On Love

So, now that I have got it into my head that I will not have a court date until March, my spirits have come up from the pit they were in most of last week. Adam and I took the kids to Gainesville on Saturday to see the Auburn swim team in a dual meet with UF. Our girls lost and our guys won. The drive was nice and it was a relief to get out of the house and away from everything for the day. After the meet we asked some locals for a good pizza spot and the directed us to a great spot in downtown Gainesville where we ate some delicious and extremely pricey pizza.

It rained the whole way home (about 2.5 hrs) and the kids watched a DVD with the head phones on so it gave us time to just talk in the car. When there are three children around, sometimes even though you live with a person, sleep with a person, doesn't mean you actually get to talk to the person.

On Sunday, we were again busy...after church, we got some lunch and the kids were promised a bike ride so Adam took them to do that while I was catching up on some work. Then we went to our church business meeting where Adam was voted in as the newest deacon...so that was exciting and tonight we kick off a week long revival that we are really excited about.

Not much happening in adoption news...another family from our agency received a court date and we were told that will likely be the last one for February. (19th) I haven't heard that anyone has received the 26th (our region only holds court for adoptions on Tuesdays) so, it is not impossible that others will not get that date. There are currently 3 families in front of us so when we see that they have received their court dates, we will know we are close to ours. Please continue to pray that the Lord will provide miracles for these families, that He will continue to go before us and our paperwork and pave the way to bringing these children home.

We are just a few days away from February and Valentine's Day is coming quickly...how will you show your love? I leave you with an email I received from my step mom, Susan.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean? "The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

*"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8

*"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

*"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

*"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6

*"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4

*"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7

*"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8

*"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

*"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

*"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

*"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6

*"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people
watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8

*"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

*"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5

*"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7

*"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4

*"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4

*"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image)
Karen - age 7

*"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."
Mark - age 6

*"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

*And a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"