Below are several Facebook posts from the past few weeks!
JUNE 25th
Asher and Levi are 14 years old today! They went to the beach yesterday and had 8 kids sleep over last night. Though the days can feel long – time has flown by.
June 25th 2009 – After a total of 92 days in the hospital, Asher and Levi greeted the world….and the world has never been the same since! 
They couldn’t be more opposite but they still have a special bond! So thankful God blessed me with this dynamic duo!
Happy Birthday Asher and Levi! I know you will be mighty men for the Lord!
***
JULY 4th
Today at Princess Camp, we painted star wands! The girls came up with positive words to write on their stars that best represent who they are. Then we painted them and added glitter.
Tomorrow we will add ribbons, jewels, and small metal tags with their names engraved.
I just thought it fitting that we worked with stars on the 4th of July!
Hope everyone had a great holiday!
***
JULY 11th
My little girl turned 20 today. Sheās growing up too fast. She has been teaching herself photography for several years now. She has become a highly requested photographer for any special event in town.
She took these 2 photos yesterday! She will always be my little princess! Ā I can still picture her dressed as Aurora and wearing the plastic heels.
Happy Birthday Mikela! Iām so glad you get to share this special day with both Lori and Bud too.
***
JULY 16th
I had been wearing my hair in a ponytail/bun for about 10 days straight. Jose said it was time to go to the salon!
Johnny was my hairdresser. He owns the salon with his sister. We chatted a little bit about Haiti but he actually did most of the talking. We were so chatty that I spent 3 hours there!!
We started talking about āthe churchā ā Ā after an hour or so!! Nothing like talking about somethinā spiritual with your hairdresser!! Ā We agreed that we are so tired of people talking about religion Ā – and yet missing Ā the whole point of Christ and having a personal relationship with Him.
I told him that people want a ādrive-thru kind of Jesusā– you get to stay in your car and not do any of the work. You tell Him what you want and expect to pick it up at the next window. I said I think the problem today is people lack the patience and the faith.
Johnny corrected me and said:
The world isnāt lacking faith. You walked right into this salon ā never met me before ā and had faith that I would give you a nice cut and style. (I corrected him and said Ā – I donāt know if I had the āfaithā ā but more like the āhopeā!)
Every time we drive Ā on a divided high-way with only two yellow lines keeping us from hitting the oncoming traffic ā thatās faith. We have faith the truck passing us is going to stay in his lane.
When we get on a plane ā we put faith in our pilot. We donāt know the pilot at all. We donāt know where he was the night before. We donāt know what is happening in his daily life ā yet we put our faith in him every time we step on the plane.
Noā¦.the world doesnāt lack faith. We just forgot where to put it.
*******
Itās been two days and I havenāt been able to get that conversation out of my head ā out of my heart. Itās true. We put our faith in EVERYTHING without much consideration.
BUT when it comes to putting our faith in Christ ā we want to āseeā something first. We want proof. We want a background check. We want His credentials. Yet we ask little of everyone else.
These last few weeks with Asher have been really hard on my heart. I hate feeling so helpless. I had blogged that we couldnāt get into Cincinnati Childrenās Hospital until August.
Within a few days of posting that – we had an appointment for today! Finally, Asher is now on some preventative medication for epilepsy! For the first time I feel like I can breathe a little bit.
I keep thinking about my conversation with Johnny. I honestly believe these past few weeks there were moments ā maybe even days ā where I put my faith in everything but God.
Ā Itās amazing the lessons that God is teaching me through this difficult time.Ā Iām not trying to preach you a sermon ā Iām just bringing to a light a little conversation I had over a haircutā¦..
***
JULY 21st
Though the past few days have been full of unrelenting waves of grief, today we turn our hearts and minds to celebrating Gabriel! I canāt believe heās 16 today! Heās taking all the boys who live on campus to the beach this afternoon. Then they have a movie-marathon planned for tonight.
With Malaya now living in the states, he has stepped-up in major ways. I have watched him mature into such a young gentleman over this past year.
He has become such a caring big brother to ALL of the campus kids. Heās also gentle, loving, and compassionate with the community children -those who come weekly for trauma counseling. I seriously couldnāt be prouder of my boy!
When asked what kind of dessert he wanted for today – he told Malaya to make Sharon Snivleyās homemade brownies!
HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY GABE!
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