Going Back in Time....

Good morning ! I'm going to go "back in time" for the millionth time and get caught up on all of the going on's of our family of 8 living in Guatemala. Grace and Jacob just went to a 50's party and so I thought.... PERFECT place to start ~ enjoy your day.... enjoy your week.

I LOVE their spirit for life ! inspiring ...really . 

I DO....

I DID , I DO  and I'd do it again ....... Yes, I take this man to be my lawfully wedded husband ... to have and to hold.... for better , for worse, in sickness and in health ...until death do we part ~ Forever is a long long time and I couldn't  be more grateful ! 

Happy Birthday Jacob ! 

I can't believe that I have a 17 year old !!! Or .... maybe , it's that I can't believe that I have a 18 year old AND a 17 year old... hum.. maybe, it's that I can't believe that I have a child who is 17 today and giving "adoptional" ( is that a word :) birth to a 3 year old in 8 months or so..... life is funny.....NEVER dull and ALWAYS changing... Go out and change the world Jacob ! ~ God created you "for such a time as this". Can't WAIT to see who you become.

#7... We are beautifully blessed to share our newest ....

miss  Zheng Yu Xiang

you have a new name..... Naomi Rose  __?__Evans

Meet our newest addition... in our hearts she is already ours ! We are madly in love with our little white headed, blue eyed, pale skin angel waiting for us on the other side of the world ( talk about total torture!) 

Naomi is 3 years old and has albinism. That is why she is missing the "typical" dark hair, skin and eyes and instead has been given pearly white . We are just really learning about this genetic disorder ( blessing in our case ) . She captured out hearts literally the moment that we laid our eyes on her. Honestly, my heart stopped. I don't know how you could ever capture the voice of God and put it into words but without trying and simply putting it... the moment that I saw her.... she was mine. God said so. I've never needed to know about albinism (obviously we are learning so that we can give her the moon and back that she might need) , I never stopped to question that she is 3, I don't need to know what her correct vision is and the other things that come packaged with this box o treasure.... she's just mine... born in this mama 's heart the moment that I saw her. Our love for her allows us to wait until we gather money, paperwork, plane tickets and political approval. 

Naomi Rose, 

Our deepest love to you tiny angel .... you are no longer abandoned but found. No longer alone but part of a family. You have been given a daddy, mama and brothers and sisters. You have amazing grandparents who can't wait to spoil you rotten. You have a home instead of an orphanage..... you have the heart of a father placed inside of you and we can't wait to watch it all unfold... to watch you blossom into who you were intended to be... may you rest well tonight, have plenty to eat and be warm. Hang on.... we're coming for you honey. 

love you to the moon and back, 

Daddy and mama.

Hilarious! and We're growing !

Okay... gotta crack up ... apparently I am the only one plugged in here and that's okay... :) lol

Soo... word on the street is true! The Evans are growing. We are expecting #7 via adoption sometime this Spring. We are humbled that the Lord has pulled us out, sat us down and given us the chance to inhale the reality that he is trusting us to "grow" again! We received this little one's photo about 2 months ago and on my mama's birthday China sent us word that we have their permission to move forward and bring this little jewel into our home ! There is more to come but I'll leave it there for the weekend... Photos to be posted of our little one on Monday ( Lord willin' and the internet up ... )

I'll leave you with a photo of us currently ..... and then our little gift on Monday :) Ps... we are giggly thrilled to be parents again...

In regards to blogging, I am wondering lately where to go with it. This began as a blog of our family entering the mission field and what that looked like.. 

Our ministry is no longer what we are here to "do" but who we are here doing what we do. 

...and so, I'm looking to you Lord. I want this place to reach into the hearts of the people who come across it. I want to challenge, encourage, expose you through the journey that you have us on. 

As I sit here today, 

loving how you love me Lord....

falling crazy in love, every day more, with crazy people :)

who do crazy things ( ie, my father in law strapping up for the zip line) 

our posture is to wait with open hands for your direction in all that we do... even in the bloggy world. This blog has always been a blog for life..not to expose our ministry so much because of who we are reaching out to ... I have a huge desire to not put on display or lift up our own work to be "out there" so to speak... instead, to just photo, journal and laugh at life... 

Lead us Lord.... ,even in the bloggy world, ... what is your direction... our journey can be at times ...

wet, rocky, harder to discern, but there all the same... 

Lord, let not those that come by my way leave this place untouched by you... but instead, encouraged to look out their car window and get a better view... to stop and glean all that you have for them today, tomorrow and the day after that....should it come.... 

Soo.... homeschool, adoption, children with special needs, wife to an amazing missionary man, raw foody lover, cross cultural weirdness, crocheting (yes, my newest obsession... along with raw food) , mom with teens and littlies at the same time( a weirdness unto its own - no kidding) ... Any thoughts on direction would be appreciated...new blog title anyone? These are my thoughts on where we're turning... are you in? 

posting NOT for the faint of heart... only Passionate People who Crazy love Jesus and those who think that we're INSANE because we love Jesus

Two years and two million ways closer to Jesus today. Yep, we've just crossed over our two years of service mark here in Guatemala serving our Lord in a "foreign" country. For this family of 8.. it has been foreign... I'm not even talking about Guatemala ! I'm talking about getting on a plane with 21 rubbermaid tubs, 3 hiking backpacks, 3 people who are teenagers. Having sold our home, our business, cars, appliances, school books.... there was no going back. I can still remember the look in Davids eyes as ours met at one point on the plane... both of our eyes were FILLED with "what have we done?"There we were feeling so EXPOSED to our own emotions... we couldn't even discern between giddy joy of starting a new journey and shear fear of the unknown on so many levels. We DID HAVE the faith of a million people who sent us out and the word of God that he would NEVER leave us NOR FORSAKE us and so here I sit typing with all of my soul that GOD IS faithful, friends are worth far MORE than money, I have a spirit of I CAN and WILL do this (whatever it is) and come out STRONGER, my husband carries out his role of protector with a zeal that is entirely new and husband with romance that we just had simply misplaced in the business of our "former" life... We are NEW . We are different. We have CHANGED. I feel closer to "alien" as my heavenly father calls me in His word and .... it feels GOOD . I have new SKIN. I have almost lost a son to illness, I have almost lost my husband (:) .. not many know that one ) to VERY sudden and praise God swift illness that nearly took him home to be with the Lord almost a year ago this summer.. I have hiked a volcano, I have carried a dying child partially down a volcano on a home made stretcher made from sticks and a warmup jacket..my PRECIOUS and FAITHFUL friend Marty praying right behind me giving me the strength to keep up with 3 other men who were "totin' " too.... I have eaten soup with bugs in it and drank juice with DEAD flies for floaties in it, I have gone embarrassing amounts of days without a shower, I have taken a hotel room just to stand under a HOT HOT shower without worrying about running out of it or it costing me a fortune, I have fed a family of 8 in a home without a stove for 2 months time, I have been almost a year 1/2 getting up at 4:30 ish to spend time with Jesus because I have been CRAVING his voice, DESPERATE for his delight in me, STARVED for the warmth of his breath crawling up the side of my face as I lie to him saying that I STINK as a mom of teens, ( smile :) ... we've all been there - pretty sure) , I have witnessed killings, had to drive past guns going off inside closed cars with people in them... I have gone from not being able to ask for a bathroom, to being able to share my faith and the gospel of Jesus just 2 weeks ago for the first time with a shop owner !!!! ( BIG stuff) ... wow... I could go on but I 'm pretty sure that some of you are still stuck up there with almost losing Cooper or David and me not sharing it... and it's okay... this is a place for me as much as you and for the gal who stumbles across here wondering where is God for me? Who is God? Why in the WORLD wouldn't you just come "home" ... and to myself I say... well done girl ! Go BIG or Go Home... If God is going to pull me and my family into this upside down state of living at times then let's go... I'm committed, I'm trusting, I 'm  UTTERLY and DEEPLY in love with you Jesus ... CRAZY for the goodness, hurt , disarray that following you can bring... sometimes this place leaves me standing in the dessert and then when I think my skin is going to peal back from the depth of the burn I can quickly go to the place of remembering it is SON BURN>>> you hover me Jesus . You burn bridges before me Lord... you pursue, hunt down, devour my enemies and though they are about me..they cannot TOUCH me ... you Lord alone bring the rain amongst dry desert dirt... you cause my face to SHINE Jesus! Yeshua !  And for the gal who just stumbles across this post and you're hurting , lonely , lost and/ or discouraged.... Go Big or Go Home ! Your world is small and your neighbor or person sitting across from you in the coffee shop where you may be reading this PROBABLE knows God, has a Bible for you to read, maybe a church to plug you in to sift "stuff" , haha ...i dare say that they may be wondering how to approach you and you would turn their world upside down to mention to them that they appear "different" to you... so basically, ask...leave your place in this blog and find someone to ask.. ask them if they think you're crazy for questioning. If God can bring me to a place of losing fear to a truck full of grown men totin' machine guns while laughing histerically from the back of a truck to a place where tomatoes from my market with little teeth marks make me shutter in far more fear... he wants to lavish you with the luxury of resting in a bath of truth ... our God reigns, your world is temporary and the day you are having MAY happen again tomorow but grabbing someone to pray for you ... with you ... oh , sweet soul... it's like lemon-aid on the the forth of July , a big shade tree in the middle of a summer day.... Go ahead... go... Go Big !!!! God did.. he gave the only son that he had ... for you sweet friend~