Happy 5th Anniversary, Aaron and Anna!

Five years ago today, Aaron and Anna wed.

Their relationship had started as a friendship in an online group setting through college. The next step was a courtship where both sets of parents played a role in encouraging and advising them.

By the time of their marriage, Aaron and Anna's friendship was already rich and deep.

That friendship was marked by the ability they share to this day to laugh easily together.

After the initial photos, it was time. Anna and her bridesmaids were ready.

And Anna's daddy was ready to walk his little girl down the aisle.

So much joy marked the ceremony...

...and yet the young couple understood the solemnity of the vows they were making before God, family and friends.

This was Aaron and Anna's first kiss. They had waited until the alter for this relationship milestone.

By the end of the ceremony, the two had become one. On the way out of the church, they stopped to hug the parents who'd raised them for this very day.

Aaron's parents have played such a key role in the couple's five years together. Ric and Tina live about 10 minutes from the younger Nix family, and they have sacrificially served Anna and Aaron and their three little girls (with a fourth child on the way!). We thank God for Aaron's loving parents who are now our dear friends!

We exited the sanctuary as two parents overwhelmed with God's goodness!

So many friends and family came to join in our family's grand celebration.

Before heading to the reception, the wedding party had a blast taking this photo in front of the gorgeous theater in which Anna had been blessed to play violin for the local symphony orchestra.

Five years ago. Anna and Aaron were new to dancing with one another. Now dancing is in an important part of keeping their marriage fresh and fun thanks to dance lessons. They also love to play long, involved strategy games together. Anna even wins...sometimes. They've developed and invested in a number of shared interests. At five years their unity in Christ and devotion to each other is beautiful to behold! As I mentioned, they also love the shared adventure of parenting. Their little girls are 3-1/2, 2-1/2 and 9 months old. Aaron and Anna are eagerly welcoming children as the Lord blesses them with each gift.

This is one of my favorite photos from Anna's big day. Anna grew up in a close, tender relationship with her daddy. Letting her go was hard for him!

The day Anna met her birthmother
(Anna was 18)

I'm going to bring this post to an end in a way you might not expect. Our need to "let go" of Anna as she married wasn't the first or most crucial "letting go" in our oldest daughter's life. You see, we adopted Anna Mackenzie at birth. We praise God that her 20-year-old birthmother chose life instead of abortion for Anna. She sacrificially made an adoption plan for the little one growing inside her. We were the incredibly blessed parents she chose to raise her precious daughter. So Anna's very life began with a loving "letting go" by a brave woman we love dearly. On the 5th anniversary of our shared daughter, we give tribute to the woman who gave life to Aaron's wife. She's our hero!

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.)

Taking Stock of What's Really Important

I treasure this picture because it captures two enormous changes to our family this year. Zhenya's engagement ring speaks to her upcoming wedding in September. And, if you've been following our blog, you know that the little hand belongs to our fourth grandchild. On top of those changes, Sarah, Kirsten and Matt all have new jobs. With all that's going on in our extra large family, it's easy to get caught up in the whirl of activities. As a result, the following quote really hit home. The words are written by C.T. Studd, a missionary to China, India and Africa in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In a letter written as a young man while serving in China he wrote:

"Pingyang. February 7, 1886 The Lord is so good and always gives me a large dose of spiritual champagne every morning which braces one up for the day and night. Of late, I have had such glorious times. I generally wake at about 3:30 a.m. and feel quite wide awake, so have a good read, etc., and then have an hour's sleep or so before finally getting up. I find what I read then is stamped indelibly on my mind all though the day. and it is the sweetest of quiet times, not a foot astir, nor a sound to be heard, saving that of God. If I miss this time I feel like Samson shorn of his hair and so all of his strength. I see more and more how much I have to learn of the Lord. I want to be a workman approved, not just with a 'pass' degree, as it were. Oh, how I wish I has devoted my early life, my whole life to God and His Word. How much I have lost by those years of self-pleasing and running after this world's honors and pleasures." Norman Grubb, C.T. Studd: Cricketer & Pioneer, pgs.54-55

I don't know about you, dear reader, but I don't want to move through the crazy busy that is my life like Samson with his hair cut off. I need the strength and wisdom and peace that I can only find by seeking the Lord each day, every day, early in the day. I'm heading to bed right now so that I can rise early and get some of that spiritual champagne!

May God bless and keep you,
Denise

A Crowded Lap...A Crowded Heart

Waiting is hard.
No one likes to wait.
Waiting tries one's patience.

All of these statements are true even if one is simply waiting for a doctor's appointment. The intensity of the wait increases exponentially when you're pregnant and your due date seems like nothing more than a foggy memory. Anna is now a full eight days late. She has had contractions off and on, sometimes even for a few hours at a time. However, each time the contractions simply fizzle out. Hope rises with each episode and then deflates like a balloon. Anna has so many questions right now:

When?

When??

When???

How fast will this third little girl come?

Will my midwife, doula and birth photographer be able to get here in time?

Will I have the strength to do what I must do for the poetry of my daughter's life to begin?

Will there be complications?

Will our much-dreamed of baby girl be healthy?

When...how???

What is she doing with these questions and many more rummaging around in her soul trying to disquiet her spirit? She's tells us she fighting as she waits. She is fighting uncertainty with Truth. She is preaching to herself:

God is good and He does good. God loves me. In fact, He loves me so much that He sacrificed His son on the cross in order to pay the penalty for my sins. Through this act, God forever demonstrated that He is for me. This baby is His creation and her little life is in His hands. The timing of her birth is in His hands. He alone is in control -- just as it should be. I know her life is in God's hands. The safety of both of me and this baby I love so much is up to Him. He is ever-faithful. His is worthy of our trust, even when I don't understand His ways...especially when I don't understand His ways. That is, after all, is the very essence of faith. O, Lord, please increase my faith.

I will update you, dear readers, as this story continues to unfold. We would be grateful for your prayers. Although this has been a wonderfully "routine" pregnancy, there really is no such thing. Each pregnancy is its own journey...and the stakes are high every time.

Our Wait

On Monday morning after several hours of contractions, Anna sent a text to her dad and me saying, "This is definitely it." So, we found a remarkably low same-day fare, thanked the Lord, and booked flights for Zhenya and me to travel to Ohio to help following their baby's birth.

As it turned out, before the first flight took off (after a four hour delay), Anna's contractions had stopped. The tickets were nonrefundable so we continued the journey thinking that surely the baby had to come soon since Anna was already past her due date. This post is a photo log of our week of waiting.

On my first morning there, I heard 3-year-old Brielle and 21-month-old Evelyn making plenty of noise in the kitchen.

The rest of the house still seemed to be asleep so I wandered into the kitchen, and Brielle proudly proclaimed, "I did it!", motioning to them eating their dry Cheerios in bowls with spoons. She had also peeled a very ripe banana and given each of them a big chunk of it. Amazing what a motivated 3-year-old can accomplish!

I sat down at the table to join the girls in eating some Cheerios. When they saw me pour milk on my cereal, they asked for some, too. Little did I know that this was the first time for them to have milk on their cereal. I learned that later after Anna woke.

Evelyn has just started using a spoon and fork on her own and hasn't yet mastered holding the dish steady with the other hand. Thus it wasn't long before, Evelyn's bowl took a tumble onto her chair.

Their dog, Mocha, came to my rescue immediately and cleaned up most of the mess.

By the time the girls had meandered their way through the meal (as only toddlers can), Anna and Zhenya had both gotten up and made themselves ready for the day. I urged the two of them to go our for breakfast while I babysat the little girls. When I had wiped up the girls, I took them to the master bedroom. Aaron and Anna have a white duvet cover. In addition, wonderful light pours into their room in the morning.

I was eager to get some pictures of Brielle and Evelyn in this situation that was a photographer's dream. Brielle was wonderfully cooperative. I was able to snap all these shots in just a few minutes.

Meanwhile, Evelyn was sitting at the head of the bed doing this....

Finally, Brielle could stand it no longer, and she joined her sister near the pillows.

Immediately, silliness ensued. The following photos don't need any commentary.

Once the wrestling match was over, we went back out to the kitchen.

There, the girls helped me empty the dishwasher.

After lunch and a nap, it was time for a swim in the kiddie pool on the deck in the back yard.

Well, actually the girls had more fun transferring water back and forth between the pool and their water table.

We were all enjoying the shade on a very warm afternoon when Aaron arrived home from work. It just so happened to be his 25th birthday. Again, I offered babysitting services so that Aaron and Anna could go our together to celebrate.

I caught this picture just before they left on their date. I have always loved the way Aaron's dry sense of humor keeps Anna laughing!

By the next evening, Anna still hadn't had any more serious contractions. After dinner, we loaded everyone in their min van hoping that a trip our for ice cream might encourage Baby "J" (their third girl) to make her entrance into the world.

As Evelyn was waiting for her ice cream, she did some serious people watching at this popular hangout that is only open during the summer.

Brielle was also fascinated by the crowd.

Before long, Anna had a tall, cool cone of peanut butter ice cream.

When we returned home, the girls played in the family's long driveway for a bit before their bedtime. Evelyn has an especially expressive face, and I've enjoyed trying to capture some of those special looks this week.

Both girls were racing up and down the driveway pushing grocery carts filled with boxes of pretend food.

Zhenya was watching the bustle, resting on the front steps. All week Zhenya has been a tremendous help; she is such a natural with children!

This morning, the two girls took turns being fussy. I can't say that I was surprised. Although Anna has maintained their routine this week, the girls have to sense that their lives as they now know them are about to be turned inside out by the newcomer to the family!

Thankfully after rest time this afternoon, both girls were in much better spirits. While Brielle was watching her momma make a wonderful dinner of salmon, rice and fresh fruit, Evelyn was sitting on the sofa "reading" the picture Bible.

She's had the this Children's Bible read to her enough times that she is keenly aware of the details in the pictures and was pointing them out. Although she's less that two years old, she has quite a vocabulary.

Dinner was scrumptious! As we finished eating, Brielle asked her daddy if he would read the Bible. She even ran and got his copy of the Bible from his nightstand. Aaron then read Genesis 5 to all of us.

When he was finished with that, Brielle asked him if he would read to us from the children's Bible. Again, she eagerly ran and retrieved the book.

Aaron then read the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den to us as Brielle studied the pictures from just behind him.

Anna had steady contractions from a good part of the night last night, but they tapered off as the Lord ushered in the morning. All day she kept hoping the contractions would return, and this time last long enough for the birth of their baby. However, although she continued to have intermittent contractions throughout the day, they never increased in strength or became regular again. Capping off the evening with time spent in God's word was just what we needed. The Bible gave us the reminder we needed that God is in control of when this baby comes. He is faithful. He is good. He is worthy of our trust. Thus, we finished the day resting in His grace, thankful for a beautiful week together waiting on Him as we wait for Baby J.