Sunday evenings we have the privilege of sharing in a cross-cultural worship service from around the world. 

Last week was sub-Saharan Africa week. Through six languages covering some twenty countries and a week of practices and hard (sometimes stressful) work, we worshipped our Gracious Father in the late afternoon shade.  We enjoyed African songs, collected a missions offering, heard a sermon in Hausa, prayed over those God is sending and just had a wonderful time of fellowship.

And what African worship would be complete without a little African dress? 🙂

I just adore our dear “African family” who helped to make last Sunday’s cross-cultural worship quite a joy. 

We were all blessed indeed!

Such heart.

Such love.

Such family.

Such is the Body of Christ.

– Thankful, grateful and beyond blessed. 

– We’re still singing the praise songs. They just go so well with walking to our classes. 🙂

This past week we celebrated Mrs. Alice’s birthday. I just can’t possibly tell you how much we adore our Mrs. Alice.

The way she just plays. 

The way she laughs and opens her heart to the little ones. 

Mrs. Alice is such a gem. 

And we’re all better because we have gotten the chance to meet her.

Mrs. Alice, even though you humbly hid your birthday from us, thank you for letting us make much of you. 

You mean so much to us.

Thank you for opening your heart to us with such a wonderfully familiar Jesus love. 

– How Good the Father is to give us to each other.

I am learning to thank God even in our times of sickness because sometimes we all just need to slow down and snuggle more. 

I had a wonderful morning out with this little lady as we waited for her ear infection diagnosis. She’s such a delight even in her moments of sickness. We just walked the store aisles, waiting in the clinic. Her little joy in climbing in and out of the clinic chairs. Her jabbering about the MnM display guy being her size. Such sweet little moments. And I just drank it all in. Every “up please” came with open arms. 

I think God knew how much we both needed to just spend a slow morning together. Me and little baby girl. Just taking our time. Nowhere to be but with each other.

And after her little love tank was filled to the brim, she took her medicine and only got through half of “Jesus loves me” before this happened:

I love you, precious little girl. I’m so blessed to be your mommy. Even after the sleepless nights, baby, I’m just so incredibly blessed by God to have you.

God is so good to us to give us to each other. 

So, so Good. 

It has been nine years of building.

Building has been so rewarding and so wonderfully challenging.

It has looked like seven children; one little girl that went straight to Jesus’ arms, two little boys for eleven months of investing, and four little girls that we still get to hold.

It has looked like one dog, six cats, and one turtle.

It has looked like a tiny one-bedroom apartment, a four bedroom mansion,to us, with a fenced in backyard, a hotel, a guest bedroom, the floor of a friend’s basement, and now a temporary apartment for only 4 more weeks before we move overseas.

It has looked like unfair arguments followed by yielding apologies.

It has looked like dancing through Scripture and worship together.

It has looked like letting go of our “mine” in exchange for the most beautiful “us”.

It was looked like this building of “who we really are”, reveling in the family unity stitched by our Father.

It has looked like endless parenting tears of challenge and utter joy as we hold each other’s hands throughout this lifelong investment in curls and beautiful brown eyes.

And while the storms sure seemed to build wind and rain surges to hit the very house we’re still building, through God’s grace I always find you with a hammer and a ladder. I’ll take the nails, my love. You will always be worth building and rebuilding our “us”, even on the most exhausting of days.

Love is our choice. And the most utterly rewarding choice of all.

So just like we have sung together over the passing years…

What I’m trying to say in some clumsy way is that it’s you and only you, not just for now, not just today. But it’s you and only you for always.

So if you hold the nails, I’ll take the hammer. I’ll hold it still, if you climb the latter. And if you will, then I will build.

So to my love who is currently asleep crammed in a twin bed beside his sleep-struggling baby girl, I love you. It has been an utter privilege to walk beside such heart and such love for these past nine years. I really don’t deserve you. I thank my Father ever so many times for the gift of you in my life. Thank you, Matthew, for relying on Jesus to love me ever so deeply and continue to lead us in such gentleness.

Looking back on the last nine years, I have nothing but excited anticipation about the beautiful story God is unfolding in our lives. Matthew, I don’t know what the future holds, but I am certain of this: with your hand in mine it is so much easier to find the beauty among this world’s offered ashes. Even though this world is not our home, I find my home in the reflection of Christ in your eyes. As we fix our eyes on Christ and with your hand in mine, we find our feet stepping out in His Word. When the storms arise and the temptations hit too close to home I am thankful that your hand will continue to pull me to Jesus. And I likewise.

Happy 9 years, my Matthew.

And here’s to a lifetime more.

I scream. You scream. We all scream for… Frozen yogurt. 

We found a local frozen yogurt store while out and about the other day. It’s been nice to get off of the facility every once in a while for something more than toiletries. 

The girls highly enjoyed the discovery. 

Highly.

🙂