Dear ones,
I apologize for my utter LACK of communication in the last few months! I am so sorry! Bottom line, when it comes to Tali's case, I just have had NOTHING to say. Things are still very much up in the air, at least as far as I can tell. I can't share much on here because this is a public blog, but I will tell you that we go to court again this Wednesday morning at 9am. This hearing could be very pivotal as far as the direction of this case. Mom has made some progress but no one knows for sure if it is enough. This hearing could last for 30 minutes or for 6 hours - our social workers have been told to block out their entire Wednesday on their calendars. Stan and I will both be there.
Please pray. Stan and I are praying like never before right now. I can't speak for him at this moment, but for the last few days I've had such a sense of peace over this court date... I do not know what will happen...but I do know that Jesus is GOOD, is infinitely more committed to Tali than we are, and is worthy of our trust.
In other, more FUN news.... Tali started crawling in the first part of September and has gotten SO fast!! :) She is seriously getting around and I am UN-decorating our house more every day! :) She is also pulling up and cruising (meaning, holding onto furniture and walking around). She will occasionally let go of whatever she's holding onto and stand by herself for a second or two before she realizes she's on her own and quickly plops down. :) Her personality is blossoming more each day. Yesterday she finally started signing "All finished" to me at the end of her meals! I was so excited! She actually GETS what she's saying! She can wave "hi" and "bye-bye..." but only when she feels like it! :) Ha ha... She claps her hands at us when we clap for her, and continues to make her famous "dinosaur" noises off and on. Oh MAN, this girl is cute and FUN!!!! We are loving every moment we have with her.
Hayleigh is in Kindergarten, half days. Her school is only a block away from our house, which is so nice! She is doing fairly well, learning social skills, learning how to BE within a structured environment, learning how to be teachable. It is difficult for her, but she is making progress. She still has lots of catching up to do, acedemically, socially, emotionally, etc. She is having FUN though and LOVES to go to school. She continues to be such a good "big sister" to Tali - the way they play together cracks me up and makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :) Hayleigh can make Tali laugh like no one else can! It's awesome. Now that Tali can crawl they sometimes "chase" each other around the living room, both laughing hysterically the entire time. The girls are super DUPER bonded to one another. I love watching them together.
Hayleigh's behavior, which HAD improved SIGNIFICANTLY over a period of several months, is back to being very difficult for us to deal with. This looonnnng process is really wearing on her...and the more comfortable she gets with us, the more prone she is to demonstrate her grief and intense anger by being defiant toward Stan and I. Please pray for wisdom, patience, and the heart of God for us. We want to unconditionally love her and accurately represent the love of her Father in heaven for her. We want to shepherd her heart and not simply correct her behavior. God, give us grace!! Even in the midst of this aspect of parenting being extremely difficult, we have had breakthroughs with Hayleigh, moments where the Holy Spirit softens her heart and she experiences real repentance and reconciliation with the Lord. It is so sweet to be a part of those moments. Please pray that we will have MORE of those!
As far as the rest of life goes....we are totally enjoying our spiritual family at the ROCK of KC and our other friends in the KC area also. My good friend Tracy had her baby boy, Boaz James last week and we are so excited for their family! Hayleigh can't wait to meet him. :) The ROCK had our annual "family reunion" last week, where all of our house churches from different parts of the country come into KC. We had a BLAST in the presence of God together, worshiping, connecting, surrendering our hearts even more deeply to loving Jesus and walking out His purpose in the earth. God is so good to us!
The weather has been chilly here, a fun (fun for ME anyway - I love cooler weather) reminder that the holiday season is quickly approaching. I hope you all enjoy pulling your sweaters out and baking and lighting candles and drinking hot chocolate and all the other fun stuff that comes with fall! Blessings to you, our dear friends and prayer partners! What would we do without you?!
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