Marie

 When I was pregnant with Ian (before we knew we were having a boy), we had picked a girl name. Paul had picked the first name (Deborah in honor of his mom's sister), and I had picked the middle name - Marie, which was my mom's middle name until she got married and made her maiden name her middle name. When I was pregnant with Oliver we didn't spend any time thinking about a girl's name because we knew we already had a name. Now with my mom passing away earlier than expected, I am really wishing we had used the name Marie. Seven years ago I had the idea of sponsoring kids through Compassion who had the same birthdate as my children. I already was sponsoring a girl at that point so I added a boy born on 12-12 after Ian was born, and added another boy born on on 8-7 after Oliver was born. I figured when the girl aged out of the program that the next girl I'd pick would have a birthdate of 6-24, but somehow Compassion picked for me. Nadia enjoys writing Carmen, but I know she has wished for one that shared her birthday.

Wednesday night I did a search and there was ONE girl on their website that was born on June 24. What made this discovery even more amazing to me was that #1 she was born in 2008 like Nadia (the boys we sponsor are older than my boys and #2 her first name is Marie. I couldn't believe it. I chose to sponsor her, and Nadia was thrilled when I told her yesterday morning. I searched Wednesday night and there were multiple boys born on 12-12 and on 8-7 that need a sponsor, but none of them were born in the same day, month, AND year as my boys. One of our boys lives in India, and India has stopped allowing 50% of the NGO's to continue working there, and that includes Compassion. We've been praying that Compassion will be allowed to continue working in India, but if the situation doesn't change we won't be able to keep sponsoring Manu and will have to select another boy. The kids enjoy corresponding with these children and praying for them. I hope to meet them in Heaven some day!

The last photo in this post (the one of Oliver doing a puzzle) was taken yesterday morning. It's the first one I've posted that I took with my new camera. I absolutely LOVE my new camera. I didn't like taking pictures indoors with  my old camera, but I can tell that it will be much easier to get nice ones indoors with my new camera (although I'm sure I'll always prefer natural light). Some people seem to think that people in heaven are constantly watching their loved ones that are still on earth. I don't believe that, but it does seem to indicate in Hebrews that they do at some times have some knowledge of what is happening down here. I wish I could say a big "THANK YOU" to my mom regarding my new camera. I know how much she enjoyed seeing the pictures I posted of her grandchildren on this blog. I wish she could still see them, but we'll have to wait awhile for that to happen, unless the Lord returns in the near future. I love you, Mom, and when I am corresponding with and praying for Marie (who lives in Haiti), I will be thinking of my mom and the day I became a mom.