Saturday Morning

A little more time consuming then it looks! She always sits still for me between questions of "How many more curls Mommy?" And her eyes get big when I say, "Oh just 100 or more" I am shocked at how much her hair has grown in a month! Were trying our best to keep it healthy!


Lazy Saturday over here...my hands smell like coconut oil and my fingers feel a little stressed out! Much to Gracie's dismay we have taken out her yarn braids and put in a veil with twist. The yarn braids made it a whole month!! She was in Heaven as I washed her hair this morning! I am a perfectionist and so I think I could have done better...there's always next time :/ Meanwhile the boys enjoyed a hot bubble bath. Now everyone is having quiet time...ahhhh I love Saturdays!

Dirty Dishes

"Dirty Dishes" By: Scotty McCreery

Mamma hollers, "Supper time!"
And don't make me tell you twice
Wash your hands and wipe your face
The tables no place for your toys
Try to use your inside voice
Don't dig in till we say Grace
So we put down our forks and bowed our heads,
Then she prayed the strangest prayer ever said
I wanna thank you Lord
For noisy children and slamming doors
And clothes scattered all over the floor
A husband working all the time
Dragging in dead tired at night
A never ending, messy kitchen...and dirty dishes.



We all got real still and quiet
And Daddy asked, "Hon, are you all right?"
She said, "There aint nothing wrong...."
Noisy kids are happy kids
And slamming doors just mean we live
In a warm and loving home
Your long hours and those dishes in the sink
Means a job and enough to eat
So I'm gonna thank you Lord, for noisy children and slamming doors
And clothes scattered all over the floor
A husband working late all the time, dragging in dead tired at night
A never ending messy kitchen and dirty dishes
I want to thank you Lord for my little busy bees
Begging Mama! Mama! Can we please?
Always wanting, needing, calling me
Loads of laundry piling up
Crayons crushed into the rug
And those sticky little kisses...and dirty dishes.

This song is so our life right now...So I'm going to Thank you Lord for my messy house and dirty dishes.

I'd rather be in Ethiopia

I am struggling today. How is it possible to have such a burden and a love for a people that I don't hardly know? My heart is in this hospital with dear Rukia. Please, my friends, pray for her! She has two children and she is probably going to loose her leg. If it wasn't for the Alert Hospital at Korah she would probably have already lost her life.
This is her husband who has already lost both of his legs to leprosy and her two children ( boy in the red shirt and little girl in the Ethiopian outfit) This special day they got to eat lunch at church instead of trash.
Our sweet sweet friend Tesfaye. Bless his heart for giving his life to those in need. He is a true man of God. Serving his people that he loves.

*Isaiah 61:1-4
" The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach the good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort those that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. And they shall build old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations."

*Now I will text my husband and BEG him to PLEASE let me go to Ethiopia for a week...they need me and I need them!

His Little Feet

We had the honor of hosting two little boys in our home for a couple nights. Yabsira is 11 years old and he is from Ethiopia. And Javier is 12 from Honduras. Their guardian, Uncle Aaron also came with the boys. We fell IN LOVE with these two sweet boys!
Their smiles radiated from their little faces. I got at least two hugs from each boy after every meal. They were like little teddy bears...they just wrapped their arms around me and laid their heads on my shoulder. They just wanted to be loved for a few minutes. My heart aches for them because I know how much they want and need a Mama to love them.
Monday after the boys did school we took them to the Dayton Airforce Musuem. They counted it as credit for their history and they thoroughly enjoyed it!
We stopped to watch a movie or two along the way...My boys LOVED the older boys! Javier and Yabsira took such good care of them...holding them up to see a picture on the wall or holding their hand as we walked along. Carter wants a older brother now.
(picture out of order) This is the night of their performance at the Eaton Church of the Brethren. They all did such a good job!
This picture was taken for Uncle Brentie. We are imagining him in a tent like this out in the middle of the dessert.
Don't we look good as a family of seven? I sure think we do!
My mind was racing as Britton read (five) children a bedtime story...whats two more?? We could do this for sure!!!!
I wish for these sweet boys...families...that will love them forever. Meanwhile our time together and the memories we made will forever be etched on my heart. I had a few tears when they left...I so badly want every child to have a family. And I know I will be held accountable to God because He opened my eyes to the orphans cry and I cannot pretend I don't know or understand. Proverbs 24:12
What do you think of when you see this flag?? I always like to look at it and ponder in my heart on what it means to me.


Romans 10:14-15 says "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things"

HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE HIS LITTLE FEET!!!!

Whats been Happenin'

We've been busy over here on Milton-Potsdam Rd!! Looking forward to telling about our weekend with two sweet little boys from "His Little Feet". Until then here are some random pictures of our life as of late....I realized I never blog about our worship time together as a family. It is the most treasured part of our day. We end up talking and singing until way past bedtime most nights. Britton and I love playing our instruments and the children enjoy listening and singing along.

...my sweet baby feet..oh how I love those toes!!
yeah...you know I look good ;)
I made cakes in jars for our solider friends. We are hearing they are letting 2/6 come home in May!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That my friends, is only 6 more weeks and the thought of seeing my brother again makes me very VERY excited!!
The cakes turned out so good! It was so easy! I hope they all enjoy them! I prayed and prayed for them the whole time I was making them.


Yeah, my daughter is from Africa...can you tell??
Mowing my lawn the other evening and the sunset took my breath away!
My Parents took me to La Fiesta for my birthday. And thanks to my Dad, they gave me free fried icecream...only that means that they made me wear a sombrero and they sang "Happy Birthday" to me...quite loudly, I must add. My Dad got quite the chuckles out of that trick.
My Mom asked if she could buy the kids pop for a treat...yeah...she soon learned why we don't give our children much pop. HELLOOO Carter! :)

Gracie has been home six months now. I go back to the time we were waiting and longing for her to be in our arms. I am SO thankful to have her home! We are so blessed by her! She is such a special daughter...our bond is growing stronger every day.

Romans 10...you should read it! Its such a good chapter! I can't tell you how in love with Jesus I am...I just want to shout it from the mountaintops!!! GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME!

Filbrun Cousins

The Filbrun cousins are growing by leaps and bounds! Now there are seven of them! We got together for a photo shoot the other day. It literally took one minute to get this picture! We plan on giving a 8x10 in a frame for Dad Filbruns birthday! I think he will like it!

Time alone with Jesus

Sitting in my favorite place this morning after I took all my children to my moms for the day. I love love love time alone with Jesus. I love to be all by myself in my house and just be able to stop and talk with Jesus. He is my only hope. Without Him my life would be pointless. These times are precious to me.
Psalms 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation...whom will I fear??
The Lord is the strength of my life...who will I be afraid of??
Though host should encamp against me, my heart will not fear...and even though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident
One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life...to behold the beauty of the Lord....

Beautiful words...I love Davids writings...
Going to be 78 here in the Miami Valley today...I'm headed out to work outside...God bless you all!