No Greater Joy as Mom

We have a very exciting day today!  I woke up with great anticipation.  As a mother, I know that today is the most important day in the life of one of my children, and pretty significant in the lives of two others - as what we do today in those two will lead to what is happening in the other!

Today, my sweet Ava Claire will be baptized as a symbol that she has given her life to God!  Her story is not like the other children, where we have a specific date she gave her life to the Lord.  And once again, God reminds me it's not about me and my neat little story for the scrapbook, but He is writing my children's future.  Which is such a great thing for many reasons, one of which, who knows when that scrapbook page will ever be made anyway!

I had started praying for Toben and Ava both to recognize their need for a savior.  We have had very direct conversations and Bible study times to introduce Jesus as their savior, but neither one of them really grasped and could articulate the need or desire for Jesus to take their sins and rule their lives.  Their salvation is one of the things I am believing God for in 2013.

About five or six weeks ago, I sat down with Ava to do her Bible study.  We still struggle with finding a time to do Bible study with all the kids.  It is very sporadic and inconsistent, but we are still working toward that goal!  Maybe by the time Journey leaves home, we will have figured out a system.  Just another part of the story that reminds me God is pursuing our children even when we aren't perfect parents! Praise God!  Ava and I read Romans together where the scriptures point to a need for a savior to save us from our sins.  I start to ask some questions to see if Ava has any clearer understanding, and she says, "Mom, don't worry!  I already asked God to come into my heart."  "When?!" I ask.  "In Sunday school, we were singing songs, and I just felt close to God and asked Him if He would come into my heart and He did!"  So I ask, "Did you tell anyone?  When did this happen?" To which she very nonchalantly replies, "I don't know, a couple of weeks ago.  And no, I didn't tell anyone, just talked to God about it!"  So I do what any normal mother does, I grabbed her up and cried and told her how proud and excited I was for her!  I asked her if she knew what the next step was, and she said, "Sure, I need to be baptized!"

Seriously, this girl has a crazy exciting desire for God's word!  I know that over the past few months, God has been wooing her to Himself as I often find her in her room or in a quite spot in the house reading her Bible.  She may not understand every Word, but the enemy does, and he flees when God's Word is read.  And her spirit understands, and most importantly, the angels of heaven understand and are immediately sent to fulfill God's Word for Ava as she reads it out loud believing God means what He says and says what He means....truly a childlike faith!

"I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in the truth." 3 John 1:4  Truly walking that scripture out this morning as I am full of joy unspeakable as I prepare for church this morning knowing that one of these precious lives entrusted to me will demonstrate her desire to serve God all of her life.  I used to think, that meant I had pretty well completed my spiritual job as a parent!  However, now I know the truth is that, now I have the fertile soil to begin planting the seeds that will take root and grow into the foundation and beyond that she will need to live the life God has called her to live!  Now we begin pouring into her to make sure she is equipped!

But I love her story because it is such a great reminder that we don't have to be perfect parents!  I am not discounting the need for direct Bible study with our children, but it is reassuring to know that God pursues our children even when we are not perfect parents.  He led Ava to Himself which is what the Bible says He does.  We introduced her to Him through Bible studies, taking her to church and living a life that follows Christ ourselves - talking out some of the decisions we make with our kids pointing to God's direction as the reason.  But ultimately, there were no fancy words or amazing prayer on my part...just a simple time with God in worship that brought Ava to the reality of her sin and the amazing answer in Jesus!  I also love her story because it should encourage each of you who serve thankless hours in children's ministry!  You never know what Sunday "Ava" will accept Jesus as their savior and not even tell anyone....you will know when you receive your reward in heaven!  So THANK YOU, Ms. Lyndsey, Mr. Logan, Ms. Tonya, Ms. Jessica, Ms. Gigi, Ms. Linda, Ms. Megan and the others who serve in our children's ministry! Thank you for providing an environment that ushers in the Holy Spirit and allows Him to convict, speak to, and redeem children!

Along with that celebration today, we also are honored to stand before our church family and commit to raise Madison and Journey in a Godly home, pointing them continually to Him and equipping them for the life God has for them.  We have taken so long because we dedicated Paizley the baby dedication right after Journey was born, and she didn't want to share it with Journey.  The next baby dedication they had at our church at that time was the weekend Peighton was born.  So we could not attend church that Sunday.  So this is the first time since Journey was born and Madison was adopted that we could have the honor of dedicating them to God and promising to raise them in His ways.

To all who have spoken into my children over the years, thank you!  We are so honored with family and so many friends and spiritual family who love the Lord and our children!  The impact you have on our children does not escape us.  And we truly are thankful for you!

Off to get ready....I have an amazing day ahead of me!

Our Little Elf Turns 6 Months!

Our Little Elf is six months today! I can't believe it! The time has gone too fast! He is already sitting up, trying to scoot around on his belly and has two teeth with the third one just breaking through yesterday!

He was about as unplanned as a baby gets, but we can't imagine life without him and know that God sent him to us as a precious gift we didn't know we needed or even wanted.

We love you, Journey Josiah! You have given us joy that has sustained us the past 6 months! Happy 1/2 year birthday!

Peek-A-Boo!!!!
Our Happy Elf!!

Journey Josiah Petree

Here he is! He is perfect! He wasn't planned by us, but was the perfect gift from God! He was born Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 8:24 am weighing 7 lbs, 13 oz and 20.25 inches long. At one week he is already sleeping through most of the night with me having to wake him up for his feedings. God has blessed us with yet another amazing baby!

Meeting the Family:



Toben

Noah

Ava

Paizley

Callie

My boys!

What's in a Name...

Naming kids has always been a difficult thing for John and I. You would think by number 7, we would have a system or something, but no! As of last week, we still didn't have a middle name. One of the things that made it hard on this baby is that God has already spoken so much over this baby. We wanted what had been spoken to be part of his name. I have wondered if we weren't putting a lot of expectation on this baby with the things that have been spoken....is that fair? But God has taken me to many scriptures over the past few months. I have never really thought about babies and children in scripture until God started speaking so much about this pregnancy. But if you look through the Bible, there are plenty of instances where God used babies and children to fulfill promises or talked to women who were pregnant. In Luke 1 God tells of His plans and the big assignment for John the Baptist while Elizabeth was still pregnant. He talks to Mary about Jesus and then send her to Elizabeth who feels her baby leap in her womb at the entrance of his Savior...who is also still in the womb. In the Old Testament there are plenty of children who fulfilled promises of God like Isaac for Sarah and Abraham and Samuel for Hannah. When we first announced our pregnancy, God told a dear friend that this baby would bring about healing to our family. This was so encouraging! This friend knew the battles John and I have faced in our marriage for the entire 13 years. Hearing that God was doing a work that would bring healing from these was a breath of fresh air! John and I both are ready to have the healed marriage we have been working toward all these years!

Through the journey of the past 9 months, we have clung to this Word from God! When we had our first doctor's appointment and we couldn't see a heart beat, John felt God assure him that the baby was fine and it was a boy! There were some personal things that John was dealing with that made having a biological son a challenge. I rested in the fact that John knew everything was ok while we waited that entire week before the next appointment when we saw and heard a healthy heartbeat!

John also had dreams that he was confident had spiritual meaning. Most of them involved rain and refreshing. Then I had the night that I posted about after Paizley's finazlization when we had the only rain storm we have had in the past year! We have clung to these moments over the past few months! And as these moments have happened, I felt confident that they needed to be reflected in Baby Boy's name!

I feel like we have lived a lifetime in the last nine months! Paizley has come to live with us, we had and lost B-man, Baby Girl's parents' rights have been terminated and we are moving forward with adoption, John's job has changed drastically, God is calling me to more hours at the agency, the list goes on and on. I have been in what I have heard described by others as a dark night of the soul. I have felt farther away from God than ever before in my life. My faith and trust in Him have been challenged and I have been more tempted to walk away than maybe ever, or at least since Eden's adoption failed. But still there was this promise...this Word that God would bring healing through this baby. I had given up on it. I had decided God had failed me again (yes, I realize the theology in that is totally faulty! God does NOT fail us!). Then I went and spoke to a very wise man at our church and he encouraged me to hang on until the birth. He felt certain when this baby was born, the healing would come. I have had moments in the past three to four weeks where I can taste the victory! I can see what life on the other side of the revelation of the Word is going to look like...but just as quickly the enemy comes and steals it away! It has been battle like never before in our home!

During some of the roughest parts of the last few months, I was reading Mandisa's biography. This quote is in it, and it sums up what we have felt over our entire marriage: "Victory lies in the journey and the lessons we learn along the way". And it sums up why we picked Baby Boy's first name....

And the middle name had to have some sort of meaning with healing, new beginnings, refreshment or something like that. We searched and searched baby name books and sights. I prayed and prayed for a name to come to us. I had one I felt like fit, but John wasn't crazy about it. So I kept praying and looking. I just knew when I found it, it would settle in our spirit...and it did! I found a website that had Biblical names and meanings. And that's where we found it! His middle name will be Josiah...it means "healed by God" and fits perfectly with the Journey God has had us no this entire pregnancy!

Journey Josiah

a journey of healing by God....exactly what we have been on and are looking to be completely fulfilled when he is born.