Today, I am taking time out to remember Patrick Grover, a wonderful man, husband, and father, who went home to be with the Lord on Monday this week. My Scripture today was:
And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:27
Patrick is a disciple of the Lord. He followed the Lord, and shared what he knew with others. Although he will be deeply missed by many, we want to spend today celebrating the blessed time we had to know him, and look forward to when we will meet again in heaven.
I will remember his hat! He always looked like he was heading out on some new adventure. And I will always remember his love for his wife, but mostly his son Isaac. My sons are friends with Isaac, and we enjoy having him stay with us. We know how much his dad loves him (used loves because I believe that doesn't stop through eternity), and cared about his best interest at all times. And Isaac, if you happen to read this, I want you to know that sharing stories is such a blessing. It is a gift your dad had, and you passed one on to me the other day. Now, whenever I hear the rain on the roof of my car, I smile and think about how much Patrick loved to hear that, and I think of you, and how you like the rain. It is a special connection you had with Patrick, and now it makes me smile as I think of you both.
Today is the memorial service, and although it will be difficult because we will all miss him, and we all feel the pain of his family, we will celebrate that he is with Jesus in heaven, with no more pain, no sorrow, and no worries. Please join me in praying for his family today and the days to come.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
So Blessed . . .
Yesterday was our Spaghetti Luncheon, and what a wonderful day! We were blessed by all the donations to this event, but what was really special was to see the mix of people that came out on a Saturday afternoon, to show their support for Kristina and our family, but mostly for adoption. We had a mix of old friends, new friends, friends from our old neighborhood, and people we just met. We had family, including a special family that Jon considered his "second home" growing up. This "mom" brings Jon almost to tears every time he sees her, because she is so special to him. What a blessed day! We send a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone, and an extra special THANK YOU to all our volunteer workers who put so much into making this go smoothly. Praise the Lord, the event will purchase our airline tickets for one trip! That is sooooooo AWESOME!
We are in recovering mode today. We will go to church, and try to relax while also getting the house in order the best we can to tackle the beginning of this coming week. We know we need to move right on to the big yard sale, since our travel date has been moved up to May instead of June. We lost 5 weeks of fundraising, but get to see our daughter much sooner! I believe the dates for the yard sale will be: April 23-25
We also hate to see it go, but are trying to sell our hot tub to help with expenses. It is in great shape and has been well taken care of. Here are some photo's if you know anyone who might be interested. We are asking $4000 but will pray about offers.
We are in recovering mode today. We will go to church, and try to relax while also getting the house in order the best we can to tackle the beginning of this coming week. We know we need to move right on to the big yard sale, since our travel date has been moved up to May instead of June. We lost 5 weeks of fundraising, but get to see our daughter much sooner! I believe the dates for the yard sale will be: April 23-25
We also hate to see it go, but are trying to sell our hot tub to help with expenses. It is in great shape and has been well taken care of. Here are some photo's if you know anyone who might be interested. We are asking $4000 but will pray about offers.
As we spend today grateful for the work we see God doing in our lives each day, and the lives of others, I will leave you today with words from my Stormie Omartian calendar:
Surrendering everything means being willing to say, "Lord, whatever You want me to do I'll do it. I say yes to anything You ask of me, even if it means dying to myself and my desires. I will give up the things of the flesh that I want in order to have more of You in my life." This attitude of surrender means putting God first and submitting to His rulership. And it makes all the difference in our lives.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Isaiah 55:9
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."
Wow, what an amazing week! It is very unusual for an international adoption to move so fast, but God has a plan, and we have believed from the beginning, since we were not out looking to adopt when Kristina found our hearts, that His plan was way bigger than anything we could imagine. And since we did not have the funds for this, but believed He was telling us to do it, that He would show us how to make it work. Well, He is continuing to show us His power because suddenly we went from an earliest travel around June 12th, to looks like May 12th! That just knocked 4 weeks off. I am so excited, I can't believe we will get to see her in a few short weeks. We are still waiting for the final official travel information, but this is amazing in every way.
We want to thank everyone for all you are doing to help bring Kristina home. I can't believe she may be with us for the 4th of July this year! That was one of my dreams. You have helped us raise over $3700.00 already. We now need to raise another $4000 in 4 weeks in order to travel to the Ukraine and complete this next phase. Please, pray about what the Lord may be asking of you, from a pledge, to just helping spread the word of this need, to prayer, or ideas to share with us. We are doing all we know how to do, and are seeking God's wisdom and strength to push on till the end. We still have a hot tub for sale and will take offers. We were asking $4000 for it. We will be putting together a big yard sale if you would be able to help in any way. As soon as the spaghetti event is over Saturday, we will focus on the yard sale. I hope to see you all on Saturday!
AWESOME MISSION: It appears we will have an opportunity as some of the first Christian Americans to be involved with the orphanage. We are beginning to see more of what God might have planned for us and others. The kids are in need of shoes! We are trying to collect 160 - 200 pairs of shoes before we travel. If you have any interest in taking on this mission, we would love help. Also, we may be seeing a missions group of workers going to help build new showers for sanitary purposes as well as repair or replace windows at some time. If God is putting a trip like this on your heart, please contact us. It would be a two week trip most likely. Please keep praying for God's will to be done in His purpose for bringing us to the Ukraine.
Have a blessed day!
Wow, what an amazing week! It is very unusual for an international adoption to move so fast, but God has a plan, and we have believed from the beginning, since we were not out looking to adopt when Kristina found our hearts, that His plan was way bigger than anything we could imagine. And since we did not have the funds for this, but believed He was telling us to do it, that He would show us how to make it work. Well, He is continuing to show us His power because suddenly we went from an earliest travel around June 12th, to looks like May 12th! That just knocked 4 weeks off. I am so excited, I can't believe we will get to see her in a few short weeks. We are still waiting for the final official travel information, but this is amazing in every way.
We want to thank everyone for all you are doing to help bring Kristina home. I can't believe she may be with us for the 4th of July this year! That was one of my dreams. You have helped us raise over $3700.00 already. We now need to raise another $4000 in 4 weeks in order to travel to the Ukraine and complete this next phase. Please, pray about what the Lord may be asking of you, from a pledge, to just helping spread the word of this need, to prayer, or ideas to share with us. We are doing all we know how to do, and are seeking God's wisdom and strength to push on till the end. We still have a hot tub for sale and will take offers. We were asking $4000 for it. We will be putting together a big yard sale if you would be able to help in any way. As soon as the spaghetti event is over Saturday, we will focus on the yard sale. I hope to see you all on Saturday!
AWESOME MISSION: It appears we will have an opportunity as some of the first Christian Americans to be involved with the orphanage. We are beginning to see more of what God might have planned for us and others. The kids are in need of shoes! We are trying to collect 160 - 200 pairs of shoes before we travel. If you have any interest in taking on this mission, we would love help. Also, we may be seeing a missions group of workers going to help build new showers for sanitary purposes as well as repair or replace windows at some time. If God is putting a trip like this on your heart, please contact us. It would be a two week trip most likely. Please keep praying for God's will to be done in His purpose for bringing us to the Ukraine.
Have a blessed day!
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