Happy Birthday Faith!!!!

It's official! Faith is really 7 years old!:)What a fun birthday week she has had and what fun it has been to celebrate her life.

Faith brings so much life to our family. She is our drama queen, our giggler, our easy-going, play with whatever and with whomever child. It was not long ago that I could not think of specific things that she loves more than others because she really did join in with what everyone else is doing. But since she has grown enormously in her reading ability, you are more apt to find Faith reading a book than doing anything else! She got an early birthday gift of oodles of "The Boxcar Children" books (thanks Ebay!) the beginning of January and she is already on book #10!!!

She loves stuff and I will often find her drawers full of misc. items that she has collected! But she is also one of my first kids to share and give away what she has to bless someone else! Her smile and laugh is contagious and I can't wait to see how the Lord uses the gifts He has given her for His glory and for the good of others.

The Proverbs say that "a joyful heart is good medicine" and Faith truly is just that!My heart is full of thanksgiving to call her my daughter and I praise the Lord for the day all 8 pounds 11 ounces of her came into the world! :) Love you, Little Miss "P"!!!!

On the Canadian front, the house hunt went okay...but no real "stand outs". Faith, the gal who took us around, was just precious and spent so much time behind the scenes looking for us and we are so thankful! All but one house we could only do a "drive by" and a "hop out and look at the outside" and the one we did go in was in pretty bad shape! It is looking more and more like we may end up in a townhouse...but we are still confident that God can do so much more if He chooses!:) We are following up on a couple of other houses (good ol' Craigslist) and we would love your prayers concerning those. We also figure that, if the vote goes through, that will mean a lot more people keeping their eyes open on our behalf! So, for now, we keep waiting...it would be nice to "tie up" some loose ends...but today was not that day.

Bryan met with an immigrations lawyer via the phone to go over our move and everything seems to look very simple...except for the fact that all of our kids need passports...their birth certificates won't cut it since we will be moving there and not just visiting. So, we are looking into that further...and praying that we might be given clearance as long as they know we are in the process of getting them. Otherwise, the time table might look a bit different! Lots of unknowns for us...but the one thing we do know is that none of this is unknown to God.

We had a great time of fellowship tonight with those in teaching positions in the church. Bryan shared a great devo and there was a time for questions and answers. A real blessing! There was also a sweet surprise for Faith...a birthday cake...sitting on the table when we arrived!
Our hearts are full, our heads are swimming and our eyes are heavy...but our souls are at rest! And, speaking of rest, the kids are not getting as much as they need so we are praying that God graciously gives them a REALLY good night sleep!

I can't help but mention Haiti while I am at it. I sit here trying to figure out where we can live and there are precious people in Haiti wondering if they are going to live and if those they love are still alive. My heart is heavy. Bryan reminded us tonight that, unlike Haiti's government, which has been reduced to rubble, God's government...God's sovereign rule....cannot be shaken. He is on the Throne and ruling and reigning both here and in Haiti. May we be Christians who do not only love in word and tongue but in action and in truth. May we seek to be apart of the aid that is going to Haiti both in physical ways and, more importantly, in gospel centered, Christ exalting ways! I know Sovereign Grace Ministries is seeking to do so and has posted how we can help with that effort.