Faith & Perspective ~

Faith means believing in and obeying God, which requires relying on what we cannot see – God’s promises, provisions and concern for us. An inner attitude alone does not define faith, though. For faith to be present, action is required. Faith proves itself by obedience to the Lord. (Hebrews 11:1. NIV Quest)

Did I seriously just return from our van with tears streaming down my face? Oh, yes I did. This may sound silly but it’s where my heart is at this moment.

It was a memorable Valentines Day for us this year. I was on my way to get Josh from school in our Honda Odyssey (girls were with a friend) and while sitting at a light, was rear-ended by a man who had his first seizure and blacked out. Somehow his front-end attached to my back-end and was locked down. His foot was on the gas while he was passed out so our vehicles went into a spin. When I finally came to a stop, I was facing oncoming traffic. I was rattled and had no idea what had happened. It was awful. I made calls to Bruce and friends…the ambulance came, fire truck came, friends were driving by with encouraging words and smiles out their windows and all I could think was how wonderful it is to be alive and living in a small town! In the meantime, the man hit a truck after being released from me, flattened a sign, traveled over the median into oncoming traffic, hitting several other cars. He and two college-aged girls went to the hospital in the ambulance but none were seriously injured. I was told, I’d be very sore the following day but I’ve not had any signs of having been in a wreck. As a matter of fact, my back feels better than it has in quite a while. Isn’t God amazing?

So our van is totaled. The van God gave us three years ago. I know. It’s just a vehicle but when you ask God for something and you believe Him for it and then see Him come through…WOW! It’s hard to part with the gift from Him. Bruce cleaned it out yesterday but I noticed he missed the necklace Bella made me that was hanging from the mirror. When I went out to get it, I found myself reminiscing…all the kids we piled in there…all the Sonic drinks…the snacks…the laughter…looking at Christmas lights…playing “freeze out”…singing loudly…music played…many trips to DFW, New Mexico and other places. Tomorrow they will come, load it and it will be gone. That was a short (almost) three years!

So many times in life, I’ve wanted something to go away this fast. The pain of losing a loved one. The pain of feeling rejected. The sadness in our kids eyes after a disappointment. The need for things to be paid for. The yearning for heart friends. The desire for Abi to finally be here with us. All those things and many more, I’ve wanted to happen fast. When I think about it, our adoption process took two years and nine months and we’ve had our van for exactly two years and nine months. Hmmm. The adoption process seemed sooooo long. The length of time we had our van, seems too short. Interesting. It's all about perspective, isn't it?

I've learned over the past couple weeks that when God changes your perspective the process follows. Many times we work towards the "process" when our "perspective" hasn't yet been changed. Dudley Hall came to our church and encouraged us in asking God for clarity in His perspective. We need to repent on the "perspective" side of things, not on the "process" side of things. His example was how sometimes we, as Christians, will say we have to read the Bible, spend time with God, pray, worship, etc..it has become our "process." It's better to ask Him to change our perspective and watch the process become different! This is so true! He has definitely come into our marriage and home and changed our perspective lately. No, we're not perfect. Actually, far from but we are growing in Him and each other and that feels wonderful.

Joshua is becoming more and more a young man than a boy. I like it. I like that we have our own time while watching Storage Wars (on Netflix) or talking late at night. I’ve been fighting a cold lately and went to bed early a couple nights ago. He came in before going to bed and said, “Momma, are you there?” while pulling the covers back from my face. He put his hands on my face and said, “Momma, I’m sorry you’re sick. I love you.” It was a moment that just almost healed me. Ha! It’s wonderful to see the fruit from all the years of planting into their hearts. Watch out ladies! We’re raising a Godly man here at the Menefee house! Another 10-12 years and this boy may be married! Ahhh…I’m soaking up all these moments with a grateful heart!

Josh has learned this school year that grades are about to REALLY matter…high school next year and college to follow! He’s growing in his responsibilities and having to put more effort into some areas. His passion is still in music and he’s done very well this year, making All Region Band again. The concert was wonderful and the pictures of him are amazing due to his genuine smile and pride.

I love Joshua more today than I ever dreamed possible.

Bella Grace is still dancing and loving her life! She recently came home from school with a paper that informed us she was selected as the girl party candidate for Mayor of Fowlerville. This is for her Social Studies class led by Mrs. Fowler (so cute!). She was asked to prepare a speech for the following day and was competing against Walker. I was so happy! I couldn’t believe OUR BELLA, our once timid and somewhat fearful Bella was elected and she was HAPPY about this?? What progress she’s made in the last two years! Wow!

We sat at the table and she suddenly became tired. She said she didn’t really want to write a speech. I said, “Oh, okay. Well, then tomorrow just go straight to Walker and congratulate him for becoming the Mayor.” She perked up rather quickly and said, “I’m not going to do that! Now what does a Mayor do again?” We googled it and found some great examples. She learned that our Mayors help with many things in our cities. They make many decisions for our community. She chose to write her speech about “parks”…here is what she wrote:

“Hi. I’m Bella Menefee. I would really like to be the Mayor of Fowlerville. If I am chosen, I will help in lots of ways. One way to help is at our parks.

1) At the parks in our city I would put up a list of rules on the playground so that kids don’t get hurt.

2) I would also have a group of people that help clean up the parks.

3) On the first Saturday of every month in the Spring and Summer, we would have a Kite Flying Day! This will help our town because friends and families will be together.

I hope you vote for me. Thank you.”

Then she passed out kites that we made the night before out of colored construction paper, adding ribbon for the tail and her name down the center of each kite.

They voted and it was a tie so they voted again and Bella won! Mrs. Fowler said that Walker was sad. He had tears in his eyes and Bella walked over to him, put her hand on his back and whispered, “It’s okay Walker. You did a great job and I’m going to need help.” Mrs. Fowler said it brought tears to her eyes. (Mine too.)

That day I took Bella and Walker Lego gifts to congratulate them! They were thrilled!

I love Bella more today than I ever dreamed possible!

As for our Colombian Jewel…Abi is wonderful! She’s potty trained (for the most part). She loves school and her friends. She’s much like me in that she NEEDS girl time! I love it! She’s recently decided that she needs to carry a purse with her when we leave the house. It holds her lipstick (one fake and others that are real chapstick), a mirror, a bracelet, a comb and sometimes a small stuffed frog. You know? The important items!

Abi is on a learning curve that is amazing! Her mind has opened up to new things and she’s memorizing more and more. She talks constantly. All. The. Time. At some points in the car, we have to ask her to be quiet for the sake of our sanity. Josh recently said before getting out of the car to go into school, “I’m sorry you have to listen to her all day.” Meaning: she is so CONSTANT! I remember a day when I was begging her to speak. Where’s the mute button on this girl? Ha!

She recently got into some big trouble at school. I walked in to pick her up and her teacher said, “I’m so sorry to have to tell you but Abi has not made good choices today.” I figured she had taken a toy, pushed someone, you know…the normal stuff. Oh no! Ms. Tangi was trying to help her with her lunch and Abi said, “No! I do it!” and with an ugly tone. Ms. Tangi explained that she was going to help her and Abi said, “No! You shush!” As this may seem humorous now, it certainly wasn’t on the day it happened. She’s a strong, strong girl. Bruce says she’s a CEO trapped in the body of a two year old. Jesus come!

I love Abi more today than I ever dreamed possible.

All that to say…life is traveling by so quickly! God is taking us in a new direction and for that we are thankful. Sometimes, the hardest of times bring the greatest happiness! As this should be a “hard time”, we’re finding it to be rather exciting! Bruce and I have never felt closer to one another or God! Our family is seeing first hand the ability God has to make ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER for His good and His glory!

I feel encouraged. I know God hears us, as He does you. I know He longs to meet us and give us His best just as He does for you. I have faith! He knows what He’s doing in our lives and will take us to new places of freedom and love!

With love,

Ruth

PS. I'll try to post pictures soon. Our old computer hates the process. :(