Passions

I am facilitating Sunday school class study on Max Lucado's 'Out Live Your Life'.

I will admit to feeling perhaps a bit lost in facilitating this study. It's about finding ways to make a difference in the world. How can we do something for God...be it big or small... but just do something that leaves a God sized mark on the world.

There are incredible videos involved and really great study questions.

I think part of the issue I have is that I get frustrated with the blank stares that I get from the class when I ask them what they are passionate about.

The last 2 videos included information about people that have worked to try to make a difference in Haiti since the earthquake. After the video today which featured a young couple who had moved there literally a week before the earthquake and now felt that they are exactly where they need to be... I turned to the class and said "Ok who wants to go to Haiti now?!" .. I got some blank stares and nervous chuckles.

How come?

Is it because the class isn't moved by what they are seeing? No, it's a great group of loving God loving people.

I moved along with the questions and as we discussed a few things we kind of began seeing where some people could perhaps make their mark. There were guys who felt like they could maybe do yard work for the people in our church that cannot get out of their houses. We have a teacher that loves teaching and sharing that gift with others.

The question that was placed on the table though was this one "There is SO much need. How do I know where to start?"

Good question.

I think that's where we all get tripped up huh? I know I do. If I get involved in one thing, then will it lead to more? Will I be called to live outside of what is my comfort zone? Will I be called to a place like Haiti or Ethiopia or Uganda or back woods North Carolina or Inner City Philadelphia? Will God ask me to actually speak to the homeless or give up something that I feel like I need?

Valid questions I think.

I have shared before that as a baby Christian I was a bit freaked out at the idea that God might call me to be a missionary in Africa. It was the farthest, scariest place I could think of... I mean I grew up to the images of the millions dying of starvation in the 80's... I cried every time I heard "We Are The World" ... Man did I pray that God wouldn't send me there.

Now... Oh how I pray that God would send me there. :)

So what is the thing that makes us uncomfortable enough in our comfortableness to want to do something about it? (did you follow that?) :)

What makes us mad enough to want to change it... or sad enough...or SO FULL of love for something that we can no longer sit on our happy place but have to go DO something?

I don't know the answer for you... and I am mostly speaking to the choir for those that read this blog. :)

But maybe you can help me come up with some ideas...some thoughts that I might share with the class?

What I think changed it for me was asking God to break my heart for what breaks His... to show me where He was working and placing me there. The place that would move me to action. I cannot look at the people in Ethiopia and not see His love. I cannot look at the my children and not see His glory. I cannot think of the people in the Leper Colony as anything other than the people that Jesus wanted to hang out with... so I wanna hang out with them too. These are the people that Christ sought out. They ARE Christ if you wanna get down to it... we may believe that we are being Christ by sharing ourselves... but in reality those that we serve...are Him. He said whatever you do to the least of these you do to me.

It's not something that I can ignore...I don't want to any more. :) I want to hurt for them, I want to love them, I want to live with them, I want to share their joys and pains.

But... how do you get others to feel your passion? Or better yet...feel God's passion? Not out of guilt, but out of an overflowing of His love for us. His boundless love for us... So much love that you can't just sit... you have to do... no matter whether it's feeding people in a soup kitchen, loving a window or single mom, adopting a child, fostering teens, going on a mission team, moving to another country, sharing your sandwich with the guy on the corner with the homeless sign...

What are you passionate about?

What a Week!

It's been a crazy week...I posted on my FB page that I was excited that I felt like I was getting a handle on things and then whammy we were hit with sick kiddos...lol

See what happens when you say those things out loud? I think I will stop doing that.

Both little boys have strep and E man has a viral lung infection. My big Z has the flu and S has a sinus infection. I swear I have been spraying the house down with Lysol every other hour....lol

Eman has a nebulizer now because his cough and lungs were so bad. I was afraid we would be sending him to the ER on Wednesday night. But thank you God we avoided that and the Dr's office the next morning was able to get things under control. Thank goodness for an amazing husband who was able to stay home and take him in to see them. We have been tag teaming it this week.

I kind of had a giggle when we were sitting with E watching him breathe through his new appendage...not because he was on the machine...but because I could totally see Satan working on us. We mailed our application in to get our HS done and then we are struck with a week's worth of no sleep and Dr appts and new medications and work stress.

He wants us to doubt this process. How can we add more children to this? How would we handle one or 2 more? Are we crazy?

YEP! Call me crazy if you want to ... I am not scared. This is temporary. This isn't the norm.

We have handled worse and have gotten through, stronger and more prepared for the next round.

This morning we received an email that confirmed in an extraordinary way that HE is in control... HE is providing for this adoption... HE is in charge. OH Man is HE in charge!!! Thank you LORD for your many blessings. Thank you LORD for your provision. Thank you LORD that you are in charge and with you there isn't anything we cannot do!

He is providing such beauty from ashes!

Thank you for praying with us! It's workin! :)

Mailed It!

So...after some issues with Pay Pal, and some set backs with timing it's another Tuesday and the application to get our Home Study completed is down and away!! It's my dad's birthday too!! (lol should I ruin it and tell him I mailed it? TOTALLY KIDDING!!!!!)

Gone, out of my hands and in theirs and God's! YIPPEE!!!!

We don't know what we will do about moving forward once it's done, because of the deadline for renewal we have been working quickly. But since we are still planning the mission trip in June we are praying for His timing.

Everything in my wants to jump in with both feet...perhaps we will be able to work our meeting trip into our mission trip? Or maybe even our pick up trip? Or maybe we will wait and see if God has our children planned to meet us while in ET and then move forward?

I just don't know. I have been learning to just follow each step. He's just been giving us light for the step that we are on, and has been trying to tell me that I need to just trust Him with the details.

Yet another exercise in faith and trust. ooohhhh I cannot wait to hold my babies in my arms though! I want to know who they are... I want to know what their names are... to start praying for them specifically.

Last night I was awake from 2 am until 4 am... partly because I had a sick E man... but partly because I think God had someone He wanted me to pray for...so I took that time to pray for any body and every body I could think of... so if I know you... you can rest assured that you were prayed over last night. :) I, of course, prayed for our kids...all of them.

Thank you for being on this journey with us...thank you for praying with us... thank you for supporting us and loving us. This is gonna be a long ride... time to sit back, put your tray tables up, bags under the seat in front of you and get ready for a journey. :) Let's go!

It Is Right

Yesterday I was standing in my kitchen talking to D when E-man came to ask a question.

There was this moment as if time had stopped and I realized we are a family. Not some weird revelation... but this moment of everything being...right.

It wasn't anything E said, or anything profound...I just had a moment of clarity that spoke to my heart.

Sometimes life gets ridiculously crazy and there are moments where I can hardly think straight because there is so much in my head. I am almost to the point that I cannot even read a plain old book because I am afraid all of the other stuff in my head will fall out if I put more in it...lol but I digress.

In the busy-ness of life...I was able to see our life as a family as being the right thing. :) I never thought it was wrong...but in parenthood and sometimes adoption parenthood there are moments when you wonder why God trusts you with so much. Ya know what I mean?

But we have been blessed. Blessed beyond belief!

I often tell my Big's that. That they blessed us so much that we just had to adopt because we wanted more of that blessing. Now I can tell my Little's the same thing... they have blessed us so much that we want more of it. I guess it's selfish really. Wanting more of the blessing... I mean we can't afford to take our kids to Disney, or to send our S to Germany to visit her friend this Spring or to get new cars or go shopping on a whim. We are pretty poor monetarily... but so very rich in all the blessings we have been given.

Life is right... I am SO looking forward to what God has planned for us! I will admit to being a bit scared... I mean I know there are obstacles... and issues coming our way... but I know HE's got a plan. And I know HE will get us through.

It's is well with my soul....

How COOL is God?!

Wow! Can I just say how very COOL God is?!

He is so into the details that I do not know why it is that I am so surprised when He comes up with some of this stuff!

It’s a good thing you are sitting down this could take a minute, but I will work on the Reader’s Digest version. Since the call from the agency that stated that China may like us I have been in an interesting state. I posted here that I didn’t want it to turn out to be what I now call the ‘twin’ incident. I didn’t want it to be about what I wanted but what was God’s plan. My conundrum was that I had thought that it WAS His plan. I had been praying about it, loving on those beautiful little faces and feeling like our next child was there.

Then we got the information that we weren’t going to be accepted. Two different agencies told us no. I don’t know if it was because they didn’t want to deal with it or what, but they just said nope.

A little plug here, WACAP is the agency that took the time to brainstorm and work through all the options and then call us back and tell us that we were good to go, and they were confident that we could go get a child from China.

Anyway, I posted here, that I had found a peace from God about Ethiopia and going back there. I think it’s why when we got the call from WACAP that I was thrown for such a loop. I had closed the part of my heart that wanted to adopt from China and embraced Ethiopia with my whole heart again. I didn’t know what I was supposed to feel…being given China back was as if I were being given a gift I didn’t deserve…

I had just been praying that day about the direction we were going, and why we weren’t moving forward.

Then the Raffle took hold.

I had no idea how it was going to work or even if it was…but I thought that I had to do something. I had to step out and put it all out there and see what He said. Then the donations came in! Then I cried like every time I got a new email that we had gotten a new donation… seriously I could not comprehend the generosity of the people donating money. I mean it’s not like I was offering an iPad or anything…but donate you did and my heart swelled each time. Then you FB’d it and blogged about it and I cried even more. (I know dramatic… but apparently I am becoming more so)

Saturday was supposed to be the cut off, but then I got some requests to extend it. I prayed about it, and decided that those of you that donated wouldn’t be too upset and since we hadn’t met out goal that it wouldn’t hurt. Then Tuesday came to mind. I had no idea why Tuesday was of significance but that was the day I knew I was supposed to end it.

Sunday God shared the Mustard Seed story with me…

Tuesday is the day that Just Love Them came to my blog (from someone else’s post), read my post about the Moving Mountains… and God told them to help move that mountain!

In the busy-ness of the week I wasn’t able to do my drawing until Thursday night. I was really feeling like I needed to get the drawing done last night…God was really nudging me.

I got an email today from one of the winners that God had used the raffle to answer a prayer for her …that needed an answer today because of a deadline!

During all of this S and D were on a youth renewal retreat over the weekend. While they were gone they both were praying.

S came home and said to me that she didn’t feel like we were supposed to go to China…that she had seen a video with pictures that led her to think that her sister is in Ethiopia…so I went to D and asked him. I thought we had decided that because China had said yes that that was where we were going to go, but he said no…Ethiopia is the place. How do I argue with that?

I don’t. It’s clearly God.

He set all these things in motion to move us into action…to move others into action… to get us to see His plan…while answering other’s prayers.

So not to confuse you, but while I am still in love with those beautiful Chinese babies I am not to mother one… right now ;)

I called our HS agency and told her and she’s very excited…it helps with the renewing of the HS…not as much to have to change up.

SO… GOD is SO COOL! SO COOL! Thanks for hanging in this long!

Raffle Winners

Gosh who knew how hard a raffle would be?! I mean I want everyone to win... and I guess in a way we all win because the end result is a child/children coming to a new home. :) But you know what I mean...lol

I prayed over the names before we drew them, and then S did the honors.

So here it goes:

Item #1 the T-Shirt goes to: Adeye

Item # 2 the Coffee with a friend: Tiffany

Item # 3 The Coffee maker is: Tammy

Item # 4 the Sheet set is: Audrey

CONGRATS!!!!

I can't thank you ALL enough for supporting us and making this first step happen. YIPPEE Home Study here we come!

I will be emailing you all to get your mailing address. :)

I Haven't' Forgotten!

I will be revealing the winners soon... trying to figure out how many entries to give our big benefactor! :)

I am going to do the drawing tonight. Oh! And I got the sheets in for item # 4... NICE! They are a queen set in white. Pretty!

I have other news as well... but will wait for a longer post just didn't want you to think I would not be telling you who won what yet. :)

Thank you thank you thank you again!!! God is SO great!

Did You Feel That Mountain Move??!!

Wahoo!!

YIPPE!!

YEEHAW!

HECK YES!

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

If you could have seen me dancing and shaking and whooping and hollering ... you would have thought I was completely crazy!

We did it ya'll! We... ALL of us! God showed up and showed off!!!

I am not sure what I will ever do if I ever win the lottery...perhaps that's why we don't win, I might just have a stroke or heart failure cause I was SOME kind of excited to see that email come into my box saying we had reached our goal! Surpassed it!!!

He used people I know and love to lift me and show me grace and then He used to someone I don't even know to send that mountain moving... God used each and every one of you to shove that mountain right on out of the way! YAY Team!! :) Now you have to go check out Just Love Them and see what they are doing! :)

Thank you for posting! Thank you for contributing! Thank you for praying! Thank you for being the body of Christ!

Ok, now I just have to get all the entries together to tell you who the winners are! :) I will get that out to you soon, I promise! :)

Raffle and Chip In...STILL ON!

So, it looks like Chip-In decided to end the raffle a day early... ugh!!!

If you still wanted to contribute to the RAFFLE, you still can!!

If you did, the info has been saved and THANK YOU!!! I have updated the Chip-In to go one more day because of the issue.
I pray it's going to stay up as it's supposed to! WE are at just about 300.00 needed!

Thank you ALL again!!

Move Mountain Move!!!

Yesterday I told my friend Cindy that I had the faith of a mustard seed.....

61% of our funds were raised as of yesterday... I was torn between the enormous blessing that came to us through friends and people we don't even know... and thinking about the mountain that still stands before us financially.

This morning God sent a story teller to our church to share her story. You guessed it ...it was about a mustard seed. And how her faith moved a mountain... moved the Alps to be exact.

She was a little girl, she was visiting a church in the mountains of VA. The pastor preached on the faith of a mustard seed moving mountains. She believed him. She went home and literally tried to move a mountain. It didn't work in the physical. But later that night, at a church dinner the pastor spoke about a need in the church. People offered ideas to raise money. This little girl raised her hand and she asked why didn't they pray that their faith would be like that mustard seed and move the mountain. The pastor brushed her off but a woman in the congregation who was visiting and had more money than God heard her... heard God and provided every penny they needed...

Her name was Mrs Alps.

I will confess to beginning this raffle with the faith of a mustard seed...yet smaller... I believe God CAN do anything. I believe He CAN provide what we need. I was afraid that if this wasn't 'successful' that I was wrong.

This morning what I found was that my faith was smaller than the mustard seed.... today it's bigger!

I believe that He wants us to adopt again. I believe that He has a child ready for us. I believe that He also wants us to go back to Ethiopia for this mission trip. I now in the natural that we have no money... I know in the Supernatural that HE will make it happen.

We did extend the raffle until Tuesday because I believe that He will provide what we need to make this happen. I believe that He will provide the reader to come to this blog to read our story, to feel as though they need to give...even if it's 25 readers at 5.00 per shot... I believe we have already been BLESSED BEYOND measure by those that have participated by posting, giving and praying...THAT is PRICELESS!

So today I ask you to pray with me that this mountain move... place your hands on it... call out to it... tell it to MOVE. :)

All glory to God!

Raffle Extension!!

I have had a couple of people email and ask if I could extend the raffle for a couple of days.

I hope those of you that contributed don't mind, but I have decided to do so. :) I still have everyone's entries, including the ones that were blogged and FB'd about. :) I also hope you understand that the end result is a HS and a child home :) The Chip-In doesn't let you just extend so I had to build a new one, but I have changed the amount to reflect what we still need.

I have had one other question that I thought I would address. Why am I not posting this on FB myself? Cause we still haven't informed the parents...LOL (Nope they don't read the blog, and most of my blog friends are not friends with my dad and brother... who are on there...lol I know it's all a bit confusing)

I know weird I am 40 yrs old and still trying to avoid the conflict. My prayer is that we can get this started, welcome our referral and have a beautiful precious face to share that will spur their love, not opposition.:)

Also we are still working on the mission trip in June with our locals... I know seems crazy but we serve a HUGE God! And this is what He's called us to do. We can't say no. Can you? :)

Here is the link to the last day raffle info.... It has all the items we are raffling. There is still time to post it to your blogs and such...we are still believing God for provision!!

So Tuesday the 18th is the day!! :)

Pray with us?!

Last Day of the Raffle!! Still Time!

Here's a recap just in case you want to see all the cool things you could win!

So here is the deal...Use the Chip-in button to the Right.

$5 = 1 entry

$10 = 2 entries

$15 = 3 entries

$20 = 5 entries

$50 + = 15 entries and a hug from me if we ever meet!!!

Post it to your blog = 1 entry

Post it to your FB = 1 entry

Tweet about it = 1 entry

If you post it elsewhere please leave a comment with a link to your post.

Item #1: Drawn from Water T-Shirt Size Medium color blue. Drawn from water is an amazing organization that saves children in Ethiopia, and is working on making a difference in the lives of tribal people in Southern Ethiopia.

Item # 2: Coffee with a friend. Saints Coffee St George the Dragon Slayer Bend and the SonShineGallery (Name of the business my mom and I do) Pedestal plate. It's an Up-Cycled plate and pedestal, no 2 are the same plus 2 super cute red coffee mugs to share with a friend.

Item # 3: 2 Hand Knit Scarves. Super cute and cuddly soft, mad with a little girl in mind, they are a little shorter, but could still be used by an adult. The one on the left is pink and purple, the other is a soft peachy color.

Item #4: Senseo Single Serve Coffee Maker Brews a cup of coffee in less than a second, dishwasher safe parts (my personal favorite part) Brand New never been opened.

Item # 5: Egyptian Cotton Sheets These were offered by a family that used these sheets to fund their own adoption. They are 1200 count sheets! I may have to play my own raffle to get myself a set! :)

We are so very close, only 40% to go.

Want to know why we are doing this? Read it here... the readers digest version is that we are ready to adopt again, we want to add another precious child or 2 to our home. We found out that if we renew our home study by the end of February it's an actual renewal instead of having to do the whole thing again.... This saves 50% on the fees. We feel this is being a good steward of our money, and that of those that are called to help us on this journey. We still need more to get it started, but we are not asking you to fund the whole thing... we are putting forth our own money to bring our child home too! :)

We felt a raffle would be a fun way to do that. You get to play, get some cute stuff, and help one more child find their home.

If you are not able to share monetarily, don't forget that you still get chances if you post this to your blog, FB or tweet about it.

Please help us help a child!

Thank you again to those of you that have posted, donated and played... I wish you could all win!! I have decided when we are all done I will be renting an RV and coming to hug each of you that have donated. :)

Please pray with us that God provides ... we are trusting Him! :)

One more Raffle Day to Go! Don't miss it!

One more day left! We are at 60%!!! Can you hear me whooping and hollering from there?!

Oh Praise the Lord!

This morning my E-man reminded yet again why we are doing this, why we are putting ourselves out there and asking for money and being humbled. It’s HARD to put it out there that we need help. It’s HARD to put it out there that we aren’t rolling in money. It’s HARD to humble yourself and ask people that you do not know, to help you.

This morning while we were getting ready for our day E looked at the pic of the sweet baby whose picture I cannot take down. The tiny little face that went to be with Jesus at before she got to see her first birthday.

E said: Momma when we get our sister, can we have her?

Me: choking back tears: No baby, she is in heaven with Jesus.

E: In heaven already?!

Me: Yes.

E: Why?

Me: Because she was sick and her body wasn’t able to fight the illness, and she went home to be with Jesus.

E: That sad!

Our family wants to make a difference in one more life….perhaps 2. :) We want one less to go to bed wondering if anyone loves them. One more to LIVE!

This home study isn’t the end. We will of course need more money to complete the adoption, but we will have time for that. Right now we need to get our Home Study re-done so that we can begin that journey.

I know God has blessed it. I see it in the way He’s providing. I see it in the people supporting us in prayer and reposting and giving. We are blessed beyond measure…we are better than good!

Thank you for helping! Thank you for sharing! Thank you for giving up a lunch at McD’s to help us!!! You are a blessing. You are making a difference!

Only 40% more to go!!!

Raffle Day 3 and a NEW ITEM!

We are on day 3 of the Raffle and almost half way there!!!

Again, I am not sure I can express how grateful we are that you all have helped us along this journey!!

Now ALL Glory to God who is able through His mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Eph 3:20

D and I are so excited to begin this journey to our newest addition/s. :) We know that God has already knit them, is preparing us and them… we know He is preparing the way. Thank you for being part of that preparation!

A wonderful thank you to those of you that are responding with items for us to raffle. What a gift! We have received one that relates to item # 1! So cool how things work out!

We have a NEW item to share!
Item # 4 is a Senseo Single Serve Coffee Maker! How cute is this?! Brews a single cup of coffee in 60 seconds.

We also have one more item coming… Egyptian Cotton sheets! More on that when I have the info. I don’t know about you but I would love me some Egyptian Cotton sheets…lol of perhaps you have them and would like another set.

Thank you for your prayers! Thank you for sharing with your friends! Even if you aren’t able to contribute monetarily you are a gift by praying and telling those that might be able to is a priceless gift!

Raffle Day 2!!

Man am I blown away by the generosity! There is no way to thank you for contributing properly! Just know that I have MANY hugs ready to give!!!

I wanted to share a little bit about why we are doing this raffle for those of you that may be new to the blog.

We are a family that has grown through adoption. We have 2 bio kiddos now ages 21yrs and 17 yrs, we thought we were complete when in 2004 the adoption seed was planted by God through Steven Curtis Chapman. We brought home our first son N, in 2006 from Ethiopia. While we were there we fell in love with the country and the children. We knew we would be back. We began the process for a waiting child in 2007 and in 2008 came home with E. It’s been a long road. More like a roller coaster, lots of amazing ups, pretty cool twists, not so great drops…but God’s been faithful and we feel his call to adopt once again.

I have felt it for about 2 yrs now, but it’s not been the right time, and my dear hubby hasn’t felt it was right so I have just been praying. About a year ago God laid the children of China on my heart. I started to feel as though that was where our next child must be… but I will be honest with the fact that I have struggle with that because I LOVE Ethiopia. I love the country, it’s people, it’s children.

Through some pretty amazing events we thought we were not going to be able to adopt from China, so we began our focus on Ethiopia. I was confused though because I felt like my feeling about China had to have been from God.

A couple of Friday’s ago I was reflecting on why I wasn’t feeling the urgency to move forward, why things weren’t coming together like they had in the past, why we weren’t moving as I thought we should be. Then we got the call from one of the agencies that we had contacted about China adoptions and they said they had been busy and gone during the Christmas holiday but that they had been fleshing our situation and our family and they felt confident that we would be able to adopt through China’s SN program.

Things began to click into place, answers seemed to come.

So… Why the raffle and why now?

If we can get our Home Study done before the end of February we can do a renewal, which is easier and half the cost of doing a whole new one. We feel like we would be good stewards to it at half price…kind of a no brainer right?

Why don’t we have the 850.00? Well because we’ve had a couple of glitches over the past couple of weeks with bills and repairs.

Why a raffle? Why not just sell stuff?
Because raffles are fun. We had some fun stuff. People aren’t just giving us money, they get something fun in return.

Thank you for being a blessing! Thank you for sharing with us. Thank you for helping us reach our goal. If you cannot give, please consider sharing this on your blog. Hey it’s get’s you an entry into the drawing! :) Perhaps someone will see it and be able to help. Every 5.00 donation helps!

Rea's Random Raffle

So here it is! Rea's Random Raffle.. to help us fund our adoption...starting with our Home Study. :)

Why Rea's Random Raffle...and who the heck is Rea?

Rea is my childhood nickname, the stuff I have to offer isn't as cool as an iPad, it's awesome!...but Random...and it's well a Raffle. :)

So here is the deal...Use the Chip-in button to the Right.

$5 = 1 entry

$10 = 2 entries

$15 = 3 entries

$20 = 5 entries

$50 + = 15 entries and a hug from me if we ever meet!!!

Post it to your blog = 1 entry

Post it to your FB = 1 entry

Tweet about it = 1 entry

If you post it elsewhere please leave a comment with a link to your post.

Because there are 3 different opportunities please make sure you share which item you are bidding on, in the comment section of the Chip-In.

The bidding is over on Friday 1/15/11 at 5pm.

Item #1 is a FANTABULOUS Drawn From Water T-Shirt... It's a gorgeous blue, size medium. This is an amazing ministry that saves children from tribes that consider them a curse. Read their story here. Thank you Tammy for donating this great shirt!

Item # 2: Have Coffee with a friend! Saint's Coffee: St George the Dragonslayer Blend, 2 Super cute red coffee mugs, and a SonShineGallery (the plates mom and I make) pedestal plate (cookies not included ....unless you are especially generous)

Item # 3: A set of 2 handmade scarves. The colors are a bit off in this picture, but one is pinks and purples and the other a beautiful peach. They are made with someone's beautiful little girl in mind, although they could be great for the vertically challenged as well. They would make wonderful dress up boas :) Pretty soon I will need to replenish my stash!... :)

Thank you in advance!

I will be honest I am a little nervous... but I know He will provide! Even if we pass the 850.00 all the money is going directly to any and all fees....so your generosity is invaluable!

Please help us bring our little girl/girls home!!

New Direction?

So much happening these days!

Friday was a reflective day for me. I was praying and asking God for direction, looking for His guidance.

I then saw the quote that I posted by Mark Hall.

Prayed some more, sought council from friends....

Then I got home, and we had a phone call....

Looks like doors we thought closed are not. Possibilities are now back on the table. We may be going the direction we thought at first.

We are still praying about it.....will you pray with us? Feels like God's direction, but we would like to make sure it is. I will share more when we have made the decision, but I am almost giddy in my joy with this new development! :)

Oh...and the raffle begins tomorrow. Thank you to a very generous blog friend I will have a new item to share. Stay tuned!!

Wrong Way?

Jesus never gets in the way of His own plans. He gets in the way of ours. And if Jesus is in your way, you're going the wrong way. - Mark Hall of Casting Crowns

So... which way am I going?

How Big is Your God?

The last several weeks have been like a roller coaster of the really cool and the really uncool.

We had Christmas which was really cool!

Then 14 inches of snow…and in my book that’s really cool too!

Then my oldest turned 21 yrs old and had a beer in front of his momma. YIKES

Then my sweet hubby and I renewed our vows after almost 18 yrs together, on New Years Eve. What an amazing way to begin the new year….this was the coolest!

But in the midst of it the person from the church that has been such a source of stress for myself and others added more stress. He’s the Chair of a committee we were to become co-chairs on this year. On New Years day after yet another bout of drama and sadness he resigned…very un-cool. I am now Chair all by myself.

The whole situation has taken it’s toll on me. I tend to get along with people, I like people…I think they like me? Not every one does…lol and that’s ok too, but we can generally find ways to get along with each other. I am a ‘gumby’ kind of person, it doesn’t have to be a big deal if we don’t make it that way…and man can I just tell you I do not like drama?! So I have not really known what to do with this whole ordeal… I don’t know how to deal with people that say they are working for God yet their actions and words say something totally different. I began to feel that some how there was something wrong with my view points… the fact that I just could NOT like this guy seemed like some character flaw of mine. Now I do realize that the not liking thing is my deal…lol although God says we gotta love our neighbor, but he doesn’t say we gotta like them, right? (ok not getting into semantics here…just makin a point) As it turns out I am not the only person that can not play nice with this person.

So… what does this have to do with a big God?

It has to do with the inner struggle I have had over this situation… I do not like, not liking people. I want to be the light that God has called me to, I want to be the person that plays well with every one, I want to be able to be co-chair with this dude and get along. Why can’t I?

My prayer has been “Help” simply “Help”… God knows what I need…God knows what he needs…God knows what our church needs….I can’t seem to figure it out.

On top of all the committee angst we are not coming up with the money we need for our Home Study. We need only 850.00. A simple 8 hundred and fifty dollars. The dilemma is that we are also still working on the fundraising for our mission trip with our local peeps so putting the added funding of an adoption out there might freak a few of them out…lol (plus we haven’t told family yet…since oddly none of them care to read this blog I can only talk about it here)

So… we are going to do a raffle! I don’t have an iPad or anything..but I have some fun things that I think you will like. Stay Tuned! It will be coming in a couple of days.

So how big is my God?

Bigger than the mess happening at church…or the fall out that continues.
Bigger than me and my own failings.
Bigger than dude and his.
Bigger than 850.00 measly bucks! or the rest of the 15k we will need :)