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".