Just for the Fun of it. . .

Laura tagged me! I have read this on other's sites and found it cute, so I figured, "what the heck. . nothing else I should be doing at 11 pm!" ha! I'll have a serious post tomorrow to announce our NEW KidsLake project for the month, but thought I'd have a little fun with this first!

I am: a daughter of the King who desires to please Him!

I think: A LOT about Africa!

I know: people think I'm a bit odd

I want: to join God where He's at work and have the opportunity to sit and watch Him! I'm at Awe that He lets me!

I hate: most veggies

I miss: Liberia! And, strangely enough. . other places in Africa that I've never visited!

I fear: not much. . .possibly, spiders. .I sure don't LIKE them!

I feel: a little hungry, but I'm holding myself back from eating at this hour

I hear: the news. . but, I'm not listening!

I smell: not much. .I don't have a sense of smell. I asked and God took it mostly away a few years ago. . sometime, I'll tell that story!

I crave: chips and salty things like everyday!

I search: for new organizations in Africa that we can support

I regret: times when I have saddened my Jesus

I love: Jesus (and my amazing church, family and friends and especially my hubby and kiddos!)

I ache: for Africa!!!!!!!!!!!

I care: too much about what people think and am asking God to give me a passion for just HIS approval!

I always: call someone when I get in the car

I am not: very quiet

I believe: that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior who died on the cross to bring glory to His Father and rose again to offer his gift of salvation

I sing: random songs. . but not a ton. . I'm too busy talking!

I cry: when people offer to get involved in African projects and I didn't expect it. . It's like someone loving on my kids, it goes straight to my heart!

I fight: with Greg over who has to change the next diaper or get up with Brayden when he pees in the middle of the night!

I write:comments on other people's blogs. . pretty much every one that I read. I LOVE comments and know that others do too. .

I win: a lot in cards. . I have uncanny luck (if I believed in luck!)

I lose: my keys in my diaper bag EVERY DAY

I never: want to stop being passionate and involved in God's work

I listen: to my kids voices all day. . and to Diego in the background. . .

I can usually be found: with a couple of kids hanging off of me!

I am scared: of my kids not knowing Jesus when they grow up

I need: to go to bed!

I am happy about: the fact that Robin is coming to visit soon!

I hope: to be a light that shines in darkness, and someone who points others to Jesus, starting with my kids and expanding to those around me

I am tagging: Jocelyn, Missy, Julie R, Cassie, Jena, Erin and Charity (you guys tag the rest of the girls!)

End in sight. . .

Hey guys, April is almost over! If your family, church or school participated in KidsLake, make sure to send in your donations soon! You can either pay by credit card using the button in the sidebar or you can email me at brandi@kidslake.org for info on where to send a check (which would save us 3% too). Either way, let us know so that we can celebrate what God has done! Thanks! You'll hear about our May KidsLake and Well projects SOON!

Ever wonder about Meditation?

I've been meaning to write a post about this latest chapter in Celebration of Discipline for a couple of days. . and, after a great discussion on it last night. .I think I'm ready!

The topic? Meditation

What does that word conjure up in your mind? This is one of the first things we needed to explore. Obviously, this is something the scriptures talk about frequently, saying, "I meditate on your law" (throughout Ps 119), speaking of Biblical men and women, "Going away to meditate on His precepts" and even Jesus taking time out of his ministry to meditate. . .and yet. . . .

Today the word Meditae conjurs up images of "ommmmmmm" with new age music in the background and a mellow voice saying, "empty your mind and center your being". ok. . um. no! This is the opposite of what God's word talks about. Not emptying your mind, but filling it. . filling it with HIS WORD and HIS TRUTH. Chewing on His words so they may satiate your being. And not just thinking. . but DOING! Taking the time to allow Him to speak to you, then obeying Him and putting those words into daily practice!

Here are just a few of the quotes (get ready to chew on these. . this is good meat!)

"Christian meditation is the ability to hear God's voice and obey His word". . simple!

The purpose of meditation is creating intimacy with Jesus. . then, he goes on to state that this isn't buddy, buddy, but the combination of "both intense intimacy and awful reverence". . oh how we as a society can't do that. . it just stands in opposition to what we understand. If we are intimate, we are on the same level. How then, can we be reverent? And, on the other hand, if we revere, how can we be intimately acquainted? I LOVE that Jesus fractures all of those guidelines and does exactly both! The one we revere (or should!) choose absolute intimacy with us!

In speaking of the detachment of common meditation. . .in the Christian world of meditation, the focus is on attachment. "The detachment from the confusion all around us in orer to have a richer attachment to God. Christian meditation leads us to the inner wholeness necessary to give ourselves to God freely." Bascially, he explains mediation as taking the time out to listen. . to stop, if even for a few moments and listen to our ever present God who is always desiring conversation with us. . who has something to say about our hearts and our circumstances in the every day.

Taking to time to gain HIS perspective. . that's what it's really all about!

He talks about meditation not being some otherwordly, super spiritual thing. . but that "Meditation has no point and no reality unless it is firmly rooted in LIFE". His perspective on our present! Listening and obeying. . .

He goes on to challenge that throughout history we, as a people, have avoided this. The Isrealites begged for a ruler. We look to our pastor, priest or even husband, friend or mentor for direction from God. Why? Becuase it is threatenting and scary. . .to mediate on His world and ask for His perspective means to "boldly enter into the living presence of Gof for ourselves. It tells us that God is speaking in the continuous present and wants to address us.". . . .sometimes that's scary, because are we ready and willing to listen?

Oh, what a challenging chapter and discussion. . especially in the busyness of our world. Am I stopping? Stopping to seek, to chew, to listen to His voice and His Words, to be changed by them. . .

Richard Foster quotes William Penn as saying, "True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it."

MOTHERHOOD. . A JOURNEY OF LEARNING

MamaBlogga is sponsoring a group writing project this month (well, until May 11) on Mothering. She challenged us to write the good, what we love, what we do, what our mom's did, anything that's on our mind. *note: my post is more about the "job" of mothering and how hard it can be. .and the ramifications of that. PLEASE know that I consider it a joy. I love my kids more than anything and they delight me each day. . .however, they also sometimes drive me crazy! I meank come on they are 2, 2 1/2 and 3 1/2!!!

First of all, the truth. Today, I don't feel like I "have what it takes" to mother my kids on this particular day. This week has been VERY hard behaviorally with all 3 (if you aren't a regular reader and have just come from MamaBlogga's site. . I have 3 kids. 2 two year olds and a 3 year old. . my middle 2 year old was just brought home 4 months ago from Liberia, West Africa. . .I am a stay at home mom, but also have a volunteer position at the church that entails approx. 15 hours a week and am in the process of starting 4 campaigs to raise money for different African projects). . .now, I KNOW that I am called to all of these roles at this time. However, that means that I don't (or shouldn't if managing my day properly) have a lot of down time. Here's my problem, I'm lazy! I'd much rather take a nap while the kids are (I was on heavy pain meds after a root canal that caused an infection. .which made the naps necessary, but they are still calling my name)! So this is where I'm at today. . .I'm EXHAUSTED! I have restless leg syndrom (where b/c my legs were tight from exercising, they twitched and made my whole body skirm all night long) and 2 of my kids were up 2 times each. . then, all the kids woke up at 6:30! aagh! On top of that, I have my biggest event of this season. . .a Family Luau event at church on Friday night that I'm in charge of and we're expecting 2-3,000 people! agh!

So, back to my current state of mind. . .I told Greg this morning that "I just don't have it in me today". . the truth is, I don't have a choice. No option to just ditch work and go to borders and read (or the beach, which I would really prefer!). Gary Thomas wrote a bunch of books.. .the best one I've read is "Sacred Marriage: what if God designed marriage more to make us HOLY than Happy". Did that just smack you in the gut? Yep. . what if, God designed mothering more to make my HOLY than to make me Happy? Here is the joy in parenting. . . .if I allow God to do what He wants in me through this time, I will be changed. The truth is, "I DON"T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES"! But, HE DOES! Oh praise Jesus that He would meet me here.

This reminds me of our study on Friday morning. We talked about the Samaritian woman at the well. The truth is, Jesus MET HER THERE and loved her. He reached out to offer living water, but conversed with her in the process to help her walk the journey. She felt so full after a time with Him that she ( a woman of ill reputation who had gone to the well at a time of day where other's wouldn't be there. . most likely to not have to have contact with the other village women) SHE ran into town and told all the people, "I've met the messiah and He told me all that I'd done". He changed her in the MIDST of her circumstances and she left her shame at the well to shout his praises. ***note: there is SO much more to be said of this story and asking ourselves who are the people in our world/life that are "outcasts" and how can we meet them! The deal is, life with 3 toddlers, a volunteer position at church and these campaigns to get off the ground. . as well as being a wife, daughter, sister, friend,etc. . can make me FEEL overwhelmed and unequipped. . .However, I have learned (or am learning!) that my feelings are not the boss of me. I do NOT have to act on my feelings. Instead, I need to let them reveal to me that I'm not trusting Him, I'm not using the resources He's provided for me. . .I'm trying to do it on my own. This is the beauty of mothering. . it's too big of a task for me to do alone. It is a tangible thing that NEVER goes away in my life that points me to JESUS and my absolute need for Him!

Thanks to Brayden, Gracie and Davis for causing me to turn to Jesus. I pray that in my parenting, I allow the Lord the opportunity to make me Holy and not just seek happiness on the journey!

ps: if you want to join in on a mothering post of your own, click here to get started!

Amazing Friends!

I was SO remiss to not post about my wonderful time with friends last week. I was a little out of it, as I had a root canal that has somehow gone wrong and have been on pain meds. . that make it a little hard for me to speak/write/think clearly sometimes! Well, last week my Amazing friend, Jaymie came into town from Atlanta and she and our incredible friend, Ladelle came over. Jaymie and Ladelle are both wonderful friends and SUPER SWEET girls who love the Lord dearly. We have been friends for close to 10 years (not really sure the exact length!). Ladelle now lives here in town, but it took Jaymie coming in for us to actually get together! However, we are making plans to change that! Jaymie is a hilarious blog stalker. . we don't get to keep in touch super regularly, but she always knows what's going on b/c she is a faithful blog reader. . most likely of yours too. Her first words to me when she came to my house were, "How's Jess doing on the Biggest Loser competition with Cassie?" ha ha! It has also been cool to watch God grow her heart even more for Him and for his orphans around the world. Their small group is actually raising the money to build and support an orphange in Haiti! Isn't that awesome? AND, she just emailed me yesterday saying that her son Jake took KidsLake to his school. His whole class is doing it and they showed the principle and the whole school may join in!!! YEAH! Thanks Jaymie for encouraging and being excited about my crazy ideas! And many thanks to Ladelle (although she can't figure out how to look at my blog, so I'll have to email her this!) for loving my kids SO much and encouraging me in my parenting. Her kids are basically grown and she is so sweet to my children. She sits right down on the floor and plays like crazy. We definitely need to spend more time with Aunt Ladelle!

More recently. . .
Yesterday, I got the opportunity to spend the day at the hospital with my friend, Kelly. She had her first baby girl yesterday afternoon. She was AMAZING! No drugs, but had to have pitocin (the horrible drug that makes your contractions awful). She was so quiet and controlled. I love that she is a girl who clings to truth in the midst of pain. Literally! In a little tiny break during pushing, I leaned into her ear and whispered, "He never promised it would be easy, only that He would remain with you. Also, You CAN do this. . You can do ALL things through Christ. He sufferred for you and you will endure this pain with HIM by your side. Cling to Him through each push" Many girls would want to smack you in the face if you told them that during delivery! However, she needed it. . she had asked me to be in charge of "scripture and truth" and told me later that it's just what she needed to hear. What an amazing woman. We are delighted to welcome her to the world of motherhood. Now she can join our Mom's Bible Study on Friday mornings!!! Yeah! Check out, Lucy Sky on their blog www.johnandkellyinflorida.blogspot.com and give her congrats (most likely she knows who you are even if you don't know her b/c she's a major blogstalker!)

Speaking of my Friday morning Mom's group. . .I have an incredibly long blog that I'm dying to post about all that we learned yesterday in our study! So, check back tomorrow night for that and plan to bring your Bible and make sure you have 15 min to spare. I promise, it will be worth it! I'm still reeling from the awesome lesson and the deep discussion. I just LOVE these girls that God has given me! They are each anxious ot learn, ready to discuss scripture and vulnerable enough to look inside and ask the Lord where they need to apply it. My favorite is our prayer request time. . someone is sure to cry every week! We have a rule, that your prayer request has to be about your own heart and what God's teaching you and they all open right up and share their journeys! ooh, my heart literally swells just thinking of them!

Celebration of Discipline

We just started Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster as our study with my Sunday Night Girls. I LOVE this book! It is one of my all-time favorites of all time! Every page you read, you think "Oh my, oh my. . I've got to underline that". I'm serious! Go out and buy this book today! It is amazing and incredibly challenging.

This week's reading was the first chapter, an overview. Usually chapters like this don't hold a lot of meat and you have to wait to really "get in" to the book to learn anything. Not with this one!

The book is about the Disciplines of the Christian Faith. . namely: (the inward disciplines) Meditation, prayer, fasting, study, (the outward) simplicity, solitude, submission, service, (the corporate) confession, worship, guidance and celebration.

Here are just a few quotes that I underlined and some thoughts with it. .
"The purpose of the Diciplines is liberation from the stifling slavery to self-interest and fear. . .there is no slavery that can compare to the slavery of ingrained habits of sin"

Then, he goes on to talk about how often we "Will" ourselves to not sin. We determine that we don't want to do that anymore and fight against it. . .and somehow in that we begin to focus on "our will" and determination in the midst (whether the good of it or the lack thereof). "'Will worship' what a telling phrase, and how descriptive of so much of our lives! The moment we feel we can succeed and attain victory over sin by the strength of our will alone is the moment we are worshiping the will. Isn't it ironic that Pual looks at our most strenuous efforts in the spiritual walk and calles them idolatry, "will worship"? (refering to Col. 2:23)

Ok, can we say "CONVICTING"!

He goes on. . ."Will worship' may produce an outward show of success for a time, but in the cracks and crevices of our lives our deep inner condition will eventually be revealed."

For a "good girl" who tends towards the "law" b/c I so like to know where I stand. . I like to have a checklist to go through and know if I'm doing well or not. This was convicting. . Where in my life am I making the right choices, but on my own? Where am I not allowing or seeking for God to do a life changing work in my very core? Because, ultimately, I want Him to change WHO I AM, not just WHAT I DO!

The interesting thing is that understanding that it is all about the heart and asking for the "free gift of righteousness" (Rom 5:17) puts me in danger of thinking there is nothing to do in the process. This is another area of "living in the tension" like our Pastor always talks about. Living between the two equally correct truths of Free Gift of Righteousness and Working out of our Salvation. This is where Richard Foster proposes that the disciplines of the faith come in. . we practice these, not to learn steps to do, but to "place ourselves before God for transformation". . the disciplines themselves DO nothing, but place us before the Father. He quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer who says, "Grace is Free, but it is not Cheap". "The grace of God is unearned and unearnable, but if we ever expect to grow in grace, we must pay the price of a consciously chosen course of action. . " Good stuff!

I am so excited about this book and God using it to challenge me in new ways. I am praying that as a group, we will be changed women. Women who are learning to grow in grace and in truth in our relationships with Him. If you are interested, go on to CBD.com or even amazon and order this book to read along with us! I'm sure that if the rest of this book is as challenging as this first chapter, I'll be posting about it ALOT (I've been dying to post this since I finished reading the chapter on Tuesday!)

Ramblings on thankfulness. . .

Lately, I've just been basking in my thankfulness and joy. I'm just so thankful to our Lord. For so many months, I have been praying that God would clarify my role. At times, I just want to get on the next plane to Africa. But, I know that God has me here for a purpose. In fact, I believe that at this point, I'm more useful to Africa here than if I were there! It seems like lately, He has been making things clearer and clearer every day. And, I'm loving it!

For now, I believe that God has me researching great organizations that are already working in Africa. Then, I'm having a blast coming up with different campaigns to raise money and awareness. This is SO FUN! I'll share more of them with you as they get ready to launch, but we're working on a campaign for college campuses, one for Chick Fil A and other restaurants, one for birth kits in Uganda and then KidsLake for kids! I'm having a blast and am so thankful for the girls that God has brought beside me to brainstorm, pray and work. Wait till you guys see what my amazingly talented friend, Ann Marie came up with. Hint: she's a graphic designer who takes my silly ideas and makes them full on promotional campaigns!

I LOVE that God chooses to use us in what He's doing halfway around the world. Isn't He amazing? Already, 25 kids will be provided for in Uganda. This is above and beyond the WELL that they'll have! Thank you guys so muchf or being a part of God's crazy work to bless HIS people. With 25 kids, that's over 20% of the goal for KidsLake. And, I've had a school teacher email me. Her classes are going to do KidsLake as a project and she's trying to get the whole school involved!! One clarification: I've used the word "sponsored" a couple of times in reference to providing their school fees. This is NOT an ongoing sponsorship program (although you are MORE than welcome to give to Ruth and her ministry on an ongoing basis!). This is a one time gift to provide for the upcoming school term that costs $10 (4 months) and a uniform ($7) for a child. Does that make more sense? I hope so! Sorry if I was confusing some of you!

Remember to talk to your kids about Uganda. Pray with them for Ruth and her ministry and help them find creative ways to give, save or earn money to help other kids and at the same time change their perspective on their world and encourage their passion for others! Yeah!

Love you guys and thanks for listening to me ramble on again. . I'm just loving this!

You know you are a Blogger when. . .

When we were at the mall last week (in NC with the Littleton family!), Brayden was playing with a kids, play phone. As can only happen in the year 2008, he unfolds it and points it at Davis and Jackson to "take their picture". After getting them to say cheese and pretending that their picture is taken, he looks at the phone really carefully and says, "That's SUCH a good picture, guys! That's going up on my blog!"

oh my!

Kids LAKE

Many of you have already heard about this or visited the site. .but, I thought I would share in more detail here! We've created a NEW website. It's
www.KidsLAKE.org

Kids LAKE: Kids Loving As Kingdom Examples was started after I heard and was inspired by some amazing kids at our church. You see, our church recently completed a very cool campaign to raise money for Heifer, an organization that gives cows to needy villages across the world. This was a Children's Ministry push where kids and parents were encouraged to donate. 2 of my friends' kids really encouraged me. My friend, Abby's kids (Madeleine and Jack) are only 6 and 7 years old. This didn't stop them one bit! They collected tangerines and oranges off their grandpa's trees and sold them for $1 a dozen! They also made it their mission to find every penny ever dropped on the ground and then collected and donated that change! My friend, Theresa's kids (Lauren and Kaitlyn) also did cool projects. Kaitlyn made and sold cinnamon rolls before and after Sunday school one morning at church! Lauren was stressing to find "her thing", so Theresa and Lauren sat down and brainstormed the ways that God had gifted Lauren. They come up with helping with kids. So, Lauren spent the day with a neighbor lady helping her with her toddlers. At the end of the day, this lady gave Lauren and few dollars. Isn't that cool? Both of my friends helped their kids find what worked for them. They helped their kids DO SOMETHING to make a difference. You better believe that those kids cared WAY more about the Heifer project than if their mom or dad had just handed them offering on the way into church.

This got me thinking about 2 concepts. #1: Kids CAN make a difference. The Bible is very clear about other's not looking down on you because you are young, but "set and example for the believers in faith and truth". Concept #2: Living out our faith in EVERY arena. This is from Deut. where God talks about walking around with scripture. . .talking about truth while you sit, while you work, while you walk, etc. So, KIDS LAKE was born!

This site was designed for KIDS who want to make a difference. It was also designed with parents and teachers in mind. We will present a NEW opportunity every month for KIDS to raise money for. These opportunities will always be "kid attainable" with increments in the under $15 range. For example: this month we are raising money for tuition $10 and uniforms $7. Both amounts that a typical kid could earn, raise or save for. This way, kids can feasilbly see, "I earned/raised/saved $10 and a kid in Uganda can go to school". Kids are so visual and learn well with object lessons that we wanted to make the results concrete. For parents and teachers, we will also present "KidsLake for Parents / Teachers" each month. This post will give helpful ideas and links so that parents/teachers can capitalize on what is getting the kids excited. Let' use this opportunity and sneak some learning in! So, while working on a project for a school in Uganda. . you can study geography (where is Uganda), History (of Uganda), Creative Writing (What would it be like to not be able to go to school?), health (malnutrition in the 3rd world), Math (earnings/savings during the project) or Bible (what God's word says about helping others). For older kids, they could even discuss economics, statistics and the list goes on!

The fun thing is that every month there will be a new project. So, a family, class or even homeschool group could make it a fun thing to log on to www.kidslake.org every month and have something new to study and learn about while growing their perspectives on themselves and their passion for this world and really make a difference at the same time!

The KidsLAKE blog will be run mostly by kids too! Sarah and Taylor are 2 amazing girls (ages 13 and 14) and they will run this blog. They will post the challenge for kids. They'll do small devotionals for kids participating in the project and will "feature" a new kid every few days as kids write in and tell us their stories of creative things they are doing and what they are learning in the process. We'll also post about fundraisers to keep in your prayers as we learn about them (i.e. The Smith Kids in GA are doing a garage sale on Sat. keep them in your prayers). I hope that this will be another way that keeps kids interested and connects them to other kids across the world that are joining with them to make a difference!

I'm super excited about this opportunity. I got an email this morning from a teacher who plans on implementing this with her class and proposing it to the whole school! So, if you could help by spreading the word, we'd be delighted! Tell your homeschool group, your church or your school about www.kidslake.org Thanks!

My God is SO BIG

GOD IS AMAZING!!!!!!!! In ONE day, He did it!! We have all the money raised for the well for Rapha School and Community!! Praise the Lord! There are children in Uganda who will live past their 5th birthday! There are mamas who won't have to worry about their babies. . .there are people who will ask for water and believers who will be able to give it as a gift to their community in the name of JESUS!!! Thank you JESUS!!

I stand in AWE of Him. . .The truth is that with every fundraising opportunity, I learn. I learn to trust Him and wait on Him in a new way. I learn anew that HE loves them more than we. I learn that this isn't asking for money, it's presenting an opportunity to join God where HE is working. We are so blessed to be able to be a part of HIS work in Uganda. I've never even been there and He lets me play a little tiny part! Can you believe it? This is the kind of God we serve!

He gives OVER and Abundantly more than we can ever ask or imagine. I wouldn't have even imagined that this well would be funded this quickly! He is GOOD. In fact, we are going to leave up the donation button for Ruth and her ministry. We would love to see all 120 children have their tuition and uniform money raised. We have 116 children left to go! This entire month has been dedicated to praying for Ruth and the ministry of Bethesda Int'l. I implore you to use this month in this way. Pray for them! Call your friends and pray together. Gather your children and pray as a family. God is allowing us to be a part of HIS work!

Praise the LORD and check out details on Rapha School at www.kidslake.org or just click the donate button on the left side of my blog. Tuition for a semester is $10 and uniforms are $7! Let's keep blessing these kiddos!! Thank you Jesus!

PLEASE HELP RAPHA!!!!

April has thrown me for a little loop, I must confess! You guys did a FABULOUS job raising money for Rock Hill. Thank you SO MUCH! I am sure that it was an amazing day on Easter Sunday when they made that announcment! We should actually have video of that day soon!

When the Rock Hill well project goal was reached, I immediately had others asking how, when and where the April well would be. However, Spirit Liberia is not quite ready for their next well. They are busily purchasing land for the next church and getting quotes for the churches in the bush and needed a few weeks to get all of that lined up. Truthfully, I was a little crushed! "Oh no, what am I going to do? Lord, I thought this was going to be monthly". . you know, going to despair and confusion immediately, instead of doing the smart thing of simply asking the Lord, "Where are you leading us now?". As I prayed, the thing that kept popping into my mind was THIS POST by Katie Borchert (a fellow adoptive mama and friend who has traveled to Uganda many times) about Ruth Muga and Bethesda Int'l. Pretty quickly, I realized, "oh wait, maybe that's why we needed an April break. . .to give us a chance to have a special month dedicated to being a part of God's provision for Ruth and the children of Uganda!".

SO, our special April project is "Rapha School and Community Well" just outside of Jinja, Uganda! Please take a moment to read Katie's story of Ruth and her mninistry! Ruth is a native Ugandan woman who God kinda of threw into orphan minstry! She answered the call and now cares for over 200 orphans through orphanage, school and a special foster care system. She helps these kids live in foster families and then provides for those families so that THEY can do ministry on a more personal level with the kids, many of whom are HIV positive and double orphans! Right now, they have no clean water. They actually have to walk miles through the jungle to get water and a child recently died on this journey! So, PLEASE this month, help Rapha School and Community have clean water! This well will provide the school children with water as well as the foster families, the community and will even provide water for their self-sustainability projects for animals and farming!!

The quote for this well is $4900, but with paypal fees and our total to raise is $5000.
We have already raised $3965, which means we still need: $1035. If 104 people gave 10 bucks a piece these children could LIVE. Remember, one out of 4 children DIE because of the illness caused by lack of clean water! Please consider giving. Consider forwarding an email to friends and family (you can email me for a link to actually put in your email) or posting this on your blog! Let's help Ruth, her ministry Bethesda Int'l and the children of this community!!!

PS: If you are planning on giving a larger donation ($50 or more) and would like to give by check to cut down on paypal fees, please email me at Brandi@kidslake.org
PSS: If you'd like to help Rapha Community School, we are also raising funds for tuition ($10) and uniforms ($7). . so go to http://www.kidslake.org/ to donate there! I'll post about KidsLake tomorrow, b/c it's a chance for KIDS to raise money for KIDS all across the world and gain a passion for people and a perspective on themselves all at the same time!

PLEASE join me in prayer RIGHT NOW

I just got off Steffany's blog. The twins that I told you guys about last week are home now. They had made huge strides and were weighing 13 and 15 lbs earlier this week. However, their weight has been dropping and they were both admitted to the hospital. Here's what her blog said, "Diezel is not doing well at all! He keeps going in and out of consciousness. His body is cold. They were catheterizing him right now, and may be moving him to ICU. Please pray for the Dr.s to have divine wisdom to care for him. Pray for healing over his entire body. Pray for Daizey as she is also in the hospital. And pray for Stef and Adam...it is so hard seeing your dearly loved children so sick."

Please drop whatever you are doing right now and lift these children and this family up to the Lord. I am sure that Steff's heart is just struggling not to panic right now as just last year they lost a little girl to Malaria in Liberia before they were able to pick her up. Pray for the twins and pray for Steffany and Adam to be surrounded by the Lord and his mighty angels. Please feel free to copy and paste this into emails to any friends and family or prayer lists you can think of. Steffany's blog is HERE to check for updates.

Final Vacation thoughts. . .We had a great time! Since my mom just got a MacBook (which takes short videos) and I just got a Flip Video. . .our vacation this time was very much chronicled in short videos more than photos! This is a first for us!


These first pics are of Greg and the kiddos on the back porch. This place has a huge porch and the kids spent most of their time back there playing ball. . most of the time with TeTe (my sister) and Uncle David.


As you can see. . we were with Nana and Grandad who do at least 5 snacks a day! Most of the desserts of some sort!

My other favorite thing about vacation is our family, snuggle time. Every morning, of course, our kids would get up before the rest of the house. . so, we just brought them into bed with us for some family, snuggle time. . .These times are just precious! My favorite is when Davis tackles the other kids for hugs and the disrupt into giggling fits! I didn't capture lots of cute ones (except for him snuggling with Gracie above). . .so, you'll just have to take my word for it!

On to Videos. . .last night, Greg came home from the store with the new Alvin and the Chipmunks Movie and CD. . .so, DANCE PARTY TIME! I've been meaning to get Davis' moves on video for a while now. . unfortunately, once Gracie realized she was on video, she stopped dancing. . her signature move? Fingers pointed, circling around and shaking her booty! Too Funny. . .I uploaded 2 different ones b/c we got different moves on both!

This last video is our "Mountain Adventure" as the kids called it. . .basically, a walk in the woods looking for "amils" (animals) for the kiddos. . .They had SOOOO much fun with Nana and Grandad all week. They LOVE to play, snuggle and goof off with them!! Thanks, Mom and Dad for a wonderful week that we'll always remember. . .and now, with so much video, they kids will think they remember it too!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Granny's 70th Birthday! She is AWESOME!! As you can see, my kiddos adore her (please do NOT take note of Gracie's dirty face--Nana gave her a cookie-- or Davis--who you can't see b/c of . . well, we haven't figured out how to photograph him yet!)

I want to write more. . so I'll add to this later. . but, I just wanted to add this as a "shout out" to my Granny who loves Jesus passionately, serves her family with fervor and has always been "super cool" to all of her grandkids! I love you, Granny!

Davis' First Time Swimming

Is it insane that we had to go to West Virginia (chilly, West Virginia at that) to take Davis swimming for the first time? ha ha! The resort we are at has an indoor pool, so Davis got his first taste of swimming. He LOVED it! Smiled the whole time and thought it was amazing. It was very cute! I'll have to really teach Gracie and Davis to swim soon, though since taking the 3 kids to the pool may be difficult this summer if I have 2 non swimmers!

I actually was already down by the pool because my sweet hubby had ordered me a reflexology appointment (a fancy footrub!) at the spa. It was so nice! In fact, the appt was for 25 min, but we got to talking (about Emmanuel actually!) and she just kept rubbing my feet so I actually got a 50 min massage! Anyways. . Greg brought the kids down and didn't bring the still camera, so all I have is video. . here you go!



And here are Gracie and Davis snuggled up in their towels on a lounge chair talking about their swimming experience.



PS: Someone is working on info for our Well Project for the month of April! Please join me in praying that this will be worked out for us to announce VERY soon!