Life Unexpected

Two weeks ago today, I found myself face to face with a little girl who would capture my heart in a matter of moments.  Her name was Kimberly Naomi and I haven't been able to forget her.  We were day 8 of our mission trip to Honduras when our paths crossed at the children's orphanage.  It was my 10th time in Honduras, so going to the orphanages had not only become familiar to me, but visiting them was something I looked forward to. This visit to the orphanage was different though.  I now was the mother of a child adopted from a place very similar to the one I found myself standing in.  As I watched my teens ventured into this institutional like setting, one that housed children from all different walks of life, one that had a room full of special needs children, one that had children over the age of 12 who were confined to beds, one that was filled with children who had been abused, neglected and abandoned, I was struck by the beauty that unfolded as they em...

Last night, Nate and I had the privilege of taking out 5 seniors who just graduated out of our youth ministry. We got dressed up (if you consider a princess dress with chucks "dressed up,"), loaded up the church van for one final ride before they embark on the ride of their life to college, and headed down the Inner Harbor in Baltimore where we indulged our faces in cheesecake.  As I sat across from students who we have poured our life into for the past 6 years, students who we have watched "grow up," I couldn't believe that in a matter of days, they would be off to college beginning the next adventure in their life.  Time goes way too fast.  These days, time seems to be moving faster than I can catch up with.  At the start of the summer, I knew that I was entering a season that would probably leave me breathless, but I am not sure that I realized just how much.  Physically, we have been on the go since the end of June.  From a 600 mile road trip to Ma...