Don Piper

I went with my mom last night to hear Don Piper speak. He wrote the book "90 minutes in Heaven".

I was blessed. I was blessed by God through Rev. Piper's experience. I wouldn't say that anything was really new. . . God just hit me in the head with some wonderful thoughts.

1. Heaven is real.

2. My God is in the miracle business.

3. We need to share our stories about how God has taken care of us.

4. Someday, when I get to heaven, I'll get to greet all those God used in my life to get me there.

5. Someday, I'll get to be a greeter! I'm excited that God has used me in the lives of others.

6. Music, music, light, God, music, no scars, peace. . . oh what a place.

7. Having a miracle happen in your life doesn't mean that everything will be hunky dory. There will still be rough times.

8. I love Gary. Without complaint, he watches the kids so that I can go to something like this.

Prayers

We all have so many things to pray about. Lots of joys and thanks. . . lots of needs within our own families. . . lots of hurts that need covering in the lives of friends. . . so many are needing specific things: healing, jobs, forgiveness. . . .

It can be overwhelming at times. I take praying for others very seriously. I enjoy praying for the needs of those whose lives touch mine in some way. Some of those prayers are on-going, some are a one time deal.

I've recently been praying a lot in the middle of the night. Why you ask? Well, when you are awake in the middle of the night, it seems like a great time to pray. All the drama with my dad has me up. . . and thinking. . . and praying in the middle of the night. The impending arrival of our daughter, mistakes I've made parenting, the hurts of dear friends who are grieving. wonderful time spent with friends and family, my wonderful husband and his needs. . .I'm a thinker and prayer in the middle of the night. My mind just starts going and I can't seem to get back to sleep for a couple of hours.

If you think of it, even if it is a one shot thing. . . could you please pray for our family situation? Pray for my mom: for strength and discernment. Pray for my dad. I've started to call him Pharoah. He says one thing. . . shows some kindness. . .and then hardens his heart. He tries deliberatly to hurt my mom and then says he loves and misses her. I'm not a fan of that. Pray for our family as we adjust, hurt, grieve, celebrate, and live each day: some good and some not so fantastic.

We are on the divorce path. Dad wants it. Dad has filed for it. Dad thinks it is best. Dad believes God told him to do it. Oh how my heart grieves. Imagine my mom.

I'm not sure what to ask you to pray about. I'm not sure exactly what I'd like for God to do. What I do know is that God has it. He knows. He can work out the details. He will receive every ounce of glory. . . every bit. Sometimes I clap for Him because I know that He is going to do wonderful things. No harm in giving God the glory even before I get the chance to see it. :)

A quick look at winter

Hi friends and family
Here is a quick look at the family. We've had a great couple of months and really enjoy being together.

Keeping Noel entertained while Garrison and Simon took gymnastics class.

Happy 30th Birthday Kevin! We loved surprising him in his classroom and my sister Tricia and I even dressed up for the occasion.

The kids love wearing their Maroom Platoon shirts and cheering on their Uncle Koe at Holland Christian basketball games.

Now I know he is finally a little boy!

Where is Simon?

Noel's fascination with markers doesn't end with coloring on the paper.

Blowing bubbles at the children's museum.

Magna-tiles were a hit!

Play Date Etiquette

I had something new happen to me yesterday. Simon was invited to a schoolmate's house for a playdate. We've been to others houses. . . . the kids had gone for babysitting. This is new.

Charissa (the mom) chatted with me Friday when I dropped Simon off for school about how her son Jake was wondering if Simon could come over and play on Tuesday. Um. . . sure. . . sounds great.

I'm not sure on the "rules". I didn't even know Charissa's name until she called me and left a message on the answering machine. I have chatted with her a bit, smiled as we dropped off our sons, I graduated a year after her husband and worked with her brother-in-law at Camp Roger. . . she is quality I'm sure. I'm just not sure of what to do now? Thank-you note? Do I need to reciprocate? When? I'd love some advice from the parents who have been there/done that. How do these things work?

By the way: it seemed to go really well. Jake is also adopted and it is so wonderful to know that Simon won't be the only one in his class. He doesn't have white skin either, so this is another bonus. Plus, he is a sweetie. I do think that Simon might like to move in with them though: he came home with paintings (we don't paint with real paint in our house!) and balloon animals. :) Plus, he had pizza for lunch. It must be the coolest house ever.

One Hundred

100. One Hundred.

This has been the latest "obsession" of my boys. They use it to imply a very long amount of time. . . or objects. . . or difficulty. Since they've learned that it is a big number, it is now used in so many different ways. Of course, it makes Gary and I laugh. Here are some examples.

"Simon, are you going to play with that for one hundred days?"

"Are we going to go to the hotel in one hundred days?"

"Do we need to wait for one hundred hours?"

"That hurt one hundred times!"

"Can we watch this for one hundred minutes?"

"When I get to be one hundred, then can I watch the dragon movie?"

Most of the time, it is very amusing. Today however, one hundred was used in a different way, one that caused us to pause. In school, Garrison did a unit on phones. He made a phone and practiced calling his house and some of his friends' numbers. It has been fun to see him walking around the house calling people. This morning he called his Gramps. That is my dad. Garrison has been pretty quiet on the subject of his Gramps. He and Gramps were best buddies. I can't even describe the joy I used to feel when I saw them together. Garrison hasn't seen or talked with him since the middle of August. We've told him that his Gramps is sick because he is taking too much medicine. (This wasn't new to him as Gramps was often too "sick" to play with Garrison after he had overdosed.) Well, he called his Gramps today on his phone. The phone call went something like this.

"Hi, Gramps how are you? Yup. Yup. One hundred one hundred. Bye Gramps."

Gary had the opportunity to ask him about it. . . what did Gramps say?

"He said that he would be better in one hundred one hundred days." It has been a long time Garrison. We continue to pray that your Gramps gets better.

Fun Day

I'm a mama. I love this job. Not only do I love my kids, I also like them. I like being with them. Along with my job of liking my kids, I also get to cook and clean and and and. You know. Some of your REALLY know. :)

Today was different. We had just a fun day. I was able to really enjoy being with my kids. I get to do this in small increments of time, but not usually for a longer period. We had a blast. . . as a family. It was like we were on vacation. We loved going to swimming lessons for the boys, then we were off to the Children's Museum for an AGCI get-together. AGCI is our adoption agency. We laughed, and ran, and explored, and got dirty, and built, and learned, and ate out for lunch. . . it was so much fun. Gary and I each got one-on-one time with each kid. The kids worked together and had fun together. There weren't any distractions, any other jobs, any phone calls that needed doing. Lovely.

Every child slept on the way home. Wish I could have too. :)

Blueberry Muffins

I'm looking for a really good blueberry muffin recipe. I made a new recipe tonight. . . close but not what I'm looking for. Do you have one you'd like to share? Let er rip. Penny would like some good muffins! :)