Redemption

re*demp*tion

*the act, process, or result of redeeming something or someone: the act of making something better or more acceptable

*the act of saving people from sin

salvation*deliverance*rescue*spiritual rebirth*conversion

Our daughter Sara has been redeemed.


She was abandoned, and was once considered an outcast. However, she was given opportunities to see glimpses of Jesus while in China. Seeds were planted into her life by a orphanage worker and a Christian friend.

When she came home to our family in 2011, she began to have the truth about Jesus revealed to her through numerous people and circumstances.  If we try to name you all, we will miss someone, but just know that if you have had a part in her life, than you have helped lead her to the cross.

For that--we are GRATEFUL!!!

Here is a video of our sweet Sara.

 

 

Please celebrate this time with us by praying for all of the others orphans around the world to hear about the love of Jesus and for their Redemption.

Daddy's Girls

"A Daddy should be his son's first hero, and his daughters first love . . . "

I do believe they had the time of their life--their first Father/Daughter Dance.  They left all giggly and returned with smiles in their eyes.  They twirled and turned and danced and it sounds like they had a lovely evening indeed. 

Ben took them out to eat at Mango's.  The owner thought the girls were beautiful and asked if he could take their pictures and put it on their web page.  He then told Ben that because he agreed, the girls' supper was on the house. What a special treat!

They arrived at the dance and had pictures made. Then they were ready to dance.   Before they left the house they drew straws to see who got to dance with daddy first and Hannah won 1st place.  However, Ben said she would not dance to begin with.  After a little while though, she warmed up and then Ben said she would not stop.  He's pretty sure that between all three girls, he danced for most of the evening. 

Nights like last night make me thankful I married the man I did.  He is a fantastic daddy--the girls adore him.  I do too!

Happy February!!!

I missed Christmas and the New Year--so I thought I would start a new Holiday.  Happy February!

You know Halmark needs another reason to sell us a card and a stuffed animal. LOL!

So--Why no blogs?? 

Honestly--I don't have an answer--I just haven't felt like it lately.

WOW--Impressive answer wasn't it?

I knew it was time to put something out there when my eldest said, "Mom--you need to change your blog!"

So here we are already a month into the year 2013 and now I finally have something to say.

Drumrole please . . .

Ok--I have nothing.

I will give you an update on the family though.

Here we go:

Austin and Taylor are still very much in love.  They are holding off on a wedding date, but I did get to see Taylor's wedding band and it will be so very pretty with her engagement ring.  Austin has rejoined the workforce at Chick-Fil-A and is trying to decide what he wants to do for his future.

Jordan has been fortunate to ease out of two classes for his last few months of his Senior Year.  Because he is in the work-study program he goes to school for his two AP classes and then comes home for lunch before going to work.  We and I do mean we, have been filling out scholarship paperwork.  We have been gathering financial documents, transcripts, and other junk important papers, so that we can then deliver/mail them to the right people. But let me brag on Mr. Jordan a little bit.  He won 1st place at regionals in Personal Finance for FBLA, and will be heading to state competition in March.  Woot! Woot! 

Zach has been piddling with his truck and avoiding the J-Word like the plague.  You know the "job" word.  Right now he is content with his unemployed status--but we would like for him to get something part-time.  He does enjoy being the proud owner of his truck and he has been learning how to do a few things with it.  school is coming along--he will get to pick out his class ring this summer.  We are thankful that there will be a one year break between Jordan and his graduations.

Sara is making leaps and bounds in school.  She has completed the 5th and the 6th grade math curriculums and is currently working in the 7th grade.  We are hoping to have her caught up in math before school next year.  Her reading is coming along--she just recently took a test on the book, "White Fang".  This is a high content lower reading level book and she made a 100 on it!  We are so proud!!  She is struggling in the writing process--but we have just hired a tutor for her in this area.  Momma bear was about to lose her mind.  I decided it was best for our mother/daughter bonding to let someone else teach that subject. :)

Leighanne is sprouting her 5th grade wings.  She has 2 dance classes, math team and cheerleading every week.  She told me she loves being a nerd and has taken up doing Sara's math in the afternoons.  She's hanging right there with Sara. 

Hannah is really taking off in reading and math.  She is still getting extra help at school and she comes home excited about school in a whole new way.  She recently made a 100 on her spelling test--we all celebrated because she has been struggling to spell.  She is almost on target in math, and she is making gains there also.

Mom and Dad.  Well what can I say--with the money we were given for Christmas,  we took a mini-vacation.  Yes, just Ben and myself drove to Tampa and got on the Jewel of the Seas by Royal Caribbean.  We spent 4 days on the ship--relaxing.  We could have gone into Cozumel, Mexico, but we decided to lay by the pool and soak up the sun.  Guess what?  No one bothered us--they let us sleep and read.  It was totally amazing! 

What's coming up for us?  A Father/Daughter Dance, an adoption conference, Chinese New Year Celebration, a women's conference, Ben preaching every Sunday, and Julie speaking at a Banquet.  Oh Yeah--a Birthday Party for Leighanne and 10 of her friends!

So stay tuned--I do plan to begin blogging again.

Making 1 Difference

The following post is copied from our Orphan Care Ministry--LOVEM Care Ministries found at http://lovemcare.blogspot.com/

Please read and pray for God to send new 1's!




1

There is power in that number.

Because 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1
= Many Differences for Orphans


A real and lasting difference.

Food. Clothing. Shelter. Water. --The Basics of Life.

Love. Home. Family.-- The Heart of Living.

School. Education. Training.-- The Chance to Live with Purpose.

Bibles. Jesus. Forgivess. A relationship. -- The Gift of Eternal Life.

Discipleship. Growth. Evangelism. -- Living to make a Difference in Others.

These are the Differences You Can Make In a Child's Life.


The Difference between Life and Death exist in the number 1.

1 Person whom has been blessed with much can choose to give to 1 whom has little.

And together with our Christian brothers and sisters in other countries who are on the ground making differences daily, your 1 will provide a place for an orphan to live, to go to school, and to hear about Jesus.


This is from an update we received from our "House of Hope" in Central Asia. Because of the location of our house we can not provide specifics of locations or names. All names have been changed to protect the identity of the workers.

(This update is written by the house parent Scott.)
In October we celebrated Zane's birthday. It was a time of warm wishes and celebration. This was a stark contrast to his early life celebrations. When Zane was 6, his parents sent him, his brother and his sister to live in the orphanage here in town. Both of his parents were alcoholics and his father later died of alcoholism. His mother became homeless. In the orphanage Zane discovered he had the gift of drawing. He is a talented artist and has had his paintings in many exhibitions. In 2008 he finished school at the orphanage. Because he did not have anyplace to go, he came to live at House of Hope. Since then he has entered the University in our town. Even though he has lived with our family for four years, he has not wanted to have anything to do with the Bible Studies or church services that we have in our home. Within this past year he has begun to attend church services and Bible Studies. We are praying that he will soon give his life to Christ.

It has taken 4 years of food, clothing, shelter, love, relationship building, family, schooling, and much prayer to get Zane to the place in his life where he is ready to hear about Jesus. 4 years of many individual 1's making a combined difference.

This is just 1 example of the power of 1.

This year Lovem Care started a 2nd Transition Home in Central Asia and is on the beginning stages of work in India. We would love to continue to help our friends in Honduras also, but this year we have not had the extra funds to give. We are praying for God to send us more individuals, families who want to

MAKE 1 Difference in the year 2013.

Is God calling you to be that 1?

Most people who read this will think that they don't have enough money to help. Have you ever considered that the same God who fed 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and some fish can multiply your monthly gift of $5.00 to make a difference? I do! I've seen God multiply His money and meet the needs in ways that only He can do.

If 160 new 1's gave $5 a month, our new Transition Home in Central Asia would be fully funded each month.

If 130 new 1's gave $5 a month, the children in India at Love in Deed Foundation would be able to have some provisions for meals, education, rent, medicines and Bible study.

If 140 new 1's gave $5 a month, we would be able to fully fund a kids kitchen in Honduras and feed children daily with a healthy meal and the Word of God.

There is so much that 1 can do.

Will you be 1?

If you are feeling the call to be 1, then go to the donate page and begin making 1 difference today.


(By clicking on the donate it will open up a new page for you to be able to donate.)

Christmas Light Night

I stole this idea from my friend Joli ---who stole it from Pinterest.

But it was a great idea--we had a wonderful time as a family.

 

We made treats yesterday after school--one of our kids favorites--chocolate spoons!

We eat them by themselves or we dip them in hot chocolate or coffee. Yummy!

Little did they know they were preparing part of their surprise for later--I told them we were getting them ready for our neighbors (and we did set some aside for that).

Then last night we made homemade pizza--another family favorite. Afterwards, after showers and pj's we sat around the family room and told the Christmas Story and put up our nativity set.  We then had the kids retell the story and I do believe we have the next segment for "Madea's Bible Lessons".  Somehow Moses entered the scene with the Wise Men, but anyways, after that was cleared up, we let them take turns adding the figures.

 

 

Then we sent Hannah and Leighanne to bed, but it wasn't long before they came out with this note.

After hot chocolate, chex mix , and slippers were gathered we got in the van and Zach's truck and drove around and looked at lights.

The kids finally got to bed around 10ish.  Sorry Mrs. Wagner and Mrs. Halstead--the girls may be a little tired today.

But oh--those memories sure are sweet!

Good Morning!

I want to show you something absolutely Beautiful!

My View on the way to Brunswick this morning . . .

Isn't that Gorgeous???  Breath Taking?  Inspired? 

I believe it's been a while since I have actually seen a sunrise. 

But today was a beautiful Blessing--just for me. (ok--and the other people on the road who took the time to notice)  But I really enjoyed every minute of it. 

But what made it even better was this . . .

 

10,000 Reasons by Matt Redmon was playing on the radio while I was riding along.  And I'm pretty sure I hit every note just as well as they did. :)

May you still be singing as the evening comes.

Hugs,

Julie

2 Birthdays, A Day of Thanks and a Homecoming!

Okay--I'm not even going to apologize anymore.

I have officially earned the title of "Worst Blogger of the Year!"

I'm actually not all that sad about it either. 

Cause that means I've been too busy to even sit down at the computer for several combined moments.

But today--I'm delaying my gym workout for one hour.

So here we go . . .

We celebrated my 43rd birthday on the 14th!  Yes--I am not even scared to put that out there.  I love birthdays--they give us another year to do more with the time we've been given.

Sara's birthday was the 19th. She turned 15!!  Of course the subject of driving came up. AND we gladly made a deal with her.  When she can pass the written test required by Georgia--she can get her permit.  That seems fair and it comes with a little more inspiration to learn more English.

Next came Our Day of Thanks.  We have had much to be thankful for this past year.  We had a lovely dinner with friends and family.  We were missing one however--Austin was still in Chicago.  AND sorry Vicky and Brook--I don't think yall had arrived when I was running around taking pics.

Next came a very sweet homecoming.  Austin came home on Monday the 26th.  Oh my was it GREAT to give my oldest child a hug. I must admit I've called him a couple of times since then just to hear him answer the phone because I couldn't for so many months.  Seeing him walk down the hallway towards our family was just a very precious reunion.  Loved that!  (It also made me just that much more appreciative of all the men and women who do this year in and year out.  The sacrifice is amazing.  Thank you to those of you who defend our nation.)

 

 

Finally, We now have another 18 year old in the house!!

Yep--our Jordan Ross Agee turned 18 on the 28th.  He helped grill the steaks with Ben.  He gave specific marinating instructions--Jordan's special recipe.  And this year he asked for strawberry cheesecake for dessert--great choice.

Sure am amazed that 18 years have passed since this sweet boy turned man entered into our lives.

 

And if you are still reading this really long blog that should have been written on 4 separate days--well then, you are truly a good friend. 

Hugs to all,

Julie