flashback

To the 80's

The roller skating birthday party we went to this past Saturday night for sweet Eden took me right back to my elementary/junior high days. I LOVED roller skating with my friends {and I was pretty good too} - turns out my boys' first time to roller skate was a hit with them as well!

They both started off with these "helper bars" for the first 30 mins - 1 hour. Elijah brought his own skates that we just recently picked up at Goodwill for $5, and believe it or not they had teeny tiny skates there in Judah's size.

And boy, was he SO CUTE! After he decided he didn't "need" the bar anymore, Daddy walked beside him with his hand on his back.

Pretty soon Judah started pushing his hand away telling Jason he could do it himself and not to touch him. Well excuse me, you little fireball! :-) He held his own though and only fell a small handful of times. I was very impressed with him!

Elijah did well too. It took him a little longer to gain confidence without the bar {maybe because he needs a little more balance since he's not quite as close to the ground as his baby brother}.

But after a little help from Jason around the rink {with Micah on the other arm - Jason got quite the workout this evening}, he took off! And apparently I got no pictures of that since I'm such a great mother and all. :-) Must have forgotten. They both loved it so much that they want to have a skating party NEXT year, you know, since I already have THIS year's party planned. Maybe next year, boys...we'll just have to keep practicing until then.

On Sunday I captured ONE picture of our kite flying adventure.

That's probably because as I was taking this picture I was getting in the car to run home to get tape to fix Elijah's kite that had already broken after 5 minutes. Then when I got back and had it all taped up, his kite cut Judah's kite's string while they were both in the air, breaking it, {which left Judah in a puddle of tears} and then a big gust ripped Elijah's away and we never saw it again. Oh well, it was REALLY FUN for the 15 minutes it lasted. And it's a good thing Walmart has kites for $1. I'm thinking Easter is on Sunday...cha-ching.

being a servant

There is nothing more in the world I want for my boys than for them to have a servant's heart. To serve others all over the world just like Jesus did, proclaiming the Good News to everyone they meet. To listen to God and be obedient to His calling, wherever that may take them. The first Resurrection Egg we opened was the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet. God in the flesh washing sinful human feet. The best way to bring this story home with them was to have them wash each other's feet, and so they did. I think these pictures are beautiful...they enjoyed it and even WANTED to wash mine and Jason's feet too. But to me there is so much more to these pictures than what meet's the eye. To them they are getting their feet wet and playing with water...to me it is a representation of all of the prayers Jason and I have lifted up on their behalf. God, soften their hearts so that they will go out and tangibly do this for others in Your name. Help them to lead radical lives for You and be servants to Your children all around the world.

Give a little help to my friend!

Alright, think Joe Cocker's "A Little Help From My Friends" when reading this blog title. Seriously though, please help out my friend Heather!!! She is selling these adorable monogrammed beach towels to raise money to bring their little boy home from Ethiopia. Yes people, it's almost summertime so you know you're going to need these!

All you have to do is click HERE to check them out and order one or two or three!! We so appreciate all of the support you guys gave us during our fundraisers so all I'm asking is that you take your generous little selves over to Heather's blog and help her out too!

I have some precious pictures of the boys washing each other's feet to post soon. The Resurrection Eggs have been a huge hit. Have a great weekend!

totally copying

Resurrection Eggs. I'm sure most of you have already heard of these but I sure hadn't until a few days ago. I am totally copying this idea from another blog and I'm so excited about it! We will start them tonight and each day open an egg with the boys until Easter Sunday. It's the same kind of concept as the Jesse Tree, but instead it centers around the Resurrection. Again, another Bible-centered tradition we can do with our boys to take the focus off of bunnies, candy and baskets. Here are my eggs all numbered and ready to start opening!

And here is the schedule we are following. I'm sure there are different ones, and I've heard you can also buy Resurrection Eggs already stuffed at a Christian book store. I found that I already had most of these things around the house and put it all together in about 30 minutes (and maybe there a few that I'm going to get ready in the next week before it's time to open that egg :-). So go ahead and do this with your children - it starts tonight but you can totally pull it off and if not, no biggie if you skip a couple of days in the beginning. We will be reading out of the Children's Bible and I found the larger eggs work best for holding most items.

Day 1: Jesus washes the disciples feet (John 13:1-20)
Symbol: washcloth - We may actually have the boys wash each other's feet! :-)

Day 2: Passover (Luke 22:7-23)
Symbol: saltine cracker - Put a few in a baggie from the kitchen

Day 3: Triumphal Entry (Matthew 21:1-9)
Symbol: donkey - I had one in my nativity scene or think Little People toys! :-)

Day 4: Jesus Prays on Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39-46)
Symbol: praying hands - I printed a picture of this off the internet

Day 5: Jesus Arrested (Luke 22:47-54)
Symbol: flashlight (darkness) - Had a very tiny flashlight

Day 6: Peter's Denial (Matthew 26:69-75)
Symbol: rooster - Again, think Little People and maybe mine's a chicken...shhhh

Day 7: Judas Returns Silver (Matthew 27:3-9)
Symbol: 3 silver coins - In my purse

Day 8: Jesus before Pilate (John 18:28-32)
Symbol: crown for a king - Printed this off the internet too

Day 9: Jesus to be Crucified (John 19:1-16)
Symbol: crown of thorns - I found a thorny bush in the backyard, clipped a small piece and formed it into a circle

Day 10: Crucifixion (John 19:17-37)
Symbol: cross/nails - Taped two small sticks together to make the cross

Day 11: Jesus is Buried (John 19:38-42)
Symbol: rock - Duh, check the backyard

Day 12: Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10)
Symbol: empty egg


Have fun and Happy Eastering!!!

this isn't it

If you are checking my blog and see that there's a new post and are hoping/praying/thinking/wishing that it's with some news of a referral, let me just fill you in right now...THIS ISN'T IT. Believe me, everything within me wants this to be THAT post, but it's not. My husband wants this to be that post, our family, our friends, pretty much anyone that knows us wants this to be it...but IT ISN'T. I can bet that my husband wishes this were that post so that his CRAZY wife might turn back into a SANE one again!!! Things are a little tense around here...not necessarily in a bad way...but there is anticipation in the air so thick that you could cut it with a knife...we can all feel it and KNOW that something BIG is about to happen. Our world is about to be rocked, change is in the air and a little girl that we've only dreamed about is going to plant herself right in the middle of ALL of our hearts...and we are READY for it!!!! Keep checking back because this family is going to be growing very SOON!

So, now that everyone else has left (ha, ha), FAMILY, here are some pictures for you from our weekend:

I just wanted to capture here what a SWEET big brother Elijah is. He loves to read and Judah loves to listen, so here they are being adorable.

Elijah also had his first soccer game of the season on Saturday. His team, the Animals, did pretty well for their first game, and Elijah definitely seems to be catching on better than in seasons past. He says it's because he's almost 7! :-)

He was not too comfortable being the goalie, but he gave it his best!

After the game, we got some frozen yogurt at Frogberry's...YUM!

Bleck! Not my cup of {yogurt}!

Judah made a complete mess, of course.

And he had to get the nasty gummy frogs on top of his yogurt. Really?!?!

I was perfectly happy with my raspberry yogurt with fruit & granola topping, thank you very much.

weekend surprise

We just had the BEST weekend! The boys got to do so many fun things, starting with a surprise trip to Toy Story 3 on Ice!!! It was a surprise to me as well, since my friend Alisha didn't email until Thursday to say that her mom had 3 free tickets to the showing on Saturday morning...well yes, we'd love to go thank you very much!!! (And seriously Alisha and Cynthia, thank you SO MUCH! The boys had a blast!) We rode the train to Dallas to see the show. Yet another fun thing that they enjoyed almost as much as the show itself.

Riding on the train:


Getting ready for the show to start - SO excited! I wish I had captured their (especially Judah's) faces when the characters started to come out and Buzz Lightyear flew onto the skating rink, WOW! They were in awe and pure amazement I think!

Here are a few of the actual show. Buzz with the aliens:

Some of the main characters with Buzz:

Lotso the Bear - seriously, how these people ice skate in these costumes is beyond me. I would be flat on my face!

You've gotta make this picture bigger and check out Barbie (on the far left) and Ken (on the far right). They were hilarious and really do look plastic!

Woody and Jessie with Mickey Mouse at the end:

It was a great show, and here they are on the ride back on the train:

That night we met my dad at the park where he brought them new toys and we got ice cream from the ice cream truck. On Sunday (my mom's birthday - Happy Birthday Mom!), Nana and Grangoat came and went to church with us and then we had a fun lunch with them and some sweet friends, the Burchfield's and Tucker's. We were wiped out when we got home yesterday afternoon. Most of the time I love not having anywhere to be on the weekends, but every once and a while it's fun to fill it with memories like this!

And nothing new to report on the adoption front, except that I jump every time the phone rings! Okay not literally, but my heart jumps every. single. time. I know our time is coming...we can't wait to share that story with all of you when the day comes that we {FINALLY} find out about our daughter. AAAAHHHHH!!!

it's no joke

Even though today is April Fool's Day, I'm not joking when I say that we've been on the wait list for 9 months today. Nine months. That's an entire pregnancy. Wow. That doesn't count the 7 months we spent getting all of the paperwork in order to get ON the wait list. So if you can remember how anxious and impatient you were at the end of a pregnancy, that is how we are feeling....times 100!!!!! I told Jason last night...Wouldn't it be funny if we got our referral on April Fool's Day and no one believed us? I don't think even I would believe it!!! And even though today would be an odd day to get a referral, I am praying that we do! April has been on my radar for a referral for several months now...I just feel that it's gonna be this month!

I am so thankful for my two wonderful boys that keep us busy enough so I don't spend the ENTIRE day obsessing over when we'll get THE CALL. They are the best and I love them so! Elijah just got his first badge in Cub Scouts and we were all VERY proud!


They are going to be the best big brothers to their sister! We can't wait until there's one more sweet face in this picture holding HER popsicle!!!

all things ethiopia

So when you pour yourself into something, it's starts to become a part of you. This is true of Ethiopia. The further we get into the process and the more we learn about it, the more we love it. I KNOW that once we get our referral and then return from our first trip and second trip and bring that sweet baby home that our love will grow more and more with each step. Last week was a great week full of ALL THINGS ETHIOPIA.

I will start with yesterday though. I know you guys are tired of me saying that I cannot go into details on here, but I can't. All I can tell you is that the news we received yesterday from our agency left us jumping up and down and shouting for joy! I raised my hands in the air and thanked God for {quickly} answered prayers. He is so good and this is all His doing. No, we have not received a referral yet but all barriers that were keeping us from getting a referral have been knocked down with God's mighty hand. I feel like we are back in the game again! Almost all of that stress I talked about in my last post is GONE! God removed almost every single thing in the past week alone...He is so gracious and so loving toward me, and He truly does care about our situation.

We also had Ethiopian food on Saturday night with our friends Bill and Chrissy, to celebrate her birthday. And yes, it was for her birthday, I did not suggest we eat this, it was all her idea! We of course were all over it! We have had it once before but I did not get pictures...this time I remembered my camera. Ethiopian food is served on top of a spongy, pancake-like bread called injera. This is what the kids ate:

Clare, Elijah and Josiah enjoying their Ethiopian meal.

Elijah enjoying his injera - yum! This is my laid-back, try anything, travel anywhere, not picky kid and I love him for it! I think he loved everything he tried this night.

This is what Jason and I shared. That is an egg in the middle. We got a sample platter with beef, chicken and lamb I think. It was really good!!! You use the injera to pick up your food - no utensils here!

Judah on the other hand would not touch anything (my boys are SO different), so he ate applesauce, cereal bar and yogurt that I had brought just in case. Or because I knew that he would turn his nose up at the whole thing!

We had a great time. The lady that served us was from Ethiopia and she was so kind. I have heard that they are very kind people. She gave us extra vegetables for free and when we first walked in, she scooped Judah up in a high chair and pulled him over next to us without me even asking. Very sweet and thoughtful.

Last but not least (Heather, I stole this picture from your blog :-), this picture is from last Weds night when we had our Lifesong Orphan Ministry meeting. These sweet ladies are so special to me because they totally get where I am right now and what I'm feeling. That's because they are both adopting from Ethiopia as well. Heather has been waiting 5 1/2 months for a toddler boy and Julia is just about to go on the wait list. I'm so glad to have them and to be serving on this ministry with them.

When you step out in faith to do what God has commanded and called you to do, He will bless you along the way. These ladies are proof of that. Just what you need when you need it, that's what He will do for you. Have a blessed week!

making an effort

To be thankful.

To be honest, I am completely stressed out a lot of the time. I've probably been a pretty lousy person to be around lately. Besides the adoption, other things are weighing on my heart, and it's all starting to take a toll on me physically. My blood work showed everything is perfectly normal; stress is just manifesting itself on my body I guess. I like to be in control, and things are just not working out the way I want them to right now (picture me with crossed arms and a frustrated look on my face). Releasing complete control to God is really hard to do. Even when I feel that I am walking in His will for my life right now, I still want things to happen MY way. Yeah, that's not how it works and sometimes that is a really hard lesson to learn. Maybe I'll be a more relaxed person in general after this is all over, because more than one thing this past year has taught me who to put my trust in. A quote from my devotional book from today:

"This is a time in your life when you must learn to let go: of loved ones, of possessions, of control. In order to let go of something that is precious to you, you need to rest in My presence, where you are complete...As you relax more and more, your grasping hand gradually opens up, releasing your prized possessions into My care. You can feel secure, even in the midst of cataclysmic changes, through awareness of My continual presence."

Amen. From your lips straight to my heart God. THIS is how I want to live. He loves my daughter so much more than I do and He has her in his loving care. I have a feeling that these experiences right now are preparing me to let go of more things, bigger things, in the future.

Anyways, I got off track. The point of this post was to be thankful. Here are two things that I am very thankful for right now.

1. One of the two major hurdles separating us from our daughter right now has been removed. Praise God for that quickly answered prayer. Please be in prayer that the last hurdle will be removed soon!

2. The new Lifesong Orphan Ministry at our church. We are so thrilled to be among the "founding fathers" for this new ministry. There are several wonderful people who were instrumental in getting the ball rolling. It will make it's debut on Servant Sunday in April to be among the ministries the church is collecting money for this spring. It will serve a few different purposes: partnering with Lifesong to help provide funds for members in our church who are adopting, providing money to orphans associated with our existing missionaries, raising awareness for orphan care/adoption in various ways like participating in Orphan Sunday this fall. Our first meeting was last night and we are PUMPED about it! Jason and I have been praying and thinking about this possibility since last summer - what a huge answer to prayer! It is not super easy to get a new ministry approved and started at our large church but God is a defender of the orphan and He showed up in a big way here! For more information on Lifesong and if you are interested in getting this started at your church, click on the button on the right side of my blog.

One last thing. Jason and I are not superheroes nor do I believe that anyone thinks we are. BUT what we do hear a lot is "this is such a wonderful thing that you are doing adopting this baby". We so appreciate the support, we just want to make sure everyone knows that we want God to get the glory for this, definitely not us. We aren't extra great Christians for being obedient to the Bible and trying our best to really follow Jesus. Not just listen to what He says, but truly FOLLOW him. That is just an average Christian thing to do in my opinion, and in fact Jason and I are pretty pathetic humans a lot of the time. We are blessed to be on this journey. It's true, God does bless you when you follow Him. It's not always easy. In fact you should expect it to be hard. And the blessings aren't always easy to see, but they are there. They just maybe aren't what WE'RE looking for...God has so much more for us than what we're looking for. I just pray that my eyes are open so I won't miss a single one along the way.

green fun

Here is our St. Patrick's Day fun that we cooked up that evening:
GREEN DRINKS!

Mmmmm, look at my green orange juice!
Looks nasty, right? :-)

Judah also made me a dirt birthday cake, complete with candles.

Ta-da!

This is the cutest dirty face I've seen in a while!

----------------------------------------------

We also, after Elijah got back from camp,
went to the Botanic Gardens with some friends

Well, that cleans off my camera for now!

while we wait

Wait

by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."


"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.


"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.


"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."


Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"


He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.


"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.


"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.


"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.


"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.


"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.


"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you."