Family Times

We had a great time taking M and N out to dinner last night and then to a local Christmas production that featured Mark Harris. He is definitely one of my favorite Christian artists! His lyrics really connect with my heart!

Rob's mom graciously kept the little girls, which gave us the opportunity to take our oldest 2 to "Chipotle," by far our favorite inexpensive place to eat! We sat there for over an hour laughing and talking together. N drank so much soda we knew we were in trouble, and we no sooner made it to the concert than he was in trouble! Fortunately, the staff was very gracious and he was allowed to enter the building to use their restroom.

We waited 30 minutes in line, an hour and a half before the concert was to start, but it was definitely warmer than Black Friday a week ago! We all thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas production and the sets by Mark Harris. It was a wonderful way to begin our Christmas season!

Mark shared this song "Writing on the Wall." Oh how we identified with the lyrics as we remembered L and her experience with Sharpie markers 2 years ago. Her explanation--- "I just wanted to make you happy!"

"Writing on the Wall" by Mark Harris
I came home from work
She was waiting at the door
Had that bad day look in her eye
Then I heard the sound of little feet across the hardwood floor
And I knelt down with my arms open wide
When I asked her what had happened
She pointed to our son
And said why don't you show your daddy
What you've done

Chorus:
And I could see the writing on the wall
The evidence of little hands
Picasso with a purple crayon
I tried to act upset but I was smiling through it all
I could see the writing on the wall

It was the first day of school
Standing by the laundry door
Wondering how third grade came so fast
Took a ruler and a sharpie pen and drew the line once more
So amazed at how time had passed
With a backpack full of promise
And wonder in his eyes
I turned my head just so he wouldn't
See me cry

Chorus 2:
Cause I could see the writing on the wall
It seems no matter how I tried
To stop the roller coaster ride
The pages just kept turning
Even though deep in my heart I knew we had it all
I could see the writing on the wall

Somewhere in the mystery
Of all that lies ahead
I hope and pray that you will see
I tried to do my best

As evidenced by our evening tonight, our children are growing up so quickly! And though we have so many frustrations on a day to day basis, our time with them is fleeting. I am trying so much harder to enjoy the 'moments' and value my time with them. God has richly blessed us!

At What Age to Boys Begin Calling Your Daughter?

I find this so funny that I just had to record this memory. L got her first phone call from a boy!!! You know, why should that surprise me?? If you know L, you would know this is totally in line with her personality! A little boy from her homeschool co-op class called for no other reason than to talk to her! (She is five!)

Pray for us-- we have a long road in front of us!!

It's Christmas Time!!

We love to decorate and celebrate the Christmas Holiday!! Which is why, one day after returning from our Thanksving travels, we have a mess!

Building traditions has become very important to us, especially at this time of year. We want our kids to have special memories of our times together.

One of the things we do together is decorating the Christmas tree. Each of our children have their own ornament collection that we add to each year on Christmas Eve. We also look forward to reading an Advent Story each year. This year we will be reading Bartholomew. Written by Arnold Ytreeide, each book has a daily reading which ends with the climax of the story on Christmas morning. We love all three books in this series and wish there were more!

The Star

Ah, the holidays. Last night (Thanksgiving), my brother-in-law and I headed out to Best Buy to see if people were standing in line yet to get in this morning. As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a few people standing near the front door. As we drove up to the front of the store we saw many people with tents and a small table with 15 people sitting around it playing cards. We drove past the building and saw the line wrapped all the way around the building! There were around 300 people there at 11:30 at night in 25 degree weather waiting to get their deal.

On the way back to the house, I thought about the true meaning of Christmas, and wonder about the people of Bethlehem when Jesus was born. There was a star above their town that attracted men from another country, yet the people themselves didn't seem to notice or wonder about it.

I wonder about ourselves here 2000 years later living in a 'Christian' society, celebrating 'Jesus', but not paying any attention to Him at all. Are we much different than the Jews of Bethlehem so many years ago? The light of the world has come, and yet, we so often take it for granted. Jesus has performed a miracle in our hearts, and we don't even acknowledge Him on Thanksgiving and barely at Christmas.

I pray that I may be privileged enough to be as humble as the shepherds - someone to whom God can communicate and know will listen. May I not only notice the light of the world, but let it shine in me so that those who live in darkness see it.

L Decides Traveling to Iowa is not so fun!

This year, just like many Thanksgivings, we made our annual 10 hour trek to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It seems that each year we are usually 'lucky' enough to run into snow somewhere along the line-- and this year proved to be no different (lucky for us!). However it wasn't too bad, and was only the last hour or so of travel.

Our kids are great travelers, since we have made this trip so often! But we had one experience that had Rob and I in stitches! L, our 5 year old, lost self-control and threw a book at one of her sisters. As a consequence we took her toys away from her and told her to fold her hands. After a short time she told us she was ready to apologize, etc. When Rob asked her what she had learned from sitting she replied, "I learned that I'm never going travel to Iowa with my brother, my sisters, my mom and dad again!" Not quite what we expected to hear!! So guess who had to sit a while longer and find an attitude adjustment?! Where does this 5 year old come up with these lines we would like to know!

Happy 17th Anniversary

How is it possible that we are old enough to be married 17 years! We had the wonderful opportunity to get away for 2 nights without kids! We slept in, we laughed, we walked through the woods, drank Starbucks, ate well, and reflected on our blessings!

Life hasn't been a bed of roses for us, but God has richly blessed us. In the last 3 years our marriage relationship has grown so much--- all when we began seeking to know God personally. We now share a great joy in our marriage that we pray everyone will be able to experience. We have always said that our commitment is what has saved our marriage, not 'love'. As we seek Him we seek to remain teachable, becoming more like Him. We have so far to go, but pray that we will stay on the path for years to come!

I have a Heart Murmur

This article was written by an adoptive mother, also adopting from FHG orphanage. What a poignant reminder of what I have to be thankful for!



I have a heart murmur. I know it's there, although the doctors deny it.

OK, maybe I'm not describing the condition correctly. It may not be a heart murmur, but it's definitely a murmuring heart. I too easily fall into the trap of finding fault in things and others. I focus on the not-so-good, the bad, and the ugly, ignoring the good, the pure, and the lovely.

I was convicted of my heart murmur recently by my perpetual calendar in my bathroom. "Do all things without murmurings and disputings" (Philippians 2:14).

Last time I checked, "all" means all. Wow. That means I should not— dare I say cannot—murmur, grumble, or grouse about anything—including when I have to clean who-knows-what off the walls for the umpteenth time.

I have to admit that isn't an easy task. But I am reminded of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, in which the Apostle Paul tell us, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

If I'm to be in God's will (and who doesn't want to be there?), then I need to give thanks in all circumstances. So instead of thinking that my husband Mark works a lot, I must choose to be thankful for a wonderful man who works hard to provide for his family. Instead of complaining that my three-year-old is as stubborn as I am, I must choose to be thankful for a beautiful, healthy daughter who brings joy to my life daily. Instead of grousing about unpleasant
circumstances, I must choose to be grateful that God's adopted me as His child and that I'm joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14-17).

The fact that God's chosen me to be His child has a lot of significance for me now, especially since Mark and I are adopting two beautiful girls from Haiti. But adoption wasn't always a big deal for us. We'd talked about it early in our marriage, knowing some of my medical issues, but it stopped at talk when I became pregnant. Adoption was a great idea, and we were proud of families who had taken that step. But we didn't fully understand the significance. It was still a fairly vague concept floating in the atmosphere.

In the summer of 2006, our daughter turned two. At this time Mark and I'd decided we were going to adopt our future children due to complications I suffered following our daughter's birth. I'd been researching agencies online, but we hadn't committed to anything.

One day while searching adoption articles on the Internet, I came across a message by pastor and prolific author John Piper. Mark and I listened to the message "Predestined for Adoption to the Praise of His Glory" one rainy day as we drove from Colorado Springs to Denver.

Piper's sermon was pivotal in our adoption journey. In it, Piper explains that adoption is from God. As believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, each of our adoptions into God's family were part of His plan and purpose from the very beginning of creation.

It wasn't an afterthought. We were predestined for adoption. That's a difficult concept to wrap my mind around. But I think God gave me a glimpse of what He meant with the older child we're adopting.

This girl is seven and has been at the orphanage about two-and-a-half years—longer without a family than anyone else. When we visited the orphanage in June of this year, our hearts went out to this little girl. Families had claimed her, but then for whatever reason, let her
go. "Lord, bring her the right family soon," I prayed.

A few days later, this little girl was standing a few feet from me. And as I looked at her smiling face, I heard God tell me in my heart, "No matter who else you adopt, she is yours." What? "Lord, she's seven," I argued. We were looking for girls younger than our birth daughter, but God had other plans. "I know," God said. "She's yours."

Wanting to be certain, and maybe making sure it wasn't heartburn or something, I asked God, "Do I say something to Mark right now?" God affirmed, so I told Mark what God was telling me. And Mark agreed with it, as well.

Although I feel badly that this sweet child has been at the orphanage so long, there's a reason. God had predestined her for our family. I get goose bumps even as I write this, although I've told the story a hundred times.

In addition to being predestined for adoption, Piper also explains that God adopts us for His own glory: We are adopted by God so that we will rejoice that God made much of us. We are adopted by God so that we will enjoy making much of God's grace as our Father forever. We are adopted so that in this family the Father and the unique elder Son, Jesus Christ, will be the source and focus of all our joy. We are adopted "to the praise of the glory of his grace." It will take an eternity for the glory of that grace to be fully displayed for finite people. Therefore, we will be increasingly happy in God for ever and ever. That is the final meaning of adoption.

God adopted us so that we'd be grateful for our adoption and draw attention to His grace. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could expect the same thing from our children? "Hey, Mom, thanks for giving birth to me (or adopting me). I know my life would have been the pits in
someone else's family! " Yeah, right.

But how can we expect gratitude from our children when we neglect to show it to our Heavenly Father? How often do we just thank God for choosing to take us—a rebellious and sinful people—into His family, snatching us from Satan's clutches?

As Thanksgiving approaches, I'm convicted to use this time year to begin being intentional in my gratitude. It's the cry of my heart to be thankful, not only for the physical blessings I enjoy, but for the fact that God chose me before time began to be His child.

And, I'm grateful that He's working on my heart murmur.
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _


Once a copy editor and page designer for a newspaper group outside of
Los Angeles, Jodie Susanne Eyberg now enjoys being a stay-at-home mom
to Charis and wife to Mark. She enjoys reading, fellowshipping with
friends, traveling, and being publicity coordinator for her MOPS
group in Colorado Springs. She looks forward to the adventures Jesus
is unfolding in her life and prays that she is able to wholeheartedly
embrace whatever He has for her, the family, and the two Haitian
girls they are adopting.

L loves Jesus!

Today our precious L made a decision to follow Jesus! Each morning the little girls and I (mom) have devotions together. This morning our Bible story talked about loving Jesus and following Him forever. At the end of the story L shares with me that A says "I'm not saved." We talked about what salvation means. What it means to ask Jesus in your heart. She says "I don't know how to that." We continued to talk a little more and she asked me to help her! Right there we prayed and she asked Jesus to come into her heart, to forgive her of her sins, and help her live for Him! She was so excited! And so are we!

Happy 13th Birthday M

HAPPY BIRTHDAY M
Nov. 4th, 2007
M turned 13 years old this week. Where does the time go? I remember it like yesterday-- the night I went into labor and God bringing this beautiful, precious little girl into our lives. How we spent the whole next day cuddling together in bed (since I was in labor all night and daddy went home to sleep). How perfect she was! I remember loving to dress her in pretty little girl clothes, watching her daddy adore her, and lots of mother-daughter time. How I miss all of that time. Fast forward and now we are a busy household of 6, soon to be 8 when God brings our boys home from Haiti!

Nevertheless, she is still beautiful -- just not so little anymore--- and I still love my time with her. At 13yo she has a thoughtful, considerate, loving heart. She is a great help to me and a terrific sister to her siblings. At 13yo she is trying to figure things out on her own --- realizing that life isn't fair, that life hurts, and that God is real. Making tough choices to stand for Truth. We are so proud of her!!

Family Life Today has a wonderful program called "Passport to Purity" that I had the opportunity to share with her this past weekend. Even though the recommended ages for this material where 11-12yo, it was perfect for her entrance into the teenage years. I would highly encourage anyone with daughters to take this opportunity to get away with your daughter, to let the material guide you through some wonderful conversations (some of them she didn't love-- but where necessary), to laugh together, watch lots of HGTV, get pedicures, sleep in, SHOP, and to give makeovers.

We celebrated the conclusion of the material by dressing up and going out for dinner. Dressing up meant M wearing a little make-up, straightening her hair, and putting on nice casual clothes. She looked Beautiful!! When we arrived at the restaurant R was sitting there waiting for us-- much to M surprise! After a great dinner, R presented M with a 'promise ring'. A ring to remind her of the commitments that she had made this weekend. She has such a special daddy!

Our deepest desire is that she, and all of our children, will fall in love with Jesus! That they will trust Him with all of their life! Life is full of adventure! May she live hers out with grace, love and an inner beauty that reflects our loving Savior!