Monday, May 27, 2013

Prayers for Moore

The reality of the destruction of the tornado that hit Moore Oklahoma is overwhelming...
There were other tornadoes that hit different cities in Oklahoma, but the magnitude of the destruction in Moore leaves is hard for the mind to grasp...
 
Last Friday Greg, Louis, Caleb and 12 other teens and adults made up a team that headed to Moore Oklahoma to do whatever they were called upon to do to help with disaster relief there. 
 
I was so blessed to have a friend volunteer to watch my five kids and my niece so that a friend and  I could head down there yesterday to join the team in their work...
 
(My brother's family had driven down from Wisconsin to work... that is why I had my niece.  My sister's family from the St. Louis area also came in to help)
 
 
 
 
We were assigned to work in zone 9.  They assign zones to the different areas so that they can assign volunteers to specific areas and homes in that area...
 
 
It is sort of hard to see, but a lot of times they have to either write the number on the home or driveway since many times street signs are gone... and most times in the hardest hit areas there aren't any house numbers visible any longer...
 
In the hardest hit areas... they label the homes after Fema inspects (before any volunteers can come into help at all) with the inspector number, human lives lost, and pets lost as well...
 

 
The absolute power of the tornadoes to take cars or telephone poles and toss them around like toys is almost hard to wrap your mind around... even when you see it right before you...
 


You can see the two small tents that the homeowners were probably staying in on their property...
 
 This is one of the hardest hit areas in Moore... It looks so much like Joplin...
It was just rubble as far as your eye could see... not too much else standing at all. 

It was so sad... knowing and seeing the areas where these homeowners had lost pretty much everything...  And if anything was left it was so severely damaged.

The homeowners that I was able to speak with really had some amazing perspectives.  A younger lady, Helen, who only had one room left standing from her home, over and over again repeated how lucky she was.  Her home was gone, but her and her parents had survived. 

She was so so grateful for all of the volunteers that had come to help.

 
 


 
This is the amazing group of people teens and adults that we served with.  We were assigned to a home that didn't have severe damage but had so much debris on the property... Our group spent 3 days cleaning up debris.  I know my kids came home having made new friends with the owners kids and even the owners.  It was amazing all of the things that we found.  The strange thing is that none of that debris belonged to this home... You couldn't help but wonder how far it had come... Whose home it had come from.
 
Truck load after truck load of garbage, wood, debris,... there was so much. 
The group accomplished much and I was so proud of the adults and kids that worked together here.
Today after trying to clear debris from inside of one of the ponds the kids were able to have a little fun swimming in the pond with the owners children. 
I know it was fun for my boys and I am sure was hopefully a bright spot amidst a very stressful and traumatic week for them. 
 
 
 

 
As much as I am sure the people of Moore were blessed by all the volunteers that were working there... we too were so blessed to be there.  It was amazing to see the faith based community at work.
 
Group after group of volunteers were hitting the streets of Moore... I pray that the people there felt the strong love of Jesus for them amidst the tragedy of this past week.
 
Any homeowner I had a chance to talk to seemed to really want to share their story.  Stories like that need to be told over and over again... It seemed like all you had to do was open the door and they would start to share. 
 
I know this Immanuel group will be going back and we are excited to be planning on taking a team down from our new church this summer.
 
The work is started in Moore but there will be work to do there for days, months and years to come...
Please continue to pray for the people there... there is much healing needed...

Saturday, May 25, 2013

LA

 
We braved the skinny busy streets of Los Angeles to give the kids a taste of Beverly Hills and Rodeo drive...
 
Funny thing was, OBVIOUSLY we didn't fit in at all with the RV... We got a lot of looks... Greg was threatening the whole time we drove down Rodeo drive that he was going to pull the crazy RV horn... I think they just might have kicked us out of town:) 
 
 
The kids and I at the beach in Santa Barbara... Loads of seagulls and of course  loads of fun in the water...
 
We were so blessed to get to see our friends from Seminary, the Barketts.  We camped out in the parking lot (apparently there aren't a whole lot... if any camping areas in Thousand Oaks California:)where they pastor on Saturday night and joined them for worship... Such a treat!
 
It is so nice to now be able to picture them at their church serving... We had a super nice picnic lunch with them... It was just such a treat to be able to see them and visit with them... It has been 3 years since the last time we were able to see them... 
 
This is when we discovered from a kind California policeman that our registration on my sister's RV was 5 months overdue...
 
Did you know that your car/RV can be impounded if your registration is over a month over due??? Now that would have been exciting... He was kind and just let us off with a warning:) Funny!
 
The kids TOTALLY  enjoying jumping the waves in Santa Barbara:)
 
Louis under the Santa Barbara pier...
 
Grape vineyards in California...
I had just asked Greg where wine country was in California... we rolled over the hill and this is what our eyes saw for miles around from every direction.  California is beautiful... so many different kinds of beautiful landscape.

His creation is GRAND!

 
We arrived later in the day to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon... Beautiful... Majestic... Totally wonderfully created by our Heavenly Father...
 
We took the shuttle and WOW was it windy and cool... We should have all bundled up better, but it was beautiful and fun anyways... Thankfully we always remember to bring warmer things for the littler ones...
 
We even got to experience the...

 
Sunset at the Grand Canyon...

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the  heavens.    Psalm 8:1

 It was glorious!
 
 

 
We found a campsite that night and then the next morning Greg watched the 3 littles, while he got some reading done,  and the four older kids and I set out to hike the Bright Angel Trail...
 
We had debated taking Hope, and were so thankful we didn't... It is a great relatively easy hike, but it is dangerous, steep at times, and has a clear drop off a lot of the way... not good for a very clumsy 4 year old.  We were so thankful that we left her with dad:)
 
The crazy thing you ALWAYS need to remember when hiking the Grand Canyon is that you are hiking down first, which is easy... then you head back up... doing the hard work when you are already a little worn out. 
 
We totally felt like we could go much further, but we had to keep reminding ourselves that the way up will be a whole other story and much more difficult. 
 



 
We stopped  for a snack and water break at each of the tunnels.  It gets so much hotter in the canyon too.  We ran across 3 volunteers who strictly hike up and down looking for hikers that have gotten themselves into trouble. 
 

It was gorgeous, and really fun to do with the older kids.  I cherish those moments... I think I am probably a little overly nostalgic... Knowing Louis and Caleb are growing up WAY TOO quickly leaves me cherishing these trips and experiences all the more...
 
Who knows if we will ever get to the Grand Canyon again, let alone with our older kids... So I tried to stop and snap some mental photographs of the sweet special moments with the kids...
 
You could not help but be in awe of the handiwork of our God... It is literally like he carved out and painted the landscape... breathtaking... He sure knows how to spoil us...

Friday, May 24, 2013

Highlights...

 
We are all so thankful to have made it home from our RV trip safe and sound...
Praise God... we had some crazy windy driving days.  Greg did great driving, we covered a lot of miles and we were so thankful for the Lord's protection all the way to California and back:) 
 
As the boys and Greg head to Moore to volunteer for the next few days... (I may get to join them on Sunday as I had a precious friend volunteer to watch the littles) I will get to the rest of packing up this household of 9 for our move next week...
 
But over the coming days I am going to do a few posts about our trip since I didn't get to much of that while we were gone...
 
One of the highlights was definitely visiting our sweet friends the Saunders. 
Linny and Dwight are the leaders of International Voice of the Orphan, the group we went to Uganda with this past January. 
 
Linny also has the neat and inspiring blog www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com
 
We arrived there on a Wednesday afternoon and immediately the kids took to each other...
16 kids in all..
 
Here are the younger kids taking a break from some pool time:)
(Their Elijah, and Nehemiah, our jojo, their Isaiah, our Hope and Anna and their Elizabeth... 3 of their kiddos were adopted from the orphanage we worked at while we were in Uganda)
 

 
We even had a birthday celebration.  Their Liberty and our Caleb share the exact same birthday and since it was only about a week after their special day we decided to celebrate together:)  Linny made amazing ice cream cake:)
 
I love how Jubilee is so tenderly touching our  Isaiah's head, while their Isaiah is holding him... Doesn't their Isaiah have the most precious smile:)??
 
The big kids enjoyed lots of game playing in the pool and out of the pool... It was a joy to see all the kids having such a fun time together... My kids have said over and over again, "We miss the Saunders!"  It is so precious to see the Lord weave like minded families together.
 
 
Linny and I got up early each morning to go for a walk together.  It was such a treat to talk, listen, and share our hearts... I so admire her wisdom, great sense of humor, wonderful hospitality, and love for her family!  We stayed up the first night and watched the movie RV... We had some good laughs... some of it hitting a little too close to home:)
 
We stayed up the second night while the kids played games and talked a lot about their ministry international voice of the orphan and Uganda... There was some brainstorming going on about future trips and the future of IVO... LOVED IT! 
(Louis and I watched the video from our trip just tonight... ooohhhh I miss those kids and the country of Uganda... such special times)
 
This was the whole crew right before we left...
What a special time together... We were so grateful for their hospitality and love...
Such a special family!
So sweet of the Lord to grant us the chance to spend two days together... especially before we move even further away...


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Please Pray...

Hello friends,
I am sure that you have heard about the devastating tornado that hit Moore Oklahoma yesterday...

They say the damage is worse than the Joplin tornado... I went to Joplin to help... I CAN NOT imagine anything worse...

So here we are in sunny California, driving the gorgeous Pacific Coast Highway today... but I know that Greg, myself, and my older two had really one thing on our mind....  Those hurting people in Moore Oklahoma... which is about 2 hours from our home..

It is hard to enjoy vacation when you know people just like you just...

lost a child...
lost a home...
lost all their material belongings...
lost EVERYTHING...

Greg and the older 2 boys have been up to Joplin at last 5 times to help in whatever ways were needed...They were actually there the first weekend following the tornado back 2 years ago...

So in their hearts, and I knew this would be the case... they want to go home early to have a chance to go there and serve this weekend before we move next week.  At least at this point that is the plan...

As much as I love family vacations...

 I love so much more that the Lord is weaving a spirit of service, care, and compassion into my boys.

 I love that they are willing to put themselves out there to work really hard, whatever task is asked of them all just to show the love of Jesus to those that are hurting so deeply right now...

Monday, May 20, 2013

HE IS STILL IN THE BUSINESS!!

 Our God is still In the business of working miracles...


And you are looking at a living breathing miracle!!

Yesterday we stopped to take pictures in front of the building where Levi was thawed almost 3 years ago. He had been frozen for 5 years.  

I love to imagine the moment the Lord blew  life right back into levi.  AMAZING!!!   We are so thankful God is still in the mountain moving miracle working business!

We have had to make a couple of doctor's visits on the trip... but thankfully this little miracle boy is feeling a lot better!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

a little vaca...

We were going to  just get our feet wet... 

Yeah right!! They were all soaked. From head to toe and full of sand...  eeewww... 


The crew just off the beach in Santa Barbara... We can see why they call it paradise here.  




My honey and I with Isaiah  on the beach...
The kids wanted to see the ocean... so we can check that off the list!  

We are traveling across the country via my sister's RV.  They were so gracious to let us use it... we are so so grateful for the opportunity to get away with the kids before we throw ourselves back into fulltime ministey.  What a gift to us!!

And we have been making the most of it! 

I can only post from my phone, so posts will be short  sweet and full of spelling errors, till I can get some computer access:) 

We are a week in and we are reevaluating all that we want to see...   
  We have visited with PRECIOUS friends... that is a post all by itself

God has been so good and faithful to teach me more as we travel and to reveal some really neat things to me...

Thankful for this crazy RV... and the crazy other 8 traveling  with me!!  

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

WAITING FOR THIS DAY...

 
 
I am joining in on Linny's Memorial Box Monday...
 
Last Thanksgiving... I never would have thought that 5 days later we would receive a call that would FOREVER
CHANGE OUR LIVES!!!
 
When Greg and I set eyes on Isaiah the next day we were in love...
so tiny...
such a rough start to life...
a little fighter...
 
 
I specifically remember standing there rubbing his tiny foot as he sat in the warmer while our agency rep was telling us some of the details of Isaiah's start in the womb, some possibilities were shocking (things we certainly had never dealt with before) It was a little like running off a list of situations, possible future implications one after another after another, telling us the results of tests that had already been run...
 
And I as plain as day remember Greg saying... "It is ok... It is good... We can handle this... God's got this..."  He was as calm as he could possible be... Completely confident that the Lord had this under control even though 24 hours before we had no idea or inkling that a birthmom was about to go into labor and choose us to be parents...
 
And I felt total peace... we could handle whatever the future would hold for this little guy...
 
PURELY BY THE GRACE OF GOD and HIM SUPPLYING THE STRENGTH... not by anything we could do of course...
 
Whenever I have a conversation with someone thinking about adoption one of the first things I say is...
 
Adoption is not for the faint of heart...
 
(but oh so worth it!!!)
 
The more life I live, the more I firmly believe God doesn't call us to do easy...
He NEVER promised us that life would be a cake walk...
 
He only promised He would walk with us...
In all honesty, I think if it is...easy that is...
 maybe we aren't doing stepping out of our comfort zone in faith to serve him like we should be... or taking the commands in His word seriously...
 
All 3 of our adoptions have had different challenges...  All 100% God's will and plan for our family... and Isaiah's was no different...
 
Although our times of uncertainly were wrapped up pretty early on... I will never forget sitting in the hospital room for hours  and hours while His birth parents visited him in the NICU... my mind wondering so many different things... Were they going to change their mind?  Would this sweet little guy have more complications in the NICU than we were anticipating??  There was fear, some anxious thoughts...
 
and oh how I already loved this precious little boy...
 
But ultimately I knew He wasn't ours... He was the Lord's little boy first...
 
Here we are... Now, in the middle of packing to move our family of 9... tying up numerous loose ends...
 
Last Dr.s visits.... last play dates... last sleepovers... last day of coop... last night at youth...  Greg's last Sunday  preaching here at Immanuel...
 
But before all of that happens... we get to CELEBRATE this precious pumpkin... 
 
 


BECOMING A HINTZ FOREVER!!!!
 
Throughout all the uncertainties, rough spots, and beautiful blessings of adding our 8th child Isaiah into the family, the Lord has been so very faithful...
 
NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would I have thought my family would be what it is today...
 
But I firmly believe this is exactly as God wants it to be at this point...
 
 
TOMORROW WE FINALIZE THE ADOPTION OF ISAIAH JAMES INTO OUR FAMILY!
 
We are all so grateful for the privilege of having him as a part of our family forever!  He is such a joy and gift from the Lord...  Celebrate with us!!:)

Sunday, May 5, 2013

I am a mom first...

7 poopy diapers... one explosion up the back...

One 4 years old with her fingers stuck in a hole far too tiny for said fingers...

sleepover parties with homemade pancakes and muffins...

7 loads of laundry...

homeschooling 4 kids...

changing infants clothes... again... and again... and again... (wow this little guys spits up a lot:)

cuddling through episodes of Thomas or veggie Tales...

books before naps...

a forgotten photo shoot... epic fail for 15 year old son and mom...

a late night run for apples,whip cream, and snickers for the oldest 2... (have you ever had that dessert... yummo!)...

helping daughter learn how to move beyond stick people... :)

helping 4 year old try on her new Ugandan dress you bought for her... newly uncovered due to cleaning for move...

rubbing oils on feet before bed...

snacking on sweet pickles and watching gold rush with your first born...

Sorting though folders of paperwork from 2 adoptions, trips to Uganda, bibles studies gone through...

Honestly, when all is said and done... when the house is finally quiet and I can finally get some packing done until the wee wee hours of the morning... when day after I feel at moments like I am running on fumes... when in my head I feel the burden of a to do list as long as the mighty Mississippi, and when in my heart I feel the looming sadness of too many goodbyes that I can already sense the bitter taste in my mouth.  When all is said and done during the day light hours I am a mom first... I feel the moments slipping by so quickly...  Moments in our home here in Oklahoma that will soon be a distant memory.

 I am nostalgic... maybe too much so... I can not help but think... this is the last time my kids will play on that swing set before the buyers come to pick it up (man we had a great swing set here!!!) or we may never hang out and have dinner with these friends like this again. (it will be different next time, we will be passing through) or these are the last few times I will see the kids running barefoot having water fights with the neighbors here.  But even here amidst the crazy amount of work that needs to be done, I find myself wanting to cherish the last bits of memory making to be had here both at home and with friends...

So so thankful for the gift of sharing life with my precious family and such precious dear friends here in this place...

Friday, May 3, 2013

Sweet going away present...


 

 A few days ago I was blessed with the sweetest gift from a new friend of mine, Becky.  She showed up at our church a few months ago and there was an instant connection between us.   We have both experienced the loss of a child and she has quite the amazing life story.  What a precious heart she has...

It was so good of the Lord to bless me with a new friend even just months before we set out to move to a new place. 

She made the most beautiful picture displays for our new house... to help us remember our time in Oklahoma:)  Precious precious memories of a difficult, but very blessed time here in Oklahoma...

She was so so sweet to include our Samuel and even had the kindness and put the thought into it to include the 2 precious boys we would love to call our own from Uganda:)  That was like a cherry on top.  

The house is listed with a realtor and the boxes are filling up the garage...

Our last Sunday at our church here in a little over a week...

Lots of mixed emotions flying around here:)  God is faithful through it all:)