What a guy...

This is just a brag on my husband, Mark.  I had a wonderful February!  I turned a year older last week, and had the best day.  The weekend started by having our twin family (their kiddos are all the same ages as ours) over for dinner and they so thoughtfully brought a cake and candles!  Nothing better than having 6 kids 9 and under sing Happy Birthday to you.  Then in the morning Mark made pancakes with the kids, we went to see a really bad movie (Gnomeo and Juliet).  So bad that our 6 year old said toward the end, "I can't take one more minute of this!!".  But we did.  :)  Then had a great dinner out with some great friends.  What more could a girl want.  Oh, and he even got me beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day!  Totally unexpected - as we treat this as a Halmark holiday.  :)

What a guy!  Love him...

Flowers and my girl.  She was pretty excited, too!!

Turning 37!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope you all have a day filled with Love.  Make sure that you pass it on!  We love because He first loved us.  Love how little Max (our goldendoodle) snuck into this picture.  :)


And make sure you check out where our shirts came from.  She's an adoptive mama too!  Sew cute!  :)

No or Not this one

On Thursday we heard that the 2 were not to be ours.  It was hard to hear, even though we had been trying to be prepared for the possibility.  The good news is that as of Thursday they have a family.  We are glad the wait is nearing an end for them.

So what now?  We are still on the list for a referral.  Our agency has done away with numbers, so we only know the month that they are working on giving referrals.  As of Friday, there were several new referrals, and those families all submitted their paperwork in August.  We submitted in November.  So, it looks like we have several more months of waiting for a referral in front of us.  Will we look at other children from the Waiting Child Process?  Not right now.  It was a difficult process, and the no was painful.  I think we will choose the wait for now.

Today, we had our last adoption parenting class.  One more step off the list!

What I'm reading...

I've read a couple posts lately by others Knit Together and Domesticated Diva on what they are reading, and being the book addict I am, loved them!  So, I thought I would return the favor.  Those who know me know that I read a lot of books at one time, so here goes...

This is a great book, with a lot of description and what to do when.  I really like it, but it is deep and a little goes a long way.  I can only read a few pages at a time.

This book was suggested by our agency and is OK.  It is all adoption situations from the foster care system, and while it has good points, will be quite different from our experience, I'm sure.

Just starting this one.  It was recommended to me by a friend that is a white mother raising a black son.  Can't wait to get further into it.

This is the book we are reading our kids before bed this year.  Great stories, pictures, and great questions and application at the end of each story.

 Our small group is reading this now.  Love it!

 A good piece of fiction.  Sad and at times hard to read (just because of the truth).  Great for those who love Africa.

I couldn't leave this one off, even though I finished it months ago.  I think I may return for take 2.  I think it should be required reading for anyone adopting from Ethiopia.







There you have it!!  And I didn't even include them all.  :)

Abiding

How good is our God? The day after I'm so burdened by our wait, what does He choose for our pastor to lead and teach about but abiding. I think it's only appropriate to document it here. God is so faithful. If we are willing, He speaks to us out of His bounty right when we need it.

So, from John 15:1-17 our pastor led us this morning on what abiding is, what it looks like, and how to do it.

True joy only comes from abiding in Christ. Abiding means to stay somewhere and not go anywhere. It requires dependency. Christ is our life source and our identity changes.

How do you abide? Verse 7 says, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you...". That is abiding! It's so simple, but requires giving up control, which is so hard for me. Prayer and reading the word are how we abide in Christ. The results of abiding are God's glory, obedience, and joy.

The profile of a disciple then, 1. abides in the word (out of desire, not duty), 2. abides in prayer (prays the word), 3. is obedient to God's commands, 4. is joyful, 5. is loving, and 6. bears fruit.

God's timing is perfect. May this time of waiting strengthen us, change us, and help us learn how to abide in Christ more fully.

Waiting...

Tonight waiting is heavy on my heart. It's so hard. It doesn't get easier.

2 weeks ago Friday we entered the Waiting Child process. Yep, waiting... These children wait, we wait, and it hurts.

Our hearts have been changed. I guess waiting does that to you.

I feel like I'm in such limbo. Wanting to be excited about the possibility, but not wanting to want and not have. I told Mark earlier this week that I had decided I would be excited regardless. I am loving these children now, knowing that they may never be here in my home for me to put my arms around. Having gone through miscarriage, I think it's similar. I loved a baby I never held in my arms. So, tonight 2 little ones that may never be in my arms are heavy on my heart. God, put your arms around them, comfort them, let them know they are loved.

Please pray... in the next 3-4 weeks we will know if these 2 are ours. I know that are agency has these kids best interest in mind. But, oh how I hate the wait!

Why Not, Ethiopia?

This video was made by another adoptive family, and I thought it was too good to not share. It's all the statistics I still find shocking. It's our why...