Is it just me or is anyone else just not feeling the love for Valentine's Day this year? I'm blaming the cold weather, but I have done zero preparations for the holiday so far. In years past we've done homemade Valentines for my kids' schoolmates, but this year I'm going to be doing good to even get all three kids to their classes with the right number of store-bought Valentines! And last year I got a new mold and made my kids homemade chocolate heart lollipops. Not sure I'm going to get around to that this year. Sigh, why did I set such a high standard last year?!! But, on the positive side, my next year's self is going to have no trouble topping this year's Valentines festivities!______________We should have just put off getting the new puppy until this weekend, then it could have been like, "We got you a puppy. Happy Valentine's!" Actually, even though we got her a week ago, I think I just may do that. Because seriously that puppy has been a huge time sucker for me this week! She's totally worth it and very fun and cuddly but pretty much requires the parenting effort of a newborn who wakes up in the night, combined with a 1 year old toddler who gets into everything, combined with a potty-training 2 year old!______________At one point this week the puppy kept chewing on a bag I'd set on the floor next to our shoe shelf, and we couldn't get her to leave it alone, so I said to the kids, "Let's just remove the temptation." And I picked up the bag and put it in my closet. Then the next day she kept trying to get one of the couch pillows and my 3 year old suggested, "Let's move the sensation!" It took me a minute but I realized he meant "temptation" and was remembering my method the day before!______________But really, if my kids can learn the "remove the temptation" tactic it will serve them well in life, for making it through the myriad of bad choice possibilities of the teenage years right through to when they start parenting their own children! Remove the temptation!______________Speaking of teaching my kids something useful for life, I was helping my 7 year old with his spelling words and told him about the "I before E except after C" rule. I asked him if his teacher had taught them that rule and when he said "no" I was surprised because it totally applied to several of his words. Then I started thinking I remembered there were a few exceptions to that rule, so I Googled it to be able to tell my 2nd grader what the exceptions were to the new rule I'd taught him, expecting there to be like 3 words. Well, I learned that there are so many exceptions to the rule, more exceptions than words that actually follow the rule, that teachers have been advised to stop teaching the rule! And that just might explain why I'm such a terrible speller because I use that rule often even now in my every day adult life!Happy Friday!
The email today was not what I'd hoped when I saw the subject line. The "update" was not an announcement that the roadblock holding back our adoption and many others was cleared, but rather an update that there was no new news.
This weekend will mark 10 months waiting for her. That number is about double what we were expecting going into the adoption wait, since we were willing to adopt a child a bit older than an infant.
It's basketball season for my oldest and I remember back to this season last year and thinking that the next year I'd be entertaining three younger siblings on the sidelines, imagining she'd be home by now. The missing someone who's never been here is so hard to describe.
My children make a worm family out of this playdough molding type stuff we have. "It is our family", they tell me, "here's the biggest one, he's the daddy, and this is you, the mommy." As, they point out their 3 worm-selves, I'm counting in my head. One, two, three, four, five, six worms? Before I can say anything they point to one of the small worms and deem it the, "Baby Sister".
Their faith amazes me! We've talked about the "Baby Sister" for so long, but she has not come. We don't even have a picture of her to cling to. I can't believe they still see our family as a family of six, that "Baby Sister" worm just as tangibly there as the other five worms.
And I must admit that their faith is bigger than mine.
Because some days, especially lately, I find myself wondering if it will ever even happen at all.
But isn't that what faith is?
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Heb. 11:1
This much I'm sure of, without a doubt:
God is good.
He is in control.
He has a plan.
His plans are always better than ours.
And for our family, and so many others waiting, I really do believe God gave us a heart for adoption, led us to this very path for a reason and He is going to use it to bring Him glory.
I don't know how this is all going to play out for any of us, but I'm believing God that His glory will be the end result.
And, I would even be willing to bet that God is going to use this season of waiting, the raw anguish of it, to lead to unimaginable joy.
Because that's what He does. He's all about amazing transformations. Beauty from ashes, Paul from Saul, wine from water, resurrected Lord from a body sealed in a tomb, beloved child of God from undeserving sinner.
Lord, I have no idea what our family will look like 10 more months from now, and can't even begin to fathom 10 years out, but that's okay because I don't need to know. I know that we are Yours and that is enough.Find more
Thankful Thursday here.
Wanna know what happens when you have a puppy and a mail slot?
It's a race to see who gets to the mail first when it's delivered! It's me versus the puppy dog.
Today, Madeline won.
Thankfully it was only an advertisement she was shredding up!
Next up, Madeline versus Big Duke (the 3 year old's security object, a stuffed bulldog). Thankfully Big Duke was quickly rescued!
Madeline versus the big box her new bed came in (no idea why the box was so big the bed only took up half of it)!
And, Madeline versus my husband's slipper:
"No! No, Madeline!" has become an often heard phrase around our house!Find more
Wordful Wednesday,
Wordless Wednesday, &
Not So Wordless Wednesday.
James 1:27 says, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." NLT
It has been awesome to witness the reawakening in some churches as they've embraced their role in the solution to the great orphan crisis! Many have stepped up to the plate in a huge way, raising up and supporting families from among their own congregations to foster and adopt children!
There are powerful examples, like the church in Possum Trot, Texas with only 200 members, yet they have adopted 72 children and counting out of the foster care system! If you'd like to read the book on that amazing true story, it is Small Town, Big Miracle: How Love Came to the Least of These (Focus on the Family Books)
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But then there are churches, big, vibrant, Jesus-loving churches who haven't yet caught fire for adoption and orphan care. If, as an individual, you become passionate that God's heart desires for Christians to help orphans, but you go to a church that doesn't scream that from the pulpit or even have a small type line in the bulletin about a support group for adoptive families, well, it can be tough! I know my husband and I went through a long season of trying to start a ministry at our church and there were times it was very frustrating. "How could our church be against something so good?" we wondered over and over! We attended adoption groups at another local church where we were supported, loved on, and educated about many aspects of adoption. We met other couples doing the same thing we were, and I cannot imagine if we didn't have that support!
We were tempted to leave our church and go to the one more supportive of adoption, but the more we prayed about that, the less peace we had about it. And the verse from Esther about, "such a time as this. . ." kept replaying in my head. What if God had us in our particular church and led us to adoption just so we'd fight to get a group started where there wasn't one?
So, we kept on. Literally my husband had to meet with multiple church leaders over the course of more than a year before we began to get buy-in and support and finally recognized as an official ministry of our very big church.
Instead of joining the other church, we adopted the couple who ran the adoption group at that other church as our mentors, you know, "You did it at your church, now show us how to do it at ours!" And they were so gracious to come over to our house at 8:15 pm one night for dessert so we could talk after our kids had already gone to bed, and they did share so much of what they've learned and they continue to be an on-going source of help and support for us!
I've heard several others within various adoption communities, sad that their church does not have any type of adoption ministry and my biggest piece of advice would be, keep asking! Persistence and prayer can pay off!
Links to help you start an adoption and orphan care ministry at your church:
Tapestry Adoption and Foster Care Ministry out of Irving Bible Church is a phenomenal ministry and they so graciously share many of their materials so that other churches don't have to reinvent the wheel!
Also, Hope for Orphans has some super resources and publications for launching a church orphans ministry.
And to continue the resource sharing, before our last meeting I was trying to find a good document that highlighted the main steps of adoption. I know for people just beginning to think of adopting, the process can be so overwhelming! I couldn't find a document that included just the steps I wanted, so I made my own. In case anyone can use this, I put my document out on Scirbd, here is the link: Steps of Adoption. Feel free to print it out and copy it however will best help your group!
Find more
Gratituesday here and
Tackle it Tuesday here.
Between the snow predicted for tomorrow and picking up our new puppy over the weekend (when, thankfully, the temperatures are supposed to be back up into the 50s), it is quite the flurry furry frenzy of excitement around here! And I'm not sure who's more excited about it all, the kids or me!When I got the call about school being canceled for tomorrow, I was thrilled! Because ice or no ice, when it's twenty-something degrees outside it is really, truthfully just too cold for me to venture out, and doing it the last few days I've had enough, I'm calling "Uncle" to our 4 day winter and ready for the return of 60 or 70 degree days!After I heard about the snow day, I immediately began the list in my head -- we'd sleep in, play in the snow, drink hot chocolate, play games like Hungry, Hungry Hippo over and over again, build stuff with Legos, lay around and read books under fleece blankets, bake the soft pretzels I've been wanting to try, maybe make a Valentine-themed dessert, watch a movie, I'd work on a sewing project, maybe sand and paint the bathroom cabinets. . . The list? Only took me about 45 seconds to come up with but to actually do all those things would take several days worth of snow days!But still, I'm excited to have an unexpected day off from usual life and to have the kids all to myself!There's even a special snow-day breakfast planned!!
I have no idea what it was about the possibility of a snow day that inspired me to buy some pre-packaged powdered sugar donuts. In my adult life I have never before purchased them, my kids have never had them, but the party's on tomorrow at breakfast!______________
As for the furry frenzy, come this time next week when Madeline has had many accidents in my house, chewed up all the kids favorite toys, and woken me up at night, somebody remind me of the excitement I have right now about getting a new puppy! I really cannot believe we are about to unleash the crazy of a puppy on the It Already Felt Like Chaos Household!______________I am very happy to report that our electricity has been constantly on since Wednesday morning. Our 12 hours of intermittent power gave me a new appreciation for heat, lights, and the ability to open the refrigerator without my husband making me feel like I was contributing to everything in there spoiling! And, I didn't enjoy making myself feel like an idiot every time I walked into my closet and reached up and flipped the light switch -- duh, the electricity is out!______________I know I have mentioned before the amount of paper that floods into this house with having 3 kids, but here's a visual, this is the paper pile of worksheets, school notices, and crafts I gathered that came home just this week -- and it was only a 4 day week!! I counted 35 items and there are likely still a few around I missed! 
There is a landfill somewhere groaning.______________A month or two ago, my 3 year old outgrew his 3T jeans and as I dug out the hand-me-down 4T jeans from my older son, I realized they were rather worn. I think four was the age my 1st son really began wearing his jeans out at the knee. And, sure enough, after just a month or so of my 2nd son wearing them, there were holes in the knees. I couldn't believe I was going to have to buy new jeans, especially since we really only need them for another two months or so before it will be shorts weather every day here. So, I decided if I was going to have to buy him new jeans, I was going to get them big enough that there was at least hope he could wear them some of next fall/winter. With the jeans having the adjustable waistbands these days, I knew I could buy a 5T and make them small enough to stay up on his waist, then I'd just roll up the bottom. So I bought two pairs of the 5T size.And now my 3 year old is sporting this look:
Poor 3rd child! I'd never have done this with my 1st two children!
May you all enjoy a fun, flurry, furry filled weekend with just a bit of football thrown in since it happens to follow the "f" theme!
The temperature dropped below freezing here yesterday and I tell you we Texans just are not prepared to deal with it! We had rolling power outages starting yesterday evening and lasting through the night, it would be out for about 45 minutes then come back for an hour to go back out again. And yes, I woke up each time there was a transition, sometimes to comfort a child crying out that their night-light or closet light was out!
At least so far it has not been out long enough to make the house too cold or ruin the food in the fridge!
Speaking of lack of ability to handle freezing weather, anyone remember last year when we had some unusually cold weather in our area and we were not prepared with the proper materials to wrap our outside pipes and we resorted to insulating the pipes with diapers?
Well, it's been over 12 months since then, you'd think we'd have learned our lesson and stocked up on some foam covers at some point, I don't know maybe in July? But, no, not us!
It is with great joy that I present to you a picture of our pipes, once again covered in Elmo themed diapers!
The really sad thing is, this year I'm not even embarrassed about it. I feel like, yeah, that's just how we roll around here. Plan-aheaders? No! Last minute people armed with a plethora of diapers, lacking any shame? Yes!!
Praying you all are staying warm and safe and that the Groundhog is right and an early spring is on its way!
Find more Wordful Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, & Not So Wordless Wednesday.
