Orphan runner

I'm so proud of my dear friend Sally!! She ran an incredible race today at the HB Marathon. She finished in 9th overall and 2nd in her age group with a time of 3:18. The amazing thing about Sally is that she uses every ounce of her being to serve the Lord and today's race was no exception. She radiated joy as she ran, doing exactly what God created her to do, among other things. She is incredibly gifted, works incredibly hard, and loves and encourages others along the way. Thanks for always being such a godly example to me friend!!

Please visit her site!!
just copy and paste this to access it.
http://members.shaohannahshope.org/site/TR/Events/runninghope?pxfid=1940&fr_id=1000&pg=fund

Don't worry

Luke 12: 22-29
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?
25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?
27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.
31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.


This encouraged me so much this week. Do we not know that our Creator understands His creation? He knows our struggles and our fears. Jesus is so gentle and gives us such a beautiful word picture to help us remember His faithfulness. So whenever you look out at the birds or blooms remember how much more valuable you are to God and put your trust in the One who created you and values you.

(artwork by my uncle, the late Tom Cash)

Growing

I can see such a change in my kids these last few weeks. They are growing up before my very eyes. Grace is sitting up on her own, clapping, fake laughing, waving, saying MAmmma, and other yummy sounds like that. She is almost 10 1/2 months and is an absolute joy...such a happy, sweet, little girl. Gavin will be 4 next month and is wonderfully active and so much fun. TOTAL BOY! We love that. We are so blessed to have one of each!
Here are some recent pics of our precious kiddos...

December

This was the strangest December we have had thus far. The kids and I came down with H1N1 and seemed to be stuck home forever. We did get a few fun things in at the beginning of the month before we fell off the face of the earth! Here are some pictures of the kids having fun in various Christmas activities!

I can't bow low enough

Well, our sweet Grace made it through both surgeries and is doing extremely well. She is like a new little woman...she can hear and is sporting a new tummy accessory.
I had a dear friend remind me of Psalm 23. While Grace was in surgery and I was in the waiting room I kept reciting it over and over and was struck by the end of the passage:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
That is exactly what has happened. It seems that no matter what we have experienced or gone through as a family, God's goodness and mercy have always followed us. And to that I am so incredibly grateful.

The song Cielo by Phil Wickham has meant so much this week and captures exactly how I feel when it comes to praising God for all that He is and all that He has done...
I can't sing loud enough
I can't bow low enough
I can't reach high enough


Thank you Lord!

Surgery #2 this week!!

Well, we are off to surgery #2 at CHOC this morning. Grace is getting a new tubby tube, called a Mickey button. This will be much smaller than the tube she has now and much cleaner! Yay!
So, again, if we may ask, would you please pray for our little Gracie as she has to go under anesthesia again and have surgery on her tummy. Josh is working, Gavin is with Mimi and I'll be there with her in the hospital. Please pray for peace.
THANK YOU! How beautiful is the body of Christ?! To join together and lift up little Gracie in prayer before the Lord.
Love you!

Grace update

The surgery was a success! Thank you for all of your prayers!
We definitely felt them. Gracie couldn't eat before the surgery(8 hrs total), so when the Dr was 2 hours late, I started hoping that God would give her strength to get through it. What's neat is that the staff was so impressed that she was so happy and smiley that we got to share that there were a ton of people praying for her and that God was giving her His peace. They all agreed. :) One of the nurses also shared that because the surgery was pushed back Grace ended up getting the best Anesthesiologist in the hospital. God is so good! The Dr. let me go in with her while they put her under, which was an amazing privilege. So, I got to hold her hand and be with her. She had her eyes locked on me, so I was so glad I was there. She was a champ, a little groggy/sad after surgery, but recovered really quickly. They discovered that she had two severe inner ear infections, which we are now giving her antibiotics for. It amazes me, how happy she has been while having 2 ear infections...unbelievable. It was at home around the dinner table that we noticed her darting her head back and forth looking at each of us when we spoke, with eyes wide open, like she was hearing us for the first time. It was emotional and really precious. We are so blessed and so excited for our little girl to hear fully!

Thank you, thank you for your prayers and for loving our little Grace!! All Glory goes to God!!

Surgery tomorrow

Hello sweet friends and family! It has been a whopping 1 1/2 months since my last blog...that's because it's Christmas portrait season and these fingers have been editing away! :)
Thank you for your continued love and support. I've gotten many inquiries on how the kids are doing. So, I'll take this moment to catch you up really quick.
Gracie is 8 months old! I know, can you believe it? She is 13 lbs 12oz and 25 inches long. She is so happy and is definitely getting an opinion. We love it.
She is headed in to surgery tomorrow, her first since leaving CHOC 6 months ago. She is getting ear tubes placed. It's a little bigger deal when its an 8 month old getting them, so she will be admitted to the hospital for the day, with surgery at 12. She has really narrow ear canals so we are just praying that that doesn't allow for any complications. The most exciting part of all of this is that she is going to hear after this, Lord willing. We can't wait to see what a difference this makes in her little development...speech, and otherwise.
We are so proud of our little girl and feel so blessed to get to have her as our daughter. She is one of the best things that has happened to us!!
The other best thing...Gavin is 3 1/2 and a whopping 42 lbs. He is a giant and really seems to have just grown into a little boy these past few weeks. He is a cuddler and I am totally taking advantage of that while I can. He has an encouragers heart and is starting to love to do things on his own to help out around the house. He is so funny and is constantly keeping us all laughing.

Tonight Josh had both his babies on his lap reading stories and every time he spoke in the little bird voice, he came up with, Gracie would just crack up. So overhearing giggles and silly voices I grabbed the camera. My kids are so blessed to get the best dad in the world. They just adore him and so do I!
Thank you Lord, I am overwhelmed with your blessings today!

Love you all and we are so grateful for your prayers for Grace tomorrow!

One world government

I studied Revelation for a full year, 2 years ago and it completely changed my life. I couldn't be the same "Christian" or person as I was before studying it, nor did I want to be. Revelation became so much more than a "scary" book that I avoided. It became a book of God revealing Himself to me. I learned of God's Sovereignty, His plan, His grace, and that He is coming back SO soon.
That being said, I am not an expert, by any means, just a child looking forward to her Dad's return.
Due to biblical prophecy being fulfilled in recent decades, we have all heard that these are the "last days", the days before Christ returns for His church. Yet, many of us have grown weary. The thing is, these last few years seem to be moving through bible prophecy at warp speed.
I saw this last night on YouTube and was reminded of how close we are.
I don't care how you feel about global warming...it doesn't matter how we get there...it's just that we are there.
John 14:1-3
1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Copy the link below and paste into your web browser...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMe5dOgbu40&feature=email


By Jerome R. Corsi


A former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says the real purpose of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Dec. 7-18 is to use global warming hype as a pretext to lay the foundation for a one-world government.

"At [the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in] Copenhagen this December, weeks away, a treaty will be signed," Monckton told a Minnesota Free Market Institute audience on Thursday at Bethel University in St. Paul.

"Your president will sign it. Most of the Third World countries will sign it, because they think they're going to get money out of it. Most of the left-wing regimes from the European Union will rubber stamp it. Virtually nobody won't sign it," he told the audience of some 700 attendees.

"I read that treaty and what it says is this: that a world government is going to be created. The word 'government' actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity.

"The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to Third World countries, in satisfaction of what is called, coyly, 'climate debt' – because we've been burning CO2 and they haven't. We've been screwing up the climate and they haven't. And the third purpose of this new entity, this government is enforcement."

http://bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com

Gracie is 6 months old!!

 
 
 
 

My precious little girl is 6 months old!! She loves to smile and kick her feet down hard, she is just fitting into her NB shoes, she LOVES laughing at her big brother Gavin, and is completely her mothers' pride and joy.
The picture of me holding her on the wood fence, while she tugs at the leaf made me cry the first second I saw it on my camera screen. I felt it perfectly captured how proud I am of her and I hope she can always see that in my eyes.

I decided to take her 6 month pictures at an apple grove in Oak Glen! My FAVORITE Fall tradition is apple picking and I have tons of memories of picking apples with friends and family in Oak Glen, every year.
The day was full of adventure. Though, sometimes a little rough, ie. the 1 1/2 hour detour and the hornet sting, laughter seemed to be the main theme of the day. We had so much fun. It was just my mom ( Can you believe how beautiful she is?), me, and the kids.
The weather was gorgeous and Gavin had a blast! Yay! That's all that matters.
I can't believe how many pics I was able to get with my kids(Thanks Mom!).
I loved this day, and it really was this picturesque. Thank you Lord!