If You Want Me To

Thank you for all your sweet comments! Indeed, He makes all things new!

The other day, I mentioned a song that had been playing over and over in my head since the fire. I wanted to share the lyrics with you because I have a sneaky suspicion that some of you need some encouragement and assurance that God is faithful and we can trust Him, no matter what life throws at us.

"If You Want Me To"

The pathway is broken
And the signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

No I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
So if all of these trials bring me closer to You
Then I will go through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When You lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'll never go alone

So when the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the darkness
If You want me to

When I cross over Jordan, I'm gonna sing, gonna shout
Gonna look into your eyes and see you never let me down
So take me on the pathway that leads me home to you
And I will walk through the valley if you want me to

Yes, I will walk through the valley if you want me to.

It's a song by Ginny Owens. She has a gorgeous, pure voice. She's also blind, hence the references to walking through the darkness.

I also feel it's a song for our family. We walked through fire.

Many people are walking through a valley in their lives right now. I have friends who have recently been laid off and don't know what the next step will be. Please remember that we are not in control, never were and never will be. All we have and are is because God has given to us. He knows the future, he knows the plans He has for us and we will never go alone. Rest in this fact. Pray and ask for His guidance and clear direction.

May this song be your prayer and encourage you as it has me.

Sorry for the messed up fonts!

Blessings,

Laura

Before and after in pictures

Well, if pictures are worth a thousand words, these are priceless. The before pictures were taken on April 3, 2009, the day of the fire. (remember it was in the wee hours of the morning) The after ones were taken today, October 21, 2009. What a difference 6 months can make!

We changed things a little, moving the fireplace to the corner. We like it.

Yuck, our shower full of soot.

All clean!

If this image isn't bad enough, imagine the smell and continual dripping water from the insulation.

Ahhhhhh.......

This is our dining room. The light is who knows where and what's left of the dining room table and chairs is lying out in the back yard. I think the firefighters threw it out the window.

All restored!

Another view of the dining room.

All new.

The most devastating for me. The first time I tried to walk in the door, I had to turn and leave for a while. We had just had a party the night before, enjoying fajitas with friends. From that to this was just too much for me to bear.

New and 2 feet wider. Super functional and full of storage space!!

We are so, so, so thankful to be home!

Blessings,

Laura

There is no place like home!!!

Where do I begin? I have so much to share with you. It's going to have to come in bits and pieces, I think.

We moved in on Thursday morning. I kept saying, "It feels just like Christmas morning!" And it did. So many new packages to open, a crew to feed, and the anticipation of being 'home'. We had some great help and got a lot done. Our new dining room set arrived which was nice because we had somewhere to sit. The basement couch arrived Friday and the upstairs couches came Saturday.

Friday night, we had our families and some good friends over for a time of prayer of dedication and blessing for our house. We spent time sharing verses from the Bible which spoke of protection, blessing and restoration.

God gave me this verse right before we moved back in.

1 Peter 5:10-11 "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen."

Could He have given me a more appropriate verse? I happened to be reading my precious, charred Bible when I found it.

Everything that has been taken from us in the past 6 months has been fully restored, with the exception of Blaine's total health but we trust that will come in time. Actually, what has been lost has been not only restored but made even better than it was before! Our house was wonderful before but we were able to make a few changes which gave me more storage. Our family was hurt and damaged emotionally on many levels over these past months but now it has not only been restored, it has been enlarged by a new member, the beautiful Miss Tariwa! And somehow I know without a doubt that God has plans to restore Blaine to the strength and health he once had, all in His perfect time.

I've had a song in my head for months and it keeps coming back to me every day now that we're home. Later, when I have time, I'm going to post the words to it. I know it will bless you.

Much, much more later!

Love,

Laura

I PROMISE I will get some pics up tonight or tomorrow!

Can it be real?

I can hardly believe I'm finally able to say this but tomorrow we move back home. If you listen closely, you can hear me exhale. While shopping at Lowe's today, I had a hard time not tearing up just thinking about being able to need a broom to sweep our kitchen or sticky hooks to hang the boys towels on the door. Sounds weird, I know but it really sounds like a blessing to me right now.

I think I have everything we need to live on our own again. Stuff like shower rods, waste baskets, sticky pads that go on the bottom of chairs, etc. Actually, I told Blaine, "All I really need is water, somewhere to sleep, a potty and a phone to call for take out! Just get me home!!"

We get hooked up for internet on Friday night so I'll try to update with some pictures on Saturday. I can tell you, it's more than we could have dreamed of.

Blaine put some tile up for me yesterday for a backsplash in the kitchen. It is so pretty! I do think when we move in, we're going to have so much time on our hands (considering the last 6 months) that we are going to sit around just looking at each other. It kind of reminds me of the vultures in Jungle book, "Whatchu wanna do?" "I don't know, whatchu wanna do?" Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration but not being constantly busy will be lovely:)

Check back on Saturday!

We're going HOME!!!! Praise the LORD for He is GOOD!

Blessings,

Laura

She got it!!

Well, I can finally announce that Tarikwa has received our gift bag! We got an email this afternoon with the picture of the most adorable, beautiful girl who is grinning from ear to ear and holding in her sweet hands the photo album we sent to her. It was open to the page with our family picture on it. She was also wearing the t-shirt we sent her but the front of it was covered up with the photo album she was holding! The shirt fits her perfectly so I guess we can be certain that she wears about a size 12.

I have to tell you that I forwarded the email to Bibi right away since I knew she and Tarikwa's best friend (her daughter, Anaya (who used to be called Letarik) would love to see it. She emailed me right back and told me that when Anaya saw the picture, she kept saying, "Thank you, Mommy! Thank you, Mommy!" She thinks Bibi recruited us to be her family. She told Anaya that she had nothing to do with it and that it was "all God." Anaya had tears of joy streaming down her sweet face.

How precious is that? What a big, tender heart that little girl has for her friend!

Now I need to find some families who are traveling so we can send letters with them for her. Yea!!! She officially knows she has a family who loves her, prays for her and is waiting for her to come home.

Now all we need is a court date! Come on Ethiopian courts...give us a date!!! Our daughter is waiting for us:)

Thanks for sharing in our joy,

Laura

3 more days!

We're in the homestretch now! Just 3 more days until the long awaited return to our home. Six and a half months of being displaced has almost come to an end.

This morning we woke up to a ground cover of white and Katie has a nasty cold but NOTHING can dampen my joy!!

Here is the kitchen the way it looked on Saturday. The paint is all done, except for the outside. Today and tomorrow carpet is going in. Then the cleaners come in and do their thing. We're shooting for Certificate of Occupancy on Wed. sometime. If we get that, my goal is to load the refrigerator and pantry with food Wed. evening. Then Thursday, the restoration company returns with our cleaned items that they took after the fire.

I scheduled the delivery of our new table and chairs for Thursday. You remember, the table and chairs that I "loved"? It's the exact same one and it will be wonderful to have a big table to sit at right away. But this table and chairs have been downgraded from "love" to "like a lot." Love is reserved for people:)

I have a LOT of packing to do today so I better get working!

Blessings,

Laura

I'm doing it!

As you all know from my previous post (wish I could link you to it right now, but I need a little lesson...anyone??) I am a comfy clothes person. It's jeans or jean capris for me. I dress the same whether I'm going to the grocery store or church. Ok, I would dress up for a wedding and some other things but generally speaking, I am who I am.

Remember that I was asked to speak at our churches women's retreat in the spring? Remember that I have never attended a women's retreat because I haven't been comfortable being my 'comfortable self' there? :)

Well, I've come to a decision. A first (I'm sure) in the history of our church. Are you sitting down? I'm wearing jeans. Yep, you heard it here first...I'm doing it.

This is not because I am simply concerned about being comfortable. It's a statement actually.

I have heard from other women...good, valuable and wise women that they also don't feel comfortable at events like this so they don't come.

Think of it women...when you walk into the service on Sunday morning or the Christmas tea or the women's retreat, what do you see? You see women who, for the most part all look the same. They are smiling, wearing lovely clothing, all made up and hair perfect. And it always seems like it is the same lovely ladies who do the singing, speaking or emceeing. Am I right??

Is this a comfortable place for the woman who is struggling emotionally who doesn't want to make small talk with a bunch of 'perfect' women? What about the lady without the nice clothes or who has unmanageable hair? What about your unchurched friend who doesn't have the lovely jewelry?

Where is the transparency in church?? Where is the 'real-ness'?

A friend just related to me that she bought a ticket to her churches Mother's Day dessert because she wanted to hear the speaker. She had a brand new baby at home, was exhausted and not feeling especially pretty. She walked in a little late and began searching for her table number. When she found it, she looked at the lovely ladies sitting at her table, recognized none of them (the church was trying to mix people up to form new friendships) and turned around and left. Now trust me, this girl is attractive and has pretty clothes, too. But she was not comfortable!

We need to change this, ladies! Am I saying that it's wrong to dress up for church? Not at all! I'm just saying it shouldn't be the standard. Honestly, God is not impressed with your pretty clothes or perfect hair. He made you and gave you everything you own, including your clothes. Just please hear this for what I mean. Don't read into it and think I hate women who dress up. That's not what I'm trying to say at all!

All I'm saying that if women are feeling left out or uncomfortable at church, THAT IS WRONG! Straight up wrong! We have a lot to learn from and share with women who look different than us.

So this is why I'm just going to be my real self.

I'm not perfect, I don't have the perfect life, I don't have the perfect family, I don't always keep my cool, sometimes I say "fart, or crap" or something else that doesn't sound 'perfect'. I make lots and lots of mistakes, I have forgotten a child at church (yep, for real!), I forget peoples birthdays all the time, I forget a LOT of stuff and I'm basically selfish. So there it is. Reality. Oh, and on top of all that...I DON'T scrapbook! And I never will! So stressful and tedious for me.

So see how I don't fit the perfect Christian woman's role?

But you know what? I am secure in my Savior. He loves me. He leads me. He helps me through difficult times. He accepts me. He alone is my security.

Blessings,

Laura