Pure Joy

That is what we are feeling this week. We are celebrating Sam's birthday, he's 6! He has his first loose tooth, a sure sign he really is getting older. We have had some fun family and friends down for visits and swimming.

But what really has us smiling is Sam's recent decision that he wants to spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus. Last Saturday night as we were reading the story of Joseph before bed Sam asked many questions about God and heaven. He knew many of the answers already, but he was ready to decide for himself what he believed. With a sweet child-like faith he prayed that the Lord would come into his heart, forgive his sins, and take him to Heaven someday. Their bedroom felt like holy ground, for indeed the Lord was there! Sam wants to be baptized soon too.

Praise the Lord for his faithfulness to our family. We are so excited to see the plans He has for Sam's life unfold.

Mister Eli

While we were at the baseball game the other day one of the players (who happened to be African American) asked Eli where his mom was. We were walking together as a family, and no one else was near us, yet the player looked past us for someone to be Eli’s mom. Of course I smiled, patted Eli’s head, and said, “I’m right here.”

It left me unsettled, doubting we can help Eli establish his identity within our culture. I once read a book where a character commented to another, “You are black on the outside, but white on the inside.” He was insinuating the person was not really a part of the African community. Sometimes seeds of fear take root, and I think that is how we are raising Eli, and he won’t have a real sense of where he belongs.

Then God reminds me of the TRUTH. Eli belongs in His family, where the blood of Christ binds us all together.

We were having a time of family prayer the other day, at a rather serious moment. We gathered in a circle and held hands. After all of about 10 seconds, Eli began saying, “Ring Rosey”. When we ignored his attempt to make us spin around, he dropped hands and began spinning in circles by himself repeating, “Ring Rosey.” So cute!

Here's Eli sitting on a suitcase. We thought he wanted to go on the trip until he told us "Candyinit." He had spied the candy packed inside!

We went to a local Triple A baseball game. The kids had a blast. Sam got picked to come on the field for a water balloon toss. After the game, they let all the little kids there come on the field to talk to the players and run the bases. We had a great time, particularly enjoying the food, as usual.

Sam getting an autograph.

After the game we taught Sam and Cora to sing “Take me out to the ballgame”. (Should have done this first, of course.) Cora keeps getting tricked up here:

“Take me out to the ballgame,
Take me out to the crowd.
Buy some peanut butter and jelly”

Thank you, Lord, for the simple pleasures we have in America. Thank you for granting our family a fun night together. May you be glorified everywhere that we go. Amen.

On this blog, http://www.talkissheep.blogspot.com/ I've been reading about one mom's missions trip to Ethiopia. She is there now, and her stories are both heart breaking and motivating. Her entries are long, but she is speaking for so many people who have no voice. Read for yourself...

And speaking of good blogs, this is a great one: http://www.drawnfromwater.org/

I've been following it for a while, and their stories of rescuing cursed Ethiopian children are so sad. Praise God people are willing to defend these children, but how many are lost?

More Fair Fun!

Eli LOVED lemon-shake-ups! Who doesn't?

Sam showed a calf in Future 4-H. Our friends, Sarah and Caleb, let him show their heifer, Diamond. Sam took scratching her belly VERY seriously with the show stick! The judge wasn't actually judging them, he was just letting them get practice in the ring. The judge asked Sam if he had cattle at home, and he said NO! I guess he forgot about our bottle calf that we feed twice a day!

Showing cattle was my favorite 4-H project, and it was a real blessing to see Sam enjoy it too. But by far the best thing about my 4-H days was spending time with friends.

Fun at the Fair

The Ausbrooks are officially a 4-H family! Sam took 4 projects to the fair, and showed a horse and calf for future 4-H. He is so proud of his ribbons, metal, and trophy. Not to mention how many lemonade shake-ups he drank! Its so good to be involved at the fair again, and see our kids enjoy it as much as we did.

Here he is with Angel, a neighbors horse. He led her one night and rode her the next. More pictures to come later...maybe!