We are so blessed

I am speechless because of your love. All of you who reach out to make my babies feel more comfortable in their surroundings....to make them feel even more loved....to make them feel at home. All of the gifts we have received are so so special. Lottie and Emma can tell you where each and every thing came from.....you cannot even imagine the love they feel pouring out from your hearts. We have our good days and bad days with missing home. When we are really missing home...on the bad days....the girls and I make a list of what we miss at home and what we love about Costa Rica. The list at home is always the same....this is Lottie's....Sissy, Bubba, my friends, my family and my swimming pool. lol. Except for the swimming pool, I believe her list is very accurate. The only thing we can't replace here is our family and friends.

Lottie received her birthday box from her Aunt Jan, Uncle Steve, Ryan and Gordon in Hawaii! Of course, Aunt Jan can't JUST buy presents for Lottie..lol! They both received these precious ponchos, little bitty princess phones....Cinderella for Lottie and Princess Aurora for Emma....she never even asked me "who liked what princess" but she got it right! (Well, Lottie loves Tinkerbell too;) And they also received the cutest Hello Kitty book bags and Lottie got her very first big girl bible....a purple one too!

Then yesterday, we received this Christmas box from Kim and her family (This is Flat Stanley's family too;). Kim and I went through school together; stayed in touch for some years and then fell out of touch with each other. She found me on facebook right before I left for Costa Rica and has done nothing but reach out to my family. So, I am wiping tears away this morning at the people God has placed in my life or back into my life at just the right time. This box is incredibly amazing....she did not want the girls to be without Christmas decorations and let me tell you.....we will be decked out! There are crafts......ornaments....lights.....cookie cutters...you name it...it is in this box! She also sent six stockings because she knew James and Elisabeth were coming. What a blessing you are my friend. I am truly at a loss for words for all of you who bless my babies. They are already wearing their reindeer antlers and their Christmas socks. lol

I have a prayer request! I have been praying and praying and praying for a ministry. My mentor, sweet Annette, called me last night and she has an idea. There is a home for children right near my house and there is not a missionary presence there that she knows of right now so she is thinking of taking our family there this week. We will bake some cookies and go over there and see if they will let us come once a week or twice a month or whatever and tell stories to the children. I don't think we have enough Spanish to go by ourselves the first time, but then if they say yes....we can fumble our way through it and even probably increase our language. I know love can be shown in all languages! I have been praying so hard for a ministry that our entire family could do together and I think this is so wonderful.....oh I am praying for Him to give me an answer. Please pray with me.....I desperately need to serve someone!

How to bless God by Rick Warren

"I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you . . . and you will be a blessing to others" (Genesis 12:2 NLT).

The Bible teaches that we should use our blessings to bless others: Our blessings should flow to others The Bible teaches us that we are blessed not just so that we can feel good, not just so we can be happy and comfortable, but so that we will bless others. God told Abraham, "I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others" (Genesis 12:2 NLT). This is the first law of blessing: it must flow outwardly. When we bless others, God takes care of our needs God promises that if we will concentrate on blessing others, he'll take care of our needs. There's almost nothing that God won't do for the person who really wants to help other people. In fact, God guarantees this blessing. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth . . . no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life" (Luke 18:29-30 NIV). When you care about helping other people, God assumes responsibility for your problems. And that's a real blessing, for he's much better at handling your difficulties than you are. Our blessings to others will come back on usThe more you bless other people . . . the more you help others, the more God blesses your life. Luke tells us, "Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back--given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity" (Luke 6:38 MSG). You cannot out give God. The more you try to bless other people in the world around you, the more God says, "I'm going to pour blessings out on you. We'll play a little game here. Let's see who will win. Let's see who can give the most. The more you bless others the more I'm going to bless you in return." The more we're blessed by God the more He expects us to help others. Jesus said it this way: "Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given" (Luke 12:48 TEV). Would you agree that based on the blessings of your life you probably have a greater responsibility than other people in the world? If you live in the United States, I'm sure you’d agree, because it's obvious we've been given freedom that many people don't have. We've been given opportunities that many people don't have. We've been given material and physical and spiritual abundance that a lot of people around the world simply do not have. Think this through with me. If I've been blessed more than the rest of the world then it would stand to reason that God would want me to care about the rest of the world. Does that make sense?

All creatures great and small.....the Lord God made them all!

A picture of the family after a long sweaty hike

Mommy: "Umm.....Lottie Li there are crocodiles in this river....please stop sticking your hand in the water!"

Monkey's in the tree

I just love all of the different man made bridges.....so unique

A swing bridge.....this is the only picture I took as it swayed....I was worried the whole time they were going to fall through the bottom of the bridge....the fence wasn't connected to the bottom of the bridge!

Emma Jane and Mr. Ronnie

This is a picture of a Jesus Christ Lizard (this is what they call this breed because it walks across the water!) Too funny!

Emma Jane and Mr. Kenny (He and his wife Elizabeth lived in our quad when we were in Virgina

A big monkey!

Lottie's dirty feet as she relaxes on the boat

Lottie and Mr. Ronnie

This is Lottie with her two new Webkinz that her Aunt Karen sent to her. Aunt Karen also sent them Halloween cards with money inside for ice cream. Aunt Karen sends them a card with money and stickers in it for every single holiday. When Lottie opened the card she said, "I love Aunt Karen, she always makes sure I have plenty of stickers and money." lol

We spent the day on a boat ride through the rain forest. I can never get enough of God's creation in this country. Where we live in San Jose, it is not that pretty.....it is a huge city! But once you get out and go over the mountains....oh my...you can't help but think of God and sit in His presence. We went with the Henderson's and the Williams family, this was our last trip with them as they are leaving San Jose to go to their countries where God has called them in December. We will miss them. The Ziglars leave in December too....we might experience our first bout of culture shock after they are all gone:(

School has been very hard lately, we are learning reflexive verbs. I am very excited though because my grammar teacher says that we are moving along well and she is planning to introduce past tense to us before this trimester is over....Woo Hoo! Like I have said before it is difficult sometimes to always talk in the present tense. I mean, seriously.....the Bible is in past tense even!

Lottie has being doing amazing.....maybe it is because she will be five in one week....who knows but it is because of your prayers and God's extra dose of grace. We feel both and please continue to pray for her. A couple of cute things about the girls that I just wanted to journal so I wouldn't forget them.

The other day, my neighbor who LOVES to bake Stacey, made us some cookies. Lottie took one bite and said, "I love Ms. Stacey Mommy, she cooks gooder than you".

Last Sunday in the girls classroom they made pendants with pencils and on the pendant it said,
"Eschuchemos a Jesus". I was a little irritated with Lottie because she wouldn't walk and it is a long walk when you are carrying an extra 30 pounds. About halfway home she said, "Emma, hold up your flag really high so everyone will know about Jesus!" (After that, it was hard to be upset with her;)

Emma had on a necklace and it was pulling on the little hairs on the back of her neck and she said, "Mommy, could you take this off....this necklace is biting me?" (she is so precious!)

Okay...last one! I was studying one afternoon and listening to the girls play with their new stuffed puppies that their Aunt Karen sent to them. Lottie said to Emma's puppy, "Let me tell you about Jesus, he is our King in heaven and he needs to save you so if you watch me every day you will see my light shine and you will learn about Him" (She really is listening....just hoping the children are watching on the days her light is really shining...lol)

Oh how He loves you and me!

“Love,” Paul says, “never fails” (1 Cor. 13:8 NIV).

The verb Paul uses for the word fail is used elsewhere to describe the demise of a flower as it falls to the ground, withers, and decays. It carries the meaning of death and abolishment. God’s love, says the apostle, will never fall to the ground, wither, and decay. By its nature, it is permanent. It is never abolished.

Love “will last forever” (NLT).

It “never dies” (MSG).

It “never ends” (RSV).

Love “is eternal” (TEV).

God’s love “will never come to an end” (NEB).

Love never fails.

Governments will fail, but God’s love will last. Crowns are temporary, but love is eternal. Your money will run out, but his love never will.

How could God have a love like this? No one has unfailing love. No person can love with perfection. You’re right. No person can. But God is not a person. Unlike our love, his never fails. His love is immensely different from ours.

Our love depends on the receiver of the love. Let a thousand people pass before us, and we will not feel the same about each. Our love will be regulated by their appearance, by their personalities. Even when we find a few people we like, our feelings will fluctuate. How they treat us will affect how we love them. The receiver regulates our love.

Not so with the love of God. We have no thermostatic impact on his love for us. The love of God is born from within him, not from what he finds in us. His love is uncaused and spontaneous.

Does he love us because of our goodness? Because of our kindness? Because of our great faith? No, he loves us because of his goodness, kindness, and great faith. John says it like this: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us” (1 John 4:10 NIV).

Doesn’t this thought comfort you? God’s love does not hinge on yours. The abundance of your love does not increase his. The lack of your love does not diminish his. Your goodness does not enhance his love, nor does your weakness dilute it. What Moses said to Israel is what God says to us:

The LORD did not choose you and lavish his love on you because you were larger or greater than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! It was simply because the LORD loves you. (Deut. 7:7–8 NLT)

God loves you simply because he has chosen to do so.

He loves you when you don’t feel lovely.

He loves you when no one else loves you. Others may abandon you, divorce you, and ignore you, but God will love you. Always. No matter what.

This is his sentiment: “I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved” (Rom. 9:25 MSG).

This is his promise. “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself” (Jer. 31:3 NLT).

**A very old picture of Lottie and Emma but there are not many opportunities here to take pictures of them and be safe. I love this picture for so many reasons....I used it on our Christmas card last year for one reason. It shows a love between two sisters. I love the way Emma Jane is gently holding Lottie's hand...she loves Lottie and looks up to her (sometimes that is not good...lol)....this is the same way they both look up to James and Elisabeth. We all have the ability to exhibit God's love for other people. My prayer lately has been, "Please Lord use me...send me someone to love on and show them how important they are to You...use me to help them see how lost they are without You in their life".......care to pray this with me and see how much we can expand the Kingdom together?

Wonderful gifts

One Skippyjon Jones animal for both girls.....Holy guacamole! (as Skipito Friskito would say;)

One proud weaver!

We have had a long week already with Spiritual warfare. The package from Stephanie and Allie Boo was actually for Lottie's birthday in a few weeks but sometimes in the midst of dark days you just gotta open presents early;) Stephanie sent them these little looms and Lottie had the best time making this cup holder for her Daddy's coffee cup. These are new sheets. Maybe not something all little girls desire for their birthday...but mine did. She desires to have a bed of her own....not the rent house bed with rent house sheets. So we thought that having her own sheets would make the bed feel like her very own. We did bring our own blanket and pillowcases and the only reason I didn't bring sheets was because sheets have never mattered to her in the past. Well....they do now! She took them out of the box and of course......smelled them......and then wanted them on the bed immediately. She kept saying over and over how they smelled like Allie Boo's house. (as you know very important to Lottie) After I made the bed she said, "Mommy....quick shut the bedroom door so the smell will stay in the room and I can remember Allie Boo forever!" Sigh...I love this tenderhearted girl. Of course, there was another new blankie....the purple one in the picture above. She now has stink, fluffy and Princess Purple. She makes me smile.

We also received another box from our sweet Ms. Rhonda which included clothes, TWO Skippyjon Jones books and two stuffed animals plus....and this was way awesome.....a huge Hershey's Chocolate Almond bar for me. Well, it didn't specifically say it was for me but I hid it and now it is all gone but I did give Greg a couple of bites;) I am not totally selfish! There were also dog and horse sticker books. Emma loves her Horse sticker book and carries it around everywhere. She won't let me help her do the stickers....I think she loves it just the way it is;) She is so simple and precious in this way. Have your children read any Skippyjon Jones books? My girls adore him! He is a siamese cat that desires to be a chihuahua.....so much so that when he looks in the mirror he sees a chihuahua and when he goes into his closet in his big boy room he is taken to the far away country of Mexico where he speaks really poor Spanish in a muy muy soft voice. They are really cute books and we have the best time reading them together!

Our week has been a battle.....no need to go into details.....just a battle....pure and simple. I would like to share this poem that Beth Moore wrote of which I have been meditating on each day:
Satisfy me not with the lesser of You.
Find me no solace in shadows of the True
No ordinary measure of extraordinary means
The depth, the length, the breadth of You
And nothing in between.
Etch these words upon my heart, knowing all the while
No ordinary roadblocks plague extraordinary miles
Your power as my portion, Your glory as my fare
Take me to extremities,
But meet me fully there.

My earthly circumstances can be in the valley while my awareness of God can take me to the mountain. David lived most of his life in the extremes, but He met God at every venture. I want my life to be like his. I don't want to make the mistakes he made, but I want to meet God at every high, every low and every stop in between. Thank you Father for never leaving my side. As I lay in bed last night unable to sleep after 1:00am......I could hardly find words for prayer.....I just told Him that I was just going to lay in His presence and not speak. I then felt a small hand on my back tapping me.....I turned over and Lottie whispered, "I am having a bad dream....will you pray for me?" Oh thank you Father for Lottie's knowledge that she can come to you....even in the midst of a bad dream.....thank you for her faith that You will take it all away.

"I love you Lord....and I lift my voice....to worship you....oh my soul rejoice....take joy my King....in what you hear....may it be a sweet sweet sound in Your ear."

Our first sleepover

Savannah and Emma Jane

Smart little Savannah

Sierra and Emma Jane watching a movie

The last picture is of Lottie and Sidney wearing the same dress. Sidney was trying to convince me to take them to the little store across the street so everyone in the store would ask me if they were twins. LOL Especially after the story I blogged about previously, I am especially thankful for children who cannot see differences in the way they look. She is precious. Their Mommy was in the hospital for two nights so they spent the night with another missionary family the first night and with us the second night. All five little girls had such a wonderful time and thankfully their Mommy is home now and feeling better. Lottie actually slept in the same bed with Sidney for over three hours before she came and crawled in bed with me and Greg....not too bad for her;) Savannah is the oldest and she was helping me with the dinner dishes and she had lots of questions about Lottie's home in China and how her story began. Interesting how this subject keeps coming up so often these days. I explained to her about how Lottie's mother couldn't care for her and she asked me exactly "where" did her Mommy take her? I told her that a store owner found her in front of his store and how I knew that her Mommy loved her so much that she made sure it was somewhere that someone would find her immediately. She was quiet for awhile and said, "Ms. Kim.....I think her Mommy waited and hid and watched for someone to pick her up just like Moses' sister did in the Bible.....she followed him in the basket all the way down the river until he was rescued." Tears just welled up in my eyes....she is so precious....all of these years that I have had adopted children....all of these years that I have known about this miraculous story in the Bible and it takes an insightful nine year old to give me such a clear Godly example and a wonderful story to share with Lottie when the times comes to answer this question for her. I am blessed.....and this family must feel very proud of Savannah.

On the plus side of the story in the prior post.....it seems that Lottie, Eden (also adopted from China) and Emma Jane are creating their own stories about their adoptions. The latest story is that they all lived in the same house together and played and played all day until their Mommy's came to China to bring them home. (big smile) Lottie says that Allie Boo was there also. Of course, that puts Emma Jane in the wrong country all together but I am blessed by their love for each other and their obvious need to be together even when they were babies in China (and South Korea;)

Our family continues to look for the right Bible study to attend and we need to find a ministry here so please help us to pray that the Lord leads us to the perfect place to serve. My friend, Fer, came by my house on Thursday night with a surprise for me. She gave me a CD with beautiful music. It had the rainforest sounds along with the most beautiful piano playing I have ever heard. What was really moving was the note she gave to me. I pray that our friendship can grow and I can be a good friend to her while I am here. I don't get to see her very often because she is in college but I know that God placed us together for a reason. I pray you all have a blessed week and I love you.

When you are low on Hope by Max Lucado

Water. All Noah can see is water. The evening sun sinks into it. The clouds are reflected in it. His boat is surrounded by it. Water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the west. Water.

He sent a raven on a scouting mission; it never returned. He sent a dove. It came back shivering and spent, having found no place to roost. Then, just this morning, he tried again. With a prayer he let it go and watched until the bird was no bigger than a speck on a window.

All day he looked for the dove’s return.

Now the sun is setting, and the sky is darkening, and he has come to look one final time, but all he sees is water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the …

You know the feeling. You have stood where Noah stood. You’ve known your share of floods. Flooded by sorrow at the cemetery, stress at the office, anger at the disability in your body or the inability of your spouse. You’ve seen the floodwater rise, and you’ve likely seen the sun set on your hopes as well. You’ve been on Noah’s boat.

And you’ve needed what Noah needed; you’ve needed some hope. You’re not asking for a helicopter rescue, but the sound of one would be nice. Hope doesn’t promise an instant solution but rather the possibility of an eventual one. Sometimes all we need is a little hope.

That’s all Noah needed. And that’s all Noah received.

Here is how the Bible describes the moment: “When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!” (Gen. 8:11 NIV).

An olive leaf. Noah would have been happy to have the bird but to have the leaf! This leaf was more than foliage; this was promise. The bird brought more than a piece of a tree; it brought hope. For isn’t that what hope is? Hope is an olive leaf—evidence of dry land after a flood. Proof to the dreamer that dreaming is worth the risk.

Don’t we love the olive leaves of life?
“It appears the cancer may be in remission.”
“I can help you with those finances.”
“We’ll get through this together.”
What’s more, don’t we love the doves that bring them?
Perhaps that’s the reason so many loved Jesus.

To all the Noahs of the world, to all who search the horizon for a fleck of hope, he proclaims, “Yes!” And he comes. He comes as a dove. He comes bearing fruit from a distant land, from our future home. He comes with a leaf of hope.

A Love Worth GivingHave you received yours? Don’t think your ark is too isolated. Don’t think your flood is too wide. Receive his hope, won’t you? Receive it because you need it. Receive it so you can share it.

Love always hopes. “Love … bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4–7 NKJV, emphasis mine).

** I really needed these words this week. It has been a really rough two weeks. Things that don't have anything to do with learning Spanish.....situations that have kept me on my knees. Some are just situations my fellow missionary friends are going through.....some are just in our family. Questions have been posed at school in the four year old class to cause Lottie to come home and suddenly call her Mommy in China...her real Mom. I, of course, know this is extremely normal so we went over "our story" again and I explained that her first Mommy was her Mommy in China and then God chose me to be her Mommy and sent me to China to get her. This went on for several days....the other children at school telling her she couldn't be my daughter because we didn't look anything like each other. This led to further talks with Lottie...reminding her that God makes all families different. Some of them look the same....some of them do not look the same. What is important is that He placed each one of us in this family....this very special family no matter what anyone else says. I also told her that if it continued that I thought it would be a good idea to sit down with this little girl and her Mommy and share our story with them...so they would know how special our story is to us and to God. Spanish seems so small in times such as these but I know God has a reason for everything. I am aware this would happen one day with both of my little ones....I just wanted them to be a little older and to be armed with the right words to share with their friends. This is just one thing we are dealing with at this moment but it seems for some reason the Lord wants me to stay on my knees....I continue to try and stand up and He gently places me back on my knees. So here I remain....on my knees but with much hope because my God is the God of all hope....I am thankful for the Hope He has given to me.....I know what hope feels like.....I know there is something He is wanting me to do.....so I wait for Him....with much faith because my God sits on the highest of thrones.