
Monday, July 25, 2022
To Ukraine, With Love
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
18 Looks Good!
This boy. The oldest of my "littles" is no longer a little.
18 years old. A man.
I missed his birthday on Saturday. I was in Texas and didn't get to hug him! I was stuck doing the "I love you" over the phone.
Oh, how I wish he had been my boy for ALL 18 of those years.
I've had him for seven precious years.
It's not been picture perfect. Adoption never is. We've shed many tears over our John John.
There were many many days in those seven years when love was a choice and not a feeling.
There were many many times when the mountain seemed high, and I never thought we would get over it.
There were many many times when I despaired.
But I can say with no hesitation that he has been one of the best gift God has given us in our lives.
The transformation in his heart over these last seven years astounds me.
Monday, May 30, 2022
30 Years on the 30th!
Pick one who is not afraid of work.
Thursday, April 21, 2022
60
I'm 60 today.
Sixty years old and leaving for Ohio for a homeschool convention.
Last night Little Girl saw my computer bag in the kitchen.
She saw me packing it for the trip.
When I turned away, she took the bag and carried it back in the office.
Mama stay.
Break my heart.
Yesterday I took the day off and went to the zoo with my kiddos
Sunday, April 3, 2022
Unleased Evil
I've been following this war from day one. Every single day pouring through the articles, pictures, posts from friends, news sites and more to stay as educated and on top of what is going on.
I've shed tears. I've grieved. I've raged. I've posted on here and on my Facebook wall.
I've tried to keep people informed. I've tried to be a voice. I've tried to share what I know to raise awareness, support and prayers.
I've seen terrible pictures over the last 30+ days. I've read about horrible atrocities. I've watched shocking videos.
But yesterday.
Yesterday.
Yesterday the cacophony of stories and pictures and video came from so many different directions I could not sift through it all.
The whole region of Kyiv was liberated from the Russians over the last few days.
That should be cause for great rejoicing.
My friends who were forced out of their homes can go back.
The Russians did not make it into Kyiv.
The Ukrainians "won."
Yet I weep.
I am at a loss for words.
What they left behind is unspeakable.
Bodies are everywhere. Not just one or two. Hundreds. People in civilian clothes. Men. Women. Children. Whole families in cars trying to flee. People shot trying to get away on their bikes. All dead.
This is not some history story from the past.
These people were killed a few days ago. A week ago. In the last 5 weeks.
Bodies in the basements. Unable to get out for food - they starved to death.
What they did to those living is just as horrific.
As the living emerge from the basements and hiding places, the stories pour forth.
The rapes. Children being forced to watch.
Men taken, tied up, tortured and then killed. I've seen pictures. I want to vomit.
They treated the civilians of these cities like a sick video game - shooting to maim. Shooting to kill.
Mass graves.
City after city.
They left Kyiv but left behind sick "presents."
They left piles of their bodily functions everywhere.
They booby trapped toys. Dead bodies. anything. Everything.
They mined the roads.
They destroyed countless homes.
Schools. Churches. Hospitals. Businesses.
They took everything they didn't blow up. Everything. From refrigerators to TV's to pots and pans to clothes and jewelry and everything.
I could go on and on and on.
Kyiv region is freed but the Russians are not gone.
They have only moved.
They are centering their forces along the eastern part of Ukraine.
Their desire is to capture those areas and then move in from that direction.
But just to keep it lively for them - they continue to bomb. Here, there everywhere.
To scare. To destroy. To break the will of the people.
To keep the Ukrainians from taking their full force to the east too.
It's not over.
It's far from over.
It's unleashed evil.
And we sit here in America watching and grieving and shouting and crying and praying and wanting it to end but feel so helpless.
I say I am sorry to my friends over and over and over again.
They are too.
There are just no words for this.
They left Kyiv region but are still in countless other cities and villages across Ukraine. Maiming. Killing. Raping. Stealing. Torturing.
When will it end?
Who will come to the rescue of the Ukrainian people?
When is enough enough? When do we acknowledge as a nation, as a people, that evil must not be allowed to run rampant?
Please keep praying for Ukraine.
Pray that God will hear the cries of the people. That He will give comfort in their distress.
Pray for an end to this evil.
Pray that our leaders and the leaders of Europe will do the right thing.
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Brave
I am not a brave person.
I have always run from danger.
I've never jumped in and stopped a fight.
I've always had the motto to keep a low profile, keep my head down and stay out of conflict.
I let others fight my battles. I let others protest. I let others take on the bullies of this world.
I'm ashamed to share that.
I'm not brave.
But I know what brave looks like.
Brave is leaving everything behind and becoming a refugee in a foreign land.
Friday, March 11, 2022
Unspeakable Horror
For two weeks now I've been numb.
Tears have leaked out of my eyes without my even realizing.
I grieve at every picture coming out of Ukraine. Every video.
Monday, March 7, 2022
The 38
As you go about your Monday morning - feeding your wee ones, pouring milk into their bowls.
As you comb out tangles, look for lost socks, fuss over the mess on the floor.
As you struggle arms into coats and hustle your children out the door. For school. Or appointments.
As you go about your Monday feeling harried and worried over all the things on your to do list.
As you go about your day.
Think of the 38.
38 lost wee ones. In a senseless war.
Think of their moms.
Think of their dads.
Think of the days where they will never again.
And never again.
And never again.
Because a man who has determined that their piece of real estate belongs to him....
Has robbed them of their ever again.
As you go about your day pray for those moms.
Pray for those dads.
Because they are weeping in shock and anguish that in a mere 12 days, their entire world has crashed around them.
The devastation is real. The pictures do not begin to capture the horror of what is happening.
Millions are homeless in a foreign land.
Many more tens of millions are waiting for the bombs to drop.
On this Monday morning - think of them.