We want to live like that...

(Don't forget to pause the play list on the side to listen to this great video:)

Love this song and I want to yell..."WE DO!!! WE DO!!! AS A FAMILY WE WANT TO LIVE LIKE THAT!"

This summer I am helping to lead the Beth Moore Summer Bible Study at our church!  We are doing James!  Amazing!

I had to laugh, the gal who usually leads is the retired Pastor's wife!  I love her.  She is wise, so loving, encouraging, we relate in I way I don't with too many people (her first baby girl was stillborn, full term over 40 years ago) and she is totally 100% sold out and on fire for the Lord.  You can not deny it... it is obvious to everyone she meets.  In fact right now she is overseas ministering for 2 weeks in Africa! How cool is that?

Anyways, I feel pretty ill equipped to help her... but I know God will provide for my every need... even in leading...

I am so excited to delve into the book of James deeper!  The main message is to LIVE OUT YOUR FAITH...  Living the sanctified life.  I am SO SO  thankful for Jesus work on the cross...

Now how does my faith in him, desire to share the gospel message with others, and my thankfulness play out in my daily life... in the moment by moment of a life filled with 6 kiddos, piles of laundry,  strep throat, joy, sadness, homeschooling, ministry commitments and so so much more I would love to share with you?:)... someday:)

You know, sometimes I think it plays out really easily; the kids running cupcakes to our widowed neighbor, sending snack bags to the street kids in Uganda, supporting missionaries, giving to those we see in need... But other times I would be lying if I didn't admit my own selfishness and my concern for how to minister when I have relationships that need healing, a heart that needs continued healing, and an overwhelming feeling when the tasks and needs are so great.

You know we have a heart for adoption and orphans... and one of my favorite verses is from...

James 1:27 

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Trust me, I can assure you this family is ALWAYS thinking about how we can keep working bit by bit, one person at a time to care for orphans... (In fact you can pray for the next GO team leaving for Uganda this weekend who are heading over there to minister to those same kids that Greg and Lou reached out to back in February:)

For some time we have been wanting to take to heart and move on the others that are mentioned in this verse... the widows.  I tell you, after getting to know Levi's donor mom who was widowed in her 20's... my heart had a whole new space in it growing for widows...

We have been brainstorming, and pouring over  ideas and thoughts for how our family can be a part of showing the Lord's love to those who have lost their spouses. (At least those in our whole circle of life)  After losing my son, I can't imagine losing a life partner... so so sad for those who are missing their best friend... :(

So whether Living out that faith means wiping snotty noses, cleaning toilets, giving $$, caring for your own family, caring for orphans, widows, your neighbors, the needy in your area... There is SO SO much we each can do to be the hands and feet of Christ... We are the BODY!  Praise God that He gifted us so differently to minister in different ways to reach MORE people with Jesus message and HIS LOVE!  All for HIS Glory alone!

Hopefully I can share with you some of our ideas soon... Now off to take the pop up and camp with the crew at our Local Relay for Life Cancer walk... (Thanking God for 20 years cancer free for my love Greg:)

Thankful Thursday

 Our Hope a few days after we picked her up:)  Doesn't she look entirely different?

 Our first Mother's Day with Hope in the family:)

Everything with a little bit of sass and a WHOLE lot of gusto!

I am so very thankful the Lord saw fit to bless our family with our Hope Jubilee!  And yes, she does know how to celebrate life:)  When I look back at our journey to Hope, wow... it wasn't an easy road.  I highly doubt ANY adoption is.  I remember early on someone telling us, "Adoption is not for the faint of heart!"  I would totally agree.  But I would add a resounding... "IT IS SO WORTH IT!  God's heart is for the orphan... GO FOR IT!:)"

I sort of had to laugh a little the other day when someone commented on my blog after I posted about Levi's embryo adoption and and how it was a little bonus blessing that he looks like us.  (This anonymous person took offense on Hope's behalf since she obviously doesn't bear resemblence to us in some certain ways:)  The reason it almost made me smile is because each of our children have their own little bonus blessings that go right along with them specifically... And Hope's BEAUTIFUL velvety dark skin is one of those bonuses to us.   We think it is amazingly beautiful and we love it! (If that person knew me they would know with out a doubt that we don't care who looks like us or doesn't... we know each one was hand picked by the Lord for us... and for that we are SO SO VERY GRATEFUL!)

The first foster child my parents ever had was a little biracial boy... sweet skin just like Hope's... I had a dark baby doll when I was little.  When we were at the seminary, I specifically picked out a dark doll for my Anna.  Truth be told, she didn't even notice the color of the doll's skin on Christmas morning:)  

Anyways, sorry for the tangent:)  Hope is so incredibly loving and affectionate.  It is pretty dog gone amazing.  We love that even though she knows that she has a birth mom and we pray for her by name, she still really knows no different than that she is a Hintz, and she is ours!  

She is silly, determined, smart, and honestly... at times, the most challenging kid to date

  to raise:):)  Caleb would totally be a contender at her age in the strong willed department... But she has him hands down in the busyness and curiousity department:)  So put that all together and we ALWAYS have to be on our toes with her.  I know that someday God is going to use that determination, independance, constant motion for HIS glory.  I can't wait to see it!

 What a gift she is!

One Thousand Gifts...

My Sunday Morning Bible Study group only has 2 more weeks left of our discussion of the book "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp...

It has been...

Revolutionary...
Challenging...
Thought Provoking...
Beautifully Poetic... (as much as I am totally a simple thinker... I have loved how she writes!)
Life Changing...

It has me looking at life, the mundane parts of my days, the challenging parts of my day, the precious parts of my days, in a totally different way than I have in the past...

It has me thinking of past experiences and hurts in a different light...

I am so thankful for picking up this book... I had picked it up months ago, but only finally cracked it open after numerous people suggested I read it... They know me and they must have known...

I can so relate to her, not in the way that she writes... but in the way that she thinks...
She certainly has been through some amazingly tough and traumatic experiences in her life and she isn't afraid to ask the tough questions... wrestle it out... take off the mask and BE REAL!  I so admire that.

I have had so many AHA moments while reading it.  I have never led a book discussion group so that part of it has been a little challenging for me.  But thankfully, the ladies have been very gracious and willing to participate and share their thoughts.   ( I will say, if you put into practice some of the lessons of the book along the way, you will get so much more out of the book)

If you have some free time this summer I would highly recommend this book to anyone... but be prepared for God to knock your socks off...

I picked up this precious book because I heard it was good and you want the honest truth????
I thought the cover was beautiful:)  But what is inside the book is far more beautiful!

Miss it already!

 As we like to now call him... Mountain Gourd:)

Just outside Estes Park Colorado.

 Hungry kids after lots of fresh air:)

 Caleb, Jojo and Anna on a hike in the Rockies

 Lou on Bible Point!  This was a really cool place.  It was on the Y grounds.  And the story goes that there was a young man who had done lots of mission type work.  Almost 100 years ago, he died at the age of 19 and is buried up there.  His parent put a mailbox near the make shift cross on top of Bible Point where people can write their thoughts or a prayer to God.  It was really neat.

Hopie... on top of the world:)  Doesn't she just look like she is up to something:)  Love that little wild girl!

Our sweet Oklahoma Grandma, Grandma Deena moved to Boulder... we were extremely blessed to stop and spend a quick hour with her on our way home... As we walked up the drive Anna yells out, "She's baking, I can smell it!!!"  So Grandma Deena... she is one of the best cooks I know... On the way there at 7:45 Jojo says, " I hope she makes her cream corn!"  Hello??? at 7:45 am???  It cracked me up.  We loved seeing her even if it was super short.  We miss her so much around these parts!


I miss Colorado and the beautiful mountains.  Honestly, I don't think that there is anyplace more beautiful.  I love God's amazing creativity in forming this world... the beach, ocean, prairies, badlands, canyons... but I think for me, I find the snow covered mountains the most gorgeous... They are just so majestic!

So we are back to the heat of home... We have a couple weeks left of school to finish up.  Most of the older kids may end up doing some Math all summer.  That would be good for them anyway... Normally, we totally take a break from school but we have had some projects and vacation that have kept us from finishing up early like normal.  So we will plug away for the next few weeks.  I can't tell you how bad the kids want to just be outside with all the neighborhood kids... Soon my little ones... soon! 

So touched:)

Here is our sweet Levi snuggled up with his new pillow pal... a gift from our embryo donor dad's mother... I know... take that a piece at a time to digest it.

The miracles of our embryo adoption never cease to amaze me. 

How could this sweet, living, breathing baby boy have been frozen for over 5 years...

How could God just breath life right back into him after that long of a period of time...

How could he actually resemble us??? Even though genetically he has another set of parents that gave him his DNA?  (God is so good to give us that sweet little bonus blessing of looking like us:)

How did we get so blessed to be this little guys parents??:)

From the moment that I started contact with our donor mom I have been nothing but amazed by her courage, perseverance, maturity, grace under crazy circumstances, her love for God and her love for her children... (already born to her and still frozen)  She was a widow at such a young age... We could immediately relate to one another on a level of loss... I truly believe God knit our hearts and lives together one email or blog post after another... I can't tell you how much I admire her...

Last Spring while I was in the hospital waiting for Levi to arrive I was contacted by Levi's donor dad's mom.  We too could relate to one another in a way that sort of surprised me... we had both lost our sons...Her son Ryan ( Where our Levi Ryan gets his middle name:) after a long battle with Cystic Fibrosis and our Samuel after 9 short months in my womb. 

When we returned to town this past week there was a package waiting for us at the post office... a package from Levi's donor dad's mom... 

Let me say quickly how blessed I feel that we can have contact with Levi's donor family... It has been nothing but a great experience for us.  (We have an open adoption with Hope as well and really feel like that is what will be best in the long run for her as well)  As scary as it might seem, it really hasn't been for us; not at all! :)

The whole family gathered around and opened the box filled with goodies for each one of us. (even something for Samuel that we will put in his garden:)  Each item had to do with where Ryan grew up.  She also sent us some pictures of Ryan as a young boy.  OH MY GOODNESS!  I have loved comparing Levi to what his biological brother and sister look like, but as much I have thought he looked like us.... He REALLY looks a lot like his donor dad.  

We had a precious time reading the eulogy that was read at his funeral and getting more of a glimpse into Ryan's life.  I can't tell you how precious it is to have the opportunity to have that information.  I know it blessed us, and I am sure it will bless Levi in the future when he is old enough to really understand how he came to be our sweet miracle after such dark days.  

Here we were all crowded around this box, me reading the letter out loud to them... At the very end the note mentioned about not really knowing what Heaven is like but wondering that if even now in that moment, if God could have made it that her Ryan could be holding our Samuel in Heaven just like I was holding the letter now at that moment.  

I totally lost it... Just the thought of it... It made me soooooo happy and sad at the same time.  That mix of joy and pain... I was so sad for her loss, so sad in missing my Samuel, but yet so joyful for the miracles that the Lord has made possible through it all... I was so very thankful for the precious gift that was right in our arms as a result of God creatively bringing our families together...

So as much as Levi is miracle enough... I think the miracles just continue to come into our lives as a result of Levi's embryo adoption.  Only God could work such sweet blessings into our days to bring us to our knees in joyful thanks!  

A little more Colorado:)

 All the kids on our "long" hike day:)

 It's fun to stay at the YMCA...

 Our family at Emerald Lake... although Levi and Hope are hiding in the backpacks...

Crazy small world... Greg had this little hat on the top of the stick he was using to help him walk in the slippery snow.  When we arrived at the lake we had 2 separate groups of people ask if we were from Wisconsin because they had seen the packer hat.  One gal had honeymooned in the town that our church was at before we moved to the seminary.  And the other family was from the central part of the state.  There were maybe 4 groups of people up there with us and 2 of them had ties to Wisconsin... it was just sort of funny...  all the way out in Colorado:)

 My sweet friend Mary and I on our Mother's Day hike to Bible Point:)  The Lord has brought us through so much as friends, even in the last couple of years.  I am so thankful to have her love and support!   I don't think I know anyone who has the energy she does. Some of my favorite times were sitting on our front porch with a warm blanket, sipping some wine and talking...  God was so good to bring her and Chris into our lives about 17 years ago.   Love her!!!

Greg and some of the kids overlooking the YMCA of the Rockies grounds... What you can see is some of the Lodges and common buildings... The grounds are incredible!!  They have around 200  cabins that can be rented as well as at least 3 lodges, a gym, craft barn, cafeteria, welcome center... It was impressive to say the least... and gorgeous.  Part of the Y's grounds buts right up to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We would go back there in a heartbeat!

Some family time:)

 G and I in Rocky Mountain National Park

 Some elk that came to join me for the sunrise one morning:)

 Mother's day on Bible Point

 Our last half hour of driving was in the snow... Here the kids are after finally arriving at the YMCA of the Rockies...

 Taking a little break from the hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The whole crew, minus Mrs. Stockton...

We are totally enjoying a little family and friend time in the Rockies... We are staying at the YMCA of the Rockies and it is unbelievable... The perfect place for us to vacation.  

Our sweet friends, the Stocktons, asked us if we could try to get this vacation on the calendar.  We had been talking about going to Colorado for years... We finally made it happen... Well really God made it happen.  

We had snow and rain the first few days, but the last couple of days have been beautiful.  The grounds of the Y back up to Rocky Mountain National Park. Today we took the kids on a 5+ mile hike.  It was gorgeous!  Even Hope made it almost all the way to the top.  G had to carry her just the last little bit.  We hiked a fair amount on snow, which really made it a lot harder hiking.  But it was worth it after we finally got up to Emerald Lake.  MAJESTIC, is all I can say.  

I will try to post more pics and more details in the days to come. 

So Proud...

SWEET LEVI RYAN IS UP ON HIS OWN 2 FEET...

HE ACTUALLY IS JUST STARTING TO TAKE A FEW STEPS AT A TIME AND...

IT IS DOWNRIGHT PRECIOUS...

WE ARE TREASURING EACH LITTLE MILESTONE... IT IS LIKE HE HAS HIS OWN CHEERING SECTION AROUND HERE... EVERYONE GETS IN ON THE FUN...

AND AS THE CHEERING GETS LOUDER HE GETS MORE AND MORE EXCITED AND USUALLY ENDS US TEETERING AND LANDING ON HIS RUMP:)  

WE ARE GEARING UP FOR SOME COMPANY TOMORROW... CAN NOT WAIT... FOR SOME MUCH NEEDED FAMILY TIME AND TIME WITH DEAR FRIENDS...

A while back...

 Jojo and his Lily:)  (We are trying to arrange a marriage with this one:)  They are such good little buddies...I don't think either one would protest it right now:)

 A while back we spent the day at the zoo with our good friends the Tiews... Wow, the peacock was strutting his stuff... trying to stake his claim on a lady...:)

 Lou got some great shots of the penguins underwater:)

And here is little Miss Hope... she looks a little guilty doesn't she??

Just tonight right before soccer, I discovered she has been busy trying out her painting skills on the wall in her closet... Non... stop... she is!!  

G is out of town for a few days and the kids and I are holding down the fort... 

How is this for crazy... Wednesday I took Levi to the Dr. for a bad cough... Just a cold was the diagnosis... But the last 2 nights I have sat up with him wondering if maybe I should take him into the ER for a breathing treatment..

Today I called the Dr. to have him looked at again and find out that our Pediatrician doesn't see patients at all on Fridays so I drove into town and sat at the urgent care with Anna and Levi for a good 3 hours... only to discover later at Target while I was having the prescription filled that we have an urgent care practically in our back yard that NEVER has a wait... GOOD TO KNOW:)  Aiy yi yi:) Won't make that mistake again:)  I am just thankful that we now have some meds in case I need them in the middle of the night:)

The house is silent... ahhh... 

The kids are all out back playing soccer or watching... and I am debating if I should go for a run.  I don't feel like it at all which is probably all the more reason to go... I guess I could hang that over G's head who was rubbing it in that he just had a delicious fish fry tonight... Hmmm... (Actually, he was sweet about it) That was right before he was telling me what he and my bro had to do to his 6 week old male goat... not so much of a male goat anymore...

Gotta run... literally... then, preparing for shopping for my dinner divas class on Monday,  (Now all 6 kids with me mass shopping at Sams should be an interesting experience tomorrow:) loads of paperwork:)_:)  and finishing up preparing for my Thousand Gifts class on Sunday... Wow, now that is one amazing book... 

Blessings!

SNACK BAGS FOR UGANDA:)

Emma, who helped her dad head up the trip to Uganda that Louis and G went on in February is headed back with another GO TEAM in June... I can't believe that is just over a month away...  It seems like we were just planning for my men's trip:)

They are heading up  Project snack bag.  If you want to know more, check out Emma's blog post... www.emonamission.blogspot.com  (I am not sure why it isn't working to just link it???  but maybe you can just type it in the toolbar, like the good old days:)

The littler kids in our Home school coop decided that they wanted to be a part, so last Tuesday we packed snack bags and wrote/colored notes for the street children in Uganda.  They went out in the mail today! It is crazy to think that in a little over a month precious little ones like the ones in the pictures above will be munching on them and reading a sweet little note from our kids.  I love seeing our little ones sharing the love of Jesus in this precious, tummy filling, way! As we go on with our daily lives, it just breaks my heart the difficulties even the littlest children face.  Pray with me that the Holy Spirit will use Project Snack bag as a  way to point these little ones to their Heavenly Father...that they can see the love of Jesus through the love shown to them...