Hope's photos--aren't they breathtaking?!
There is peace here amidst the struggles we have been through these last months. This blog has been a bit overwhelming to readers I am sure--with hospitalizations, adoption adustments etc...
But, as I sit here in the stillness after the little ones are all in bed, I am feeling so blessed...so content with the life that God has laid out for me.
We all went to the County fair today..14 of us. It was so nice to see all the kids having such a good time without spending extra money or asking for lots of things. We watched a show, visited the petting zoo and enjoyed walking through the creative arts building. Hope entered some examples of the photography she has been shooting this summer. I think she is really talented.
We have such a great group of nurses and PCA's around this summer to help us do all that needs to be done. We wish that we could take care of the kids on our own, but their needs make that impossible. We have such incredible caregivers to help us and we are so thankful.
God has truely given us such an incredible life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have been thinking about the "taking care of yourself" philosophy that is assumed to be the only way to live in the United States. It is similar to the push for giving our children positive "self esteem" above anything else. That philosophy led to a generation of lots of self absorbed attention seeking individuals. Please don't get me wrong, as parents, it is important that we help our children find and cultivate the God given gifts and talents they have been given. But, indulging our children does not teach them to reach out to others and to serve those around them. I want our kids to see the need for a Savior in their lives and if they see themselves as worthy of the same praise as our God, they will have a long road ahead of them trying to live their life without a faith in something worthy of their Praise.
I don't believe that living the Christian life is meant to be "balanced" in the way that our society defines "balance." I think we have taken the Biblical truths to renew our minds and to take care of ourselves out of context and infused our own American values into our interpretation. Somewhere along the line, taking a break seems to have taken a life of it's own. Trips, seeking financial freedom, weekends away, lavish gifts, and pampering ourselves excessively all became the new definition of "taking care of ourselves." I do believe that we all need some time to refresh and renew....we can get so busy trying to serve our Lord, that we ignore our time with Him in the process.
Our life is not balanced. When we said yes to adopting lots of children with special needs, we said no to other things that to the world seem like essentials. We don't spend a lot of time away from our kids. Yet, we do get time away from them so that we can keep our relationship strong. We do have hobbies and interests that are our own. But for the most part, we work alongside each other taking care of our incredible kids. There is no other place that I want to be...and their is no one I want to be serving alongside than my husband, Mark.
We feel blessed to be servants. That is all we want to do in life--this is contentment for us. We have such a peace in our lives that really does have no other explanation than Jesus....
But, as I sit here in the stillness after the little ones are all in bed, I am feeling so blessed...so content with the life that God has laid out for me.
We all went to the County fair today..14 of us. It was so nice to see all the kids having such a good time without spending extra money or asking for lots of things. We watched a show, visited the petting zoo and enjoyed walking through the creative arts building. Hope entered some examples of the photography she has been shooting this summer. I think she is really talented.
We have such a great group of nurses and PCA's around this summer to help us do all that needs to be done. We wish that we could take care of the kids on our own, but their needs make that impossible. We have such incredible caregivers to help us and we are so thankful.
God has truely given us such an incredible life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have been thinking about the "taking care of yourself" philosophy that is assumed to be the only way to live in the United States. It is similar to the push for giving our children positive "self esteem" above anything else. That philosophy led to a generation of lots of self absorbed attention seeking individuals. Please don't get me wrong, as parents, it is important that we help our children find and cultivate the God given gifts and talents they have been given. But, indulging our children does not teach them to reach out to others and to serve those around them. I want our kids to see the need for a Savior in their lives and if they see themselves as worthy of the same praise as our God, they will have a long road ahead of them trying to live their life without a faith in something worthy of their Praise.
I don't believe that living the Christian life is meant to be "balanced" in the way that our society defines "balance." I think we have taken the Biblical truths to renew our minds and to take care of ourselves out of context and infused our own American values into our interpretation. Somewhere along the line, taking a break seems to have taken a life of it's own. Trips, seeking financial freedom, weekends away, lavish gifts, and pampering ourselves excessively all became the new definition of "taking care of ourselves." I do believe that we all need some time to refresh and renew....we can get so busy trying to serve our Lord, that we ignore our time with Him in the process.
Our life is not balanced. When we said yes to adopting lots of children with special needs, we said no to other things that to the world seem like essentials. We don't spend a lot of time away from our kids. Yet, we do get time away from them so that we can keep our relationship strong. We do have hobbies and interests that are our own. But for the most part, we work alongside each other taking care of our incredible kids. There is no other place that I want to be...and their is no one I want to be serving alongside than my husband, Mark.
We feel blessed to be servants. That is all we want to do in life--this is contentment for us. We have such a peace in our lives that really does have no other explanation than Jesus....
