My Best Friend Moved to Mexico!

Have you ever been so excited and so sad at the same time. That is where I am. Today my best friend is moving to Monterrey, Mexico with her family to minister to orphans and the poor of the city. She is sooooooo caring, sweet, extremely creative, and flexible. She loves the Lord and seeks to walk with him daily. She has an amazing sense of humor and seeks to laugh with life! She has a wonderful Godly husband that works by her side and three wonderfuly different boys that I love having at my house and so do my kids! She is a great story teller. She is her own individual and willingly shares her opinion in a gentle manner. She sides with the down and out, has a heart for the homeless and those that aren't easily accepted. She has a huge heart and loves children - matter of fact, she is a child at heart! She loves chocolate. She's a great cook and not afraid to try just about anything. - Ok, maybe there are SOME boundaries. I know all these things about her because she is MY TWIN SISTER (yes, we are identical) and I already MISS her dearly! They will be driving for three days. I can't wait to see how God uses their family. I hope they start a blog so I can read about their adventures!

Tale of Two Great Personalities!

I don't usually forward emails that have been forwarded to me. You know the kind that you are to send to ten friends or just pass on to everyone. Today I received I mail I had to pass on and I thought I'd post it here to do the job. It's about Oprah having Billy Graham on her show and not only was I marvaled at all Billy told her and how he treated her but how I saw my relationship with God in this piece. I'm not comparing Billy to God but I just marvel at how much Christ is shown in his sweet, compassionate and gentle spirit. Here it is:

Billy Graham and Oprah

Last year I watched Billy Graham being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on television. Oprah told him that in her childhood home, she use to watch him preach on a little black and white TV while sitting on a linoleum floor. She went on to the tell viewers that in his lifetime Billy has preached to twenty-million people around the world, not to mention the countless numbers who have heard him whenever his crusades are broadcast. When she asked if he got nervous before facing a crowd, Billy replied humbly, "No, I don't get nervous before crowds, but I did today before I was going to meet with you." Oprah's show is broadcast to twenty-million people every day. She is comfortable with famous stars and celebrities but seemed in awe of Dr. Billy Graham. When the interview ended, she told the audience, "You don't often See this on my show, but we're going to pray." Then she asked Billy to close in prayer. The camera panned the studio audience as they bowed their heads and closed their eyes just like in one of his crusades. Oprah sang the first line from the song that is his hallmark "Just as I am, without a plea," misreading the line and singing off'-key, but her voice was full of emotion and almost cracked. When Billy stood up after the show, instead of hugging her guest, Oprah's usual custom, she went over and just nestled against him. Billy wrapped his arm around her and pulled her under his shoulder. She stood in his fatherly embrace with a look of sheer contentment.. I once read the book "Nestle, Don't Wrestle" by Corrie Ten Boom. The power of nestling was evident on the TV screen that day. Billy Graham was not the least bit condemning, distant, or hesitant to embrace a public personality who may not fit the evangelistic mold. His grace! and cou rage are sometimes stunning. In an interview with Hugh Downs, on the 20/20 program, the subject turned to homosexuality. Hugh looked directly at Billy and said, "If you had a homosexual child, would you love him?" Billy didn't miss a beat. He replied with sincerity and gentleness, "Why, I would love that one even more." The title of Billy's autobiography, "Just As I Am," says it all. His life goes before him speaking as eloquently as that charming southern drawl for which he is known. If, when I am eighty years old, my autobiography were to be titled "Just As I Am," I wonder how I would live now? Do I have the courage to be me? I'll never be a Billy Graham, the elegant man who draws people to the Lord through a simple one-point message, but I hope to be a person who is real and compassionate and who might draw people to nestle within God's embrace. Do you make it a point to speak to a visitor or person who shows up alone at church, buy a hamburger for a homeless man, call your mother on Sunday afternoons, pick daisies with a little girl, or take a fatherless boy to a baseball game? Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful /handsomeyou look when you're looking for what's beautiful in someone else? Billy complimented Oprah when asked what he was most thankful for; he said, "Salvation given to us in Jesus Christ" then added, "and the way you have made people all over this country aware of the power of being grateful." When asked his secret of love, being married fifty-four years to the same person, he said, "Ruth and I are happily incompatible." How unexpected. We would all live more comfortably with everybody around us if we would find the strength in being grateful and happily incompatible. Let's take the things that set us apart, that make us different, that cause us to disagree, and make them an occasion to compliment each other and be thankful for each other. Let us be big enough to be smaller than our neighbor, spouse, friends,! and strangers.
Every day, may we Nestle, not Wrestle!

And of course it ends with . . .

Please pass this one on...

Sensory Seeking!

Sensory Seeking! This is how the doctor described Asher this week at his one year check-up. I've been exploring this phrase in my mind and I've decided if you are sensory seeking it can mean many things. So for Asher it means lots of normal one year old behavior but also somethings that just make Asher the special boy God created him to be. So here are a few sensory seeking moments in the life of Asher 1. He loves to put everything in his mouth including leaning over the hearth and not only licking it but he scraps this top two teeth on the bricks. 2. He bangs everything with his hand, a pencil or any object he can find for his hand. His favorite pass time is banging a pot with a wooden spoon. 3. He picks up everything and first shakes it then tastes it. 4. He loves water and hates to get out of the tub. These last few weeks he has loved to bee line it to the toilet to play in that water. After many baths and changes of clothing and lectures about closing the lid and bathroom door, we now have a toilet lock. 4. Every meals is enjoyed by Asher and he loves most food. You know it's not his favorite because he will smack it on his head and make the sour face. Thus, more baths or wash downs. 5. Asher is always such a help when it comes to cleaning up. I fold clothes and he takes them back out again. 6. Now that the weather is cold. Asher loves feeling the cold in many ways like sticking out his tongue when it's windy. Yesterday while we were waiting for the kids to come off the school bus we stood at the storm door and the glass was foggy. Asher kept pressing his palm flat against it and then placing his cold wet hand on his nose and laughing. He got a kick out of that. I love his excitement for life and how he explores everything. Even though I'm an adult I'm trying to have the same outlook of experiencing life to it's fullest with wonderment.

Look Mom, No Teeth!

Caroline became rich this week when she put 8 teeth under her pillow for the "tooth fairy". Our beautiful daughter had 8 baby teeth extracted on Thursday to make room for her adult teeth and also for some orthodonics to being when the new teeth show their face. She did soooo well and was very brave. Even her mother admits she would not have been able to handle it as well as she did. She has been eating lots of soft foods and of course, ice cream! She is so beautiful inside and out!

Ye Ganna Baal!

This weekend we celebrated the Ethiopian Christmas. We dressed in our Ethiopian garb. Asher wore his shirt and the girls in the family wore our Ethiopian scarfs. We put away most of our Christmas decorations but kept out our Ethiopian Nativity Scene. Since our Ethiopian restuarant was closed we didn't eat any traditional food. We hoped to play hockey which is close to a traditional game played in Ethiopia. They do this in Ethiopia because they believe that the shepherd after seeing Jesus played a game with a ball and their crooks. But it rained and the hockey game never happened. It was fun to have some new traditions to add to our family.

New Year and New Happenings!

With the New Year comes some new skills from our Asher! He goes to the doctor next week and I can't wait to see how much he has grown. Unoffically he is 23 1/2 lbs, which sounds like a typical one year old to me. And finally after almost 6 mos. of Asher preferring his father and the last few months of saying only Dada! (Which I milked for all it was worth in the middle of the night). Asher is finally saying Mama! And I love it!!!! Nothing like the sound of that word- even in the middle of the night! Asher is also a walking man! He will take only about 5-6 steps at a time but he is not afraid to get back up and keep going and he flys if he has a wall or a coffee table or sofa to stable him. We are going to be exausted from now on. I think I've found my New Year's work out! Asher also loves blowing a kiss, waving and blinking at you to flirt or get your attention quietly.

Our 2006 was so full of family times both good and hard! Lots of learning from the Lord, mostly about patience and leaning not on our own understanding but in all of our ways acknowledge Him and He will make our paths straight. Man do I take a lot of crazy paths. Am I acknowledging Him in ALL my ways? I really do need to work on this daily! This is my new years focus to acknowledge Him in ALL my ways! We had a great 2006 and look forward to all God will teach us in 2007.