Eissa's Birthday Celebration - Part 1

We had SUCH A WONDERFUL day with Eissa a couple of weeks ago on her birthday. First of all, our church was having a weekend retreat. We had already planned to go out there to join them on Saturday, so it worked out great to add in a little birthday celebration with them all while there. Fun!! Our church is so loving and adores our kiddos. We are so blessed by them always. They have totally welcomed us in and been our family away from home.

We had lunch with our church peeps and played around with them at the retreat center place...swimming, games, hanging out. Then it was back to town we went. For...

Oh, I'll tell you all about the rest of the day next time. ;)

For now, lots of fun videos and pictures of part of our fun Eissa day...LOTS. So, here goes...

Cass with Stefanie, one of our pastor's daughters (he has 3)...great, great girls!
Chatting with friends.
Just total 3-year old cuteness.
Totally surprised that they all started singing Happy Birthday to her after the prayer for lunch. This picture doesn't show it, but she was really smiling and liking it.
Our little table at lunch.
Lunchtime.
Posing.
We had brought ice cream for everyone to join in a little party with us after lunch.


Parabens pra voce!
Listening to everybody sing to her. :) Love her cute little grin here.

She had just blown it out...I missed it.
Our pastor, Pastor Ismael.
The other October babies that were there, our friends Natalia and Neemias, and Eissa getting prayed for.
I was so glad to use up all of our party hats that we've collected over the past couple of years. ;) Some little kids won't use them, but teenagers will always throw one on. ;)
:)





Cass with our pastor's wife, Ester...one of the most caring ladies you'll ever meet. Love her.
Mmmmmm!
They had such a great spot for the kids to play and swim. A great little simple kiddie pool. They loved it!!





Some diving instruction. Although don't worry...we had a good talk about how he couldn't really dive a big dive in that shallow water (I had MANY paralyzed people as patients in my very short career as a nurse).


"I don't think so, Mama. Not today."
Playing footsie with Daddy.

Cute little feet. ;)
He can walk on water! ;)

She loves the water. She even loves to be dunked...head all the way under. She comes up laughing. ;) Funny.

Beautiful 3 year old.
No Brazilian outing is complete without a little soccer thrown in.

Eissa getting some alone time in the pool with her friends.
Hadley was catching some rays, getting a little Vitamin D. Mmmm. I think she might be a little bit like her Mama...she loves to lay in the sun.
The cute little chapel there on the grounds. Everyone gathered there to play some games.

The smiles got bigger and bigger. ;)

Ahh...she's so much fun.
Cass dancing to some music being played.
This girl can get down and crazy. ;) Ha ha ha.

Our celebration with friends from church. Here, Eissa is sung to, some other friends who have October birthdays come up, and Pastor Ismael prays for them all.

Swimming with friends.

Swimming with friends some more. ;)

Cass loves to dance. If music is playing, she is moving. It's so funny and cute.

More of Cass's little jig.

A 5-Year Old and a 4-Year Old

The other day Hadley said to me that she was going to play 'Indians.' I thought how fun...some good ole imaginary play with Indians involved (of course I thought of American Indians like we used to play when I was growing up; in fact, my brother and cousin had imaginary 'Indian girls' for what seems like several years...in fact, one day apparently my cousin got a little irritated at my brother about something and told him that he had shot and killed his Indian girl...my poor little tenderhearted brother ran in my Granny's house sobbing, telling her that his little Indian girl was dead...ha ha ha; but, that's another story...back to Hadley...).

She got all ready and then announced as she walked out the door, "I'm going to the Indians now."

Grady heard her and said, "Oooh, to tell them about Jesus?!?"

It made me smile so big.

What a different world my kiddos are growing up in. It's so fun to hear them playing and talking about eternal things all the time. They're so great!

As I typed this, this was the conversation going on at the kids' activity table as they were drawing. I'm not sure what sparked this little discussion, but this is what I heard of it...

Hadley: "Grady, you want to go to heaven when you die?"

Grady: "I sure do...I want to go to heaven and see God."

Hadley: "But first you have to be killed...the soldiers have to kill you."

Grady: "No, you have to just die by yourself. Not soldiers. You can just die by yourself."

I love that so many of their thoughts come out and I get to hear them. And they are definitely thinking, aren't they?

So fun to be a parent.

NYC

I am working on the Eissa birthday posts (yes, there will be more than one) and they will be up in a few days. But, until then...

I need your help!!

Me and the hubs are going on a quick little getaway the first part of December (Dec. 4th-6th or 7th to be more precise...it's a weekend). We are pretty dadgum excited. I'm so so so excited about going that time of year.

I've never been to New York City. In fact, I never even had any desire to go until about a year before we left the states. I'm not sure why, but I just all the sudden wanted to go. It didn't work out for us to go there before we left for Brazil, but it looks like it's a go this time.

Another reason I'm excited...this is our first little vacation getaway we are taking without at least one child in tow since before Grady was born. We've traveled alot, but oftentimes when you travel with small children, it feels more like stressful work than any type of vacation. So...it will be SO nice to just go and only have to worry about us two...dressing, bathing, and feeding ourselves and that's all. Ha ha ha.

We will miss our kids, but unfortunately it only works out for us to stay 3-4 days. Fortunately in that we'll probably be really ready to see our kids by the end of that (I'm not at all looking forward to leaving them...I hate missing out on even a few days of their lives). Unfortunately in that I know there will be way more things that we will want to do in NYC that we just won't have time for.

So...we need help. We know nothing about NYC. Joel's been there, but is not at all an expert on all the touristy, fun city things to do.

This may sound completely superficial and shallow of me, but I have no interest in any of the historical things...not what I want to fill my 3-4 days with. I can see the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty on TV. ;) I would be interested in that if I had more time, but I don't. I want to just have LOTS OF FUN! So...I was thinking...

--Central Park stuff - that place is huge, right?
--all the Christmas attractions (ice skating, the big tree, etc.)
--a Broadway show - which one do we absolutely have to see...somebody, please tell us
--lots of good food - I hear that wherever you go in NYC is good, but does anyone have any definite suggestions of where we just HAVE to go to eat
--fun but reasonable shopping - even if it's just window shopping. ;) we would like to be able to purchase too if we want or can, so nothing that's just ridiculously priced, you know?

And of course we need a place to stay. Any suggestions for a hotel/nice motel somewhere centrally located? I have no idea where we need to try to stay or what areas we need to plan on visiting. Maybe with out limited time we should just concentrate on one specific area. Yeah...obviously clueless about NYC.

So, someone, anyone, all of you...give suggestions and your expert advice, please. I am on the edge of my seat to hear all the help you will give us. ;)

Lots of comments I want on this post...go...now...tell us what to do!! ;)

Thanks so much!!

Well, We're Expecting Again

But, it's not the same as before. ;)

We've been working for a while on getting all the paperwork authenticated and in order to start the process of becoming authorized to adopt. Yesterday we were finally able to hand all that in. Woohoo!!



It was so surreal...we handed in our papers and then she actually asked us the questions about what ages we preferred, what skin color, what sex, if we were open to sibling groups, etc. I guess I just thought we'd hand in our papers and then it'd be another long time until we answered questions like that. Exciting!!

So, now we will be visited in our home by someone and we'll have an interview with someone. After that, the ball is in the Judge's corner to approve us to adopt. At that point, we are free to adopt. We also take classes (3 classes total...1 class per week for 3 weeks). But, adoption is possible even before the classes as long as we have the Judge's approval. Although, people usually have plenty of time to finish up classes before a child becomes available to them.

The reality is that we leave in 5 1/2 weeks to go to the United States for furlough, so some of this might get done before we leave...or none of it, not sure. But, of course, we don't expect to be actually adopting until after we get back (we get back to Brazil in July). So, this 'pregnancy' will be longer than our previous ones for sure. ;) SO VERY EXCITED though.

Please pray with us that God will just line everything up for us to be matched with just the perfect child(ren) for us...that His perfect will will be done in this. That we would hear clearly and be directed smoothly in all of these dealings. That we would have favor with everyone concerned and that when it does happen, the transition would be peaceful. Pray that God will just begin already to prepare the hearts of those children for us...that they would already have an unexplainable love for us and be drawn to us (if they are already born...or if they're not, that they would just be born with that). Pray for supernatural protection for them...physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. Pray for wisdom and discernment for us in all of this.

Thank you so much for supporting us and lifting us up in this important endeavor. We're so excited to walk this out with you all. I'll keep you updated as things happen.

In other news, Joel's 83-year old Grandpa is having open heart surgery today, so please pray along with us for a successful surgery and a quick recovery...and also for Joel's Grandma and the rest of the family. And of course ultimately great health again for Grandpa. Thank you so much!! Love you guys!!

Dream

I can't wait to tell you all about Eissa's full day of fun birthday activities yesterday, but that will take a while. I will get it up in a few days hopefully. First though, I need to record this...

I re-connected with a friend of mine through Facebook chat last night. The catalyst for the conversation was a broken relationship. We talked about broken relationships in general, all the divorces around us, all the sadness and lack of hope, all the despair that comes from not knowing or truly following the One who can give hope (including the Holy Spirit who is our Helper in walking a changed and renewed life...a life that doesn't just continue in the same patterns and habits and destructive behavior).

I've always had incredibly vivid and detailed dreams. Always. I've always enjoyed that in one way...it's like going to the movies every time I go to sleep. Sometimes it can be scary and disturbing, but for the most part, even that is good in that it usually calls attention to something that I need to pay attention to. I've mentioned before how God has really used dreams to speak to me in the past. But, even when I don't wake up knowing that a particular dream definitely came from God, I can usually really learn and draw things from a dream...kind of like a mini-sermon. ;) This is what I dreamed last night...

The dream started: I was at the Saline High School gym (the old one I think) and I had an overwhelming sense of my broken heart...a real-life feeling that happened from my only real broken-heart-relationship in real life. Horrible...severe pain, even physical...that's how painful. My chest hurt so bad and I felt really sick to my stomach.

The dream shifts: I was back in high school (my real-life broken heart happened after high school, but in my dream it happened during) and had to take a test...kind of like the ACT. Me, Mavis, Mitsy, Josh and Klint (all classmates in real life) went together. While there (in Ruston...a city about 40 minutes from my hometown) I saw Stephanie (a former roommate of mine from Texas who married a friend of mine from my hometown and now really does live in Ruston) walking along a street. I stopped and talked to her and she said that they were inviting people over to their house (her and Brian...they were in present day in my dream...almost) for the birth of their new baby (who she was already holding in her hands...it was Ryder)...she said I should come. I told her probably, but I'd see...my heart was heavy and sad (still broken heart stuff).

On the car ride home after the test, I was sitting in the back between Josh and Klint. We stopped at a gas station and the dream kind of hopped a bit. At one point we were back in a classroom and had already received the grades for the test we just took. Mine wasn't great, but wasn't horrible. I said something about how my Portuguese was partly to blame...Josh and Klint had already mastered Portuguese. Then back at the gas station, Klint was doing something with the car and we were all just out hanging on the car talking. I was reminiscing with Josh about how we used to play Dukes of Hazzard on the playground...he was always Bo Duke (and really did remind me of him) and all the girls always fought over who was going to be Daisy. I told him how later he also reminded me a lot of Joey on Friends. We started to bond again...it was like I had been closed off to all of them and hadn't really talked that much to them in a while (again...before that, in my dream, the relationship and broken heart thing had happened). As we talked and bonded again, becoming good friends, I began to feel the broken heart pain slowly start to lift from my heart.

Klint got done with the car and went to the bathroom and then we all piled back in the car to take off. As we were driving off, after some debate in my head, I decided that really I'd better go use the bathroom before we got back on the road. So, we stopped the car and I went to the bathroom. At this point we were in Brazil because I remember thinking "I'm in brazil...the bathroom will be clean." ;) I went in the bathroom and there was a worker in the bathroom to keep it clean at all times (common here in Brazil). She was a pretty (breathtaking really) girl, in her early 20s. She had a witchy sort of look to her though that I noticed and something about her spooked me a little...she had very intense greenish-purplish eyes (the thought crossed my mind to just leave, but that thought was gone in an instant). There were 2 other girls in there about her age and before they left, they were rude to her...talked down to her. Before I went in my stall I made eye contact with the worker again, after the girls' rudeness, and she was downcast and furious at the same time. I could see the flame in her eyes. I had an urge, again, to just leave, but didn't...closing my door which didn't have a latch.

Meanwhile, there was some big shot lady (who incidentally is an actress from back in the day in real life...not sure how she made it into my dream) who I was trying to get an interview with. My friends knew that and while they were waiting on me to come out of the bathroom, she came around on her way to her plane. I was still in the bathroom and my friends were wondering what was taking me so long, but since I hadn't come out yet, Klint ran to get the interview for me. He caught up with her as she was running to her plane, interviewed her (not sure what about, but after that, she was interested in meeting me and partnering with me...again, not sure what about), and then came back to the gas station. At that point, my friends decided they needed to come up the outside stairs to the bathroom to check on me...Josh and Klint were the ones that checked. As they got to the top of the stairs, the bathroom worker was at the top, with a look of horror on her face, shaking her head. My friends looked in the bathroom and could tell that I had been brutally murdered. My viewpoint (in real life, as the one having the dream) was the same as my friends' at the top of the stairs...I saw my body leaning over the sink area lifeless and I turned my head to look away in horror. Then I woke up.

Relationships. Such a crazy thing. The relationship between me and the breaker of my heart. The relationship between me and my friends. The relationship between the bathroom worker and the rude girls. The relationship between me and the bathroom worker. So many things can be learned from each encounter, each relationship represented here. Here are a few things that I got:

--Broken hearts are real. And they hurt...so so so so bad. Such incredible pain. I'm thankful that God allows me to feel it again through dreams occasionally (because I'm telling you, it comes back in FULL force), so that I can better relate to others. And it also fuels me once again with passion to share with others how to do all within their power to guard their hearts.
--Friendship is awesome. When I opened myself back up to my friends, they opened themselves back up to me. (In reality, Josh is the one that I got into trouble with in Kindergarten...instead of napping at naptime, we laid our mats next to each other and sang the song from Sesame Street that we'd heard that morning, "Which Comes First, The Chicken or the Egg" (ha ha ha)...until Mrs. Malone got onto us and separated us. He was also my first real boyfriend (when we were 16)...the one I went out on my first dates with. We were always better at just being friends though. How incredible it is to graduate with the same people you started Kindergarten with.) In my dream, when I started to put forth effort and cultivate those relationships that had been lost or buried for a time, the bonds came back...but I had to be open and put myself out there and not be walled off.
--I need to trust my first instincts, which, if you are walking with God shoulder-to-shoulder, hand-in-hand, your 'first instincts' are really just a worldly term meaning the Holy Spirit's leading. I need to make sure I'm walking that close to Jesus, and then follow those nudges...like when I first encountered the worker in the bathroom. It is vital to be walking with the Spirit.
--Evil so often looks pretty...beautiful even (the bathroom worker).
--I need to reach out to others. What would've happened if, after failing to follow the Holy Spirit's nudges to get out, I'd reached out to the worker instead of looking away. After the rude girls were rude, I made eye contact with the worker as I was closing the door on her. She was broken and distraught...and I closed the door.
--The door had no latch. This is a common occurrence I know...just yesterday I went into a stall that had a door that didn't latch. But, in my dream, this is significant...when we aren't following the Holy Spirit's leading (in my dream, His leading to walk back out of the bathroom in the first place, or then to reach out to the worker after the girls were rude instead of closing the door), it leaves the door open for the enemy to destroy. Sometimes we might even think that we have closed the door to the enemy, but there's no latch. Don't be fooled...the enemy does not respect you. He will barge in on any cracked or unlatched door you might have in your life.
--The big shot interview lady...missed opportunities (sometimes huge opportunities) when we aren't following His lead. But it also points to the importance of friendship again...when Klint had my back. So many times, when you are a real friend to others (as I had just been to my friends in my dream, re-connecting with them), they will always jump to fill in gaps in your life, to watch out for you at every turn.

Lessons:
1. Guard your heart.
2. Be real, be open, be a friend.
3. You must be in constant communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is vital!

God can speak to you no matter where you are. Physically: Whether you live somewhere where the real, penetrating, powerful Truth of God is not taught. Or whether you live somewhere where you can't understand the language it is being taught in. Figuratively: Whether you are so far away from God relationally. Or whether you are seeking Him out with all you have.

He wants to draw us to His side and guide us. He knows just exactly how to speak to each one of us in just the way we can hear Him best. He can get your attention...when He gets your attention, listen. Learn. Follow.

Ahhh, I love it that He cares enough to reach down and speak to me, getting my attention, guiding me gently along, putting His hand in the small of my back and tenderly helping me back to the straight path.

Oh how I love to get dreams from God. Many times I wake up knowing that a dream is definitely from God. This time, it wasn't until I disciplined myself to write it down that I realized that it was, indeed, a God dream...and He started pointing out things to me.

I'm not done with this dream. I know that I will be pondering it, chewing on it for days to come probably. I'm quite sure there is still more that God wants to say to me through it...even as I typed it out and re-read it, new things continued to pop up.

What about you? Did this dream speak anything to you? What, if anything, did it say to you?

Happy 3rd Birthday, Eissa Rose

Yes, our sweet Eissa Rose is a big 3 years old today.

Happy Birthday, fun girl!! We are so proud of you and your gentle ways and sweet heart. You are so loving and cuddly and are a great big ball of fun. We love you!! We hope you have a grreeeaaaatt day!

My Horrible Day Explained

(This blog has been terribly neglected. I used to post every. single. day. What on earth?!? And how did I manage that...I can't quite remember. I think it had to do with one less child and not yet homeschooling. But, anyway...there are so many things that I want to share with you all, but I just never get around to it. So, I'm going to try something a little different...not sure if it will work or not. But, hopefully over the next couple of weeks, you will have several posts to read on here and not just one or two. So, check back and see. I hope to keep you all better in the loop here.)

If any of you saw a certain Facebook status of mine a few weeks ago, you know that I had a really bad day at that point. Here's why...

Back during the summer, my friend Paul started chatting with me on Facebook...joking around about coming to see us. The joking began to become less than joking and then one day he said, "We're coming!" WOOHOOs all around!

The day came for Paul and Lindsay to depart Phoenix, Arizona and we were so very excited about picking them up 24 hours later. BUT...

He called our house here in Brazil...from the ticket counter in Phoenix, Arizona. I was afraid something was wrong as soon as I heard his voice. But hoped that maybe he was just giving me a fun call to say "We're on our way...this is it!" But no. That wasn't it. Sigh.

Paul said, "Hey Michawn, do I need a visa to go to Brazil?"

My heart sank, and then I thought, no...Paul's a prankster. He's just giving me grief.

But unfortunately, he assured me that he was not joking...and my heart sank again. HORRIBLE. It was just horrible. Horrible.

I don't mean to sound melo-dramatic. I mean, in proper perspective nobody died or was physically hurt, no tragic life-altering events that will require therapy or anything like that. ;) But, 'horrible' is just the only word I can think of to describe it.

Paul and Lindsay had worked so hard to get ready to come. They had bought countless things to bring to us, had maxed out their vacation time at work to stay with us for 3 weeks (!!), and prayed and planned for weeks. They were so excited to come and check out the work we do and were scheduled to go on two outreaches while here. UGH!!

I was so sick to my stomach after I got off the phone with Paul, who was headed back to his house instead of flying through the skies on their way to us. It's a definite understatement when I say that it was a huge letdown.

We all just had to chalk it up to a God thing. I mean, the visa thing just slipped through too many people to think that God didn't have a hand in that. Why on earth did we not think to make sure they knew they needed a visa?!? When Paul went back to check all the websites that he'd read before about traveling to Brazil, only then did he see the visa requirement. They are really intelligent, thorough people...not at all careless or irresponsible, so it was just really crazy how it all happened. But, we had to believe that God had a purpose in it all...as He always does.

And thanks Tanya P.! When I got off the phone with Paul, I went to Facebook and posted asking people to pray (I was praying that somehow, someway, there might still be a way to get them here sometime during the 3 weeks). Tanya reminded me "well, everything happens for a reason." ;) The sick feeling wasn't gone immediately after that, but for whatever reason, those were the exact words I needed to hear at the time...it was matter-of-fact truth that I needed to hear.

Thankfully, Paul and Lindsay had purchased travel insurance and were able to change their tickets to go to Honduras. So, they spent some time there and are now spending the remainder of their vacation time in Mexico. I still feel horrible (you can be sure that we will ALWAYS bring up the visa thing to prospective visitors), but am excited to see what God does with the changed plans (our changed plans...His plans were never changed).

And, thankfully I have some cute little goofballs that live with me to bring me out of a funk quickly...otherwise, I might have needed some prescription medication for that one. ;)

Here's some footage of the goofballs...just in case you are in a funk today.

10-5-09 Grady grabbed the horseshoes (that my mom sent them a while back...thanks again Mama) and called everybody together for a game. You'll hear sweet Grady saying, "You're good at this Hadley, very good." And Hadley saying, "Thank you, Grady." And Eissa saying, "Aww, man!" ;)

10-5-09 The kids love exercising with me. Here is just a bit of Cass "getting extreme, baby." ;) It's so hilarious to watch her...and she says everything that they say..."Squeeze!" Ha ha ha.

10-6-09 Eissa showing off her new talent. ;) Don't worry...she doesn't do it much. Wouldn't want her eyes to "get stuck that way." ;) Grady and Hadley have never done this...and this is the face I woke up to that morning...it was hilarious. (and for all of you Brazilians out there...she's chomping on some jabuticaba)

And then today...Eissa and Cass outside playing. Eissa being a great big sister and Cass being a really cute tag-along. ;)

Trafficking

Did you know that:
1. Trafficking in persons is modern-day slavery, involving victims who are forced, defrauded, or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation.
2. It is estimated that 2 children are sold every minute.
3. As of 2006, it was believed by UNICEF that the number of children trafficked annually was around 1.2 million.
4. The UN and other experts estimate the total market value of illicit human trafficking at roughly $32 BILLION. This makes trafficking in persons the second most lucrative crime in the world.
5. It is estimated that at least 27 million people are currently enslaved around the world. This is more than double the number of Africans enslaved during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Read those statistics slowly. Let them really sink in.

I was first really introduced to what is really going on in the world in regards to human trafficking a couple of years ago when my friend posted on her blog about Love146. (I also got those stats above from their website) I was heartbroken and sickened as I heard and read stories on that site and elsewhere since that time, esp. when it comes to the children who are forced into this darkness.

One of our dear friends is in Cambodia right now. He is on staff at 121 Community Church in the Dallas area (Grapevine to be exact). Awesome church if you are ever around that area. They have a real heart for ministering to this specific need...helping stop human trafficking and helping to heal those who have been victims of this horror. Right now they are partnering with International Justice Mission and hope to find another opportunity for partnership in the future in helping to end human trafficking.

His blog posts about his time there have been fascinating. So horrible and sickening and sad, but fascinating. We can't turn a blind eye to this...we have to find out all we can and help in whatever way feasible. Please visit Matt's blog (scroll down to Day 1), read all you can about it, ask God what He wants you to do to help in this cause, and always PRAY!

Watch this video from Love146 (describes an experience so similar to our friend's...and how their organization came to be). Open your heart and mind while you watch and let God speak to you about what you can do. You can go here to watch all of the Love146 videos.

One of the things you can do is just make sure you are informed. This is not just an overseas issue. Most of the time when there are victims of trafficking within the United States, they have been brought from different countries with the promise of the 'American dream.' But, not always...it can happen to Americans too. I saw the interview below recently and found it to be completely interesting and informative. Please take the time to be aware and informed. The organization mentioned in the interview can be found here. It's a really awesome site that explains how we can all get involved, from sports teams to college students to artists to businessmen to churches (just scroll over the 'action' tab at the top). And all of their videos can be seen here (including an ad for a conference being held next weekend in CA...let's be praying).



Don't forget to go see Matt's blog. Pray for him as he and his church make contacts and networks in only the way God can orchestrate to help others for good.

When I just told Joel of Matt's experience in the past 24 hours, he said, "Our reality in this world is just heaven compared to the reality of so much of the rest of the world." It's so true...and we forget it so easily.

I want to remember.