HOUSEGUESTS, HOUSEGUESTS, AND MORE HOUSEGUESTS:)

JOJO WHILE COOKING WITH GRANDMA...HE LOVES GETTING MESSY!

I LOVE THOSE BLUE EYES:)
THE KIDS MAKING PEANUT BUTTER KISS COOKIES...
CALEB WAS TOO BUSY WATCHING FOOTBALL WITH DAD AND GRANDPA TO PARTICIPATE... THAT CALEB WOULD TAKE PLAYING OR WATCHING SPORTS OVER PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING.


JOJO ZONKED OUT ON GRANDPA HINTZ



YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE OLDEST UMPIRE IN MISSOURI:) ANNA, ENJOYING SOME TIME WITH MR. NEBEL

What a day... I will get to the challenging part of the day in a moment. Friday Greg's parents came up from Houston to spend part of the weekend with us. I better quit putting them to work or them may not come up anymore:) They will need a vacation from their vacation if I keep up with having them help us with all of our projects. The kids wanted to make cookies. So right away last night they were wanting Grandma to help them make Texas Trash. ( A yummy Texas version of Chex Mix, snack mix) Today we had them helping with getting all of the outdoor Christmas decorations up. The Bottoms blessed us with a really pretty outdoor nativity scene and some beautiful wreaths. We were able to get that all up... ahhh, that was a load off my mind, it was so nice to have their help. We got the tree up inside with lights, but we will have to put the ornaments up tomorrow. As usual Grandma and Grandpa were a HUGE help to us.

This afternoon my sweet Texas friend Mary's parents were passing through town on their way to St. Louis and stayed the night with us. They are so incredibly sweet. We are always amazed with her dad who at 83 is the oldest umpire in the state of Missouri. He is still refereeing High School basketball games. He is so spry... Her parents are both such a delight to have here.

Now moving on to the challenging part of the day.... Man can some emotional things just exhaust me. A few days ago we got an email from CPO saying they needed a host home for a birth mom. She was induced yesterday and had a baby girl last night. She has chosen the adoptive parents but will need a place to stay for about 10 days. It would be for her and her 2 year old son. Right away I felt God stirring my heart. Here will be a girl who will be leaving the hospital with out her baby. I can relate to that feeling. Greg and I talked about it and decided that we wanted to do it. I thought it would be a good distraction for us and a way for us to serve and look beyonds ourselves and our sadness this Christmas season.

All looked great until the adoptive mom asked that we come to the hospital to meet the birth mom. I totally understand that she would want to meet us before she and her son come to stay. The difficult part was that she had her baby at the same hospital that I had Samuel in and that Joel was born in this past summer. I just don't have any good feelings from that hospital. I have left there twice now with out a baby and had some of the most painful moments of my life in that hospital. Truthfully I avoid taking the road that makes me drive past that place. I just felt like, "Lord I want to serve you, but really do I have to go back there today??" Well, I did. Greg came with me. The adoptive mom met us outside the elevator and right away said, "Thank you for coming, I know how hard it is for you to be here." I immediately lost it. I think it was that she acknowledged our pain and loss. She prayed for Greg and I right there.

Part of me was a little mad that I had to go there. But yet part of me thought maybe God really wanted me to go there, that maybe that was part of the work He needs to do in me. I want Him to work what He wants to in my life and heart... but boy does the fire of refining hurt sometimes. Once I pulled it together, God really proved faithful by giving me comfort and peace in my heart.

We went in and met the young lady. She is very sweet and I think it will be great to have her with us for the next 2 weeks or so. Please pray that God uses us in her life during the short time she will be with us. She in looking into other non-Christian religions. She doesn't like to be alone so most likely she will want to come to church with us. (That was what the adoptive mom thought.) I am looking forward to being able to comfort her in her loss and being a listening ear for her if she needs one. I am also REALLY praying that God will soften her heart and open her eyes to hearing about a relationship with Jesus. All in all, it was ok to be there. God proved faithful once again to sustain us.

The kids are excited to have her and her son here tomorrow... We are thankful for all of our houseguests this week:) We will keep you posted ...