Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
Summer is in the air!
I cannot believe that the end of June is right around the corner and we
have made it officially to the summertime! Other than a week of being
sick, this month has been incredible with some pretty special highlights
I am very excited to share.
It is so interesting seeing how the Lord uses gifts and skills we have
learned along the way in our lives in the future. Since I was a child I
worked on projects with my parents and learned how to use tools and
paint. Then in high school I took drafting and construction and learned
how to use all kinds of power tools. Well the Lord put all those
skills to use! I had so much fun this month working on building a
Pallet Wall for my friend Steffi’s son. He wanted to have a bit more
privacy and since we had a lot of pallets laying around we decided to
build him a wall! I have to say, that I am amazed at how it turned
out. Truly I cannot take all the credit for it, it totally was a God
thing, with only a picture from Pinterest as inspiration, I worked with
the kids to build the wall.
Some of my favorite memories from childhood
involve working on things like this and so I really enjoyed being able
to work with Steffi’s 3 kids on the wall. Beca and Roxy helped me paint
and we learned all about using a roller to paint with and a brush.
Then Costel helped with the power tools of course. He learned how to
use a drill for drilling and for screwing things in. I think he was
pretty excited to use real power tools! In order to give him the
privacy he wanted, we found an old duvet cover, cut it in 2 and put it
in between the slats, then with 2 pillow shams we made curtains above
his bed so he could look out if wanted to. I put a string to hold his
flashlight, then we cut up milk jugs and screwed them to the wall so he
would have a place for his stuff (we are still collecting more!) and on
the front of the wall we hung a string for his art work! Honestly I had
so much fun working with these kids and the finished product came out
great!
This month means, I’ve hit the 8 month mark
and can officially say that I have finished the school year off with my
kids in my After School Program (ASP). June saw a few of our kids from
the program in the children’s hospital for various reasons. I am at the
hospital each Friday so I was able to visit 2 of my kids who were
there.
The ASP has had an incredible year. It is the first full school year
the program has run and it has been amazing. It has had its highs and
lows, it difficulties and it joys. We have learned a lot and will
continue to improve the program and implement all that we have learned
this year for the next year. What an amazing journey this has been for
me and I am so blessed that Sarah and FFR asked me to be a part of this
adventure.
Seeing my kids, who I have had since the beginning grow so much makes me
feel like a proud parent. Kids who could did not know the alphabet at
the beginning of the school year are READING! Truly unbelievable. This
has been one of the most humbly experiences I have ever been a part of.
Knowing that each of these children in our program has heard the Word
of God taught to them, they have memorized a new Bible verse each week,
they have sung songs and grew in their education is amazing. This is truly life changing for them.
But most importantly they have learned about Jesus and how much He loves
them and cares for them and has a future and a hope for their little
lives.
We had a graduation for all our kids. It went wonderful, the kids sang songs and the 8th
graders and High Schoolers received certificates. Firm Foundations
Romania Leadership got each of the full time staff and long term
volunteers a rose to thank us. It was a proud moment for the children
and for those of us who have worked with them all year. It was actually
much more emotional than I thought it would be as I had my kids run up
to me telling what grade they would be in next year, there were lots of
hugs and happy faces. We will have some time off during the summer, but
will also have an English Camp, and a couple of Vacation Bible Schools
with teams from the States.
A little video with pics from our Kids Club and the After School Program Graduation!
You hear a lot about two of my girls in my
first grade class, sisters, Vasilica (age 9) and Raluca (age 10). Well I am proud to say that
not only have these two beautiful young ladies graduated from the first
grade and will be going to the second grade next year, they both earned
scholarships due to their good grades! They write beautiful and they
are reading and doing math! One of Vasi’s favorite things to do is to
play an addition came we have.
Our kids know they are loved and it has allowed them to grow so beautifully!
I am truly humbled, thankful, and blessed to
have worked with the staff and volunteers of the After School Program
this year. I know the success we have had is because of the hard work
and love each of us has invested in these children. The Lord has
blessed the work of our hands and the fruit of it is evident in each
life that has been touched.
Thank you for your prayer and support this past school year. I look
forward to this summer, the teams we will be working with and the time I
will have to get ready for my interns who will be arriving at the
beginning of August. The work that the Lord has for me has grown and I
so look forward to all the good things He has in store.
“There is a glorified Man on the right hand of
the Majesty in heaven faithfully representing us there.We are left for a season among men; let us
faithfully represent Him here.”
I'm challenging you all again....won't you PRAY about adopting or
fostering a child? Or maybe you don't want to pray because you are
afraid the Lord might ask you to take a step of faith and open up your
home to a child. Do you worry about finances, or time or whether or not
you can love a child not born to you as much as you love your own
children? Do you believe that if God leads you down this path He won't
give you the grace you need to love a child, and that He won't continue
to fulfill His promise to provide for your needs? We have been adopted
into the family of God...won't you pray about passing on this blessing
of family to a child or teen?
Our hearts have gotten bigger': Congressman reflects on decision to adopt twins
Lisa Flam
TODAY
Markwayne Mullin had just
been elected to Congress when the father of three began another, even
more important journey that would change his life. He met the twin
toddlers, distant cousins, who would one day join his family as his
daughters.
Courtesy Markwayne Mullin / Mallory Hall Photography
The Mullin family at their farm in Oklahoma.
It was the fall of 2012, and he and his wife were already parents to
three young kids. Their hectic life, filled with work and family, was
about to get a whole lot busier with his new job in Washington.
When the twins paid a visit to the Mullin home, on a 1,000-acre horse
and cattle farm in Westville, Oklahoma, to celebrate their second
birthday a few weeks after the election, Markwayne was struck by the way
his wife, Christie, and their kids took to the little ones.
And he sensed what was coming: Christie would suggest they adopt the girls, born to her distant teenage cousin.
"It wasn't a good situation," Markwayne said. The girls were separated
as infants and being raised lovingly but apart, tended by Christie's
aging great aunts.
Courtesy Markwayne Mullin / Mallory Hall Photography
Ivy (left), Larra (middle), and Lynette (right) celebrate the twins’ 4th birthday at a Frozen-themed birthday party.
"My wife was loving on the girls. My kids were loving on them," the
now-second term Republican congressman recalled. "I was sitting there
thinking, 'There's no way.' Our life just got turned upside down by me
being elected to Congress."
"I literally put it out of my mind, but I could just tell," he added.
"My wife is the most loving person that you can ever imagine."
Through prayer and the support of their children and their parents,
Markwayne, 37, and Christie, 36, did adopt the twins, Lynette and Ivy,
in August 2013. With those energetic little girls, now 4, plus the
couple's big kids, Jim, now 11; Andrew, 9; and Larra, 6, the Mullins
became the parents of five.
Although it hasn't always been easy since the brood grew, with two
additional voices jockeying for attention and more logistics to consider
when flying five kids to Washington, the twins immediately became part
of the family.
Courtesy Markwayne Mullin / Mallory Hall Photography
Markwayne and Larra together in Hawaii on the family’s vacation in 2014.
"We were Mommy and Daddy from Day One," Markwayne said. "And those daughters were our daughters from Day One."
"There was an instant bond," said Christie, the same sort of bond that
would have been there had she brought them home from the hospital as
newborns.
The big kids were excited to welcome them, too, sometimes lavishing a
little too much attention on the little ones. And the girls, social and
friendly, easily found their place in the family's political life,
Christie said, able to handle meeting lots of people who often want to
hold them.
"They have done a great job fitting into our crazy congressional world," Christie said.
The couple, who celebrated their 18th anniversary on Sunday, didn't reach the decision to adopt hastily.
Courtesy Markwayne Mullin / Mallory Hall Photography
Markwayne gives Ivy (front) and Lynette (back) a “big push.”
At first, Markwayne was reluctant, and felt scared and nervous at the
thought of upsetting the balance of their life, already full with sports
practices and homework, several family businesses and the farm.
"I was being real selfish," he said. "I was trying to protect what we had."
Markwayne and Christie talked about helping the girls financially, and discussed the adoption option for several months.
"She would talk about maybe we should think about adopting the girls,
and I'd make up an excuse and make up an excuse, and she was very
patient with me," he recalled.
Courtesy Markwayne Mullin / Mallory Hall Photography
Markwayne rests with son Jim in the hospital after he is treated for a wrist injury.
He worried about how the pair would affect their three kids, and
whether he would be capable of loving the twins as he did his own
children.
Christie shared with him that her great aunts, both around 70 at the
time and living alone on fixed incomes, were worried they might not be
able to meet the girls' needs as they grew older.
"They just prayed they would live long enough to see them graduate
school," Christie said, adding that the women did a great job with the
twins. "Markwayne and I felt like we were the ones who needed to step
up."
The question was: When? Christie felt that if something happened to
girls' caretakers, she and Markwayne would have taken the girls at any
point. But why wait for them to experience grief or to be older, when
integrating them into their family would be harder, she said.
Courtesy Markwayne Mullin / Mallory Hall Photography
Larra and Jim help Markwayne at his weekly radio show.
Their Christian faith plays an important role in their lives, and
Markwayne said his wife pulled "the ultimate trump card." She asked him
to pray about the decision.
After he came around, the next step was to win the blessing of their own children.
"When we sat down and talked to them, they just instantly said,
'Mommy, they need a daddy and a mommy just like we do,'" Markwayne said.
"They were so insistent on us bringing the kids in. It was just
overwhelming."
The couple recalled crying together afterward in private. "I was so
proud of them," Christie said of the big kids. "They were so mature and
selfless."
The adoption process moved quickly. And in the two years since those
blond little girls moved in, the couple has been blown away by the
togetherness.
Courtesy Markwayne Mullin / Mallory Hall Photography
Ivy (left), Lynette (middle), and Larra (right) enjoy the beach on a family vacation to Hawaii in 2014.
"For about the first six months we had the girls, all the kids slept
together in that one bedroom," with bunk beds," Markwayne said. "They
did it all themselves."
Now, he calls the twins a more of blessing on the family rather than the other way around.
"All of us have grown from it," he added. "All of our hearts have
gotten bigger. All of us understand it's not about us. You live this
life being selfish, you're not going to enjoy it like you will when you
open your heart and your home up."
And After That What’s Next To Do "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." —Luke 11:9
Seek if you have not found. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ” (James 4:3).
If you ask for things from life instead of from God, “you ask amiss”;
that is, you ask out of your desire for self-fulfillment. The more you
fulfill yourself the less you will seek God. “…seek, and you will
find….” Get to work— narrow your focus and interests to this one thing.
Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you simply given
Him a feeble cry after some emotionally painful experience? “…seek,
[focus,] and you will find….”
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters…” (Isaiah 55:1).
"And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17) Are you thirsty, or complacent and indifferent— so satisfied with your
own experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a
doorway, not a final goal. Beware of building your faith on experience,
or your life will not ring true and will only sound the note of a
critical spirit. Remember that you can never give another person what
you have found, but you can cause him to have a desire for it.
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9). “Draw near to God…” (James 4:8). Knock— the door is closed, and your heartbeat races as you knock. “Cleanse your hands…” (James 4:8). Knock a bit louder— you begin to find that you are dirty. “…purify your hearts…” (James 4:8). It is becoming even more personal— you are desperate and serious now— you will do anything. “Lament…” (James 4:9).
Have you ever lamented, expressing your sorrow before God for the
condition of your inner life? There is no thread of self-pity left, only
the heart-rending difficulty and amazement which comes from seeing what
kind of person you really are. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord…” (James 4:10). It is a humbling experience to knock at God’s door— you have to knock with the crucified thief. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Luke 11:10).
