Wordless Wednesday

It was good!!!!

Sunday Snapshot - Orphan Day of Prayer

So, right before Christmas, my beautiful friend Sharon and I were texting like crazy about one of the precious little ones whom we had both been advocating for.   We had been advocating for and praying about this precious little girl for so long.  As we were texting, Sharon comes up with an idea, a wonderful idea, a wonderful yet somewhat scary idea.  My beautiful friend Sharon asked if I would like to host an orphan prayer day with her sometime after Christmas!

YES!

A wonderful idea, right?  So why scary??

Well, if you have been following here for a while, you know that our family has been through some struggles this year, some financial struggles, and while it has been REALLY hard, this struggle has had it's purpose. 

This struggle has brought our family closer to God and stronger in our faith.  I am learning how to pray and how to just talk to God.  I am learning first hand the power of prayer in our lives and in the lives of the people around us.  I am learning to recognize the Lord's amazing work that is all around us - every - single - day.  It has always been there but now I am beginning to know it for what it is - God's plan and God's provision and God's miracles.

I am embraceing the struggle almost everyday! 

So a day of prayer.  OK...

I have prayed SO much lately, more than I ever have before.  I have prayed for our financial situation as well as another "tug at my heart" situation.  I have prayed for the precious children who wait, the ones who are on my blog and all the others whom I will never know.  I have prayed for all those families who are working so hard to bring their children home and I pray for those families who are just starting the process and need those mountains moved!

I am learning how to pray and how to let it go, how to give those burdens to Him that are just too much for me.  So again, why scary?

Well, while I am comfortable giving Him my burdens and praying my prayers, the thought of being responsible for the prayers of others is, honestly a bit scary!  I guess I just don't want to mess it up!

I know, however, that this is something I really wanted to do and sharing this with my beautiful friend Sharon will be amazing!  I know the Lord will be with us and will help us to pray for all those who are in need of a little or a lot of prayer.

When we started talking about just how to work this, Sharon told me about the "Prayer Tree."  Apparently, in a small town in South Carolina, there is a tree, a very special tree.  It is a tree under which 2 elderly gentlemen sit - and pray.  Anyone who feels the need to stop by and ask for prayer can and these 2 wonderful gentlemen will pray.

Well, Sharon and I would like to have a place where you can stop by and ask for prayers, prayers for the children who wait, prayers for their needs and prayers for the families who are trying to bring them home,

So, you can leave your prayer requests on this blog post or on my beautiful friend Sharon's blog, A Family for Everyone .  I will also be posting about it in my Wonderful Waiting Kids blog this week with the regular advocacy post.  We hope that you will leave your prayer requests (even if they are not specific), your stories about the power of prayer in your life and stop by to pray for others.

and please join us this week to pray for these precious gifts from God!!!. 

To join in on more wonderful Sunday Snapshots go here

Sleepover!!!

So the girls had their very first non-grandma sleep over last week!!  They were VERY excited...

I was VERY nervous...

not because I thought they would get homesick....

because they were just going right next door...

but because I know the kind of destructive force that lies behind those cute little faces...

and I really like our neighbors...

and I was very afraid to unleash the power of the twin tornadoes!!!  Hehe!!!

My wonderful neighbor is still speaking to me, so I guess the tornadoes actually listened when we discussed
how to go about - being - asked - back and we they had a great time and we really want them they really want to be asked back!!!!  Heh!

Way to my cute little forces of mass destruction!!!!!!   Hehe!!!

Amazing Lizzie

Well, God certainly did answer our prayers yesterday!  Lizzie came through her final hand surgery in true Lizzie style and was ready for action as soon as the loopy drugs wore off!  Even with the loopy meds in her, she did not stop talking, in the recovery room, in the hallway, in the parking garage, in the car - well you get the picture!  LOL!

We started the morning with the boys glued to the TV watching and waiting for the word that school was cancelled!  I started the morning trying to make arrangements for a possible delayed start or cancellation and trying to make sure that the eldest would get to his school and the other 2 would get to theirs.  Thank goodness Em was spending the night with wonderful JuJu and thank goodness for our wonderful next door neighbors who were "on call" for whatever we might need them for!  So as soon as we got the word that there would be a 3 hour delay for 2 of them and a 2 hour delay for the eldest (they couldn't coordinate, could they!) and arrangements were made, we were off - in the freezing rain and sleet - at 6:20 in the morning!  Lizzie decided that she needed to wear her sister's "headlight" - cause it was dark! 

Makes sense right?  She was quite the sight in her PJ's and headlight and it was all I could do to get her to leave it in the car!

Once we got settled in to the pre-op area, she began to remember.  She has been through this before and her fear began to set in. 

These nurses are well prepared though and out came the paints - and then the loopy meds...

and then they wheeled her away.

Even though she was not crying (thank you loopy meds), she was looking back at me and softly calling for me!!!!  OK, can you hook me up with the loopy meds, cause I always cry at this point! 

The Lord watched over her though and she was done faster than it took to get her back there! 

Recovery was better than last time as well. 

She was just a little fussy when she woke up but at least she refrained from whacking the doctor!!!  Yep, the last time she had a hand surgery, our little firecracker was NOT happy and took it out on the poor unsuspecting anesthesiologist by using his face to see just how strong her cast really was!!!  LOL!  Yep, we were back at the doc's office later that afternoon having to get a new cast for our little slugger!!!  Hehe!

I guess they got smart this time and ditched the cast for a very secure (yeah right) but very soft bandage, which they asked want Lizzie to keep on for 3 to 4 days!  Heh!  I tried to tell them that our little Lizzie is very active and very hard headed.  They once again assured me that it was a very secure bandage! 

OKAAAAYYYY!

So we left the hospital with bandage and head light

and headed out into the freezing rain and sleet - to - go - home...

or so we thought!

You see, we live in the South where people panic when there is freezing rain and sleet and things like bridges get closed at the very hint of freezing rain and sleet! 

See where I am going here???

We were stuck.  Stuck on the other side of the bridge and could not get home!!! 

After one trip to CVS (for a promised treat), a lot of phone calls home (to the boys who were screaming with delight cause the bridges were closed and there was no school - the little stinkers), a lot of riding around and finally just parking on the side of the road and waiting - they opened the bridges and we went home!!!!

After just a bit of snuggling on the sofa, a little bit of Caillou on the TV and a few books, my little Lizzie was ready to play...

Only just this morning did she say that her hand was hurting and that was only after I asked!  This little one just soaks up life and doesn't want to miss a single thing!  I am so thankful everyday that God led us down His path right to our little Lizzie and even though at times He led me kicking and screaming I cannot imagine our lives without our sweet, determined little girl! 

Thank you to all who were praying for Lizzie yesterday.  She was obviously wrapped in your prayers!

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Have you every played Little Bunny Foo Foo with your child?  You know, it is the song that requires making rabbit ears (the peace sign) with your fingers and apparently bopping poor little unsuspecting field mice on the head until the deranged bunny gets turned into a duck - and then the pecking commences!!!  I am thinking there might be a market for field mice Tylenol!  I'm just saying!! 

The girls really enjoy that song (insert big brothers for field mice and you know why they enjoy it so)!

Anyway, a while back Lizzie came to me and asked, "Mommie, can the doctors fix my hand (her right hand) so I can do Little Bunny Foo Foo with these fingers?" 

OK, just how fast can a Momma get to the phone???  Give me enough time to hug my child, wipe away my tears and I am there in about a minute tops! 

Lizzie has had 2 hand surgeries, one on her right hand and one on her left.  Her left hand is a bit more functional as the first two fingers were separated down further giving them more independent movement - Little Bunny Foo Foo movement!

The fingers on her right hand, however, were not separated quite as far down and she needs them to be - to do Little Bunny Foo Foo - and to have greater function. 

Lizzie is quite functional right now and I always hesitate and get a little sad before these surgeries because I love her little hands - just - the - way - they - are.  I think she was perfectly made and it - was - her - hands - that led me to her, that helped me to know that she was our daughter, the one that God had been preparing me for ever since I was a child.  Her hands are my brother's hands and they are beautiful! 

So I struggle a bit on nights like tonight, right before her surgery, right before they change her hands.  I don't ever want her to think that her hands weren't perfectly made or that her hands weren't beautiful to me or that they somehow needed to be changed to help her "fit in."  Knowing Lizzie the way I do, she WILL fit in wherever she goes or else!!!  There is quite a lot of firecracker in that 26 pound body!!

No, her hands are totally kissable, totally beautiful and totally perfect, except... 

She wants to do Little Bunny Foo Foo and who am I to tell her that she can't.  Her hand will be just as beautiful to me after tomorrow as it is right now but it will be just a tad more functional and in a world full of computers and Ipod's and Nintendos and and and , that tad little bit will help so much.

So, my beautiful perfect little Lizzie will have her surgery tomorrow and again, knowing her the way I do, will be doing her Little Bunny Foo Foo VERY soon! 

Please keep her, her doctors and her recovery in your prayers!  I will of course have to post some video of that wonderful deranged bunny as soon as Lizzie is ready - maybe tomorrow afternoon!!!  Hehe!!!

Sunday Snapshot - Blossom's Wheels and...

I have to say that in the past year and because of some struggle that we have been through, my faith in the Lord and what He is capable of has grown and I have found myself on a beautiful journey closer to Him and my faith.  So once again, here I am completely blown away by His generosity and His provision for those who have faith.  If you remember this post and then this post you know that through God's grace and the wonderful folks at LWB's (Suzanne!!!) and the wonderful generosity of all of YOU,

Blossom got her wheels...

and her mobility

and her chance to be able to go outside with all the other children and to watch her friend's play or the birds fly or simply just watch the clouds.

She got her chance to be more social, which is what she loves!  You see, although she cannot do anything physically, she understands and she smiles and her eyes say so much and in her own beautiful way, she communicates, she is social.

According to a very sweet family who met Blossom,

"She love love loves music, stories, and attention."

"She is a beautiful, sweet, sensitive little girl who just melts a person's heart when they come in contact with her." 

"She is very aware of her surroundings and just so very sweet."

She is a child, a precious child who needs a family, deserves a family and I have complete faith that the Lord will continue to provide for sweet Blossom and will lead her family right to her.  Please keep praying for this beautiful child of God!!!

Now, as completely wonderful as this is, it gets even better!!  Are you ready for this...

Not only did you donate enough for Blossom's wheelchair, but you donated enough for TWO MORE wheelchairs.  Two more precious children are now mobile and one of them has been on my advocacy posts for a very long time!!!  We are trying to find out the status of the other little one!

Praise God and thank you!  Without the Lord's prompting, I would never have written that very first post about Blossom and without your very generous hearts, these wonderful children would still be without the one thing that helps them to be able to participate more - in - life!  I would also like to give a huge THANK YOU to Suzanne at LWB's who coordinated this whole thing!  Without her, I really don't know how I would have managed this beautiful gift from God!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart Suzanne!!!

To join in on more Sunday Snapshots, please go here,

The Ruining of a Good Mad!

Can you see the progression???

Mad!!

Trying to stay mad!!

I give up!!!

That's my Charlie!  If he can continue to go through life like that, I think he will do just fine!  Hehe!