"I Stand, I Stand In Awe of You!"

"Holy God from Whom all blessings flow, I stand in awe of You!" God is doing some miraculous things to our family dynamics ! As Daniel looks up at my face with his sightless eyes, he knows me. He laughs with me and talks in his sweet roar of baby talk and I get so wrapped up  in the moment that I forget to make those precious moments into "photo ops" . Please forgive me. When I find a sister or brother handy during the next smiley talk-ey session, I will assign them the fun job of taking photos. As I worked on the last of my preparations for Sunday's Worship music, I was singing to Daniel and he sang right back at me with a huge smile spread all  across his face. It is more precious than I can even begin to express. I know that his brain is so limited in its ability to move his body, make his vocal chords produce inteligible sounds, let his muscles relax voluntarily, cause his throat to recognize the presence of food and swallow it, but I can see that he knows and remembers quite a   bit. Its basics, but it s obvious he remembers . His changing table no longer terrifies him when I pick him up from bed , cuddle his and place him there to change his diaper and clothing. He really seems to know that this is an OK place and Mommy will quickly pick him up off of it after she's done messing with him. He still  hates lotion ,even if its warm, hates wipes  but less  so since I bought him an electric wipes warmer, hates having the crud wiped from his eyes or the crevices of his arm pits or chin, but calms down much more quickly than he used to. When I stroke his cheek and tell him "That's all" as I finish a task, he calms down.  The changes are so easy to recognize for anyone who has seen the earlier days home in June and July compared to this month. Feeding is still, for now, the worst of anything because he doesn't swallow, and I have to encourage that reflex to kick in, but he turns for my voice immediately when he hears me  anywhere, and his facial expresssion changes noticibly when he knows its me  or someone else touching him. It is wonderful  to know that he knows me!!

Other things are happening  as we continue to pray for our sweet Liberian children. Our son  was able to graduate from the kindergarten school he attended last year. I recieved a few photos yesterday and they just rang my chimes!!! In several of the photos was another , older boy named Charles we'd also met last year in Liberia. How super to see him too, and to know that the children are learning, and progressing. Its  a blessing to be a part of that, even from far away. Our hearts ache for the day, that incredible ONE DAY, when I am able to go and get them , sign all the necessary documents that will make them ours officially for all of life, and board a plane with them to bring them home to waiting sibs and nieces and nephews, and a Great Gramma who once couldn't understand adoption of anyone older than "infant" but is now our greatest advocate and supporter.
The A/C is still out of order as far as I know. Its been cool for a couple of days so I have been able to keep it turned off and use open windows. (We've killed 4 flyswatters while committing  Flyicide but  the fresh "FREE COOL AIR  "  has been wonderful! )  I am still hoping  that having 32 people in the house for dinner on Sunday  gave our unit a serious need for a rest and that it is not "dead beyond help". Its supposed to hit the 90's again this weekend so we'll see if we have  cooled air or not...................... .
School has started for the University and for the public  ( OH!!!  I  just caught a typo  here which no one mentioned to me) high school . Our home school will NOT  start until after Labor Day, as is our tradition. Youngest bio-babe Jael is a high school senior, while Esther, Malachi, Hannah and her husband Jon are all enrolled at the university! Caleb starts Drill Sergeant school at Fort Jackson , SC on Monday. When our new school year starts we will have 2 high school freshmen, an 8th grader, 6th , 4th and 3rd grader beginning our 19th year of being a home school family. It looks to be an exciting year as we integrate some new curriculum into our old trusted favorites. We are all excited and "almost " ready " to start the year!

With   Charles (above)

Receiving his  his diploma (below)

I think the school photos made him nervous  so I'll share some happier faces  to close out this post!

I love my daughter's  sweet smile in this shot of the 3 of us

We sent  a new jacket with a dear friend. He LOVED it and posing in it made for a handsome photo!