Addicted....

When you first hear the word addicted, what do you think...what are your feelings? For me, I immediately have negative feelings. As I looked up definitions of addicted they all typically led to some kind of substance abuse and we all know there are millions of other types addictions. Here is one definition: the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming...

So when someone asks me if I'm addicted to adopting...it really, really irritates me!! If addictions are typically a bad thing, are they implying that I have a problem with tending to the cry of the orphan & that I should get help for my problem?

For whatever reason this thought came to mind today...the thought of being 'addicted' to adopting & what that really means...does addiction always have to be a bad thing?
~Am I sold out to answer the CLEAR call of the Lord to care for the orphan...YES!
~Do I feel that every child deserves a forever family and am I willing to do whatever it takes to advocate...YES!
~Has raising awareness, advocating, adopting, encouraging & supporting adoption become habit forming...YES!!
~Am I affected by the devastating reality that there are over 153 million orphans in the world...Is it something that can keep me up at night weeping over...YES!
~Is the orphan situation something I pray about, talk about, & share about like non-stop...YES!!! (just ask my friends ;)

Hmmm, so I guess in light of my little revelation...I must be completely sold-out, 100% addicted to adoption & the care of children without a voice! I am completely engrossed with my one and only Savior, Jesus Christ...the Savior who has boldly and clearly called our family to not only adoption but to raising awareness. Sorry my friends...but I'm addicted...addicted to obediently following my God!

today...

Today my precious son (the middle one ;) turns 7. S-E-V-E-N amazing years with this boy...the boy who has the best and I mean BEST giggle ever...his name suits him very well!!

My sweet son, we love you so much and can't even begin to imagine our lives without you. You are a precious gift...a gift from the Lord!! You have an amazing birthfamily that loves you so much, too!! What a treasure to have them in our lives and for them to be able to watch you grow!

Happy, Happy Birthday my baby boy...uuhhh, I mean BIG boy :)

Oh my, you are growing up so fast!! Just look at you my beautiful son...

God has great & mighty things planned for you!!!!

In Honor of...

our precious Solomon's birthday...

 

I want to remind you that there are 

ONLY 7 days left to enter in

HIS GRAND FINALE RAFFLE...

the raffle needed to raise the FINAL funds for him to come home!!

 

Remember, the Finale where

EVERY TICKET WINS!!

You can see all of the prizes and details HERE!!!

We are $8000 away from being able to board the plane in 7-8 weeks (waiting on TA, still).

We will NOT be able to travel without the remaining funds...while that is super scary to think we could come this close and then not be able to travel until we have all the funds, God is moving mightily to bring our son home and we are excited to see how He is going to provide $8000 in 8 weeks!!!  Come along and watch all the Lord is about to do!  We are so blessed by all of you that have helped us financially and by praying for us...each of you are a HUGE part of Solomon's story...as story we can't wait to share with him!!!

Would you please spread the word about our raffle or beads??

Our Birthday Boy....

Today, in China, it is now July 21st....our sweet, precious baby boy's birthday. He has just turned 4 years old. Oh how I had hoped we'd be there for his birthday but God's plans are greater so we celebrate here and anxiously await travel approval.

We love you so much son and we can't wait to scoop you up and love on you! It will be soon...sooo very soon!!!

I was in tears as I worked on this collage...what a gift to have so many pictures of our peanut. Tears of sadness that we've missed out on so much...tears of joy that THIS is OUR BOY...tears of sheer excitement that we will be united soon! Ohhh, How we miss this sweet one!!!!

Enjoy the faces of our boy!!!

Favorite Curriculum

Can you believe that July is almost over and it will be AUGUST??? When did that happen???

I have something fun for my homeschooling buddies to chime in on....What is your favorite curriculum and why? As you post a comment in my comment section with your favorites, I will add them to this post. So, tell me...tell me...what do you love??

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Our family favorites: Wow...this is tougher than I thought :) We've been homeschooling for 9 years and have come across many treasures. I think my favorite for my beginning readers is Phonics Pathways...simple and very effective. LOVE Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)...especially their thematic based units. LOVE Five in a Row for my pre-k/k. Have a new found love of Math U See (all ages). I should mention that we love to school with the classical/literature approach :)

Rebekah's favorites: Hi! I love to talk "shop" when it comes to homeschooling! We have been so pleased with Apologia's material. The elementary series: Exploring Creation has been extraordinary and a perfect fit for our family. The older students' curriculum has also been impressive.

For history we love to learn with living books, and I get books from Sonlight, Veritas Press, and also the good old fashioned way, from the library!

For math we use ABEKA for a few, Rod and Staff for one, and we are planning to try Teaching Textbooks Algebra for our oldest. I hope it goes well!

Karen's favorites:Hmmmm...we have changed our idea on our "favorites" a few times:-) I think we found the right mix last year. We use ABEKA for preK-1 (all except for math)we use Math-U-See. We usually use Sonlight from 2nd grade on, add in IEW (my children actually go to an IEW class), Sequential Spelling, Shurley Grammar and Apologia Science. We switch back to Abeka math after Math-U-See Delta (go to Abeka 5). My oldest does the Abeka math DVD. This will be my 1st year with 6 in school (3 Kindergartners). Oh and a new one coming home:-) I'm looking forward to a fun year!!!