Celebrate Good Times!!!

I'm so proud of Charsie Lee Brewer.

She graduated and I can't wait to see what the Lord has for her next.

Charsie is a blessing to all that meet her.  

She is full of life and energy.  

She loves the Lord with passion and enthusiasm.

She serves a good good God!

With that combination in mind, I have nothing to worry about and everything to be excited about when it comes to her future.

Lashae came and spent the last couple of weeks with us celebrating all the events of graduation.

We have loved every second of her being here. 

 She has been an incredible help and support in all the activities to everyone around her. 

She is such an amazing daughter and sister and so much more!

We had the privilege of hearing Kole deliver a great message about

"GRACE"

 for the Baccalaureate service. 

 I am excited about what the Lord is doing in him and with him.  

I could see a glimpse of what God is preparing Kole for, and it is beautiful.

3 John 1:4New International Version (NIV)

4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Claiborne is here and we are so happy to have him  here celebrating and enjoying all the fun with us!

We spent a day playing and swimming and celebrating.

Of course I could not miss the opportunity of us all being together to take a few family photos.  

This is kind of the faces I got when I told them I was pregnant with Cellie Joy.  hahaha

I am so thankful and blessed!

1 John 2:14The Message (MSG)

13-14 And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God’s word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.

Greatest Mom Verse

 It feels like Mother's Day has lasted a couple of weeks.  It has been all the work and the fun and blessing of being a mom times 10!  

Lashae and I have alternated having sick ones this week, so it has been full on MOTHERHOOD for the mothers in the house.

  Claiborne flew in the other day and completed the pile.  I have missed this kid like crazy.  He has had a very stressful year at school and I just needed to lay my eyes on him and hear him say "Mooom" in his way, that only he can do.

As I was feeling thankful that the house is full and so is my heart, I was reading this morning and a verse just jumped out at me like I've never seen it before.

BOOM!  My new life verse:

3 John 1:4English Standard Version (ESV)

4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

This just says it all!!! 

I have been blessed with a house full and a heart full of kids.  

On Mother's Day, I was not only blessed with the kids that God gave us to raise, but there were several kids that wished me a happy Mother's Day and called me Mom, American mom, or second mom, or Oregon mom and it is my biggest honor.

These little grands have been with us for a couple of weeks and this picture says it all!  We have been having fun at about 100 miles an hour!  We are definitely fitting in a lot of life in the time we have together. 

Sometimes we just rock ourselves right to sleep.  

Cellie Joy @ 2 months. 

 This little Joy is definitely living up to her name.

She is pure JOY!

3 John 1:4English Standard Version (ESV)

4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

I just can't get over this verse.  

Isn't this the best verse for us Moms?

Happy belated Mother's Day to all you Moms out there.

"How many kids do you have anyway?"

This is such a hard question for me for a couple of reasons.

 One reason is I have the memory of a goldfish and it's hard for me to remember their names

  most times sometimes let alone how many of them there are.

Here's the main reason it's hard to answer that question.  There are many kids that aren't legally mine that I have a mother's heart for.

  I saw an amazing example of this in another mom just this week.  I got the honor and privilege of meeting a lady named Beverly. 

 She is a "mom". 

 One of her children is from Uganda and she has never even met him in person.

 I had never met this mom in person before Sunday, but I know and love her son Patrick in Uganda. 

 Her son is a grown adult and she has been his mom for 5 years.  People may think it is just a nice thing to be a "parent" to someone from Africa that needs sponsored and yes, it is nice to sponsor a child and pray for them, but this relationship is far beyond a sponsor relationship. 

 This is a full blown MOTHER / SON relationship. 

 "Mom" is not just a cute little title given to a nice lady that sends in a check every month.  The name mom is given to Beverly by Patrick because she loves him and cares for him like a mom and he listens to her and loves her like a son.

  I sat in awe of our God when I met Patrick's mom, Beverly.  She had testimony after testimony of how God used her mama's heart and prayers to pour into Patrick, whom she had never even met in person.  

She has poured hours of prayer, love, counsel, communication, time, paperwork and money into her son.   

She has done things in support of her son Patrick,  that made her seem foolish or ignorant to people that didn't know what God was doing.

 When, the whole time, she was loving her son with a mother's love and she was going before her heavenly Father time and time again and being obedient to His call on her life as a mom to this talented young man.

I got to sit and listen and enjoy the great things God has done when He brought these 2 hearts together for His name sake and His glory and just because

 HE IS GOOD.

God has used Beverly over and over in Patrick's life and God has used Patrick in her life and the life of her community so profoundly.

This mother and son get to meet face to face tomorrow and I can only imagine that it will have the same excitement and emotions that happen in the delivery room when a mom gets to hold her baby for the very first time.

Happy Mother's Day to Beverly!!! 

 I know God has heard your prayers and guided and directed your heart towards your son.