Weren't Our Children Still Little Just Last Year?!!!

A few posts ago, I focused on the older half of our clan.  The younger half is also changing and growing quickly.  Although, fortunately for us, none of them are getting ready to leave the nest.  (After the first five, we need a few years break from children moving away from home.)

JONATHAN, our youngest child, is already 8 ½ years old and is almost finished with 3^rd grade.  He loves to draw and has a great imagination.  His official paperwork says that he is Guatemalan.  However due to his lack of love for soccer, we are not quite sure.  We adopted Jonathan a little over 5 years ago.  How time flies!  We have some incredible, miraculous stories to tell about how God provided the $29,000 for his adoption.  Plus, the trips to Guatemala to complete his adoption were used by God to start growing in us a passion for the wonderful children of this country.

  

KIMBERLY is now 10 years old and growing so quickly.  (Although most days she thinks she is 18 or so.)  Kimmie has been part of our family for 7 ½ years.  In spite of her cognitive delays, she is doing a wonderful job with her 2^nd grade school work.  Her adoption was used by God to spark our burden and love for special needs orphans.  She enjoys reading and putting puzzles together.  She would prefer to sit around talking to adults for hours than to play with her neglected dolls and toys.  She also shows  a lot of patience and love as she holds, talks to, and cares for the special needs children with whom we work.  She is such a joy to have as a daughter.

  

JOSHUA…Oh, there is so much that I could say about Joshua!  He is also 10 years old now, soon to finish the 4^th grade, and his adoption was completed almost 5 ½ years ago.  Life has not been the same since the moment that we met him.  By that, I mean that life has not been quiet since the moment we met him.  What Joshua lacks in leg strength, he makes up for in determination and volume.  He likes to do almost everything.  He is full of life, joy, hyperactivity, and noise.  He is a great source of free entertainment. 

JEREMIAH is 12 years old and in 7^th grade.  And he is definitely in a growth spurt.   I am now used to having daughters taller than me, but to have a son approaching my height feels a little strange.  Jeremiah is doing a wonderful job with his Spanish, although he has never taken even one class to learn it.  (Although I am proud of him for that, I am also very jealous of him for that.)  He enjoys drawing, being outdoors, playing sports, and helping his Daddy around the house and with ministry.  He is growing into quite the young man.

TARYN has definitely transformed before our eyes from a child to a young lady in the 2 ½ years since we have been here.  She is now a high school freshman and doing a fantastic job with her full school load.  In just three months, she will be 15 years old.  Taryn is a beautiful and talented young lady.  She, too, is learning Spanish very quickly.  She enjoys crafts, reading, and working with children.  Before too long she will be the oldest child in our house.  Hard to believe!

  

All five of them have accepted Christ as their Savior.  And they are each growing, at their own rate, in their love and service for Him. 

A brief update on the older girls:

Brittney’s job (homeschooling a special needs 11-year old girl) has ended for the year.  So now she has the opportunity to focus her efforts on her university classes.  For the next four months, Brittney will be taking double load on her school classes, and then she will be ready to start her student teaching.  

Krishauna is getting ready to make her move to Casa Bernabe Orphanage at the end of this month.  But in the mean time, she is dealing with some dental needs that she has.  Tomorrow (Thursday) morning, she will be getting all four of her wisdom teeth pulled.  This is complicated by the fact that a dentist here in town tried to pull one of her wisdom teeth last week.  After a lot of tugging and pulling, she decided that she could not do the job and would have to send Shauna to an oral surgeon.  As a result Krishauna has been dealing with a great amount of pain, swelling, and infection since last Thursday.  We are praying that this Thursday goes much better than last so that she can have some pain relief and start eating again.

Teisha has arrived safely to Troy, OH.  She will be starting her job next week.  She is living with some wonderful friends there, but I know that she would enjoy seeing those of you who live in the area.

Carissa is still in Uganda…for about 6 more weeks.  She has finished homeschooling the children of the family with whom she had been living.  She is now living and working with a Christian-run group home (called Ekisa) for special needs orphans in Jinja, Uganda.

 

Did I say they are growing up quickly?...Well, maybe in body, but I think they will always be kids at heart!...and I like it that way!

God has blessed us immensely with our wonderful children!  And I look forward to seeing what He is going to do in and through them in the coming years!

 “CHILDREN ARE A GIFT FROM THE LORD; THEY ARE A REWARD FROM HIM."  PSALM 127:3 (NLT)