Although we spent the day shopping and packing for Gabriel's departure, I couldn't go on without giving Aunt Deb a proper Happy Birthday post. It's a
privilege to be Debra's sister and she is a true blessing to all nine of my children. Although she works and has quite the full schedule, she truly makes time for my children. She watches and discusses movies with Gabriel; the last was
Bonhoeffer. She leads a teen girls Bible study in her home on Tuesday evenings that
Alei considers the greatest small group atmosphere. Deb has takes all my "big girls" shopping when the lines are long, but the bargains are too good to miss. She has even taken part in our crazy Black Friday ritual; last year she waited in line for hours for gun
clearances. She commonly reads Bible stories to the boys; in fact, they have began the Bible story book for the second time. The little girls adore her and constantly help her with any cooking or laundry. Deb has been known to spend a few hours un-braiding hair on a stressful hair day. Lastly, Aunt Deb often will take Elijah with her on Wednesday evenings while we attend church. Li-Li and Aunt Deb look for white bunnies in her yard and other brown bunnies in the neighborhood where she lives.
Debs is a wonderful adoption supporter; it's nice to have local family admire the commitment that we have made to additional children. Debra has experienced much in her 29 years. Although I'm not going to get all these right, she has spent one summer in India, she has taken mission groups to Mexico, she studied language school in
Papua New
Guinea and hit China for additional language training. She taught school in Afghanistan for three years before returning to Virginia; she was a fabulous help home-schooling my kids that year and it provided an opportunity for her to teach without fear of being shot at. She is currently the main writer for Calvary Chapel magazine which circulates all over the world. Debs is still drawn to evangelism of the Muslim people and manages to make Muslim friends that live in this area.
We don't know what the next years will bring in Debra's life, but we are assured that they won't be boring and that they will make a difference for the Kingdom of God. (We just hope they don't include her movning away!)
(picture taken mid-singing. Julia's really belting it out!)
Happy Birthday, Deb - thanks for sharing it with a simple dinner at our home.
No comments:
Post a Comment