All In

A couple of months ago, our Worship Director asked me if the Little Halls would help him make a video for an upcoming Sunday worship series. He said it would involve their jumping into a pool. Knowing them (and their love of swimming), I felt pretty comfortable saying yes.

The hardest part was convincing them to act scared. The series is called "All In". God wants us all in for the journey with Him. Nothing left on the table. Everything left on the field. All in.

That is a scary proposition.

I'm practical. I like order in my universe.

The thought of jumping in - all in - makes my heart race. What if....? What about.....? What will we do when.....?

Not easy questions to answer. Well, not easy for me to answer.

Trust. Obey. Go all in.

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name." Deut. 6:4-13

Stealing from a friend.....

....because my creativity well has run dry. And Julia's words are God-inspired. She reminds me that God is in the business of growing mighty trees from tiny seeds.

http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/
(credit: Julia Nalle)

Think Again....

You think what we do for the Least of These doesn't matter??

Think again...

READ THIS AND THINK AGAIN...

A mom who is unable to adopt at this time has a blog.  

She uses that blog to advocate for the Reece's Rainbow kids.  

It doesn't have a huge following. It isn't a major blog at all.  

But she is faithful.  She shares her heart.  She shares about the kids.  

She prays.  She has the blog linked to her e-mail 

address so every single time she sends an e-mail... 

she is also sending a connection to her blog.

So one day... just recently... she sends an e-mail to a friend.  

Not about adopting.  Not about RR kids. It was about homeschooling.  

Homeschooling. Just an e-mail with some information 

about homeschooling.  That friend forwarded the information 

to another friend.  THAT FRIEND read the e-mail 

AND HAPPENED TO NOTICE THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM.

She clicked the link.

She was confronted with the plight of the orphans in 

Eastern Europe and Asia. 

Her heart broke.  She and her daughter sat and scrolled 

through picture after picture.  Their hearts broken.  The Holy Spirit 

whispering to them as they looked.  When her husband 

came home they showed him what broke their hearts and his too broke.

They are now working on their homestudy and are 

going to commit to TWO REECE'S RAINBOW CHILDREN.  Two kids.  

Two.

Because a mom was faithful.

Because God uses whatever we offer for 

HIS GLORY AND HIS PURPOSE.

I know this story to be true.

I met this family today at the Richmond Buddy Walk.

I saw the children they are going to adopt.

They are just starting the process so I can't share who they 

are but I am rejoicing with them as they walk this road.

You think what you do doesn't matter?  You think you have 

too small of a blog or too few friends on Facebook to make 

a difference?  You think you are too meek or too insignificant for God to use?

So did my friend Gwen and look what God did through her.

Two orphans will be coming home because she was faithful 

in the small things.

What you do matters to these babes.  It matters to Tara and Veronika.  

It matters to Orion who spends his days laying in a crib.  

It matters to James and Andrius.  It matters to Dawn and Angelina. 

It matters to Michael.  It matters to Kai and Asher.  

WHAT YOU DO MATTERS.

YOU JUST HAVE TO DO SOMETHING TO MAKE IT MATTER!

Do whatever you can to be a voice to these kids and all the others.

Right now you can VOTE so that the ten children listed here 

will each receive 5,000 in their grant account.

You can select a child off the Angel Tree and help raise 

awareness and grant money for your child during the Christmas season.

You can share the kids on Facebook.

You can blog about them.

You can help the families get them home.

You can donate items for a Giveaway or an auction.

You can share about them in church and in your social groups.

You  can pray.  Above all - you can pray!!

WHAT YOU DO MATTERS.

You just have to do something to make it matter.

So please...

DO SOMETHING!!

And here's an easy way to start....

VOTE TODAY SO THAT THESE SWEET BABES HAVE HOPE!!

Tara                                                   Veronika

  

Orion                                            James

 

Andruis                                                                   Dawn

 

Angelina                                                     Michael

 

Kai                                                           Asher

  

CLICK HERE TO VOTE TODAY FOR THESE BABES!!

IT MATTERS!!

Forty-one

I celebrated my birthday last Wednesday. For the past 11 years, my birthday has been a bittersweet occasion. I turned 30 the day after the September 11th attacks. That morning, I was home with my 7 week old firstborn son. My sister-in-law called to tell me what was happening and to turn on the TV. I sat there for the better part of the day wondering what was going on - and knowing that our lives had changed forever.

In the wake of those terrible events, Mike and I made some life-changing decisions, namely, for him to leave his job as a Sales Engineer. He traveled frequently, and in fact, was supposed to be in Canada on 9/11. Thankfully, his trip was cancelled, and he was home with Fletcher and me that day. However, we had begun to consider if a career change would allow him to travel less. In the months that followed the 9/11 attacks, the economic downturn hit the telecommunications industry particularly hard, and we knew God was leading us in a new direction.

After much prayer and discussion, Mike left his job, and we set out on a new journey. It took us initially to Oklahoma City, where Mike began a master's program in medical physics. After he completed his degree, we moved to Little Rock, where he enrolled in medical school.

Where I looked at the move to OKC as an adventure, I saw the move to Little Rock as the end of civilized life and all that was good and right in the world. To put it mildly.

However....

We found a nice little house next door to a medical student and his family. We enrolled Fletcher in pre-school, and I returned to work part-time. And my father-in-law and I spent a week in the fall of 2004 building a wooden swing set and fort in the back yard. I had the time of my life, and PaPa taught me to handle a battery-powered drill like Bob Villa.

I cherish that memory, because on September 11, 2005, PaPa lost his 3-month battle with leukemia.

September 11 is hard.

But, I thank God for September 12. It's my birthday....and it's so much more.

This year, it was the day my 6 year old read a book to me. That's pretty impressive. Since this particular 6 year old stepped on US soil for the first time less than 6 months ago and spoke nothing but the Mandarin Chinese he had learned in his orphanage, I'd say it's remarkable.

Thank you God for the hope and promise that come with the gift of every September 12.

Thomas read this to me twice.

My favorite flowers from my favorite man.

A fancy glass mixing bowl from the Hall brothers.
Trying to tell me something, guys?

First Day of School

My babies are all grown up....how did that happen??

I am not responsible for Fletcher's choice of shoes. 

Bunch of punks...and I love them like crazy.

After they indulged my group picture-taking, they were off. Of course, I ran behind them to capture more first day goodness. I tried to do that to Mike when he was in medical school, but he outran me.

Looking for the door with the big K.

First grade, baby!

Everett's teacher, Mrs. McNabb, has taught Kindergarten at Christ Lutheran for almost 40 years. She's a legend in Little Rock. You meet any random adult in town who attended CLS, and one of the first things they tell you is: "I had Mrs. McNabb for Kindergarten."

I pray that I won't be saying, "Yeah, my youngest is the one who drove her into retirement."

He is pretty cute.

I couldn't spend much time crying over my baby starting Kindergarten, because next door, Thomas was starting first grade. My Middle Man, the one who just five months ago knew no English, jumped in with both feet. Kid was ready to start school.

It was hard for me to leave him. Thankfully, he is in the hands of Mrs. Parscale - also a CLS rock star. I'm pretty sure a kinder, more patient human being has never walked the face of the Earth.

Get used to it, Buddy. I'll be doing this for the next 11 years.

Grabbing first grade by the tail

And finally, I made it over to the middle school building. I have no idea how this child thinks he belongs in sixth grade, because I'm sure I took him to pre-school just last year. My heart is now breaking.

Mrs. Osborn and my baby. Who's in sixth grade.

I went home and cried. Then I placed a bet with my friends Jill and Becky on whose son would be the first one Mrs. McNabb sent to the principal's office.

Heroes Everywhere

It's August 8th, and I realize this is my first blog post of the month. And that I only posted 4 times in July. And that I promised in June to post more often.

Please, stop with the guilt. I can't handle it. I'm an only child. It's always MY fault.

OK....let's get on with the update....because this may be all I can come up with until 2013.

We've enjoyed big summertime fun around these parts. Fletcher's buddy Max stayed with us for a week. We discovered the fun of four.

No littles were hurt in this game of chicken.

 We enjoyed Happy Hour, Sonic-style.

So hot outside, even Mr. "I don't eat anything frozen" pounded a milkshake. 

It may be summer, but the Hall Academy for Classical Studies is still in session. So we took a field trip to the Museum of Discovery. Today's lesson: three pulleys are better than one.

Guns a-blazin'

Hold very still and the nails will not rip through your flesh.

The newscast on channel K-PUNK.

When we heard a local library was hosting a carnival called Lehmanpalooza, we knew we had to go. It did not disappoint.

Capt. Hall

The other Capt. Hall

Inflatables are fun no matter where you're from.

An unscripted moment of brotherly affection

On the "parachuting" inflatable

Wheeeee!!!

Fletcher won this door prize.
He's trying to convince his little brothers  to "earn" it through forced labor.

 We wrapped up Max's visit with a night at the AR Travs game.

Tuesday was National Night Out at our neighborhood pool. Thomas got a huge kick out of the firemen and their truck.

The police were also there. Thomas was very curious about the siren and spotlight. Somethings transcend culture when it comes to little boys.

And our favorite hero of all....Spiderman!!

Pictures...because words are hard

Since I can't seem to get my act together enough to write blog posts these days, I'm going to post pictures with descriptive, and where appropriate, humorous captions.

Happy 11th birthday, Fletch!!

You've come a long way, baby.

 

Now get to work. You're 11 years old, man.
Time to earn your keep around here.

 

Teachin 'em young.

After making them work like Hebrew slaves, I fed them well.

 Rare Miniature Asian Buck sighting at the
AR Nature Center.

After getting to know the Natural State a little better,
it only seemed right to chow down on fried catfish.

Visiting the Heifer Village. Great place to see how people
around the world live.  These insecticide-treated
mosquito nets save countless lives in Africa.

Ninjas across Asia

I don't care who you are....riding a tire on a swing is fun. 

Fasterrrrrrr!!!

Three little rednecks on a tire swing

Longest drive competition (2nd place) - First Tee Golf Camp

Another great year at golf camp

 

Swimming the backstroke at the Championship Swim Meet.
Way to go, Fletch!!

It's how we work on our gross motor skills at the Hall Academy for Classical Studies.