Adoption Fundraiser

Please visit my etsy shop (lower right side of your screen) if you are interested in my adoption fundraiser.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Please Pray for Ronel

I have mentioned a few times that I have not slept well this week. Part of it was because my girl has been sick. One night she peed on the floor AGAIN. Yes, again. Let's not talk about it. Those are the reasons I have had interrupted sleep. But I don't have a reason why I lay there with my eyes wide open and my brain swirling and twirling. Last night I was fed up. I looked through my tub of medicine for some tylenol pm. I was sore from who knows what and I needed to sleep. Problem solved. I found some of the Tylenol warming liquid. I have used it once before and oh my word. IT WORKS! As I lay in my bed last night my body was affected by the medicine, but my mind was still working. I knew it wouldn't be long before that went too, but for the moment I was stuck in that position with one thing on my mind.
Ronel.
I don't know this family, but the day I clicked on that link that took me to their blog was the day that broke my heart. His pictures. This Haitian boy is beautiful. His smile. I prayed for him last night, with a half asleep brain. But God heard my heart. I told myself that I would write something on here in hopes that more people will lift him up in prayer. I don't get much traffic on here, but I know that doing this is being obedient to my God.
Please pray for Ronel. Pray for his family. Pray for his paperwork. Pray for his safety. And please, if you have the time, visit this blog and see his smile for yourself. You won't soon forget it.

18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
John 14:18 (New International Version)

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful. I have not been sleeping well this week. That leaves me grumpy. I am needing to be thankful today. So here we go.



I'm thankful I have this memory of almost 10 years ago. My, my, we look young! We were 20 and 32. Its amazing what ten stressful years will do to you.


I am so thankful for my ipod. I have praise music at a push of a button anywhere I am. A wonderful anniversary gift from my husband a few years ago.

This picture is so cute. My daughter drew this the other day. Its her and her little sister. Except she doesn't have a little sister. Hmmm. And see that kid up in the right hand corner? She says its her swimming in a pool. But I know better. I had a miscarriage back in 2002. I know that's my baby.

Without coffee my day would not be the same. I am very thankful for coffee!!!!

I am thankful that my girl is growing up. She lost her first tooth!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Nothing New Under the Sun

I wish I could say that we had the most exciting weekend ever! Quite the opposite. It was very boring. But I like boring. We had some rough storms run through the area and a the excitment of a slight fever but thats about it.
The fever came Saturday night. That almost always means that Sunday will be the olympic sport of husband and I taking turns fulfilling our duties. We live on the church propery, you see. About 25 steps to the door of the church to be exact. I think we tag teamed about 5 times yesterday.
So, back to Saturday night. The girl has recently been earning an allowance for doing certain chores around the house. One of these is folding laundry. Can I just say that I'm LOVING this? Anyway, 3 loads of laundry, multiple drinks of water, 3 bathroom breaks, 10 announcements that she was tired and wanted to go to bed (5:30pm), 2 declarations that she didn't feel good (would you believe her? I didn't), and 2 hours later she was done with the folding of the laundry. We took a quick bath and I knew. I love being a mom because you always just know. Just one feel of heat on her body and all those goosebumps in the bath and I knew. The thermometer registered 100.6. Doable with a little tylenol. I decided to make it fun and have a campout in the living room. Ok, I actually did this so I could be close to her. The past has told me that fever spikes in the middle of the night equals vomit in the bed.
Yesterday, like I said, we tag teamed at church. After an extra long nap we went through Starbucks and headed to the park. The girl was feeling slightly better and we decided to go feed the ducks. We determined that the ducks must have been ever further south from our small cold snap a few weeks back. We fed the fish instead. This is much to the dismay of a man fly fishing at the other end of the lake. Seriously, we got quite a few big fish eating the bread that after 5 minutes of the us being there he gave up. Sorry dude, its a park. Kids like to feed the fish.
I realize this post might be bringing you to tears from the boredom.
If you are looking for something really worthwhile to read, try googling "adopting from haiti." I think you will find a few bloggers whose family was finally complete this weekend. If you didn't catch any of the footage on the news, go to the ABC network and catchup on the stories. Beautiful.
He puts the lonley in families.
Love it.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

You Capture

Photobucket

This week's theme:
Love around your home. These are just some of my favorite pieces from around the house.




Thankful Thursday

edited:
While I'm very thankful that my dad sends me photos of the beautiful Grand Canyon, I decided to pull them off the blog. I'd rather he make the money, than someone rob him the opportunity. Trust me, they are breathtaking.

I really have meant to post again this week. I have a really sweet one. but for now this Thankful Thursday post is very appropriate.

I am thankful for this girl. She warms my heart to no end.


Thankful for my dad



Today I'm thankful for my camera. Look! It's fall!
(Yes, I took this today, January 21, 2010. And yes, its warm today. [with a chance of tornado...don't be too jealous!])



And I'm thankful for a little girl who lives in China. She is never far from my thoughts. One that I will probably never meet, but has changed my heart nonetheless. A little girl who has taught my daughter to pray for a little orphan girl to find a forever family. Thank you Mu.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Memorial Box Monday



Ok, I just had to check and make sure it was actually Monday. When you don't work I think you lose all sense of time!! (Work...I know, keeping a house and a husband happy. Homeschooling in the midst of it. Yes, fun stuff, but work nonetheless!)

My first Memorial Box Monday post. Linn, over at A place Called Simplicity started this. You tell about what cool thing God has done for you. Or about His incredible faithfulness. You find something that represents this story and display it in your house. Ideally you would use a memorial box, but I don't have one yet.

Today's post has a lot to do with sponsoring Mu. I wonder if I made myself clear when I talked about how cool it was that we are doing this. I don't want to say that my husband is a scrooge. He has a big heart. But it is his tendency to save. He is 41 and isn't even really "settled" yet. We are working on this in building our house. But he just wants to get this done. Money is to be saved.

So in doing this, I believe it is an act of obedience. And since Friday night I have had more peace than I have had in a long time. I believe it comes from being obedient. I also have had an excitement about what God is going to do from here. I don't have a clue what His plans are. And He reminded me last night that His ways are not my ways, not are my thoughts His thoughts. But I do know that He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widows. And if we are willing to be used, then He will use us.

This isn't a traditional Memorial Box Monday post from what I've seen. But this story tells of God's faithfulness in our lives. This is the start of something beautiful.
My husband would probably think I was nuts for going on and on about this. I just don't think he knows the magnitude of this in our lives yet. Because our God is big. And His plans are big. And we get to be included in them. And that is exciting.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

The Orphan

updated:
I got permission to link to a blog that I love:
A Place Called Simplicity
This is Linn and she is incredible. She has introduced me to the orphan through her blog. God has used her to speak to me in so many areas of my life. But caring for the orphan is just the beginning. She has adopted multiple children and has 10 children total. Her heart is so beautiful that I know you will feel the same way. Please check out her blog.


God's Word is extremely clear in the way He feels about the orphan. He is for the orphan. Just look at what is says here in James:

James 1:27 (New International Version)
27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I owe a lot of my knowledge about the orphan to a fellow blogger. She is an advocate for orphans and her life is overflowing in blessing because of it. And it is because God led me to her blog exactly one year ago this week that my heart is breaking for the orphans of the world.

I have been praying for awhile now that God would break my heart for the things that break His. A great prayer by the way, if you are looking for something specific to pray. The Bible says that a lot is expected from those who have a lot. We don't have a lot by any means, but we are more than blessed. I have been reading about all of the great work that Compassion is doing. What a great group of people. In my heart, I've wanted to do something, but I just wasn't sure what God had in mind. I specifically wanted to do something for the orphan. But as far as I know Compassion works with children who already have families. Not that these children don't deserve the help. These children live in poverty. Way below poverty. They need your help. Help them. Its just that in my heart the orphan was calling my name. I knew that sponsoring would not be a viable option right now. We are trying to build a house. A modest house, but we are trying to do this with cash. And that takes saving a LOT of cash. (I'll post about this another time.) So, when you are trying to build a home with cash, you don't really want anything else going out the door. You tend to hold onto every cent. Not a great philosophy, but a very common one I think.
So, I knew my husband would not be game. I've brought it up in conversation a few times, but never pushed the issue. (Again, I wanted to do some kind of sponsorship, but wasn't sure how to do this for the orphan.) My husband is all about saving money and was not into it. I kept waiting. Not intentionally, but just set it aside in my head and prayed about it now and then.
Fast forward to last Friday night. We attended the Winter Jam. Many wonderful artist and we had a great time!!! It was then we were introduced to Holt International. It was an answer to my prayers. They work specifically with the orphan. You can sponsor an orphan while they are waiting to be adopted. It takes quite a bit of money to run an orphanage and take decent care of the children. So you send $30 a month. And get this, they estimate it will take 6-18 months to place the children in homes. So, you pay until they are adopted. Then you can decide to sponsor another child or stop right there.
During the intermission my husband looked at me and said if I wanted to sponsor a child, we can do it. I about fell out of my seat. God had been working on his heart this whole time. And let me just say that this has been a rough year for our family. For us to sponsor this child is a true miracle. Through this small act, God is giving me a glimpse of the hope that is in our future.
So, my girl is 5 and I was looking for one close to her age. And I knew for sure that I wanted her to be Chinese. We chose Mu. She is a sweet, beautiful newly turned 8 year old. I don't have a lot of info on her yet. I can't wait to get it. My heart is overflowing for this girl. God is so good.
There has also been talk about some more permanant decisions regarding the orphan. I can't wrap my brain around it, but folks, believe me when I tell you that this is a miracle.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Sewing

I'm not sure if this sewing thing is good or bad. I start out with beautiful, inspiring material and a great idea. Halfway through Im ready to dump the heap in the trash. I get so frustrated because my stitches aren't perfect. I know practice makes perfect. But I'm not patient. About the time things get hard, I bail. I don't want to spend time practicing, I just want it to be right the first time. But I'll give up and put the machine away for a few months, or years. Then the bug comes back. I don't know where it comes from, but I pull my machine out try again. This time, I want to stick with it. I keep the machine on the kitchen table to remind me to get to work. Try again. Keep practicing.
And I will. I want to create and sell. I want to bring in something for my family. The Proverbs 31 woman did the same thing.
I know all of this can be applied to my Spiritual walk with the Lord. I need to think on this, I think.
Does anyone else have this problem? Any words of encouragement?

Friday, January 8, 2010

You Capture...my first

Photobucket

*Updated* I actually edited my photos. Much better.

I'm very excited about this. My photos are SO NOT professional, but I love taking pictures. Especially of my daughter. These are the best of 2009. Enjoy!







Perspective

Last night the girl got out of her bed and went into the kitchen. This is unusual. She usually stays in her bed until morning unless she gets up to potty. Well, apparently she got up to go potty. Just not in her bathroom. I heard her talking and immediately got up to see what she was up to. She babbled incoherently for a few minutes. I turned to my husband behind me and said I can't figure out if she's babbling or if I'm still asleep. I sent her back to bed. My mistake.
When I followed her to her room I could feel the dampness in the carpet all the way across the house. Her jammies were soaked and upon further investigation she had left a rather huge puddle on the kitchen floor. Now, I can deal with that. Tile is easy clean up. But she took her urine soaked socks and walked across the living room and into her bed. My carpet needs to be cleaned today. Not fun.
This morning, I read this story.
I have forgotten about the germs on my carpet (oh, the germs!). Instead this morning I am sitting next to my sweet girl watching tv. Smelling her hair. Admiring her eyelashes. Memorizing one more time her beautiful face. Rejoicing in her 2 loose teeth. Engaging her 5 year old conversation instead of just shrugging off her questions. Today I will be intentional. I will not waste this day. If for some reason I become this mom at the end of my day, I want to know that I took full advantage of it. I want to wipe my tears and offer thanks for the time I had with her.