Happy Birthday Friend Zoe!!!

Just over a year ago, we met Randy and Kelsey Bohlender who quickly became family to us. We barged into their lives just in time to celebrate Zoe's adoption and welcome her into the world and into our lives! It's so hard to believe she's ONE YEAR OLD!

WE LOVE YOU ZOE!

Zoe and Elia are learning how to be friends...learning to share, learning not to hurt each other with their enthusiasm in play, learning whose binky is whose...

They have a lifetime ahead of them, and I'm sure many stories to come that will start out...."Guess what those girls did this time...."

Today ZOE BOHLENDER we celebrate your life!

We've Got Some Serious Teething Going On Today

FINALIZATION

I talked to our lawyer today and we are ready to set a date for FINALIZATION! I love that word! FINALIZATION!!! We're looking at early November for our court date.

We're already getting emotional about it and can hardly wait to walk OUT of that court house. You can be praying for us over the next few weeks. We are in need of about $1200 in remaining adoption costs, which included legal fees and our remaining home study. The Lord has provided for all that we have needed so far which was over $15,000, so we know this is not the least bit of a big deal for Him.

So we trust Him!

Foolish Things

He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise... and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. I cling to that promise every day!

After our 2nd prayer meeting with the kids today, I stood there thinking of how "rough and ugly" our little meeting may look to some. And the Lord kindly reminded me once again that it was incredibly beautiful to Him. I think He looked down nudging the angels, and said, "Look they showed up again, they're really going to do this!" and then I think He gathered up our weak little prayers and piled them in the bowls along with the prayers of all the saints before us.

Little prayers like:
"God save babies and make the mother's keep them"
"God help President Bush to be wise"
"God do miracles"
"God make the sick get out of wheelchairs"

...those little prayers confounding the wisdom of men.


Strength in weakness.

It's Monday and I'm Here!

Conference is over! It was a great weekend! I'm always amazed at the awesome people that come here to Kansas City... It never fails that I meet truly incredible people!

Deep sigh... my breakout session was more fun that I can tell you! I can't believe I get to do this some days! The breakout was entitled "Stewarding the Spirit of Prayer, Power and Prophecy in Children." The focus of my portion of the breakout was on working with 6-8 year olds in developing a life in the Word in order to cultivate a language for Prayer. We went over practicals like teaching children to paraphrase scripture, using synonyms to develop language that they can comprehend, using Bible study tools, and comparing translations. I taught primarily on praying the Apostolic Prayers and touched on using Art as a form of Prayer.

Praying Ephesians 3:16-19 over you all today,
I pray that out of God's great treasure chest, He would make you strong down deep inside. I pray that Jesus would be completely at home in your hearts. I pray that you would be rooted and built up in love so that you would be able to completely understand how big the love of Christ is and that you would know this amazing love that outshines everything else. (paraphrase)

Announcements

Last night I got roped into doing the "Welcome to the conference let's start worship blurb"... fortunately I didn't have too much time to think about it or I might have thrown up. Then today, roped again! Conference announcements this morning.

Not a big deal to most people, I'm sure, but you know there is a certain amount of pressure in having to cover a list of important stuff in a short amount of time and not have everyone bored to tears!

Well I did it, and no one threw tomatoes.

Up and Running

The Children's Equipping National Conference starts today... so I hit the ground running today! I'm headed out to set up for a luncheon for those conference attendees that get here early, and then to the Daniel Academy to teach my elementary art classes. The first session of the conference starts tonight!

Pray for us all as we serve and lead this conference.

Today the Earth Shook

Did I feel it? No not really, but did I see it? You bet I did!

Today in a little building where the Children's Equipping Center holds its services for the 6-12 year olds, something was born, and I know that it shook th earth.

Today was the first day of the Malachi 4:6 Prayer Meetings. Every Tuesday we will be gathering from 10AM-12PM to interceded for our nation, the schools in our city, orphanages, for signs and wonders to be poured out in our lives, and for our families. Today I wept as I saw moms and dads in able to come into a prayer meeting with little ones of all ages and be able to engage in prayer with their children without the fears of being a disturbance, having to keep children quiet, or babies from chattering. I a mother gather her little ones like a flock around them and gently shepherd them into a spirit of prayer.

Indeed He has "ordained praise" in children and infants to "silence the foe and the avenger". I know with all that I am that the Lord looked down in pleasure today on our rough and tumble little prayer meeting. I'm nearly certain that He threw back His head and laughed with delight. And I know the earth shook as sincere hearts declared the praises of God and offered up prayer before the throne.

My hope is that Malachi 4:6 Prayer Meetings will spring up across the earth, in schools, in churches, and in living rooms, where moms and dads gather their flock, invite other families, and join together in the Spirit of Prayer.

LET YOUR KINGDOM COME TODAY, FATHER!

Li Li on GodTV

Apparently Elia Jane made it on the webcast today! So if you have that handy dandy feature and can watch the 10AM Intercession set, you'll find her sometime between 11:00-12:00. I knew she was on once as I was in the Rapid Fire prayer line with her. But one of the camera guys grabbed me on my way out of the prayer room to tell me that he put a close up of her on the camera "just to show the guys in the back how cute she was," and he said, "they said to keep her there because they wanted to use it."

Disclaimer: That was a horribly formed sentence I know, but I'm too tired to try to rephrase it, so you get what you get!

Here's What's Going On....

We've "sort of" settled into a groove with school starting and adjusting to a new schedule- maybe a little herky-jerky, but it's a groove none the less!

John's semester at Forerunner Music Academy is going well. He's teaching two Foundations classes in Guitar. He's also teaching two classes at the kids school, JR HI and SR Hi Guitar electives. Most of all though I love seeing him in the Prayer Room, knowing I am watching him walk in his calling, and feeling so proud of him.

I'm stepping in to a leadership role in the Children's Equipping Center, and some days feel just stunned at the magnitude of all that God is calling us to here and all that He is doing in the lives of children that come here month after month. He truly is raising up a generation that will shake the earth as they walk in signs and wonders.

We're stepping into our National Children's Equipping Conference this weekend. My first of this particular conference here at IHOP. I'm teaching a breakout session on "Stewarding the Spirit of Prayer and the Prophetic" (geared toward working with 6-8 year olds). Pray for me and for our whole team as we prepare for this conference.

The kiddos are amazing! I'll try to keep pictures coming, but keep praying for that camera to come! :)

Vest or No Vest

The Nice Thing About a Size 12month T-shirt

Not only is it roomy and comfy and will last more than a week! The extra long sleeves make great teething tools when the rolled cuffs get unrolled by the yummy girl! Notice the first four inches of each sleeve are soaking wet!

When The Snow Melts

My cool kid Nick and his also-cool friend Jackson have a website.
Please check it out!

www.whenthesnowmelts.com

Spirit of Adoption

My friend Pam Levenick took this photo this summer and has made it black and white, printed it on watercolor paper and made it into a lovely greeting card with Malachi 4:6 "And He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers" on it. The special thing about this to me is that this is our daughter Elia and her brother Nick.

Elia Jane's name comes from Malachi 4:6 and Luke 1 where it speaks of John the Baptist coming in the spirit of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers." For new readers: Elia is the feminine of Elijah, and Jane is the feminine of John. May her life always be a reflection of the Spirit of Adoption!

This card will soon be available in the bookstore at IHOP.

You Might Be Moving Too Fast If....

In attempt to be PREPARED you run home to grab a bottle and lunch for one yummy baby, quickly check email and hop in the car to get to the Daniel Academy in time to teach art, you get to the bank to cash a check (HAVE TO GET FINGERPRINTED BY THE WAY!), and head out to school realizing that the yummy baby's lunch in AT HOME....sitting on the counter... the whole reason that you ran from point A to point B in the first place....

But if that doesn't do it, You Might Be Moving Too Fast If.... you clean up your classroom after teaching JR HI ART and SR HI ART, and in an attempt to run home feed the family dinner and make it to the Children's Equipping Center to work the evening conference tracks, YOU SLAM YOUR FINGER IN A WINDOW nearly severing the tip....

I'm just saying I MAYBE just MAYBE WAS MOVING TOO FAST!!!!!! Just a guess.
Needless to say, typing minus on middle finger on the right hand is a challenge, and I am home on my comfy couch and NOT at the conference. I probably could have used stitches, but I was in TOO BIG OF A HURRY to consider that! So I ran into CVS, trying not to pass out in the aisle from pain, and bought a bunch of butterfly bandages, etc... and fixed it up myself, a beautiful bit of self-doctoring if I do say so myself.

Apples and Plums

... are especially tasty when Isabelle feeds them to me!

Thanks to Nick and Photobooth

We can still manage to get a few photos online! Elia Jane is sporting a lovely bandanna. She's so cool! Now nearly 6 months old, the lady has two beautiful teeth. The last one required a great deal of effort on her part!