James Avery contest update

Hi all Facebooking friends,

Just an FYI/reminder: You can vote once each day until the end of May for our picture; I was wrong when I thought it was a "once and done" type thing (which would have been nice!). So if you are willing to take 30 seconds a day to vote for the quints and me, there are a couple of special women in my life who would appreciate our winning. :) Plus it would be neat to tell/show the quints someday!

Here's the link again, which will take you right to the picture (although you have to "like" James Avery Craftsman first if you haven't already):

   A mother's love is multiplied, never divided. 

Thank you SO much!

Love,
Carrie

Bonus pictures for reading this post: (Sorry, none of Seth for some reason!! But his last check-up was WONDERFUL and he's growing awesome - already on the chart for a normal 9-month-old; his procedure site looked great, and he's been vomiting less, I think. He's also been eating a lot more and enjoying his bottle, wonder of wonders! Thank you all for praying! Please keep praying for his eating and also for his complete wean off of oxygen, cessation of the vomiting/gagging, and for increased upper-body strength. He still can't hold his head or chest off the ground for long or roll over. He's sitting fairly well, though.)

Marcie

Sleepy Grace cuddled into Aunt Donna's cozy shoulder
(You know you've got a loving, committed volunteer when she buys kid-friendly scrubs to wear with the quints!)

Wrestling match

David psyching himself up for the wrestling match?
(He can stand amazingly well holding onto things.)

Gracie and Marcie in Emily Fox's beautiful outfits. Thanks, Emily! We love you and pray for you, too!

Grandmommy's long walk wore us out!

This handsome young man appeared at the drive-thru pick-up spot at church on Sunday. 

Blog Comment setting changes

You may have noticed that the comment section of our blog has been all but taken over by SPAMmers in recent months.  In order to try to filter all such unwanted comments out, I have changed the settings on the blog so that only registered blog members are able to leave comments.  If you are not currently signed up on our blog and want to be able to leave comments, you can click on "Follow this site" on the left side of the blog below the "Followers" title.  Sorry it had to come to this, but the spam is getting a bit excessive.  I might miss the occasional hilarious comment with no grammatical structure whatsoever commenting on what a "fastidious" site we have, but probably not too badly.

Gavin

When magical turns crazy

I am enjoying some early morning playtime with David and Will. I hear the girls waking up, but these last few minutes have been just delightful. The boys immediately went for the toys and each other, David reaching over Will to get a set of rings with which he proceeded to pound the side of Will's head (which Will actually bore with surprising equanimity). It's so adorable when the babies are thrilled to see each other, less adorable when the thrilled feeling expresses itself with grabbing the closest limb and biting down. So THAT'S the moment magical becomes crazy. :) Girls and Seth awake - gotta run! Carrie

Mother's Day gift!

Thought you all would like seeing it, too. It's hanging above out gorgeous new dresser (also made by Gavin).

Thanks for continuing to pray for us. There are moments of magic and unbearable cuteness each day, but also moments of absolute drudgery and thoughts of "I'm going to go crazy now . . . " because of all the noise, chaos, crying, beeping machines, tangled cords, vomiting, blow-out diapers, laundry, bottles, clutter, dirtiness, constant (sometimes dangerous) distractions, and general "neediness" times 5 or 6, depending on Isaac's whereabouts and activities. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to move through quicksand and not really getting anywhere, crawling up a shale-covered slope and just wanting to lie down and go to sleep. (I know no other new mothers feel that way, ha!) I handled all five babies by myself for just 15 minutes today and 4 of the 5 cried pretty much the whole time; Seth was the exception. The house was a DISASTER by the end of the morning with just my dad and me working; clearly we are not able to do this yet without additional help. I'm just so grateful Sam took the afternoon shift with Aunt Edna and I could escape to the quiet of my mom and dad's, albeit with a somewhat noisy Marcie. :) I am so grateful for these precious little lives, but the Lord sure is using them to remind me of my absolute dependence on His strength and His wisdom, not my own pathetic supply of each!

Thanks and love to you all,
Carrie

Bottom left close-ups: Marcie, David
Top right close ups: Isaac, Grace, Will and Seth

Upended

This is a follow-up to my last post.  If you would like to know a bit more about the Christian Alliance For Orphans (CAFO), the following video gives you a good glimpse into the heart of the organization.  Jedd Medefind, the president of the CAFO, is interviewed about the Alliance as well as about his book, Upended: How following Jesus Remakes Your Words and World.



I highly recommend Upended.  Not just because Jedd is a close relative of mine, but because it is a potentially life-changing book.  It is an extremely practical, contemporary,  and moving book on what it means to truly follow Christ and be an "apprentice" to Him for the glory of God.  It delves into the ins and outs of how our communication with one another and with God shapes not only ourselves, but deeply affects others, and potentially their relationship with God.  Presence, attentiveness, incarnation, authenticity, and concreteness in our relationships are all addressed.  The topics are examined with clarity and depth and brought to life through many stories and personal anecdotes.  It is available in hard copy or digital (Kindle or Nook) versions through the Upended website or Amazon and a few others.

An ironic post.

In our efforts over the years to have "another" child, Carrie and I often wondered about adoption.  For me in years past, the whole idea of adoption has been a scary prospect on multiple levels, most of them selfish-- "We don't have the money to adopt.  We don't know the kid's background!  What if we don't bond?  What if they have problems that we won't know about until years down the road?  What if . . .?"  In the midst of those "What ifs?," we have been open to the possibility were the Lord to really lay it on our hearts.

That is where I struggle so often-- how can I clear my emotions and personal, selfish desires out of the way and let the Holy Spirit's call be clear?  Is that really, truly possible?  Am I not actually supposed to have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16b) so that there is no question as to which road ahead to choose?  Does not Romans 12:2 tell me to "let God transform [me] into a new person by changing the way [I] think. Then [I] will learn to know Gods will for [me], which is good and pleasing and perfect."?  

Those scriptures and many others are truths I cling to as I struggle with my sinfulness getting in the way of God's call on my life, my decisions, my thoughts, my actions.  Probably my biggest encouragement from it all is that the responsibility is placed on God!  HE gives us the faith we need to trust Him (Ephesians 2:8).  HE gives us the mind of Christ dwell in me.  HE will transform me into a new person!  He's a smart guy-- He knows I can't (or won't) do it on my own.  To accomplish that great work which He has planned for my life, HE has to do it through His own power.  (Ephesians 3:20)  Can you imagine what our lives would look like if God left it up to us to have the faith we need to trust Him, the thoughts we need to get through a day, on our own to accomplish great works for His glory?

Should we have chosen to adopt instead of going ahead with minor fertility treatments that ended up giving me five more children?  There are thousands of kids out there we could have chosen to give a loving home and family, yet that is not what happened.  How much weight do you give to the innate desire to have children from your own flesh and bone when there are so many others out there that are fatherless and love-less?  

I have written a lot of questions and don't have most of the answers.  But I do know and claim the promise of Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  What a promise and comfort!

18 months ago, I was very happy with our family size.  I was able to do a lot of what I wanted to do.  I had a lot of time for myself.  I wanted that to continue.  The thought of having another child and re-entering the realm of baby care was not at all appealing to me.  What would I have thought had the Lord revealed His family planning blueprint to me?  

I know how I responded when we first found out about those five little babies.  I was kicking and screaming (mostly figuratively), asking God why, what for, how, and many other questions.  What surprised me was how quickly He changed my heart and mind.  I went from anger and frustration

as I saw MY life being robbed from me to seeing how myopic I had been and eager for what the Lord has planned for our family.   

While in California last July, I had lunch with my cousin, Jedd Medefind.  It was less than a month until the babies would come and I was still wrapping my mind around the prospect of going from the father of one to the caretaker and protector of six children.   I don't know why I had not thought about it before, but Jedd mentioned how awesome and wonderful it will be in the years to come to be surrounded so much family; so many children and, eventually, their children, and so on.  We discussed how our best and greatest memories are of our times together as nuclear or extended families.  God has given Carrie and me an incredible gift of family!  We will watch with awe and wonder as He works in and through us and our children to accomplish His purposes.  

I am not so naive to think that it is all going to be fun and laughter.  The last several months (and evenings) have been evidence of that.  It has not been fun AT ALL sometimes, but in the midst of it I can say that most of the time the joy of the Lord has been my strength (Nehemiah 8:10).  And that is only His doing.  

A life of God-given JOY will be filled with laughter, pain, sorrow, easy times, fun times, suffering, all intermingled to create a tapestry that only God can come up with in His infinite wisdom-- something we could never think or imagine.  

I find it quite ironic to be a father of six of my own children, yet to be promoting adoption.  What surprises me is the fact that, though I never wanted more than three children, now that I have six, I can much more easily conceive of adopting (some years down the road!)  

I mentioned my cousin Jedd Medefind.  He is the President of the Christian Alliance For Orphans, an organization that seeks to bring the people and resources of the church community around the world together to care for the fatherless.  They have made great strides in raising the awareness of the plight of orphans in the world.  I know he and all those involved would greatly appreciate your prayers for wisdom and clarity as they seek to bring churches and communities together.  

Specifically you could pray for him as he is interviewed by National Public Radio (NPR) tomorrow, Thursday, March 16th.  The author of the book referenced below will also be interviewed separately.  Then NPR will edit and combine their interviews for airing on the radio.  Here is his request:

A new book purporting to be about the movement, The Child Catchers, paints a very distorted picture about what it's all about.  From NPR to al Jazeera, media gatekeepers (that up till now have almost entirely ignored the growing engagement of Christians in adoption and orphan care) are now eager to highlight the movement through the lens of this book.   Some of the critiques and criticisms include very important and complex issues that I feel do require serious thought and ongoing maturation within the movement.  But many other aspects of the book represent well-crafted distortions of the motives of Christians in caring for orphans, the reality of the work being done, and more.  Please pray that I and others will respond with grace and wisdom, and that God will ultimately bring much good through it all.  

Just as we are so thankful for all of you out there praying for us in so many ways on so many days, I know Jedd and the Alliance will highly appreciate your prayers as well.  

Many thoughts.  Little time.  All this leads to a post full of rabbit trails and strings of thought.  I hope you hear my heart and that maybe some of you are encouraged wherever you are in life.  

In Christ,

Gavin 

My happiest Mothers' Day ever

Dear friends, family and "strangers" who have embraced our family like their own, 

I bet a lot of you think I'm going to say my happiest Mothers' Day ever will be tomorrow, but I think I can guarantee that I've already had the happiest Mothers' Day I'll ever have . . . 

. . . , and that was 10 years ago, May 11th, 2003, the day I found out a precious little life was growing inside me for the first time. I often post pictures of the quints, less so of Isaac. This one is my new all-time favorite picture because it includes the little big boy who filled me with such wonder and love a decade ago today. He continues to add his own special brand of wonder and absolutely delightful love to each and every day of my life. He is the best big brother, playing with and comforting and caring for the babies with joy and tenderness. I love you, Isaac! I am SO proud of you, and fervently pray that the Lord will draw each of our babies to Himself as He has drawn you and made you His child forever and ever, something that is obvious to me each day as I watch you grow. I am overwhelmed by the blessing of YOU and by the blessing of you being in Christ and Christ being in you, filling you with His Spirit and guiding you always. You shine for Him!

Love always and forever in Christ,
Mom