Update....God IS amazing!!!!

This morning, it was Vica, Catia, Ethan, Sophina and i trying to be ready for our first REAL church service. Remember, our first service we went to was where we had Ethan dedicated on Mother's Day within twelve hours of coming home and so we went in the back door to the 'green room' and stayed there until it was time for us to come out. Scott was there and it was amazing! SO VERY glad that we did it that day! ANYWAY, so today was the first time we went through the REAL doors of the church and we got to see the Emerson's!!! Mark even took a few pictures! Hmmmm... let's just say that by try number four i was laughing due to the fact that if Mark could get one of the twin's attention then he couldn't get the other! THEN who do i see right inside the door??? OH MY! Could it be? Yep, it was Dawn....a dear friend whom i love immensely! I SO wanted to hand Ethan right on over to one of the girls so i could have a full blown hug but wisely decided to try to get as close as we could WITH Ethan in my arms! THEN i got to see a HUGE prayer warrior for our Ethan and our family...Jay! Again, wanting to hug and let him know how much his prayers have meant but i really tried to keep Ethan in as low of emotions as possible. THEN, i could hear that we really hadn't been early as i had thought as i heard our friend, Desmond... probably rapping! SO, we got up to the balcony while the music had ended...i think, actually didn't hear a thing as i was trying to get us all a spot that was out of the way of people yet allowed US to be able to see.

THEN, i WAS there COMPLETELY! The music was absolutely amazing! Yes, all the way from the rap that was LOADED with deep and powerful words (another one) to Great is Thy Faithfulness to chorus'....ALL of the music was SO powerful that i was NOT wanting it to end! OH HOW GOOD IT IS to be WITH the other saints....it wasn't even being able to talk to another adult, as it had just been the not deep kind of talking, it was the singing at the top of my lungs as if i was the only one there with the Lord and having Ethan in my arms and singing the words.....OH how the Lord IS faithful! His mercies ARE new every morning! Even Ethan had been singing throughout it and the girls made me open my eyes to let me see that Sophina and not only Sophina but Ethan had their arms up toward heaven praising the Lord with us!

Ethan immediately screamed as soon as the "last song" was done and i knew that i would NOT be able to stay as his scream is VERY LOUD! SO i left for a time but then as soon as i got down and then out of the main sanctuary i saw that they were going to sing again SO i went back inside to sing even longer! That time i wasn't going to belt it out but... i couldn't help it as it was another incredible song! This time it was about being at Christ's table in heaven....BEING WITH HIM... and the glory that that will be -oh my! WHY did we have to stop singing!? OH how i wanted to sing with my friend who was running one of the boards right in front of me...Pam has an AMAZING voice and how i yearned to blend our voices together on that song!

OH MY GOODNESS!!! God is SO VERY amazing! Guess who the speaker was? Guess what he spoke on? Guess who the sermon was for? OH MY! Ok....Ok....the speaker was the very one who was the final straw in our adopting (of MANY straws)....his last sermon was on THE DAY that i decided to say YES! to what the Lord had been leading us to for months! BECAUSE of THAT sermon, i wept with conviction as to how long i had been fighting with the Lord and saying, "NO"....no more giving excuses! He is our youth director for our youth group! You will want to remember this name because whenever you see his name....you will want to listen....HE PREACHES the TRUTH! He preaches it with such heart, compassion and conviction and you can tell that his sermons are COMPLETELY covered in prayer...a humble prayer of knowing that he cannot do it without the Lord...he believes that! His name is Josh Johnson! I WILL try my very hardest to make sure that when it goes onto the internet...to put it on here! i have NO DOUBT that you will want to hear it! It was as if it was a part two to his first sermon all those MANY months ago!!! It was WAY over a year!

To say that i heard the entire sermon would be a lie as i was also at the workout center throughout the whole sermon.....in the large foyer! Ha ha ha....it is called Ethan's Workout Chamber!!! Ethan did NOT want to stay in my arms of course BUT i do not want him thinking that the sermon is the time to run and play SO i was trying to teach him that there is a time for sitting still in Mommy's arms. (it is NOT the first time that we have tried to teach him this....we have done it MANY MANY MANY times...trying to read a book with him, or watching a Signing TImes video) SO he DID do pretty well but MOMMY definitely should probably have worn more of a workout outfit instead of a dress church outfit. By the time the sermon was done....i was literally out of breath as in seriously, breathing hard and....SWEATING! i HAD let him down for several different times with one time of MAYBE five minutes -letting him run with me right there but the rest of the time was Mommy holding him....rather, my ATTEMPTING to hold him!

Oh my....THEN...to see a young man that i have loved since he was a little boy come very late through those church doors! Oh how i would have loved to have handed Ethan to him as Ethan would have GLADLY gone...Jimmy has a beard and LOTS of hair! I was thrilled that i at least got to tell him how AMAZING God is in allowing ME to be at that spot at that time hearing what i was hearing! OH how GOOD God is!!! As soon as the sermon was done i asked Jimmy to help me with Ethan's bag and i carried Ethan and his little bag back up to the balcony! We got to sing again! SO, i was ready to hand Ethan to one of the girls and as i did they let me know that i needed to hold Sophina as she had not done well either! HA! Sophina is heavier than Ethan BUT she at least wasn't wriggling. It was VERY short lived as Ethan was pretty much DONE! Sophina went to Catia and Ethan was mine as we tried to get out of there QUICKLY! They dismissed us and i told the girls...we have to get HOME!

We were on our way out when i saw another dear friend!!! Oh how i have missed her too! I grabbed her for a quick hug! We were able to TRY to talk but Ethan was all over me at this point! It was DEFINITELY a GOD THING as Holly and her family were in the PERFECT spot for me to at least say hi and let them know that i miss them and love them and THEN we were off! (In the middle of that i got to see Lizzie sneak Sophina away and we got to smile at each other!) I got the family back together and we hurried on our way! (You KNOW that Ethan was needing to get out, as our family was leaving at least thirty minutes earlier than our typical time! (ok...more like 45 minutes earlier than our norm))

On our way out, God had another bonus...another friend and this time with a bonus! I saw another mommy who would TOTALLY know what our morning was like. She saw me and KNEW! She was delighted to see me! She then gave me an incredible tip.
(back up....) this weekend was hard realizing what this week is going to be like and this morning as i was doing laundry, i thought to myself...."i can do this...I CAN! I can do this for a year....maybe even FIVE years....just like Scott's mom had to. I can do anything for five years!"
Ok....so i was SO excited to let THIS friend know as to WHY THIS sermon was SO significant (as much as one can in two/three sentences) and i was LOVING the music and she said, "Oh, this will give you a boost of energy that will last you...." (i was ready for- "the month", "the week", "the rest of the day") but instead as i stood there with my hair all stringy and messed up by Ethan(it had been up looking nice in a 'covered up sort of way'), the sweat pouring all over me as if i had just run the triathlon in town this morning and completely out of breath and wrestling with Ethan i heard words that let me LITERALLY take a deep relieving breath...."for twenty minutes!" "Connie, you can do ANYTHING for twenty minutes!" WOW! I have definitely been aiming WAY too high! HA ha ha ha!

There is so much more but i will refrain myself! Let's just say that i am ALWAYS BLESSED!!! OK....i HAVE to say this...
PS Better is one day in HIS courts than a thousand elsewhere has been going over and over in my mind...yep, i know that i can be in His courts in my own home BUT oh people...the Lord has 'one another" "each other" "the brethren" and such written because He KNOWS that we are NOT to be ALONE!!! PLEASE reach out to those that you know are needing a hug, a call, a back rub, HELP, an encouraging word!