Yesterday

I woke up wide awake a few hours ago...my mind swirling with a list of things that need to be accomplished...that most likely should of been accomplished weeks ago. My mind then turned to different family members...things that are going on in their lives, thing of concern, things of great joy...and slowly as thoughts progress to another level they turn into prayers, cries to the Lord who knows every thought before I have them...and yet He still turns an ear to hear me when I articulate them all over again. How thankful I am that we have a listening God.

June 26th was and is a life changing day for our family. 14 years ago my cousin Mandy was on her way to church on a Sunday morning when she was hit by a drunk driver and went home to be with the Lord. She was wonderful, beautiful, funny, and a complete joy to her family, immediate and extended. Words fail to describe a life so well lived...14 earthly years later, she still is a part of my daily thoughts...influencing the way I live, influencing the way I parent, influencing who I am. I sure miss her.

Tagged...(Twice)

For the latest on my sister, please check their blog http://rkvaughn.blogspot.com/...(knowing their list of people who read their blog is quite a bit larger than mine, I feel like I am experiencing my 15 minutes of fame when they let me post on it.:))


I have been tagged on 2 different things...I am working on Chesley's and then will try to complete April's tomorrow. I am terrible at these..but there is a special thrill in being tagged so here is my lame attempt at a response...

First memory - Going into my room and putting on multiple pairs of underwear, shorts, and then a pair of pants because my mom had told me to go wait in my room until she got in there to spank me. She was not amused.

First real kiss - He remains a good friend who reads this blog...I will let him keep his anonymity.

First concert - Amy Grant...I wore a pink and grey sleeve-less, v-neck argyle sweater, pink walking shorts, white knee socks and my white penny loafers and my mom hot rolled my hair. I know this because I remember thinking, "I look so cute, I bet she calls me up on stage to sing with her." She did not notice...her loss. (Oh to have a bit of that self- confidence back.:))

First love - my Strawberry Shortcake doll collection. The night I got tea-time turtle who pulled the wagon/picnic table I layed awake all night so excited to play with it.

First crush - Most likely Willie from Little House on the Prairie. He looked good in a pair of suspenders

First thing you think in the morning - My alarm goes off at 5:01 and daily I debate whether I should go work out or not...

First book you remember loving - "Who is coming to the Butterfly Ball?" My grandmother read it to us while we sat in her lap and ate jelly beans...great memory.

First pet - John Pecan, our cat. After John Pecan went to his maker we started our weanie dog business with Dusty Bottoms and Yo.

First question you'll ask in heaven - I am assuming this after I have fallen to my knees and spent a couple of thousand years praising the Lord..."Where is the Ferris Wheel?" (I will explain this on a later post.)

First thing you think of when you hear the word vacation - I better check how much money is in our vacation envelope.

First best friend - My sister...We shared a room and a double bed for the first years of our life. I slept with one of my legs over her because I knew if anyone ever tried to kidnap her it would wake me up and I could stop them.

Last time you dressed up - When Tony and I went to Del Friscos Father's Day weekend.

Last thing you ate - Uncle Ben's Chicken whole grain rice with terriyaki sauce poured over it...I love that stuff...

Last CD you bought? Honestly- who knows...I would be willing to bet it was some type of Kid's praise...we really do not listen to much of anything else. My brother still burns "cool" cds for me that's one of the reasons I still seem so "with it and in the know." :)

Last time you cried - On Saturday night when we sang the words "All who are weary, all who are weak...Come to the Fountain, dip your hearts in the stream of life. Let the Pain and the Sorrow be washed away, in the waves of His mercy, as deep cries out to deep. We sing, Come, Lord Jesus Come." I thought of Kelly and Randy, of my mom, of other families I know and pray for who are wading through deep and hard times and I wept...begging the Lord that They might feel Him come in a very real sense into their situations.

Last time you told someone you loved them - My kids multiple times through out the day...Also Tony everytime we talk on the phone...Really everyone I talk to...I could possibly be accused of overuse of the word...but I really do mean it when I say it.

Last really funny thing you did - I laugh hard every single day but as for something funny I did... Who knows?

Last thing you watched on TV - Backyardigans I love the episode where they are looking for Tiki Beach. Should anything major ever occur in our world and they do not break into Noggin to announce it, please call us...I guarantee you we will be shocked.

I tag - You- go ahead respond...

Swim lessons

Benjamin has insisted on wearing the hat he got at his friend's Thomas the Train birthday party all week. Needless to say, he makes everyone smile as we pass. He also thought, "Why go with flip flops for poolside attire, when red boots go just as well?" Of course, he chooses to wear them without socks for quick pool access. They are not as easy to slip on when wet. These were taken on the day that I could not find Benjamin for his class. He was hiding in the corner, hoping we would all just forget he was there.

These were the 2 sides of Benjamin all week. He was thrilled to be there, he was a bit ticked to be there. Overall, he loved Ms. Jody and all his precious friends that he swam (term used loosely) with!

The highlight for both boys was their dad showing up for the closing class.

Payton and Mason...There were 3 boys in Payton's class. I said you sure have made some great friends and he told me , "really, we are more like brothers." So if any of you are looking for a bonding experience, swim lessons are where its at! :) We had an awesome 2 weeks. So much fun watching the boys develop new skills, so much fun getting to spend quality time with the other moms.

Our Jr. High nephew told Payton that all the cool kids pose like this...I need to tell him it looks cool with your shirt on...right here he just looks extremely modest!:)

Beside ourselves!

I just had the joy of sending out this email!


Dearest praying friends-

I got the call today while we were at swim lessons that we had been praying for...The Lord has moved and it is looking like Lael could possibly be granted a Visa this Friday...My eyes swim with tears just typing it! May the Lord continue to praised. If that occurs we could have at least some of the family coming home this Sunday.

Proverbs 13:12 says, ""Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around." the Lord has given us our sudden good break and people with Jeffrey and Vaughn blood are rejoicing around the world with tears and hands raised...more importantly though, people who share in the blood of Christ, our incredible extended family, are lifting up praise for this turn of events. Thanks for praying with us, hoping with us, and for rejoicing with us!

We'll keep you posted!
Becky

***Kelly and Randy are doing a great job keeping everyone up on the details at http://rkvaughn.blogspot.com/

In a nutshell...

1. Thanks so much for those of you who continue to lift up my sister and her family up. They were supposed to arrive at DFW today. I was feeling sick at heart this morning as I prayed, I am well aware there are far worse things that could be happening in our family, and yet I also now see us living out Proverbs 13:12, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick. " The Message nails it with , "Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around."I am still holding on to the thought that they will get a phone call this week that says...You are a go. That sudden good break has got to be around the corner. Somehow, someway it will happen...You will hear a loud cheer and praise to the Lord when it does.

2. There is no better way to ensure that your child will develop problems with potty training than to announce on the WWW that they have got it down. As we were enjoying lunch with our friends sweet Benjamin said, "Excuse me mom, do have any other clothes for me?" As soon as I saw his face I knew what he had done. I promptly picked him up (quite gingerly) and carried him to the parking lot where we were given a diaper (Thanks Eli) to put Benjamin in. While I was giving him the baby wipe bath in Cracker Barrel parking lot Benjamin said, "Do you think this is funny?" I said, "No, not right now..." He said. "Thats ok mom, we can just laugh about this later."

3. Over Memorial Day weekend my dad and Tony decided it was time to tag and castrate some of the spring calves...We decided to go watch, not knowing that watching meant you actually got pulled into the whole process. The boys loved cheering on their dad, but one of their highlights was when they saw their Precious get in there and start mixing it up. (Don't worry, Suzy did not castrate anything, just helped hold the gate.) I was happy to just be in charge of taking pictures. By the way, Benjamin is going crazy missing his Precious (we are too, the rest of us just are not as vocal.)

4. Swim Lessons...we have made it through 5 with 3 more to go. This morning Payton walked in,looked around at everyone, and said, "I am really feeling nervous this morning, I don't want to be here, I wish I knew how this would go..." No one but me was listening...and I had to smile...Payton is many things, but no woman will ever accuse him of internalizing his emotions. Both boys love the water, just not the feel of going underwater. Baby steps...everyday a bit closer. My brother reminded me today we were in jr. high before we stopped physically holding our nose and I think we turned out ok.

5. My dad got back in town just in time for Father's day. We were all ready to see him. We had a good time laughing and eating together...so thankful for all the men in our lives who have shown us what being a dad is all about. I could not be more thankful for the dad I have, the dad he had, the dad my mom had, the dad my brother-in-laws are to my nieces and nephews, the dad my brother is,the dad my husband has, the dad my husband is...they all model the Heavenly Father's love in such a beautiful way. We celebrated them all yesterday!

6. Our neighbor asked us to keep her cat...(at this point everyone who knows us well groans) I said, no problem...All we had to do was feed her once a day, it was only 3 days, she said I would probably never even see the cat, NO problem. We literally had a 2 minute conversation about it. Then later, (At approximately 11:30 at night later) she calls back and explains to our answering machine (everyone knows the Brooks family has not seen the other side of 10 since we put our wedding rings on.), that she forgot to mention the cat is free bleeder (WHAT?!), that sometimes it gets into fights (WHAT?!), that I need to walk their back yard several times a day to see if I see any large pools of blood and if I do find the cat, she will probably be really angry, (Sure) and get her to the hospital in Southlake. (At which point Tony paused the answering machine to say "Not in one of our cars.") We did make it through the weekend with no blood anywhere. I have never been so happy to return a box of cat food in my life.

7. The other day we were at Chick-fil-a when Payton ran out of the play area and said , "Benjamin is really stuck this time." Assuming he meant in one of the tube slides I walked in to talk Benjamin down. What he meant was he was literally stuck. Somehow (our boy is a monkey) he had been climbing on top of the tube slide fallen and gotten caught between the tube slide and the plastic grate that keeps the kids from going under the play equipment. I could see his little feet dangling on one side and see his head on the other. I could not move him. Thankfully Tony was there to pull the tube slide to the side so I could lift Benjamin out. He was also able to deliver the "let's use the slide the way it was intended speech" with a little more oomph than me.

8.Yesterday I talked to my niece Bailey who has the cutest voice I have ever heard...We had a great conversation that ended with her saying,

Bailey: "Hey Aunt Becky?"

Becky: "yes, Bailey"

Bailey: "I am a lot cuter than you remember."

My other favorite Bailey quote is when she was talking to Emille (her mom) about her sister Brylee, (who is one) and said, "I sure wish I knew Spanish so I could know what Bry is saying." I love being an aunt.

9. Tony and I got a gift card from my brother to Del Friscos for Christmas. We used it this weekend for the best dinner ever. We had so much fun laughing and talking about life. Nights out always remind us we should do that more often. Its always hard to leave our kids, but we always come back to them better parents, for the simple reason that we are reminded of why we fell in love with each other in the first place. Sometimes a reminder is good, even when you don't really think you need it.

10. While Andy was in Pakistan we prayed for him constantly. Both boys would join in often through out the day. Not really knowing geography (We are working on it :))they do the best they can. We loved how every night Payton would close out his prayer with , "and Lord, we ask that you would always help Andy to remember to pack his stand."

A grip on hope

We have been feeling scattered for a little while now.

My brother Andy, just returned from Pakistan safely last night.

We just got word that my dad is on American soil after 2 weeks in Benin helping Kelly and Randy wrap up what has been an amazingly successful, glory to God, 9 years of minstry.

My parents went to help turn off the lights and bring my sister and her family home. This is an email one of Kelly's dearest friends just sent out...

"Randy and Kelly urgently need your prayers. They were copied on an email to the Embassy in Ghana on Monday that their fingerprints cleared. Since then, they have heard nothing from the Embassy. Their contact person there is not responding to them and they have no idea where they fall on the priority list for processing. There is a lady there who must process their documents, however, she is only there through mid-July and will not return again until September. She is not returning their calls or emails. If their clearance is not processed before she leaves, the Vaughns will be stuck in Cotonou until September. The worst part is that NO ONE is responding to their inquiries right now. They are discouraged and frustrated. Please pray (and pass on to those who you know will pray along with us) that they will receive a word from the Embassy immediately and that their paperwork will be processed quickly. Once they receive the ok from the Embassy, it will take only 3 days to process the immigrant visa their daughter needs to leave the country.

God has the power to change all of this immediately. PLEASE CLAIM THIS WITH US!!!"

You gather from that that obviously, the bringing them home part did not happen. My mom has remained, hopefully to return soon with My sister, Randy and 4 precious children. Please join us in asking the Lord to bring this chapter of the adoption story to a close.

I have been claiming for my sister,Randy, for their kids and for all who love them and pray for them these verses of Lamentations 3...

"But there's one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. We won't be consumed. His promises are created new every morning. How great your faithfulness!I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left. "