Israel's two prayers.....

It's very late here...but I had to share Israel's bedtime prayers tonight.
Tomorrow is his last soccer game of the season...he LIVES for soccer...and low and behold, his team shirt was missing. We looked everywhere, dirty clothes, toybox, under the bed, in all the drawers. Still no shirt. He was getting pretty worried and he said, "I wish God would help us find it!"
I, worried myself...suggested, "Why don't you pray about it?"
So little guy prayed. "Please God, help us find the shirt so that I can play in my last game of the year tomorrow." (Who wouldn't answer a prayer like that???)
Moments later, I found it, under a stack in MY bedroom!

So, since it was getting really late and we had already played a Memory Game of Famous Black Americans, we decided that it was just prayer and hug and kiss time. So Israel started....
"Dear God and Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and help me to play a good game tomorrow and thank you for finding my shirt and also thank you for such a good day and for my friend Jonathan (and so on and so on and so on....)(this is where it gets really good....)and help Daddy to not get any more weight and to not get any more tummy and to lose some of his tummy because I want him to not have a big tummy (and I, Mommy, personally can't wait to tell Daddy what Israel prayed! Ok...just to make it fair, I must admit to what Israel said to ME recently. He said, "Mommy, you don't have a big tummy but why is your BOTTOM sooo big???" yeah. So, it's fair....read on, it gets better! ) "And help Mommy with her sicknesses...." (what sicknesses? I do have some allergies....!!!???? Read on...you're coming to the very very best!) AND WITHOUT SKIPPING A BEAT ISRAEL PRAYS, "And Jesus, please be my Savior and help me with my words and guide me in my life...."

Wow...what a little boy we have. What a precious little boy. An amazing, miraculous, precious little boy.

Even better than that, What an Amazing, Miraculous, Precious God we have! Israel's God...who brought him out of Africa, from starvation, abuse, tuberculosis, lead poisoning, rickets, beatings, horrific abuse, to a family that gave him away (again)...and then blessed US with this sweet gift of a little loving son. What a humbling, even scary, realization this is. I told that precious little boy, just after our prayers, that he is going to be a WONDERFUL man. I'm so happy to be a tool for God to work in this little boy's life. I hope that doesn't sound prideful...I don't mean it to be that way. Its just an incredibly wonderful to SEE God's Hand at work right here in front of me every day. Maybe it will help me to remember this when he asks me the same question for the seemingly 97th time that day!!

You know, we don't have to have an orphan child from a 3rd World Country in our home to see God's Hand at work. I think we just need to be willing to be used. I'm NOT always willing. Being open to adopting Israel was not hard for me...it has been a desire all of my life to adopt. But I wonder, shamefully, how many times in my life I was NOT willing to be used, to go out of my way, to be God's tool in someone's life. How many times did I say "No"...to Him?

What if the person who told US about the Lord said, "No" to Him??

Blessings....thank you for sharing in our joy!
Beth

I Haven't Died.....

Good Grief...it seems like forever since I've written anything here! I think our little guy is taking more time than I thought he would....but it is all wonderful.  So, no, I haven't died. I've just been busy.

Everything is going well for us and Israel. We had a post placement visit from our social worker and she was such a sweet and kind lady! She said everything looked great and it looks as if Israel is bonding quite well. He is...and so are we!

Yesterday Israel and I helped out at Rebecca's homeschool classes. We each have to volunteer six times a year. Usually I choose nursery. This time, I decided to move up! We were in the kindergarten area with lot of little kids. Although he is six, he seemed to fit right in with the younger children and enjoyed himself.
The letter of the day was "C" and the teachers had everything all set for learning the "c" sounds. We even had
cream (c) which came from cows (c) that we made into butter and put it on crackers (another c).
He was amazed that butter came from milk/cream! Since the children didn't really have the opportunity to make the butter themselves, Rebecca, Israel and I are going to take a trip to the local "creamery"... a big farm that has its own store and restaurant. We are going to make butter this afternoon when grandsons Dylan and Brody come over. Then we're going to make muffins and sample our hard work!

We're going to do some experiments with a science set Israel has as well.

I just had an idea. (sometimes it happens!! Not often....) Every night we put Israel to bed with prayers and songs, a "fun" story and a Bible story. I think I'm going to start reading the Little House series at night! I think he would enjoy the books! I recently "dug" out my oldest children's Playmobil Pioneers and Indians. Israel thinks they are the greatest things EVER! So I'd love to read Laura's adventures and bring his toys to life a little bit!

Well, it's off to the Creamery/Dairy! I'll let you know how it turns out....maybe with pictures!!

Blessings,
Beth

Post Script.......Who'd a THUNK it??? Our fancy, expensive, organic, local "creamery" doesn't sell CREAM!! So, after driving all the way there, getting mildly lost, we finally went to the local, not fancy, grocery store and purchased cream.
Hopefully, we will soon have butter!
I'll keep you posted!
Beth

Another "Israel-ism"....

I'm not sure if it is just because Israel is six or because his language skills are still developing but Israel comes up with some funny things! He has done an amazing job of learning the English language...but he has only known it for two years instead of six....his actual age. So every once in a while, he comes up with a "funny"....
Friday I took him to get his hair cut. (It was a tragedy...he HATES his hair now and insists on wearing a hoodie when he is out in public. It will grow...soon, I hope...) Anyway, he was amazed at the mirrors and turned around once and said, "Look at all the shadows of me!!" (He meant "reflections...")
Sometimes he still gets "wife" and "husband" confused. He also gets "son" and "daughter" confused.

Yesterday on the way home from church, he was really excited about all the questions he could answer in Children's Church. He is a very good listener.
"I knew that Jesus speeded!" he exclaimed.
"Jesus speeded?" I asked. "Where was He going?"
Israel paused...."Ummm.......I meant, 'He FASTED!'"

Haha.....every day he brings more joy to our lives. Some days he brings a little bit of discipline...but what six year olds don't need a certain amount of sternness? I was reading on a wonderful blog recently about the "child centered" home and I think we could very easily become one if we weren't careful! We sure do love him and are pretty happy that we have been given the gift of this wonderful little boy! But we have to be very careful that in all the attention and unconditional love that we are giving him, we don't allow him to "run" our home. It's a balance!
Well...I'm off to buy a mop! I'm actually excited to get a new one! Kinda crazy, isn't it??
Then it's a Bible story, Math, and reading!
Blessings,
Beth

An "Israel Funny"....

Yesterday I was teaching at 6 year old Israel's Homeschooling Co-op. Our class was "Building Basics" and it was MY turn to teach measuring and simple fractions.
I drew a "pizza" on the board and asked what I would do if I was going to give it to four people.
"Cut it in four pieces..." was the answer several little boys came up with.
"Ok..." I said and "cut" the pizza in fourths.
"Now, what if 4 MORE people came to the door?" I asked again.
"Cut all the pieces in half AGAIN." was the answer a smart little guy said.
All was going well so I thought I'd try it one more try...
"What if eight MORE people came to the door?" I asked.
Little Israel raised his hand. "Ok...Israel?" I said..
With all sincerity and concern he loudly answered....
"BUY MORE PIZZA!"

We Accepted an Offer!!!

Wow...after 12 LONG and expensive months, our "big", "fancy" house sold. It has been an exhausting ordeal...physically, emotionally and FINANCIALLY!! But yesterday we said YES to a less than what we wanted offer...but it worked for us.
18 months ago, when we bought our little blue house in the country, we would never have imagined that it would have taken a whole year to sell our other house. We were just SURE that God would sell it immediately and that we would then have the money to go to Africa to adopt.
Well...God in His wisdom did NOT allow that to happen and we are so grateful! We would never have gotten our little Israel (who is soooooooooo wonderful!!!) if we had been given the money to do an "actual" foreign adoption. (Israel is from the Congo but his adoption was domestic since he had been given citizenship in the home he was in prior to joining us in his forever family.)
I have doubted, been angry, and felt like God had abandoned me when all I wanted was to do what we thought He wanted us to do. I will probably never understand why the house didn't sell sooner....in the spring after we had already committed to Israel. I will probably never know why He allowed us to lose $140,000 on that house. Yes, that was the correct number...no typo....pathetic, isn't it? What I think is pathetic is that we think we NEED that kind of house in the first place!!!! There have been times...many times...that I wanted to just move back to the big, pretty house. A lot of it was because of pride. But then I would think about our goal...a debt free lifestyle!
I would like to have a place for our children to come to for holidays, though, and we are hoping to add on when we can pay CASH for the work! Our little blue house in the country is a bit too small to have all nine of our kids and their spouses and kids come home for holidays. (I think we are up to 22 immediate family members now!!!)  This year, we may have to plan something else....
So, what has this year taught us? We have been living very frugally while still maintaining the other big house and it's big mortgage payment, keeping up on the yardwork, the electric bill, etc. and still having the living expenses that THIS house requires. We still had groceries to buy, doctor's visits to pay for, school items to buy....
We have done without a LOT of things. Christmas was much slimmer this past year than in years past.
We have figured out that we CAN live without a dishwasher. We can do without a garbage disposal. Clothes CAN be washed in the sink or bathtub when the washer breaks down. Life goes on...even better than before....without television! There are books to read, games to play, conversations to be had, meals to linger over....little children to spend time with...and adopt into our family.

I'm not sure I would ever want to relive this year again...except for the exhilaration of adopting Israel...it has been really hard. Some months we weren't sure how we were going to make the payments. There was a lot of stress and a lot of tension but there was also a lot of understanding going on. Can you imagine a house with 3 teenagers in it (two of them do NOT have cellphones.....) and not have a television? Everyone knew what the outcome was that we were trying to achieve...a debt free life. A life that would not be tied to bills or payments. Perhaps one that could be more generous to missionaries and people in need. A life that would...hopefully...be more pleasing to our Savior.
I'm pretty sure life won't change significantly for us now that the offer has been accepted. We will still need to be very frugal. But maybe we can get a new water conditioner for our "metal water"....which is what Israel calls our rusty water... Maybe we can get the dishwasher and garbage disposal fixed...

I'm not sure about the television...it may stay disconnected for a while yet!!

Blessings,
Beth

Sleepy...zzzzz.....

I love my sleep...I really do. I know what the Bible says about being lazy...but I do value some good sleep.
Lately little Mr. Israel has been waking us up with "I can't sleep..."
Hmmm...funny...WE WERE!

Early this morning Roger put him back to bed with another song and a sip of water while I checked my phone to see what time it was. I had a new message from baby girl Marci who has JUST moved from Indiana all the way across the world (well...it seems like it....) to Seattle. She has downloaded literally HUNDREDS of pictures to facebook....so of course, I just had to click my way through them...in the middle of the night...or early morning. But it is a comfort to see their things all settled in their little apartment....

The next thing I heard again...was, "I can't sleep..."
Poor Roger...he said, "Pray that God will let you get some rest...."  (I am sure that my Roger was praying that EXACT prayer.....")  I think that we will need to start turning off the hall light which shines right into Israel's eyes. We'll need to get a nightlight for the hallway, I think....either that or earplugs for us.

On a different subject...we have a few really odd animals. At least their personalities are pretty strange.
"Harmony" is the schizophrenic cat. She can be sweet and loving one minute and attack your ankles when you walk by the next minute.
She also has a really odd way of eating and drinking. She will literally pick up her food with her paws and eat from her "hand." She does the very same thing with water! She will scoop it up and lap it from her paw. Seriously.
Sometimes I think I'M in charge around here and I'm finding out I am wrong. It's kind of scary. Harmony loves to drink out of the bathtub. Well...not when it is full, but she likes to have the stopper in place and then have you just put a little bit of water in it for her. I don't have the foggiest idea how we knew what she wanted, we just do...
Sometimes I will walk into the bathroom and there she sits, IN the bathtub LOOKING at the faucet and the stopper....WILLING it to fill up just a little bit with water...she stares, unwavering with great expectation and confidence of what will come...willing...willing.....willing.....

Somehow, oddly, I am drawn to the bathtub and I push in stopper and turn on the faucet...just a little. She rises and drinks.......she KNEW it would come...

And I thought I was in charge around here.......

Homeschool Daze!!

Yesterday was the first official day of school around our household.
Gideon went to school on the bus...he attends public school.
Becca went to the first day of her homeschool classes at our homeschool group. She will be involved with two different groups this year. Mondays and Thursdays she will attend her regular classes and on Thursday afternoons, she AND Israel will take some "fun" elective type classes to round out their education such as Sewing, photography and game programming for Becca and Israel will take Amazing Animals, Building Basics and P.E. (P.E. to wear him out a little bit for his Mommy....!!!!)
Becca will, for this year, be taking Geometry and possibly Spanish and Chemistry at home...throughout the year.

Israel's "first day" of classes started in an "oil change" shop...thank goodness for workbooks that can come with us! Roger's elderly aunt passed away and we had to drive about an hour and 1/2 to the funeral...which Roger had to give the eulogy. (He did a good job!! I was proud of him and his testimony! What a cutie!)

So, today was school at home for Israel! I'm not sure he was terribly excited about it but he was at least cooperative! We started out rather in a grouch because Mommy did NOT make turkey bacon for breakfast! How horrible I am!! I offered him multiple kinds of cereal...but.........well, let's just say that after about 2 hours, he had a little bit of toast and milk.

Later he worked on money and the values of 4 coins. He did a very good job! (He is quite interested in money...a.k.a. allowances and what they can buy!) Then we moved on to phonics online. I don't think he even realized he was "working!" He had a wonderful time doing that. In the month that we have had him in our home, he has not done video games but I have allowed him to play on PBS Kids and now this new site I have found.
Then he "wrote" a report about what we learned about snakes last week. He dictated it and I typed it on the computer for him. I found that this is a very encouraging way to help a child "write" what they know. I used that idea with my older daughter when she was little and it was AMAZING to find out what they really know and remembered!
Next is "art" class....Israel is currently taking a break from sitting still and is having some kind of a battle with "Captain America" in the living room. He's about to paint a wooden snake to make it his own artwork!

Things are going well...except for the occasional times when he wants to trade me in on a Mommy who will give him bacon, sausage, or hotdogs every morning for breakfast....