Presenting Mr. and Mrs...

From my seat in the front pew, I was delighted to witness that wonderful moment when the pastor said, "I'd like to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Castille!"

From Hopeless Orphan to Beloved Wife

The day we first met Zhenya on her orphanage grounds.

Then. And...

Now.

God abounds in lovingkindness!

Surrounded by Love

Since we adopted Zhenya from Russia in 2001, she has been blessed to be surrounded by so many who want the very best for her. Her wedding day was a grand display of the support and love that have made her life rich and contributed to healing from deep scars from her early childhood. Her dad and I thank God for Zhenya's many many friends who have walked with her through thick and thin!

They. Are. Married!!!

6 September 2015

Our Marriage is Mending

To our dear readers, I'm so sorry that I have been so silent lately. Between preparing for Zhenya's wedding and a computer dilemma that has kept me from being able to export photos from Lightroom 5 (my photo editing software), I've been so long in posting.

This will be a quick post, but now that my wonderful, incredible man has solved my technology problem I'll be posting again.

Here's that man who is the love of my life. God has been so kind to grant us nearly 32 years together. We love the rare opportunities we get to travel alone. We love our little "just us" adventures. Truly, our entire marriage has been an unbelievable adventure. Someday I'd love to write the biography of our union. It's been a wild ride! I just can't believe the twists and turns that we never would have written into our own story had we been the authors. And, yet, through it all God has been our strength. He has made the journey beautiful...even in our ugly moments. He has showered our marriage with grace.

This weekend we went road tripping on a quick business trip. Our journey took us through one of my favorite places in this beautiful nation -- the small town of Galena, Illinois. Many of the buildings date back to the Civil War era in the 1860s.

The detail in these old buildings takes my breath away.

Here's the front of the building pictured above. Is this not amazing?

On this particular quick visit to this small town full of restaurants and shops, the doorknobs caught this photographer's eye.

I thank God that after a very rough three years or so, the Lord has opened the door to profound sweetness in our marriage again. The secret? We finally each got humble. We stopped slamming our one-flesh-life-partner with, "I deserve better from you". God lifted the mirror of His word and showed each of us just how selfish and self-focused we'd become as the daily-ness of life slowly heated up. We each started to look at "self" as the source of trouble, and stopped pointing the finger at each other. Only humility and brokenness over our own sin could heal our marriage. We thank God that we're passionately, wildly in love with one another again.

I feel like a newlywed all over again! Did I mention how crazy I am about my man???

A Sweet day Day to Celebrate

Today was a very happy one for our family. Anna, who's in a wedding here this weekend, flew in for a long weekend.

She couldn't bring the whole family, but she brought the newest member of our tribe, six-week-old Jillian. The little one had quite a fan club meet her at the airport!

And here was Jillian's reaction to meeting her many aunties and uncles as her Uncle Matthew held her still tiny hand.

Jillian's Auntie Zhenya (on the left), who held her so often during her first week of life when the two of us flew out to help Anna and her family, was immediately able to coax smiles out of her niece.

Uncle Matthew was the first to get to hold this precious gift from God.

As soon as Jillian was born I felt certain that this third girl in Aaron and Anna's family was going to have blue eyes like her sisters. Getting to see this grandtreasure again served only to confirm my suspicion. Such blue eyes, just like her daddy!

Not all of us were able to make the two-hour trip to the airport. Sarah, who has her own cake making business, is supplying cupcakes for the wedding of the family friend who is getting married this weekend. Here she's creating the candy ornaments with which she'll decorate each of the cupcakes.

These aren't just any cupcakes, however. These are cupcakes with a sweet purpose. The money Sarah earns from this job will go straight into the fund she is building to return to Zambia, Lord willing. She hopes to go back to the Kazembe orphanage in 2016 to work for a couple of years this time around.

I just want to finish this post by saying that this day was overflowing with yummy family time, including the joy of watching our children meet their newest niece. The day was extra sweet because 32 years ago today, Mr R proposed to me (and I immediately said YES!!!). We are both profoundly grateful to God for allowing us the wonder of walking the narrow road TOGETHER. There have been so many twists we never expected on July 30, 1983 when we agreed to marry one another.

The first upheaval to our dream life was not just infertility but barrenness. Multiple fertility specialists told us we would NEVER get pregnant. That news turned us toward adoption. And God blessed us above and beyond anything we would have dared to hope for by placing Anna in our arms within a few hours of her birth. Oh, how we thank God for the courage of her birthmother to go through with her pregnancy rather than aborting Anna! And, as it turns out, Anna has been the perfect leader of her 11 siblings. She loves Jesus deeply and seeks to serve Him. She is a blessed influence on the rest of her sisters and brothers. God's plan was so much better than our dream! What a glorious 32 years our journey has been, and today was a sweet day to celebrate.

Happy 21st, Sarah!

Sarah, who has her own cake-baking business, specifically asked to have ice cream instead of cake for her birthday celebration. The Blue Bunny ice cream parlor in LeMars was the perfect setting in which to celebrate her 21st birthday.

We were blessed that our dear friend, Kali Moores (Alison's sister-in-law), was visiting from Boston. We love having her visit her second home... our home!

The evening wasn't just about gifts. It was also a opportunity to enjoy great ice cream and great laughs together.  

We thank God for placing Sarah in our family 14 years ago! We can't imagine life without our sunshine girl.

Curious William

Our grandson is oh-so loved! This is childhood as God intended. This tender care is what millions fatherless children around the world completely miss out on. They are profoundly scarred as a result, but their lives CAN be redeemed when they have a loving home, are taught the gospel, and, by God's grace, eventually find their identity in Christ. Orphans must not be considered castaways! Please, dear friends, would you pray about entering the orphan care fray through adoption or foster care? All we ask is that you seek the Lord. Please go to His word and ask Him to show you His heart for the most vulnerable. If you take the step into orphan care, your life will be raw, hard and more blessed than you could ever have imagined!!! God cares for and leads those who care for the orphaned! We've experienced this 10 times over! He is so good!

(If you'd like to talk to me about adoption, my email is barrennomore@gmail.com -- Please be aware, I'm not always quick to respond, life continues to be wonderfully crazy in our home with 10 children still living with us.)

William the Wonder (9 months)