Heart Strings

I often feel sorry for Blake because I am such an emotional person. We giggle at how rough things could've been had we birthed our children...holy bananas I'd of been a mess! I feel things deeply. Things that never cross most peoples mind, echo in my heart. And I can't let it go.

I am perhaps the only known registered nurse that cannot handle large amounts of blood. As soon as I think about the person in pain, I get nauseous, sweaty and feel like I am going to pass out. I only wish I was kidding. Nursing school was rough. And often embarrassing.

When I first heard of someone talk of heart strings, I knew instantly what it felt like. It's the perfect description of what I feel when I hear of children in foster care and orphanages. It literally makes my heart hurt. And it's only getting more intense over the years.

Our church home has started a ministry for children without families and I am so excited to get involved. This October they are hosting the city wide conference to encourage church involvement in foster care. There are 8308 children in state custody in Oklahoma. There are over 6000 churches in Oklahoma. If every church commits ONE foster family, the problem is solved.

It's THAT simple. And where is everyone? Our shelters or "centers" as we now call them are over crowded. Children taken into custody this year were often put in social workers offices because THERE WAS NO WHERE ELSE TO GO.

These stories cause me great shame.

Please pray with me and for me that all who are called to foster act in obedience. Enough is enough. God called us to this, to take care of widows and orphans in their distress.

Freedom

We had such a wonderful 4th of July! It's amazing how even though politically I am saddened by the state of our union, I still feel such pride in our country and our people.

Church on Sunday was so moving! I am so thankful for the freedom we have in our country to worship God openly and also the freedom I have in Jesus! This made me weapy during worship. They honored our service men and women with recognition and song. Seeing everyone stand who has defended our freedom makes me cry! I feel so indebted to each of them and often find myself unsure of how to adequately say thank you. I was so glad our church took a Sunday to do this!!!

On monday we moved our stuff in the house, but will not be sleeping there for a bit longer (no grass yet and no daddy- 2 things that without, I get grumpy quick). We are finishing up our 5th week without Blake and boy is it hard. He surprised me the other night with news of a flight home for the weekend on the 13th! We are going to surprise the kids!! This made me one ecstatic girl!!!!!

Sweet moments...

We are having such a fun summer. It's been hard being in Oklahoma while Blake is in Atlanta...but we are so thankful to be close to our family and friends. Emery Faith turned two on the 23rd! We had so much fun celebrating her big day. The week before we saw her birth father...oh how we love him. He bought the kids this slip and slide!