Weekend Blitz - Three Week Anniversary

Two days of Sweetpea unloosed has worn us thin. She has made some amazing steps in the 3 weeks she has joined our family but my this weekend, without the tight structure of the weekday schedule she spun out of control, but not in a destructive way, just on a frenetic energy packed way. During the week because of the predictability and the structure she seemed to have calmed her anxieties down a lot. I did not see that until Saturday when they ramped back up and I noticed what was going on. I think the structure makes her feel secure and safe, like life is predictable even if there are small anomalies in the day. Saturday and Sunday are free days where the schedule is up for grabs and I think that set her back to her survival pattern.

There are some great things we are seeing God do in her life that I want to share. First off this week a lot of her sharp physical battery became rounder body tackles with attempts to return the caresses she is constantly getting from me. I rejoice in this. When she first came she wouldn't let me touch her hair at all, then progressed to letting me comb it momentarily. I floated the idea of hair bows and she tried it for a short time on Thanksgiving and then gave it back to me, which I thought was a great stride forward. This week I sorted through all the hair decorations with her and she explored them. The next day I asked her to pick a clip and she choose one to let me put in. I waited for it to be pulled out but it stayed in all day. We are having more clip-in days than not now. That is progress.

The really big one happened this afternoon. She was being rambunctious, not bad in any way just physical and out of hand. So before she got herself in trouble or injured someone (and I am a little self-protective today, read on for that) I had her sit in a chair for some rest time. It was a time to just observe the rest of us in the room talk and interact, also a time for her to collect herself and calm. Well she was miffed at being asked to sit and while sitting int he chair decided to let me have it, "I can see your UGLY face from here!" She has said this many times before, I am sure it has been said to her many times before because it is on easy playback with her. BUT....today as soon as the words escaped her lips she restated it with emphasis, " I can see your BEAUTIFUL face from here!" much softer tone and with tenderness. I did not show it but I marvelled at how in just 3 weeks she has seen a difference in how she has been loved and blessed by words in this family and how she wanted to use her words for blessing and not for cursing, even if she felt upset with me. O thank you Jesus for this wonderful work you are doing in her heart.

I cannot thank you enough for the prayers on our behalf. God has heard our pleas and is showing Himself so graciously in our lives right now. Thank you for lifting us up. We would not have the patience nor peace to go through this troubling time without the strength that Christ is giving us daily.

I am much encouraged these days by these:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or
fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until
the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In
this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to
suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1: 3-7

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith
into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5: 1-5

Please continue to lift us up in prayer:

• my back has decided to spasm most of the afternoon and evening with my right shoulder joining the protest. Please pray for healing as Sweetpea takes a whole mama to help her.
• please pray for the medical appointments this week, that they would go well and that Sweetpea would find strength and comfort from us.
• please pray for the other 3 girls who are in need of care and facing their own struggles and sacrifice, that they may find their comfort in Christ and rest in our arms.