Praying, Praying for Japan...hard to find words...God, comfort, provide, bless, encourage...heal, find the missing, give news to the confused, and save the souls of those who don't know You...
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Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?It breathes in the air; it shines in the light!
O Worship the King, Robert Grant
Where should I begin? It has been exactly a week since we arrived home as a family of 8. I am not exhausted. I am BIG-xhausted! But! I am extremely encouraged and full of hope. I prayed for heavy grace from the Lord for our family, for AH, in this time of adjustment, and He has rained it down in floods this week. This post would be a book if I shared each evidence from this week of God's help, guidance, mercy, wisdom! I will share just a few things that the Lord has done.
Here's a really special one - the work of the Holy Spirit, to be sure. I have one little daughter who has always had a hard time with admitting sin. As in, she never has, not willingly or voluntarily. Lately, we've really been asking the children this question whenever disobedience occurs: What Matters Most? If they don't answer on their own, we "remind" them that what matters most is loving and obeying Jesus, then we try to follow that up with scriptures and Biblical truths that show how they disobeyed the Lord. The goal is to point them to Jesus, reminding them that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, I caught this particular daughter in a lie. I asked several probing questions, which she dodged and avoided at first, but wow, the Holy Spirit was at work in a mighty way!! After a few urgent, firm, but gentle appeals to her regarding What Matters Most, I asked her directly once more: Did you lie to me about such and such?
She.Said.Yes. She said Yes!! With quiet tears, she admitted the lie! Guys, this has never happened! This was the Lord at work! After her admission, I told her she needed to go talk to the Lord about it and confess the lie to Him, knowing He stands ready to forgive. Then - it gets even better - after she prayed alone, she came to me right then and quietly said, I'm sorry I lied, mommy. Will you forgive me?" Oh, wow. I need to mention here that she has also never chosen on her own to make things right with the sinned-against person. Never. I am so excited to see this wonderful progression in her heart and am praising the Lord for His work!
The other thing that is encouraging me this week: AH is doing so, so well!! It's such an intense time of adjustment, but she is amazing. The child is incredibly flexible and has responded so well to all the new situations and training and to homeschooling and so much more. I know we are only in the first week, but I am so thankful for what I am seeing already in AH...bits of healing, enormous strides toward integrating into our family, and so much more! Thank You, Lord! And thank you, those who are praying!
God is caring for us so generously - in body, mind, and spirit. One sweetness He allowed us this week was a trip to the park - our first of this spring. All of these photos are from our late afternoon fun there. EG took the photograph below.
800 LC ever so carefully cleans the microwave, then slips outside almost unnoticed to play...and I'm watching her twirl in her swing, all in dark pink in the evening sun
801 AH continuing to recover a lost childhood...today, watching Mr. Rogers Neighborhood along with her sisters...other days, sitting right beside me while I read CJ's baby Bible and storybook to her before Baby's naptime...I just keep thinking...I can give her this special time we never had in her baby days...
802 mom & dad
803 she calls me mommy
804 she calls him daddy
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