My two sweet girls just celebrated their first communion. It was a beautiful day of them giving their hearts to Jesus and receiving Him in return. I love celebrating these ladies but I’m always a little sad as we approach special events and days for them, because I know when they are on display, up […]
Author Archives: ann.full
A Sky Full of Stars
Five years ago, we said yes to a foster placement of two little boys, ages 2 and 1. We weren’t really “open” for foster care, our hearts were still incredibly broken from saying goodbye to the 13 month old we’d raised from infancy. We were still figuring out how to make it through each day. […]
There I Go Again, Weeding Instead of Watering
Deep down inside I am a clean-freak. You would never believe that now if you walked into my house or rode in my car or walked through my garden. When you live with 9 other people who are not clean freaks, at some point you have to let some things go, or cleaning is the […]
We Love Because He FIRST Loved Us
Here’s the hard truth. I like being liked. Actually, I really NEED to be liked, and loved. I wish I didn’t. But sometimes I completely take my self worth in the degree to which others like and love me. Ugh, so wrong, the world says. You can’t live life trying to please others. You can’t […]
The Problem with Fog
We’ve had a lot of days of thick fog here the last couple of weeks. One Saturday I drove my son to a basketball tournament in the fog and we drove home in fog later that day. For whatever reason, we hardly met any other cars on the drive. It felt like we were the […]
Now, Share It
You have a great family. You just gathered for thanksgiving to hugs when you walk through the door, laughter across the table filled with delicious food. You crashed on the couch after the meal with a full belly, comfortable to just be yourself in this place, with these people who love you and cheer your […]
Story of My Life
We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary last month! I snapped this photo the morning of, and I couldn’t help thinking, here we are again, holding a baby that isn’t ours. Holding a baby we’ve loved almost his whole first year of life but whose future lies in the hands of others. Story of our life. […]
When You Just Can’t
In my last post, I talked about pushing through the hard struggles, taking on suffering for the sake of the gospel and I promised at the end I would share another post because it’s true that sometimes, even though our heart is willing, we have completely met our limit and we have nothing left to […]
Are We Running the Same Race?
You haven’t heard from me in a few months because we’ve had new little people in and out of our family again. We welcomed a sweet 2 year old before Christmas and she returned home in February. And at the end of January, 2 boys who we already call family returned to our home along […]
Its Not Fair
I’ve been doing some reading and training videos lately about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. When I listen to professionals talk about the brain damage and the lifetime challenges children face, my children, I cry. Its so hard to hear how much harder life is for them daily. It’s heartbreaking to wonder what pain the future holds […]