Gap Standers

God’s ultimate goal is for each lump of clay to be fashioned according to His design and for His purposes, not ours. “We are the clay, you are the potter,” Isaiah writes, “we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8). I am. You are.  Whoever you are praying for today is.  God shapes and molds. You pray and intercede.

That is from a devotion I read online today.  I think it is really helpful as I think about "standing in the gap" for Vita, since she has returned to Latvia - praying for her that God will be at work, molding her through her circumstances, to become what He has planned for her.  We are fighting the heavy sadness that came over us like a cloud when we put her on the way to the plane yesterday that would take her thousands of miles away from us.  I find some comfort in trying to have His perspective, that this is part of a complex plan for Vita.  Now  we have to keep that in our minds and in our hearts, each time we feel that sadness, whenever thoughts of something she did here with us pop up, or things of hers left behind appear.  Our prayers for her each day are not just a last resort, or "the only thing we can do."  Rather they are exactly what to do, God is moved by them, we know this!

Trinity Burge playing Skipbo with Vita, after the delicious dinner her mom made for us.

Now YOU, reader, must know something:  I am so sure that this MISSION TRIP (hosting Vita) that has just concluded, is not really over.  YOU have had such a mighty role, through your prayers, your encouraging words, your presence in our lives shared with Vita.  As we were singing in church yesterday, surrounded by many of you, I felt convinced that every smiling face or greeting extended was a memory being seared into Vita's mind, that will support the decisions and choices she has made while she's been with us.  On Tuesday, January 7th, after reading the Bible together, and going over the verses in her own Latvian Bible that I shared with her, Vita's decision to place her trust in Christ was (we believe) a sincere one.    We saw many changes in her, and one of them was her singing, in such a heart felt way, along with us at church.  As we tuned the radio to hear some news she asked us to switch it to our favorite Christian music instead, and that was most certainly a change from what she had requested in her first week or so with us.  We had so many teaching opportunities, and we pray that now that she's apart from us, the growing in her faith will continue!  THANK YOU so much for being in this with us, at the risk of repeating myself, we sincerely felt your  support, and it made a huge difference!

The Hart family so graciously gave us their time and energy in sharing their home, family, and horse!

What is next?  We will be asking God to show us that, and waiting with great anticipation!

Winter Garden

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”  Luke 8
   

     Funny time to be thinking about a garden, but . . .
The seeds in the bird feeder trigger the thought of seeds being scattered.  Here we are spending four weeks with a girl from across the world, and what seeds are being planted?  Because we love the Lord, and desire to follow His ways, we are reaching out to her, trying to share His love with her, hoping and praying that her heart is open, and the seeds will take root.  Only the Lord knows her heart, we just plant, water, and pray that He is at work.  Vita has spent quite a bit of time reading her new Latvian Bible - yay!  We know His Word is powerful, right?!
I'm so thankful that we got this cold wintery weather back, something inside me craves some real winter every year, and feels very disappointed if it doesn't happen.  I'm especially happy to experience it, and share it with Vita.  I've been keeping tabs on the weather in Latvia, and theirs this week has been at times 20 degrees warmer!  But today theirs is very similar to ours since we're heading back to a normal range.
We've enjoyed this past week, including a nice invitation to Becca Studer's girl scout bunco night, a fun dinner at our daughter Annie's, and a great time with Pat & Sarah and family on New Year's Eve.  We had Chinese food, and watched the movie Elf, which made Vita laugh so hard.  It was really fun to see her enjoying it, and I've been calling her my elf, since she was so helpful getting gifts wrapped, etc.  Vita tried to stay up to say Happy New Year at midnight, but couldn't quite make it.  She sneaked off to bed around 11:15.   Mike's been under the weather, and Vita and I've been taking good care of him together.  He's feeling much better now.  We got to go over to Pat & Sarah's and babysit one day, which I'm really glad she got to experience.  Those kids are irresistably cute!  Vita's loved painting and coloring by number, thanks to a fun trip to the craft store.  We watched the movie Beauty & the Beast, which moved Vita to tears (okay, so it gets me every time too!)  The fresh snowfall on Thursday evening was too hard to resist, so a nighttime snowball fight with Mike, Frankie & Vita ensued.  We also were treated to a very fun day at Chuck E Cheese's, courtesy of our friends the Tumys (Kara, Maggie, and Ethan).  I was very happy with the way that went, with Maggie taking Vita under her wing, and they were loving those shooting games! The Tumy family's graciousness and generosity will not be forgotten, and I hope a lifetime friendship has begun.  :-)
Well, thank you again for your support everyone, and especially remembering to pray for us.  We feel God is really in all of this, and you are too - so how cool is that to be part of a winter garden?!
XO
p.s. If you get to see Vita and are talking with her, please don't mention things from this post, etc.  She doesn't see or read this, and is confused when people have said they saw photos, and know about what she's been doing.  Thanks.  

Some people & dogs just love winter!

We all said "no, we're not coming out" so she went out to the back yard alone.  Then Mike & Frankie sneaked out the front door and ambushed her - she LOVED it!

Puzzle master

At Skate Frederick on Christmas Eve with Nathan, Lyla & Frankie

Cora's holding her kitten Moses, Vita's got the amazing cat Yosemite!