It's the little things...yesterday was the hardest day yet!

A good moment yesterday with Isaiah and Lane

Seeing Caden off to school

watching Polar Express with popcorn

It’s the little things….

Yesterday was the hardest day yet of them all. Probably harder than gotcha day experience. Isaiah had hardly slept the night before and pretty much cried all day. Orphans tend to to have to embrace many changes: they slept in a room with many other kids, they are seeing all kinds of different things from people to rooms, even to his body adjusting from sleeping 2 years on China time. Also, what is common experiencing the night terrors and so the changes had him up screaming 2 nights ago at 11pm, 1am, 3am, 5am….so Ryan and I had hardly slept and went into Monday (also with jet lag) with Isaiah having been up since 1:30am, Caden waking 4:30am, and Lane 5:30am. I ran on fumes. I hardly made it through the day (so it felt). It was a day of tears, cries, exhaustion, and basically a dire need for prayers to be answered…and they were, God is faithful to me and RYan over and over again. In the mist of a really bad day...God dropped so many blessings in it:

• A dear friend came by who also adopted from China, and lifted my spirits with encouraging words. 
• I had another friend pick up Caden for school, whew what a help! 
• My mother came by and offered to take Caden and Lane so they could sleep well last night and THEY DID! 
• Another 2 friends dropped by with dinner! 
• And my sweet sister always steps in to help make me smile and laugh….so in my heavy day.

God sent the army to lift my spirits. HARD HARD HARD DAY but as always, these are the very days that make me appreciate THE LITTLE THINGS above that go a BIG LONG WAY!

Last night, minus 2 kids, we gave Isaiah some one-on-one time and some Melatonin to help his restless body…and he slept like a baby! Yes! What What great feeling for us all to sleep but even better to know he slept so well. He fell asleep at 7, woke GETTING OUT OF HIS CRIB YES, and went back down with no tears at 11pm and I laid in the bed next to crib, which allowed him to sleep well through the remainder of the night. As I sip my coffee this morning with Ryan, I am in heaven. THAT is what I consider a great morning and a true peaceful moment that I use to take for granted that now means so much! Sleep, coffee, a minute with my husband, and a rested body is NOW GOLDEN TO ME! Amen to that! And believe it or not I am tackling today as a GOOD DAY that lies ahead. I am leaving yesterday behind. It is so easy to carry the troubles over…but nope…I am leaving them behind. I know it won’t be perfect always but I am going to carry an optimistic attitude knowing that as I prayed before bed last night, ‘Lord please please let us sleep, our minds are weary and crumbling to pieces all of us….please make a miracle and let this child sleep deeply’ - AND SO HE DID. How reassuring!

I have found that it is in all the little things I tend to overlook, those little things are small blessings dropped in my path throughout the days. I get caught up in the big picture and miss these, and these are the very things that help me see… “I AM WITH YOU” (Isaiah 41:10 my favorite Do not fear for I am with you, do not be discouraged for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you…..) Yesterday rocked my world upside down…and I see all those little things (blessings) that God used through those people to keep me going when I hardly could, so today…and every day forward I am going to THANK HIM and recognize…the little things. THIS CUP OF COFFEE taste that much better…I am sure you hear my enthusiasm in this as well, a quiet house with rested kids and a happy husband with a good cup of coffee…ahhh…the little things. Life is good. God’s plan is bigger. Thank you Lord…it’s the little things that make me smile!

Keep praying for him over these next 2 weeks...his little mind and body is adjusting to so much so fast! THANK YOU!

Devotion for today IRONICALLY