Our First Major Bike Accident

Fortunately, it is not as bad as it looks...but five stitches is bad enough. The kids were riding their new bikes on the sidewalk and someone cut in front of Carolaine. She successfully swerved to miss them and careened down a full flight of stairs onto the patio. She almost made it but when she hit the bottom, the bike flipped and she hit the metal railing with her nose! The cut was so deep that you could actually see the bone. The good news is that she is doing well and asked to ride bikes the very next day (and we now have one more distinguishing feature to tell her apart from her twin!) As we approach summer break, please pray fervently for the safety of all of our children.

Never Disappointed

I was reminded yesterday of a passage from The Shack where God shared with Mack that He's never frustrated with us. He knows that we may have to walk through a difficult situation 47 times before we hear clearly enough to agree with Him and change. The author proposes that God is actually thrilled because He knows that each circumstance we face is a building block that constructs a bridge that we will one day walk across.

We desire to mirror this with our children...to be thrilled because they are one step closer to overcoming a particular stronghold in their life. It can be extremely frustrating to correct a child for the same thing several times a day but if you multiply that out by 30 kids, you can only imagine the blood pressure spikes we have experienced! It gives us hope to remember that each battle takes our children one step closer to victory. Please pray that God will give us the wisdom and perseverance to help our children through each situation that He allows to build their character...and ours!

"I'm staying!"

My last post about Valdi and Paulo being "somewhat apprehensive" about leaving CLM was obviously an understatement. Their parents arrived during lunch and visited with the whole family for about an hour before we started to take pictures and say goodbye. When Paulo saw all of his belongings being packed into their car, you could see the confusion in his eyes. When it was time to get in the car to leave, he began to cry and said that he wasn't going..."Valdi can go, but I'm staying!" We believe that he thought he was just going on another visit and the permanence of taking all of his things with him scared him. It took close to another hour before he was convinced to get into the car on his own. My heart broke as I saw his fear of leaving his CLM family...but rejoiced because of the future that God has for him with this precious couple. Thank you again for praying for Valdi and Paulo as they adjust to their new life.

Valdicleia and Paulo

Things never seem to slow down here...tomorrow we say goodbye to Valdi and Paulo! They have been waiting for guardianship to be granted to their adoptive parents for several months and will finally move to their new home tomorrow. They are obviously excited about having a mom and dad but also somewhat apprehensive about leaving the place they have called home for 6 years. Please pray for their new family and also for the CLM family as we grieve their absence.

Praying for a Joyful Harvest

"Sow on in your weeping, for you have the promise of a joyful harvest (Psalm 126:5). You will reap. You, yourself, will see some results of your labor. This will come to you in such a large measure to give you joy, which a poor, withered and scanty harvest would not do. When your eyes are dim with silver tears, think of the golden corn. Bear cheerfully the present toil and disappointment; for the harvest day will fully recompense you."

This is from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon sent to us by friends living in a country closed to missionaries. (I changed the "thees" and "thous" to make it a little more reader friendly!) It ministered to us here because I have shed plenty of "silver tears" for our children and am anxiously awaiting the joyful harvest that He has promised in their lives. It also reminded me of our brothers and sisters around the world whose lives are threatened each day because of their desire to share the love of Christ with a dying world. Let us remember to pray for servants around the globe who are risking their lives to plant seeds of God's hope.

Goodbye to Fernando

We returned from our day off yesterday to find an email from our director that Fernando had left earlier in the afternoon. The judge had made a decision to allow him to return to the couple who had been taking care of him before his arrival at CLM. Fernando had lived with them from 4-11 months of age but they had not pursued legal guardianship. Fernando lived with us for almost 6 months and will be missed, especially by Hellen. Thank you for praying for God's best for his future.