This is a great story from one of my MOPS friends from Vineyard Inverness Church. Also included is a need something? want something? want to sell something? section and a list of playdates and other good information concerning their church and other things. This is very recent too so if you want or need anything from the swap/sell section contact me. What do you think about this type of newsletter for our church? Leave a comment. Thanks. Michelle.


Some of you have learned that we now have an exchange student living with us. It happened so quickly that I wanted to share with you how it all happened. I think for me the desire started when I would see my friends with their children whom they adopted from other countries. I longed to share my love and home with children from another country as well. Realistically we are not a place to be able to adopt because we still want to give our children what they need from us.

I am sure it seems we never give our children our focused attention because we are always so busy. Honestly, Josh is able to much more than I. I do give them focused attention, but with all my duties and projects I am also a living example of generosity and service to those in need. My children learn to put others before themselves because they see me put others’ needs before my own. For example, before we went to the McWane Center , we went to visit the precious homebound grandmother from Set Free’s inner-city church and brought her dinner. She was so delighted to see us that she walked onto the porch to see us go, something her son said she only does when the physical therapist makes her. She had knee surgery a month or so ago. So we do fun things together, but find ways to mesh service with our fun.

It is no surprise I went looking for a new way to reach out and love someone new. I wasn’t sure who and where for this year. My duties with MOPS have been passed on to another passionate and capable mom who will do a marvelous job. I was open to whatever God had for me to do. When the church began talking about serving and reaching out to students at UAB from other countries, my heart was stirred all the more. Only I was interested in having a student live with us.

Josh and I talked about it and he agreed to apply to a company we found on line. We applied on a Friday. Over the weekend, Josh kept mentioning that I call my friend to find out the agency she used. Once I got the info, I called on Tuesday. Within two hours, I had been placed with a student. The student I was placed with was flying to America without a place to go! I found out she was South Korean, which is great because I have a great friend who is married to a Korean man. I knew they and several other friends would offer great support to us! How amazingly quick this all worked out! Wednesday I was loaded with information as well as orientation. Most of the day was spent getting her room ready and cleaning the house. Her room was an office with toddler toys. We weren’t using the space as much so this was a better way to use the space. By Wed night, our home looked and felt ready for our new family member. A lot like getting ready for a new baby!?! My baby is now 18 months, so in routine of our family, I would be having a baby or almost having a baby by now. We are done having our own children, but God has filled the place in my heart to love and nurture a new child with this student.

Late Thursday night, my coordinator and two dear friends went to help me welcome my new daughter. She is so lovely and kind. She is eager to learn and ask questions. We are all amazed at how well she has adjusted to our life and to America ! I consider it a privilege to represent our country with the love of Jesus. She has already quickly told me she feels comfortable and at home with us. What an honor to welcome a person from another country into our home. Her father has emailed and called to check in with her and share his gratitude for how kind we have been to Julia.

Friday, while driving in the van, I heard Jennah singing children’s Bible songs to Julia. Then I heard her ask, “Do you know Jesus Loves me? (meaning the song) Then she said, “Do you know Jesus loves you? He does love you!” With tears in my eyes, my heart swelled with joy to hear my precious child sharing the love of Jesus with our new family member! She has been welcomed with loving arms by everyone in our family! Josh loves the idea of watching all his movies with her. Jennah loves having a sister. Joshua I think is infatuated by her beauty, but also likes to build blocks with her. Jonah likes to play silly games with her. Jordan likes to play peek-a-boo with her. I worried she might take away attention from my kids, rather she is offering her attention to them as well. She has quickly fallen into our family is such a wonderful way. To help her understand my expectations of how to be a part of our family, I wrote general ideas of how to live with us. I explained where to put dirty dishes, where to put clean dishes away, where to put recycling, and more. This morning she unloaded the dishwasher and helped pick up toys after playtime. She is helping me teach the children how to help and be responsible as well as teaching them many Korean words and phrases.

It all happened so quickly that I had to make sure I wanted to go through with this. I was and Josh was too. But then to see how God has strategically placed her in our family is so amazing! I am so honored that God has allowed me to share the love of Jesus with this precious child of God!

I pray you will allow God to bring new opportunities into your life to be able to share the love of Jesus in unexpected ways. I pray you will be at peace with sharing your attention with new ways of ministry. I pray you will know you will continue to be a loving and attentive mother even if you take on new ways to minister to others. I pray your heart will be open and willing to follow God’s direction wherever he sends you (or to whomever he sends to you!).

Host Families

We are looking for good families who would be willing to open their homes and their hearts to International High School students who will arrive in the area in August. This is a great opportunity to experience a different culture without leaving your home. Hosting a CIEE student can be a very exciting, memorable, and rewarding experience for your family. You will gain a new perspective about your community and the world. Students are well selected, speak English, have their own spending money and health insurance coverage. You do not have to have a teenager to be able to host. Students can share a room with a host sibling of the same sex within 4 years of age difference. Some of our students can pay private tuition. Still many students that need to be placed. To apply, go to http://www.ciee.org/hs/host/ . For more info, contact, Megan at 615-895-9560 or 800-949-0819 today!! Email medwards@ciee.org


Hello Everyone,
I hope you are having a great week! I am getting a crash course/reminder of High school this week now that Julia is in going to school! I look forward to playgroup this Friday for sure!

FRIDAY PLAYGROUP:
We will meet at my house from 10-12. I hope you can join us for the fun!

Aug 28 Jennifer’s Home
Sept 4 Pelham Chickfila
Sept 5 Girlfriend Time/ Ladies Coffee Bean Hole 9am
Sept 11 Valleydale Chickfila
Sept 18 Kay Bishop’s Home
Sept 25 Pelham Chickfila


JOB OPENING:
Immediate Part-Time Preschool Computer Instructor needed, mornings.
This job can easily work around school schedules.
Dependable transportation and basic computer skills required.
To inquire contact Jean Levine: msjeanlevine@mindspring.com PH:205-995-1225


SWAP / SELL :
FOR SALE: Frigidaire side by side white refrigerator for $250. NEED TO SELL ASAP!!!!! Email Lydia H if you are interested. If you know someone who is, please pass info on. Thanks!
DOG NEEDS A HOME:Jamie W. has a dog that needs a new home for free. She is an 8-year old full-blooded golden retriever. Her name is sugar. She is house trained. Can be an inside or outside dog. She is very scared of storms, o probably best if she can be indoors, especially during storms. FREE STROLLER: It is brown and teal and has usual wear and tear but is in working order. Contact Paula L if you need it at .
FOR SALE: Lydia H. has an armore for sale, its tall light color oak, thick wood, fits 40 in tv also has 2 drawers, and 2 pull open doors, rustic look. Washer and Dryer set. I put these 2 ads in the Mule Trader for $100 each (washer and dryer together). If you are interested or know anyone that needs either contact me. Lydia at
NEED: Julie B. needs a sofa or loveseat and chair for free or cheap. She also needs a kitchen table with 4 chairs or less for free or cheap. Contact her if you can help her out at
FREE PLAY OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT: A couple of things I have that I would love to donate to a good home if someone wants to come all the way out to the Trussville area. We have a playhouse (pink, green, yellow, with a blue roof like the one on the playground) and a victorian kitchen, both in great shape.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
Let's pray for God to bless marriages this week. That God will fill each couples heart's with a love and graciousness for their spouse.

Zumba!!!

There have been a lot of things going on in my life this summer. The summer I was determined to “be still.” I took an Advanced Grammar course at University of Montevallo. I went on an anniversary cruise with my husband to celebrate (almost) 10 years of marriage. I started taking a new dance/exercise class called Zumba and I have fallen in love with it. That’s the topic of this blog today. More on NOT being still in future blogs. Lee laughs at me because I tell him that I’m going to dance team practice because I’m pretending that I’m a dancer for the Dallas Cowboys or something like that. It is such a fun class and while it is not hard for me it has been very hard for some other people- it’s amazing how many people have absolutely NO rhythm whatsoever. I mean, I’m not a good dancer, nor have I ever been, but at least I have decent rhythm. Lee also laughs at me because I am a snapper. He says I’m “so white” because I snap my fingers when I dance! He thinks because his mom and aunts used to dance with him to Motown songs when he was a tweenager that he is exempt from also being “so white.” I would love to start teaching a Zumba class at my church but the music would not be allowed, so I’m on a quest to find fun, dancing, upbeat music either with no lyrics or Christian lyrics so that I can re-choreograph some dances. My favorite dance that we do is to the song “Apple Bottom Jeans” (I’m not even sure that’s the real title of the song) but the dance is so fun because we tootsie roll, and we get “low low low low low” like the song says! There is a lot of latin influence as well and we salsa, cha-cha, dance to cumbias. Some other great songs like “Beat It” and “Boom Boom Pow” are fun to dance to as well. I have included a link to see an example of a Zumba dance.

So the first link is a typical Zumba dance class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrDsKOj2hrw

This is how I'd like to be able to dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eYi6OGka0Y&feature=related

Our Cruise

A lot of people have been asking about our cruise so I decided to just blog about it and then post it on Facebook. It was wonderful, for the most part. The cruise ship was big and since it was so big- you can imagine how many people there were on it. About 3000. There are always things you can complain about on cruises but I am going to focus on the positive stuff. We went to four different ports which was important for Lee b/c he hates being stuck on a ship. We went to a private island in the Bahamas called Half Moon Cay (that's pronounced KEY) then we were at sea for a day, then we went to St. Thomas US Virgin Islands, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Turks/Caicos Islands, another day at sea then back to Miami.

Half Moon Cay had the most beautiful water I have ever seen and hands down the Bahamas has the best looking water than any other place in the Caribbean. It rained on us in St. Thomas a little bit so we didn't have a real pretty day there. At least it was overcast and not crazy hot. We did a little jewelry shopping, much to my surprise, and Lee bought me a gorgeous Topaz/Diamond ring. Pictures are on my album on Facebook.

We took an open air bus all around the island of St. Thomas. It was pretty in places and bleak in places. We stopped at Coki Beach for a swim but it was raining by that time. We still had fun.

Then it was off to San Juan, Puerto Rico. By then we had made friends with a couple (who was not a couple) and took another bus (this time air conditioned) with them around Old San Juan and New San Juan. It was beautiful. Very big city like. The waves were big and the rocks were beautiful.

Next stop was the Turks and Caicos island. Very small. They say when our ship docks there it doubles the population. We went snorkeling on an excursion and had to take a small boat out 7 1/2 miles. Let me just tell you- it was the worst 15 minutes of my life. The waves were pretty big and the boat would slam us down constantly and it HURT. I was very freaked out and Lee was mad at me for not listening to him on how to sit right but he didn't know how panicked I was about the tumultuous boat ride. Finally we got there and saw some beautiful fish and a sting ray. We walked on the island and saw a natural rock bridge over a pool of water and found out that Bill Cosby used to own the island.

Other than that on the ship we ate a lot, we went to Harry's Supper Club (where you pay a little extra to eat) and had the best meal of our lives, we went to the karaoke clubs and I sang a little John Cougar Mellencamp, we watched movies on the Lido deck, we sunbathed by the pool, we hung out on our balcony and listened to our own MP3 players and danced for the people on the cruise ship next to us, we went to a hypnotist show, we laughed, and most importantly, we remembered why it was we were there- to celebrate 10 years of marriage (although the actual anniversary isn't until October), we remembered why we fell in love with each other, we remembered what it was like before kids, and we realized how great it is to come home after a trip like that to two of the best boys breathing air!

It was a very expensive trip and so it'll be back to eating deer meat, macaroni n cheese and jambalaya for a while but it was worth it. We'll only take a big trip like this every 5 years or so. I can't wait to take the boys on a cruise when they get older- much older.

This is one of Lysa Terkeurst's recent blog posts: I thought I'd share it on mine (I hope that's ok Lysa- I mean maybe 3 or even 4 people might read this!!)

Why we named her Hope

Many of you know my story. In my childhood I suffered horrific abuse at the hands of a close friend of our family. Then in my late teens, my youngest sister passed away and my world fell apart. I felt abandoned by God. I was so angry I told him I would never love Him or believe in Him again.And with those words still fresh on my lips, I headed straight into the arms of the world and all it's flashy promises.

Just a few years later, I found myself sitting in an abortion clinic realizing I'd just bought the greatest lie being sold to women today. With tears streaming down my face, I walked out of that place realizing it wasn't just cells dividing that I allowed them to take. It was a child. And when they took that child, they took part of my heart as well.I went home after that and wished I could close my eyes to never wake up again.Eventually, I slowly returned to life. But not as the same vivacious person I'd always been. I was haunted and tormented by my decision.

Even on my wedding day. I remember walking down the aisle on what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life- fighting with all my might not to cry when everyone stood up in honor of me. All I kept thinking with each step down that aisle was, "If only they knew- they'd never stand."The early days in my marriage were hard. Really hard. It's impossible to love another person when you desperately hate yourself. I went through the motions of smiling, trying to be happy, and trying to play the part of a young in love bride but the broken pieces of my heart kept bumping into my best efforts.

Then, 4 months into this rough start of a marriage, we found out we were pregnant. The day Hope was born I saw God like never before. His tender grace was handed to me wrapped in a pink blanket with eyes so wide- so blue- they were a sea of forgiveness forever staring back at me.I'd never physically touched God, but that day I did. And maybe for the first time in my entire life, His hope rushed inside of me and started rearranging and redeeming my brokenness.Hope.We named her Hope.Now, we won't talk about the conversations I had with God when his Hope kept me up in the middle of the night for months after that. And we will save the story of how His Hope has always felt it was beneath her to be child and would put her hands on her toddler hips and tell me not to boss her.We'll save those stories for another day.

For today, I got an e-mail from His Hope. At this very minute, His Hope is walking the broken roads of Ethiopia navigating poverty her mind can't quite process. She's bumping into sheep and a woman walking toward her home made of cardboard and ripped bed sheets.Her steps are steady though her heart feels shaky. For once again she will spend today loving on 30 kids dying of AIDS in a forgotten orphanage on the forgotten outskirts of town.She wrote to say, "Mom, I've fallen in love. The kids rushed at me when I walked in and I tried to hold all 30 of them at one time."His Hope.From a broken mama. Into a broken world. His Hope is going forth like only His Hope can."I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth," 3 John1:4.

Cade & Cameron's VBS debut

Cade & Cameron performed a few songs for the church during Vacation Bible School week. Please visit my friend Tricia's site to see the 1 minute video of them. It's worth it just to see the boys and Cameron's friend David who can dance quite a jig!

http://triciaschmidblog.blogspot.com/

You will have to push pause on her music box to hear the video. Look for it on the right hand side.

My Grandma

I just found out that my grandma died this morning. Can I just tell you a little bit about this grandma of mine? She was such a wonderful grandma. She was the kind of grandma who had dessert every night after dinner. She was the kind of grandma who let you buy a bunny just because it was Easter. She was the kind of grandma who let you come visit her every summer all summer long. She was the kind of grandma who let you live with her for part of a school year because of some reason I really don’t understand. She was that kind of grandma.

She would send me and my brother to our rooms to learn the books of the bible when we got in trouble- and that was a lot so you can imagine that my brother and I have those books memorized. She was the kind of grandma who really listened to what you had to say. She was so proud of all her kids and her grandkids that she truly beamed when talking about them even the last time I saw her in the nursing home last weekend. She was a Godly woman who loved the Lord and wasn’t afraid to tell anybody about how much she loved Jesus. She was always on the go- not letting para-lateral sclerosis keep her from driving. She got her van fixed with hand controls so she could still travel the country to see her family and friends. I’m so thankful to have had her in my life. She was so much more than a grandma to me- she was a mother. I pray I’m half the mother and grandmother that she was.

A beautiful picture

I took this picture as Lee & I were driving home from a stressful weekend helping to pack up my grandmother's things as she is now in a nursing home. In passing I told Lee to look at the sky because it looked like it was an entryway of some sort to Heaven. Almost like a "Scotty Beam ME Up" kind of entryway. He thought it was so pretty that he pulled over to take a picture of it (something he just normally doesn't do) and I wanted to share it with you all. It was in Andalusia. God paints the prettiest pictures sometimes doesn't he? I really needed to see this after an emotional weekend. Thank You Lord.