Tea and Sweatpants...

I started this post a few weeks ago and just finally finished it. In reflecting on our journey 2 years ago I giggled at how much our adoption story is like a birth story.

After 9 long months of preparation labor finally began. It took 9 months of intense training, interviews, and assessment. We were stripped raw and examined from every angle. Are we fit to be parents? This was asked of us in about a billion different ways. Once it was confirmed we "passed the test" we were then reexamined to determine what type of child we could "handle." We didn't have the physical pains of pregnancy but we had so much emotional pains. Around 20 weeks when you feel the first flutters and kicks of a baby we were feeling pokes and prodding from the state.

At the end of October we began seeking and praying for the child/ren that God would have for us. We submitted our home study to several case workers in hopes we would be chosen for committee (one of the three families that get chosen for committee are the selected parents). Early in November we were told we were selected to go to committee for two little boys. The same anticipation and fears that comes in the last month of pregnancy grips you.

Committee day came. Much like a due date comes. "Today could be the day I become a mother," I think to myself, "or it could just be another day." We didn't have much hope for being chosen, most families are not chosen with the first committee meeting (much like most first time mother do not deliver on their due date). We just planned that it was another painful step in the process. I went to work as usual, Nick went to work as usual. Our case worker, Elizabeth, called us to pray for God to lead the meeting. Nick and I were both home briefly for lunch and that is when committee was supposed to end and we were supposed to get the call. But, much like false labor it wasn't time yet. Nick went back to work and I continued to wait by the phone, nervous, praying, wondering, dreaming... Finally the phone rang and Elizabeth's name came up on the screen, I braced myself and took the call. Her words were "I'm sorry it took so long, but it was worth the wait. You are a mommy now!" I could hardly speak I didn't know if I should laugh or cry or run around like a crazy person. I called Nick to relay the amazing news. I sat there silent for a few moments just taking it all in and thinking "should I be crying right now?" The funny thing is that is the same reaction I had when Nick purposed and when Mia was born. Just plain silent awe.

A week later (yes, only 7 days)the boys were in the back seat of the car and we were driving home. The same feeling of fear and reality hit me pulling out of the driveway of the foster home that I had leaving the hospital with Mia.

We are now 6 days away from Mia's due date. She's due Friday, September 30th, we'll see! In the last few weeks we've acquired some new Mucci rhythms. You didn't know we were musical did you? Nick happens to be very musically inclined and the boys sing, create and play music all day long so I might as well be too:) But as you guessed those aren't exactly the rhythms I'm speaking of. Life is just sort of continuing to shift and transition, to phase from one lovely moment to the next.

I did manage to find a way to slow down a bit, it mostly came from lowering my expectations of a clean home. The last month has been really warm and it's not given me much choice but to slow down. Dom and I see a therapist weekly and I believe she is there more for my sake than his. I still find it hard to believe I am actually going to have a 3rd child, and a daughter at that. Eli attends a "practice" preschool two days a week (totaling a mere three hours) and Dom goes to real preschool 5 days a week for three hours a day! I went from being truly home and truly dictating our schedule daily to rushing out the door to begin the morning as taxi lady. Nick is still working 30 hours as grounds and maintenance, they just won't let him drop 10 more, praying for that opportunity soon though. He's devoted to his call to develop the B Moore project and I've never seen him have so much peace and be so alive as when he talks about this. I am finding myself still devoted to our 6 families we serve through Manna Truck and being a facilitator for other community leaders to devote in the same way.

For now I enjoy these rhythms; the structure that school brings, the support of therapy, the peace in knowing our call, and the way pregnancy slows me down.

I know the sound will change soon, maybe in less than 6 days, but I am prepared to seek out the beauty in how the current collides with the next phase.

As I prepare for the birth of our third child life seems a bit crazy right now. The beautiful thing is that it seems crazy in theory not necessarily in actual activity. When I think about the list of things I would like done before the end of September (Mia's arrival, boys start preschool, and football season for Nick) I get frantic but then I take a step back, slightly lower my expectations, and appreciate what I can get done today.

There is so much to do for Mia. I am busy discussing, reading and writing a birth plan yet all the while fully knowing it could be thrown out the window. I have a huge stack of clothes to sort and wash yet fully knowing all she needs are a few sleepers and diapers for a while. Hospital preregistration, hospital bag packing, etc. are just some more things that "should be done" that in reality will work itself out. So, Mia, today I choose to remember my prenatal vitamin and to add to your pile the "baby legs" I made you a few days ago.

There is so much to do for Dom. My eldest, most independent, most exuberant child. My sweet child that I have such little grace for because it's like holding up a mirror to my own personality. He starts preschool at the end of September, this will be a huge transition for him. I have no doubt he will LOVE being around his peers (he gets along GREAT with other kids) and no doubt he will love the new challenges and things he will learn. I do however fear the transition of authority. Yet ANOTHER care give in his life to guide and nurture him. I suppose it has to happen sooner or later and better now in small doses than all day all week all at one time. I am working on creating his Life Book. This is a book that is written in 4 year old language about his life before we met him. It's my way to tell him about his past, to help answer some identity questions he's been having, and to tell him I love ALL of him even the things that have hurt him before. This book must be done before Mia arrives or it will be another 2 years before it comes! But, again, today is only a day and I can only do so much. So, my Dommer, today I will take to you to your first therapy session so you can continue to work though some of your fears, hurts, and anxieties as we transition through the next two months.

There is so much to do for Eli. He is currently and has always been (even in his foster homes) the baby of the family. He takes pride in his cuteness, sweetness, and ability to charm. He is in constant need of extra snuggles, kisses, encouragement, and smiles. Whenever there are kids around younger than him there is no doubt jealousy for the attention they receive. Along with completing Eli's life book I need to double up on the loving for this child. So, for today when we are all 4 at the park, or playing in the sprinklers in the yard Eli gets extra snuggles and encouraging words.

So, to my 2 children and soon to be three I pray that God would guide me on how to love you deeply and meet your precious needs daily. That I could learn to maintain a presence of peace despite your so very different stages of life, love, and development. Being a mother is hard, so please give me grace.

So many wonderful things are happening right now. Also, a many number of challenging things are happening too!

Marriage- Today is our 5 year anniversary! I feel like we have experience so much of life together in such a short amount of time. I can't believe we are about to be parents of three children biologically and through adopton. I can't believe we've built missionary lives for ourselves here in Portland. I can't believe some of the struggles we've faced and overcome. God is amazing to me and there is so much joy and love in this marriage. I can't imagine loving this man any more than I already do, yet I know how much deeper my love grows with every year that passes.

Parenting- As the boys develop through various phases I find so much difficulty and so much love in each of those phases. There are things they say and do that make my blood boil like I never knew it could and there are things they say and do that make my heart cling to them like I never knew it could. Our baby girl, Mia, is developing in such a healthy way and she's getting so strong. I really enjoy pregnancy (at least up to this point) and feel so blessed to have experienced it. I have some friend and family that the Lord has brought us to that have proven to be amazing mentors and challenge me to love my children deeper each day.

Ministry- A few reminders I've been hit with the last month; God provides for EVERY need, God knows our weaknesses and give us grace through our maturing process, God knows my children better than I do. Our Manna Truck families are getting provided for even when I was sure they wouldn't. Nick's BMoore project kicks off in about a week despite challenges of time and resources. We have time to love each other as a family even when I thought time would be completely scarce through these summer months.

There are so many more things to say about each of these, hopefully I'll post on it later!

I haven't spent much time researching quality media for teaching my kids about adoption but I've found a few that I really love. There are SEVERAL quality children's books out there. One of our favorites is A Mother For Chaco. There are many movies that use adoption as the "hook" and reflects adoption in such a poor light. In fact, I personally don't know of a single movie that talks about adoption in a good light. I'm sure it's out there just haven't seen it yet.

For the last few weeks the boys have been obsessed with a show on our local PBS station called Dinosaur Train. They love it because it's about dinosaurs and I love it because it actually teaches about families that are formed through adoption. This show does a beautiful job at handling these delicate subjects. If you are a family with adopted children or want to teach your biological children about adoption please take the time to read this article and check out the show.

Resting time continues to boggle my mind. So I've written about Eli's adventures with climbing and I think I've mentioned Dom's curiosity with the unloading things in our room (like diapers or T.P.). I don't think I've mentioned Eli's outfits though:)

Almost every day Eli decides it's his job to play a little dress up, usually with Dom's clothes. The fun thing about this is that he manages to clothe himself so creatively! Usually it's putting underwear over his diaper, using socks as mittens, layering three shirts or sporting a pair of swim trunks. The best is he also usually falls asleep dressed this way.

Yesterday I nearly fell over laughing when he came to the door adorned in his afternoon attire. The first thing he said though was "I stuck mommy." Hum...never a good thing to hear from your toddler. Sure enough, he was stuck alright! He decided to try on Dom's underwear which included a few pairs of boxers and few pairs of briefs. The funny thing is that he had put them on over his head through the waste band and a leg hole and had them all piled up like a scarf around his neck and he had managed to stack them so high he literally was stuck.

Oh my little Eli, what will you be wearing tomorrow?

P.S. Tomorrow is Eli's Birthday!!!

The boys for the most part have given up naps. This is both good and bad. Good things include; early bed time and more flexibility within our day. Bad things include; rough afternoon from about 2:00 on, limits what we can do in the evenings (which for our ministry is really tough). They still have a regular one hour "rest" time in the day so we can all mellow for a bit. Sometimes they still sleep, yesterday was one of those great days:)

Today I got them both in their places for resting time. Eli gets the boy's room and Dom gets our room. After somewhere around 30 min I heard commotion from both rooms. Let me interrupt and say I've heard it said that toddler years are the precursor to teenage years, today I truly believe it. Dom had found a fresh roll of T.P. and decided to practice his T.P. skills for his teen years. He managed to unroll that sucker in a matter of minutes! A huge heaping pile of T.P. was there to greet me when I walked into the room. Awesome. Then I heard a crash from the other room. Eli decided to practice his climbing skills, I think this kid is going to do extreme sports of some kind. First, when I entered the room I was hit with poopy diaper stink, nasty! Second thing I noticed was that Eli was sitting in the top drawer of his dresser looking at me with big owl eyes. I quickly scanned the rest of the room to calculate other damage. He climbed the dresser to reach all the thing on the top bunk including the ladder. Somehow he managed to pull that off without falling and it hit the overhead light scattering bits of light bulb all over the room which happened to be sprinkled over the heaps of clothes that once occupied the drawer that Eli was sitting in.

Somehow I missed the secret signals at lunch today indicating today was the day:)

We are almost at 12 weeks now, this is very exciting! I've had a fairly sick free pregnancy with the exception of nausea spurred on by certain smells in the kitchen. Nick has been amazing though and for the most part has been doing the cooking and cleaning so I don't have to deal with that.

Other early symptoms that I've been experiencing are weird dreams and body image issues. I feel as if I'm in the "fat" stage of pregnancy. I have a slight bulge and feel bloated all over. I've been struggling with this feeling and being concerned that I've gained too much weight already. I have an amazing friend who just wrote a blog about this that completely blessed my heart here. Thank you Lauren for sharing your journey so the Lord can teach me about mine.

Dreams. I've always had weird/graphic dreams. Nearly every morning I can report at least one of my dreams from the night before. Due to the surge of hormones as of late my dreams have been VERY odd.

For a good laugh here is a preview of my dream journey last night:
Dream 1: I am a 17 year old girl named Beth and I have an 11 year old brother and I live in a small house with my parents (who look/act nothing like any of my actual family or anyone I know). My dad is a police officer who was trying to chase down this 11 year old red head crazy kid killer. My brother and I were trying to help him because he was after me next. In the middle of the night he snuck in, attacked my brother, left him with a cracked rib, and came to get me. I tackled him down and called out SEVERAL times for my dad to come and after a long 5 min he came and got the kid.

Dream 2: I'm walking in a bikini with my pregnant self and a friend to a resort to say farewell to friends who just got kicked out of their apt. After a dip in the pool I realized I forgot a change of clothes so as we were pushed on to the party I was standing in a mass of people trying to "play it cool" while they were dressed formal for a farewell party and I stood in a bikini with a slightly pregnant belly! I went on to the rest of the party, which was odd in itself, ended up at least partially dressed and the guests of honor never did arrive.

Dream 3: I was with 2 old friends from Elementary school in Manhattan and we were meeting a 3rd friend from my childhood who just opened her club. When we saw her she was now a man! She led us into the club which was REALLY cool by the way, and we sat and had margaritas (mine a virgin of course) and chatted about love and life and such.

Yep, those were all from last night! I left out tons of detail because the blog would have been pages long:)

It's paying off!

Finances are a taboo subject, and rightly so, but it is my duty to report the goodness of God and a bit of our journey that we are on. Also, I can hardly hold it in:)

We've been living in the "cheap" category for the full (almost 5 years) of our young marriage and young family. Honestly I think most young marrieds, especially if they have kids, live on a strict budget or beyond their means. For the first few years of marriage we floundered our way through our finances. We stumbled through some financial classes and learned how to be responsible and to talk to each other about money without yelling. We acquired some minor debt with the purchase of our car, the move to Portland, and some other things. This was all manageable (yet irresponsible) until about 18 months ago. We hit a rough patch financially, the boys moved in, I became full time mom and our journey to extreme frugality began in order for us to stay above water. Now, also in the last 18 months we've found ways to aquire some more income and to receive some financial support from other avenues.

The combination of frugal living, financial blessings from God, and a bit of creativity has given us this day debt free! We still owe an arm and leg to our private Nazarene schools but other than that the car is ours and every penny of loose debt is gone!!! Yesterday we paid off the last few pieces of that and are praising God for this financial journey we've been on. In a few months we'll be buying a van (yup, family of 5 with 3 car seats don't fit in a small car) in 100% cash! Our money from the sale of the Blazer will fill our emergency fund and we'll begin saving to buy a house.

What a huge relief, a huge burden lifted!

Anyway, with the exception of a few things I've still been striving to be eco friendly about our home and body products. Not only is this good for all our growth and living but also for our budget. I can't even tell you how much we have saved on our "household" budget by taking a few minutes to make these products.

Two more ways to save:
1. Face Wash: I have been using honey as face wash. I put some in one of those plastic travel shampoo containers to keep in the shower, it works as well as any other cleanser and is very gentile on my face.
2. Eye Makeup Remover: I put a small dot of the boy's tear free baby shampoo on a tissue and it wipes all eye makeup right off.
3. Hand lotion: It's really dry these days in the NW so instead of stocking up on travel size lotions (they are overpriced) I buy a travel container and fill it with my favorite body lotion and keep that in the car/purse. This is MUCH cheaper.
4. Reed diffusers: Our reed diffusers get all nasty after a while from getting flipped so much. We bought a bulk size bottle of scent and we fill a small container with it. I found that wooden bamboo secures (that you use for kabobs and such) work great. I'm sure wooden chopsticks ("gifted" from your favorite take out) would work as diffusers as well.

Alright, I've had some time to perfect this one and I'm pretty pleased with the results. The recipes can be found HERE.

Some lessons learned:

1. I like having liquid soap to help with stains. When spots need a bit of extra help I dab the liquid soap directly onto the spot and it helps in a big way going through the wash load.

2. The liquid soap recipe requires a large bucket and a place to store that.

3. The sugested Fels-Naptha soap is a MUST for good cleaning.

4. For hard water (like we have here) add 1/2 c. of baking soda to any of the recipes.

5. My FAVORITE recipe is #4 from the link above with an added 1/2 c. of baking soda. This one was the easiest and worked the best for me. Also, it only takes up a tiny bit of space in the laundry room because it's super concentrated.

Now that I've found a perfect recipe that is super quick and easy I'll never go back:)

What a fun day I had today. I LOVE dreaming and planning! It is what moves me, it's what keeps me sane, it propels me to do more and be better.

Started the day with a 2 hour meeting collaborating about Thanksgiving food boxes, a Christmas tea, a large community Christmas event, and other things along the way. I had this meeting with two women who continue to inspire me. The boys ran around terrorizing the office but because these two are experienced mothers they continued talking around, over and through it like only mother can:)

I came home and cooked up a warm soup like lunch.

I spent the boys nap time writing all that I could about anything that needed done in November and December to make ministry happen through Koinonia and Bridgetown.

I then planned and started another creative Birch dinner. Tonight it was a whole baked chicken, frozen cooked potatoes (thawed partially by microwave and broiler), a can of peas, and more gravy! The chicken and peas were good but the taters were nasty mush. We ended up having chicken sandwiches.

Nick and I spend the majority of the evening talking about the morning meeting and planning our next major community project!

Oh how I love the planning, dreaming, listing, tweaking, detailing day I had.

I took the boys to The Art Park at the community center:

Little feet
Wet paint
Sticky stamps
Tiny fingers
Slimy glue
Salty dough

Squeaky voices
Pounding stamps
Splattering paint
Crinkling paper
Affirming mothers
Giggling children

Dinner was creative tonight:

We get our food from Birch and are blessed to have a full kitchen. All be it random, it's full! In my search for things to make spaghetti I found everything but what I needed for any kind of sauce. The dinner I pulled together seemed really weird to me, Nick didn't seem to mind (or so he faked) and the boys had 3 bowls.

Boiled pasta and frozen corn
Made peppered white gravy according to the package
Added what I had left of jack cheese (about a cup)
Put the gravy/sauce over the pasta and corn
Sprinkled dried parsley and bread crumbs on the top.

Haha, and that was it! Not so bad for my family but wouldn't be serving it to a guest unless they were under the age of 6!

Love your enemies. I've read the passage many times and as scripture happens to do, it took on new meaning yesterday.

I was reading Half the Sky and was thinking about doing something "great" for God. I spent some time chatting with God about what we are doing here in NoPo. I began glamorizing missionary life and praying that God would send us far away for a period of time to "refresh." Now, missionary friends, forgive me. Forgive me for spending any amount of time romanticizing your life or saying that it is easy or refreshing in any way, shape, or form. In that moment I was reminded that God called us HERE. He called us to this place and I must search for His love and my call to love in this place.

Later, at church, we were talking about this passage in Matthew. In something that Nick was sharing with us it stood out to me that God is asking us to take the supernatural and make it natural. Hmmm, sounds like what I had been praying about earlier. Later, in prayer/praise time us women were talking about how God blessed us. Our praises were simple. Thank you God for a peaceful morning, another said praise for connecting with an old friend, and another for some days without morning sickness. Simple love. A deep love for the ordinary. This is my God, one who loves the ordinary and cares deeply about our need for divine love in our ordinary daily living. This is my call, to show attention and care to the ordinary and simple in others the same way God does in my life.

I think this is what the passage is about but even more importantly it's all of these things for all people even our "enemies." To me this is a long list of people in my life who aren't necessarily enemies but people who aren't just naturally my friends. This includes people who stress me out, make me nervous, eat our food, call late at night, don't show up to commitments, walk away from our ministry after committing, have kids who teach our kids naughty things,and those who uninvitedly tell us how to parent. With the love of God calling me to pay attention and care to them and the ordinary in their lives I find such beautiful things in these people. These same people are the ones that (in the same order) bring our trash from the curb, stop by to learn some manhood from my husband, is learning healthy eating habits on a budget, desires to be in community, is vulnerable when here, developing a missions heart, learning to parent with love, and sharing Somali parenting techniques.

My prayer is that I would find such love and passion in loving better in all ways and in all things.

The disinfectant wipes are still going strong!

I made dish soap: http://www.diylife.com/2009/08/03/how-to-make-your-own-dish-soap/ Using method 3

Another frugal switch I've made is using bar soap instead of liquid. You get the exact same foam on the luffa that you do with liquid and if everyone is using luffas and wash cloths you don't have to think about where the bar has been! It is MUCH cheaper to use bar soap.

I've decided that for all my cleaning supplies that require a bar of soap it is a MUST to use a different scent than what's in the shower. I don't like washing pots and pans and smelling the Dove soap I just bathed in:O)

Nick and I have been cleaning the garage in preparation for finishing it and we found MOUNTAINS of napkins! This makes me proud because it is evidence of our use of the cloth napkins.

The only thing that's been difficult is the comfort and familiarity of the smells of the store bought cleaners. I know the evidence shows that the cleaning power is the same but my nose makes me doubt. Several times I consider running to dollar tree and getting a small thing of laundry soap just so I can have a few loads smell like the old days. Then, I remember my little boys and how I'm protecting them.

Anyway, that's the update!

This is one that I have been using for about as long as the laundry soap. The results aren't outstanding but it does the job. Instead of the costly powder soap for the dishwasher I use a mix of 1 cup borax and 1 cup baking soda. If I completely fill the dishwasher compartment it comes out cloudy so better to use just a few tablespoons. Also, I keep vinegar or jet dry stuff in the rinse dispenser to help keep it shiny.

This entails a bit more effort but saves SO much money. I have been doing this for almost a year now and have been pleased with the results.

Here is the recipe I use:
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109349/do-it-yourself-laundry-detergent

This has been my favorite switch of all! I love passing out and using the cloth napkins I made and am so excited to make more. I use them with pride knowing I'm saving our garbage bill, trees and our budget. All I did was take an old sheet, cut it into squares, fold the edge and sew. I recommend this one to EVERYONE. If you aren't a seamstress at all I bet you could do some great deal hunting for end of season discounts, garage sales, Goodwill, and antique stores.

As you know I have lately been exploring non-toxic ways to keep my home clean and fresh. I decided I would allow the toxic ones I currently own to run themselves out and as each ran out I would look for a non-toxic and cheap alternative. Yesterday I ran out of Clorox wipes. I am a huge fan of the convenience and ease at which I could grab one of these wipes for a mid week surface cleaning. I was sure there wasn't an alternative to this and I would have to get out the sponge and spray every time. Today I found and made the alternative and it works great!

I used the same container that the wipes were in and I filled it with the following disinfectant solution:
3.5 cups water
1/4 c. of Vinegar
1 t. of borax

I cut a paper towel roll in half (this was the hardest part of the whole thing) and unrolled (into another roll) until it would fit in the container. I put them in the container and allowed it to soak.

The true test will be to see how the roll holds up after hours and days of soaking. I am not convinced it will work but I guess I'm putting paper towels to the test! I'm sure there is a way to take this a step further and use cloth instead of paper towels. We shall see!

A few years ago I was curious about soy products. My research and learning propelled me into a quest of learning all about nutrition and healthy food. I became slightly obsessed with "hmm, I wonder what is actually in this."

Around the same time I was teaching an environmental unit to my 4th graders and was learning with them the effects of plastic bottles and garbage bags. This also propelled me into a learning adventure and another slight obsession with knowing how all that I throw away effects the environment.

A few weeks ago someone told me "you shouldn't use drier sheets, ever, they are extremely toxic." I wanted to cry...not my drier sheets! So I started researching the effects of using them and was seeking a cheap alternative. This lead to my new understanding of all the chemicals I use daily (lotion, shampoo, air freshener, dish soap, etc.) and I became concerned with the use of all of them and overwhelmed at finding alternatives that would be less toxic.

Here have been the results of all that I've learned about these three and my final reflections about all of them.

1. I believe it is impossible on our family budget to be completely organic and nitrate free with our food.

2. It seems near impossible to avoid plastic pop and water bottles at all cost. It is fairly easy to remember the shopping bag and avoid the plastic ones. It would be MUCH better for our family to use cloth diapers but I'm not about to be scraping poo from them and washing them...sorry just can't do it!

3. The toxins in our home are overwhelming. This is the one that I am most empowered to change. I already make our own laundry soap and dish soap but the rest of it is just going to have to wait a few years until we are debt free.

4. Our country as a whole is becoming more aware and educated in all of these areas so there are plenty of alternatives out there but generally for a cost.

I just get so passionate about changing these things because they are so within our control. It seems spiritually responsible to be more environmental friendly and conscious about what goes in and through our bodies. I often feel as if I have to be all about the change or ignore the need for the change but I've come to realize that the small attempts and efforts I make are worth it. Every time I come up with an alternative at the same cost I feel so proud of myself and the way I'm protecting my family. All of that to say, I'm proud to report that as of recent we've become more aware and careful as a family about the toxins in our home and ways to eliminate them.

Manna Truck is a ministry I've blogged about at different times. It is one that God has used to shape me as a woman, a mother, and a friend.

It's been about a year now since we first started Manna Truck in New Columbia Villa. I visit them monthly and every other month we bring bags of clothing for the kids. Almost every month we are able to also supply the family with basic hygiene products and cleaning supplies. It began with making some calls and asking if we could come visit. The first few meetings were akward and full of expectations. Several of these mother were excited to find another organization to meet their needs. Most of them seemed to have hopes to minipulate us into doing work for them and supplying needs. It started with a relationship like that but Nick and I were determined that God would allow it to be more than that if we were obedient.

The first few months Nick had to nearly push me out the door to go visit these women. I always enjoyed time with them when conversation actually got going but it seemed like pulling teeth to get them to talk even like an acquaintance. Now, a year later, I am excited to see them and find ways to engage in love beyond those monthly "need" visits. Wanted to share some stories about how the Holy Spirit has allowed his Love to reign.

I wrote a while back about two of these moms here . The update is that the relationships DID continue to grow. Mom 1 welcomes me into her home at just about any time day or night. She still has many walls up but I'm proud of her for allowing me to get this close. Mom 2 has become a good friend. Still hard to get ahold of but she's more and more honest with every interaction I have with her. She came to church once, has been to a summer BBQ at our home, and constantly reminds me through texting that she's praying for us!

Another mom came into the picture about February and it's been a wild ride since. Her two children have so much joy and express that every time I see them. She has come to several summer BBQs at our home and we talk on an almost weekly basis. This is HUGE as she has a tendency to withdrawal from the world and seep into depression.

I just recently wrote about another mom here and what a wild ride it has been with this family. On Sunday she brought me traditional head scarfs that had just been sent to her from her family in Saudi Arabia as a thank you gift.

I am so proud of these women, their children, and the one husband in the picture. They've allowed me enough into their lives to love on them. They teach me daily about who God is calling me to be. I desire to have strength and love like they have. In the next month we'll be adding more families to our visitation list and I'm excited for another year of growing with these new moms. Please keep praying for us. As we go deeper we find greater needs. So many needs we cannot meet but just trust the Lord for.