My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday!!! My first one not in the state of WI. I think I handled it pretty well. Thank goodness I have a lot of family members to hang out with!!


We had a really fun day. It started out by Carter bringing me breakfast in bed. He made me peanut butter toast and a handful of Halloween candy (he knows me so well). On top of the plate was this sweet note....

The P.S. says "I'm moving Halloween to next week" Carter knows it's not my favorite holiday!!

I got to eat out lots this week for my birthday, which is one of my favorite things to do!!! I got lots of fun presents. The best being from Matt. He gave me a Coach purse!!! I LOVE purses so much and have wanted one for a long time now. For those purse lovers out there, no he did not pick it out himself, he gave me a gift card and we went together!!!

We spent the day at the Pumpkin Patch!!! It was such a beautiful day out. One of the perks to living in a more Southern State!! It's still really warm out!!

There was a petting zoo too!! This is one of Ana's favorite things to do!! So being that it was my birthday, I let her do it for a long time cause it brought me joy to watch her!!!

She's a little bit like Snow White with the animals flocking all around her!!

I know most of you will never get the chance to see Ana when a rooster cock-a-doodle-do's but it is hilarious!! It is as if the mother-ship is calling her home!! I think she's pretty sure the roosters are asking her to come over and play.... or move in with them!

We also had fun in a corn maze, rope maze, and bamboo maze! I lost the race every time :(

How funny is Carter's face? I think he's lost!

They had some fun tractors to ride on. This was Durant's highlight!!

It was a super fun birthday!! Thank you to all of you for the birthday wishes throughout the day!!

Ana's 1st day of School!!

After 2 months of searching we finally found a school that works for Ana!! She started on Wednesday. She was so excited to finally be able to go to school again. Her first few days went well and she's starting to open up already!

This is Ana outside of her new school! The best part is that it's a place for kids with special medical needs so they know exactly how to handle any medical issues Ana might have. Plus there are lots of nurses on staff at all times.

Ana got to carve out a pumpkin and go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch!!

The Least of These....

Matt and I have been talking a lot about the least of these. He posted this on the Eyes That See blog so I thought I'd share it here....

When you think of it, this is a difficult concept. Any definition of who this describes becomes slippery. It’s a label no one wants to wear, yet Jesus clearly speaks about this reality.

We just moved to Jefferson County, Kentucky. You may have read about our school busing in the USA Today lately. It is a case study in the “least of these.” People from West Louisville are being bused to go to school with everyone else. People are upset, and stereotypes abound.

We live in a nice area, next to nice people. We often hear about “lower income families” and people with state assistance or health care. Because of our daughter’s health situation, we have to stay at a salary right now to receive that state health care. We are the unwanted neighbors that everyone is talking about, they just don’t know it.

Some wonderful people are doing work in Ethiopia right now. They are in one of the parts of Addis that is so difficult to walk into, yet even harder to walk away from. I haven’t been to this place yet, but I’ve seen others. Places where people are living in pieces of tin leaning on one another. People drinking from the same river they use for a toilet. These people would welcome death as an end to their pain. When you are there it is so clear that they are “the least of these.”

I just returned from Addis to a city that is learning to love the poor in Africa. The radio is raising sponsorship for children in Ethiopia. Organizations are rising up to help everywhere. People are changing the way that they live, but I cannot help wonder, are we missing “the least of these?”

For me, I want to devote my life to help those who are in need in other countries. I want to work with those in West Louisville to see God’s Kingdom come alive in their midst. At the same time, I have a hard time with passive Christians. I pass them by. Sadly, I’ve been known to judge them in my heart, seeing them as less than anyone else. Isn’t that statement in my heart the very definition of “the least of these?” Doesn’t my problem with the passive show the brokenness in my heart and where I need healing?

For some of us “the least of these” are in Africa, and yet for others I know that is the trendy, easy scapegoat to use. If “the least of these” are in Africa we don’t have to worry about our neighbor. We just give our money, our time, our conversation and go on living unchanged. I don’t think that is the gospel.

Maybe for you, “the least of these" are the successful. You would never say it out loud, but you can’t stand them. Maybe they are the single parents, the delinquents, or the people on the west side. Maybe it is those, like myself, who have their insurance through the state.

I don’t know who “the least of these” are, but I’m pretty certain that there is not a definition to be placed on one people group. “The least of these” is a matter of the heart. Nikki and I have been talking about this all weekend and we are praying that some of you take time with your Father about this question. Who are "the least of these" that He is inviting you to love?

Matthew 25:40

And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'