Friday Encouragement

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

TBT April 2008

Check out Part 1 and Part 2

I said Good by to my soul mate, my best friend and my lover on that beautiful April day.
One year later... I  traveled to Montana, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina in that year. I  cried buckets of tears, prayed and experienced the reality of God's promises. I slowly started the grieving journey.

I  also started a new journey... the new reality, new dreams, new goals.

This is  story of God's grace, God's calling and  my obedience. God and I had become close friends. I relied on Him for every decision, every breath, and  even the ability to get out of bed in the morning.

He whispered in my heart. A cry for the orphan. for the lonely. for the broken. for the unwanted.

I stepped out in obedience. I needed a passion, something to live for.

April 10, 2008, I became a mother for the very first time, a "love mom", one who loves and nurtures temporarily. God had put the call of foster care on my heart.


This has been a blessing, a gift, a challenge and a journey that has drawn me closer to God. I considered it a privilege to be asked by God to be a mother to many different kiddoes that first summer.

But each loss, as each child moved on, was like ripping a bandage off the wound of loss.. But each one was a step in my journey.


6 months after becoming a "mom", God presented me with a special gift. A gift for my obedience.

Check back next Thursday.

Spring time...

We have so enjoyed the warm sunshiney days! The kids have been playing outside for hours and hours!

Nesiah loves being outside in her stroller!

Fayth was very happy when I found this PINK bike for her! I was happy to find a practically new bike on craigslist!! I am a huge fan of craigslist. With lots of patience and watching, I have bought many a  cheap but useful item!! 

Babysitting kiddoes need to be confined when on the driveway! Our road scares me to death! Note the gray duct tape "safety line". Cross that line and you automatically get to spend the rest of your day inside. It has really helped protect everyone. 

But with littles I needed more! So with some good helpers, we put up this baby gate on the front porch. 

It allows the littles to play outside while I am cooking abd the big kids are riding bikes or rollerblading! 

I love spring days... we have a very safe neighborhood, aside from the occasional sex offender. We have 4 neighbors within walking distance who are foster/adoptive parents. We have 2 police officers, an FBI agent, and someone that works for the DA's office. Plus we are surrounded by amish and horse and buggy mennonite neighbors.  We also have a neighbor who brings us left over garden produce and venison, but threatens trespassers with his shotgun. You gotta love it! ;)

I do not allow my kids to roam freely, but they do play in the neighbor's woods and in the meadows. They traipse around dreaming of survival camping and hunting wild animals, like cougars and wild cats. They have literally butchered the tree in our backyard, building themselves a tree house. (Mr J brings them lots of wood scraps from his cabinet shop.)

They are inventors and creators, they are confident of their skills and are not afraid to try to figure things out or try new things. (which may not always be good for my heart health) For ex... I had a daughter who broke her arm because she was "taking a nap" in the shed on a winter day. Try explaining THAT one in the ER...