i read to know i am not alone.

ever since i can remember i have been a reader. while my brother would get scolded for hiding when chores were supposed to be done. i would be found reading in a corner somewhere dreaming about lands far away. teachers would report to my parents that if i just applied myself i could “really reach my potential”. whatever. i was reading more books than any teacher could dream of. why read a textbook when you could mold your heart around hemingway, tolstoy, tolkien, and orwell?

this past year i have read some amazing books. i thought i would share a few….happy reading!

Kisses from Katie . if you read nothing else this next year. read this. it is a true story of one girls journey to uganda. listening to God when everyone else thinks your crazy. really this book will make you see that anyone can make a difference in this world.

All is Grace. this book was just a reminder of how human we all are. whether we have been called to ministry or not. we all need grace. i may not agree with all of his viewpoints but i do appreciate his style of writing.

The Language of Flowers. this novel is all about the underdog. the child who wasn’t given a fair chance at life and those around her that saw who she was supposed to be. this novel reminded me so much of girls i have had the privilege of working with through the years. couldn’t put this one down.

the 19th wife. this book looks into the life of pluralism in america both today and how it started.  fascinating read.

still alice. my sister has been telling me to read this book for a while now. once i started i couldn’t stop. this is a story of a young woman who is dealing with the early onset of alzheimer's disease. this story hit close to home and was very eye opening and healing for me.

adopted for life. by far one of the most ground breaking books i have read, this takes a look into the churches response to adoption. how Christ first adopted us and what an appropriate response should be.

love you more. my fellow writer wrote this amazing book. she shows us candidly what it means to be an adoptive mama. this is one I love to buy for other moms. it will touch your heart.

Chronicles of the Kings. i will be the first to tell you i am not a series reader. (sorry harry potter)and i am not a christian fiction reader ( sorry to the rest of you) but a dear friend told me just to try this. ok. i couldn’t stop reading. i was enthralled by it. fascinating.  ( and why i can’t read christian fiction can be another blog post…)

these are just a few examples of what has been by my bedside in 2011. i would love to hear what you read to know you are not alone….

more

this christmas was a tad different this year. one. we weren’t in michigan. two. no snow. ( and to the blessings this is a BIG problem). like i’ve said before snow is the blessings love language. okay three out of four of them. most of the day was busy playing games. reading books. trying out their moves on the new skateboard. typical christmas activities. we made way too much food and spent the day smelling the yumminess coming from the kitchen.

yet still. still i had a little sadness. i know i am an extrovert. i thrive around others. they make me feel useful. happy.funnier. loved. i knew we weren’t going to be with my siblings this year. i thought i was ok with that (not so much). i even tried to invite people over all day so the house would be filled with more. more people. more laughter. more love.

but it’s the end of the day. and more was not in the plan for us this christmas. its quiet. dinner is done. dishes are washed. jammies are on. and bathes have been taken.

yet when i look back at this past year. more has been given abundantly.

more grace- i have seen grace poured out to those around me. and grace given time and time again to me. for mistakes i have made. hurts i have caused. things that haven’t been spoken. grace.

more love- my blessings have learned to love each other more. with compassion and empathy they have learned to pour out their hearts to each other and those around them. we have learned as a family to always be looking for opportunities to love others well.

more blessings- our family has begun the journey of adopting from east africa. this journey we have learned is not for the weak in heart. yet we know that God has called us to hear more footsteps each morning. we have been called to tell others about the joys of adoption. to see the need in the world. and how to take steps to pray down the 147 million children who will go to sleep tonight without a mom and dad.

more comfort- this year it has been made clear to us that our church is an extension of family. since neither of us live near our family. (we are a house divided michigan/ohio). our church family is our brothers and sisters. we are loving doing life with them. the hard. the ugly. the joy. the hope. we have comfort in this. knowing that God has us here at this time in our lives for a purpose greater than we see.

more generosity- we have had the opportunity to be generous with others and have been shown tremendous generosity this past year. many times i have said i don’t deserve all that has been given to us. but as my dear friend reminded me …that’s just like Jesus. we don’t deserve all that He has given us. we don’t. but then He gives. He gave. He gave it all.

more faith- both the teacher and i have story upon story of how Christ brought us to where we are. and we love to tell the stories of redemption. this year though has tested our faith. we have been stretched. angry. frustrated. begged for mountains to move. and yet at the end of this year we can see where we just held on. held on to the faith that He is a part of it all. He is a part of the mess. He is a part of the pain. He is a part of the loneliness. He is a part of the joy. He is a part of the excitement. and this we have faith in.

so as this christmas comes to a close. i pray for you. i pray that you will see the more in your life. the more that only Christ can give. merry christmas sweet ones. merry christmas.

radical.

anyone who knows me knows i am a chan fan. and by chan fan i mean francis chan. he is a pastor. speaker. author and radical servant of Christ. a few years ago i read crazy love and it changed the way i viewed the world. it changed the way i viewed my life. since then i have read other books that have lit a fire inside of me that i know the Holy Spirit just fuels.

one of these books is radical by david platt. its one of those books that don’t make you feel all warm and fuzzy. more like “you better put down that latte and take a good look in the mirror” kind of book. loved it. made me squirm. made me question. my self. my church. my checkbook. loved it.

and then i met this girl. she did it. she is living radical. she heard david platt speak and knew he was speaking truth. the truth of the gospel. the gospel of Jesus Christ. to not be comfortable. but to be bold. to lay it all down and follow Him. and then she did. she gave up her comfort. her lattes. her electricity. her job. her friends. and she went. she moved thousands of miles with nothing but what she could fit in her suitcases. she knew Christ was calling her to be radical. to live by faith and follow Him.

well life has been amazingly wonderful and hard for her. she has learned to serve the people of eastern africa. she expected to help change lives. yet it is her life that has been changed. she and her husband have started an amazing organization and helped the lives of so many little ones in uganda.

my heart though tonight is aching for her. she came back to the states recently to give birth to her first born. (gorgeous baby). her husband is headed back to africa soon. like thursday soon. and she wants needs to go with him. they need to be together. they love each other. they love africa. they love Jesus.

they have been trying to raise funds for her to fly back with little baby josiah but the funds are running short. and you as well as i know how hard missionaries work to spread the love of Christ.

so tonight. as i am asking. advocating. praying. that you consider supporting this wonderful family. and send her back to africa. to her home. to where her heart is. to where radical led her.

just follow this link and press the donate button on her blog.blessings my generous friends….

double goodness

for todays 25 days of kindness act we were super excited about. and by we i mean kaiden. todays task was to bake and bring cookies to our local police and fire department. notice the “bad guys” in the back seat crying. totally realistic.

so we set off to deliver these homemade goodies to some truly deserving men and women. we live in an area where we know how hard they work. the police especially are a constant presence in our neighborhood and we are extremely grateful.

for kaiden though the fireman was definitely the high point of his week. kaiden has wanted to be a fireman since about the age of three. he, emerson and i were in a starbucks drive thru and he called from the backseat that their were flames coming near emersons car seat. the car door had spontaneously caught on fire that morning. this was one of those moments as a mom where everything is in slow motion. you are not sure if you will panic and watch the car explode or you will stay calm and get your children to safety and call 911. i did a little of both. i screamed into the receiver at starbucks that they needed to call 911 and i quickly tore my blessings from the burning car.when the fireman arrived they were so encouraging to kaiden. they over and over again told him what a hero he was. that he was the reason we were all okay.

because of that horrific day kaiden has new heros. he is so interested in the life a fireman. in fact today when he saw them he was star struck. we were  blessed that the men today were  so gracious and loving towards all of the kids.

the older girls were more interested in the ambulance and the paramedics job. all in all today was great. we are grateful for the compassion and kindness that was shown to us today…and they said we could bring cookies anytime!

bear

  when i was 16 my parents announced that we were having another baby. this was by far one of the worst dinner conversations for a self indulged popularity preoccupied teen. believe me. i think i may have actually cried at the announcement. and not tears of joy. more like “ i can’t believe you are going to ruin my high school career” tears.

its been 21 years since that fateful dinner. sarah (aka bear) is one of the mast beautiful stunning contagiously happy people i know. when she was first born i would take her to the grocery store an get the “oh poor teenage mom” glance from shoppers passing by. but i also got the best kisses to wake me up in the morning. she loved to stand in the middle of the living room and pretend like she was in the lion king and hold a stuffed lion above her head while singing her lungs out…oh the circle of life.

it really wasn’t though until these past few years that i have realized what an amazing woman she is becoming. she does everything with passion. she can make music sing and dance off the piano keys. she is one smart cookie. like so smart she puts her siblings to shame. her laugh brightens up anyone’s heart. she has already traveled to other countries to see that the world is bigger than west michigan. she loves those around her well. she is sensitive. caring. empathetic. and compassionate.

so bear. i need you to know. you need to know how proud i am of you. you have brought such life to our lives (even in a fedex box). you have taught us how to love well. you have taught us to laugh hard. you have taught us that siblings have a bond that can never be broken. you have made me realize that you will achieve anything you put your mind to. i need you to know that i pray for you daily. i pray that you with find Christ to lead you to a life of radical love. i pray that you take risks to help those in need. i pray that your heart continue to break for what breaks His.

21 years ago i never thought i would love someone so much. you never ruined my life. you only made it better.

four months in.

the other night one of my closest friends and i got a much needed chance to just be together. in the craziness of the christmas season it is a moment i crave. to just be. to be with those that make me laugh. make me more of who i am. and call me out to be even more. she looked me in the eyes and asked how homeschooling was. she said “well you are four months in…how is it…really?” see she is a friend who calls my bluff. she is a friend who pulls the true nature of who i am out. she knew me before Christ and brought me to Him. so needless to say i can’t not tell her the truth. and the truth….

unbelievable. i told her i think homeschooling has been the best gift for me. i told her i can’t believe how much they love each other. they teach each other. they read to each other. they care about each other. they take care of each other. they listen to each other. they bring out more of who they are supposed to be around each other.

now don’t get me wrong. not everyday is sunshine and unicorns…believe me. their are days when we all are in tears by 10am. those are the days we call “oh wow do we need a Savior days” . we have days when the teacher walks through the door and i am putting on my shoes to go anywhere but there.  their are days that i question if i am good enough. if they are learning enough.their are days i am not sure they learned anything but how to do their chores the first time i ask.

yet we also get to go and do amazing things. we have gone to many museums. we have been to the apple orchard. we have been to music concerts. we have fed the hungry. we have helped out sick friends. we have taken awesome art classes and made great friends.we have taken swimming lessons. i have seen the faith of my blessings grow. i have been there to see their hearts change. i have seen their eyes light up when they learn to memorize scripture. i have seen them accomplish a new piece on the piano.

this christmas. i am grateful. i am grateful that i know my blessings more. i love them more. i have time with them. we have created moments. we have created memories. we have watched each other grow. learn. and love. so yes. yes we are four months in…and we are doing well…only because of grace we are doing well.

changed to be a change

this week we started our 25 random acts of kindness….today was “make and take food to the homeless”. this turned out to be one of the best days…the blessings were more than eager to feed others. they made 50 turkey and cheese sandwiches and then put a special note on each of them.

we know we live in a lower income area. we know that. but we really still had no idea. just how many. how many need to be fed. how many need someone to know their name. we packed up the food and headed a couple of blocks away from where we live. we stopped by the side of the road and talked to a few people. told them they were loved. loved by the Most High and then asked them if we could pray. we then headed to the library. yep. the library. you see its cold outside. really cold. and we knew that many people go to the library to stay warm. to take a nap. to sit with friends. so when we walked into the library with a bag of food i never thought i would leave in tears. we ran out. we ran out of food. we had to walk away. the blessings and i cried alot last night. our prayers were different. our requests to Jesus included the men and women we had met an hour earlier.

this morning my youngest blessing asked why we did that last night. well honey…you see Jesus changed me. and now i want to help be the change. that’s it. only because of Jesus. only.

advent with pneumonia

not gonna lie. i did not come up with this idea. this noggin could not come up with anything this week. i have been hit with the mac truck of pneumonia this week and lets just say i would not get the home school award anytime soon. but while laying on the couch hacking up a lung i did get to follow some of my favorite blogs. laura kelley or as i like to call her ( we’d totally be real friends if she lived closer) who writes pitterpatter art gave the kids and i this awesome idea.

instead of your traditional advent calendar. we started our 25 days of kindness. random acts of selflessness. give things away. our time. our books. our money. our hats and mittens. our blankets. our words. our smiles. our love. the kids came up with all of the acts and then we placed each one in a numbered envelope. the oldest then made this display on the wall of our dining room. the kids love it. and i do too. 

todays gift….send letters to those you know need some sunshine in their lives.

what do you do this Christmas season to celebrate the coming of our King?

and i promise i’ll start writing again….as soon as this mac truck moves off my chest.