Zambia's Student Life Homes

"Slowly [the boys] are beginning to realize they're getting the
best...and to also give the best out of their lives."

--John & Mwila, houseparents at Zambia's Student Life
Homes

Since January, three Student Life Homes in Zambia are providing a safe environment

for 39 students in the freshman class. This move gives them a place where

they can thrive in a healthy, family environment away from the temptations and

negative influences found in the compound where they were raised. 

As expected, it's been a bit of an adjustment for the 11 boys in John & Mwila's

home. Learning to function as a family with roles, rules, and certain expectations has

taken some time to get used to for a group of boys who are accustomed to living on

their own, answering only to themselves. 

As you heard in their testimony, John & Mwila have not only met hardships

along the way, but have experienced great joy of slowly transformed lives of boys

like Bernard. Rejoice in God's goodness and work in this home as Zambia's future

leaders are being raised today...

Will you join us in praying for John, Mwila, and the 11 boys in their
home? Pray for God's Spirit to be among them. Thank God for the growth they have
seen in the past few months. Ask God to give John & Mwila wisd

He has RISEN!!

May your day be filled with joy.

He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. 

Come, see where his body was lying.

Matthew 28:6

Giving HOPE in Ebola’s Aftermath

"We have a new family and a new home and we are now back in school!"

-Famatta, child from New Hope Children's Home 

Ebola. The deadly virus that prowled West Africa last year, dominating the news and our newsfeeds. In Liberia alone, taking the lives of over 4,000, and leaving in it's wake sons and daughters to be orphaned and alone.

Meet three of those children: Famatta (14), Olbed (13) and Delight (8), son and daughters of George and Oretha Kanwah, whose lives were taken by the Ebola virus.

In response to this catastrophe, Lifesong staff in Liberia have established New Hope Children's Home, a home to not only provide shelter for 10 children orphaned by the Ebola virus, but also to give caregiver jobs to Ebola survivors.

Fametta graciously shares the devastation they have saw and felt, and of the hope that is slowly shining through...

"My father got the virus when a lady in his church was sick and he took her to the hospital. While at the hospital, the lady died and my father was sprayed with antiseptic and sent home. The next day he started getting sick and when he got to work, they told him not to come back. They also put us out of the company house where we were staying. One week later, my father died in his car and the Ebola burial team came and carried him to be burned in the fire.   

Few days later, our mother got sick and she couldn't eat, but cried all day. She was taken to the Ebola treatment center. Later, the center called our aunt and said our mother has died. 

My siblings and I were put into quarantine at the treatment center for 21 days. We did not get the virus, so the health workers took us back to the community, hoping someone will take us in. No one was willing. We were given a little food supply and some protective Ebola materials.

We were left alone in the community. Everyone is afraid of us. We were not allowed to play with other children or go to other people's houses or buy food from others with money from our hands. I am the oldest, so I tried to watch over my brother and sister.

But now we are have been taken in by Lifesong's New Hope Children's Home. We have a new family and a new home and we are now back in school." 

Please join us in praying for Famatta, Olbed, Delight and the other grieving children in our new home. Pray God would heal and soften their hearts to His Gospel of hope and redemption!

Learn more about our project in Liberia

Happy Chinese New Year

As we come to another Chinese New Year, it is amazing to look back on the year we have had.  Last year at this time, everything was so new.  We have now reached a new sense of normal and everyone is bonding much better.  We are now able to get involved in so many things.  

We are now even doing performances.

Do you want to build a snowman?

With the first snow fall of the year, comes the first snowman of the year.

Do you want to build a snowman? 

(ya, I just went there)

Merry Christmas

From our family to your

May you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS

and a FANTASTIC NEW YEAR!!

Orphan Sunday & Advent for Orphans

"Orphan Sunday isn't about charity; it's about the mission of Christ. I pray that every Gospel-transformed congregation will observe Orphan Sunday, calling all Christians to our mandate to image Christ by caring for his little brothers and sisters, the fatherless of the world." -- Dr. Russell Moore, author Adopted for Life

On November 2nd, Christians around the globe will stand together with one goal: to rouse believers with God's call to care for the orphan and what our role is in response.



Does your family, small group or church have plans for Orphan Sunday? There are so many ways that we can honor orphans collectively as the Body of Christ on Orphan Sunday. If you don't have plans or haven't heard of an event near you, here are 4 ways you can engage in this year's Orphan Sunday:

1. Advent for Orphans Calendar -- see explanation below.
2. Orphan's Table -- share a meal eaten by orphans around the world. Gather with family, small group or church for the meal, discussion and prayer.
3. Plan an Orphan Sunday event with a Partnership Package -- easy-to-follow Orphan Sunday event plan, enabling you to partner with an organization to create a simple event!
4. Contact your Regional Orphan Sunday Coordinator with questions, to seek ideas as you plan, or to let them know that you will be holding an event.

Be sure to also check out their other resources which include videos, prayer guides, sermon notes, t-shirts & more! Together, let's stand for the orphan!

To learn more about Orphan Sunday or find an event near you visit OrphanSunday.org.

Get your FREE Advent Calendar & celebrate with purpose! 

See how your family, small group or church can celebrate the anticipate the birth of our Savior in a special way that also shows love to orphans.

Limited supply of Advent for Orphans calendars available! Learn more & order your calendar today at www.lifesongfororphans.org/advent.

My why...part 2

My why for the day…why I enjoy having three home businesses.  Yes, I have three….Mama’s Bug A Boo, Pampered Chef, and Purium.  I do it so I can have the extra cash to pay for all those activities the girls do.  We couldn't afford to do dance classes and Chinese school with out it.  I work hard but don’t have any fancy titles, I just love what I do.  I love selling something to someone who will actually enjoy it. 

 I love the look on the face of a little girl who is wearing a super cool bow…

or finding out a family is eating around the dinner table because they saved time in the kitchen preparing it…

or someone who has taken control of their healthy and losing weight in the process.  

I enjoy seeing others with joy.  I feed off of it.  I know, it is not always a money maker.  I don’t make a lot…I am not a director of any of it and I barely make it most months.  In the last year I made a great deal of money with Pampered Chef, but what most don’t know, I donated over half to others adoption.  I had so much joy last year doing fundraiser for families who are now home with their children.  I have seen people change their lives with Purium.. not just the outward but the inward.  They feel better about themselves.  I feed off others joy…it is a high for me. 

So, remember me if you are in search of some cloth diapers or hairbows for your little ones…or in search of stocking up your kitchen for free…or you want to get healthy and maybe lose a few pounds….contact me.  And most of all, if you are doing a fundraiser…contact me because you will make my day.

My why....part 1

Recently, I had someone post this for a week…their why.  And up until now, I don’t think I really had a why…I just do what I do to survive, or so I thought.  So, here goes, my why for the day….why I enjoy being a stay at home mom.  Yes, there are those days that are hard…that I need a break…that I think my head got about 15 more gray hairs.  BUT there are also those days that I get to snuggle just a little longer with my girls…we can take an extra long lunch and start singing “Everything is awesome”…we can just go to the museum because going in the morning at 10am is so less crowded then going at 3pm. I don’t always have time to hang out with other moms because most of them don’t homeschool and they plan things for those with no kids .. that is ok, I get to have a facial by an awesome 7 year old and a fantastic arm beating (I mean a “massage”) by another 7 year old and a bomb digady hair up-do by a 8 year old.  I do not get paid with anything that could actually pay down the debt and I have those days that I don’t want to except that but when your 7 year old comes to you with a fishy face and says she wants to give you a kiss or your other 7 year old just comes up and give you a smile from ear to ear and hugs you or maybe the 8 year old finally (for a small moment) actually wants to sit next to you….it is all worth it.

Say hello to our little friend....Manny

Daddy came home the other day...and Manny hanging out on his car.  So, he put him in our flower pot next to our door and there he has stayed.  Not sure what will happen when the weather changes.

Tea time Tuesday

Because everyone should have a tea party....just because.

Jigs and Pies

Because no summer is complete without a 

little jig and a blackberry pie.

Our oldest is involved in Irish dancing and with that come performances (not just competitions).  She goes out into the community and do performances to get the word out about the school.  It is the Central Kentucky's only accredited School of Irish dance. We are proud of her and all the accomplishments she has made and will make. 

And all summers are not complete with out a few pies.  We headed over to the local orchard to pick some yummy blackberries...and had to make a pie out of them.  Each girl got to make there own pie and had some super fun doing it.  They all enjoyed making them...and had even more fun eating them.

Getting healthy update

I am now going on my third month on working to get healthy.  I have had some struggles but I am sticking with it.  I have had to adjust something to accommodate my lifestyle but for the most part things are going well. I need to remind myself, getting healthy is not in a pill or some magic diet shake....it is in changing your lifestyle...it is changing what you put in your body.  Purium does have a shake but it is not a "diet" shake..it is a whole food shake.  It is filled with amazing ingredients that are not in many "diet" drink/shakes out there on the market. I have changed up the way I thing, which includes a cleanse and things are going much better.

http://mypurium.com/bugaboo

Mini Vaca

Our mini vacation consisted of taking a three hour drive to Mammoth Cave. We stopped off at Lincoln's birthplace and got to check out his pad. The girls picked up fantastic head attire...which turned into blocking the wind in the car since the AC did not work.

We then headed over to Mammoth Cave National Park, and the girls enjoyed it so much. 

We even got the meet a little friend.

Got to check out some of the cave and it was super cold down there.

This is what happens when a 7 year old gets a hold of a camera.

We got to hang out with Yogi and a few other fantastic Reece's Rainbow friends. 

And after many hours of fun we headed home.  With in 10mins this is what the back seat looked like.

Just to let everyone know

I wanted to let everyone know.  Because of security reasons, I have temporally disabled our Facebook page. I do not have the ability to monitor traffic.  I am still receiving troll mail/comments and have chosen to close it.  I wish I had the ability to make it so in order to see what I posted you had to like the page, but this is not an option and because of that I feel I need to close it for now.  No worries, I am still going to post here on the blog. Thank you for continuing to read this blog.

Happy 4th of July

We dont always celebrate holidays, just not a big deal in our family (we usually only do something for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).  But this year, the 4th meant a little more.  We are not usually all together with deployments and all, so just being together was a new thing.  It also was the first 4th of July for our new US citizen and it made it worth celebrating.

We had bacon wrapped hot dogs...yes, you read that correctly...bacon wrapped.

Cooked on our new fire pit that the hubby put together (we had to make changes at the end but it still worked).

She got to enjoy her first smore...and let me just tell you...she really enjoyed it.

She enjoyed it so much..and it showed from ear to ear (and maybe in some hair)

So, from our family to your...may you have a wonderful 4th of July.

Always remember....

Freedom is not Free

Summer fun

June for our family is usually filled with travel and fun.  We had had an opportunity to do things we dont usually do.  We started the month out by traveling to North Carolina for a feis, which was interesting to say the least.  We had never traveled this way to so it was new for all of us. The worry for us was the only way to get there from where we live was to travel through the mountains.  Now normally, this is not an issue but in a recent short trip we found out that our daughter did not do so well on crazy roads.  So we prepared, we had ginger chews and wrist bands ready to go. We stopped at McD and got a large bag that seem to fit the small trash bags I had.  And I am glad we did.  The moment we got out of the mountains, and I thought we were in the clear...was the moment my oldest daughter screamed "MOM STOP SHE IS PUKING!!"  There was no place to pull over for a quarter of a mile...my daughter is telling me to pull over and the only thing I can say is....."just make sure it goes in the bag and I will get to a pull off".  Well, we lucked out...most of it ended up in the bag.  So, we took a small detour, cleaned up, got a new bag...and went on.

This was the start of a crazy month.  We finally arrived at the hotel, thankfully with no more incidence.  We got dinner went back to the hotel and all was well.  We got up early for the feis and our oldest did well.  That was interesting also.  Apparently in the "south", feis are different.  They tend to pack you into a hotel like sardines, which I do not do well with.  I am not a claustrophobic kinda person, I dont mind small spaces....as long as human bodies are not involved.  For example, put me in a small elevator, not a big deal....but add 5 total stranger to that space and my anxiety goes up. Which is why I dont mind being in the cockpit of a plane...but do mind being in the middle seat in the middle of a plane.

After that we headed down to Florida with a stop in Savannah. We had no problems and I was thankful for that.  I had contact my grandparent to set up a time to meet up with them on our way to my parents house so they could meet our newest member of our family.  I was nervous on how she would react to them.  She seem to do well and we had a lovely visit for a few hours at the local Stake n Shake.

We then made the final destination, my parents house.  This was something I really hoped went well but expected the worst. It was not easy on our daughter, she was not used to traveling and being away from home for so long.  She kept asking "home" and pointing in the air...and I had to keep saying, no not yet.  She did well with my family.  While she rejected any kiss (even up until the last day), she was open to a hug by the end of the three weeks.  She would not give my sister a hug and I expected that since she was a stranger.  I am thankful that my extended family was respectful and understanding of the boundaries she had and they know it is not permanent.

Our oldest had fun at Teen Missions working on the trusses and our middle daughter had a great time at Zoo day camp.  Next year we will add lego camp for our youngest since she seems to LOVE legos...and when I say love, I means LOVE.

Daddy had the opportunity to come in for the final week and we made a trip to the beach.  And this was not my highlight of the trip.  I am not a fan of the beaches, they include....sand, salt water, and lots of people.  Now, if there was no sand or salt water, I would do much better. The girls had a ton of fun since this was the first time for ALL of them to go.  We even had an opportunity to see my sister and her kids. Out youngest seem to get along much better with the younger parts of my extended family then the older ones.

Loved what she said as we come over the dun.... "wow" in a tiny whisper.

They seem to be always looking for little crabs.

Still looking.

Had to play a little.

Everyone say cheese.

All in all, we had a ton of fun.  I had not seen my extended family in a year so it was long over due of seeing everyone and had a good visit.

Getting healthy update

Things are going well in the getting healthy area of my life.  While I am not seeing drastic changes, I am seeing them.  I have more energy and I have lost some weight.  My biggest thing is..I am no longer gaining.  It is not so easy trying to stick to eating healthy when you are not home, but this system does make it a little easier.  I am happy to have found this product and I am glad to know it is making my life better in so many ways.

http://mypurium.com/bugaboo

Getting healthy

I am taking on the challenge of getting healthy.  I spent the last year focusing on the adoption.  Not really caring about anything else...other then being a mom.  I choose not to do anything because it was work...and anything outside of what I had to do was just not worth the energy...an adoption is hard work.

So, here I am ready to start my journey.  I know it will not be easy but my hope is that is will get me to where I need to be.  If you are interested in how I am going to do this, please check this out.

In the eyes of an Irish Dancer's mom

We are a class all of our own.  We don’t scream at our kids like some ‘dance moms’ and we don’t say not so nice things to the other competitor like some soccer dads (maybe moms).  We get up early…and I mean O’dark early…to help our daughters get their hair ready.  We make sure our son’s ties look just right.  We are always on the sidelines silently waiting to clap for all the competitor but secretly we are clapping just for our child.  We don’t always get a thank you, and usually have to deal with tears.  We do it not for our enjoyment but for our children. We have been known to help out in other ways, even after are children are long gone from the sport.  We are a community of friends who even when we don’t get first, we congratulate those who do.  We are proud of our children, just for getting on stage and dancing.  It is not about the win but about the confidence it gives our children.

 

I have seen older dancers mentor the younger dancers, they must have rocking moms because they are raising their children to be there for other, even when it is not going so well for them. I love this about the Irish dance community.

 

We, moms, don’t ask for much…we just want our children to have fun and fully enjoy the entire experience.  I know some kids are super competitive, I have one of those kids, but being competitive and still caring about the other competitors is an amazing quality and lessons my dancer will take with her forever.

 

From the outside, is looks scary and somewhat intimidating, but once you come into the community we are there to support each other.  If you are new, there is always a mom that could help answer the questions.