Take Heart! He has overcome the world!

The view from our new hospital room, where we can watch the Monarch's fly by.

Caleb clearly feeling better! Enjoying playing with his Mickey Mouse charecters.

This morning I want to share a verse that has brought peace to my soul. My friend taped it up in Caleb's hospital room last night. John 16:33 "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." What are the things he had told the disciples? That he would be leaving but that they would see him again, and they would rejoice! And NO ONE would take away their joy! My joy is Jesus and no one (nor any circumstance) can take away my joy, my Jesus. I wish I could write well about all God has done in Matt and I in the last 2 months. Perhaps bit by bit I can share about how faithful he has been and how much he has encouraged our hearts this fall. For now, let me just close by taking this opportunity to say Thank You to Jesus, my joy, for all He has done and everything He is!

Watching, Waiting and Hoping

Watching your child suffer in pain and sickness is gut-wrenching. There is something so terrible about witnessing a helpless two year old endure pain and feel as if there is nothing we as his parents can do. That has been the reality of much of our week, and now even more so our day today. We admitted Caleb to the hospital this morning because the doctors are unsure of why he has not been able to use his leg for the past week now, and why he has uncontrollable fever. So here we sit - in the hospital - watching Caleb as the nurses poke and prod, draw blood and literally tape him down to the imaging machine so that he'll hold still. We take turns holding him still and reassuring him with every little thing they do to him that it's all going to be o.k. All the while, we are at the same time reassuring ourselves of the same thing.

It's already been a long day. A long day as parents, and a long day for poor Caleb. And even after waiting all these hours we still have little answers. Going into this day we knew that our ONLY HOPE was in the Lord our God, and that Jesus is the only one in whom we can place our complete trust. We have waited on tests, we have waited on results, we have waited on doctors, and we continue to wait on answers - however, ultimately we keep reminding ourselves that God is the one who saves the day - and so it is HIM who we truly wait upon. It is in Him, and only in Him where we must continue to place our hope.

Isaiah 40:31 "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint."

Weary in Doing Good

If you have children then what I'm about to tell you will not come as a surprise. Parenting is many times a thankless job. I mean, don't get me wrong, we love our kids and we know that ultimately we are not only serving them but also the Lord, and that we should not parent with the motivation or expectation that our children will be grateful for the hours, the sweat and the tears that we pour over them - but sometimes you just wish they would express some small form of a "thank you". As parents to six children of our own, and house parents to eight teenage boys here in the Hope Program - we have the special pleasure of seeing this lovely "thankless" spirit day in and day out....multiplied by 14!

So...more true confessions: Sometimes this "spirit of thanklessness" (I believe I just made up that word!) can make a parent lose steam. It can make one wonder why they spend their life cooking, cleaning, reminding people to do their chores, making sure people are getting to bed on time, and up on time, and that they've finished their homework. Sometimes it starts to get old. The good news is that God is great at taking over when we reach what sometimes feels like the end of ourselves. Julie and I want to brag on the Lord that He's doing a great work in us in this season of our life. I think that in some ways we had reached the end of ourselves. The wonderful news is that He is making all things new - including bringing renewed focus and vision, renewed passion and love towards our boys, and even what you might describe as personal revival in our relationship with him. In the midst of all that God is doing he recently gave my wife specific encouragement with regard to her role as a mother to 14. In Galatians 6:9 we are reminded, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." It sounds like such a simple command - but yet if we are trying to "do good" out of our own strength it can become so very difficult. Praise God that the very motivation to "do good" is from him, and that ultimately all the good we do is for him or for his glory as we serve those around us. And so it is with that renewed vigor that Julie and I are tackling each day, and each task as we press on to serve and love those who God has called us to minister to.

A few days ago we were cleaning out the closets and came across some things that have not been used in awhile. We got out some puzzles as we figured they could be good family activities for all ages. Just as we suspected, our young children and our boys have loved them. They have been taking turns throughout the day, and late into the evenings putting them together all over our kitchen table. It's been very fun to watch. The other thing we got out of the closet were some refrigerator magnets of the alphabet. We plastered them all over the front of our fridge and assumed that at least our two youngest could entertain themselves. Much to our amazement nearly the whole household has gotten use out of them, making designs, writing the names of people in our family, and practicing spelling words - both in English and Spanish.

The other night Julie and I returned home later after being out and encountered a very special message that some of the boys had created for us. There on the fridge, spelled out in letter magnets was the following, "We love you mom and dad - thank you - by your boys".

Our hearts were touched indeed. What a special thank you! So simple, yet so profound. It meant the world to us because as parents you long to hear it or see it in any form. But more than being just a message of thanks from our boys it was an encouragement from the Lord, "Do not tire of doing good." I'm not sure he could have made it any clearer. Thank you Lord. May you continue to give us even more love to love, and more desire to serve those around us.

Great Moments in Mexican History

There are some moments that are pretty important in history. Of course most might place more significance on something like political independence or the signing of a nations declaration or a peace treaty or something - but in this day and age, and in this country it has nothing to do with politics or freedom, and everything to do with SOCCER!

I have to admit that although I grew up playing soccer I am a long way from being a fanatic. When you grow up in Mexico however you typically sleep, eat and breath the sport. So last week when Mexico was getting ready to play El Salvador to qualify for the 2010 World Cup our boys began to incessantly drop hints that we needed to go somewhere to watch the game on T.V. I'm an easy target when it comes to people wanting to have fun, and even easier when there might be food involved. So we made plans and I agreed to take the boys out on game day. Myself, along with our eight boys went out to a wings place called "Alitas" for a great night of food, fellowship, and of course FUTBOL!

We had a great time - and of course there was plenty to celebrate along with Mexico's victory, and their qualification to play in the 2010 World Cup. I have a feeling we'll have more "fieldtrips" in our future when the tournament rolls around!

Oops, forgot to write!!

This is such a true commentary on my life, I posted 2 pictures and then forgot to write about them!! Funny! The first is for my friend Corrie in Africa who has worms in her flour. I wanted her to see that I also have issues with bugs in my flour, I mean come on! It looks like an ant farm!! The second photo was a picture of what it looks like when I go to the grocery for "just milk" - I end up realizing that we need tons of other stuff. Of course, I forgot to bring my "recycle bags" that I'm supposed to be using to save the world. OK, gotta go for now, but at least I got a little something written!

Julie

A Very Typical Morning in My Life

The Promise of a Son

Today we celebrated Caleb's 2nd Birthday. It is really unbelievable just how quickly two years go by. We had a great time celebrating with friends and neighbors and their children. I think Caleb only half realized that it was all for him, but I'm convinced that he enjoyed himself to the fullest nonetheless! He especially loved it when we lit his candles and sang Happy Birthday to him! He began smiling, and giggling - I think in that moment he realized it was all about him. For the rest of the night he kept saying, "im-eye' bertday, api bertday" - too cute!

It seems like yesterday, even though it was most likely three and half years ago that God gave us the promise of a second son. I have to admit I only half wanted to believe it. One day, Julie had been praying and afterward she told me, "God has another son for us." I almost felt panicked, because after five children I wasn't really feeling anxious to add another one to the mix. I thought maybe one day, one distant day from now, we'll adopt again. Or maybe God has an older child somewhere out there He wants us to adopt. However, having a baby, and starting all over again with a new born didn't really sound all that appealing at the time.

Needless to say, God did have one more son for us - and he would come as a baby, and we would start over with a new born. Now with Caleb in our lives of course I cannot possibly imagine life without him. He is a constant source of joy. He is passionate about life. He has a great sense of humor. He likes to dance. He loves to play with balls. He loves to play with his train set. He loves watching Thomas the Train, Calliou, and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He knows the names of at least 14 of the 15 people he lives with, as well as the majority of the other 100 people we live with here on the Back2Back campus. We think he's pretty intelligent. Our kids, and our older boys alike all love him. I truly believe Caleb has been a bridge of sorts in helping some of our boys feel as if we are their family.

The evening he was born, we finally came to an agreement on giving him the name Caleb while we were driving to the hospital. The spiritual significance is "Faithful", and I really believe that God will one day count him as a faithful servant. Of course we cannot know at this point, but I like to imagine that God has some really great plans for our Caleb one day. Who knows exactly what those plans are, but I feel fairly certain God didn't bring us one more son just to fill the last seat in our suburban!

We love you Caleb Lincoln Cooper - we thank God for your life and for the joy you bring our WHOLE family! We cannot wait to see the incredible plans God has for your life one day. Our constant prayer is that you grow up to love Jesus with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul, and all of your strength. As you grow up, I pray you come to clearly know the voice of your maker, your savior, and your friend - and that you follow Him all the days of your life!