Update on Moore... and LOVE MOORE

I am not sure that I mentioned anything here about the boys summer project... After going and serving in Moore back in May, they decided to print more of the T-shirts that they had designed initially for serving there... to sell them and raise money for the victims of the May tornadoes that hit Oklahoma.  

To date they have raised more than $1,100 to donate... They gave away some of that money to people that they met and who were in need when they were just down serving there last week...And they will give the rest of it away in October when Greg plans on taking another team from our church down there  to volunteer again.  

I am really proud of them for the hard work they have done in raising these funds for these people who have such great needs.  (If you are interested at all, they are selling them for $15 and all proceeds go directly to needy people in Oklahoma... just leave a comment and we can connect somehow!:)

This time they spent most of their time in Shawnee... I had heard from others that this area has been fairly ignored when it comes to get aid and help.   They went into the area where the poorest of the poor live... Many of them had lived in trailer homes that were swept completely away in the storms.  

They are now living in tents... Can you imagine living in a tent in the 100+ degree heat of Oklahoma??  Having lived in Oklahoma for 5 summers... I can not even begin to think about not having AC down there... (I know I am so spoiled:(  so so sad to admit my selfishness... I am a work in progress!)

 This was a memorial wall that was built on the property of the grade school where 7 children were killed by the storms last May in Moore.   

The team from St. Peter assembling a 6 X 10 foot hut.  These people in Shawnee can use these air conditioned huts to have a place to escape the heat.  They were tiny, but the people all around were asking how they could get one of those huts for themselves.

 It is almost like a little tent city... They had a lot of heartfelt stories to tell when they returned.

It is amazing all the work that has been completed...(To me it seems a bit more quickly than the Joplin tornado... maybe because people are more quick to volunteer or maybe because Moore has been hit before by a terrible tornado)  but there is still a lot to do and Greg felt they would be moving to the rebuilding  phase soon in a lot of areas... that was so good to hear... 

I absolutely love the support that St. Peter's church gives... They change this sign frequently, but I loved that they acknowledged the hard work of the team that went to serve...  The team did have one of it's members have an accident with the table saw.  He had to have surgery to repair 3 fingers and lost a portion of one.  If you think of it would you please pray for Ken... he will have much therapy in the coming months to rebuild  the strength and the mobility of these fingers.  Greg was amazed by the great spirit and attitude this gentleman possessed:)

A blessing to my mama's heart

Today we got to share part of our day with Levi's biological mom, her mom, and her 2 sweet children.  (She is the one who allowed us to adopt Levi, and 6 other embryos back in 2010:)  I love love love this picture... Two mama's who love this little guy so so much!

This was a picture from the very first time we had met in person after Levi was born... my little guy has changed so much... 

We took a little walk to the park that is on the church property and got to play together.  I love seeing where Levi gets some of his precious looks from and some of his personality too... He definitely looks more like his biological sister but probably acts more like what his brother was like at his age.  

To me it is like getting a little glimpse into his future in a way.  

These two little girls seemed to pick up right were they left off last year when we met them for a day at the zoo.   Today they had a great time making duct tape creations, playing house and just being together.

  

It is funny now that Levi is getting older... last night I was talking to  him about today and who was coming over.  I know he didn't really get it... but I was already thinking that a year from  now he may actually understand more of his story... I tell him ALL THE TIME what a MIRACLE he is.  

He can't understand now how God creatively made him, allowed us to adopt him as a tiny little embryo, made him grow perfectly inside me (his adopted mommy), and brought him full of life into our family.

  

He can't understand now all the healing his precious life has brought to all of us over the years...

I do think he can understand how much he is loved!  To me allowing his biological mom into his life just shows him he is loved by even more people than just our family.  

It is going to be pretty amazing when this precious little guy CAN understand his story and  the plans that God had for his life... He is a treasure!  

CHERRY ON TOP...

 

(Time with cousins and new friends!!  God is good!)

 

 

I think of the 7 moves Greg and I have made this was one of the smoother moves but harder as well...

Is it because we now have 7 kids living with us and last time we only had 4?

 

I think it is mainly because the kids are getting older...

 

When we received this call to serve at a church in Illinois many things went through our minds... There was much to pray about... All of our kids would  be leaving many great friends... our older boys would be leaving a very active youth group...  There were some very hard days for our kids, especially our older boys before we left...

 

 

 

 

(Levi with his sweet Godmother cousin Ella!)

 

One of the HUGE bonuses of the  move is that we are now less than 2 hours from a bunch of my side of the family... But really that is how we look at it... A TOTAL bonus... kind of like the cherry on top... not really something that weighed in our decision AT ALL! (sorry mom, dad, brothers and siblings... you know how much you are loved!!)

 

If the truth be told... After I returned from Africa last January there was MUCH discussion about the Lord possibly moving us there, most likely Uganda... we were doing our research... and had this call not happened, I KNOW Greg would have made the call to synod to check further into it...

 

So if you are willing to move to Africa... being 2 hours from family is like a whole bowl of sweetness with a cherry on top!

 

(New... old... friend Elissa, We knew Elissa's family at the seminary... but have been reunited here at St. Peter:) 

 

God has been so gracious to bring us close to cousins where it is possible to literally plan a sleepover last minute and make it happen.  And he has been slowly but surely bringing friends into the kids lives... (Elissa, above, even had a bunch of friends over and invited the boys so they could meet some of her friends. That was sweet of her) (And this girl rocks by the way... she has showed up on my doorstep 2 different Sundays when I was alone with all the Little's and offered to help me get them ready for church!!! Hello awesomeness!)

 

Cute story... the other night the head pastor hosted a youth party to say hello to the boys and goodbye to some volunteers that have helped here... Well the little 5 came home with me after dinner and the boys stayed with all the youth kids to do some planning... While we were praying before bed, Jojo says, "Oh God, please help the boys to be making some good friends tonight!"  He was so concerned about them... The sad thing is Jojo is really the only one who hasn't made a buddy yet... Would you pray that he will soon find some special little buddies here... He is starting to think he might never... But I keep reassuring him, it is just a matter of time... I know that the Lords has sweet friends planned for him. 

 

We are so thankful that the kids love spending time with their cousins and that now we are close enough to make that happen... 

BRIGHT AND EARLY...

Bright and early tomorrow morning Greg, louis, Caleb and a team from our new church will head Down to Moore Oklahoma to serve in disaster relief from the tornado that devastated

that city back in May.

 

If you think of it, please pray for the Lord to use them mightily as they serve Him and the people of Moore. 

 

They will be taking with them over $600 that Louis raised by selling his Love Moore shirts to put directly into the hands of those people whose homes were destroyed by those storms.  

 

We are really happy, excited and thankful for the chance to be able to bless the people in Moore... We will miss the boys and Greg but are excited to see how God uses them this week!

 



THREE YEARS AGO...

Three years ago... and 5 days... this little man was just an embryo, a ball of multiplying cells in a clinic in California... just waiting for the perfect warm womb to call home...

Of the 4 remaining thawed frozen embryos that were still growing at that time... was he the one they would give only a 30% chance of making it or was he one of the other 2 that they gave only a 25% chance of living inside of me...??

We obviously will NEVER know... Those weren't great odds for survival, but even that proves more and more what a miracle he is... having been frozen for 5 years... there he was growing... and hours later growing inside of me... only God can arrange that kind of creativity and power... the power to breath life back  into him!

These days this precious little 2 year old... is TWO!!!  He is funny, silly, cuddly, and feisty!!  He can be a little grumpy, which I think is caused by the fact that he isn't a big talker.  I think he knows what he wants to say... but just can't get it out and is totally frustrated.  I am looking into seeing if he needs any help speech wise.... I know he will be so much happier when he can talk more.   He will sign a couple of things and is repeating more and more, so that is good!

I will never forget flying to California for the embryo transfer.... wondering if it would be successful... Knowing that we had friends and family who probably thought we were crazy.  We also knew that they were worried that if it didn't work, how would we cope and what would our reaction be like after losing Samuel, Joel (the baby we were supposed to adopt), a miscarriage, being in the middle of a Hope's crazy adoption... not knowing if we would get to keep her... (They had a fair amount to be concerned about )

We knew there was a decent chance it wouldn't work... yet to us it was worth the risk.  We knew that God would still be good and faithful even if it wasn't successful and we didn't get pregnant... But wow!!!  We were so grateful that God's will was to give Levi a longer life here on earth.   Now, there is no way I could EVER imagine life without him... We get such a kick out of him... (Honestly, I think about those other 6 embryos, babies... To have another like Levi would be pure joy... but I trust in God's plan for the number of days of their lives... sometimes I miss that none of the other embryos made it...)

I am so thankful for God's miraculous work to 1.  Allow us to adopt him and the other 6 embryos  2.  Breath life right back into him and work in him to grow and thrive  in my womb 3.  Be born healthy and alive  4. Bring us such great joy after such sorrow.  5.  Heal a place in my heart I never knew would be healed without a baby growing inside of me again...

I look at Levi Ryan and see the goodness and faithfulness of God staring me right in the face... such sweetness..

She teaches me...

This four year old... Hope Jubilee Marie teaches me soooo much....

3 years ago today we got the call we were waiting for... after loving her, cherishing her, longing for her to truly be ours... we received the news that indeed she would be able to stay...  She would be ours! 

She had been in our home for 7 months... when I didn't think about the fact that she might not stay, time passed beautifully... but when I remembered there were legal fights going on regarding where she would grow up... Legal fights that were thought to have the potential to change Oklahoma adoption laws,  it was a long 7 months... What an answer to prayer that phone call was that day... We had anticipated many more months of legal proceedings and then boom... shockingly... it was all over. 

She has taught me that God has great plans... even when we CAN NOT SEE THEM AT ALL!

She has taught me patience... she was worth the wait!

She has taught me to appreciate life... she is feisty and lives with a zest for the crazy things in life... that is our Hopie girl!

She has taught me... to not underestimate the prayer life of a four year old... Wow, can she pray... so precious!

She has taught me all about the miracles of adoption... My first adopted child... what a gift from God.

She has taught me to continually rely on the Lord for daily strength... she has given this mama a run for her money:):)

She has taught me more about being affectionate and compassionate... those are her gifts for sure... so sweet!

I could go on and on...   It is good to reflect on the ways God has shown His faithfulness... I am so thankful for an adoption agency that would walk through the difficult journey with us and for that precious phone call that told us the waiting was over... Hope would be a forever Hintz~

Answered prayers!!

I love that absolutely crystal clear drool from a baby... so sweet!



 

Isaiah James Hintz 7 months old:)

 

This precious little man has brought us so much joy over the last 7 months and we are sooooo very privileged to be his parents and family!

Last week this little guy had his first visit with his new pediatrician here at our new home... I was a little hesitant knowing that our previous pediatrician was recommending some intervention for Isaiah.

At his 2 month appt.  he was seeming to be slightly behind on development.  It didn't at all surprise me given that he was between 4 and 8 weeks premature or given his rough start in the womb...

At his 4 month appt... she was even more concerned but was willing to let us get resettled at our new home and then look into the what kind of therapies he might need...

Well, low and behold... I took him last week and he seems to be almost right on track... PRAISE GOD!!!

He is all caught up growth wise... you should see the thighs on this little man:):)  And he is doing really well with other physical milestones like sitting up, grasping, rolling etc...

We will see what the future holds for him, but right now we are rejoicing in the great news on this sweet precious little man. 

He has had a case of thrush, but besides some crankiness with that...he is one of the most easy going babies we have had... He goes to almost anyone... is a cuddler... eats great... smiles so easily...

He is downright precious and such a gift from our gracious God...
I love that even though he is biracial... I have to remind myself that he didn't come from me... I love that the longer we have our last 3 kids, the more I am in awe of the gift of adoption in our lives and even more so the gift of our faithful God adopting us into His kingdom! What a precious gift... and looking into the faces of Hope, Levi, and Isaiah there are constant reminders of that blessing!