Trusting God in "High Def" (High Definition)

Hello all! We have not posted to the blog in awhile… I have been waiting for news to share…

We have seen so much movement and activity in other children’s cases, just not our sweet Abby’s. We are confident that the Lord is moving her paperwork along though. He is just showing us that she is such a treasure that the journey to have her in our lives here is an adventurous one!

We had been told that in just a week our paperwork would ready. The problem is that people told us that and not the Lord. If God had said it we could have counted on it, but alas He didn’t and we are now at the 3 week mark since we were told that.  We have been blessed to see our other friends bring their children home and walk along side others who have traveled to meet their children and who are beginning to bring them home soon. Those stories are so encouraging to us to see God at work and know in our hearts, our precious girl will be home soon too.

I had a really sad day on Monday. I heard that instead of the news coming this week, it may be 1,2 3 weeks or even longer before we hear. My heart aches to hold her. I ache to have our lives to be present with one another. I paused as I was writing a second ago… I began to write “I ache to have our lives begin together” but then I realized our lives have already been intertwined since June 4^th of last year when the Lord revealed to us she is our daughter (and even before that because God knew all along J).

I shared our sadness with others who prayed for us. It is remarkable what God has done since then! I do not feel like crying, instead I have peace and joy that only comes from the Lord.

God sent me friends in my life that lifted me up reminding me of God’s character and His truth. God sent me into a study to confess my doubts and fears to Him and to learn from Him how very trustworthy He is. How His ways really are so very good, so much better than anything we can conceive.

Out of my time studying God’s word I have peace and joy and  I am already serving Him as a better wife and mother.  I feel so very close to my husband. I have been lovingly leading and correcting our children, when just a few days ago the same offenses may have caused me to snip or raise my voice. I am thankful for God’s doctoring my heart condition. 

My circumstances have not changed.
God did not change.
I sought God and He faithfully responded by caring for my heart and He has begun a change in it.  

To cast our burden upon God, is to rest upon his providence and promise. And if we do so, he will carry us in the arms of his power, as a nurse carries a child; and will strengthen our spirits by his Spirit, so that they shall sustain the trial. He will never suffer the righteous to be moved; to be so shaken by any troubles, as to quit their duty to God, or their comfort in him. He will not suffer them to be utterly cast down. He, who bore the burden of our sorrows, desires us to leave to him to bear the burden of our cares, that, as he knows what is best for us, he may provide it accordingly. Why do not we trust Christ to govern the world which he redeemed?

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?b=19&c=55&com=mhc

Wow! “Why do not we trust Christ to govern the world which he redeemed?”. I have come to realize this week that I just have not been trusting God. I am repenting from that sin and seeking Him to fill me with His peace and take away my doubt (Mark 24: Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”). I am asking God to turn my weak trust and belief into “High Definition” trust and belief (like how much better a movie is in High Def)!

 

During this time of waiting God has given me this illustration:

In my “vision” I am walking on water … like Peter did when he saw Jesus walking on the water… the waves of life are splashing around me just as they began to crash around Peter… I too get worried, panicked, fussed etc. when I look at those waves… then Jesus reminds me to keep my eyes on Him, not to look at all that is around me but instead focus on him, just keep focusing on Him. I picture Him gently reaching out and lovingly touch my chin to help me keep it up, He looks into my heart and into my eyes as He says to me “Eyes on me…just keep your eyes on me.”

I love how God ministers to us where we are. He knows how very visual He made me, so He gives me pictures to help me know Him better and understand what He wants me to learn.

In my time spending with Him these are the main verses that He is using to speak to my heart:

⁴ In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid.  Psalm 56:4

^{James 1:2} Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴ Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

^{Psalm55: 22} Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.

And another application verses that help me to know how to live in the wait…

^{James 1: 19} My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Phil 4: ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

So we wait.

We are waiting upon the Lord to bring our Abby home.
We are waiting upon the Lord to put our hearts and lives in the place He wants them to be when we meet her.
We are waiting upon the Lord to prepare Abby’s heart for her new life and to be able to accept all of it and all of us.
We are waiting upon the Lord to grow us in Him.
We are waiting upon Him to help us love and serve Him in the moment and waiting upon Him to put those moments together into days that unites us as a family through Him.

Thank you to each of you for your prayers and support!
We are looking forward to sharing with you news as we know it about Abby.

Today’s news: God is good. He is faithful  and worthy of our trust!

In Jesus love,

Donna and the rest of the nest JJJJJ……………………J

Update on the things we don’t know

We don’t know when

· we will travel to see or bring home Abby

· we will list / sell our home

· we will move

We don’t know where

· Chris will get a job

· where we will live

We don’t know how

· it will all come together

But we do know the One who does.

John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." I know this verse is referencing how He adopts us into His forever family but I am also taking it as an encouragement that He will also not leave Abadit an orphan, He will come to her as well.

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While living here in Illinois we have been blessed to see the four beautiful seasons a few times. When we lived in Texas we had summer and a few flashes of what we all may have thought might have been the other seasons (it felt like we needed to make sure we didn't blink during spring when the beautiful bluebonnets were blooming so we wouldn't miss seeing them) so since we got here we have been soaking in the different seasons.

The Lord talks about the different seasons in the Bible too. In Ecclesiastes 3: 1 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” I feel that the time we are in is to be busy "caring for our crop before the harvest". We have so many life changing events on our plate that we need to just keep focusing on the Lord and what He puts before us to accomplish each day or we will get overwhelmed.

This is our year for change. Chris’s dad passed away, we are preparing to move (painting, putting things in storage, preparing our hearts etc.), Chris is retiring and is looking for a whole new career, Chris and the teens are working on getting their black belts in Taekwondo, I am working at church as the Early Childhood Coordinator (after 19 years of working as a volunteer), Daniel is a senior, both the teens are seeking to learn to drive, we are adopting Abby from Ethiopia and finishing getting our funds to we can go get her and bring her home.

I think in pictures and the image that comes to my mind right now is that of a watercolor painting. It turns out beautiful when it is finished but the patron who commissioned the painting isn’t exactly sure what it will look like when it is finished because the artist’s hand, water, paint and paper work together in harmony to create the final product. We can see the artist, who is the Lord, working in our lives and how He is using the different elements and circumstances in our lives to do the great work He wants done; we look forward in great anticipation to see His completed work but at this time we are focusing on being captivated by watching Him work through the process of it.

Each time we think we are getting close to bring Abby home the timeline gets pushed back a little bit farther and that is what today has brought us. Right now we are still waiting in her paperwork to be finished. In third world countries time just isn't measured the way it is here. For us it is each moment being calculated and budgeted so that it is all accounted for and we use watches, Iphones, lap tops, fax machines and cars that are always filled with gas to run them. For them it is sun up to sunrise and what day brings in the middle. They may have a computer in an office but when rural work needs to be done (going to a village to verify information) it may be via a car (after fueling up at a couple of stations of the gas is being rationed), donkey, pencil, paper and walking. Their version of saying "tomorrow, next week or in a month" simply means they are working on it as opposed to the literal meanig of those time measurements. So they said at the end of October about "a month" before Abby's paperwork would be done and we are still waiting on it; the good news is that it is being moved forward and it is not forgotten.

When her paperwork is finished then:

· Our paperwork will be sent to the Ethiopian government and we will be given a court date (about 4-11 weeks from when it is turned in). (Just to put that in perspective If that was today 1/26/12 that would be end of beginning of March -middle of April)

· After that 30 days then we will be given a court date, which will be another 30 days away due to their case load). (Our court date would be end of April-ish - May-ish)

o During this period of time Abby will be moved to Addis to our agency’s caring facility three.

· After that time we should be able to travel for trip 1 to get to see Abadit and visit with her at the caring facility in Addis. We should be there about a week and during that time we will officially adopt her according the Ethiopian government.

· Next we will wait about 6 -8 weeks (maybe even longer) to be invited back for our 2^nd trip. (end of May-ish - July-ish??) Abby will get to stray with us in our hotel while we are there. We should have a trip within the country to take Abby back to see her friends from where she has been staying before she was moved to Addis. We will then travel back to Addis, finish the paperwork for the US and then get to bring her home!

Our timeline as we know it at this time –

Feb/ Mar – we are packing items to put into storage and painting our house to prepare it to be listed to sell.

Apr / May – we list our home to sell???

Sept / Oct – We hope Chris starts his new job in OR / WA area … we move with him?? Stay behind until the house sells??

· At some point we will travel to Ethiopia for our 2 trips

· At some point Chris will travel to the west coast for job interviews

· At some point we will need to look for a place to live in our new location

We are waiting and trusting the Lord in His perfect timing and we are lifting up our prayers to Him, as He invites us to in Phil 4. Please join us in prayer that Abby’s paperwork would be finished soon, that the Lord would comfort Abby’s heart in the wait and that He would provide the last portion of what is needed for our adoption funds. Then watch with us as our Lord directs our paths as we lean on Him.

Later in that chapter of Ecclesiastes it speaks of enjoying the work the Lord puts before us and for us to recognize that He is in control (Ecc 3: 10-15). We are praising the Lord for how He is guiding us to do the work He has put before us in this season and we are praising Him for the yield of that work. We praise Him for our good health, all that He has provided for us and how He made a way for us to be with Him in heaven forever and for us to be close with Him now. We praise Him for the help He has brought us. One of the wonderful ways He has cared for us is by sending Chris's mom to help us in so many ways (help with daily life, getting ready to move and with the kids while we are away in Ethiopia!) His blessings are overwhelming (the key is for me to keep my eyes on Him and not on the circumstances around us).

Thank you for partnering with us in prayer; it is the most important and powerful action we can do. God has the power to move mountains, I know that, I am confident of it and I am asking Him to do it.

In Jesus love,

Donna and the rest of the nest! JJ JJJ …. J

(If you would like to support our adoption you can donate through Lifesong &/or buy coffee through our link - both links are on the right side of our blog page)

Have you ever thought of time as a coin? On one side it is a picture of time just whizzing by and on the other side it has a picture of how time is just crawling?  Well in our world, our coin is standing vertically and neither side face up because we feel as though time is whizzing by in a blurr and standing so still it is as if time has almost stopped.

So much has happened since our last blog entry the main event that happened was Chris’s father passed away at the end of August from complications from his cancer treatment.  If you would like to know the amazing details of God’s loving hands please read our blog we wrote on his behalf. http://mikesmemorial.blogspot.com/

I had never experienced the loss of someone so close to me before and it was (and still is) surreal. During that time it was as if the coin of time was just spinning.  Though our feet never felt as if we knew where we were headed, we rested in the fact the Lord was leading us and each step was being placed just where it should be. 

Another way time has whizzed by is just in our daily lives…the general noise of the hustle and bustle of each of our days as they pass… school, taekwondo, work, church activities, serving the Lord, grocery shopping, cleaning, and making time for our family to spend together etc.  It seems there is never a day when any one of us could say “I am bored” or “gee, I wonder what I should do today.”

Then looking at the coin from another perspective it represents quiet and stillness.  We have had days linked together like a chain of silence, us longing to hear a word. From time to time a phone call breaks the silence… our precious adoption worker from WACAP touching base with us to see how we are and to offer us encouragement in the waiting period.  We were given two songs of joy over the last couple of weeks in the form of 2 emails. The first was from one of the leaders of the ministry that helps with the organization that cares for our daughter. She was announcing her future trip there and offering families an opportunity to send over little photo books about their family to their child that they are adopting. She also gave us more insight into the process and why it takes oh, so long to finish our daughter’s paperwork. The next was in the form of about 20 pictures of Abby that were taken on a recent trip to Ethiopia! Oh, that was like a fresh breeze blowing in through a window on a spring day.  They were just so very beautiful and felt so good to see. Pictures of her playing with friends, close up pictures, and shots a ways back to show her height. She is just so very beautiful. Her eyes are a deep chocolate brown and her skin just looks so soft.  I was able to picture us doing things together, playing things and me even braiding her hair.  It was the lift my heart needed to help me almost be able to reach out and touch her.

An additional blessing from the first email that was sent out was that all the folks the gal from the Fields of Promise was writing to (of her trip) could see each other’s email addresses. Right away one of the sweet folks, who is also adopting from where our daughter is, sent a note to the group and then it all began… We have been sharing our stories with each other and creating a support group of our own. There are 6 of us families that are adopting from where Abby is.  Not only are we able to be support to each other during this waiting time but we are also able to forge relationships with each other of lifelong support for our adopting children.  They will also be able to be in contact with their friends from their Ethiopian home! I am so blessed that God gave us this information during this waiting period. Often folks don’t get to know others that are adopting from the same place until they travel together to see their children.

So here we sit with thankful and yearning hearts as we wait for the phone to ring or the next email to come. We are secure knowing that Jesus is in charge of each step and we eagerly watch for what He is doing next.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.
In Jesus love,
Donna J

Trusting in Him

A couple of weeks ago we received a phone call from our placing agency. The called to let us know that our paperwork had not been processed before the closure of the courts in the months of Aug/ Sept.  In addition to that we learned that based on other’s court dates and travel times we probably won’t be able to go to see Abby until spring.  Though our anxious hearts ached at hearing the news we had peace that God’s timing is perfect and for this too there is a reason.

Last week we saw one of those reasons for the delay. We received a phone call that Chris’s dad took a turn for the worse in his battle with his Leukemia. We traveled out and made it in time to get to say good-bye to his dad before he passed away to go home to be with Jesus. (If you would like to know more you can visit the blog that I wrote about the amazing things God did throughout our trip out there and in our family’s life at http://mikesmemorial.blogspot.com/2011/09/mikes-passing-was-seasoned-with-grace.html ).

We did not have the cost of that trip, for all 5 of us to fly out to Oregon, in our budget since all of our money is being saved for our adoption.  We knew God was calling us out there so we went.  We can see God allowing us the extended time so we can replenish the money that was needed for the trip as well as the remainder of the money that we need to travel to Ethiopia.

We are praying for God to be at work in Abby’s life there in Ethiopia just as He is at work here in the rest of our family’s lives. We pray for her to know Jesus as her very best friend and that He uses this extra time there in Ethiopia to draw her closer to Himself.

We are now to the point in our journey where we are beginning to specifically ask folks to consider to give to our adoption fund so we can bring our precious daughter home. If you would like more information please see the details on this page in the margin.

Please pray with us for all of the details of our trips to be smoothly worked out. Thank you for partnering with us on our journey.

In Jesus love,

The Robbins Nest J J J J J   ………………………. J

Getting closer as each day passes...

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

We are waiting upon the Lord and His timing to bring our precious Abby home. The courts are closed in Ethiopia for the months of August and September (due to their rainy season) and our paperwork was not submitted in time.

Our earliest possible court date could be in October but that is unlikely because of the amount of adoption cases they have to review.  It is most likely our 1st trip will be in November or December and our 2nd trip will be in January or February (at least we are hoping things will go this quickly for us after court reopens). Your continued prayers and support are very much appreciated.

For those of you who want to help us and are not sure how... you can shop in our Christmas catalog that will be coming out next month!

    * We will have items for sale by donation (all proceeds go to our adoption fund to help us bring Abby home!)

    * We will have items for all ages of people that folks can give as gift for the holidays! 

    * Folks can pass on our catalog to their friends and family members for them to do the same (however, you may not want to send it to folks they are shopping for out of it :) 

    ____________________________________________________________________Here is a blurb from an email that we received this week from our placing agency...

"    Your packages/letter were sent to Ethiopia as soon as they came. I know there were trips to southern Ethiopia by our staff there, so the things for the girls would have gone along. The orphanage staff could create a translated copy of your letter, if our staff in Addis Ababa did not do it. And I believe things may have been mailed to Operation Rescue if staff were not traveling to northern Ethiopia. Right now there are not as many trips up there, but I do not keep up with all of the travels of staff in Ethiopia as they are traveling all the time all over the country. If it wasn’t mailed, then it would have gone personally with someone traveling there

·         Know that I will let you know immediately when I hear about paperwork being completed. It usually takes many appointments and many people being organized to be a part of it. Documents often have to go through many, many hands before anything is completed, and it is quite a complicated process. And in Ethiopia, as I am sure I have shared with you, things move much slower than in the US.

I just found out that any documents that were submitted to court after July 1^st will not be reviewed until it reopens at the end of September. I know it is so painful to consider having to tack on 2 more months of waiting. Once you have identified the child you want to adopt, the wait is so hard. Hang in there. It is difficult to have absolutely no control over the process in Ethiopia. Push, push, push is all we can do. "

____________________________________________________________________

I was doing some research the other day on the area where Abby is from, Tigre, and thought you might be interested in seeing it as well.

http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Costa-Rica-to-Georgia/Tigray.html

I pray all is going well for ya'll. Thank you for your continued support.

Even though it is summer, spring has sprung!

 

“Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the LORD. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” Psalm 68:4-5 NIV

This is the verse that I received in my email inbox from http://www.biblegateway.com/ .

We are singing to God, we are praising His name! He is the father to the fatherless and so much more! Spring has sprung in our hearts once again! Our dear Lord has matched us with a precious 12 year old girl, Abby. We are so thankful.

Abby’s story… (she has a different Ethiopian name that she can go by if she wants to… just not publishing her real name on the internet)  She is not living in a traditional orphanage, she is part of a Christian organization, Fields of Promise, who support a care system for children in Ethiopia that are “family-based care homes” – the kids live in homes with some other children and parent figures so they can function as a family as opposed to having to live in an institution.

Here is an excerpt from the Fields of Promise website and their link so you can learn more:

“Operation Rescue (ORE) focuses its energy on ministering “wholistically” to nearly 350 full and half-orphans in Mekelle.  These children attend a half-day program provided by ORE which includes a hot lunch, daily devotions tutoring, English classes, computer training, a library, and a recreation program.  ORE also offers a hygiene program with showers twice a week, and a social worker who visit each family-based care home monthly to ensure the kids are respecting the house rules, attending school, and that the children are benefiting from the program.  The children are well-loved in this program.”http://www.fieldsofpromise.org/1794/index.html

Our paperwork has been received and we are now waiting for the paperwork for Abby to be processed in Ethiopia and once it is completed we will be given a court date to travel.

Basically we are hoping that our paperwork can all be processed before the courts close for the months of August and September so when they reopen in October we may be given our court date for sometime in October or November so we can travel for our first trip. The leaders in Ethiopia are trying very hard to make sure they do all the things necessary for each orphan in their adoptions and because of this the process has had to slow down. We really have no idea of what the timeline for us will be. We know that we need to trust in the Lord that He will orchestrate it all. 

At the beginning of all of this we were told that adoption isn’t for the faint at heart; really no matter how God brings a child into your life there is no “guaranteed simple route”.  We are just putting each foot in front of the other as we follow Jesus in faith.

We are trusting Him

that Abby is the child He chose for our family,

that He will guide us how to navigate all of the unknowns (paperwork, travel, language, parenting etc.),

that He will somehow put the last $5,000 in our account so we can finish the work He has begun,

             that He will provide us wisdom, protection and guidance as we need it
                            on each turn.
Here is a song that I have attached that is really speaking to my heart about all of this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjcRpDyUWbQ

One True God by Mark Harris

I don't have a God I can put on a stand
Or a God I hold in the palm of my hand
I have a God that's holding me

And I don't have a God that I can create
In the place I live with the money I make
I have a God He made everything

 So I don't need a temporary man-made deity
When I got the real thing, I got the real thing

He's the Lord of all the earth the maker of all things
He alone is the one true God

Kingdoms rise and fall but even through it all
He remains the one true God

I don't have a thing that I got on my own
I don't have a care that I carry alone
But I have a God who's carrying me

And I don't have sin that He doesn't forgive
And I don't have a heart that is worthy of His
But I have a God who still loves me

So I don't need a temporary man-made deity
When I got the real thing I got the real thing

Lord of all the earth the maker of all things
He alone is the one true God
Kingdoms rise and fall but even through it all
He remains the one true God

Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty
Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty
Who is this King of Glory? Who is this King of Glory?

 He's the Lord of all the earth the maker of all things
He alone is the one true God
Kingdoms rise and fall but even through it all
He remains the one true God

He's the Lord of all the earth the maker of all things
He alone is the one true God
Kingdoms rise and fall but even through it all
He remains the one true God
He is He is the one true God

I don't have a God I can put on a stand
And I don't have a God I can hold in my hand
But I have a God holding me

http://www.kovideo.net/one-true-god-lyrics-mark-harris-514479.html

After listening to this song these words continue in my heart even after this song has ended...

I don't have a thing that I got on my own
I don't have a care that I carry alone
But I have a God who's carrying me

He is the one true God and He is the one who we are looking to, watching and passionately following.

We lift up all of the orphans in the world and that God’s people who each seek Him how they are to serve Him to help these children . We thank Him that Abby is going to no longer be an earthly orphan… she has always been His daughter, now she will be ours too.

We so value each action step of prayer and support to help bring Abby home.

In Jesus love,
Donna, Chris, Daniel, Molly, Zayden … and Abby!

Father's day reflection...

Today being Father’s Day brought my mind to the great dads who we have and to the amazing father my husband is.  I was in church today, singing praises to God (along with the other folks in the church… no solos here J)… as I was praising God for Him being ourHeavenly Father my eyes glanced to a couple in front of me… she is a petite little gal who stood about a foot less than her husband and my thoughts were sent to Chris’s parents who are about that much in height apart as well.  The Lord sent my heart on a journey of gratitude… how He works things out ahead of time. 

Chris has shared with me over the years of his memories of going to church with his parents.  How his passion for Jesus began when they brought him to learn more about God at church.  Chris had the opportunities to hear of God’s promises and the true stories of how He has cared for His people.  These times were seared in Chris’s heart. That was when the foundation was laid for Chris to become the man he is today when his father decided to take his family to church.

I can picture it… the family getting ready… wondering what Dad is doing, where they all are going… each one following his leading.   Though at the time Chris didn’t grasp the impact upon his life, of that decision that his dad made, but today he treasures it.

To think that at that time I was a young girl living in Oregon, not even knowing of this family in Alaska who was doing something so simple yet so profound… something that would shape my life forever.

On this father’s day I am thanking God for the fathers He gave us and for each step that He took in shaping the father that my incredible husband is.  Watching Chris be a dad through the years has been such a wonderful reminder to me of who our Heavenly Father is… God is fun, He is a great listener, He is there to help us, to protect us and to care for us and He loves us like no other.

Happy Father’s Day to all those great dad’s out there. I pray that you are blessed by the little and big ways  you give to your family. I pray you are encouraged in your leading and that God is the one you follow. I pray God reveals to your heart the work He is doing through you.  You too are affecting many lives, now and in the future, as you lead your children.

In Jesus love, Donna J

Ephesians 2: 8-10

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.