Skateboards in Heaven

When Tim and I married, I knew that it would open up a whole new realm of understanding about my relationship with the Lord and the ahab (strong affection) and chesed (covenant commitment/loyalty) loves of God (just learned the Hebrew words this week in my Knowing God by Name Bible study). In the same way, when I became a mommy, I knew it would stretch and grow my understanding of the Father in an entirely different direction. I have to say all four of my sweeties have been some of the best theological teachers in my life. This week alone, God has proven Himself at work in the hearts and minds of my children . . . It's amazing what wisdom He offered through their innocence.

The kids have been listening more intently than I thought as I have been gathering a lot of music lately into various playlists - one for this blog, and one for Tim for Father's Day. One of these was actually a Christmas song by Faith Hill about which Ethan and I had a brief conversation a couple of weeks ago. Tim was out shopping with the kids at Target and was preparing to check out when Ethan, who was sitting inside the shopping cart, began repeating a line from the song over and over: "A baby changes everything, a baby changes everything." Of his own initiative, he suddenly stood up in the cart and said loudly enough for the cashier and other listeners to hear this little one preach words of simple but profound truth, "Jesus was a baby; Jesus changes everything!"

As a middle child, poor Sincere must often compete for attention with two very energetic brothers. On one bath night this week, one parent had to take a fussy baby Caelan to bed (who was recovering from an ear infection) while the other took an exhausted 4-year-old-who-doesn't-nap-anymore to bed. Upon returning to bathe her 5-10 minutes later, I told her Mommy was back and she sweetly said "Thank you for letting me play longer in the bath." I responded, "Honey, I'm so sorry you had to wait in here all alone." She then said with full confidence and assurance, "God was with me!" I am so thankful that the Lord's presence hovers lovingly over my children when my human presence is limited by space and time!


This Wednesday, my childhood pastor and cross-country coach, Reverend Clay Thornton, passed away unexpectedly. I shared with Ethan during our nightly bedtime conversation that night how Pastor Clay is happy that he is with Jesus, but his family is sad that they can't be with him right now. Ethan has been pretty preoccupied with death lately and has had some good conversations with his Daddy and his Papi. I could hear both his awe and his fear as he asked, "Mommy, when you are 100, what will happen to you?" We then had a long conversation about heaven and being with Jesus; Ethan said sweetly "If you are with Jesus, Daddy will be lonely." I wanted to soothe his fears some but could tell he was getting uptight until he started asking if there would be rolling things in heaven. I was getting ready to respond that I wasn't sure, until he added quickly "Like skateboards with wheels?" Before I could scramble for an answer, his vision grew larger "with wheels the size of car tires?", and then grandiose "with monster truck wheels?!!". I think my sweet boy gained a glimpse into heaven -- a New Earth, bigger and better and more beautiful with so many exciting and wonderful corners to discover -- in the form of a skateboard with monster truck wheels :) What bliss!

The moment I found out about my pastor, the song playing on the radio was "It is Well with My Soul". Since then this song has also resonated given the unexpected nature of his passing . . .

WITH HOPE
By Steven Curtis Chapman
1 Thess. 4:13-14 / Heb. 6:9, 10:23

This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but ...

We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again

And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father's smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and ...

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so ...

We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope

Let your desire be the vision of God, your fear the loss of Him, your sorrow His absence, and your joy in that which may take you to Him, and your life shall be in great peace. - St. Teresa of Avila

Love you!
Heather

143 Million Children . . . The Lord's Pleasure?

We are enjoying Buckner Camp this weekend, a wonderful ranch given in trust to Buckner Children and Family Services. It so wonderful to be around so many families who have opened up their homes to children who need the warmth of a mother's touch and the strength that tender warrior fathers offer.


Being here is restful for our family, but it also reminds me of an article link I followed from a friend's blog about a year ago. It's an article by Steven Curtis Chapman, adoptive father of 3 precious little ones from China.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/07/chapman.orphans/index.html

A couple of things that stood out from what he says in the article . . .

• According to UNICEF, there are 143 million children in the world who have lost one or both parents.
• In America alone, there are half a million children in foster care, and approximately 120,000 of these children are waiting to be adopted. In many countries, children are too often orphaned or abandoned because of poverty, disabilities and disease; every 15 seconds, a child loses a parent because of AIDS.
• If only 7 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a single orphan in distress, there would effectively be no more orphans. If everybody would be willing to simply do something to care for one of these precious treasures, I think we would be amazed by just how much we could change the world.
• Closer to home for us, in the Lubbock/Amarillo area alone, around 140 children each month come into the foster care system.

So many children in need . . .

I have to say that being a foster mommy is one of the hardest and most rewarding things I've ever done in my entire life. Being someone who is both a strong introvert and someone who in some ways doesn't like constant change (part of me is just a little addicted to moving every 3 years), foster care doesn't seem especially appealing. For me, however, I liken the appeal of this precious ministry to something the runner Eric Liddell shares with his sister who would rather him fulfill his calling to overseas missions than run in the Olympics: "When I run, I feel the Lord's pleasure."

I can't say I feel that much pleasure when I run anymore, but when I open my home to an orphan in Jesus' name, I feel the Lord's pleasure . . . and, it's indescribable. This probably sounds a little bit selfish in a way, but then again, I am a Christian hedonist in the line of John Piper who declares in his richly theological book entitled Desiring God that "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him."

Drama in Two Parts Starring the Roles of Athlete, Dancer, Villain Not-so-Reluctant, Damsel Not-so-distressed, and Physician-Apothecary Helpful

This week's schedule marked a first for the Gary kids . . . our first organized sports/arts classes. Sincere is enjoying a Pre-Ballet class at the community center, while Ethan is participating in T-ball. I admit I have an ulterior motive. Rather than simply exposing my children to new learning opportunities, I am hoping these extras will help me get through the long days of summer without PDO (Parent's Day Out).

The first weekly sessions went well as they both learn the basics of training their bodies to move in modes both athletic and aesthetic. As much as they love to argue with each other daily, it was so precious to see how they cheered each other on. Sincere wanted to be on the field so badly when Ethan was practicing, and Ethan talked about how "pretty" and "bee-ta-ful" his sister looked as she danced and then gave a HUMONGOUS hug to her when he came back from playing with Daddy to pick her up - he was really proud of her!

While the tone of their relationship was all encouragement yesterday, the atmosphere was the opposite today. Today, in the van, the kids were assigning roles in the story of The Nutcracker musical we saw this past December, preparing to reenact it once we returned home. Ethan is in the phase of wanting to be the "mean person" in whatever story he's imagining at the time (we're somewhat laid back about it, but still try to teach him that strength and meanness are not the same thing). He declared that he would play the role of the Rat King and would turn his attack upon the princesses of the story (instead of the nutcracker's army). Very put-out about this scenario, Sincere responded in a very precociously adult manner "Ethan, if you keep acting this way, I will NOT be a princess and I will NOT be a ballerina." And as they continued to bicker back and forth, she indicated in a tone reminiscent of some bigger persons in our family "Well, you will just have to make a decision." Ethan has also developed a new penchant for expressing his emotions verbally so responded to Sincere's bossy tone by saying "You really hurt my feelings" after which Sincere began crying.

The plot of this unfolding drama was thickened by the fact that we had just been to the doctor for the second time this week, and all three kids have experienced illness this week. This spring has felt like one illness after another, especially with Sincere's surgery in February and with my youngest who has gone through pneumonia and has developed anemia as a result of bug bombardment. By the end of weeks like this, I often feel like crying over the constant illness of my children, wishing I could somehow boost their immune systems, but then recognize that I have so much for which to be thankful in the years of modern medicine and that these illnesses, while taxing, are far preferable to major illness.

To help relieve my stress a little, I posted the following status on facebook:

Took EG to the MD today and got a DX of ST which prompted ABs for the BKs (the LM aka MG already had ABs for his EI so he's AOK).

Hint: I have 2 LMs, 1 is the Lst.

Speaking of my Littlest Man and letters . . . and since Caelan didn't get a huge role in the play above because he's so little (and had already fallen asleep in the van) . . . and since his two favorite things to see and words to say right now are "birds" and "balls". . . he closes the play standing (or rather walking/running/climbing) center stage dressed in the appropriate letter in blue while a blond broad broadcasts the following over the booming speakers . . .

Today's blog has been brought to you today by the letter "B".

(Curtain)

Where was I?

After one and a half years of bonding with our daughter, we think it has all "clicked" for all of us.

As a caveat to the following stories, we absolutely love the family Sincere lived with prior to coming to our home. They were a loving, godly family who have been so generous to us, so these stories in no way reflect upon their character, but rather Sincere's strength of bond with us as her family.

Story #1
Ethan, being the older brother he is, in a moment of frustration at his kid sister said to Sincere "Well, we will just un-adopt you!" Poor Sincere looked at him with fright and said "I don't WANT to live with Rick and Donna [her former foster parents]." You have to understand that these are people she loves dearly, and they were the only mommy and daddy she knew for the first 2 years of her life. I quickly reassured her that she could never be un-adopted by us and that she was our daughter for forever!

Story #2
We were looking at a picture yesterday of Ethan's class at school on a hay ride (taken before Sincere came to be with us). Sincere asked "Where was I?" to which I replied "You still lived with Rick and Donna then." She looked up at me with the sweetest of eyes and said, "When I was at Rick and Donna's, I prayed for you." I scooped her up so fast and swung her around in a tight hug, with tears in my eyes!

I prayed for you, too, sweet daughter of mine!

The Hands of God . . . from the Mouths of Babes

"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." Psalm 24:1

I was feeling pretty down the other day about something or other (who knows with my introspective personality!), when my sweet daughter came over to me while I was sitting at the kitchen table and said, "Mommy, someone is holding you. You know who it is? God [pronounced Gawd]." It was just what I needed to hear at that moment, and from what a sweet angel the message came.

We recently experienced some rather crazy weather here in Lubbock, west Texas. I did not grow up here, so I am not used to the constant threat of tornadoes that happen with spring/summer storms in Texas; in fact, I have to say that I am quite terrifed of tornadoes. Back in mid-April, I was taking my first class at Bodyworks (my big birthday gift this year) when, all of a sudden, we were told to take shelter due to a Tornado Warning. I was there with my two biggest kids, separated from my littlest baby by 10 miles, my husband getting ready to make the trek home in rush hour traffic. Large hail came pounding down onto the cars parked outside (our van later needed $2500 in repairs), and I ran to get my kids from the childcare area, then moving quickly to the women's locker room where we were all glued to the television. We watched silently as the weatherman indicated that there was a strong area of rotation around 82nd street (between Indiana and Quaker). One lady let out a nervous giggle . . . that's right where we were located!

My son was anxious as he snuggled in on my right side watching the news, asking many questions; my daughter blissfully and trustingly unaware on my left, focused on mundane but important things like going potty. I hugged them close and whispered a prayer with them to calm my own nerves, then told them they could keep praying aloud if they wanted or in their minds. After a few quiet minutes, my son looked up at me all of the sudden as said "He said 'It's okay.'" Then, my rambunctious boy who rarely sleeps during the day drifted off to sleep in my arms. I stared at him in wonder and continued watching the news as a stormwatcher on the ground closer to the wall cloud declared, "Whatever conditions are on the ground are preventing the wall cloud from descending."

What sweet reassurance that a sovereign God was watching out for Lubbock, Texas on Thursday, April 16th, holding His hand under the clouds as if to say "This far you may go and no further." What an amazing God we serve, who places His words of peace and comfort in the hearts and mouths of those who trust Him with the complete trust of a child!

A few plagues prior to the mass exodus of Hebrew slaves from Egypt, Pharoah pleaded with Moses after the plague of hail. Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD's." (Exodus 9:29)


Actual hail that fell at my friend's home in south Lubbock on 4/16/09, notice the real golf ball on the left.

Famous Firsts

Just wanted to send an update on some firsts in our family . . .

Caelan now has his first two teeth (the first one came in a couple of weeks ago, and his 2nd one came in earlier this week). Also, he clapped for the first time last night (maybe it’s because he was watching the Olympics with us – smile). And, he also pulled up onto the side of his pack n’ play yesterday (time to move him to the crib!!)



Also, Ethan read his first word today!!!! It was all him! He pulled down a devotional book (from our bookshelf) by Henry Blackaby called Experiencing _______. He spelled it out, G-O-D, then sounded it out and said “God!!” Then for fun, he read it backwards D-O-G, sounded it out and said “Dog!” So he must ambi-literate.

Oh, and we are buying our first, I mean second, house ever (we owned a home when we first got married but have been renters since moving to Texas in 2002) . . . This one is a go, unless something unforeseen happens.

The Poo-Poo Garden at Cinderella's House

Some funny stories . . .

1) We went to a wedding a couple of weekends ago for a coworker of Tim’s named Jessica Brown (who also happens to be brown-skinned). Well the kids know her because she babysat and dogsat a couple of times for us. We explained that she was getting married, and her last name would be changed. Ethan then asked sans artifice “will she have pink skin now?” He thought that if her name was changing, she would literally not be “brown” anymore! We also went the reception afterwards, and the kids started to sing “Happy Birthday” because it was a big party :) We changed it to “Happy Wedding Day to you!”

2) I had to go to the doctor last week for some severe abdominal pain (still not sure what caused it), so Tim came home to take care of the kids. He explained to them that Mommy had to go to the doctor. Well the week before, Sincere had seen her surgeon regarding her umbilical hernia, so she said, “the doctor press on her tummy, rub her button [her word for belly button], and she feel better!”

3) Sincere recently called the side yard where Maggie and Pascha do their business the “poo poo garden”.

4) Sincere is excited about her impending adoption. She says often “I become a Gary, we have a big party.”
I asked her today, “do you want to have the party here at our house?”
She responded “Of course not.”
I then asked, “Where would you like to have it?”
Her reply, “At Cinderella’s, I think.” (maybe this was because Steven Curtis Chapman’s song called Cinderella in the background)
I said “Where is Cinderella’s?”
She thought for a moment and said “At Grammy and PaPa’s, I bet.”

**Side note, to hear the lyrics to Cinderella . . . Go to: http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/music.htm and click on the newest CD.