Skipping over Tombstones
Jenny

Funds are low again, hallelujah! That means God trusts us
and is willing to leave His reputation in our hands."
The best cure for discouragement or qualms is another daring plunge of faith."
~quotes by C.T. Studd 

While walking through the cemetery by our house I saw a scene that summed up the Easter season for me. There was a family by a tombstone, openly grieving the loss of a loved one. There were two young children with them who were oblivious to the sorrow and were instead flying a kite. In this place of death and loss there were the delighted squeals of these darling children waving their kite as they skipped over graves. It reminded me that in this battlefield of life, where we walk among the dying and live in a world shell- shocked by the sorrow that sin causes, we can be as care-free as little children as we wave the name of Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord our Banner, whose banner over us is love. 

Sometimes the most daring act of faith we can do is to rejoice and trust when things seem impossible. Rather than an act, it's often an attitude God wants from us, a child-like attitude that says "You are a very big Daddy and in the end You win and life will triumph over death! May Your name be glorified in every situation You lead me into!" 

Alicia crawled into bed with me the other night and asked casually, "Soooooo, do you think everybody I used to know in Liberia is dead?" I told her I had no way of knowing for sure, but I didn't think so. She confidently asserted, "Yeah, I know they're not because I pray for them every night." We added her prayers to the list of reasons why God had her be born in Liberia. With this new baby on the way she has asked a lot of "Why couldn't I have been born in this family from your tummy?" type questions. When I asked her what she thought God had for her future she told me, "Well, I'm going to have 10 babies and then I'm going to adopt 10 children from Liberia and then I'm going to be a doctor to take care of sick babies in Liberia." (she's very ambitious) I asked her if she thought she would still have had those same desires had she not experienced everything she went through in Liberia, and she agreed that she wouldn't have. And now she loves Jesus and prays for the many people she knows back in Liberia who don't know Him. 

Princess told me she wanted to be a Christian. When I asked her what she thought it meant to be a Christian she said, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." At Easter when we were with Brad's family she was telling her cousins that "It's not really fun to be in an orphanage. It's more fun to be here in this family." Her little cousins don't fully grasp the concept of adoption, as they told me, "Your girls are so adorable I can understand why you bought them." 

All of the children are becoming very excited about the prospect of new life coming into our house. Antonio caught me off guard when he lifted up my shirt to show off my stomach to a stranger in the store and announce, "There's a BABY in there!" He also gave me a "compliment" and told me he still thought "Chubby" from the Little Rascals was still "more fatter than your stomach Mommy." 

We hardly ever need to go to the doctor, but I finally got around to taking everybody in for check-ups. The nine little ones were squished into one examining room with Brad and I and the doctor was amazed at how far they had all come. Everyone was on the growth chart now, (and she agreed with me that Princess is probably around

6 instead of 4) and the baby girls didn't even freak at being poked and prodded because they were so excited about playing with the paper on the examining table together. 

Princess was checking out her own veins as she noticed how much more pronounced mine were with the increased blood volume of pregnancy. "When you turn black then you won't be able to see your veins so much Mommy, and when I turn white I will be able to see mine better." I tried to explain that while we can change our toenail color, lip color, and hair color, our skin color stays basically the same except for the possibility of going a few shades darker in the summer. 

Some friends of ours who are expecting a baby after adopting from Liberia had their little Liberians express shock that their new baby was going to be a "pink baby and not a brown baby!" My children too are hanging on to the hope that this baby could be Liberian.

Maybe someday they'll understand genetics? 

Patience, the little girl who drank the caustic soda and was dying, made it from Liberia with her new family and is now here in town and doing much better already. Friends from church just received a passport for their little girl and will be bringing her home shortly, and our family rejoices each time we hear of another life saved! There is so much death and sadness in Liberia, but each individual story of redemption is like a little skip and dance over a tombstone in a cemetery for me! 

Love, Jenny 

P.S. Please pray for the Iowa family I mentioned before who has adopted 18 special needs children and is now expecting their first biological baby. Their house burned down and they have lost nearly everything (clothing, homeschool supplies, household things, etc.) and of course it is difficult for a family of 20 to find a temporary place to live. If anyone is interested in contributing to this family please contact me for information. Thanks!