God Answers Prayer

27 years ago, I was twelve years old and in the seventh grade. My mom began getting sick, and I would find her lying on the couch when I got home from school. Then, one afternoon she came into my room while I was doing my homework and she told me she was pregnant. I was in such shock that I couldn't finish my homework that night. I realized that God was answering a prayer that I had prayed - I had asked him for another sibling. The pregnancy wasn't the easiest on Mom, and she was often very tired. Dad and I began to do the weekly grocery shopping, which I really enjoyed. He and I would come home with all kinds of extra foods that we didn't really need! Mom made all of her pregnancy dresses and continued to serve in the music ministry at church. When the day came for the birth I stayed with Momaw and Popaw, who lived next door to us. I remember Dad calling to say that we now had another GIRL! I really believed now that God does hear and answer prayer, because I had asked specifically for a sister.

27 years ago, I jumped off the school bus and ran through the orange grove up to the house. Mom was coming home from the hospital that day, and when I ran inside the house I found her sitting in the living room holding our new baby. Those first few moments of holding the baby were wonderful...almost as if she was my own.

In the years that followed I did a lot of babysitting, watched the same Disney movie repeatedly for at least 500 times, woke up in the morning to a little sister staring at me or putting stickers all over my radio, found her wearing things that I had put in the trash, found her wearing my retainer (gross!), spent countless hours listening to her singing, got really tired of her peeking under my door, fussed with her because she always wanted to do things her way, and prayed with her to receive Christ. When I got my driver's license I would take her to the Winter Haven library, the Shake shoppe and the park in downtown Auburndale, Boardwalk & Baseball, Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, and we often went shopping together too. I always thought it was funny when people would ask me if she was my daughter. I didn't think it was funny when she tipped over a store mannequin. She was always my biggest fan and she promised she would always love me no matter what. God in His wisdom knew that I needed her and she needed me.

I know God places us in families.....for a purpose, for His purposes. I am thankful for the family God has given me. If we fail to acknowledge the sovereignty of God and His wisdom, we fail to recognize the larger plan for which we were put on this earth. If we fail to love and forgive, and fail to live peacefully with one another, we miss the whole purpose of the family. I hope I will live up to His purposes so that when I see HIm face to face He can say, 'Well done." Moments shouldn't be wasted and love shouldn't be withheld....."You don't know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for little while and then vanishes away." James 4:14 Each moment together is precious.

Rachel, you are an answer to prayer. Happy Birthday.

Let the Little Children Come!

Our Elizabeth turned 6 this month, and she requested a costume and tea party! It may sound like a mother's nightmare to open your home up to 14 little rascals (4 of them being your own!), but I actually like having children's parties. However, I confess that the day before the party I felt overwhelmed. My homemade doll cake completely cracked down the middle, the strawberry cheesecake turned out to be smaller than I expected, I realized I didn't have enough party hats for all the children, there was a lot of cleaning still to be done, my wet laundry was hanging up to dry in the living room (still wet after 2 days of hanging!), I stayed up until 1:00 AM and finished baking cookies .....and I did all this while caring for my own 4 children and rolling out the pizza dough for our Friday night dinner. I was praying, "Lord, help make all this come together without me coming apart!"



As it turned out, everything fell nicely into place at the right time, (and the cake was patched with lots of extra icing). All the extra work involved in planning such a party was WORTH IT! As the children arrived they could choose one of our costumes to wear, but some brought their own. We had so much fun taking their pictures in various costumes because each child's face glowed with delight! It was priceless to see the wonder and innocence of precious children, each uniquely created by GOD. We decorated sugar cookies which was a new idea to some of our friends. Usually this is done at Christmas time with gingerbread cookies. We also decorated foam picture frames, in which they could put a picture of themselves dressed in a costume at the party. I read to them from 1 Samuel 16:7, how Samuel went to choose the next king of Israel. God instructed Samuel not to choose a king based on outer appearances. Man looks on the outside, but God looks at the heart. What is inside a man is more important that what is on the outside. There was a chance to speak a truth about God, and the moment was not lost.



We had a great opportunity to share our love for Jesus with others. God used a routine event in the life of our family to reach into the lives of others. I have heard it said that families with young children should not come to the mission field. However, I have found that having my own 4 young children around has been the easiest way to meet new people and make friends. My children certainly go against the cultural grain sometimes - they talk loudly while on the buses and my 2 year old waves to old men and hollers, "SZIA!" (hi in Hungarian) But they are the ones who speak boldly, who are quick to love, and are not inhibited by language barriers. Children were on the heart of Jesus. He didn't overlook them, put them down, or tell them to go away. He drew them to himself. And that is a very good place for us to start.

7 Great Years

With 6 people in our household, we get to celebrate someone's birthday about every other month! This month was filled with much anticipation of a dinosaur party, chocolate cake, and lots of friends, as Joshua turned 7. He wanted to invite the entire first grade class (just 14 children), and so we partied with 14 children from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Korea, Romania, and of course Hungary & America. The children played with Josh's collection of dinosaurs, made dino masks (they're wearing them in the photo), and ate. The only thing "dinosaurish" that I could find for the party were dinosaur shaped (turkey) nuggets and dino gummy bears at the grocery store! So, we had fun designing our own dino cake, complete with a spiked tail. My mind was filled with memories of being pregnant for the first time, preparing a place in our tiny apartment for our new baby, eating lunch in La Madeline's restaurant while having contractions, and finally......the emergency c-section. What more can I say? God really IS good.

Five Years!

Our daughter, Elizabeth, celebrated her fifth birthday with a small party at our house. The day before the party she ran around the house squealing, hardly able to contain her excitement. We were thrilled that our new Hungarian friends came. It was a great opportunity to get to know them better, and many of them are not believers. At the party we had three special children - one with Turner's Syndrome, one with Noonan's Syndrome, and one with Down's Syndrome. A couple of weeks ago she decided who to invite to her party after our bedtime prayers. When we moved here, God told us that he was going to use our children in a great way. They are to be a special part of God's work here in Hungary.

Our daughter is a real miracle. We are so glad that we have her. When she was still in the womb, we were told that it was OK if we wanted to have an abortion. We didn't know exactly what was wrong with her, but that it would be very wrong to abort. Only one percent of babies with Turner's Syndrome survive the pregnancy. We asked God if he would allow her to live, and he did. I look into her beautiful brown eyes and am thoroughly amazed that we have such a blessing. When I honestly didn't know if we should plan a baby shower or a funeral, God promised that we would see His goodness:

"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:13 - 14


Jesus said, "Unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in my name receives Me..." Matthew 18:1-6

June 12

Look who's ONE!
Happy first birthday to our sweet baby boy!!! God's grace and His love are indescribable. Children are a gift from the Lord, not a burden. Thank you God for giving us this fourth child! 

Waiting for the cake!

Together we mixed up a beautiful cake for her third birthday in March, and had fun watching it bake in the oven. We also went to an indoor playground and ate pizza at the food court. It was a day of great celebration - her first birthday in Hungary!