Peanut Butter & Jelly

Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches are best made on bread shaped like flowers . . .

. . . Eaten with friends . . .

. . . while making a funny face.

(Please excuse the strange dress code. This snack was eaten after baths & before getting dressed up for a church event. My standard quick fix for those in-between times is big and floppy tee-shirts, easy to put on & reasonably modest.)

God Answers Prayer

Last evening, just as I was in the midst of the usual 'post-supper rush' of trying to get green beans into the canner, clearing off the table, training grouchy children to be cheerful even when they're tired, and doing my best to not look as frazzled as I felt (David's folks were here!), the phone rang.

I was somewhat dismayed to hear Doreen's voice on the other end of the line, and my thoughts ran something like this;

"Oh no! Things are going terrible with Rashiya and her Mom. Doreen needs a shoulder to cry on, and I just CAN'T cope with that right now!"

But her voice sounded strangely cheerful. It definitely was not the "God-is-sustaining-me-therefore-I-can-still-smile" kind of cheerful either. She sounded light, happy, even ecstatic. What was going on? I wondered.

Well, to make a long story short, she was calling to inform me that she now has permanent guardianship of Rashiya! What a miracle! Doreen and her Mom (who had gone along) contacted Family Services when Brandy's stories weren't lining up with the evidence in front of them. Family Services decided to perform a surprise inspection on Wednesday, which ended with Brandy being given two options, sign Rashiya over to Doreen, or let Family Services take her. After getting her signature, the case was whipped through court and finalized.

Praise God! He has answered far above and beyond what I had even hoped for!

AnnaLee, Doreen and Rashiya will be in our neighborhood tonight/tomorrow. I can't wait to hear all the details and CELEBRATE! If you were helping pray, then by all means help us praise!

Here is a song that has been running through my mind ever since I got off the phone!

Here's Doreen with Rashiya as a newborn.

Rashiya with Abbigail, Doreen's first 'prison baby'.

A busy little girl!

A Prayer Request

I just thought I'd ask you all to pray for my friend Doreen, and her baby, Rashiya, right now.


Doreen got Rashiya straight out of the hospital about 15 months ago. She's a 'prison baby' meaning that her Mom was incarcerated at the time of her birth.


Now her Mom - Brandy, has been released, and wants Rashiya back on this coming Monday. It's not a very secure situation that she'll be going to. Brandy has three other children that have been taken away from her. During visits at the prison, Rashiya wouldn't even go to her Mom. So the adjustments will be tough.


Please pray for Doreen, as she lets Rashiya go. Even though she's known all along that Rashiya wasn't hers, it's still severing a tremendous bond. And leaving Doreen with empty arms.


Please pray for Rashiya as her little world will be turned upside down, and she's too young to understand all the reasons.


Please pray for Brandy, that she will be a good Mom, and choose wisely if she should try to keep her daughter or give her up for adoption. (She has talked about it already.)


Rashiya is only about three weeks older than Katri. So this really hits home for me when I consider how I would feel if it were MY little girl being taken away.

Feel free to post messages to Doreen in the comments section of this post.

"Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
Matthew 18:19