him. But, just like a mom is with her children, God is the same with me. He still loves me and is there when I have discovered that He was right all along. He is there to hear I'm sorry and to pick me up when I have fallen. Just like a mother (and father) are there for their children, God is there for all of us, even when we don't always listen the first time.