I think I am a terrible blogger. No, I know that I am a terrible blogger! There are women (and men) that have multiple children that blog almost everyday! I am so very impressed with those people and strive to be better at this whole thing.
Over Thanksgiving, my sweet niece (Zoe), asked me to update my blog. I think she was the only one that actually read it and I'm not sure if she still does read it :)
But, here goes...
In May, we made the sudden decision to move to Florida for the summer. It was the greatest 3 months of our lives. Craig went down there to work for a man that had the contract with the FBI. They worked on their benefit and financial planning. It was quite interesting and nothing like we had expected but it was good for us. There were many bumps and bruises along the way but the summer grew us all. We met some incredible new friends that will be in our lives forever! We were able to see my brother, Michael, his wife Cristi, and their new little one, Sydney. It was great to be only 2 hours from Key West!!!
We were able to go to Disney World a couple of times and get to see some of our dear friends that live in Orlando. Disney was incredible! Molly had mixed feelings. She was excited at times and fearful at others. She wasn't a big fan of Peter Pan (which I love) but loved the Haunted Mansion - go figure! Madeline, on the other hand, was a trooper and loved every minute of it! She fits well into our family. She can go, and go, and go! She did great in the double stroller and I don't remember her fussing much at all. Her sister, now that is a different story!
When I came home, I had to make some decisions in my life. My children were growing up right before my eyes and I was missing it. If Florida taught me anything, it was that I was way too busy. I was trying to run a dance studio, run an adoption ministry, homeschool Molly, run a household, and many other things I sign myself up for on a daily basis! I was exhausted when I left for Florida and the time there allowed for much rest. I enjoyed the simplicity of life and wanted that when I returned to Texas. So, I made one of the hardest decisions of my life - I closed Corum Deo Dance Academy. It was my dream to own my own dance studio and I loved every minute of it. I do miss my little ballerinas and pray that their lives were touched in the short time that I had them in my life. I needed to cut some things out of my life and that just had to be one of them. I had a friend ask me what my passion was in life, ballet or reaching orphans? I had to be honest with myself and I knew in my heart that my passion was raising awareness of the 143 million orphans worldwide! So, I have decided to focus on my orphan care and adoption ministry.
Saying that comes with a disclaimer! My Lord comes first. My family second. And, then my ministry. I have to check myself daily on where my priorities lie. Its a hard struggle but I can't allow myself to get so busy that I miss out on my ministry to my family.
Speaking of family, I am homeschooling Molly and LOVE IT! We have such a great time and she is learning. She was recently diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder. Its been a struggle for months to try to figure out what was wrong. We weren't sure if it was something we could "fix" or if it was a product of her orphan life. We were thankful that there is hope! Little Giant Steps is the program we are using and its a long road but one that offers a light at the end of the tunnel!
Madeline is growing up so much! She is talking more and more each day. She can say "Mama, Dada, Momo, Cat, Paci, Bed, Book, Light, Eat, Ride, Night Night, Bye bye, I wanna go, Milk, Wawa (water), Pop, Papa, Gigi, baby, ball and my favorite "Down!" for touchdown! She is my football buddy! She loves it and we love our New Orleans Saints! They are 12-0!!! She is also a daredevil! We joke that she is my brother's child! She knows NO FEAR! She learned to swim this summer after she kept jumping in the pool!!! The lifeguard suggested we do the Infant Survival Swim Class and she was swimming on her own by the 2nd lesson!
Its Christmastime here in the Hill house! We are gearing up for a very exciting Christmas! We will be hosting two very special girls, Tatiana and Liza, from Ukraine. They are 14 and 9 and we met them this summer. Tatiana actually flew to Florida and spent three weeks with us. We even had the chance to take her to Disney! She loved it! Now we get to host them and we are so very excited! We actually have 17 orphans coming for Christmas to stay with 11 families in the New Braunfels area. I can't believe that we are at this point in our ministry and it excites me every time I think of it! God is good! He is calling His people into action to care for the orphan and they are being obedient. I never in a million years thought that I would part of something so huge! Thank you, Lord, for using me. I could never do this on my own strength.
Well, I need to get to bed. No wonder I don't do this often! Its 11:40 at night and I need to be sleeping :)
Merry Christmas to all!
Blessings,
The Hills
