Transformed

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12: 2

As we've journeyed farther and farther into November I've been witness to the many ways hosting Dzintars has transformed our family! This is most evident when it comes time each night to place a new leaf on our "Thankful Tree". If you missed that post you can read about it here.

Brennan, age 4 1/2, has blown me away with some of the things he's stated he's thankful for this year! I can clearly see the way his young heart has been transformed to think of others more than himself! He's learned he has so much more to be thankful for beyond "stuff"! The lessons he's learned because of our summer hosting experience are PRICELESS!

So far, Brennan is thankful for:

We're also sponsoring a 7 year old Latvian orphan this Christmas! We sent some money along with a letter, artwork from the kiddos and photographs of our family!

 

And my favorite leaf so far...

Hosting Dzintars and sponsoring Aleksis through the Latvian Angel Project have both fostered some really good conversations in our house this year! It's not uncommon for Brennan to ask me the names of the orphans he sees as I do my New Horizons work on the computer. He then usually asks if they can come live with us! Just yesterday as we were running errands Brennan said, "Mom! I want to host an orphan again! And I know we can't host Dzintars because he's going to another family so can we host a girl this time?" That last part made me crack up, if you've met my son, you know he's GIRL C-R-A-Z-Y!!! 

It's been 3 1/2 months since Dzintars returned to Latvia but the impact he's had on our family continues to this day!