Josiah David

Josiah David turns 11-years-old today!  He's been so much fun ever since the day he was born.  He's the 2nd child in his family and has a big brother and 2 little sisters.  He learned early on how to push his older brother's buttons and then would just quietly step back and wait for the drama to unfold.  It was the first time I'd ever seen someone so young have a sense of humor!!  I honestly saw his sense of humor by the time he was 1-year-old.  And he's kept us laughing ever since.

As a little guy, there were very few photos where he didn't have a scrape of some kind--he's quite the adventurer!

He loves his big brother.  They're about to move into a house where they can have their own bedrooms.  I'm not sure how that's going to go for Josiah.  

He has the best laugh... 

...and he'll do anything to make others laugh!

When Amy began homeschooling Isaac, Josiah & Olivia developed a fun relationship.  They kept each other well-entertained.

When they brought Hadassah home from Ethiopia, Josiah couldn't keep his hands off of her.  He was so interested in everything she did.  He became very protective of her.  He's a great big brother.

This was at Halloween this past year.  This guy is meant to bring fun, laughter, and joy into the world.  (Which is probably why he has such great dimples!)

Josiah is a gifted and talented pianist.  It comes quite naturally to him.  I can't wait to see how God is going to use him because he could choose so many different avenues for his adventurous life.

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, JOSIAH!!

I love you bunches & bunches!!

Gee

Happy Birthday, Gary!

Today is my little brother's birthday!  Gary is two years younger than me.  And I've always loved him and been proud of him.  I also may have "mothered" him to death.  (For some reason, he called that being "bossy.")   Of course, as we went through our teen years, we may have had a few conflicts.  I objected to having to take him to work in my car, using my gas before he had a driver's license, so mom made him cough up gas money.  I honestly don't remember a time that he didn't have a job.  He went to work at a young age--Dad took his sons to work with him, teaching them a good work ethic.  I also tormented him when taking him to school.  My car horn had a bad habit of honking when I turned left.  So I insisted on dropping him off by his friends at junior high--at the left turn.  And I'd wave and yell "goodbye" as he got out of the car.  I like to think I helped build his character.  I also helped him write his campaign speech for class president...but I never would have run myself.  He and his friends called me the Gestapo when I was stage director for our musical (yeah...the director should have known better than to give me that much power!).  But actually...I've loved that guy all his life.  

I used to go to the church nursery and ask for my baby brother.  They never gave him to me.  It may have been because I couldn't even see over the Dutch door.

You only have to look at these photos of a young Gary to know he was destined for greatness! He always insisted on dressing this way, mom says.

Matt was Gary's first nephew.  And from the time Matt was born, Gary became very intentional about investing in each of his nieces and nephews. 

And he continues that tradition...

with ALL of my kids.

And with Sandra's kids.

His great-nieces and great-nephews love Uncle Gary!  And they can name each of his dogs.  He's made big deposits in their lives.  He reminds me so much of my dad.  He loves people and loves life and wants to enjoy it with those he loves.

And it's not just family who knows Uncle Gary.  As he began teaching at WTAMU, he was walking across campus and heard, "Uncle Gary!"  He turned and saw a good friend of one of his nieces.  

And, of course, Amy, his wife, has always encouraged Gary's relationships with his family...she's the best decision he ever made!

Gary loves woodwork, which he learned from our dad.  He made me this Little Free Library which my grandkids have loved! 

And he makes beautiful pens.  This is the fountain pen he made for me recently.  He's also gotten a nephew involved in making them.

This is "just" my little brother.  But he's a great man.  He'd be embarrassed if I told you about all of his greatnesses--like being Senior Vice President and General Counsel for El Paso Electric and named as one of their top employees.  Actually, we probably have no idea about all of his accomplishments--because he never talks about himself.   He's currently a professor of business law at West Texas A&M in Canyon.  I won't tell you all about that, but you can read about it here.  

(And that kind of reminds me of the time when I promised I wouldn't tell on him...but wrote a note to mom instead.  Only in an effort to protect him, mind you.)  

It really is amazing he likes me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE BROTHER!

I love you...and am so very, very proud of you!

Always have been.

Becky

Hadassah Melat

Hadassah Melat came to us from Ethiopia.  Many people ask if Hadassah was her Ethiopian name.  No...it was Esther's Hebrew name in the Bible.  But Melat is her Ethiopian name.  This photo was taken after her mom and dad met her.  She turned 5-years-old on Sunday!

I was blessed to babysit the three older kids while mom and dad went to bring her home.  We couldn't wait for her to get here!  And she's been encircled by love ever since.

Soon, her personality was blooming.  One thing about Hadassah (or Dassie, for short) is that she's been well-loved since birth.  Her nannies in the orphanage loved her and gave her lots of favors.

And with so much love from her family, her personality has blossomed bigger than life!  She never meets a stranger and is just as loved by everyone else.

She has a big sister who LOVES her.  They are best friends.

Bookends.  I love that they have the same heart-shaped face.

She is so sweet and goes full-out all day.  But when she crashes, she crashes.

Her mom and dad gave her a "Frozen" bicycle for her 5th birthday!

She'd never ridden a bike, but she took off like a pro!

And never looked back.

And she blew enough bubbles for the whole neighborhood to enjoy!  We can't believe our little Ethiopian princess is 5!  

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, HADASSAH MELAT!!

I love you,

Gee

Isaac Joshua

Isaac Joshua turned 13-years-old on Saturday!  Isaac is our oldest grandson.  The funny thing about this video is that he'd already accidentally seen his drums in his dad's car trunk...which proves he's a great actor!!

But he was pretty excited to see a drum set already set up and waiting for him to play.

His dad was explaining to him they already had practice pads on them (makes them a tad bit quieter).

He shares a birthday week with two other siblings, so there was lots of gift-opening going on!  Andy & I were so glad to get to share their "birthday" with them on our way home from Rogers, AR.

I wish I could have found a photo of Isaac as a baby.  He was the cutest thing.  It didn't matter what room he walked into, if there were people, a big smile was all over his face and he was ready to interact with them.  He may be a little more reserved now, but he still loves people.

Isaac was confirmed Sunday night and we were all set to be there to observe, but I got a stomach bug and we came home in hopes of not spreading germs.  I'm really, really proud of this guy.  He has a heart for Jesus and I know God has a big plan for him.  Which will probably include drums....but oh, so much more!

This was his first time to play his new drums. 

HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY, ISAAC JOSHUA!!!

Love,

Gee

Filling in the cracks

" But this beautiful treasure is contained in us—cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us."  II Corinthians 4:7

We are often embarrassed by our cracked pots.  So we get pretty creative crafting, taping, mudding, and repairing those pots ourselves to hide our brokenness.  We want people to see a beautiful, completed work of God.  We don't want to shame Him by revealing our sin, our past, our mess-ups, or our brokenness.  We work hard to hide the chips, cracks, and ugly fissures inside us.

We may get so creative that we take our broken pieces and completely rework our lives--creating a mosaic which looks nothing like the original that God created.

The problem with both of these solutions is that the glory of God can't come through!  We may look perfect and have a flawless exterior--or we may just look like a covered up mess to others.  But either way, the glory of God is blocked and shut in. There's no revealing of God's redemptive power!

When you cover up, hide, rework, salvage your broken life yourself...the beautiful brilliant presence of God is hidden from others.  You're displaying what YOU can do...which is amateurish at best.

You've then developed a religious spirit trying to appear perfect...when you're not.

Glory from Cracked Pots

Yesterday, I talked about the glory we possess at the point of salvation--something I'd missed understanding--and was waiting for.  II Corinthians 4 goes on to say that this glory is stored in earthen jars of clay.  That would be us.  I love how Patsy Clairmont used to call us all cracked pots.  We are!  We're living in a day when there's so much finger pointing, judgment, accusations, slurs, etc.  It seems we're constantly looking at one another with contempt and condemnation.  What we fail to realize is that we're all cracked pots!  None of us is perfect.  We've all walked through things which have broken us and yet God, in His mercy and grace, has tenderly put us back together.  He never expected us to be perfect!  But we are perfectly designed by Him.  Instead of focusing on our brokenness, we should be focused on the light, the glory, coming out of each other's cracked pots.  THAT'S the focus!  This glory is God's brilliant dwelling presence.  When we're pointing fingers and laughing at each other's flaws, we're totally missing the point.  And if all we can see about ourselves is our misshapened lives, we live in defeat.

But this glorious light, this visible dwelling presence of God....THIS GLORY....changes everything.  We should be looking at the brilliance of God displayed in one another.  How has God pieced your life back together to display His glory?  It's a beautiful revealing work of God.  And it's a different design than mine.  It's different than hers...and his.  We should be mesmerized by God's handiwork in one another's lives.  As the glory of God pours out of your cracked pot and my cracked pot, it should bring new life, new confidence--because it's no longer about us and our flaws--it's about the brilliant God who dwells within us!  It should point others to a God who can make all things new.  They should want what we have because it's made us glorious! It highlights our brokenness in a way that says, "God can make you beautiful, too!"   And instead of focusing on our flaws, we can boldly and courageously display the restorative work of God that is available to all mankind.

Look at God's GLORY--through ME--a cracked pot!

"But this beautiful treasure is contained in us—cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us. We are cracked and chipped from our afflictions on all sides, but we are not crushed by them. We are bewildered at times, but we do not give in to despair. We are persecuted, but we have not been abandoned. We have been knocked down, but we are not destroyed. We always carry around in our bodies the reality of the brutal death and suffering of Jesus. As a result, His resurrection life rises and reveals its wondrous power in our bodies as well."

II Corinthians 4: 7-10

We HAVE the Glory!!

I was reading in II Corinthians 3 last night and God rocked my world!  I think it helps to read out of different versions occasionally for your eyes to be opened.  Mine were.  Paul is telling the Corinthians that if Moses had to veil his face because the glory was so great when he brought the law down the mountain,  how much greater would the glory be that accompanies the ministry of the Spirit!  The veil continues to hide the glory...UNTIL we turn to the Lord in repentance!  When that happens, we have the glory!!

The Old Covenant was about the Law--and there was great glory on Moses when he brought the Ten Commandments down after meeting with God.  This New Covenant is about grace--and a ministry that promises to restore and set the world right. How much MORE GLORY is in this New Covenant?  Much more!!

I think I've kept waiting for the glory.  Maybe like the glory that appeared at Pentecost.  Or the glory that was at the Mount of Transfiguration.  But I already have the glory.  So do you if you know Christ!  It's in the "knowing" that we have the glory that we are filled with confidence.  My sister, Sandra, said, "Satan started lying to us in the Garden of Eden, 'You need to eat from the tree to be better...'"  He's tried to keep us from understanding the glory we possess.  (Adam & Eve were clothed in this glory and lost it when they sinned.  Salvation restores it!)  We are being metamorphosed from one radiance of glory to another.  And that glory brings confidence and courage.  Of course Satan has lied to us--he wants us cowering in fear.  He certainly doesn't want us walking in confidence and courage!

We don't have to wait for the glory.  IT'S HERE!  And knowing that fact will fill you with courage.