Happy 1st Birthday Z & K

Last week we celebrated the 1st year of our adorable twin daughters, Zarah & Keziah.  Since the moment the ultra sound tech said out loud "there are 2" until this day we have had the joy of learning all the normal & quirks of having twins.  During my pregnancy at one of my many appointments, a nurse told me that even though I was experiencing one pregnancy, there were 2 different pregnancy's going on inside.  And this has continued on through the growth of these twins during the last year.  They will always be twins, but my little Zarah & Keziah are so very different...even down to their poop.  Yup, I said it!  But isn't that weird?  They eat the exact same food, and have 2 completely different "outcomes" (if you will).  My mom & I joked during the pregnancy that one would be light skinned & one would be dark skinned, and well that is even true.  Zarah is a bit darker than Keziah.

1st to pull to standing: Keziah

1st to figure out how to get down from standing: Zarah

Eating Chicken & Rice:

Keziah likes the Rice

Zarah likes the Chicken

Keziah is a little taller, and she is VERY cautious about getting  up & down.

1st to stand without support: Zarah

Zarah will try any food I give her, while Keziah

can be very picky.

1st to get teeth on bottom: Zarah

  and she has had 2 top teeth for a month before 

  Keziah just started her top.

Zarah is smaller, but she is "scrappy".

She has no fear of moving around, getting up & down.

And here is the funniest difference, eating their cake at their birthday party...

Keziah devoured her cupcake, while Zarah barely would touch it!

And here is a snapshot of their mood swings, Zarah is not good around large groups of people.  She becomes very clingy to mommy.  But Keziah, also has these fussy moments when we are alone.

There are probably more differences that I am forgetting, but I think you get the idea.  

But a couple things they do have in common are 

                                        every new toy went straight into their mouth for chewing....

...And they LOVE their Big Sister, Hope!

Enjoy getting to know our little angels, we have been so blessed as a family by these 2!

This is the life of a traveling mother!

Jennifer

Hair Part 2: There's more to the story

My last post felt a little unfinished in my mind, and on my head.  After 2 days of trying to make-it-work with my new hair cut, on Tuesday I was able to find another salon and get my uneven-ness fixed.

And the reason my post felt unfinished was because as much peace as I felt sitting in that chair watching my hair get chopped off, and YES I do completely trust God with my hair...that doesn't mean that the outcome was a good one.  This is the path that I walk by living my life following the Lord.  The extreme true life story that comes to mind is the about Joseph in the book of Genesis of the bible.  He had a dream from the Lord about his future and he completely trusted God to do HUGE things in his life, but what was the next step?  His own brothers sold him into slavery!  Then after being sold by his brothers, living in prison, and being accused of adultery; Joseph says this to his brothers: "But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance." (Genesis 45 v.7)

Yea, I would say that's a bit more dramatic than getting a choppy hair cut. But a similar lesson, that even when we trust in God for our life path that doesn't mean challenging situations won't happen.  It is the peace, love, and joy that I have from God that brings me through my life journey as I put my trust & faith in Jesus.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is a day that we celebrate Mother's in America (and a few other countries, but NOT all countries).  As a mom I do get to be appreciated by my wonderful husband (who doesn't appreciate me calling him cheap in my last post) and 3 beautiful daughters!  Here's a little look at my day:

Swingin' in the hammock with my girl :-)

And of course I think of my mom & my husbands mom on this day of appreciation.  Most of you know that Sheraz's mother has passed away, but today I took time to reflect on the mom that raised a wonderful son.  She did an amazing job of bringing up 4 very successful children who know the Lord in a country where you are less of a citizen because of your faith in Jesus.  Because of her persistence for Sheraz to attend a bible school in Cyprus 10 years ago, God blessed me.

And a very Happy Mother's Day to my M.O.M.!!!  The one thing I want to share about my mom is that throughout my life there have been many ups and downs that were hard for me to go through, and I'm sure hard for her to watch me go through.  But through it all, she was by my side giving me encouragement and emotional support.  The one thing I am eternally grateful for my mom is inviting me to a bible study 15 years ago.  I was at a time in my life of a huge down, but of course my mom was there for me.  Not only was she there for me, but she was praying for my salvation.  Thank you mom for all your prayers for me and our family.  I miss you every day and look forward to welcoming you to Thailand someday!  

We Love You Mom Gayle & Mom Akhtar!

Breakfast with the family

Do you trust Him with your hair?

I've had the same head of hair for 37 years now.  And probably just like you, have had hairstyles long, short, mid, layers, curly, straight, and probably more.  Recently I've been growing my hair long, but with the heat here in Thailand I just had to cut it. After some debating in my mind about if I should (and a little nudge from my husband) we went to the mall today with the kids to play & probably look for a hair salon.  Being that we are in Thailand & I don't speak more than a few sentences in the Thai language, I told Sheraz I wasn't going to get it cut unless the hairdresser understood English and I could explain exactly what  I wanted done with my hair.  Well, that was MY plan.

After walking away from Sheraz and the girls, I was headed to find a good salon with an English speaking hairdresser.  Knowing that I have a very "resourceful" (a.k.a. cheap) husband, I found a place that cost less than another that we had seen.  After sitting down, a few minutes later the shampoo lady took me to the back....but wait I hadn't talked to anyone in English about how I would like my hair cut.  As I was getting my hair washed, my mind was still debating whether to cut it all off or just get a trim & thin out the long hair.  Now I'm sitting in the chair to get my hair cut, my hairdresser walks up and I say, "'Do you speak English?",  she replies, "No" very sternly....my heart sinks & I think 'is this really happening?'.

As I point to a picture in a binder of how I would like my hair cut short in the back with some length in the front, her eyes grow about 10x.  She looks at my long hair & the picture with her BIG eyes (and still no smiling) and then starts yelling in Thai to one of the other hairdressers who apparently does speak English.  He talks to me about cutting my hair, then speaks to her in Thai and gradually her eyes return to the normal size.

While I'm sitting there watching her literally chop my hair, I begin to pray and talk to God about how I was feeling...a little nervous to say the least.  But this overwhelming peace came over me as God said to me, "Don't you trust me with your hair?"  It seems like such a small thing in the big picture of life (especially living life by faith).  Most of you women reading this can understand how much importance we get from our hair, and a bad cut can make a huge impact.  How many of you have cried after a haircut?  Me too, but thankfully not today.  I put a smile on my face and took the time to pray for the woman who stood behind me without a smile.  God had brought me to that place to sit in that chair and meet this woman, and I trust Him.

End of the haircut, and it's not exactly what I had in mind...but it's okay.  And after a few simple Thai & English words we were able to share, I'm hoping some of the Lord's Joy has rubbed off into her life from the smile and peace He gave me instead of fear and frustration that could have erupted.  I'm so thankful for GOD's plan :-).

After all that I figure you want to see my new hair cut, so here's a little peek

I am SO looking forward to having a cooler head of hair in this 100 degree weather!

This is the life of a Traveling Mother!
Jennifer