Monday, October 31, 2011

The Prayer of Love

Here's another one of my favorite prayers from the The Valley of Vision, written by the Puritans of old.


GRACIOUS LORD,

Thy name is love,
   in love receive my prayer.
My sins are more than the wide sea's sand,
  but where sin abounds,
  there is grace more abundant.
Look to the cross of thy beloved Son,
  and view the preciousness of His atoning blood;
Listen to His never-failing intercession,
  and whisper to my heart, 'Thy sins are forgiven,
    be of good cheer, lie down in peace.'
Grace cataracts from heaven and flows forever,
  and mercy never wearies in bestowing benefits.
Grant me more and more
  to prize the privilege of prayer,
  to come to thee as a sin-soiled sinner,
  to find pardon in thee,
  to converse with thee;
  to know thee in prayer as
      the path in which my feet tread,
      the latch upon the door of my lips,
      the light that shines through my eyes,
      the music of my ears,
      the marrow of my understanding,
      the strength of my will,
      the power of my affection,
      the sweetmess of my memory.
May the matter of my prayer be always
  wise, humble, submissive,
  obedient, scriptural, Christ-like.
Give me unwavering faith
  that supplications are never in vain,
  that if I seem not to obtain my petitions
    I shall have larger, richer answers,
    surpassing all that I ask or think.
Unsought, thou hast given me
  the greatest gift, the person of thy Son,
  and in Him thou wilt give me all I need.

        ~The Valley of Vision~

Monday, October 24, 2011

Happy 14th Birthday!

I wanted to post this on Tatiana's birthday but it didn't work out, so I'm going to do it now.
On Friday the 21st, Tatiana turned 14 years old. She's growing up so fast! It seems like just a little while ago she was our little seven year old. Now, she's double that age.

I love her so much. I'm so glad God led us to adopt her and to bring her into our family. I can't imagine life without her. She is such a good friend to me. I feel so blessed to have her as a sister.

Tatiana has grown up in so many ways. She's matured so much and actually carries herself like a fourteen year old. She's such a huge help around the house. Whenever she's asked to help with anything, she does it with a happy heart. Even though she is three years younger than me, I still love being around her. She's also a very good listener. I know that I can share anything with her.

Another thing that I love about her is her imagination. She's so good at making things up and being goofy. Sometimes she says things that only Tatiana would say. I love her uniqueness! I don't think that there is anyone like her in the world.

She's grown up to be a very beautiful young woman.
Happy Birthday Tatiana!!

Your loving big sis,
~Cassandra

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I Love My Cousin!!

Two and a half weeks ago, my beloved cousin Amanda came to spend some time with us.

She is such a great example of Christ to me. Even when going through hard times, she still shines for Him. You can never tell when she is hurting. She never complains and is so grateful for everything! She also has a gentle and quiet spirit, which is a great witness of Who lives in her. She also has a spirit of joy and never seems to be sad.

On the other hand, she does have a very exuberant  side to her! During our "rest times", 50% of the time, she and I have a lot of fun goofing off, and the other 50% we spend sleeping. When we talk, we talk about both very funny and serious subjects.

Just to put in plain words, "I LOVE BEING WITH MY COUSIN!!!"


My model pose ;)






Thanks Kristen for taking the pictures!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Water Everywhere!

On September 26th, we had the worst water accident I think that we have ever had!! It happened as we were getting ready to read the Bible after cleaning up breakfast. Kristen, who is our home school helper, had just come in to have Bible time with us. Lissie, Mark, and I were in the kitchen when we heard a rushing noise. We looked over at the sink, and we saw water gushing out from under the cupboard doors. We opened the doors and the water was rushing out like a fountain. It poured for about five minutes at the same rate. We used practically every towel in the house.


 
All the towels after they were washed!


Walking among the towels was like being in a marsh, because everything was so soaked! Then, Mark saw a knob under the sink, which he turned. Thankfully, it stopped the water.

We realized the water wasn’t just pouring upstairs, but it was also seeping into the basement.





(And no we're not cooking dinner :D)
We used every pot and pan in the house, and even plastic boxes!!


We found out later that a pipe had burst underneath the sink. Apparently, the cleaning chemicals had eaten away at the pipes. Mom called our plumber, and he came within ten minutes. The plumber didn’t know if we would need to cut some of the ceiling in order to dry, so he called our contractor who has worked for us for a long time, and knows our house well.

While we were waiting to for the man to come, Joe got on a ladder and dried a lot of the water that was still in the ceiling.
 When the contractor came, he said that it would dry on its own.
Thank God we didn't need to do anything further with the ceiling!
What a way to start of the week!!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Praise Him With:

I took this picture of my flute a while ago and have finally decided to use it.


I love this verse because it shows that He has given us musical instruments to do something very specific with them. We are to praise Him with ALL our instruments, including: violins, cellos, flutes, horns, trumpets, guitars, drums, pianos, you name it! There are so many instruments in the world that I can't possibly list all of them. Wow! It is amazing that all of us can praise Him, each in our own way.  So if you play any instruments, I would encourage you to worship Him through it.

Praise Him!!!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Ten Years of Being an American

Last Monday was the ten year anniversary of Mark, Jaynie, and I being adopted. If anyone wants to know about my life in Russia, you can go to www.untohimwelive.blogspot.com, and find the first post in September 2010. I wrote this post in honor of our nine year anniversary.

I've always been the kind of person who needed someone in my life. Coming home with my new family really filled that empty space. When my mom and dad came to take us home, I don't remember being scared at all. I just have a memory of being really happy and excited because I was getting a family. A family that would actually take care of me, love me, and care about me. I'm so blessed to be in the family that I'm in now. It was a very hard adjustment, but God helped us cooperate and learn those first few years. The biggest changes were getting used to being PART of a family, having parents, having three more siblings, having a dog (which didn't take very long), learning a new language, learning the rules, and all those things that go along with becoming a new family.

When we first got home, Lisse brought me up to the room I was going to be sharing with her and showed it to me. I was very amazed that I was going to have a room of "my own". It really felt like mine because in Russia I had to share a room with four other girls. Lisse also showed me her hair clips, and I thought they were some of the coolest things in the world! I decorated Lisse's and Anna's hair with all the clips. That was a really good icebreaker.

In those early days, I shared a room with Lisse, and Jaynie and Anna's room was right beside ours. One of the most fun and secretive things about our room was that our closets shared a very thin wall. While we were supposed to be resting, we would go into the closets and talk to each other through the wall. Sometimes, Mark, Jaynie, and I would go into one of the closets, and play with some of our favorite toys, Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

I have loved being part of my BIG family and living in America!!! All I can say is that I am VERY happy and blessed! I am extremely proud to be an American :)


Whenever I hear this song by Lee Greenwood, it ALWAYS gives me the goosebumps.

Thank you to all of you for being a part of my life!