May 28, 2007

The end of a perfect week.....

....last night we gathered with friends, babies, pizza, coke and a good movie for Peter's last night here in Antigua! I am so proud of this brother of mine and his visit was perfect, totally encouraging and we had a complete blast!!! Madi adored him and even took her first four steps to him this weekend!!! Thank you, Pete we love you and miss you. I don't have the words for what this visit did for me!!!!













May 26, 2007

For such a time as this....




….”for such a time as this” the Lord has used these words in my life often, spoken over Esther by her uncle Mordecai at a crucial time in not only Esther and Mordecai’s life, but for all of their people as well…and Esther responded as all godly women would in her situation, with just a little bit of the wringing of hands!! Okay, maybe not all women, but certainly a response I am all too familiar with in my own life…”What are we to do?” …and Mordecai’s response “And who knows if you have not been obtained to royalty for such a time as this”
Every day here in Guatemala has the opportunity to afford life changing experiences. It is always the spiritual high in my life to live here, because the need is unmasked and smacks you in the face daily. Take the other day for example, I was walking through the park with Madeline, my mind on the multiple things on my “to do” list for the day….I had a meeting, needed to go to the store, oh, I forgot to call that person back…you know, just busy-ness, the sun was shining…it was another beautiful, busy day in Antigua and I ran into a girl who looked about my 16 year old sister’s age, pretty, cute little outfit on, stylish hair and snuggled in her sling across her chest was a tiny beautiful baby boy. “Juan Daniel” was her reply when I asked his name and then I was telling her how beautiful, two month old Juan was and she was stroking Madi’s head and remarked how cute she was, interchanges like this in the park are a common aspect of life here. Then my new friend leaned closer and said “Do you want him?” it was so out of context in our conversation that it took me awhile to wipe the “what?” look off my face to realize that she was talking about her baby. A couple days later as I was sharing the story with my friend and director of Casa Bernabe over coffee, I rambled on and on about how sad it was, how disturbing, how I worried about Juan, about the many responses I could have had to that girl, about what the “right” thing would have been to do, I jumped in to the politics of adoptions in Guatemala, all the while my friend across the table was getting teary eyed and her very Mordecai’s response to my very Esther reaction was….” That meeting was appointed by God for you to intercede and pray life over that baby” because bottom line, there is a little Juan Daniel who is very much alone while slung on his mother’s back, that kind of “alone” I am convinced in my soul, babies from birth, even from the womb feel take into their spirit. And in that moment, sitting across from a woman who has walked the path of orphan ministry and rescue for years, ministered to me, without knowing it, releasing me by wisdom to react in the Spirit over the encounter I had with a young girl and her baby, that it wasn’t so much “What do I do” as it is this walking in the Spirit of God, realizing His Father love for Juan Daniel and the opportunity He was giving me to go before the throne of mercy to ask for LIFE for this baby…..I had obtained royalty as a daughter of the King, for such a time as this…..I sing these little songs to Madeline, making them up as I go along, encouraged by the bobbing of her little head and swaying her chubby shoulders to the verses… the songs sound a lot like the ones my dad used to sing over me as a little girl and I can’t wait for him to sing over Madi when we get home….silly maybe, but to this day, I remember my dad in his husky, out of tune voice, singing his love over my life and I felt that protection he was offering in the sound of his voice…praying today for HIS song of love and protection over tiny Juan Daniel and others like him….for such a time as this, intrusting the lives around us to a God greater than ourselves and our circumstances!

May 24, 2007

Flying by....

...the week that is and our time with Peter is going way too quickly for both Madi's and my taste. We are filling the days to the fullest, that's for sure and lovin' every second of a little taste from home, all wrapped up in Peter! :-)

We went to Hermano Pedro today with our friends, the Mohrs









May 21, 2007

To my friend.....



I know I have been blogging a little excessively (trying to fulfill Katie’s dream!) but I can’t let the day slip by without honoring my friend, Alison today, as it is her birthday!!!!! I can say without hesitation that the Lord has enriched my life in every way since He brought Alison into my life…it was one of those instant kind of friendships, where the bond was deep and real from almost day one, when we met at a coordinators meeting with the The Shepherd’s Crook Ministries staff. The Lord has led us on very similar paths over the years (in some even uncanny ways, honestly) so there has just been this amazing shoulder to shoulder encouragement and friendship and I can’t even begin to imagine life without her! You would never know if you sat down and visited with Alison in her gentle, soft spoken, humble, non assuming way ( with this cute hidden hilarious sense of humor) what a kingdom warrior she is as she has been on the front lines battling for years in Romania, serving in unimaginable conditions, living with the people, serving in hospitals and orphanages, saving babies, burying babies, things I can’t imagine experiencing, yet you will be in conversation with her and she will share this “Amy Carmichael like experience”, it will just slip out and you have to say “Wait, wait, wait….you did what?” As a pediatric nurse she has traveled to several different countries for medical missions, organizing the trips, assisting in the surgeries, literally making the difference of life and death for many children who would either be cast aside to die or would have no hope of a better life! Alison has the gift of being one of the most brilliant medical professionals yet it always being about one life as exemplified in her love for the Lord that is simple, pure and most of all untainted….it is just about the gospel for Alison and she lives that and the effect her surrendered life has been on many children in many countries is vast! I have a hundred stories to share and I wish I had the time to sit and account for them all to give testimony and honor to my friend who serves as an example to me of a life sold out!!!!! AND this year the Lord has been doing some unbelievably exciting things in Alison’s life (some will go unnamed on this blog…wink!) one being the adoption of her son Samuel (another amazing and miraculous testimony) Samuel and Madi are the same age so our conversations have taken a natural progression to how to get your baby to nap successively and what they ate that day, you know the “big stuff” that life is made of! :-) With all my heart and with much love, I want to honor my friend, Alison….. Happy Birthday!!!!

**Note….I have copied some pictures below of some time Alison and I spent in a special needs hogar in Mexico and one of Alison and Samuel!***








AND Peter is here.....




My brother and one of my best friends, Peter came to visit us for a week!! We are having the most incredible time of our lives ( at least Madi and I are as Madi took one look at Peter and fell hook line and sinker and they have been inseparable ever since...and I mean she cries when he leaves the room!!!! We couldn't be happier! :-)






My dear friend, Katie living here in Antigua with her
son Eliot, sticking it out through a pretty tough adoption,
also had a suprise, her hubby also came for a visit...
Check out the Mohr's blog by clicking here.... katiemohr.blogspot.com
Amazing couple!


A simple man


..... a humble servant, who daily washes the feet of the "least of these" Dick Rutgers is a dear friend of our family's and has one of the most needed ministries I know of here in Guatemala! Dick ministers in villages, hospitals, orphanages and in his own neighborhood on a daily basis and has heart as much like Christ as I have had the privilege of seeing in my lifetime! Dick has a wheel chair ministry ( among other things) and if you walk through the doors of Hermano Pedro hospital here in Antigua, you will see a "multitude" of wheelchairs either being put to use or lined up against the wall waiting for their little owners to inhabit them. Children who would never have the freedom to explore the world outside their metal cribs are given a life when they are put in wheelchairs and they are able to interact with others in the "outside world" You have no idea what a gift Dick is to these children and my all time favorite thing in the world is to watch Dick walk through the hospital and see heaven come down for those children, they sing out his name, smiles and cute CP laughter lights up the place and countless times have I walked in the door, knelt down to hug someone and am asked right off the bat, when Dick is coming!!!! I love it!!!! I would also love for you all to get to know Dick and familiarize yourself with his ministry. Dick sends out almost weekly updates of his days filled with ministry and you can subscribe to them by e-mailing Dick at dickr@terra.com.gt I would encourage you with all my heart to sign up and get ready for a blessing!!!

May 19, 2007

Their faces....

"I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be My people...And I will be a Father to you, and you should be, sons and daughters to Me"




















































Madeline Elisabeth

















....wouldn't seem like much of a blog ( at least to me) without focusing just for a second on our newest little pride and joy!!! My family is so anxious to get this baby home and start spoiling her and she is getting to be quite a pro at "talking on the phone" as members of my family call and "coo" over the phone while she grins and licks it !! In the meantime, she fills my day with her sunshine, happy, spunky, adorable, precious, darling self and is just a little baby doll!! Blessings upon blessings!