Make today count!

I was listening to the song "Never Grow Up" last night and thinking about how much I love my girls.  I've never really been a mom who longs to go back to a certain age or stage.   I'm one to think that each new stage and age is fun and exciting and full of surprising experiences!  But last night, I was reminded again of the short years we have with our little ones and how important it is to make each moment count.  
I've been struck lately with how difficult it is to see your kids hurt as they get older.  When we have little ones, normally hurts are fixed with a band-aid and a snuggle; tears are wiped away and things are better.  But as our kids get older, the hurts aren't so easily patched up.  Hurt feelings, disappointment, fragile self-esteem, broken hearts - these things don't call for a band-aid.  A hug still helps, but the painful effects of these hurts are so much longer lasting.  I find myself crying much more frequently for my girls now then I did when they were younger.  Don't get me wrong, there were definitely times when they were cranky, non-stop-crying little ones -when I shed tears of frustration and shear exhaustion (you know what I'm talking about), but now...the tears are purely from a momma's heart breaking for her girls. 
I'm not sure exactly why I'm writing this - I guess as a reminder of how much, as a parent, I love my girls and how much more perfectly my Heavenly Father loves me...and them.  How His heart must break as He sees and feels our pain...Oh How He Loves Us (turn off the music at the bottom of the page before listening to this)
I hope you're encouraged by how beautifully our Father loves us.  And if you're a momma - I'm praying that we make today count with our kids!

"God, please give me a gentle heart"

There are so many hard things going on right now.  I find myself sitting down to pray and just being at a loss for the right words or really any words at all.  I'm so thankful that at these times God knows exactly the thoughts and concerns that we don't have words to express. 

The words I do know to say today..."God, please give me a gentle heart"

Once in a while we meet a gentle person. Gentleness is a virtue hard to find in a society that admires toughness and roughness. We are encouraged to get things done and to get them done fast, even when people get hurt in the process. Success, accomplishment, and productivity count. But the cost is high. There is no place for gentleness in such a milieu.

Gentle is the one who does "not break the crushed reed, or snuff the faltering wick" (Matthew 12:20). Gentle is the one who is attentive to the strengths and weaknesses of the other and enjoys being together more than accomplishing something. A gentle person treads lightly, listens carefully, looks tenderly, and touches with reverence. A gentle person knows that true growth requires nurture, not force. Let's dress ourselves with gentleness. In our tough and often unbending world our gentleness can be a vivid reminder of the presence of God among us.

- from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey.

Pray for Garren

In my sidebar, I've added a link to Geoffrey Janes' blog - Geoffrey is the Campus Pastor at Southbrook Monroe.  His son, Garren, collapsed Friday at school and has been hospitalized since.  This is a special family and I would ask for you to bind your prayers with those of others from around the world as we lift them up and ask for God to be glorified in this difficult situation.

Home Study Visits #2, #3 and #4 - We're Finished!

In the past 2 weeks we have completed all our necessary Home Study visits.  This is a picutre of the girls with Hollie, our social worker.  Hollie has been fabulous through this process and has made it so much fun!  We've done alot of laughing, which has made the process much less daunting. 
So now we just wait for the finished report and then we'll be ready to submit it to Immigration and also to America World.  We're getting closer and the excitement is really starting to build at our house!  I know this year will pass by so quickly and we're praying that by the end of it, we'll see our sweet Thomas girl #4 for the first time! 

Keeping you Up-to-Date on our Progress...

Today Jeff and I had our Dr Appointments - these are needed for both our Home Study and Dossier.  Our girls will go for their appointments on Monday - which are just needed for our Home Study.  Luckily, they don't need the same extensive examination as Jeff and I do (mainly, they don't need to have blood drawn or TB tests done).  I'm thankful for that, because, I just have to say that my arm is quite sore and I'm sure that the girls wouldn't have cared for the needle pokes and pricks. :)
So we continue on...we're waiting on paperwork from our Employers and then our 2nd Home Study visit on the 27th.  We're continuing to send (fax or email) pieces of Dossier paperwork to our America World Family Coordinator, she reviews them to make sure we are completeing them correctly - which is so helpful, because I'm a nervous-wreck that I'm going to do something incorrectly.  So we're getting there...
Progress. 
It's a beautiful thing!

First Home Study Visit

Our Program requires that we have no less than 4 face-to-face visits with our Home Study social worker - today was Visit #1.  Our social worker's name is Hollie and she's wonderful!  We met at the Christian Family Services' office and it was just a basic "get to know ya" kind of meeting - we had several pieces of paperwork that needed to be turned in and we set up the date for our next visit - which will be at our home on January 27th.  We have our Dr appts set up for next week and after that all the Home Study paperwork that we are responsible for should be complete.  We're making good progress and I'm so thankful for the incredible people who are helping us along the way!
On another note - the girls had another snow day today - a full week off from school - woohoo!! 
Yes, I know all you northerners are having a good laugh right now. :)

Snow Days

For the past 3 days we have been "snowed in" - I use that term lightly! :)  In Michigan, this would be considered normal winter weather and life would continue on as normal, but here in the South - this is a "blizzard" and everything shuts down! 
This is what we've been doing around the Thomas household for the past 3 days - playing in the snow, playing cards, making/eating snowcream, doing puzzles and "crafting".  Yes, crafting...we went on an outing today to Michaels - really the road are as clear as can be...we got all our supplies and came home and put together super cute chalkboard picture frames - they are going to be thank you gifts for a few fantastic ladies that volunteer in our children's ministry!  I was over the moon happy with our crafting-selves today...the girls, however...not.so.impressed. Crafting just isn't their thing, I guess. :)  Oh well, it's been great having a few days to do some fun, out-of-the-ordinary things - Happy Snow Days!