The Bread of Life...

This week my husband is out of town. It leaves me with 4 fun and energetic kids to wrangle on my own. There will be no calvary coming in at supper time to relieve my frazzled nerves. But, somehow it always seems that God has a way of smoothing out the rough parts and making it easier than I expect. We are on Day #1 and so far it is going splendidly.

I decided to make homemade pretzels today. My kids love it when I make them. And after I made the bread, kneaded it, let it rise, punched it down, shaped it, and left it to rise on the pans; I had a moment to myself. I decided to seize the opportunity to take a shower and also to listen to some worship music. Have I mentioned I love worship music? I do. It soothes my soul and ministers to me. It reminds me of the faithfulness of the all-powerful God I serve. And the fact that my computer loaded with iTunes is in so close proximity to the shower makes it that much better. If you are a mom, then you know you have to multi-task. And so I sing and worship and shower and get ready. And life is good.

As I was singing and pondering God and life and bread I was reminded of one of the names of God:

Jesus, the Bread of Life

One of our pastors gave a sermon on that very subject just last month and it changed me.

Bread is a staple in life...something many of us eat every day. It is, in essence, the very stuff that keeps us alive. But there is something far better than earthly bread...Jesus. He is offering Himself. So often we get stuck on the physical part of our lives...the day to day grind, our needs and our wants. But as Pastor O so often says, "We are eternal, spiritual beings have a very short physical experience."

So, I remind myself. Don't get stuck in the now. Don't get so caught up in everything this world says we need. Human nature is to want Him to make our earthy life easier. To fix our here and now. But that's not what it's about. Not really.

Who He IS...is enough. He is our BREAD of LIFE. Our sustinence. Our life. Our everything.

It reminds me of the words to a worship song I have been singing over and over lately:

"All of You
Is more than enough for
All of me
For every thirst and
Every need
You satisfy me
With your love
And all I have in You
Is more than enough" words by Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio

Jesus, be MY Bread of Life. Teach me to lean on You. (John 6:25-42)

Jumping back on the wagon.

Today I am jumping back on the wagon. The blogging wagon. I've got a fresh look, a new name, no lack of material (thanks to my 4 zany kids) and plenty of space to type. Now here's to letting the creative juices flow. My kids are growing at an alarming rate. Where are those bricks? Gotta write it down before the time passes me by.

Oh Happy Adoption Day!

Oh, who would have guessed? Who would have seen?
Who could have possibly known?

All these roads we have traveled, the places we've been

Would have finally taken us home?

There are those who think families happen by chance,

A mystery their whole life through,

But we had a voice and we had a choice--

We were working and waiting for you.

So, it's here's to you and three cheers to you!

Let's shout it, "Hip, hip, hip, hooray!"

For out of this world so tattered and torn,

You came to our house on that wonderful morn...

And all of a sudden this family was born.

Oh happy Adoption Day!

Wherever you came from, wherever you go
This is the place that we start.

Whatever you learn, whoever you know

You've still got a home in our hearts.

No matter the name and no matter the age
No matter how you came to be
No matter the skin, we are all of us kin--
We are all of us one family.

So it's here's to you and three cheers to you!
Let's shout it, "Hip, hip, hip, hooray!"

For out of a world so tattered and torn,

You came to our house on that wonderful morn...

And all of a sudden this family was born,

Oh, happy Adoption Day!

We are SO blessed to have you Eliana Marda, Calvin Tesfahun and Zahara Zenete! You have filled our lives with joy & love and made us a family!

Happy Adoption day to Eliana on June 25th....4 years home. Happy Adoption Day to Calvin & Zahara on August 6th....2 years home.

We love you!

Words by: John Mc Cutcheon

Last Snowman of the Spring...I hope!

On Wednesday morning we woke up to snow! My first thought was UGH. But then when I saw the excitement and joy on my kids' faces I realized that snow, although annoying in April, was still a big treat for them. So after breakfast I bundled them up and we went outside to play. Eliana was at Grammy and Grandpa's, so I had fun with just C&Z. The snow was amazingly perfect for snowmen so Zaza and I made this cute little guy in about 10 minutes flat!

She was more than happy to pose by him and say "cheeeese"!

On the other hand, all I could get Calvin to do was one of his super cheesy cheeses and he was more interested in trying to run over the snowman with his Tonka truck than in standing next to it for a cute picture for his Mommy!

But my favorite picture of all is this one of Zahara looking at the snowman's face. My sweet, thoughtful little Zaza.

I wish I had photographed it, but 2 hours later the snowman fell over...It looked kind of pathetic laying there...like it was praying or something....begging God for a few more hours! Tony set him back up for us. But the poor thing lived only to later be run over by Tony in the church bus. It was a sad sight that cute little snowman all squashed with carrot here and arms there with a HUGE tire tread down the middle. By the next morning the snow was gone and all his little appendages and clothing were the only thing left!

Happy Birthday, Miss E!

My girl is 4! How can this be?

That tiny little baby girl I brought home from Ethiopia....

Even then I could tell you were full of it!

I held you in my arms that first time and suddenly I was a Mom!

I love you, Eliana Marda...you are my little spitfire. My little strong-willed, in charge girl! So full of life and ideas. So full of laughter and song. You are special, girl! Happy Birthday!

Dressing up!

The kids were full of joy and sunshine today! Maybe that was because the day itself was full of sunshine and melting, dripping snow, and hope for spring. I love days like this....delightful and happy and fun.

Eliana decided this morning that she wanted to wear a "pretty dress", so I let her pick one out. This was followed shortly by Zahara wanting to wear a "pretty dress, too, Mommy". SO, we got one out for her. What I wasn't expecting was for my rough tough little boy with pecs and a six pack to ALSO ask to wear a dress! He was insistent, so I let him pick out one of Zaza's. He picked a lovely blue and white gingham with white bunnies around the bottom. They made a lovely bunch!

What followed was general silliness and I just sat, snapping pictures and laughing at them. I was reminded again what a BLESSING these kids are. Beautiful, full-of-it, little presents strait from God!

They ran around doing pirouttes...even Calvin.

But, Calvin seemed to gain his shyness back after his inital romp around the house in the dress.

The girls made silly faces and raced around...

Calvin was DONE with the dress by shortly before lunch. We went outside to play and he reverted to ALL boy...covered from head to toe in mud from jumping in every tiny bit of murky water he could find! :)

YOWZA!