i couldn't resist this doll. i had one just like it when i was little. it's a strawberry shortcake doll and it smells like strawberries. it smells a lot! so when i ask judah if she can smell it, she wrinkles up her nose and blows air out. hilarious! man, i love this girl!

we have forgotten

friends, i would like to ask you to do an experiment: open a new window and using either "goodsearch" or "google" images, try to find pictures of our twin towers when they were hit. type in "twin towers" or "9/11" and tell me what comes up.
not much, am i right?
talk about censorship!
i would like to encourage you to go next to youtube and watch darryl worley's video of his song "have you forgotten?" i would have embedded it here for you but that option has been turned off. (a fact i also found interesting.)

ten days ago, this story made headlines. oh not in the big papers, but on foxnews it did. so "they" have decided to rename the new WTC "one world tower." does that scare anyone else? i guess "freedom tower" was a bit too patriotic. we wouldn't want anyone to think we are still proud to be americans, right? i mean, what we need is "change."

now i realize these pictures aren't pleasant and i understand why some might not want to look at them. however, i think the further we get from that dreadful day and the less we see of those images, the more we repress those memories. 

i haven't. i remember that day. i remember the shock, the horror. i remember crying. my uncle was supposed to be giving a briefing to about 80 men in the pentagon that day. he was on his way into work when, hearing about new york, he called off the meeting. the room he would have been in is no longer. 

we all have stories like that. it affected each and everyone of us. and yet, for some reason we are trying to minimize what happened. we don't want to offend anyone. we don't want to use the word "terrorist" anymore. we don't even want to honor all those who gave their lives (and all their families) by calling the new tower "freedom." 

we have forgotten.

i can offer no other explanation. otherwise we would be outraged by this move to rename the tower. otherwise we would not have elected a commander in chief who is anti-military. otherwise we would have hundreds of images flood our screens when we searched for "twin towers" or "9/11."

we have forgotten.

free

my chains are gone!

in homes across america

in my world, in my little sphere of influence, i know many many families who are somewhere in the adoption process. i am sure you are all aware that many of those families are involved with three angels children's relief. these past few days we have all sat by our computers (those of us not in the blessed evansville region) and watched as a miracle has taken place. a three and a half year miracle.

yesterday a little boy made his first airplane trip. actually, he boarded three airplanes. he left one incredibly impoverished nation and arrived in the greatest nation on earth (despite all political persuasions, despite the current "economic crisis" and despite our current leadership, this is undeniably a magnificent nation and we are beyond blessed to be living here.).

as i waited anxiously for news of his travels, checking my computer and phone every fifteen seconds, i thought of families gathered around the radio or the television to hear some breaking story.

our breaking news is noah. 

adoption is hard. adoption is painful. but adoption is miraculous and glorious. it is what our Father in Heaven has done for us and it is what so many of you are doing for orphaned, abandoned, needy children. it is beautiful.


but as i listen to your hearts i can feel your suffering. adoption is not easy. adoption is seeing a child's face and falling in love . . . from across the ocean. adoption (international adoption) is months of paperwork, home studies, finger prints. it is fundraising. it is finally saving enough money to fly to a foreign country, meet your child and fly home alone. it is culture shock and language barriers. it is missed birthdays, Christmases and mothers' days. adoption is last year's Christmas present sitting abandoned in the corner of camden's room just wating for noah to come open it.

and in these painfully long months that become years, a story like noah's is water to your weary souls. it is the manna which sustains you while you feel lost in the dessert.

noah's plight seemed impossible. he was gone. for fifteen months we did not see him. fifteen months. but michelle and jeremy, they had a promise. they believed in the Lord. and with God all things are possible. like the israelites up against the Dead Sea with pharaoh's army hot on their tail, the entire situation was maddening. no way would they survive. and yet they walked across on dry ground. the Lord works miracles, friends. He has the road ahead of us planned out. and even though we cannot fathom how He will do it, when He gives us a promise, we must believe!

i know there are moments of gloom. i know you've been waiting for far too long. i know there is no end in sight. i KNOW how impossible it is to instill a sense of urgency in any haitian! but the Lord has gone before you. the Lord has prepared a way. the Lord can open up the Dead Sea. He can close the mouths of lions. He can rise from the dead!

won't you trust in Him?

NOU KONTAN!

this is so hard for me to imagine:

today bethany is six years old. 

judah and i look at this picture everyday and talk about bethany and how much judah will love her once they finally meet.  the following video is the one i made for beta's birthday last year.  however, since i haven't seen her since then, i have no new pictures for a new video.  (something i hope to remedy by the time she turns seven.)

 

tetanik, i am praying for you today as you turn six.  i hope it is a wonderful birthday!  i am praying that you come to know the Lord Who loves you and created you.  i hope you become His faithful servant.  i pray, cheri, that your adoption process will not drag out any longer but that you will be united with your forever family.

i miss you more than you know, baby girl.  i can see you are getting so big.  i hope to hold you in my arms again soon!

mwen renmen ou ak tout ke'm, teta!