Imagine...

...that you had lived without a family for almost sixteen years.

...that nobody told you that you were needed (or wanted...).

...that, instead of a cake with candles on your birthday, with a family singing around you...

...instead of celebration, you lost all hope of anything ever changing.

December 1st will be an important day for two little ones without a family. The Hidden Treasures auction will start up to bring sweet Tony home.

But for Barton, it will mean his last chance of a family has come and gone.

Unless! Unless his family finds him and sends in their paperwork by tomorrow night.

That sounds impossible. But God can do all His Holy will!!!!

Please share his story! Pray for Barton! That he would become part of a family, that the Lord will wrap a hedge of protection around him, and that no matter what happens, God will receive all glory and honor and praise!

I'm Actually Very Shocked!

We had all kinds of hints we were going to throw out...

Like, no it's not a fish...

 

Or wet gumdrops.

 And, does a larger view help?

But apparently, I have a friend who has eaten a pomegranate or two in her lifetime, because she guessed it right off the bat....

It was a picture of the gorgeous pomegranate seeds we enjoyed last week! (I love how they shimmer... I do believe it's the prettiest fruit ever :).)

Congratulations, Kaitlyn :)!

Trick pic :)...

I haven't done a Trick Pic yet on "Forget Not His Benefits:", but I had actually started these posts before on "Home Life". Daddy got some really good pictures about a week ago, and he told me he thought it was time to have another little Trick post... and after seeing his pictures, I think I agree...

So, what do you think this is :)?... (And, yes, this is the hardest yet ;)!)

A Highlight from Today :)...

 For weeks now all the little ones have been asking often the past few weeks "Do you think it's going to snow this year?!"...

Yesterday everybody but Peter, who was napping, went outside and worked on raking up some of the leaves in the back into a nice pile...

Right under the slide. Can't get much better than that, huh ;)?!

 It's very large!!! It reminds Tori and I over the pile our grandpa 

spent an afternoon raking for us when we were Andrew and Emmi's age :).

Favorite leaf pile ever!!! Haha :).

Today, Mommy looked up and asked, "What is going on out- it's snowing! Everybody, look, it's snowing!"

Sure enough, it was! We all rushed out, no coats or anything, haha. Everybody was so excited! I didn't get any good pictures... they are either blurry or you can't see anybody's faces. But it was so cute :). Peter was jumping around with the rest of the little ones, saying "'nowing! 'nowing!", and then a snowflake landed on his hand... and he looked at it like "What is this?" And then it melted, and he looked more like "Where did it go?..." Haha :). None of it stuck, but I think that answered everybody's question ;)! 

Tori commented "It's kind of weird for it to be raining orange leaves AND snowing at the same time!" Haha, ya, kind of, heehee :).

And, so, after we got inside, I went straight to the cd drawer and grapped a Christmas carols cd, and Mommy started some beans for chili ;). I think we plan on having our Christmas kick off tonight... amazing what a little bit of fine ice, I mean, "snow", can start, huh ;)?!

"For everything there is a season, and a 

time for every matter under heaven:"

                                        ~Ecclesiastes 3:1

All Things are by HIS Hand...

"The Lord Jesus makes no mistakes in managing his friends' affairs. He orders all their concerns with perfect wisdom: all things happen to them at the right time, and in the right way. He gives them as much of sickness and as much of health, as much of poverty and as much of riches, as much of sorrow and as much of joy, as He sees heir souls require. He leads hem by the right way to bring them to the city of habitation. He mixes their bitterest cups like a wise physician, and takes  care that they have not a drop too little or too much. His people often misunderstand His dealings; they are silly enough to fancy their course of life might have been better ordered: but in the resurrection-day they will thank God that not their will, but Christ's was done."

~J. C. Ryle in his book "Practical Religion"