My niece Gabby came to stay with us for 3 weeks this summer and we fell in love with her.
She's staying.
As IF that was all to say! She has added to our lives and the lives of our children since the day she came. She has had a big heart and she's shown me her softness and vulnerability. I never quite knew much about her before this summer and I realize that I've been missing out. Her parents absolutely adore her and want to give her all they can, but they simply can't. My sister has had injuries from work that make her disabled and her husband has been in and out of luck finding a job. They both love her dearly!! They hate to let her go, but they know it's the best chance for her. She has so many wolves biting at her life, at her spirit, and her worth. I can already hear other family members discounting it all, telling me she's not really all that wonderful...and to them I want to say...just go away. Don't talk about her anymore. I love this girl. Leave her alone. She is a jewel-God thinks so and so do I.
Don't discount my Gabby. She's going to make it and she's already incredible. She's going to fight and I'm going to be there to remind her, to pull her, push her, pray with her, read to her, sing to her, teach her, train her, and love her. With this love Jesus has given me, anything, anything is possible. I'm putting that into her just as much as my other kids.
Gabby is 15 years old. Her vacation with us was an escape from the turmoil she endures around her home. During her visit, we read the book The Shack together. As we drove home on Monday, July 15th from a day trip to Dallas, she was reading it aloud and the chapter on judgment convicted her. We began to share about how we have judged others and she shared more about the role judgment has played in her life. She also shared about the torment, persecution, negativity, hatred, and lies she endures in her daily life. As I let her share and simply listened, I heard my own story once again. I heard my own life retold. Through tears we prayed. I told her she was not alone. We were getting close to home and I asked her if she would like to go to Papa's house to get baptized. With tears, Gabby said yes. In God's perfect timing, we pulled into my driveway and simply picked up Harvey and the kids with the Good News. I texted Papa and told him I needed a baptism performed tonight. It was 9:30 p.m. He was overjoyed. He invited us over and he visited with Gabby about how she came about her decision. We brought the kids to the pool and Papa baptized her at about 10:00 p.m. I can't thank Papa enough or God enough for His great plan with this.
It was her testimony about her experience during the three weeks that has shaken me the most....and it's not even the part I played. Gabby shared with me that the first day she visited my church she was told she was beautiful at least twice, once by an elderly woman and once by an elderly man-neither of whom she knew. She was also remembered by a member she did not recognize from a visit she made to Bammel almost 7 years ago when her older brother, Robert, was baptized by our church. She told about how she loved the high school class and how she thought Eric Petty was so funny. She met and made friends with Lauren from the high school class who had been baptized that day. She shared that Lauren had encouraged Gabby to go forward with her own baptism since she had been thinking about it for quite some time. The second Sunday she visited, she was told she was beautiful again. She couldn't get over how the members kept telling her this! A young lady simply needs to hear this from godly people and I am so overwhelmed with praise that my church has said that to her over and over. As she shared about her experiences with Papa that night she said, "she(Julizza)'s taken me to church twice now and when I'm there, I realize how much I love and miss being around God and with his people. When we sing there, I feel God's presence."
Gl
She's staying.
As IF that was all to say! She has added to our lives and the lives of our children since the day she came. She has had a big heart and she's shown me her softness and vulnerability. I never quite knew much about her before this summer and I realize that I've been missing out. Her parents absolutely adore her and want to give her all they can, but they simply can't. My sister has had injuries from work that make her disabled and her husband has been in and out of luck finding a job. They both love her dearly!! They hate to let her go, but they know it's the best chance for her. She has so many wolves biting at her life, at her spirit, and her worth. I can already hear other family members discounting it all, telling me she's not really all that wonderful...and to them I want to say...just go away. Don't talk about her anymore. I love this girl. Leave her alone. She is a jewel-God thinks so and so do I.
Don't discount my Gabby. She's going to make it and she's already incredible. She's going to fight and I'm going to be there to remind her, to pull her, push her, pray with her, read to her, sing to her, teach her, train her, and love her. With this love Jesus has given me, anything, anything is possible. I'm putting that into her just as much as my other kids.
Gabby is 15 years old. Her vacation with us was an escape from the turmoil she endures around her home. During her visit, we read the book The Shack together. As we drove home on Monday, July 15th from a day trip to Dallas, she was reading it aloud and the chapter on judgment convicted her. We began to share about how we have judged others and she shared more about the role judgment has played in her life. She also shared about the torment, persecution, negativity, hatred, and lies she endures in her daily life. As I let her share and simply listened, I heard my own story once again. I heard my own life retold. Through tears we prayed. I told her she was not alone. We were getting close to home and I asked her if she would like to go to Papa's house to get baptized. With tears, Gabby said yes. In God's perfect timing, we pulled into my driveway and simply picked up Harvey and the kids with the Good News. I texted Papa and told him I needed a baptism performed tonight. It was 9:30 p.m. He was overjoyed. He invited us over and he visited with Gabby about how she came about her decision. We brought the kids to the pool and Papa baptized her at about 10:00 p.m. I can't thank Papa enough or God enough for His great plan with this.
It was her testimony about her experience during the three weeks that has shaken me the most....and it's not even the part I played. Gabby shared with me that the first day she visited my church she was told she was beautiful at least twice, once by an elderly woman and once by an elderly man-neither of whom she knew. She was also remembered by a member she did not recognize from a visit she made to Bammel almost 7 years ago when her older brother, Robert, was baptized by our church. She told about how she loved the high school class and how she thought Eric Petty was so funny. She met and made friends with Lauren from the high school class who had been baptized that day. She shared that Lauren had encouraged Gabby to go forward with her own baptism since she had been thinking about it for quite some time. The second Sunday she visited, she was told she was beautiful again. She couldn't get over how the members kept telling her this! A young lady simply needs to hear this from godly people and I am so overwhelmed with praise that my church has said that to her over and over. As she shared about her experiences with Papa that night she said, "she(Julizza)'s taken me to church twice now and when I'm there, I realize how much I love and miss being around God and with his people. When we sing there, I feel God's presence."
Gl
