It's not that I don't want to blog...

..it's just seems like every time I finally get a chance to blog, my computer won't load photos. And what is a blog post without photos?

Trying to get a good picture of 4 little people can be so difficult! I had a bunch of pictures to put up...but they will have to wait for some other day.

One year ago today...

....we first laid eyes on our Olivia Jean Takelech Haynes. She had just come into a new orphanage, had her head shaved, and looked so sad. At first look, we were not even sure if she was a girl. We only received a vague medical report and three blurry pictures, but we knew she was to be our daughter.

It truly is amazing what 1 year and the love of a family will do! She hardly looks like the same child!

One Changed Life

Jesse and I are board members of a new, non-profit, sponsorship program for kids in Ethiopia called One Changed Life. We are still in the beginning stages, so we do not have a web site up and running yet. However, you can click here to read our flier, which includes our mission statement, goals and objectives. You can sponsor a child for $30 per month and provide them with food, clothing, medical care and the ability to go to school. I know there are many sponsorship programs and worthy causes out there. But if you or anyone you know would be interested in sponsoring or learning more, please email me at jnahaynes@potlatch.com Also, 100% of the proceeds do go directly to the children.

“But the needy will not be ignored forever; the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.”

Psalm 9:18

A lesson to be learned

Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 'A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, but I have nothing for him to eat.' And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, 'Don't bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can't help you.' But I tell you this--though he won't do it for friendship's sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.

And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart.

"When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, 'I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before."

Luke 11:5-9, 17, 24-26

I only had time to re braid her hair on top of her head. Here is my little girl with a Mohawk!

God's Chisel

I cannot get this video to load, but to watch God's Chisel Click Here

I especially like the part that says

"God, I've let you down so many times"

"No, you were never holding me up. I hold you up. Don't you forget that."

Mothers Day Fun!