Seriously?

Do you ever just sit back and watch your babes and think, "Seriously Lord, You've entrusted these amazing babes to me?" What an incredibly overwhelming responsibility...fabulously, perfectly His plan...so glorious the honor and privilege!

I had the honor of speaking at a seminar at our agency last weekend and as I shared about our kiddos, I became very emotional. I was emotional at the realization that I could have missed this...had I gotten what I thought I wanted...what I thought the Lord should do...I would have missed the most amazing, miraculous treasures of my life.  As I spoke to these sweet families and I looked into each of their eyes, I just knew they were at place that we were at over 11 years ago...families longing for a babe to hold...desperate for a child to call their own...not understanding why the Lord gave them the desire for child yet they were barren...all of those emotions hit me as I showed them a picture of our family and all I could say was, "The thought that we could have missed this had we gotten what we thought we wanted...."It took me a minute to pull it together...I didn't need to say anymore...the tears in their eyes told me they understood....they understood that God's plans are greater...His ways are higher! Praying for each of them as they decide what they will do next!!

Father, thank you for pursuing us...for giving us what YOU had planned for us! Thank you for being so gentle and patient with us!

Labor pains...

It's so easy for me to get caught up in the sadness of this world...often times broken...broken for so many that are hurting.  Families longing to bring their children home but red tape is prohibiting that...children longing for a forever families but no one is stepping forward...families struggling with medical issues...friends losing loved ones...losing houses...

Times are heavy...times are difficult...can you feel the labor pains? Our Lord is coming and He is coming soon!! Are you ready...are you watching?

 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³ Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶ “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;  go out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. ¹¹ “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹² But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 
¹³ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. ~Matthew 25:1-16

Be diligent in the Lord's work...be watching...He is coming...

lift your eyes to our God...

...not in brokenness but in pure, beautiful HOPE and ASSURANCE...

whatever trial you are having to endure...

HE IS IN IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Iron Man...aka Solomon :)

This kid cracks me up!!

BLESSED!

Blessed beyond comprehension!

Merry Christmas my sweet friends!

(missing each of you & missing updating my blog...I will shortly :)

Christmas CLEARANCE sale....

Don't miss out on our Christmas clearance sale. If you purchase them during the next couple of days you should have them by Christmas. I will ship as soon as you order!!

Leave me a comment with your email address and what shirt you want...I'll confirm I have it and let you know asap.

We have a few shirts left in our inventory...see below.

ALL shirts are $20 SHIPPED!  

Women's FITTED Defender
2 Large

Women's UNISEX Defender

1 Small SOLD

2 Medium SOLD

Women's FITTED Warrior

1 Medium

1 Large

1 XL

Women's UNISEX Warrior

1 Small

Men's Warrior

1 Medium

2 Large SOLD

Shirt Update...

There was a delay at the printers but the shirts are finally here!!! I will ship them all out tomorrow (Thurs.)

Thank you for being so patient!!!!

VOTE for our family...PLEASE

Okay guys, Kohl's is doing this cool giveaway I need your help!!

The thought of how we could use the winnings to help adoptive families and orphans is very, very exciting!!!

Check it out HERE! And VOTE FOR OUR FAMILY...pretty please :)

Contest rules...you can vote once EVERY day...so keep those votes coming :)

Baltic Amber necklace for teething

Soooo, I'm a tad bit skeptical about the effectiveness of using a baltic amber necklace for Jubilee to help reduce teething pain. I still don't completely understand how it's suppose to work but so many mama's swear by them. So, I ordered one for little miss.

Amber is a natural analgesic and all the articles I read about why it works makes sense. You can read more about 'why' this works here.

If anything, she looks so stinkin' cute wearing it :)

Oh and little miss just discovered her little tootsies...she is pretty fascinated by them...

I am too...they are sooo cute!

Jubilee's dedication

We had the incredible privilege of having our little Miss Jubilee dedicated earlier this month....on...Orphan Sunday...how cool is that!!! Nothing brings us greater joy then publicly dedicating our babes to the Lord. It is only by His incredible blessings that we have been entrusted with these treasures. We are so blessed to be part of a body that loves us, supports us, and holds us accountable in raising our babes in the ways of the Lord.

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, our Sarah girl found it appropriate to stick her tongue out the ENTIRE time at her uncle who was taking pictures. Mind you...our sanctuary has TEN HUGE TV's...aacckk!!!

Cana girl thought it was the best time to tickle Jubilee's feet while Solomon thought it was the perfect time to make a mad dash on to the stage....

Life is quite the adventure with 7 kiddos...three of them being 5!!!

Just some fun cuteness of our girl who is ALREADY 5 months old...crazy!!!!

BOYS!!!!

Precious, beautiful boys! Do you see little boys as beautiful??? Oh, they are wonderfully beautiful!

Being a mama to both boys and girls has been quite the adventure. Adventure you say?? Yep, adventure...you see I have all sisters so when our first born was a boy, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with him.  14 years later, I have realized that it's the girls I don't know what to do with...me-oh-my!  The boys are the 'easy' one's :)

I get the whole "sugar and spice and everything nice" but come on...who doesn't love having a mama's boy??

There are sooo many precious boys waiting for families...desperate for a forever family but they are getting passed by simply because they are boys.

The thought that he...

could still be confined behind institution walls is an unbearable thought!  Our Solomon has brought us so much joy...to think we could have missed this...it's unimaginable!

The reality that he....

 and he....

 and he are waiting...

clinging to hope that they will have a family to love them...to care for them when they are scared or hungry or lonely.

Come read about these boys and others like them...pray for them...help me advocate for them...

www.lovingthefatherless.blogspot.com