9 Years Ago...

9 years ago today, Rusty asked me to marry him.
His proposal set the stage for our marriage.
He washed my feet after reading Ephesians 5 to me.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by God's word."
Ephesians 5:25-26

Rusty has done this. How appropriate that he washed my feet at the beginning of our marriage journey, because he has been a servant leader to the core! He has washed me clean with God's word by encouraging me in my walk with the Lord, refining me, calling me out, and leading by example.
This man gets up before anyone should have to in order to study God's Word. He has ever since I've known him.
He loves me unabashedly, and I have no idea why.
He leads our family, not according to his own wishes, but with a heart that seeks the Lord.
He does what he says he will do. His word is for real.
My husband is brilliant.
He's the best Dad in the world, and SO FUN!
9 years ago, he chose me. That still baffles me, but he did.
He has made me so much better! You really do become like your spouse after you've been married a while, and I got the better end of that deal.
Just like my relationship with the Lord, I don't deserve this man.
My heart overflows with gratitude!!!
Happy engagement anniversary Honey!

Happy Half-Birthday Treston!

How I love this little boy!

Happy Half-Birthday Treston!

Calling All Crock-Potters

I used to LOVE the part of my day when I cooked dinner. I was creating something wonderful. I would search and search for the best recipes. I had a subscription to Cooking Light and Southern Living. I would cut recipes out and glue them onto cute little notecards. I cooked things with LOTS of ingredients in them. Really good things, that even took some time. Creative things. One of our favorites was a Pork and Pear Saute. We loved that! It's been a thousand years since I made that. What happenned?
We had kids. Many kids. Once we started, we just couldn't stop. We have a kid every two years. We love them, but they've taken over dinner time.
I still love to cook, but that time of day is probably the most crazy time of my day. Cooking with Justus pulling on my legs, and "helping" me, and tending to a baby, managing art projects...well, let's just say it's not the same. I now cook things with very few ingredients. Casseroles. Things that can be cooked in one pot.
I feel I am being forced to adopt a new crockpotting lifestyle.
Our semester is back in full swing. For those of you who don't live in a college town, life here still revolves around semesters, even for those of us whose college years are behind us.
Our awesome HOPE group has begun (I love you Bacak groupies!), and we start a new Countdown class tonight. (Check the Countdown link if you don't know about this ministry that Rusty and I love so much!) So those are two very busy nights for us...getting dinner on the table, doing Math, which they do with Lisa in the evening, bath time, and all the chasing, tickling, reading, etc. that must be done before glorious bed time.
Tuesday night was my first HOPE group night since we expanded our family, and trying to cook dinner BEFORE Rusty came home, with all four kids, nearly drove me to drink! So, I've decided I MUST find some new wonderful Crockpot recipes and use this brilliant slow-cooking machine twice a week. For the sake of my sanity. For the children. No one wants me to start drinking, right?
So this is where I am calling to you.
Hear the desperation in my voice?
I need some wonderful crockpot recipes. I have a few, and Heather's new cookbook has provided a few new ones, one in which I'm cooking right now. (Or should I say slow cooking?) But we can't eat these same things every Tuesday and Thursday. I need to expand my reportoire. And not with any kind of beef stew, because I really hate that.
Anyone?
Just one recipe.
Give me one.
Friends, you could e-mail it to me if you want.
Let's have a contest!!! My whole family will be the judges. Whoever gives us the very best recipe wins a special prize.
A prize to be disclosed.
Grab your recipe books and run right back to your computer.
Thanks! The winner will be announced on a future post.

Ladybug Larvae! by Emma Bacak

I got ladybug larvae right. Now they are pupa. Now three of those pupa are ladybugs. Maybe in the spring, I might have ladybugs and all of them might be ladybugs. Daddy says they eat raisins. Soak the raisins for 5 minutes and cut them in half. Ladybugs like to eat bugs that live in flowers in the spring. In the spring, we'll get those bugs, and feed them to the ladybugs. We won't need a jacket when we catch them because it will be spring.
I was so excited when I saw this morning I have THREE ladybugs! Maybe someday, all my pupa will be ladybugs. One time, when they were just little babies, they runned and climbed way up to the glass. Can you believe that? But now they're not babies. But I still love them as ladybugs. I might have to keep them until the spring when they can look for food. These ladybugs are not eating the raisins right now or yesterday! I have to find those bugs, so they eat faster. But there's one little thing Daddy told me...catepillars are larvae for butterflies! And people, they're kind of like cocoons. I love this. I hope they all turn to ladybugs. I think each day, one by one, they'll turn ladybugs. Let's best see. Oh, but one thing...they're yellow. Not red. That's all.
Emma

Lisa's here!

We have wonderful Lisa living with us! Lisa is student teaching, and we are so glad she could stay with us this semester! She is teaching the kids Math, and doing a wonderful job! My kids are so blessed to have the wonderful college students we have in our lives. What would our lives be like without them? BORING. I've decided all the girls that come to stay with us should wear the same size clothes as me too. This is working out beautifully. It's fun to have girl roommates again!
Love you Lisa!

A Unique Opportunity

My husband has some unique opportunities to share the Gospel.
It amazes me sometimes! For example, this week a man was dying, and Rusty had to let him know that he didn't have much time left, and then immediately went into 'what do you believe about God?' This man believed the God-thing was a bunch of junk. But my husband did all he could to share Christ with this man. He prayed with the man's family, as he so often does. I wish I could say the man accepted Christ, but he didn't. He passed away yesterday. Rusty was grieved, not only to lose a patient, but to lose him before he would accept the Truth. I know this is discouraging for him, but the fact is he has opportunities that I will never have. He meets people when they can feel the need for God more than ever. He ministers to families in crisis. And I'm so proud of him that he seizes these opportunities so boldly. Every patient that he sees fills out a spiritual questionnaire, asking if it would be okay with them if the doctor prayed with them. This is not PC. I can't imagine the professional criticism he might receive from some. My husband is so bold, and I'm so proud of him for making his whole life and work about sharing his faith. I pray that God would open my eyes to see the opportunities that He gives me in MY life, and make me bold. Pray for Rusty, and that God would use him to bring people to the Lord through his medical practice.

Ice, Ice Baby.

Oh, how I'm loving ice days. These are pics of ice day 1. Today is ice day 2. The main reason I am loving it is because Rusty is home!!!!
Yes, that's right. If you know my husband, you may not believe it. But I convinced him that people would not keep their appts. (Which they wouldn't. People cancel their appts. if they are having a bad hair day.) So it's like Saturday, and then Saturday again. Awesome.
The kids have enjoyed playing outside, intermittenly. Here is Emma, breaking the top layer of ice on the trampoline. So fun! They have also been collecting icicles, of course expecting them to live when they bring them in the house.
Today, Ice Day #2, they actually went sledding!!! We are the few people in the Brazos Valley who own sleds. (And we'll rent them to you for a small fee. Gotta' make up for the loss of work somehow, right?!) We moved here from Amarillo, where we got snow, and loved it! So the kids went with Rusty to Wolf Pen Park today and did some ice/mud sledding. Well, first they just went down to the side of 6 and did a little sledding there, but a very nice police man came and told them there had been several wrecks off of 6, so they should probably move. What's funny about that was that Jax thought they were going to be arrested! So funny!
I am loving this ice thing. I have Rusty home, and the trees look beautiful. We had a little ice party last night with a few of our Hope Groupers...made a massive fire that set off our smoke alarms, and then watched American Idol. It doesn't get much better than that. Bring on the ice. We might have to sell our house due to lack of income, but for now, it's fun!

Justus Has Bounced Back!

He's back! With a vengeance!
For real, look at his face...doesn't it look great?
He's giving you his best CHEESE face.
He had 9 stitches removed last Wed. We underestimated how many there were, and it was so swollen initially, we couldn't even count!
But he has healed beautifully, and we are buying Mederma in bulk, applying it 3 times a day.
He's going to be perfect.
It didn't take him long to get back to his mischevious ways.
For example, in the last week, he

1. Took a bottle of blue Tempera paint and bounced on the trampoline, while pouring out the bottle all over the trampoline. The trampoline is now blue.
2. He took my super expensive Pro Active (miracle stuff) moisturizer and squeezed every last precious ounce into the sink and washed it down the drain. I almost cried. I had to call Heather and ask her to feel sorry for me so that I wouldn't cry.
3. He sneaks into the crib with Treston, while he's supposed to be sleeping, or sneaks into Emma and Jax's room after he's been put to bed.

That's our boy. He's a real, live two-year-old. Everyone stop and say a prayer for this beautiful boy, that he uses his powers for good and not evil.
On the up-side, he is learning new words! He is definitely improving in speech, PRAISE GOD! He has a new friend, Becky Blackmon, whom he calls "Be-Be" who is working with him three mornings a week for a few hours. This has been AWESOME! We are really proud of him. He actually verbally requests his CDs at night. For example "Baa, Baa" is Baa Baa Black Sheep, "shoe" is one, two, buckle my shoe, and "HO, HO, HO" is a Christmas Lullaby CD. Verbal requests!!! Yea!
Thanks for your prayers for Justus.

Martin Luther King Day

We are taking a day to learn about Martin Luther King. If you read my post on Rosa Parks Day, I promise not to rant.
But there's so much I didn't know about this man.
Did you know that he won the Nobel Peace Prize?
Did you know that his family's home was bombed?
Did you know he entered college at the age of 15?
There are many remarkable facts about him. Most of all, he was a man who was killed because he fought for equal treatment for people of all races. An excerpt from his famous "I Have A Dream" speech says...

"I have a dream today... I have a dream that one day little black boys and black girls can join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

I am seeing that dream come true in our church. I worked in the nursery Saturday night. I worked in Treston's room, the baby room. We only had three babies. We had David, Treston, and Danaya. We had every beautiful skin color in one room. Fair skinned David, light golden skinned Treston, and beautiful dark skinned Danaya. It just made me happy. I am seeing more and more in our Church Body the break-down of the last surviving existence of segregation...the Church. Segregation was outlawed decades ago, but on Sunday mornings, it has lived on. Our churches are an intimate place for us, and our culture has been 40 years overdue in truly melding together our lives. Not just being together, blacks and whites, in the places we have to go. But being together in the places we choose to go... to share our lives with others. I am blessed by Living Hope, in that I see an increasingly beautiful tapestry of color being woven into one Body. And it's not something anyone is necessarily taking notice of. It's just people, families, being church family, being known not by the color of their skin, but as Dr. King put it in his speech, the content of their character. My dream is that my kids, as they grow up in one house with "blonde" skin, as Emma puts it, and brown skin, that they are shining examples for others to see. I am grateful for the other families around us doing the same.

Justus Update

A new healing picture will be posted soon. Justus' stitches were removed on Wed. night, and he is on the mend! Thanks for your prayers, and I will post an update in full color very soon!

Let's Throw a Party!

He did it!!!!
He slept all night! Not until 3. Not until 4. Until 6:20! I was already up! It was amazing!
He deserves an award...he deserves a cookie...though he has not teeth- that doesn't stop Justus from trying to feed him his favorite food. POPCORN. He deserves whatever he wants. A car when he's 16. As long as he will do this again. Now we're not new to this game. We know this may not happen again for 2 months. But he has done it, and we are ecstatic.
Sleep has always been a favorite of mine, so this makes me want to throw a party.

This pic is just thrown in for my family, and for his former foster family, the Le Walls. They are baseball fans. It apalls my family, but my kids have never been to a baseball game. They hardly know baseball exists. My brothers have told me in no uncertain terms what kind of parent this makes me. But neither Rusty or I are baseball fans really. Rusty will watch whatever sport is on TV, but he doesn't follow baseball carefully. (Like he does college football.) So...go Stro's? Here's the Bacak's show of support. Treston in an Astros cap, given to Justus by Nana and Pop-Pop. How cute is he?

A Lesson on Petting Strange Dogs

This is not the most flattering pic of Justus, but you all know how beautiful our boy is right?

So, we had a traumatic Friday night. Rusty took the kids down to our neighborhood park to play. It was about 5pm. The kids encountered a woman walking her dog on a leash. Emma, being the all-time biggest animal lover, asked her if she could pet the dog. (We have had to teach our children to do this, because their instinct is to touch every animal they see.) The woman didn't hesitate to say yes, and told Emma she wanted to teach her how to approach the dog correctly. She told her to stick out her hand for the dog to smell, and then pet the dog on the head. Emma followed directions, and the dog was fine. Then Justus' turn. (For those who are faint in stomach, read cautiously.) He did just as she said, and when he went to pet the dog on the head, he lunged at Justus' face and clamped down.
We rushed him to the ER, where they stitched him up, 6 in the lip, one on the nose. His lip was lacerated in several spots, but one of them went clean through to the inside of the lip, leaving a gaping hole. This freaked me out, obviously, when I arrived at the park. Rusty had called me immediately, and told me to get there ASAP with lots of rags. Justus' clothes were completely saturated with blood when I got there. I kind of lost it, despite Rusty telling me not to. We jumped in the van, and sped to St. Joseph's ER. (Luckily, Lisa had just gotten here, so we were able to leave the kids and run!) Rusty called ahead, spoke directly to the ER doctors, which probably sped us along in the ER process. (I know, it's not fair, but if you had seen my child, you would have begged for someone to attend to this boy!)
We got a great ER doctor, and she was very compassionate towards Justus. But holding a two-year-old down to stitch him up for 30+ minutes is never fun. Justus was a stud!!! He is incredibly stoic with pain, which we already knew from previous stitches experience, although very minor compared to this. (No, I will not be receiving Mother of the Year anytime soon.)
My brother was attacked by a dog, very seriously, when he was three, and this has always been one of the most traumatic events in the life of my family. My Mom has always said that she can still see it in her mind at any given time. I'm afraid Rusty feels that way now, and my kids might as well. This was a very bloody, ugly scene, and I feel grateful that I can't see it in my mind, because imagining it, and having to watch him cry while they stitched his face, is more than enough. We took a jog this morning, and every time we pass the park, my stomach tightens into a knot. We will never forget this as long as we live.
What can we gain from this? Well, for one, I want to make it known to all of you with children that even when an owner confidently instructs your child they may pet their dog, it is not always safe. I will for sure only be allowing my kids to pet Disney, and maybe only Golden Retrievers for the rest of their lives, because I'm pretty sure this has never happenned with a Golden Retriever ever in the history of dogs. But the direct quote from my friend Heather is "Down with Dogs!" BE CAREFUL with dogs and your children. Unless they are tried and true kids' dogs, avoid them! I would never wish this on your child. We couldn't identify what kind of dog this was, probably a mixed breed of some sort. But it was definitely NOT a scary looking dog. My kids are not even allowed within sight of the scary killer type dogs. This was totally unexpected, according to the owner as well.
Thank you, all of you who have called or have come by to visit. It means so much to us! Family and church family, as always, we love you.

We're thinking globally...and we need your help!

This semester, we are thinking globally in the "Bacak School of Higher Learning." (This is my Mom's nickname for our little homeschool. It's really more sarcastic than arrogant, keep in mind.)
The kids and I are studying the globe. All about it. We are going to spend a week studying each continent. We will study about the people, a little about the economy and government, the weather, and most importantly to Emma, what animals are indigenous to that area of the world.
We also will be praying for a specific missionary on that continent, and their work to spread the gospel there. We would like to send a small package to them, or let them know that we are praying for them. The kids and I have been looking at the Great Commission:

"Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved." Mark 16:15

So this is where we need your help. If you know of a missionary that we could pray for, let us know. We have a missionary in Africa, Europe, and Asia (Brooke). But we need missionaries for Australia, North America, and South America. (I am doubtful we will find one in Antarctica. Maybe a missionary to Polar Bears, which sounds like something my daughter would want to commit her life to!) I know we could tap into the Mission Board, but I think it's more fun to pray for people that our friends know and support. So let me hear from you...

Thanks!

A Few Highlights from our Christmas 2006

Highlight #1...
Studying the Christmas story with my kiddos. It was different this year...maybe because Emma knows Jesus, and is just that little bit older. But we studied the scriptural account of the story all through December, chunk by chunk, and some days they journaled about it. Emma's journal pages about Christmas have been priceless! Seeing them grasp Christmas for what it really is, even just a little, has been awesome! This is us making our Happy Birthday Jesus cake for our party on Christmas Eve.



Highlight #2...
On Christmas Eve, we go to Santa's Wonderland for a little family fun. We drive through the lights, and then get out, EVEN in freezing rain and lots of mud. (Getting out in mud means 10 muddy feet coming into our house!) But it was still fun! I had a moment, standing by the fire because it was stinkin' FREEZING, trying to keep Treston warm. I was watching Jax dance around in the fake snow. Emma and Justus ran off to the petting zoo, but Jax would not leave the fake snow. He danced to the down-home country Christmas music, which was quite pitch offensive, but still fun. It seemed to be the happiest moment of his life! He was having so much fun, and I couldn't have been more content myself watching him. I love Christmas!

Nothing completes family fun for the Bacak kids like a petting zoo. Seriously.
It kind of grosses me out. I want to bathe them on the spot, instead of bringing in barn-like germs to our house, on my children, but I have to stifle this urge for the joy of my children.







Christmas P.J.'s. How I love them. We all sleep in brand spankin' new Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve. You can see that Justus and Treston are wearing the cutest matching firetruck pajamas. So darn cute!










Can I interrupt this Christmas story, mainly because I got this picture in the wrong order, and say that this was me and Rusty's 10th Christmas to celebrate together! 10!!!! Years!!!!! How old are we anyway???
We were up late one night, wrapping some presents and watching "A Christmas Story" which has been a tradition since year 1, and a movie that we love to the point of obsession, and I asked him, "Could you have imagined ten years ago that we'd be here, celebrating Christmas with our four kids?" But we both kind of went..."yeah!" It's exactly where we wanted to be. God is good.

Santa brought a trampoline. But Santa could have dropped off some elves to assemble it in the freezing rain, right?
Seriously, Rusty and a Christmas angel we call Willis, who hardly knew us but still volunteered to assemble a trampoline in the dark, freezing rain, worked for four hours, and when they were done, they could not feel their hands. I did the very last part with Rusty after we sent Willis home, thanking him profusely, and offering him Happy Birthday Jesus cake and it was really, REALLY cold. Rusty took a hot shower, and still came out with cold hands. However, they both survived, thankfully, without losing any fingers to Hypothermia, and we now have endless bouncy fun in our backyard! Turns out I can still do Cheerleading jumps with the help of a trampoline. The kids are loving it! And girls, you'd better stand in line to meet this guy Willis, because I know what it's like to be married to a true servant, and it makes my life blissful. SERVANT HEART- #1 on the list, ladies!!!! Not kidding!!!

Turns out Justus is the sweetest big brother ever! He is always loving on Treston, which is almost always resulting in pain for Treston, but he is so loved by his siblings, it's crazy!!!
Justus, the music-crazed two-year-old, got his own headphones and immediately shared them with Treston. He did this with all his toys. Precious.
Treston got this Bumbo seat, which is so cool!
And fun to say!




And Lastly, because I've lost count, because it's really late at night, and I only blog well when pumped up with caffeine in the daytime, I conclude our Christmas highlights with cousin time.
We had a blast with our Bacak cousins, though I'm lacking in the photos to prove it.
We also had a blast with the Seay fam cousins. There are 150. Okay, just 15, but look at them!
(They are wearing their Cousins Club t-shirts from Aunt Liz and Uncle Robbie.) Imagine sleeping 15 kids and 12 adults in one house for three days. Add a few more to the dinner count, if you will. It's so much like going to camp. I pack for an entire day before going. I label all of the kids' socks, and anything else I can stick a label to. The excitement of being all together is great, life-long memories are made, there are fireworks shows, bonfires, roasted marshmallows, a chocolate fountain (new this year, and quite messy), huge dinners, which look more like mass feedings for the kids but taste nothing like camp food, politics talk, church politics talk, and late night laughter. But by the third day, you're so tired you just can't wait to get home and SLEEP.
Christmas is so wonderful, but it truly couldn't come more than once a year.
However, I hope we spend this whole year with this same excitement over what Christ's presence in our lives means.
Hope you had a wonderful holiday too!

We're Savin' Trees!

We're saving trees...no paper letter this year. That's why God made blogs. Let me give you a quick year update on us.

And then there were four...
Everybody meet Treston. He is new in the Bacak household. You can scroll down on this blog and read about how this unexpected journey began not even one month ago. God is so amazing!
Treston is our foster son, and our intent is to adopt him the moment that becomes possible. The last thing we thought we were getting for Christmas this year was a beautiful four-month-old baby boy, but God exceeds what we could even imagine to wish for!




He was placed in our home on December 6th, and he's fitting in beautifully with this crazy group.
We are all crazy in love with him!
Please pray for Treston, and what the next year holds for him.










Emma is 6, and in Kindergarten.
Jax is 4, and in Pre-K.
Justus is 2, and in full-blown toddler mode.
Treston, 41/2 months.










What's new this year? HOMESCHOOLING.
I would not have believed you had you told me one year ago that I would be embarking on this adventure, but here we are! Again, God's plans for us are so much better than our own! He made it clear that this was right for Emma and Jax this year, and I'm so glad we listened. It's been awesome! Watching the light go on as they learn is my joy! We have taken many, many fun field trips to art museums, the Fire Station, Police Dept., a cotton field (and picked cotton), a plant nursery, a Veterinarian office, Doctor's office, (good thing I knew one), and many more! Hands-on learning is our favorite. Doing school in our pajamas while Mommy drinks coffee is also our favorite. I'm busier than ever, but feeling more fulfilled than ever in my role as their Mom and teacher.


We got away to Mexico in May...heaven on earth. This is our happy place. This was our second time to this wonderful resort called X-Caret in Playa Del Carmen. We highly recommend it. We don't know when we'll get to go back, now that we have another baby, but when we dream, it's in Spanish, at this beautiful place.







Another highlight this year was flying Kathleen, Justus' birthmom, here from Las Vegas for Justus' second birthday. Don't they look alike? Which is great, since she's so beautiful. We had a wonderful weekend visit with Kathleen! We wish we saw her more. Kathleen is Muslim, and we got the chance to talk to her about Jesus. We are praying daily for her salvation.






Another highlight of the year...my sweet Emma came to know Jesus. She has had countless talks with her Daddy about spiritual things, and Rusty knew when she was ready. (I prayed that we would know.) And boy was she ready! She prayed that prayer, and the Holy Spirit came in and made a change! She loves the Word, and can't get enough of it in our daily Bible Study and prayer time! Her heart is so sensitive to the things of God, and she has a heart that desires to please Him. Seeing my baby girl come to salvation was the sweetest moment I've experienced as a Mom yet!
(This is our wonderful Pastor Butch at our home church, WHICH WE LOVE, Living Hope Baptist. You can see the link here on the blog. We are overflowing with gratitude to the Lord for this Body of believers, where we feel so at home.)

So that's it. 2006 for the Bacaks in a nutshell. Thanks for reading, and we hope you experience God's love like never before in 2007!

Confessions of a Coffee Diva...and other possibly little known facts of Jenn and Rusty

Yes, we've been tagged, like everyone else. I don't know how to define "little known facts"...known by whom? That entirely depends on the reader, and because I don't know who's reading this, you may or may not know these things about us. But I will do my best to dig up the only 5 potentially interesting things about us.

1. This is not interesting. But I'm a coffee diva. I hate to use the word diva in a sentence that describes me at all. Rusty always likes to say how I'm low-maintenance. And I am! I'm pretty easy to please. I don't require too much. But I do require good coffee. Possibly the most romantic thing Rusty ever did for me was buy that espresso machine for Christmas last year. I have a hard time remembering life before it. (I didn't have enough caffeine I'm guessing.) I didn't start drinking coffee until Justus came along. I was sleep deprived, and had no caffeine restrictions this time! (I was not pregnant or nursing, as I had been for many years prior.) So my survival began to depend on coffee. But when we got this machine...a new world opened up every morning. We are without it this weekend because it's being used in the church Christmas play, and we are walking around in a fog...where's the good coffee? We tried brewing some of that old-fashioned kind, but it just came out like muddy water. It's no good! This may be the most sacrificial gift we've ever given to the church. No dollar amount could equal this. I have completely blown the whole Matt. 6 command, of doing your good deeds in private...you know, don't let your left hand know when your right hand has lent out your heavenly coffee machine. My reward in heaven is blown.

2. I had brain surgery. I had a brain tumor when I was seventeen years old. I had brain surgery to remove it the summer before I left for Baylor. This was fun, because in all those "get-to-know-you" games you play when you start at college, I had a fun and memorable fact to throw out...I had brain surgery 6 weeks ago! No one forgot that.

3. I have a permanent hole in my right ear drum. I busted it for the first time when I jumped off a cliff in 1996 at Lake Powell. It was a very high cliff. But all the boys were doing it, and having three brothers, that immediately brought out the "I can do it too!" feeling. I've outgrown that by now...I hope. My daughter may have inherited it. You'll never find me swimming underwater, because I would spring a leak. And it would hurt.

4. I know American Sign Language. I am an interpreter for the Deaf, and also used to teach Deaf Education. That's what I did for money before I became a Mommy. My kids are now learning to sign, and they're awesome!

5. I do this weird typing thing in my head compulsively. I've done it since 9th grade when I took typing class. (Yes, on real typewriters! Some of you people born in the 80's have never seen one.) Anyway, if you know anything about typing- (this totally excludes my husband) your fingers go on the homerow keys- asdf jkl; - and all the keys are reached from those. Well, in my head, when I hear a phrase, or sentence, or read something, I instantly compute what homerow keys are used, and then put them in order from left to right on the keyboard. Ex. the phrase "Starbucks coffee" would then be asdfgjk. This is hard to explain, but I used to do this so much, my brain would never stop, it would drive me crazy. I'm better now.

That's it for me...You may be feeling very reticent about being my friend, so let me legitimize myself by telling you things about my husband! He has been tagged, but a blizzard will blow through Texas before my husband will get on this computer to post something, so I told him I was going to. I love to embarrass him! He asked if he could pre-approve these embarrassing facts, but I said of course not! So here we go...

RUSTY:
1. This is my favorite thing to tell people that embarrasses him...he's brilliant. He made a 4.0 here at A&M as a Biology major. He made a 1400 on the SAT. He graduated at the very top of his class in Med School. Baylor Med School was actually very unhappy with him for choosing Family Medicine. It makes them look better when their Smarties choose some prestigious specialty. Anybody could go Family Medicine. But this was always my husband's desire. To treat the whole family. He loves doing Pediatrics, and he loves getting to treat such a broad range of things. He's so smart, and if you're his patient, this is to your benefit to know this. You want to know this about your doctor! He is going to kill me for this!

2. Rusty LOVES meteorology! He is totally obsessed with the weather! The radar is his favorite. His biggest dream for his children is NOT med school, it's the Weather Channel! Storm Chasing! It's his passion.

3. At one time, Rusty thought he was supposed to be a Catholic Priest. He was hearing the Lord's call on his life, but luckily he realized that was not it. (Praise the Lord!) He was just realizing he needed a close, personal relationship with the Lord. God had something else entirely for him. The kids and I are so glad!

4. My husband loves to decorate for Christmas!!! We love Christmas around here! We figure the whole neighborhood should know how much we love Jesus...so our house glows. I mean, it really glows! Rusty lives for the one day of the year he gets to climb on the roof with a staple gun and execute the master plan he's been concocting in his head for an entire year. Every year, I pray really hard that I won't be a Christmas light widow. Him on the roof scares me, but so far so good. He's like a little kids when it comes to decorating for Christmas, and this brings me immense joy. Plus, we don't have to give out our address around this time of year. You just follow the glow.

5. Rusty loves to do circumcisions. He prides himself on his ability to do so. He is a self-proclaimed "penile artist." Not many people like to wear this title. I believe it sets him apart.

6. BONUS: Rusty used to be a d.j. He d.j.ed junior high dances, weddings, whatever. That's why we have every CD made in the 80's and early 90's. I brought his d.j.ing career to a swift stop after I helped him with a "gig" on our fourth date (Rusty was an intern in residency.) He d.j.ed a friend's wedding in Waco. We lugged heavy speakers up 4 flights of stairs, stayed for 3 hours after the bride and groom left the reception, where the relatives stayed to dance and kept demanding we play the song "Trashy Women." We got payed in a $15 gift card to Dillard's, which amounted to socks. We got payed in socks! Anyone calling to inquire after a d.j. after that, I promptly told them Dr. Bacak was out saving lives and didn't have time to d.j. their wedding.

That's it. If you still want to be friends with us, let us know.

Treston is here...

Here he is.

He's so perfect.

I have some really great ones of him smiling that I haven't downloaded yet. You have to see him smiling. He lights up the room! And he smiles all the time.

He's an amazing baby. We had a wonderful first night. He's fitting right in with this crazy family. I am bracing myself for my first real day with four kids (FOUR KIDS! When did we become such a gi-normous family!!! Who hung up these thousands of stockings on our fireplace??? This is crazy!), but the house is quiet right now (it's early in the morning), and I am feeling euphoric. I could not be more grateful that God chose us to bring this baby into our family right now. What a blessing he is already! What a miracle! Part of the miracle was that my husband said yes! I want to testify to a few things with that...

A. College girls, do not marry a man who will not lead your family by listening to God's Voice in your lives. If he is not seeking the Lord all the time, but instead seeks his own desires, I can't imagine the uncertainty a wife would feel! I don't believe you could experience the fullness of ministry and life that God calls us to. It's so good, and I"m so proud of Rusty. He was adament we didn't need any more kids in this house. He made a point to tell me, usually at the most chaotic point of the day, that we were done. We were maxed out. This was it. But I could rest easy, because I knew that when it came down to it, he would make that decision based on the Lord's leading, and not on his own feelings. The last two weeks his feelings have changed 100%! He is so excited about this baby, and from Day 1 has taken care of every tiny detail QUICKLY to get this baby here ASAP. What an amazing man I married!

B. When we talk in our Countdown class about God being the Planner of our families, this is what we're talking about. This is a risky situation. Our hearts are on the line. Our kids' hearts are on the line. People keep calling us brave, and I don't know if that's a euphemism for stupid, or if they really mean brave. But this I know...true ministry will break your heart sometimes. We know this firsthand already! It's not safe! But, and my kids need to know this too, it's not about us. We cannot be self-preservasionists and real Christians at the same time. (You may all need to remind me of these words in the future. I would appreciate that.) If we are going to be a family that lives out Phil. 2 everyday, God's going to teach us more sacrifice than is comfortable, and I'm glad.

I can't wait for all of you to meet him. He's a super good baby! He's SUPER BABY! And I don't think we're making this up...he's darn cute. Seriously.

We appreciate your prayers and love!

jenn

Rosa Parks Day

Today is Rosa Parks day. (You gotta' love Kindergarten, otherwise you would never know.) What a brave woman!
As I taught my kids today about who Rosa Parks was, and what she did,
I had to introduce them to racism.

This was a sad moment.

They had no idea. Before I got two sentences into Rosa Parks' story, Emma grabbed Justus and hugged him with a look of terror on her face.

The thought that people could hate people for having darker skin is unfathomable to their pure and innocent minds. They are so untainted by the world sometimes. I hated to even introduce them to this idea. People still today would show hatred or unfair treatment to their brother because he is brown. This is unthinkable.

It should all be unthinkable to us as Christians. But unfortunately, racism still lives on, even in the church today. I pray that we would ALL examine our hearts, and find where the racism lives there. I know, that with the power of the Holy Spirit, He can change hearts. But we have to be willing to go there. We have to be willing to break the power of generational sin. We have to be willing to look for the deeply hidden, ugly roots of racism in us that we have buried. The jokes we have laughed at...our earliest memories of how our grandparents or great-grandparents spoke of black people...our distaste for the culture of the lower socio-economic class mixed with our basic feelings and assumptions about people based on their skin color alone.

This is not okay.

How would you feel if my son wanted to marry your daughter? Does the thought bother you, somewhere deep down, even if you don't want to say it outloud? Is my baby considered to be of lesser value in this world because of his gorgeous, coffee colored skin?

Sadly, I know the answer to this question. The fact that people are lined up around the block to adopt white babies, and only a handful of people want to welcome a black baby to their family answers that question. I know firsthand...I've heard responses from prospective adoptive parents' very mouths...the thought of getting a baby with even a HINT of African-American descent...or even the appearance of it...is totally unacceptable to them. You may be shocked to hear some of their responses. You may not.

I was just very, very sad. And sometimes angry.

As a Mom, this is difficult for me.
I want the Christian people of today to celebrate how far we've come concerning racism. We should all recognize and commemorate the dates like June 19th, (Jax's birthday...I've had some very weird comments about this) the day slavery was abolished...the day our country outlawed treating beloved children of God being treated like animals and owned, abused, killed, without a thought.
If that day was celebrating this kind of victory for white people, we would all celebrate.
But we don't. We ignore it.
Martin Luther King Day. What a brave and amazing man who changed history.
He was martyred for this reason. He was a Godly man.

I don't think many white folks show up for his parade.
Why??

If we truly see each other as humans, created by God, loved by Him with the exact same love, why is there still such a division in our minds?
Why is interracial dating and marriage still such a hot topic?

I know this is the rantings of a mother today. But I hope it will stimulate thought and conversation among even just a few people. Rusty and I have searched our hearts on this. The Holy Spirit had to clean us out before we could add Justus to our family, and I'm so glad!!! I want this ugliness out of us! And as we are about to welcome another brown baby to this home, it weighs heavily on my heart.
I hope it will on yours too.

Meet Treston...

The Bacak house is never boring. God always has something new for us.

Meet our something new...Treston.

New Life, our wonderful adoption agency, called us last Wednesday asking us to pray about this baby. They needed a new foster home for him, and quickly.We were not looking to foster, but these women don't do anything randomly. They pray, pray again, and then fast. And then they pray some more. They felt the Lord gave them our name to call about this baby. So I called Rusty, and we started praying. We prayed from Wednesday until Sunday, and I waited on my amazing husband to hear from the Lord. I cannot tell you how peaceful it is for a wife who knows her husband listens to the Lord.

On Sunday, the sermon was God's provision for us. It was about worry and Phil. 4:6-7. Our worry over whether or not we can do this...our fear about what will happen...all of it is sin. All we needed to ask the Lord was "Are we supposed to do this?" And his answer was Yes. Rusty let me know on the way home from church that we were definitely supposed to do this.

We are so excited!!! Look at this cute baby!!! I am totally impatient to have him here now. We have no idea what the future holds for him, and we can't answer many of your questions about his story, but we would appreciate your prayers for him. Nothing has been easy for him in his little life, and he is also sick right now, possibly with RSV. Thanks to so many of you who have instead of looking at me like I'm crazy when I have told you this, have responded with excitement and "how can I help?" You're amazing!

We love you, and can't wait to introduce you to Treston.

What is Love?

This is Lola and Rico.
My Emma and Jax can throw together a new look in the blink of an eye. And where they come up with the names Lola and Rico, I will never know. They are so entertaining!

Yesterday Emma and Jax were playing outside, and came in to settle a backyard dispute. This one was not about who could climb the tree higher, but about "what is love?" Emma had told Jax that spankings mean love. Jax said emphatically no! Love was hugs and kisses.
My little Bible scholar Emma was trying to quote a verse to him that I have shared with her several times. "If you refuse to discipline your children, it proves you don't love them. If you love your children, you will be prompt to discipline them." Proverbs 13:24 I have told them every time I spank them or discipline them that I do it because it is my God-given job, and because I love them SO MUCH! Jax's response to that one time, just before receiving a spanking was, "how 'bout you just don't love me!" Very clever, but then he realized he would have no one to make his food, drinks, teach him, wash his clothes, hug him, kiss him, or have fun with. In his mind, he was still weighing the options though. (ha!) I've also shared the verse with Emma that says "Don't fail to correct your children. They won't die if you spank them. Physical discipline may well save them from death." Proverbs 23:13 She said "Wow! Mom, I'm so glad you spank me." A six-year-old said I'm so glad you spank me!!!!! Can you imagine? She knows that letting her have free reign to sin does not equal love. Jax resists this idea, but his sister is teaching him. Just as the Word says, the Father disciplines us because of love. "My child, don't ignore it when the Lord disciplines you, and don't be discouraged when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children." Hebrews 12:5-6 It's funny, because I think our kids know this instictively from a very young age. Justus will blatantly defy my authority just to see what happens, and when he gets a spanking, he will always give us a kiss right after. It's amazing, but they truly do know they are loved when they are lovingly corrected and disciplined. I do NOT love my children by letting them become a Nellie Olsen (a "Little House" reference- I'm a big fan). I am loving myself more by not doing the hard work that it takes to mold my children into obedient, God-loving people. Parents who fear discipline will never like the result they get in the end. It is hard work, but it is true love.
So I settled the dispute. I said Love was both spankings AND hugs and kisses.