Welcome Home!

I am late in sharing these (4 weeks late), but I wanted to share some pictures from our reunion.

I will take a cup of coffee, please...

Any guess what I am doing tonight? Or what I might be doing the next few nights? I can tell you it is not what I had planned to be doing. Because daddy will be home in FOUR days, because 3 little girl's dresses arrived today, because modesty matters to us, because one little girl's dress is about 5 inches shorter than whan we typically like, because we do not have time to order another one online, because I do not want to drag my dear son dress shopping.... Yes, you heard it, I am attempting to do this myself, being creative and using only materials I have on hand. This should be interesting.

Ice Skating 2016

Happy Birthday, Dima!!

Ten years ago today, in a small maternity home near the Ukrainian/Russian border, the Lord brought forth our little miracle baby into the world. That was the same year I experienced our first miscarriage. Unknown to me, a baby, who would oneday be our son, was being born into a part of the world that the Lord had always given me a heart for. I am so grateful to the lady who choose life for our son, who carried him for nine months, then gave birth to him. I certainly did not get that opportunity, but I am forever grateful because her choice allowed me to be a mother again. Please pray today for Dmitriy's birthmother. I will always have a tender place in my heart for her. Happy 10th birthday, son!

Today, I wanted to do something special for him. So, I tried my hand at making Ukrainian Borscht (beet soup) and Trubochki (cream horns) for dessert.  

Encouragement To Homeschooling Moms

For many people, Solomon's life would be worth emulating - great intelligence and wisdom, immense power, worldwide fame and vast wealth. He seemed to have it all. What he did not have, though, was a wholehearted devotion to God. God filled Solomon's mind with supernatural wisdom, but his heart was divided. He did not prepare his own sons to be God's leaders because he was not, and in the end, Solomon's divided heart resulted in a divided kingdom and, eventually, God's judgment on the nation of Israel. David, Solomon's father and a "man after God's own heart," knew the condition of his son's heart. Near the end of his life, David admonished him to serve God with wholehearted devotion.

"And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever." 1 Chronicles 28:9

We have simple goals for our children. We simply want our children to be wholeheartedly devoted to our God, and to have willing minds that seek and serve him. We can raise our children to be Solomons - to be successful by the world's standards - but if their hearts are not turned toward God, we will miss the mark by God's standards. While the world may judge our children against the standards of intelligence, appearance, money, power and fame, God will judge them by their hearts. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 

~ S. Clarkson

Merry Christmas! From Our Family to Yours!

Daddy and MeMe, we missed you this year!!