We Could Have….

What a beautiful week in Arizona!!

The weather (for those who prefer the cooler) is just now beginning to cool.  It makes me smile.  This Buffalo-grown girl loves that it’s just now turning from sleeveless-to-short sleeve weather and we’re already well into November.

I think it was 1978, Dw was in law school and it was our first year married.  One beautiful fall day Dw said, “I’m skipping classes, throwing studying to the wind!  Let’s blow-off and go to Letchworth State Park (about 2 hours from where we lived).”   We chucked responsibilities and headed on a beautiful drive through the fall foliage to picnic and hike and stop in to see his parents (gracious I miss them!) in one of our most favorite places on earth.

And last week Daddy said, “Hey, let’s take a fall blow-off day….and a trip to the park was called…No there wasn’t fall foliage, nor a precious grandma and grandpa to pop in on…but there was this…

Friends, look at my sweet pile and imagine with me where we would be if we had said, “no” to any of them.   We could  have still taken a trip to the park…but look what we would have missed!

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Ruby had her first time down the slide!! She’s looking so old and she kinda’ actually liked it!!

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And to think….we could have missed all this if we had said “no” to adoption.  

Or if we’d chosen the empty-nest idea.  

Or if we’d said, “Five is fantastic.  We’ll stop there.”

And truly, it wasn’t a matter of “they needed us”…the truth is:  We needed them!

As much as I love words and I love to write, words fail me.  They have brought us joy that is indescribable.  

To think, we could missed this.

Is it always easy?  Well – of course not!  We are very human.

Raising kids is dang-stinkin’ hard work.

Bonding can be tough (especially with some).

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And there then are the piles.

Piles, piles and more piles everywhere.  Piles of laundry, piles of stuff that needs to go somewhere and piles of paperwork.

BUT there are also piles of precious people.  People who bring peals of laughter, screaming giggles, amusing stories, comical tales and uproarious joy.

So I’ll take the piles any way I can get them, even if it means ‘those other’ piles of not-so-fun stuff. 

And to think we could have missed this.  

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How clean, pile-free and dreadfully boring my life would have been.  

#Iwilltakethepilesanyday

6 thoughts on “We Could Have….

  1. oh my gracious, Linny! that picture of Ruby in the swing…stopped me dead in my tracks…i kept going back to it…just staring at it…she is just absolutely exquisitely beautiful!!
    And amazing. And a miracle girl. And all I can think as I look and look is ohmyword THANK YOU LORD for protecting her and continuing to write her story that defies everything!! <3 <3 <3 Love your family…wishing I could see you all again! 🙂

    1. Isn’t she just doing God-miraculous things?? Wait till you see what she started doing election night!! I really will have to get my roller skates on to keep up!! xo PS Hoping to do a trip kinda like a year ago this coming year!

    1. We pastored for 20 years. We had pastorates in Virginia (where we planted a church), North Carolina, and Colorado. We left pastoring to seek medical care for our medically fragile daughter who needed to be near a neurosurgeon. She has since had 5 brain surgeries.

      Our ministry, International Voice of the Orphan (IVO), feeds 16,000 meals each month to orphans and vulnerable children in 4 countries. IVO also provides medical care for orphans and vulnerable children worldwide and also is the covering for our daughter’s home to Special Needs orphans in Africa. She cares for 27 special needs orphans in her home: The Gem Foundation.

      We have a special place in our hearts for pastors and wives and their families. Ministry is so rewarding but can be so hard!! We loved pastoring, but are grateful for this new season we are in serving the orphans that we love so much!

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