Blessings of 2014

2014 had a lot of struggles for our family, but in the midst of the losses and hardships, there were beautiful blessings.  I have always been amazed by how God has brought resources, people and encouragement to us through likely sources such as family and unlikely sources such as strangers and acquaintances.  This past year brought exceptional blessings.

In 2014, we had a number of needs that seemed like they would become overwhelming, but none of them did.  

Needs which had me concerned and praying included the fact that our refrigerator had started freezing foods like lettuce, our vehicles were all having expensive "issues" some of which were caused by vandalism, Hannah's piano and Brailler needed fixed (at the same time), and our house (and the rentals in Kansas) had unexpected repairs needed several times.  Plus "the usual" stresses of keeping our household running and our out-of-pocket medical paid had my prayer life flourishing.

Ed has always said that I can spin straw into gold, but there was no way to "spin" or even juggle the large number of needs that were coming at us!  However, resources arrived as needed through so many sources!  Extra jobs, gifts, unbelievable deals, and bills that never got billed despite my calling for an invoice several times...you know who you are, if you are reading this...well, all I can say is a LOT of thank you's!

A food ministry through our previous church from while we lived in Carthage provided us with many donated

Our  SURPRISE Thanksgiving Basket
from Fellowship Baptist

vegetables and food items.  My cousin's family continued to supply us with venison.  My aunt provided several donations of milk.  Sometimes food just showed up in our garage from unlikely and sometimes unknown sources.   Plus food and household supply deals through Surplus/Salvage stores and advertised sales and coupons made my household envelop go farther than it ever should have (which is good because I was taking money from it to cover other financial needs)!

My TOPS chapter and friends helped us fund our trips to State and International Award ceremonies. Several TOPS friends and family gave me clothes as I lost weight and did not have clothing in my new sizes. Plus a friend even gave me a formal dress when I won the TOPS award for weight loss so I could meet the stage dress code!  (And as icing on my blessings, a TOPS friend from Kansas knitted and mailed all the kids stocking caps that they love!)

A friend on Facebook donated TWO huge bags of clothes to our quickly growing oldest son who officially became a challenge to keep up with this year since he sprouted from a size 10 to a 14-16 just this year.  AND all these donated clothes fit!

We got "curbside" dishes and a recliner when a neighbor was cleaning out to move.

Some of the school supplies
and snacks.....

My parents paid the kids' school lunches through April 2015! Which is NOT a small BILL even with reduced lunch prices!!!  (My parents do a LOT for us, but this bill is almost $1000 per school year.)  And my mom helped me buy and find deals on school supplies and the 48 days of school snacks that were needed for our youngest kids to meet their school's snack obligations...yes, that is 1152 individually wrapped, healthy, store bought snacks...the thought makes your head hurt doesn't it!

My aunt and uncle gave us the refrigerator from her new house, and it does not freeze lettuce or eggs and it is bigger than our old one!  Plus they gave us an unbelievable deal on buying their minivan (as our Durango was needing many repairs with over 318,000 miles on it).

The Wassenaars gave us HUGE watermelons, bell peppers, oranges, their entertainment center...plus her sister gave Corrine a bedroom set...and you thought you had good neighbors!  Truthfully, we have amazing neighbors everywhere in our neighborhood.

People helped me find walnuts that we could pick up to fund Christmas.  Two ladies in particular may have "scouted" the town and harassed ALL their friends with walnut trees into letting us pick up their walnuts!  It was such a blessing!  All I know is between the walnuts, the aluminum cans and some scrap metal, we somehow funded Christmas for our kids and our Compassion child (and could even afford postage on a few Christmas cards which is really something with the cost of postage)!

Our family got approved for a reduced fee family membership to the YMCA in August.  So for the first time, we are enjoying the local YMCA's facilities and I am enjoying the aquasize classes.

Other blessings included the loss of our favorite (and the best) pediatrician Dr. Shari Smith being temporary because she was able to open a new practice in November!  (Having a doctor and staff who values our kids as much as we do is an immeasurable blessing.)

Pro-Lube continues to keep fixing our vehicles within what we can manage financially, which is no small task when our newest car has 220,000 miles on it and our bus has over 310,000 miles on it.  It is a wonder that we don't spend all our time broke down along the roadside!  I know sometimes they must think, "You broke what and how!"...thinking of a certain bus lift that they welded back into working order. These are a talented group of mechanics!

Countryside Pharmacy keeps humoring my forever search for more affordable formulary medications to keep our co-pays low.  But despite my relentless search of lower cost medications, they provide us with amazing and smiling service and even 7 free movie tickets to the Summer Kid's Movie! (You won't get that at Walgreens!)...which brings me to the blessing of Nate no longer needing his expensive heart medication as of March 2014.

Mike's Heating & Air got our old HVAC system working despite our previous repair company telling us that it was unfix-able on one of the hottest days of Summer.  Ed and I could certainly live without A/C, but some of our kids should not for medical reasons so when J.J. got that old system to pump out cool air...well, my stress level took a huge drop!

Hometown Bank keeps providing smiling employees and wonderful services including letting me abuse their free faxing and notary services despite having a balance, which should not earn us any free services!

The schools that serve our kids continue to be a blessing in their efforts to find and keep the right people and services to meet our kids needs.  This year has been a struggle for them too as new people have had to learn the unique challenges, needs and values of our family.

Then in the section of blessings that probably only a few families need.  Jon finished getting his teeth fixed and

Hannah with her working
brailler!

with some help from a friend, I am no longer making payments on that bill.  Insurance finally agreed to cover some of Jon's diapers and let us get him a power wheelchair.  Hannah got a manual Brailler loaned to us indefinitely so we could avoid repairing the Mountbatten Brailler.  A friend sold an amazing baby grand electric piano at the right price so we could replace Hannah's piano that was needing repairs.  Plus despite Hannah's cochlear implant becoming outdated, we had no repair costs this year because Boy's Town Research Hospital has enough donated parts from old systems to keep Hannah's processor functioning.

And with Ed's 168 mile a day commute, lets not forget the blessing of lower gas prices!  The daily commute price has dropped to $14 per day from $22 per day!!!

The biggest blessing of all to me was being able to help others even as we struggled to meet our own needs.  I am forever grateful when God provides a surplus of donated food or items that I can pass on to others who I know could use a blessing.  This year we were able to pass on a neighbor's washer and dryer, garden surplus, "yard" eggs from our chickens, outgrown clothes, and so much more.

God has provided us with an abundance of wonderful people in our lives...our pastor, teachers, doctors, nurses, therapists, mechanics, pharmacists, repair people, clerks, cashiers (yes, I know MY cashiers), neighbors, friends, family and so many more.  Thank you to everyone!  May we all have a blessed 2015!  (Sorry this post was so lengthy!)

Healing My Heart in Haiti

In honor and recognition of the 7 years that have passed since my only brother died suddenly from an undetected brain tumor called a colloid cyst,  I am posting a journal entry that I wrote many years ago.  It explains how an adoption trip to Haiti helped me to recognize God's loving care even in death.

On May 17, 2007, my only brother passed from this world into the loving arms of our Heavenly Father.  He was only 29 years old.  Around 5pm, I had just finished sitting by his bedside until he passed and I was standing in a hospital corridor, while my mom proclaimed, “He’s home.  He’s home.  God is good!  He is home.”  It was like my heart was being pulled in two directions:  the spiritual direction of rejoicing with my mother knowing his suffering had ended and the earthly direction of separation, despair and grief.  So I chose to try to stay numb and function to make arrangements and deal with the details until several weeks later when I could painfully sort out the realities and balance these emotions.

A year and a month later, I got to revisit these emotions in a most unlikely place and time.  My husband and I were in Haiti bringing home our children David and Vanessa.  The remainder of our children’s birth families came to the orphanage to meet us and say goodbye to their beloved family members whom we already called our son and daughter.   Their hearts were pulled in two directions:  the side of rejoicing that their beloved ones had permanent and loving family and the side of separation and loss.  I watched as one family member went numb and just functioned.  Others judged her for being so stony, but I understood.  I ached for her as I knew the time ahead would be difficult. 

During that visit, I realized that this part of adoption was yet another beautiful picture of our relationship with the Lord.  Just as we called David and Vanessa our children before we traveled to get them, God calls us His children before He brings us to a perfect home with Him.  Just as I felt the void of my brother’s passing, these family members would feel a void.   Just as I rejoiced that my brother was home with the Father so these family members rejoiced that we loved our children and thanked us for coming to get them.  It was after this meeting in Haiti that I was able to thank God for accepting my brother, whom He already called His son, home to a perfect home.  I was comforted.

Behold, what manner of love

the Father hath bestowed upon us,

that we should be called the sons of God:

therefore the world knoweth us not,

because it knew him not.~~I John 3:1

Camp Joy Memories

Today I had the pleasure of taking my teen daughters to Camp Joy near Ava, Missouri.  I attended there as a child, my family volunteered there, and our family had their first Fleming Family Reunion there 45 years ago.  (Yes, the same family reunion that we just attended for its 45th meeting for 3 days over the 4th of July at Camp Mission Point.) 

Camp Joy is a special place to me and to my family.   It embodies most of the values that we hold dear.  The name J-O-Y stands for Jesus-Others-You as the priority list that we should each seek in our lives.  Plus Camp Joy is a community event and a community effort.  One man named Oscar Cunningham and his family had a vision for a youth Bible camp for the rural churches around Ava. They had a passion for inspiring young people to consider a path of service to God and others.  Oscar took his vision and passion and shared it with others in the area.  People, who could build, came and helped build.  People, who farm, donated cows and hogs and veggies and fruits.  People, who could cook, came and cooked.  People, who could serve up God's love to young people, came and enjoyed their time serving.  It is truly an amazing environment created to welcome everyone to consider a life lived for Christ.

In front of the Girl's "cabins"....I think I need to find a picture of
the real "cabins" that we had 30 years ago.

Now Camp Joy is not your average camp.  It has no pool, no water slide, no grand activity buildings, no paved roads, no lake, no luxury cabins, no fancy kitchen/dining facility, limited wheelchair access, and limited air conditioning.  By materialistic standards, it is a below average facility.  But what Camp Joy has had from the first time it opened its doors to campers is a desire to welcome Christian and un-Christian youth to consider a life changing commitment to Christ in a wholesome, activity filled week away from the distractions of everyday life.  It is a chance to slow down, to be loved and to learn about God's desires.

Sidewalks!  Everywhere!  What a great addition!

Will my kids have a good time?  I have no idea.  They have been to above average camps and if they focus on facilities then they may be disappointed.  Little do they understand that the camp as it exists today is high class compared to the camp that I attended 30 years ago.  There have been so many improvements, and the commitments to serving Christ are evident in the improvements. 

The boy's "cabins".  Aren't they nice!

Will they think it is as great as I do?  Probably not.  They have not seen us sacrifice and work to make the camp the place it is today.  My grandparents died and we moved from the area before they were born.  This is an area where they vacation, not where they live and invest themselves.  My kids have no idea how important Camp Joy's ministry was to us.  They don't know what a sacrifice it is or what it meant for a small farmer like my grand-dad to donate a cow and the butcher fees.  The world that I lived in the 1970s is gone.  I knew only two faces at the camp today, but I do know that the passion and commitment of the community to carry out Oscar's vision is alive and well.   


Now my laugh for the day:

We came to the next to the last bridge before we got to camp. 

Grace did not want me to drive across it. 

She got out of the car and took a picture.

 

Grace let me know that I could send the photo to MoDOT

because they must not know about this bridge. 

Then I pointed out the sign in the tree and explained that "MoDOT cares".

 

I actually thought the old bridge looked pretty good....about the same as it did 30 years ago.

(I found it comforting to know that some things don't change.)

Honestly, we are prefect..ly flawed

After we reached adoption #3, other parents started calling us for resources and information.  Some parents were considering adoption and some had adopted children with challenging issues, but for whatever reason these folks decided to trust us with some very personal information about themselves and their families.  At first I was flattered, then I frankly got scared!  I mean to mess up with my own family would be tragic, but to lead another's family to bad decisions would be even worse!

Photo of our Nate by Angela Covington

I started praying before I answered parents' questions and decided to tell them the full truth about whatever they were asking, even if the answer was uncomfortable.  I would pray as I truthfully answered questions about bonding, behaviors, sibling rivialry, food issues, and loss.  As I offered resources and my experiences, I discovered that so FEW adoptive families do this with other adoptive and potential adoptive families.  Many adoptive families have gotten the message that not only should they keep their individual children's information private, BUT we have moved on to the idea that adoptive families need to act like we are better than biological families!  To hear many adoptive families tell it, their families are problem free, fun-filled and their adoptive children are all prodigies that have forgotten the early tramas and losses because of their loving care...to which I say, nonsense!  Either they are lying through their teeth or they don't know their child(ren).  While I certainly would never want a parent to publicly elaborate on individual kid's problems or behaviors, I would like to see some basic honestly..especially when they are discouraging adoptive families who are facing challenges by making them feel all alone in their issues.  Plus even more dangerous, the candy coated stories lead to adoptions by parents who frankly should not adopt!

When someone asks me about an issue that I don't have personal experience with, the first thing I say is something like, "That is tough.  I haven't experienced that but I know families who have."  Then I try to match them with a family farther along in that struggle who will honestly share their knowledge and resources.  I never want to leave a family feeling isolated because so few issues are truly unique, but with everyone keeping their secrets, so many adoptive families feel alone.

When someone asked me a question that I do have experience with, the first thing I say is something like, "I don't discuss this openly because it is so personal to me  and my family, but I know you are asking out of need and not nosiness so please keep this conversation between us."  Then I go on to explain what I know, how I know it and resources that helped me.

Through my honesty, it is always my hope that the person will realize that adoptive families have unique struggles, but we have unique victories too and most importantly I want parents to know that they are never alone.  God is in control.  He is soveriegn and He was there with the child when you were not.  He knows what they need and He believes in you.

Honestly, our family is not different from any other family.  Our family is perfect....perfectly flawed and striving to serve His purpose.

God places the lonely in families;

he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.~~Psalm 68:6a

40: Day 18

I have kids with stuffy noses, sore throats, antibiotics and fussy attitudes all around.  Today I was loading up to run errands and got the call that Matt was not feeling well at school.  I really thought he was on the mend but maybe he was just feeling extra tired so I started my errands by going to get him.  The twins are feeling much better, but they are still extra tired.  When I finished errands this afternoon, the twins and Matt insisted that they were well enough to come along.  We got home exhausted and then the fussing and arguing and fighting started...I thought I was going to need a referee shirt.  From 2pm to 4pm, the boys were at their rare worst and taking me down with them.  I finally offered them one more outing errand, if they would be good, and things started improving and I got another errand checked off my list...definitely a win-win!

Notice my helper peeking over the back seat.

Community Responsibility:  The kids and I did catch-up today in this category and delivered a number of goodies to people in our community.  We delivered 40 non-spill cups each filled with hot cocoa packets and candy and a thank you note to our police station and fire house.  Then we delivered about 40 new under garments to go to a recovery program in Cambodia.  Plus we took Teen Challenge about 40 small toiletry items for their clients.  Finally, we took donations of pet food and kits to make pet treats to our local no kill animal welfare group. 

Health/Fitness:  I'm starting to think I may not lose much this week.  I am going to need to find some regular exercise that fits into the chaos.  Hubby and I got to eat dinner out again tonight.  It was so nice and we went to Ruby Tuesdays again so it is easy to stick to my diet.

Spirituality: Not much reading today.  Lots of hold, hugging and trying to un-fuss, fussy kids.

Wisdom:  Matt really enjoyed the trip to the police station.  It does good for him to see our family doing good for the helpers in our community.  And no, I didn't let him go in the fire station because he is sick and second he might not want to leave!  Matt is crazy for fire trucks and wants to grow up and be a fire man or a bus driver. I'm going to need to be sure that we do more activities like this together.

Turning 40 with me....Sadly

The 40th Anniversary of Roe V Wade.  Is anyone as shocked as I am that abortion is still a popular "option" FORTY YEARS later?  During my lifetime there have been many advancements in reproductive health, but yet abortion continues.  Currently 137 abortions per hour in the US...24 hours a day...7 days a week...365 days a year. 

Those who are regular readers of my blog, know that each year I write a special blog for Roe V Wade's Anniversary.  Previous blogs are The Perfect Boy and 52 Million Kids Who Can't Change the World.  This year I've decided to write from my own personal experiences and hurts from 17 years ago when I was pregnant with Grace.  I want to give advice on how to care for a friend facing an unplanned pregnancy and what not to do.  So here is my advice....

HOW TO CARE FOR A FRIEND FACING AN UNPLANNED PREGNANCY

Its been 17 years, but I can still be brought to tears by the good and bad memories of how friends and family cared for me during my unplanned pregnancy with my oldest daughter Grace.  I have always been a strong, independent person, but facing a pregnancy as a single person brought out crippling fears and irrational concerns.  To realize that I was about to be ultimately responsible for feeding, nurturing, supervising, financial supporting another person was overwhelming.  To realize that person would depend on me for their every need 24 hours a day/7days a week for several years was exhausting. To know that I would mold this person's self-esteem, character and world views was humbling.  After all what made me qualified, and knowing that I could harm this child if I wasn't perfect...and who can be...was frightening.  Plus the stresses that I was adding on myself by feeling that I had already messed up...the timing wasn't right, the relationship wasn't right....I had barely started the parenting journey and I couldn't help but feel that I had already failed in several areas.  Yet I hid these feeling and fears.  My emotions were a field of landmines and few people knew.

Here are a few suggestions for how to help a friend in a situation like I faced and for how not to help.


One of my favorite memories, being invited
out to the theatre at 7 months pregnant.

A few DO NOT's:

Don't make jokes about my past failures.  My least favorite, "You can't even keep the plant in your office alive."  

Don't comment or ask me about the birth father or our relationship.  If the mother wants you to know, she'll tell you and some days she may not even know where that relationship is or isn't going.  My least favorite, "I thought he really loved you.  Where is he now?"  I felt like I had been kicked in the chest twice; once by the birth father and now by this friend.

Don't ask me how I'm going to do "it".  My list of "it" is longer than yours.  You may be thinking of affording child care.  I may be thinking of affording to finish school, the cost of diapers, the lack of sleep and the child care!  If you know of resources that might lighten the load I'm carrying, don't tell me about it over dinner where the reminder of stress can ruin the enjoyment of eating out with a friend.  Please get me a brochure or send me a web site link, but let me digest the options in my own time, privately.

Some please DO's:

Tell me I'm going to be a great mom and why.  Be genuine.  I'm your friend and surely I have one redeeming quality that you would want in a parent.  Let me know that my new small family will be awesome because I am awesome.

Remind me that I make good choices.  Remind me that pregnancy can be unplanned and a surprise, but a baby is never a mistake.

Call me, email me, write me and remind me frequently that you care about me and want me to take the best care of me and my baby.  If you are the type that likes such things, offer to attend those awkward prenatal classes and mom-to-be fairs with me.  If those aren't your cup of tea, invite me on a walk or a picnic, or bring me a healthy snack basket with yogurt and fresh fruits.

Ask me about when my next doctor visit is and check on me after that appointment.  Let me know that you're thinking and/or praying for me.

Send a practical gift after the baby is here.  Moms (and dads, if they are involved) facing unplanned pregnancies are usually tight on funds.  Gift cards, diapers, and cash are all very usable.  An infant can live a good life with a few outfits, but life without diapers, laundry soap, and quarters for the laundromat can quickly become overwhelming.

The best gift may be your time.  Offer to help write thank you notes, pickup/wash laundry, make dinner, drop by a frozen meal, clean house or babysit.  Please don't just do this once after the baby is born.  Remember, as a single mom, I just started a long marathon and I'll appreciate your help as much or more when my infant becomes a toddler. 

If my child is being adopted, then help me fill my days in the months after the adoption.  Remember me with a note or small gift in my child's honor on their birthday and a quick note of support on Mother's Day will mean so much.  You won't be reminding me because I'll always remember, but I will feel loved because you remember too.

40: Day 3

This morning I got the kids started on their day and as soon as the buses had left, I "enjoyed" my high fiber cereal, banana and hot tea.  Then I went back to bed!  After a 2 1/2 hour nap, I headed to Joplin for a doctor appointment.  Yes, you read that right, by noon today, all I had really done was ate high fiber, took a nap and went to the doctor!  Oh yeah...(dripping with sarcasm) 40 is rocking!

I got back to the office in time to solidify tomorrow's schedule, make phone calls and eat a nonfat yogurt.

I headed back to Joplin to get my nails done and Grace had to come along because of her flight lesson this afternoon.  Then I finally got a grilled chicken sandwich in Carthage...just before I starved.   We picked up another student for class tonight.  Then got the call that the weather was too bad to go up today so we had extra time.  So finding ourselves with 2 free hours, we stopped at my parents to visit.  Then on to Bolivar for ground school.  I usually use the kids' class time to work on my work, but I brought the wrong SD card tonight so I'm catching up the blog instead.

Community Responsibility:  While I could argue that helping two teens get their flight training is community, I think that is stretching it since one of those teens is my daughter. 

Health/Fitness:  Following my diet still, despite extreme hunger.  My blood pressure was high today so that added more encouragement to keep working on being healthy.  Unfortunately, no exercise again today.

Spirituality:  Praying about some personal growth from realizing that if I have truly forgiven someone, then I would be praying for their betterment, rather than just having an absence of anger or dislike.  I realize this is the next step in seeing people the way that God does.  I've been "re-reading" The Hiding Place in an audio book and several quotes from Corrie and her sister have really convicted me to be motivated to love my past offenders, especially through prayer. 

 “Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way . . .

God can give us the perfect way.”-Corrie Ten Boom

Very little Bible reading progress today...I'm going to have a lot this weekend! 
 
Wisdom:  I must take better care of my schedule next week.  Tonight, I will be home at midnight and leave around 3am to get to jobs in mid-Missouri tomorrow.  The income is important, but sleep is necessary to be safe driving and at my best.

Reading the Bible Through in 40 Days

As you know, as part of the process of turning 40, I'm going to read my Bible though in 40 days.  Some  people have emailed me asking what the schedule will look like because they are considering joining me.

So below is my proposed schedule:

Day 1:  Genesis  (50 chapters)
Day 2:  Exodus  (40 chapters)
Day 3:  Leviticus (27 chapters)
Day 4:  Numbers (36 chapters)
Day 5: Deuteronomy (34 chapters)
Day 6:  Joshua (24 chapters)
Day 7: Judges & Ruth (25 chapters)
Day 8:  I Samuel (31 chapters)
Day 9:  II Samuel (24 chapters)
Day 10:  I Kings (22 chapters)
Day 11:  II Kings (25 chapters)
Day 12:  I Chronicles (29 chapters)
Day 13:  II Chronicles (36 chapters)
Day 14:  Ezra, Nehemiah & Esther (33 chapters)
Day 15: Job (42 chapters)
Day 16:  Psalms 1-50
Day 17:  Psalms 51-100
Day 18:  Psalms 101-150
Day 19:  Proverbs (31 chapters)
Day 20:  Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon & Isaiah 1-26 (46 Chapters)
Day 21:  Isaiah 27-66
Day 22:  Jeremiah (52 chapters)
Day 23:  Lamentations & Ezekiel (53 chapters)
Day 24:  Daniel, Hosea, Joel & Amos (38 chapters)
Day 25:  Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah & Malachi (41 chapters)
Day 26:  Matthew  (28 chapters)
Day 27:  Mark  (16 chapters)
Day 28:  Luke (24 chapters)
Day 29:  John (21 chapters)
Day 30:  Acts  (28 chapters)
Day 31:  Romans (16 chapters)
Day 32:  I & II Corinthians (29 chapters)
Day 33:  Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians (20 chapters)
Day 34:   I & II Thessalonians, I & II Timothy, Titus (21 chapters)
Day 35:  Philemon, Hebrews, James (19 chapters)
Day 36:  I & II Peter, I, II & III John & Jude  (16 chapters)
Day 37:  Revelations (22 chapters)
Day 38:  SICK DAY or Make-up Day
Day 39:  SICK DAY or Make-up Day
Day 40: SICK DAY or Make-up Day

Building a Strong Christian Home ( MY Step 3)

There really isn't a step 3, but from my own experience I have a step 3.  Many Christians start growing and learning and loving and....then something terrible happens in their life or the life of someone close to them.  It might be the loss of a loved one, divorce, losing a job, illness or any number of terrible things.  There is always the temptation to ask, "Why me?  Why us?  Why now?"  Many Christians believe that only good things should happen to us once we are in this close relationship with God.  Others feel that God owes them a sheltered life in return for their faithfulness.  In reality, God eventually uses all the problems for good.  It tells us in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."  ALL things...not all good things...ALL things!



A prayer that I found on facebook.  An example of a
blanket prayer to try to avoid the tough parts
of the journey.

I don't fully understand it, but I believe suffering/difficulties/hurting help mold us into being more like Christ....more compasionate, more understanding and more willing to sacrafice for others.  After Steve Saint had his accident, he said in an interview, "That's exactly the lie that everyone tends to fall into. That the ideal life is the easy life. It isn't so....the only sure way to maturity is through pain." 

I truly believe James 1:2-4, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  Joy is defined in Webster's as "the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune".   Gladness is a synonym for joy.  Many people have asked me how I stay so positive or in plain terms, "what are you so happy about?"  People look at what they think is my defining condition(s)...physically disabled, overworked mother, medically involved children, financial stress, etc and are amazed by my joy based on these negative conditions.  However, what people miss is that my joy is in the journey of following God's plan for my life, not in my condition!   God has brought me to places that I didn't want to go to see needs that I didn't want to see and to feel pain that I didn't want to feel so I could be prepared for future trials, failures and success. 

When I see one of my kids like Vanessa just loving life, my joy grows because I can point to really tough times in my journey that brought me to the point that I was prepared to be her mom.  I am so honored that God chose me to suffer some unique pains/challenges so I could be ready to be a big a part of  each of my amazing kids' lives!

Building a Strong Christian Home (Step 2)

2. Be a disciple of Christ.

The learning process after becoming a Christian is called discipleship. This is Step 2 in building a strong Christian home.  If you look up disciple in a dictionary, some inaccurately list the definition as someone who guides others to Christ.  The reason I say that is inaccurate is because it is only a part of being a disciple.  I think words like student or apprentice are much better to describe this 2nd aspect of building a strong Christian home.  I personally love the word "apprentice" because to me it indicates learning through activity while to me a student learns through lectures.  In being a disciple, there are no boring lessons.  There are amazing new revelations.  I can be struggling and praying over a problem and read a verse that I have read many times and perhaps even memorized and it suddenly has a new truth to me in my situation.

Therefore, discipleship is learning about Jesus and to be like Jesus and to understand His commandments for us all (Matthew 22:36-40) and to begin the process of recognizing His special plan for our individual life.  This is a process of making Jesus the author of our life.  You may be saying, God has never given me clear enough messages to determine my career, relationships or financial choices.  In fact you may be thinking, its all in my mind or I have some strange mental illness with delusions of a cell phone to God.  However, I assure you, if you seek God's guidance, He will give it.

When seeking God's direction in your life, there are a variety of things that you can do to make it easier for God to communicate to you and your family.
1.  Read the Bible often.  At least daily.  Many web sites like http://odb.org/ have daily devotions (stories of how the Bible applies) and scripture readings free for you each day.  Some even read aloud to you so you can put them on your MP3player!
2.  Memorize scripture.  Matthew 22:36-40 is a great scripture to start with.  By memorizing scripture, God can bring guiding scriptures into your daily struggles even when you're not reading the Bible.
3.  Pray often.  It only takes a moment to pray.  Sometimes my prayer is just, "Help me".  Other times that I sit aside, I can pray longer and bring my sins, worries, requests/petitions to Jesus in full explanation.  The key is to be frequently praying and seeking God's direction.
4.  Locate other believers...I'm a bit hesitant to include this because if other "apprentices" start telling you things that you can't find in scripture, then they are not a benefit to you and may even discourage you.  Today's Christians meet in homes, tea rooms, rented meeting rooms and churches so finding a loving group to encourage you and your family in loving the Lord is easier than ever.  You can even start your own group of believers.
5. Create a consistent environment of Biblical education.  Children need the great stories of the Bible to begin to understand the character of God.  Places like http://www.cbhministries.org/ have great free resources to teach your kids what God values right from the Bible.

Building a Strong Christian Home (Step 1)

As I promised, a blog on how to build a strong Christian home based on my experience and Biblical understanding. Here are the essential components for building a strong Christian home.  By the way, if you are single, this applies to you too.  I have had  a strongly held personal belief since I was about 18 that a single person is a unique family of one.  I personally wasn't waiting to build a Christian home environment for when I had a husband or kids.  The truths below are from the Bible and are applicable to a family of 1 or a mega family of 21+.

To build a strong Christian family the following is needed:

1.  There MUST be at least one adult Christian:  I'm not being flip or funny.  Its just that it is impossible to have a Christian home without at least one Christian adult. 

 So what makes one a Christian? 

• Believing that God exists? Nope!  Even Satan believes that God exists.
• Trying to be a good person?  Sorry!
• Living a life a sacrifice?  No...that is not it. 
• Loving everyone?  Umm...good luck with that...but no.
• Living at peace as much as is possible?  Afraid not.
• Doing more good than bad?  No, not a Christian, even if the scale is loaded with lots of good!

According to the Bible, none of us are perfect enough to be in a relationship with the holy God.  It is a bit like when our own children get dirty playing in the mud that they weren't supposed to go near.  We love them, BUT while they are muddy we probably aren't going to hug them tightly or invite them into our formal dining room until we get the mud cleaned off.  We don't love our children less because they got muddy! And God doesn't love the saint (forgiven cleaned up sinner) more than the sinner!  God simply cannot enjoy a full relationship with us until the sin is out of the way.  However, like our children will need our help to get clean, we ALL need God's help to get rid of sin that is keeping us from a close relationship with Him. 

In I John 1:9, the Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  The "He" in this verse is Jesus.  If we tell Jesus that we want forgiveness, believing in His power and authority to cleanse us, then we can be pure.  Completely pure and able to have a relationship with the Holy God.

In Romans 10:9 reinforces this simple path to being rescued from our sin, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." 

You may be wondering how does someone ask God for forgiveness. Do you put it in a letter? Do you do something in return for Him forgiving you?  Do you need a minister?  The simple answer is you just pray to Him.  You can just talk with Him in your mind or right out loud.  He sees our thought and intents of our hearts so even if you pray silently in your mind, God hears and forgives!  There is no price to you. You couldn't earn this type of pure relationship. There are no special words.  Its just you being honest and humble before an awesome God who already loves you, but wants to clean you up so you can know Him better.  If you haven't done this before, you can even do it right now!  That is the most awesome thing about God, no prerequisites, no appointment needed, no special words...its just you and Him getting started on a loving long term relationship.
 
So after we ask forgiveness, does this mean that we will never sin again?  No!  In fact when I was a new Christian as a young person I didn't even understand many of the sins that I would commit along the way as I grew in my faith and maturity.  I would need to keep confessing my sin and learning about what is sin and what isn't and what my God expected of me.  This learning process is often called discipleship.  This is Step 2 in building a strong Christian home.  I'll discuss it in my next blog entry.

BTW-If the term Christian is offensive to you because of "Christians" you have met, then I have good news for you.  Jesus never called his followers Christians!  Christian is not God's word for us!  In the Bible, words like follower of Christ or believers were used.  You can have a relationship with Christ and reject the World's label!  As long as you don't reject Jesus in your description, you have great freedom in how you describe your new awesome relationship with God.

BIG Bad Cyber-Bully Mommy Bloggers

I have had my fill of it!  I can't stand to read another blog article by a "lovely Christian mom" who would probably never say a harsh word to a friend, BUT who feels loosened, compelled and perhaps God ordained to blog harsh criticisms telling other Christian mom's how to do things right.  I'm not talking about scriptural based advice or heart touching stories of how things work for them.  I'm talking about personal bias and opinions being passed on by Christian women as more important to share than the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  For some reason, encouraging each other in the Word has fallen out of blogging style.  Now, my disgust IS with expert Christian moms slamming life paths of others and professing to know God's best direction for ALL Christians.  Furthermore, they make it sound like not following THEM will destroy a Christian family.  

In case you haven't had the pleasure of reading some of this unloving, paranoid propaganda, let me summarize the issues that Cyber-bullies know will ruin your Christian home.  Some are the following:

• not having a home birth
• not breastfeeding  
• not homeschooling every child in your home (& no one writes a better persuasive blog than a home school mom...we teach persuasive writing!)
• working outside the home
• squandering money by getting a tattoo or piercing
• using day care or preschool
• letting government services in your life/home (like early intervention therapists, Parents As Teachers or WIC)
• letting your older children date or pick their mate
• studying world religions, philosophy or learning about other cultures
• and not disciplining your child with swats

I must disclose for the sake of honesty that I am a home school mom.  I work from home. I don't have money for tattoos or cruises and I hate the pain of needles.  I'm not saying there aren't good ideas for some people in the list above.  However, to present the ideas as being superior or inferior in the Christian walk is to deny God His proper place as Lord of our lives.  We as Christians are not all called to the same purpose in the "body of Christ".  1 Corinthians 12 covers this better than I can.

I do think certain things work well for our family such as crock pot meals, owning a bus, and not having credit cards.  However, the most important "thing" in our home is to be submitted to God and living a lifestyle that He has called us to, which is set apart from non-Christians.  Hopefully this set apart lifestyle is recognizable by our love for the Lord our God and others...ALL others. 

When I see these "preaching rants" on subjects like the ones above, it makes me sad because I can name the Christian women who upon reading these posts might feel discouraged, defeated or even doubt the path that God has placed them on.  It makes me think of  Proverbs 3:6 and Psalms 119:24. 

I'm going to blog in the future on what makes a strong Christian home.  My blog will be based on my own experiences, short comings and understandings of scripture.  As a fair warning, none of the bulleted items listed are on my list....nor will you be required to start using a crock pot, buy a bus or shred your credit cards.

For he that will love life,

 and see good days,

let him refrain his tongue from evil,

and his lips that they speak no guile

~~I Peter 3:10

Us vs. The Duggar's

NOTE:  FIRST let me say that this is NOT an announcement that we are adding to our family.  Now with that out of the way, let me explain what it is about.

Many people who learn about our big family ask me if I watch the Duggar's or read their books.  Since we do not have cable TV (yes, I'm serious...just the free local channels), I have not watched the Duggar's except youtube clips.  I've read some blog entries and one book, but in general, I know very little about them.  However, it is obvious that in popular culture the Duggar's are considered the standard on "how to be a large family", and I must admit I tried their homemade laundry soap as part of my research when figuring out my own recipe.  I've also tried a couple of their dinner recipes, but other than soap and dinner, much of their other ideas are not a fit with our kids' needs OR our income OR the size of our house.

So a couple years ago when I first saw the Duggar's central closet (http://health.discovery.com/videos/17-kids-counting-jim-bob-says-good-bye.html) my first thoughts were not positive.  I wondered how the kids got a sense of ownership. For example, if one got a new sweater for Christmas and now it is in a shared closet where siblings could wear it too.  Ownership, responsibility and taking care of one's own things is a BIG lesson that all our children must learn, but our children who spent their early years in orphanages have an extra challenge in understanding good stewardship of resources and ownership.  In fact, even though we have a toy room, I have always insisted that each child can have some toys in their bedroom too just to "practice" being responsible for something. 

Therefore you might be surprised that my Christmas break project has been....drum roll please.....creating a central closet!  So what changed my view?  Simple.  Kids who grow so fast that they cannot tell their current clothes from their outgrown clothes AND since we have what Corrine calls "pass-me-arounds", the clothes that I moved from David to Jon to Matt, would end up back on David!  Also with our current age range of 15 years to 3 years, the toy room was becoming impossible.  Little ones were breaking older ones toys and the older ones were getting angry; so I decided much more could be learned by having each child's toys in each bedroom rather than their brother's 3 sizes too small pants!

The plan is that each Friday our kids will pick out their clothes including socks, underwear, PJs, and outerwear  for the next week & put these 7 to 14 outfits in their closet.  At the end of the week, they can return clean leftovers AND I better not find leftover clean underwear!  (It will give me a double check system on unddies so now I just need one on tooth brushing...that reminds me that I need to blog the Christmas toothbrush story...I'll try to do that this week.)

So in the "Us vs. the Duggar's" match-up, we have now tried their soap, their food & their closet system!  However, I must share with you that when I think of amazing big families, I think of my mom's parents who raised 9 children without much money or the Amish families around Seymour, Missouri.  These Amish families often have 10+ children and no running water and no electricity, but their kids and their clothes are clean.  I'm more interested in how they manage their home, than how an upper-middle class, custom-built home owner with a reality show is managing their home.  However, I don't think my kids would agree to a few outfits each as the Amish do so I have to look to the Duggar's on this one.  By the way, I have nothing against the Duggar's, but the lifestyle they live is beyond what most of their fans/watchers will attain so their home leaves a lot of  large families wishing that they had their setup and discontent.  I think the Duggar's handle a tremendous burden of being so open and camera-ready with their lives.  So when people say, "have you watched the Duggar's?", well my honest answer is yes, but I admire my grandparents and the Amish.

Let your conversation be without covetousness;

and be content with such things as ye have:

for he hath said, I will never leave thee,

nor forsake thee. ~~Hebrews 13:5

The victory in being 3!



1st Birthday



The BIG news, Nate IS 3 years old!  I took off his Oxygen for a few minutes and let him play in his cake and open presents this year.  He knew what to do as he tore into his cake and presents without hesitation.  He would tear the paper, peak in the package and clap with delight over each of his presents.  It didn't seem possible that he was the same kid as his 1st birthday when he was so sick and so scared of his cake.  It had been hard to even get a picture of him with his 1st birthday's cake because he didn't want it that close to himself!  We have certainly been blessed to see God provide doctors, surgeries and continued healing to our growing toddler.  It truly is hard to believe that he is the same child with whom I would wake up, and pray while listening for him to gasp his next breath, pause, pause and then the feeling of relief as he gasp again and again.  What a tough, but fragile little guy; he was!  Oh how hard I prayed!

Three years old!

 

Yeap, Nate's definately 3!



Now next week, Nate will start a developmental pre-school program two mornings a week so he can get his therapies while he is there.   He seems ready to go after his couple visits, but I'm still getting geared up to actually take him and leave him for 3 hours with people who don't know what each snort, wheeze or glassy eyed expression means.  Nate and I have a long list of sounds and signals that mean all sorts of things such as more Oxygen, less Oxygen, nose spray, suctioning, breathing treatments, too hot, too cold or too much air freshner/parfum/dust.  However, even I know that I'm not sending him when he is actively sick and a few hours of needing a squirt of nose spray is not life theatening.....but oh, this is going to be hard....almost as hard as waiting for the next gasp.  So if you could pray for Nate & me next Monday the 14th, we would each appreciate it!  Nate needs to fight off the germs and keep healthy, and I'm depending on those prayers to get me through what is a little change for most folks.

Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD

 hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living

 thing, and the breath of all mankind. ~~Job 12:9-10

Faith

I decided to finish February with

my own personal version of Hebrews 11

...not that mine is in anyway inspired, but it is a partial listing of modern heroes of faith whom I know personally and who have inspired and encouraged me in my Christian development. 

It was great fun to write

and I encourage you to consider documenting your own "heroes".

  _____________________________________________________

Faith is the foundation of hope and the proof of God’s unseen presence. For by it, people who I respected as a child taught me about our Lord’s power. Through their testimonies, I learned that the Lord who formed the Universe from nothing is just as powerful today as He was at creation.


By faith my grandparents learned about God’s gift of salvation, accepted that gift and sought to live by Christ’s example in the Word of God.

By faith during the heat of summer, my grandfather would turn off the church air conditioner when the preaching started so he and others could hear the message; by this action he showed me that I should respect the message of a pastor over my personal comfort.

By faith I was taught how to give to others, when funds were tight, my grandparents reached out with loving care and their limited means to help neighbors, showing equal compassion towards the saint as the sinner and with gifts often given in secrecy.

By faith, my parents taught me the importance of tithing on whatever you have, if it is money or livestock or garden produce, God is the giver and I must be a good steward to make sure 10% blesses others.

By faith, at age 5, I prayed for a little brother and by faith, my parents adopted, showing me that real families really love each other, no matter how God brings them together or the challenges they face.

By faith, Grandma Dee set an example of regular church attendance and insisted on attending church even on vacation because we need to learn from and encourage each other in the Lord.

By faith a church member named Velma demonstrated how to tithe on her talents as she made two beautiful new dresses a year for the pastor’s wife.

By faith a piano player named Ms. Morris, arrived every service to play the church piano for over 20 years, she was not discouraged by low attendance or impressed by high attendance, her example is the reason I can gain joy from singing hymns in my car and humming praises in the shower even if God is my only audience.

By faith a country preacher named George Taylor and his wife Hilda were called to serve as local and foreign missionaries, from limited earthly resources they received numerous opportunities to teach and to preach to small and large crowds in remote areas of Missouri, Arkansas and even Haiti.

By faith Hilda taught Sunday school and vacation Bible school so that a child like me could accept Christ as my Savior and begin to grow in knowledge of the Lord.

By faith, lives were shaped by Christian school principal Mr. Wass who set forth a bold vision of Christian service for the children under his leadership, who would become soldiers, firefighters, law enforcement, pastors, pastor’s wives, missionaries, teachers, Sunday school teachers, business owners, Godly parents and so much more.

By faith, Sunday school teacher Jane Meyer taught teenage girls about why Christian husbands were important, how a Christian man will act, and how to pray for our future Christian husband.

By faith, my first supervisors and co-workers Barbara Richardson, Bob Barker & Jim Harriger, who patiently showed me the complexities of Christian service, as they consistently demonstrated compassion and expected accountability, but without either action being dependent on the other.

By faith, families who had adopted children shared with us their struggles, their love and their passion for bringing orphans home. Their bold confidence in God’s plan for their families encouraged and helped sustain us during the toughest times of our first adoption.

By faith, my husband and I added more children to our home, having overcome challenges and having witnessed countless miracles of healing and providence; knowing friends would be fervently praying with us and for us as we stepped out in faith; and based on the testimonies of others, having all confidence that our God is more than sufficient to meet needs yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Waiting...

Do you ever get tired of waiting?  Well, due to our family's experiences with adoption, we know many families interested in adoption.  Some of these friends are done with their adoption(s).  Some are just getting started in the process or planning.  And a few are waiting.  Their paperwork is done.  They are in a spot where they have finished their preparations and now it is out of their hands.  There is nothing they can do to speed the process and their only possible influence over the process is through prayer.  These few friends are waiting and many are getting exhausted by the wait.  They are in the stage of adoption that I struggled with the most. 

With Hannah, the waiting lasted 9 long and seemingly eternal months.  There was times that my anxiety was so high that I was sure my heart would stop beating due to the tightness of my chest and neck.  However, finally the call came and travel plans were made.  Then we had to wait 2 of the longest weeks of my life for the date of our departure to Ecuador.  We had only seen two picture of Hannah, but we were in love.  Our trip to Riobamba, Ecuador was exhausting and a story of its own, and when we pulled inside the gates to our hotel at 7am, we had been traveling non-stop for 30 hours.  The taxi driver named Patricio told us that due to arriving so much later than planned, we could get cleaned up and settled in, and he would take us on to the orphanage.  We tried to not let our excitement show too much, but our luggage was inside and we were back in the taxi before Patricio had returned from the restroom!  (We did look in the shower and decided that we were still cleaner than it was.)  The drive to the orphanage seemed forever, but I timed it so I know it was actually 12 minutes....until our wait was over.

With David and Vanessa, the wait was 26 months.  Words cannot describe how long those 26 months were!  I was determined to follow Philippians 4:6, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."  I tried and I prayed.  I REALLY tried and REALLY prayed, but my anxiousness to have my children with me was reducing my patience with others.  Each month our children in the pictures grew.  Each year that passed, their need for the loving stability of a family...our family....was more evident. 

One day I was having an exceptionally BIG pity-party.  I knew no one must be as worried or longing for their children as much as me, and I had let my resentment stall my devotion time until mid-morning. Reluctantly, I began my devotion time by reading Ephesians 1, and immediately verses 3 through 5 jumped off the page and into my heart.  There it was!  Who had waited longer?!  He had!  Why hadn't I realized it before!  I read the beginning of verse 4 again, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world".  God had waited for a relationship with me since "the foundation of the world".   God had waited for me to seek His forgiveness and be made holy through Christ Jesus so that I could be in His loving and perfect presence.  In fact verse 5 said so that I could be adopted into His family through Christ!



Photos of the end of some of our waitings.



All my life I had known John 3:16 and that God loved me, BUT I was 34 years old before I realized that He had lovingly waited for me from "the foundation of the world"...before He even formed me.  I was humbled.  For the remaining year of our wait, I had confidence that God understood my desire to have my children home, and I turned my prayers towards thanking Him for waiting for me and asking Him to prepare our home and to prepare our children for our future together.  God answered these prayers.  David and Vanessa had a remarkably easy transition into our family.

I'll never understand why adoptions must involve so much waiting.  The feelings of discouragement and the doubts that the adoption will ever happen can be overwhelming.  However, I do know that God knows more about perfect love and waiting than me.  I pray constantly for our friends who are waiting and for the protection of the children who are waiting for them.  I pray for the preparation of their new home physically, mentally and spiritually.  If you know someone waiting on an adoption, please pray for them.   And if you're waiting on an adoption or anything else important to you, please take comfort in knowing that God understands waiting from "the foundation of the world".

If you would like the readers of this blog to pray for your adoption process, then please leave your first name and any specifics that you would like prayed on your behalf AND by all means update us when your wait is over. 

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation

 of the world, that we should be holy and without blame

before him in love: --Ephesians 1:4 

And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious

unto you,  and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have

 mercy upon you:  for the LORD [is] a God of judgment:

blessed [are] all they that wait for him. --Isaiah 30:18

"After Mine Own Heart"



My first picture of David.  Someday he'll be
a grown man, but I'll still see this little boy.
I didn't even know his name and despite
knowing I shouldn't , I fell in love with this
little face that greeted me on my first visit
to the COTP web site. So I called Daddy to the
computer and we emailed COTP immediately.



Not long ago David asked me what his name meant. I reminded him about David in the Bible.  David said questioningly, "he killed some monsters and I get his name".  I reminded him, "Giants, not monsters" and  I explained to David that God had said Bible-David was a a man after His own heart.  (David, a typically 7 year old, said that sounded gross.)  I went on and explained it meant that Bible-David had a desire to love the same things that God loved.  David declared that his name was "cool", and he wanted to know if Bible-David ever killed any dinosaurs....oh, the theologically conversations that I could only have with a 7 year old boy!

 

On October 28th, I had a long day.  I left the house at 4:00am headed to St. Louis Children's Hospital for Jon's appointment.  Grace and David decided to come along since there was no school and they knew it would get them at least one restaurant meal.  The appointment and testing went slowly and we finally got home around 7pm...after 2 McD stops and one White Castle stop.  So at 7pm, the celebration of it being Hannah's 11th birthday got started.  After lots of celebrating, we started the bath line, put babies to bed and started the nightly routine.  

However, David in his usual quiet way, slipped up on my lap and said that "he wanted to say that prayer telling God that he loves Him and wants to live by His rules and be forgiven for his sins."  So we talked about what that prayer meant.  I asked him questions and he asked me some.  Finally, as David insisted that he was ready, we got Daddy to join us and David said his prayer.  He told us that he would tell the pastor on Sunday, but this was Thursday so we waited to see if he would be brave enough to go up and tell the pastor.

On Saturday David reminded us that he needed us to go to church the next day because he needed to tell the pastor and everyone about his prayer.  On Sunday as soon as he verified it was time, he took Daddy with him up to the front of the church to talk to the pastor!  ....Now Grace & Corrine were "saved" young and both waited a bit to be baptized so I figured David would wait too especially since he is very frightened of going under water...But he said he was ready to show people his decision by being baptized.  So on Sunday, my sweet little David was baptized.   

I've watched the Lord, reach out to David and answer his prayers in real ways so David would know God had heard him...I will always smile at David praying so earnestly for a baby brother (and I was trying to prepared David for a bigger kid since we had started Jon's adoption process) and rather suddenly we got Nate.  Then he started praying nightly for more baby brothers and God brought him more baby brothers!

Its my prayer that God will continue to reach out to David to help him and us as we try to disciple him in the truths of living a Christlike-life of obedience and service to God...Lord knows we are going to need LOTS of help...as I can hear the questions already..."Did Jesus kill any dinosaurs?"....Only our David. 

 the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and

the LORD hath commanded him [to be] captain over his people,

because thou hast not kept [that]

which the LORD commanded thee.--I Samuel 13:14b

Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a

sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to

thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the

armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.--1 Samuel 17:45

(cooler than a dinosaur if you ask me...)