Update

Thank you for your prayers.  Thank you for your emails of love for Abby and our family.  I am so moved at how God reaches out to us through others to encourage us and speak to us!

Abby is stable again.  I am claiming Abby is better!  After her three days of consecutive seizures... she had four without them... then one with one... and now three without them again.  Way better than where we were!  And we are so thankful.

Several things happened during that bit of "panic".  I hit the internet again for researching and found great information on vitamin E and Omega 3's.  Every ounce of my being does not want to increase drugs again... every morsel of my soul is screaming "no" and so she started taking viatmin E twice a day, as well and fish oil vitamins twice a day.  I also increased her other nutritional supplements that help her greatly and started giving her powered amino acid again in her juice.  AND I also read where artificial sweetner is a trigger for seizures and she had just recently started chewing a lot of sugar free gum... the only place she gets artificial sweetner... and so she surrendered her Trident and was given Juicy Fruit!

That is what was done on the physical side.  But I knew, and know, there is a much bigger force at work here and so I hit my knees.  There is a spiritual side to Abby's illness.  I reached out to some women God has placed in my life and asked them to pray with me for her.  They had me come the next day.  When I got there and started sharing what was going on... they both felt moved to pray for me.  I felt a bit selfish... here Abby is in dire straights and they want to spend a couple hours praying for me... but I trust God enough to know He knows better than I do.

We had some amazing prayer time and it was very intense.  The Lord opened my eyes to several things and freed me from several as well.  Then He gave me one of the sweetest gifts ever.  My friends had just finished praying for my deliverance from fear.  It was intense, vivid, and the spiritual realm collided with the physical (as it does every moment outside our physical vision).  They had prayed for my soul to go up into the heavenly realms to be healed and nurtured by my Father.  This kind of praying is pretty new to me.  I wasn't sure what or if I was supposed to feel anything or see anything... but I felt I should wait.  So with my eyes closed, I waited.  I felt as if my soul should be flying toward my Father but it was just waiting... something was holding me back.  I told my friends this and they prayed over me some more.  I then was filled with such peace that came in such a rush that there was no denying it was a gift from my Father.  I had come with such anxiety, despair, panic, and exhaustion... and it all vanished... left me in a flood.

My heart smiled.  I knew what it was and I was thankful.  But I just kept saying over and over and over in my mind, " I want to see you Lord.  Let me see you, please!  Any part of you... a flash of light... anything."
Then I thought to myself, "This peace is His presence... and that is enough... this is enough Lord...I know you are here."  I was just about to open my eyes when the vision of a smile flooded my soul... my mind... my heart... my very eyes.  And a smile came across my face, followed by the deepest sobs I have known in a long, long, time.  The last time I cried like that, was over Abby... it was sorrow, saddness, helplessness, pure agony.  This time, it was from the deepest thankfulness, awe, and sheer pure joy... it was for my Lord.  And I will never forget it.  The Lord smiled at me... and He let me see it.

I came home that day... refreshed with hope and energy and love and motivation.  I was on a mission to enter the spiritual realm for all out battle for Abby that night.  As I knelt down beside her on the floor to pray, I asked God what He wanted me to pray for.  The answer "no" came to me followed by "rest".  I was kinda in disbelief.  "Rest?  You want me to rest?"  "Yes. Rest."  And that is what He told me for two nights in a row.  And I rested.  I went to bed two nights in a row without praying over Abby.  He gave me the strength to trust her with Him... and I mentally laid her down before Him.  And He gave her four nights in a row without a seizure.

Now after resting, the Lord is flooding me with ways to pray for Abby as I have not prayed before.  First I was moved to pray for her birthmother... last night I was moved to pray for her birthfather... and to break the bonds that bind them together... along with the abandonment, rejection, confusion, and fear... along with breaking generational curses.  It really is amazing.

My gift this morning was so sweet.  Sweet confirmation from the Lord.  I am praying for Abby's emotional and spiritual healing right now.  And last night I crawled up next to her on her pallete on the floor and wrapped myself around her.  I whispered "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you," into her ear about 50 times.  I prayed God's love would just flow through me and fill her from head to toe... leaving her with His peace and His fullness.  I prayed she would receive my love and His love in it.  Then this morning, I woke her up and we were cuddling.  Then she said, "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you."  My heart and soul did a flip.  She has NEVER done that.  And she was in deep sleep when I had showered her with that love last night.  "I repeated, "I love you, I love you, I love you, " to her... and then went and praised the Lord.  So sweet.  So very, very sweet!

Ephesians 6: 12  "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

 Ephesians 6:13  "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

vs. 14- truth to guard your waist and breastplate of righteousness/ vs. 16- above all- SHIELD OF FAITH with which you will be able to quench ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one/ vs. 17- helmet of salvation and the SWORD of the Spirit which is the WORD OF GOD/ vs.18- PRAYING ALWAYS with ALL PRAYER and supplication IN THE SPIRIT.

2 Corinthians 10:3  "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal but MIGHTY in GOD for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..."

Abby

I will post more about our trip to Latvia soon.  But today, I need to bring Abby before my sweet friends and ask you to pray and fast on her behalf.  She has been having frequent seizures and had her third one in a row this morning. 

We have been trying to decrease her Klonapin, a drug that is NOT GOOD to be on long term.  She has been on it for over four years... three years too long.  We stopped decreasing a month and a half ago and she was doing pretty good.  In the past couple weeks, her seizures have just continued to increase.

We increased her Topamax last week and it doesn't seem to have even phased this outbreak of seizures.
Please petition the Lord and pray bolding before Him on her behalf.  Thank you so much.

A Park in Riga

I was not prepared for the beauty of Latvia's capital, Riga.  It reminded me so much of Sicily.  The city is known in two parts, Old Riga and New Riga.  Old Riga is just that, the old part of the city, the part that survived the 50 years of Russian occupancy.  The part full of history, heart, and character.

As we walked to town from our apartment, we crossed a bridge and found this GORGEOUS and ENCHANTING park close to the heart of the city.  It just took my breath away.

It was green and lush and just begged you to come and wander through her paths.

As we entered, we came to another small bridge covered in locks.

Taylor had tried to tell me about this sometime in the past. 

She had told me that when people get married, they put a key on a bridge.

So when we stumbled across this bridge, it became clear she had meant locks instead of keys!

It was a very cool thing to see and Taylor said she had never seen a bridge with this many, and she had never seen this park.  It was really fun to share it with her and watch her look at the different locks.

 

Most of the locks were plain but all had the names of the married couple with their wedding date.  Some were written on with permanent marker, some were engraved and others had little plaques on them.

Then there was this one!  This couple's love is locked and their marriage is sure to last forever!

It was such a sweet thing to share with Taylor.  I am hoping she will tuck this tradition away in her heart and celebrate it MANY years from now when she is a bride.

  

Speaking of brides, we saw this bride and groom behind a church with their photographer.

They were wearing traditional Latvian wedding attire... very cool.

We had just passed the guests leaving the church and I loved the wreath of flowers on the little girl's head on the left... I am guessing she was a flower girl.  So simple and yet so beautiful... as is the country itself.

I'll finish this post with more pictures from the park... the park I hope to dream about often.
Happy weekend.

Beautiful

We are back.  Don and I are still trying to soak it all in... the simple and extravagent beauty of the trip.

In one word, it was beautiful.

The country was beautiful.  The people were beautiful.  The stories were beautiful.  The survival was beautiful.  The cities were beautiful.

The weather was beautiful.  The time together was beautiful.  God providing was beautiful.

God bringing people onto our path was beautiful.  God's timing was beautiful.

 

Friends rallying around us was beautiful.  God reaching out to us in precious intimate ways was beautiful.  God using us was beautiful.

 

God's presence with us every where and at all times was beautiful.  The sky was beautiful.

Crossing the bridge into the tiny town where Taylor was born, entering her past,

and connecting the dots... was beautiful.  And coming home to our precious

waiting children and abundant life was beautiful.

POST EDIT:

Don's dinner one night... NOT BEAUTIFUL!

Head, tail, eyes,  AND TEETH... NO THANK YOU!

We're Back!

I know, many of you didn't even know we were gone!  But we got back Tuesday morning at 2 a.m. from our first trip to Latvia for Brenda's (now Taylor) adoption!  Yes, B is now T... Taylor.  She wanted a name change and so Taylor it now is.

We only had 48 hours notice and so obviously things were VERY hectic to get out of here.  And we were "stuck" in Germany for three days trying to get home.

BUT I am now trying to get my head above water after having been gone for two weeks... so I'll have to share GREAT stories about the amazing trip very soon.

Love and hugs...