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Blessings,

Kristin

They found him!

Who did they find, Mommy?

They found Victor*.

Last night the older three Littles and I were cozied up on one of their beds and I did my best to answer all the questions they had from the news of the previous day.

Victor is a special child in our lives. Five years ago, our family began a journey that we believed would end with the adoption of a Russian orphan. But, our ways proved not to be His ways. Yet in His great faithfulness the work that He began in us continues.

Will you tell us the story Mommy?

Yes, babies. Mama will tell you the story. But, it’s hard to put into words and it’s unfolding as we speak…

Well, just start at the beginning.

✝

* Victor is a real child. And this story is true. I have changed his name and will protect other information about him as I continue to tell the story. God is the author of this story. There is no way I could have ever written this one.

I hope you’ll join us on this journey.

~ The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain. ~

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This, my friends, is not a picture of readiness. The Littles dumped their backpacks (which for the record are still full) on the last day of school and we haven’t touched them since. Why am I sharing our backpack-wall-of-shame in the garage with you? Because Mia reads my musings and she’ll vouch for me when I am successful in my back-to-school organization mission. Nothing like a mother to keep you accountable, huh?

I mentioned in my last post that I was being led by the Lord into a season of readiness. While my heart is being prepared for whatever God is up to in my life, He has also given me an overwhelming desire to prepare our home. Don’t you love it when His nudges have immediate tangible benefits?

I’m comforted by the busy-ness of the physical preparation. For the last two days, I have cleaned out backpacks, the laundry room, the pantry, my desk, and I still have a long way to go. As I clean, organize, potty train Littlest, schedule doctor and dentist well checks, and calendar the various activities for Fall, I do so trusting that I will be ready for whatever is next.

Surely I could chalk up my urge to purge and uber-organize as normal back-to-school preparation. And, no I’m not pregnant and nesting! But, the preparation of my heart is where God is truly working in my life. He IS preparing me and calling me to be ready.

As I clear the clutter and prepare for next, I wonder for what are you preparing?

Lake Baikal, Siberia, March 1990

You know the ice breaker game played to encourage groups to get to know one another? Everyone tells an obscure fact about themselves that no one would ever guess. For the last 20 years, on such occasions, I’ve shared ‘I’ve been ice fishing in Siberia’ as my random factoid. Every once in a while I’ll play the ‘I finished a marathon’ card because it is actually more unbelievable than the Russian bit.

The thing is, I really have been ice fishing in Siberia. But as the years march on, my time in Russia is a story I don’t think much about anymore. Sure, it comes in handy for the icebreaker games or at cocktail parties, but who goes to those anymore?

Lately I’ve had Russia on my heart. And, I’m beginning to believe my random factoid isn’t so random after all.

I’m working on pulling the pieces of my story together. The biggest obstacle is clearing the cobwebs obscuring the view backward to 1990. And the fact that all of my photos, letters and memorabilia from this era of my life are hidden in the attic where it is 300+ degrees in the Texas summer heat. I lasted 15 minutes up there yesterday wishing whilst I sweltered that my Russia epiphany had occurred in December.

None the less, I’m on a mission. Mind you I have no clue what this mission is exactly. But, I’m being led to be ready and prepared. And that, my friends, includes a stroll down memory lane. Via the inferno of the attic.

And I am certain that God,

who began the good work within you,

will continue his work until it is finally finished

on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Philippians 1:6

Potty Training Day #2.

‘Nuff said.

Husband and I just returned home from a glorious weekend in the Hill Country at Laity Lodge. We were blessed to spend the weekend with Christian leaders who challenged us to think about leadership, privilege and power. There were many mountain top moments but none so sweet as the sound of our collective voices rising from the canyon singing praise to our Lord.

Musicians and writers,

professors and lawyers,

pastors and doctors,

husbands and wives,

sons and daughters

all bowed down to the Light of the world and Lord of the cross.

He is the Love, unfailing love, He is the love of God.

The Schell Café is more than my little nook in the blogosphere, it is quite literally my kitchen. By day, the command center bursts with activity generated by our family of six – meals, snacks, homework, crafts, home office, portal to the backyard and catch-all for backpacks, Legos and tutus.

In the pre-dawn hours of the morning, this normally chaotic space is a quiet refuge. It is my meeting place with the Lord.

For my 40^th birthday Husband gave me a prayer couch for the kitchen. Before you google ‘kitchen prayer couch’, rest assured it’s just a regular old sofa I placed in the kitchen, but it is special. This is where I meet the Lord in the throne room of grace.

What does my morning couch time look like?

Head on over to Scripture Dig to find out.

Thank you to my friends at Scripture Dig for the opportunity to share today. If y’all haven’t already subscribed to this amazing site, please do so. You will be very blessed by the teaching and encouragement of these wise and godly women. I know I am.

The first hint of light bounces across the Olympic Mountains, reflects off the blue of the cold waters and stirs my sleep as early as 4:45 am. By five o’clock it is bright enough to read by natural light, although I pull the covers over my head and snuggle deep in the warmth of the bed. I justify thirty more minutes of sleep because I am on vacation, after all.

The sun doesn’t set until nearly 10:00 pm which makes for very long days, especially for the Littles. I couldn’t sustain these hours for very long, but during our vacation, the change in light patterns has been a welcomed surprise. Although waking up in the 4′s is too early by any standard!

We left on vacation the same day I began the Bible in 90 Days Challenge. I was concerned I wouldn’t find time, or have the discipline, for my daily readings. But, so far, so good. I began Genesis on the long plane ride and have found ample chunks of time to read during our adventure-filled days. I even completed one of my readings on the ferry. I’m not sure I’ll ever know if my queasy tummy was caused by the rough crossing across Puget Sound or the explicit instruction the Lord gave Moses for burnt offerings!

This early morning quiet time on vacation is different than my usual morning routine at home. The brightness of the dawn and the cadence of the sea set a simply glorious backdrop for morning prayer and reading. Even for Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers! At home, darkness hovers as I make my way downstairs to my prayer couch. Sometimes I pray in the stillness of the dark morning before I switch on the lamp beside my perch. Other mornings, especially when I wake up already distracted, I jump right into The Word, praying for focus and direction for my study.

As our vacation time dwindles, I’m looking forward and wondering how my morning routine will adjust to the 90 Day Challenge. Because I’m not sure Husband will accept my proposal that we should remain seaside for the duration of my Bible read-a-thon.

Silly man.

Somewhere in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, just past Lopez Island, we shifted our gaze from the boundless ocean horizon skyward. We expected a day of whale chasing and were surprised by the siting of a Bald Eagle majestically soaring over sea.

Close enough to follow its path, we kept our eyes fixed on the Bald Eagle’s graceful dance with the towering trees. Perhaps in search of prey or merely protecting, the eagle never soared far from its nesting eaglet.

The Bald Eagle, of course, is the national emblem of the United States of America, synonymous with freedom. In scripture, more is said about eagles than any other bird. As I watched the eagle tend its nesting, I was reminded of the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy. Moses’ song tells a story and issues a warning, yet he gives particular instances of God’s kindness and concern for His people.

¹¹ like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them on its pinions.

Deuteronomy 32: 11

I like Matthew Henry’s commentary.  Henry explains, “The eagle’s care for her young is a beautiful emblem of Christ’s love, who came between Divine justice and our guilty souls, and bare our sins in his own body on the tree.”

I saw the beauty of Christ’s love for us soaring towards the heavens today. It was a holy and glorious site. I set out in search of whales, but the Lord had a different viewing in mind for me today.

Praise Him!

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