A Day in the Life...

Just wanted to post a little something. I feel as though I'm not keeping you all up to date well enough these days. Things have been so busy around here - gee I wonder why???

Sarah Beth went back to the Int. Adop. Med Clinic today. She has gained 2 and a half pounds! We can go front facing on the car seat, so I'm doing a little happy dance about that! Both ears are also clear of infection now. We had a hearing screening that went very well today. She will have to be revacinated for many of the things we thought were already done because she doesn't have enough of the antibodies according to her blood work, so we'll be having shots done again soon. Whoopee, that's always fun.

We also received some additional information regarding the birthmother today. I am so thankful to have gotten a few more pieces of the puzzle for Sarah for later in her life, and am very grateful to our agency and social worker who worked dilligently to get this for us. There were however some very difficult things in there to learn that I am trying to process right now. Please pray for me, as I deal with some grief over this mother's loss, while also feeling much joy for our great gain.

Recently, we've been visiting another church, and feeling really lead to attend there. Please pray with us as we sort through this decision, God's plan for us in serving Him through a local body, and the adjustment to new things. I don't much care for changes of that sort. We've been in our current church around 9 years, so leaving close friends and other believers that you love dearly is a difficult decision. Our family feels led as a family in a very particular direction at this point in our lives, and that is what has brought about these changes, among other things.

My current reads (You know I'm always reading something!) are: Kay Arthur's - Lord, is it warfare? Teach me to stand. This is my morning devotion time. Then at night, I'm closing out the day with another of her books Lord, I need Grace to Make it Today. Maybe I should flip flop which one I read at which time of the day, but I figured the Warfare one was a good pick for "girding up me loins" first thing in the morning. I feel a large amount of spiritual warfare is afoot right now in the lives of many people I know personally, in the life of our current church body as a whole, and in my own life in some ways as well. I don't believe that studying this brings on additional attacks or schemes that weren't headed my way already, so I certainly feel no fear in that respect, but I do hope I can be dilligent to my study time.

Homeschooling is going smoothly at the present time, check back with me next week and I may feel differently :O)! All you homeschool momma's know what I mean by that. That's the reason why I'm reading the book about Grace. One of the chapters is titled - "My Sin is Ever Before Me". I can not tell you how many times I've said those exact words to my husband at the end of a long day. Homeschooling does have the tendency to put a microscope over our sins and those of our children (many of which they have often learned from us - argh!). Do any of these sound familiar? Impatience. Becoming easily angered or frustrated. Not trusting God to provide for our educational, physical, spiritual, etc... needs on a daily basis. A lack of peace. Nothing that even resembles a "quiet and gentle spirit". Oh, and there's more I'm not about to tell you about! :O)

All of these are the fruits of the Spirit! The Spirit lives in me, I should be making every effort to bear out these fruits in my life - at all times. That's where the warfare comes in. Now you see why I'm reading two books at once! The Lord's trying to teach me something.

Oh, one other thing... with all of the things that have happened lately and all of the talk that's gone on since the death of the Burgess's baby boy, I've done a lot of thinking and remembering what those days were like for me. So, for any of you who have ever heard me say that when Kathryn died, for days I felt as if I was walking around on the outside of my body watching myself go through all of that, I must have said that at least a hundred times. I want to clarify something about that. The Lord very clearly spoke to me the other day (almost 13 years now since she died) and told me that the reason I felt that way was because it WASN'T me at all, but Christ in me, that lived through those days. In my weakness, He was so strong that I believe He literally lived those painful days in me, through me and for me. WOW! Christ in me, the hope of glory!

Love to you all, and blessings to you and your families,
Lori