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.)

A GROUP Photo!

Mrs. Beaver:

Here are the CollegePlus! friends (and some siblings) who've been gathered the past few days in Minnesota.

We've missed those of you who haven't been able to be here!

Finished!

Mr. & Mrs. Beaver:

This week we dressed up for a special occassion.

With God's above-and-beyond grace,
our twins, Lissie and John (20), have completed college!

Such a milestone called for a visit to the fanciest restaurant in town

that we might declare God's lavish goodness to our family.

We only visit for very special celebrations.

 

John earned his Bachelor's degree in Entrepreneurship in May. He feels so blessed to have been selected by Wells Enterprises, maker of Blue Bunny Ice Cream, as the one and only summer intern in Marketing. We're all praying this opportunity will lead to permanent employment with Wells. In any event, he's already gaining tremendous experience which should equip him for future employment.

Lissie earned a Bachelor's degree in Humanities. She is currently preparing to spend approximately 9 months in Central Asia, working as a homeschool teacher for some dear friends. (She'll be in a different country than that in which her sister, Jaynie, lived). Lissie will also study one of the local languages at the university there. She already has a violin student awaiting her arrival, so she will be taking her passion for music half way around the world.

Both John and Lissie had a blessed experience in earning their degrees. They "attended" college through a distance learning approach called College Plus!, a program that allowed them to earn their degrees on accelerated timing at a very reasonable cost. These parents are grateful to God for the CollegePlus! program!

More Photos of Hours-Old Brielle

Mrs. Beaver:

God is so good! Good is so kind! Good is so faithful! His wonders never cease!

Mr. Beaver and I are so proud of Anna's husband, Aaron, for the strength, courage, and endurance he showed during Anna's delivery of our first granchild, Brielle. Aaron experienced some hairy moments in the delivery room when his wife lost ALL feeling in her body immediately after the epidural (anesthesia) was administered. Suddenly all attention in the room turned to keeping Anna breathing and conscious, and additional medical personnel came running. The birthing room was the scene of a true emergency. As you can see from the pictures, though, God's protecting hand brought Anna and Brielle through the crisis safely. Our thanks to all who were praying for the Nix family yesterday.

We're also grateful to the Lord for the tenderness, gentleness and kindness which Aaron demonstrated with Anna as our Great Creator ushered our oldest daughter into mommy-hood!

All photo credits go to Aaron's younger sister, Amber.
Thanks, Amber!!!

She's Here!

Mrs. Beaver:

Praising God for the safe arrival of our first grandchild:

Brielle Madelyn Nix

Born 3:50 p.m. EST

6 lbs 7 oz

19-1/4 inches

Born to Aaron and Anna Nix (see happy, brand new daddy below)

Mother and baby are well! 

I dedicate this post to Anna's birthmother. I have thought of you, H, so many times in the past 24 hours. You have been on my heart as I've relived the day Anna Mackenzie was born. Your selflessness in giving life to Anna rather than aborting her made today possible. Your willingness to sacrifice comfort and convenience that Anna might live has now resulted in the remarkable blessing of Brielle. What a beautiful legacy! Thank you--times without number!

Denise



Delightful Detours

We're on our way to northern Texas to celebrate my niece Amanda's high school graduation (The party is  later in the year because Amanda's family is just finishing construction on a new home).

We made two fun stops as we traveled yesterday. First, we stopped briefly at the home of Samuel, one of the young men who stayed at our home during the CollegePlus! gathering in early July (see CollegePlus! Gathering). Samuel's mother, Brenda, graciously laid out a beautiful spread of fresh fruit, cookies and ice cold drinks.

An added bonus to our stop was getting to meet Samuel's lifelong friend, Andrew, who is also a CollegePlus! student. In the short time we were together,we enjoyed plenty of laughter.

We then stepped onto the porch for a quick group photo.

Our next stop was at the home of the friends who've recently adopted from Rwanda. (See Adoption: Long-Awaited Daughters) It was a delight to turn our "web" friendship into a face-to-face friendship. We relished the chance to meet their new family members so soon after their adoption. Their Rwandan-accented English is precious!

Elizabeth is another CollegePlus! friend. The program's flexibility has allowed her to work on her degree while also being at home as her family has grown through adoption.

Elizabeth's mom, Sarah, had a delicious frozen desert waiting for us...

...which we enjoyed while fellowshipping with the family.

We're grateful to the Lord for our new friends!