Sweet "T"...

For those of you who receive our email newsletter, "T" will be no stranger to you. We have all been praying for him, and his family. He was one of the more troubled kids at LS when we arrived. He has a troubled past... and an uncertain future.

Fighting, insulting, and bucking at authority were only a few of his struggles. Not to mention poor school attendance, poor performance, and lazy attitude.

T is changing... God is moving in his life. To sum up what many of you already know, God has given Shane and I a unique relationship with this young man. He has given us many opportunities to show love to him in an unconditional way... to give him trust... and to challenge him to rise above his past. The coolest part is... IT IS HAPPENING. Often times, in ministry and even in adoption... I start to doubt the power of love... love alone. I KNOW it IS NOT ENOUGH to resolve-solve-etc... but I'm seeing it is enough to CHANGE.

Today, I'm sitting in my office at school when the grade 7 teacher comes in with T. I immediately start thinking in my head "Oh dear... He was doing so good, what could be going on now?" And the teacher starts by saying "I just wanted to thank you and Shane for what you are doing in this young man's life." WHAT? T... starts to break into a smile. Then the teacher starts singing his praises of how he is changing... noticeable change. How the entire class was disciplined today and he accepted responsibility and took his punishment with a respectful attitude!! I simply turned the praise back onto T and congratulated him for making good choices. IF YOU COULD HAVE SEEN HIS FACE! He was SO PROUD. I see a light turning on inside this kid... He's coming alive inside. He's seeing value of his life, and that God hasn't forgotten him... but LOVES him deeply... through us.

Grateful...

God is so faithful. He sees each of our needs, and gives us an opportunity to have them met... by each other.

Here in Zambia, school uniforms are standard. To go to school is a privilege, and so is wearing a uniform. Our children at Lifesong have not had uniforms in the past. They have come to school as they are.

Recently... God orchestrated a pretty cool event which ended in Concord Christian School in Knoxville taking on a project as a school to provide uniforms for our students at Lifesong! We are so grateful! Now, children in America will have the opportunity to learn about someone else's need, and to be on mission for it. Our children here will see that God hears their prayers and is our provider.

Check out what our students had to say...

Never before seen footage...

Sometimes life goes by too fast, and I never get to post things I want to... Here's to some very random, somewhat funny, never before seen footage...

Note to self: ALWAYS KNOW WHERE YOUR CAMERA IS.

White sheep of the family... ;)

Yep... I own a Chitange (cha-tan-gay) I am THAT missionary. No.. I'm not... I promise NOT to wear it in the US when speaking. haha.

(Not that there's anything wrong with that and all)

Z's artwork coming right along... It's baby Jesus and the 3 wise men.

(oh, 4 wise men... maybe it's a shepard?)

Never underestimate the power of boys in the kitchen...

Love that my kids can go hang out in the "not so nice places" and think it's cool.

Yep, that's Impala hinds (booty) in the fridge.

Sweetness I don't want to forget.

Who needs to see a giraffe when you have a tongue like that?

Our Thanksgiving Day surprise...

Need to laugh? Call up this kid...

And you thought your school cafeteria was bad... ;)

The many shoes found outside our house on any give Sunday afternoon...

I don't know where they get that...

Faces of the Future...

In January, we added a new preschool class of 20- 5 year olds. We had over 100 applications for these 20 slots. These children were prayed over and we know that they are meant to be at our school.

I am so grateful to get to walk through life with these children... to watch them grow.

I wanted to share with you some of them... They are all in need of sponsors, since they just joined our school! If you'd like to know more about sponsorship, you can leave me a comment or email me!

Enjoy these cute faces!

wings like Eagles...

Well, I'm starting to realize I probably shouldn't post a post like the last one and wait too long for a follow up post.

The last post was a reflection of the pull our family had been feeling for the first few months. However, while we were in the "heat" of that, I didn't even have the ability to put it to words. Once we started being more proactive, it provided enough space for me to verbalize where we had been the past few months during our adjustment. (not that our adjustment is over... I've been told by a friend here the first 3 years are trial and error...)

Right now, we are moving through the "valley" onto "higher ground". We feel ourselves getting stronger. We see that our family is our most valuable ministry tool. We are gaining wisdom to know when to say No and when to say Yes. And even then, we still won't do it perfectly.

In the meantime, we have restored our home as a place for our family. We've found a balance that works for us in work, LS kids, and our family. We believe that it is Biblical.

I simply didn't want to leave you in the messy part. While the mess will still exist... because living here just requires the ability to live in the unpredictable... We wanted to give God credit for sorting through our stuffs (that's the way Zambians say stuff) and giving us the strength we need to make changes that are necessary. (because emotionally it isn't easy)

That's real time. Right now we are feeling your prayers and are grateful. We feel like our family is hitting a routine: working at the school, homeschooling, time as a family, time as extended family (253+), etc. We are feeling refreshed (for the most part) and have finally found our pace. Just pray we can maintain it through the many needs and things that are life here on a daily basis.

We love each of you and please know we have the most joyous life here...

"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31

ps... Pray for KG, she has malaria for the 3rd time already. The rains are heavy and the mosquitos are horrible. She seems much better this morning.