4.18.2023
4.10.2023
7.22.2019
1.30.2016
12.09.2011
gotcha day - judah fuxue!
Hard to believe we celebrated Judah's 1-year Gotch Day this week!!
What a year! Boy, has God blessed this little boy!
Gotcha Day (actually, night) - December 2010
Lip Surgery - March 2011
Judah's Dedication - May 2011 (courtesy Ben Vanoy)
Summer - June 2011
Palate Surgery - June 2011
London, Millenium Bridge...where we received Judah's referral call July 2010 -
October 2011
Fall - September 2011
I'm TWO - October 2011
London, Millenium Bridge...where we received Judah's referral call July 2010 -
October 2011
12.06.2011
a chinese legend
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
Rom 1: 19-20
Once upon a time, in the heart of the Western Kingdom, lay a beautiful garden. And there in the cool of the day was the Master of the Garden wont to walk. Of all the denizens of the garden, the most beautiful and most beloved was a gracious and noble bamboo. Year after year, Bamboo grew yet more noble and gracious, conscious of his Master's love and watchful delight, but modest, and gentle withal. And often, when Wind came to revel in the garden, Bamboo would cast aside his grave stateliness, to dance and play right merrily, tossing and swaying and leaping and bowing in joyous abandon, leading the Great Dance of the Garden which most delighted the Master's heart.
Now upon a day, the Master himself drew near to contemplate his Bamboo with eyes of curious expectancy. And Bamboo, in a passion of adoration, bowed his great head to the ground in loving greeting. The Master spoke:
"Bamboo, Bamboo, I would use thee."
Bamboo flung his head to the sky in utter delight. The day of days had come, the day for which he had been made, the day to which he had been growing hour by hour, the day in which he would find his completion and his destiny. His voice came low:
"Master, I am ready. Use me as thou wilt."
"Bamboo" — the Master 's voice was grave — "l would fain take thee and — cut thee down."
A trembling of a great horror shook Bamboo. "Cut . . . me . . . down! Me . . . whom thou, Master, hast made the most beautiful in all thy garden . . . to cut me down! Ah, not that, not that. Use me for thy joy, O Master, but cut me not down."
"Beloved Bamboo" — the Master's voice grew graver still — "if I cut thee not down, I cannot use thee."
The garden grew still. Wind held his breath. Bamboo slowly bent his proud and glorious head. There came a whisper:
"Master, if thou canst not use me but thou cut me down . . . then . . . do thy will and cut."
"Bamboo, beloved Bamboo, I would . . . cut thy leaves and branches from thee also."
"Master, Master, spare me. Cut me down and lay my beauty in the dust; but wouldst thou take from me my leaves and branches also?"
"Bamboo, alas, if I cut them not away, I cannot use thee." The sun hid his face. A listening butterfly glided fearfully away.
And Bamboo shivered in terrible expectancy, whispering low.
"Master, cut away."
"Bamboo, Bamboo, I would yet . . . cleave thee in twain and cut out thine heart, for if I cut not so, I cannot use thee."
Then was Bamboo bowed to the ground.
"Master, Master . . . then cut and cleave."
So did the Master of the Garden take Bamboo and cut him down and hack off his branches and strip off his leaves and cleave him in twin and cut out his heart. And lifting him gently, carried him to where was a spring of fresh, sparkling water in the midst of his dry fields. Then pulling one end of broken Bamboo in the spring and the other end into the water channel in his field, the Master laid down gently his beloved Bamboo. And the spring sang welcome and the clear sparkling waters raced joyously down the channel of Bamboo's torn body into the wailing fields. Then the rice was planted, and the days went by, and the shoots grew and the harvest came.
In that day was Bamboo, once so glorious in his stately beauty, yet more glorious in his brokenness and humility. For in his beauty he was life abundant, but in his brokenness he became a channel of abundant life to his Master's world.
—Author Unknown (shared via an AWAA family)
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
Psalm 19:1-4
10.26.2011
london recap 1
Our family just returned from an 8-day trip to London -- we traveled with a group of dear friends from our church family -- and I'm hoping over the next few days to share a little about out trip.
And, yes, we did take the boys. And , no, we are not crazy.
Vince and I took our first trip to London last summer, and we took Micah with us. And I think people thought we were crazy then, as well.
So why do we take our two toddlers trekking around the world?? I thought I'd go ahead and settle that question before sharing about the trip itself. (Ha! Then you can decide for yourself, whether we're crazy...or not.)
God's Word says...Deut 11:16-21
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
More and more Vince and I encounter parents whose children have turned away from the Lord. And these moms and dads seems to be well-meaning and God-fearing, yet their children are disinterested in following Christ for themselves. (And I'm not talking about casual church attendance--these teens/young adults attend church--but only in body, not in spirit.) And everyone, from parents to church leadership, is wondering why the disconnect?? I could speculate, but I honestly don't have an holistic answer. But I can assume that one disconnect has lead to another disconnect.
God's Word also says...Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
It seems that more and more people are in agreement that parents cannot wait until their children enter their teens before beginning discipleship. Nor should families rely on the church for their children's spiritual training. One to two hours of Bible teaching per week just isn't enough. Not for our children, and not for us as parents.
We don't want to miss the "window" with our boys. We want them to look back over their lives, and say, "You know, I can't remember a time when our family wasn't worshipping or serving the Lord together."
Jesus said...Matt 12:43-45:
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
And we especially don't want to our children to flounder...to be worse off...as they get older because mom and dad haven't been disciplined in preaching and teaching the Gospel to them...in season and out of season...which, taking two toddlers to London may appear to be out of season.
There's just too much at stake. Satan is crouching outside our doors, waiting to destroy our children. And we're kidding ourselves if we think education, technology and SEC football are reliable guardians. There is no guardian for the souls of our children, other than the full counsel of the Word of God.
Jesus said...Matt 28:18-20:
{btw- I hate when people leave verse 18 out the Great Commission}
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So, before you say that we're crazy, I hope you hear our hearts.
God's Word has been fixed upon our hearts, and we are attempting (by God's grace) to teach and train our children...even as we go along the road...that all authority has been given to Jesus for salvation...shutting out false teaching, and worthless idols...and that he has called us to obey all that he has commanded. To the glory of God.
And, yes, we did take the boys. And , no, we are not crazy.
Vince and I took our first trip to London last summer, and we took Micah with us. And I think people thought we were crazy then, as well.
So why do we take our two toddlers trekking around the world?? I thought I'd go ahead and settle that question before sharing about the trip itself. (Ha! Then you can decide for yourself, whether we're crazy...or not.)
God's Word says...Deut 11:16-21
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
More and more Vince and I encounter parents whose children have turned away from the Lord. And these moms and dads seems to be well-meaning and God-fearing, yet their children are disinterested in following Christ for themselves. (And I'm not talking about casual church attendance--these teens/young adults attend church--but only in body, not in spirit.) And everyone, from parents to church leadership, is wondering why the disconnect?? I could speculate, but I honestly don't have an holistic answer. But I can assume that one disconnect has lead to another disconnect.
God's Word also says...Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
It seems that more and more people are in agreement that parents cannot wait until their children enter their teens before beginning discipleship. Nor should families rely on the church for their children's spiritual training. One to two hours of Bible teaching per week just isn't enough. Not for our children, and not for us as parents.
We don't want to miss the "window" with our boys. We want them to look back over their lives, and say, "You know, I can't remember a time when our family wasn't worshipping or serving the Lord together."
Jesus said...Matt 12:43-45:
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
And we especially don't want to our children to flounder...to be worse off...as they get older because mom and dad haven't been disciplined in preaching and teaching the Gospel to them...in season and out of season...which, taking two toddlers to London may appear to be out of season.
There's just too much at stake. Satan is crouching outside our doors, waiting to destroy our children. And we're kidding ourselves if we think education, technology and SEC football are reliable guardians. There is no guardian for the souls of our children, other than the full counsel of the Word of God.
Jesus said...Matt 28:18-20:
{btw- I hate when people leave verse 18 out the Great Commission}
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So, before you say that we're crazy, I hope you hear our hearts.
God's Word has been fixed upon our hearts, and we are attempting (by God's grace) to teach and train our children...even as we go along the road...that all authority has been given to Jesus for salvation...shutting out false teaching, and worthless idols...and that he has called us to obey all that he has commanded. To the glory of God.
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