What I needed to hear...

some more #reallife...
I can be very hard on myself. I can be very hard on those around me.

The past several days the kids have been listening to Odyssey's Truth Chronicles. Its been very enlightening for me. I have much to mull over...
What do I believe and why? the Truth Chronicles is meant to give kids the tools needed to speak up for what they believe and explains scriptural worldview like I have never heard before... I am learning just as much as the kids.

Then I went to the North East Adoption Summit for the evening... I cried. several times. My heart... it needed to hear that.  I needed to hear that adopting lots of kids is not "crazy", it's following God's heart.

 I needed to hear that I should be humbled but not beaten down by the "pain" and the tough stuff, I deal with. I needed to hear from the mom's with teenagers who were jailed, pregnant and even prostituting who were out there speaking about adoption. Encouraging.. connecting...

I needed to hear that adoption is a beautiful picture of God's heart... I needed to see the 9 yr old boy correct his dad (the great adoption speaker) on stage...

I needed  to be reminded that God adopted me, it was painful, painfully painful for him. Even unto death on the cross... Yet, he still adopted me and paid the price, willingly.

I needed to be reminded that I don't want the boring American life... I want the adventure of adoption.

I needed to hear that I need to be an advocate not an activist.
An activist is bitter...
An Advocate wants to make it better...



I needed to see these beautiful families... living out their dreams for God. Not caught up in the daily grind of American life. The one mom said it so beautifully in the last video. Stop worrying about what teenage years will look like, stop worrying what adulthood will look like. Look at the challenges at the moment, read a book, watch a video, attend a training... learn how to deal with it, raise a well rounded individual, because you have the ability to learn..


I needed to hear from the adoptive momma who said "I have struggled all my life with my stubborn nature, but now I see that I needed it for this time of parenting. This time of not giving up".

Friday Encouragement...

    
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see Hebrews 11:1

Sometimes life gets rough, the stress of coping with the day to day is overwhelming. The hamster wheel we are stuck on is spinning, faster, faster, faster.... It is hard to believe on those days. It is hard to "be sure" on those kinda days. 

5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.








But God promises strength for the bad days, peace for the stormy days, and wisdom for the crazy days. 









He doesn't promise a bed of roses, He doesn't promise prosperity, He doesn't promise the easy road. No, he warns us of the challenges, he wants us to be tested so that we can not survive on our own. Not because he is a mean God, but because he loves us. He wants to be our all in all. Our only hope, our peace, our strength. If only we allow Him. 

Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."

However if we learn to align our desires with his, our hearts to His, He will often bless us. The road to becoming refined is often painful and unpleasant. But oh, the rewards.

     

Be encouraged today. God is working, sometimes He is working on you and sometimes He is working for you. But either way, you are a beautiful part of His Great Plan. You were born for a time like this... 

TBT April 2010 and April 2011

 Read Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3  to catch up on the Story...

This is the final part of this story, a series of TBT. Be sure to read the entire story, to see how God worked! 

I was a love mommy to 7 different children. But I wanted kiddoes to stay, I wanted permanency.

That's when I got two beautiful little kiddoes. There is a long God Story for each kiddoe I adopted. Some day I will share those...

But for now the short version...

August 2008, Lee age 4 and Elizabeth age 4 came to live with me. We hoped to have the adoption finalized in 6-12 months.But foster care is never that simple and 3 years later on APRIL 15, 2011 they became legal members of my family!

In Sept. 2008 I got a call for another sibling set. 3 kiddoes, ages 10 mo, 2 yrs and 4 yrs old. At that point God opened the door for the younger two to come into my family. This was to be a temporary placement, 3-4 months.

Sept 2008, 

Pic taken 24 hrs after the second sibling set came to my house. I had 50 lbs of grapes to take to juice! 

But God had other plans, baby Ty went to live with his daddy after about 10 months,  on APRIL  9, 2009. Meanwhile in Feb. 2009, big brother David had come to live with us and we were looking at adoption instead of reunification. I was no longer lonely or alone...;)

My crew Christmas 2009. 

Miss C 12 yo (who lived with us off and on for several years) David 5 yo, Fayth 4 yo, Elizabeth 4 yo, and Lee 5 yo. 

David and Fayth were adopted on APRIL 14, 2010. Yup, they were adopted first!

In August of 2010 Nesiah joined our family through the this website.

With lots of hard work from my amazing caseworkers, we participated in another miracle and Nesiah was adopted along with Lee and Elizabeth.  ON APRIL 15, 2011.

My family was now complete, a perfect story of redemption... or so I thought.
However, you will need to wait for the final chapter of this story because at the moment I can not blog about that! 

Easter 2014.... Not the best picture, but it's #reallife with lots of kids on a Sunday morning! 

“Enlarge the place of your tent,

    stretch your tent curtains wide,

    do not hold back;

lengthen your cords,

    strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

    your descendants will dispossess nations

    and settle in their desolate cities.

“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.

    Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.

You will forget the shame of your youth

    and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

For your Maker is your husband—

    the Lord Almighty is his name—

the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;

    he is called the God of all the earth.

The Lord will call you back

    as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—

a wife who married young,

    only to be rejected,” says your God.

“For a brief moment I abandoned you,

    but with deep compassion I will bring you back.

In a surge of anger

    I hid my face from you for a moment,

but with everlasting kindness

    I will have compassion on you,”

    says the Lord your Redeemer.