A BIG THANK YOU TO 6 of LINA's amazing prayer warriors!!!!

Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

 1 Timothy 4:12

The Jacobsen KIDS!!!  They also made artwork to sell for the Art for Orphans fundraisers and Hidden Treasure auctions for LINA and other children!  Thank you Jacobsen kids!  You have blessed us beyond measure!  Lina is now liberated but they have continued to pray for our family and for Lina's adjustment and health!

LINA is doing amazing!  We love you and thank you!  Stay tuned for more photos of Lina and her sisters soon!

Hey there from our house to you...here is what is happening!

 They call me the hurricane!  Now why would this adorable little face be called the hurricane? 

 I am just too cute and I am actually very very busy!  I LOVE TO SWIM!  Do you?

Here is the birdhouse my sister made!  Sasha helped me paint one too but I like her birdhouse better!  What do you think?  Aren't big sisters things much more interesting than your own? 

 Little LINA is growing fast!  She had her first ride on a swing!  I love to swing!  How about you?

 Little Lina and Avigayil - my little sisters!  Avi was napping but Lina was having none of that!

Lina and Avi really like to be with one another!  I love to be with them too!  I am the big sister and I love it! 

 Ok...Avi did not nap long either!  Actually none of us really like to nap!  How about you? 

Here is LINA beana or Beanie as she is now known with my daddy!  This is the greatest place in the world!  We love summer!  How about you?

Be a voice for the voiceless!  Proverbs 31: 8 - 9

Life is never dull or boring...it is always filled with excitement, joy and lots of being busy!  I think it is great!  How about you? 

THE GLORY OF THE LORD...

Isaiah 60:1-2 NIV "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

Isaiah 40:4-5 NIV Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Habakkuk 2:14 NIV For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 NIV  But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Philippians 2:9-11 NIV Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Natalya "Sasha" - Russia
Ellianna "Ting" - Taiwan
Angelina "Lina" - Bulgaria
Avigayil "Avi"  - Philippines

May these little lights shine and reflect the awesome Glory of the LORD to a world that needs to know JESUS!  May they sing of HIS glorious love and may their smiles light the world around them!  They are miracles.  They are treasures.  They are loved.  They are the Carpenter girls! 

The three little sisters...miracles!

with love in Christ...praising the LORD and being ever so thankful for our 3 little miracles and 1 nearly grown and soon driving a car!

Wake up Church...wake up...there are millions more in dire need...we are to care for the orphan and the widow...James 1:27...we are to be a voice for the voiceless... Proverbs 31: 8 -  9

How are we doing Church...how are we doing?

God is amazing! Thirty-two prayer warriors storm the gates of PLEVEN!

 Here is how we all feel about LINA being home...does this smile say it all!!!

 Many have asked how we are doing?  We are doing great...just no time to write or post...computer time is last on my list currently but I surely have some great stories to share...praises to share...and unbelievable miracles of the LORD...coming soon...

 Lina is so alert and alive...she loves the action in life...she is now pushing up to her arms from her belly...which means she has learned to roll over and she can do that quickly already...she scooted on her belly to get a toy that was to far away...she has gotten her tiny little knees under her belly and then scooted forward TWICE!!!  She still drinks her formula off of a tiny baby spoon because she has been terrified of a bottle  BUT...she is now drinking and sucking about 4 swallows of formula from a new type of bottle that looks NOTHING like those she was forced to use at PLEVEN.

She is the pacifier "stealer"!  She like to take the pacifier out of Avi's mouth and check it out and then toss it ...she has already learned the "if I drop it game..somebody will pick it up and give it to me.." She will roll a tiny ball from a lying down position (still her favorite) and if you roll it back she will roll it again!  She is eating all types of baby food...pureed and from a spoon!  She still moans when she is fed unless it is pureed bananas...she LOVES bananas and AVI HATES THEM!  Avi will eat almost anything BUT bananas...too funny!  She has only been home 6 days today and we can NOT imagine life with out our tiny little princess!  She is awesome!!! 

Lina' little sister Avi and her beautiful smile...Avi is still the youngest of our family...but only by 4 months!  Avi is with her big sister - amazing Sasha! 

 Angelina Mariyana Carpenter - Messenger in Hebrew...BABY DEDICATION...Sunday June 3, 2012  YES...12 hours after our arrival in the United States of America...LINA was dedicated to our LORD!  She is a precious child of the Carpenters and a daughter of the KING!   Here is her very PROUD DADDY and Pastor Thom!

Thirty-two prayer warriors and servants of the LORD have stormed the gates of PLEVEN to serve the least of these...Story to follow...they were on my flight home!  YES...all these beautiful faces ministered to the children at PLEVEN for 2 weeks - unknown to me...unknown to all the PLEVEN moms...these beautiful nurses from Shorter University in Rome, Georgia were caring for our babies for 2 weeks!  They knew LINA when I walked up to the British Airway check-in...they had cared for her for 2 weeks prior to my arriving and knew she as no longer in her crib and another child replaced her on May 28th...what they did not know until 11:45 on Saturday June 2 at the Sofia airport is that Lina was with her Mommy...me...and I had picked her up in the morning of May 28th to take her home. 

When they arrived at the orphanage in the afternoon of May 28th she was gone and they did not know where she was...days later...God wrote more of the story and Lina's angels surrounded us with love and care on the flight to LONDON!  MORE details of these angels later...but had to share that many of our PLEVEN babies were cared for by these School of Nursing college students for 2 weeks! 

Children on many floors were loved...they were fed...they were changed...they were prayed over...they even were at the older child home and cared for children there!  God is amazing...the stories HE writes are unbelievable and this is one that is unbelievable but BELIEVE IT BECAUSE I HAVE THE PHOTOS to prove it...more later on this incredible story but had to let you know that I am in awe and thankfulness to these 32 amazing brothers and sisters in Christ...so if you are reading this Shorter University Angels...your t-shirts will soon be on their way...and Sasha and I wore the ones you gave to me yesterday and many asked the story of Shorter University!!!  The story about the Shorter University School of Nursing students and PLEVEN is the first I am sharing about my entire trip!!!  You bless me!!!

With MUCH LOVE to you all!!!!! steph

HOME!

HOME where she belongs!  IT IS awesome and amazing and wait until I share some of our travel home stories!  ONLY GOD...ONLY GOD...HE is amazing!

MORE TO come...ummm just a bit busy these first 24 hours home!

We are on our way home! My favorite moments of the journey...

 We love you Toni!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 The babushka I got an opportunity to hug and talk to ...may the LORD bless her!

Oh how we love Toni...oh how my heart is broken for all the children left behind...today those children are lying in a crib rocking and spending the morning hours, the afternoon hours and the night hours rocking, banging their heads, chewing their hands, scratching their skin and waiting for LOVE!
What more can we do?  I will leave you with that question?  You answer it...

Psalm 26:8

See you at home!  Watch out world here comes Angelina "LINA" Mariyana Carpenter - the Messenger...your life will never be the same after you meet her in person!