Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Three little girls


What an adorable picture. They are darling, they are sweet and they spent the weekend at our house. Dakota is always here of course, but we decided to give some friends a break and watch their girls overnight this past weekend. They are 4,3 and 1 years old and I decided that I am VERY old! They are so active and full of curiosity. To my amazement though, Dakota suddenly seemed to be the one I wasn't worried about as much getting into trouble because now a little 1 year old (very mobile one year old!) was getting into things I couldn't even predict. Isn't it amazing how viewpoints can change? Just the week before I thought that Dakota was getting into everything and feeling sorry for myself because she exhausts me in doing so. Well...today I can say that I feel quite rested and thankful to only be chasing one little one around. My viewpoint has changed because I was introduced to a situation that was more extreme than my current one. Sometimes we need wake-up calls to keep us thankful. Sometimes we need wake-up calls to appreciate others and keep them in our prayers. Sympathy tries to understand best it can but Empathy knows exactly how someone feels. There is a big difference. That is why Christ came to earth. He knows, he was there, and He was us for a short time and still continued to loved us and gave Himself for us. I had fun this weekend and found a new apprecation for all those mothers of little ones. I forget so easily that I had been there myself years before. I thank God for reminders and for a wake-up call to make me realize that I have been blessed.
Phillipians 2:5-7 (TNIV)
" In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something
to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. "

Monday, July 9, 2007

Happy Birthday!


Happy Birthday Dakota! Our little girl is now three years old. It is amazing how much she has grown and how much we have grown because she is in our life. She keeps us on our toes! She spent her birthday swimming and having fun at her party.

Dakota reminds me of the beautiful picture of adoption in the Bible. Dakota adds so much to our family and it is a miracle how her very being in our family came to be. Each of our children are a miracle.

Romans 8:22-24
" For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. "