God Will Save the Day

While driving home from GCS this morning, the Lord dropped the most precious memory in my spirit. I thought I'd share it with you....

When we were in St. Petersburg, Russia, we had several problems with hotel accommodations. I don't remember all the details, but we were there during a celebration known as "White Nights", during which there is twenty-four hours of daylight in the city (due to its geographic location). Anyway, it is a huge celebration in Russia, and people from all over Eastern Europe flock to St. Petersburg during those two weeks in June. It's crazy! Unfortunately, for us, the travel agency we used messed up our hotel reservations, so twice we found ourselves without a place to stay!

One such time was the day before we were to finalize the adoptions and take our children "home" from their respective orphanages. We were on the way to visit Josiah when we got the news that the apartment we thought had been reserved was not available. Of course, all hotels were booked solid, and Mike and I were very frustrated! As I rocked Josiah in a rickety old swing on the orphanage playground, I thought about Mary and Joseph - with baby Jesus on the way - and "no room at the inn". At that moment I gained a deeper understanding of and new appreciation for some of the emotions that must have gone through that young couple as they struggled with the gravity of that situation. (At least I wasn't about to give birth!). I was actually able to thank God for our circumstances because of the new insight they had given me.

As I rocked and cried and prayed, the Lord dropped a song in my spirit - one we sang in church quite often at that time. I began to sing the words over my son. "God is bigger than the air we breathe, the world we'll leave. God will save the day, and all will say my glorious...." Over and over I sang that verse. During this time, Mike walked over and snapped the picture posted here. He had no idea what was going on when he took it, and it is one of my very favorite photos.

As I sang and swung, my Savior's amazing peace filled every part of my being. I knew that I knew that I knew that God would save the day! And He did - within an hour of that visit, we had secured an apartment for the rest of our stay!

But here's the "rest of the story" - the miraculous part. When we finally got to our "real home" in North Carolina several weeks later, I was going through the many, many voice mails on our home phone. In the middle of them was an unbelievable message from my dear friend, Rene. She said, "Kim, I don't have any way of getting in touch with you in Russia, but you've been on my mind all morning. God has given me a song that I'd like to sing over you, but since I can't get you in person, I'm going to sing it into your answering machine." My knees buckled as she began to sing, "God is bigger than the air we breathe, the world we'll leave. God will save the day, and all will say my glorious." I checked the time and date stamp on the message, did the "time zone" calculations, and - you guessed it - she left that message at the very same time I was singing over my son in Russia!!!

To be honest, I haven't thought about that miracle in several years. I don't know why the Lord chose to remind me of it and have me post it today. But maybe someone reading this is in an overwhelming circumstance right now and needs to be reminded that God IS bigger than the air we breathe, this world we'll leave. God WILL save the day so YOU can say, "My Glorious."

Road Warrior

This year Joe-Joe got out of school a week before his sisters (much to their dismay). He was thrilled, but I was a little worried that he would be bored around the house without his siblings. But, after we took them to school that first day, he came home and began quietly playing with his cars. I was amazed!!

After "driving" for about fifteen minutes, Josiah ran to the bathroom and grabbed a long strip of toilet paper. "Wook, Mommy, a woad!" he exclaimed. It seems that a piece of toilet paper is just the right width for two Matchbox cars to fit on side-by-side - a perfect "woad"!! Again, I was pretty amazed! So, my little engineer son grabbed the roll of toilet paper and began making roads along the floor.

"No big deal, " I thought. "A roll of toilet paper is cheap entertainment." So I went back to my bon-bons and Mint Juleps (haha), and let the child play.

About fifteen minutes later I went to check on him and could not believe my eyes. There was a complete, toilet paper Interstate system through most of the rooms in our house! Holy Cow! It went through the living room, foyer, dining room, master bedroom and up the stairs! There were twists and turns and overpasses. . . . . Why, I had a toilet paper Spaghetti Junction running through my home! All made out of Cottonelle!! And, just for the record, it was strong enough to support the Matchbox cars! Once again, I was speechless! And little Joe-Joe just stood there beaming, so proud of his accomplishment!

Of course, being a seven-year-old, it wasn't long until he was bored with his roadworks. But that's the incredible thing about being a kid with an active imagination and four rolls of unwound toilet paper - you can turn it into anything you want! So, all those "woads" became party decorations! Suddenly, we were in the middle of the world's most awesome celebration! How fun was that?!

So celebrate, we did. Until a few hours later when someone needed some toilet paper for its intended purpose. . . . .

Graduation: A Night of Miracles

Last Friday night, May 22, Joe-Joe officially graduated from kindergarten. He was so excited about his program and being a "big first grader." I must admit that I was more than a little nervous about what he might do when he got on stage in front of a lot of people! But the ceremony came off without a hitch - I guess you could say it was a night of miracles!

Miracle #1: I suppose the first big miracle was that he made it through the year without getting kicked out of school! His daddy and I have been holding our breath all year! You must understand that one day during the first week of school, Josiah informed us that he told his teacher she had, "big feet and a big nose"! (Thankfully we later learned that he was actually talking about an elephant. At least, I HOPE he didn't call Mrs. Roman an elephant, too!!). Then another day in the car line, he yelled "Wo - Man!" at his teacher. I wanted to climb through the floorboard until I realized that he was saying her name, which is Roman. I guess he figures surnames are optional! Then there was the day he climbed into the car after school carrying my huge NIV Study Bible (their school basically teaches you should only use the King James Version). Imagine my delight when he told me he had taken it for Show-And-Tell that day!!! Are you getting the picture. . . . .?

Miracle #2: Joe-Joe made it through the ceremony without misbehaving! He behaved perfectly through the awards ceremony, "Three Little Pigs" play - in which he gave a stellar performance as "Mr. Man #2" - and the actual commencement! He said his lines on cue, applauded where appropriate, and remained quiet when he was supposed to. Unbelievable! God does answer prayers!!!

Miracle #3: All family members in attendance behaved themselves, as well! My parents and brother and sister-in-law came to the graduation. They are all wonderful people, individually, but when they're together - WATCH OUT!! Anything can (and usually does) happen!! I had a few worrisome moments when my mom walked in wearing pants (gasp) and when my brother, sister-in-law, and daddy were huddled around the principal - but, like Joe-Joe, they were all on their best behavior! I'll say it again: God does answer prayers!!!

Before I end, I must give a huge shout-out to Josiah's teacher, Mrs. Debbie Roman. What an awesome, Godly, saint she is! She went above and beyond the call of duty helping Joe-Joe with his phonics and numbers this year. I know that he was well loved and cared for while he was with her. Many, many times I saw her in the hallway, working one-on-one with Joe-Joe on his schoolwork. Almost a week later, he still cries at least once a day because he misses her. Thank you, Mrs. Roman, for making this year so very special!

Not the Preacher!!!

We belong to a fabulous church. Our pastor, Terry Howell, is one of my very favorite people in the world! He loves Jesus with all of heart, soul, mind, and strength. He is wise and compassionate, yet straight-forward and "real". Pastor Terry is not about position, politics, power, or personal gain. He's about people and leading them to a greater life in Christ. Over the past eleven years, we have laughed and cried together, worked and relaxed, disagreed and argued, asked forgiveness of and been forgiven by each other. He has counseled and stood by Mike and me through thick and thin. (Once, many years ago, he asked Mike how things were at home. Mike replied that it was kinda like the Israelis and Palestinians trying to occupy the same territory!!). And we've had the privilege of standing beside him in many of his trials. He is one of God's greatest gifts to my family.

Needless to say, Nina and Joe-Joe adore Pastor Terry. Since he was about three years old, Josiah has recognized Pastor's truck and squeals whenever he sees it. More than once, we've had to make an unplanned stop by the church office to say hi to Joe-Joe's pastor because he saw the truck parked in front of the church when we drove by! Of course, we're always greeted by big hugs, smiles, and candy!!! It's priceless! BUT, even Pastor Terry isn't beyond the wrath of Joe-Joe's mouth!!!

It happened the Christmas before last. I was helping with the church's angel tree, and was in and out of the church office that day. The kids were home schooling at the time, so they were with me. Josiah was having fun with the men in the office and wanted to stay there while I went over the another building for something. (Should've known better....) While I was gone, Pastor Terry came in, and he and Joe-Joe had their usual chat session. So far, so good - right?

About fifteen minutes later I walked back into the church office to some very strange looks and somber attitudes. "Pastor Terry wants to see you," several of the men told me solemnly. I just held my breath wondering what Josiah had broken or done - I mean, it had to have been pretty bad for all these serious tones. So I took a deep breath and went into the Pastor's office, feeling like a fifth grader visiting the principal!

"We need to talk about your boy," he began, unsmiling, hands folded on his desk.
I held my breath as he continued, " I came in the office, pulled him up in my lap, and was talking to him about Christmas, and going to Grandma's and what all he was going to get. I thought we were having a good time. Then do you know what he did?"

As his eyes narrowed, my heart sank. "No, sir," I managed to squeak out.

"Well, he leaned back, rubbed my tummy, and said, ' you got a BIGGGG belly.' Acting like I don't have any feelings at all."

"Ohhhhh nnoooooooooo!" I thought to myself. "Not Pastor Terry!!! Why, Josiah, why??"

Thankfully, at this point I realized that my Pastor was laughing so hard tears were rolling down his cheeks. Then he retold the story, laughing through the whole thing. I weakly joined in, but was still feeling somewhat horrified! As I humbly left his office, I realized the entire staff was laughing, too. Oh my!!

A few minutes later, as we were getting ready to leave, Pastor Terry came out to give us all - including Joe-Joe - good-bye hugs. He smiled, laughed, and loved on us, as usual. Then he got very serious, looked me in the eye, and said, "But I will be starting a diet on January 1."

Speechless

It's not often that I'm at a loss for words. My husband says I even talk in my sleep. But occasionally something will happen that renders me speechless, and most of the time Joe-Joe is at the center of those situations! Such was the case earlier this week.

Nina had injured her hand that day, so she stayed home from school. (I'll write more about that interesting injury later). I had told Kayelyn and Josiah to ask their classes to pray for her hand because I was afraid she had been bitten by a Brown Recluse or some other poisonous spider. We were all very concerned, and the kids did tell their friends about it and asked their teachers' to pray. For awhile, Nina's hand was the talk of the school!

Around mid-afternoon, I got a phone call from Nina's teacher. She started by asking about her hand and what the doctor had said. After we talked about that for a few minutes, she said that she also wanted to congratulate me. I had no clue why she might want to do that, so I asked - unfortunately!

"Well," she began, with a hint of laughter in her voice, "Joe-Joe asked us to pray for you, too, because you have three babies in your tummy!"

Speechless - I was absolutely speechless!

Then, when some words finally formed in my brain, I knew I couldn't say THEM to a Christian school teacher!!! So, I stuttered and stammered for a few seconds until I was finally able to screech, "WHAT????!!!!"

Of course, Miss Parry was roaring with laughter at this point. She was enjoying this way too much! I told her that we don't even joke about such things around our house! My word, could you imagine three Joe-Joe's?! No, no, no there are no babies in my tummy!!! Lots of pizza, cookies, and ice cream - but NO BABIES!!

Oh my gosh, I still get nervous twitch just thinking about it! Thankfully, all the kids at school were much more interested in Nina's huge hand than in the possibility of Joe-Joe's Mom having three babies in her tummy! Otherwise, I would've had to do something drastic - like losing weight - to convince a bunch of 5-year-olds that there were no babies in me! Then, again, that would probably have been more than enough incentive to go to the gym everyday, huh?

Now for the scoop on Nina's hand. After going to bed one night, she decided it would be fun to put a couple of rubber bands around her wrist, cover them with Kleenex, and wrap tape around it. She woke up the next morning asking me to cut it off - which I did - but her hand seemed fine. Thirty minutes later, her hand had swollen to three times its normal side and was hurting. I also noticed a small sore on her wrist. It really scared me because I thought something had bitten her. Of course I called the doctor, who told me to start giving her Benedryl and put ice on her wrist until he could see her later that day. That brought the swelling down some, but the pain continued. When he looked at it, he figured out that the sore was where she had clawed at the rubber bands in her sleep, but couldn't get them off. Apparently the swelling was an odd type of delayed reaction to the tight rubber bands cutting off circulation. He massaged her hand and had her move it a lot of different ways, and by 5:00 that evening, the swelling was gone. The next day she was our happy, active, Nina again!

Congratulations, Caleb

This past weekend we loaded the family up in the van and headed for Charleston, SC to my oldest nephew's college graduation. It's so hard for me to believe that Caleb is finished with his undergraduate degree! It seems only yesterday that he was dragging me outside to push him in his race car or to ride down a hill with him in his little red wagon. Now he's a handsome grown man getting ready to strike out on his own! As a matter of fact, he's the same age I was when he was born (for another week). Unbelievable!

Ok - I digress! So we loaded up the van and headed to Charleston. MeeMaw, PeePaw, Steve, Freda, and the Hendrix's were already at the hotel when we arrived. Nina and Joe-Joe had slept much of the way down, so they had their second wind and were ready to party when we arrived at the hotel around 8:30 pm. Everyone else was already there and were gathered around the pool. Thank goodness it was a warm, clear night because Nina and Joe-Joe would've died if they hadn't been able to jump in that pool!! They swam, splashed, and played for close to two hours before "quiet time". It also gave the adults a chance to visit and catch up before Saturday's graduation. And when bedtime came, there were no complaints from our two little swimmers!!

I must admit that I was more than a little apprehensive about how Joe-Joe would behave at the graduation ceremony. After all, it would probably last for two to three hours - and we are talking about Joe-Joe!!! But Chris said he was ready to take him out and entertain him, if necessary. (Between you and me, I think Chris was hoping for an excuse to get out of there!!) So, we fed the little ones a big breakfast and headed for the Civic Center. Joe-Joe, armed with a small box of Lucky Charms, positioned himself right next to Chris - which concerned me a little, too! After all, they are two peas in a pod! They even share the same birthday, just thirteen years apart! Caleb's girlfriend, Ashley, was on the other side. She's an elementary school teacher, which gave me some relief. But still, the thought of Joe-Joe and Chris teaming up at a formal commencement ceremony had me holding my breath!

All was well until the graduates began crossing the platform to receive their diplomas. You know, they go in alphabetical order, and Caleb's last name is Mitchell. So we had quite a wait before his turn! Poor Josiah tried for as long as he could to refrain from cheering, but he finally succumbed to temptation and let out a tremendously loud shout and cheer for some girl whose last name fell in the C's or D's! The shout was so loud and unexpected that we all jumped and then died laughing (none of which is good in that situation)!

With his cheering out of his system, and his Lucky Charms in his tummy, Joe-Joe crawled up in my lap and fell fast asleep. (Everyone say, "Awwww"). Unfortunately, he slept through seeing Caleb walk across the stage and get his diploma. But, in hindsight, that might not be a bad thing! There's no telling what he would have done!! He woke up just in time to see the graduates tossing beach balls around during the recessional - which may have given him an idea for his upcoming Kindergarten graduation! And he thoroughly enjoyed having his picture made with Caleb afterwards (although he couldn't resist playing with the tassel).

So, all in all, it was an amazingly uneventful event. I'm still in awe of how well behaved he and Nina were during the ceremony. Thankful - but in awe!

The weekend left me feeling very nostalgic. While I'm proud of both of my nephews and the awesome young men they have become, I miss those mischievous little boys who were always up to something! If I could go back, I wouldn't miss a Little League game or a school Christmas program - no matter how far I had to drive to get there! And as quickly as the years passed between Caleb's Kindergarten and college graduations, they will seem to go by even faster for my own children. My fervent prayer is that God will help me enjoy every minute, to make the most of each and every day - even those frustrating, infuriating days that I think will never end. Because they will end. And all too quickly I'll be watching my children walk across a stage, receiving a piece of paper - and striking out on their own.

Giving Thanks

Joe-Joe's mouth is notorious! If he thinks it, he says is - loudly!! Such was the case in church yesterday morning. He and Nina had behaved beautifully throughout the service. Looking back, that should have been a definite clue that a "Joe-Joe Moment" was imminent!

Pastor Terry concluded worship by challenging everyone to take a minute and thank the Lord for all He had done in their lives. Well, being the spiritual and unselfish little saint that he is, Joe-Joe thought it would be a blessing to give thanks on behalf of his teen-age sister, Kayelyn.

"Woo hoo! Kayelyn's going to marry (name withheld to protect the innocent)!" he proclaimed at the top of his lungs. Now, you must understand that not only is Kayelyn not getting married (she's only 14), but she's only good friends with the person named as her fiance! And did I mention that he's loud? People two rows in front of us turned around just in time to see a horrified Kayelyn exclaim, "WHAT?".

Quite pleased with himself, Josiah flashed her those dimples and quietly said, "Thank you, Jesus." His older sister just stood there in stunned silence while the rest of us doubled over laughing. It's a good thing Mike and I were between the two of them - otherwise we may have needed a healing service!