Saturday, February 13, 2010

Just venting a tad...

Okay, so if you are an adoptive parent, I'm guessing you've heard most of these comments. We hear them almost daily. They usually don't bother me but today...TODAY I'm super irritated so you get to bear the brunt of my venting! It really irks me when people make these comments in front of my kids...ggrrrr. For some reason, people feel that because our babies joined our family through adoption it entitles them to ask whatever personal questions they want. Can you hear the mama claws comin' out???

~"Oh my, you are such a saint."
I am anything but a saint...I am a big-time sinner saved by God's amazing grace.
~"You are amazing, I can only handle the one I have." When I had one, I could only handle one, too :)
~"Wow, they are so lucky." Not quite...hands down we are the lucky ones!
~"Are they all yours?" Yep, I'm pretty sure they are ALL mine although I do lose count sometimes.
~"Boy, you have your hands full." Yes, I do but I'd rather have them full then empty.
~"Do they all have the same dad?" Yep, it seems to skip a generation in our family.
~"Do you run a daycare?" No, why do you ask?
~"Where are their real parents?" Pretty sure I qualify for a real parent.
~"Which one's are your real kids?" What qualifies the term real...I'm confused...they look like living, breathing, REAL children to me?
~"They should be with their own kind." Ummm, what exactly is their OWN kind?
~"I think it's absurd that you would adopt outside of the US when there are so many kids here that need a home?" God has called us to adopt here and China...you are welcome to take that up with Him. There are over 147 million orphans worldwide who ALL need homes. God calls each of us to different journeys and we choose to follow His lead.
~"How can you possibly teach them about their true heritage?" Last I checked, their heritage is in Jesus Christ and that is all that matters!
~"How can you love them as much as your biological child?" Hmmm, well...let's see. Do you love your husband? But wait...he's not biologically related to you.

Obviously I'm a little irritated and I apologize for my sarcastic comments. Yes, these are common questions we receive. Yes, I have actually answered like that before but it's not my typical response. Yes, I am hyper sensitive to how my kids see me respond so I'm always very gracious and positive (well, almost always ;) It truly depends on if they are being super nosy or just curious about adoption. I had several people go on and on to me about being a 'saint' today and it really, really bothered me! I just want to scream "I am NOT a saint...I am just a simple mama who wants her house full of kiddos to love on. "

Okay, I'm done now...thanks for letting me vent :)

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Love Without Boundaries

Love without Boundaries is an amazing organization that offers humanitarian aid to several orphanages in China and Solomon's is one of the few to be blessed with this gift. He was part of their nutritional program and is now part of their preschool program. The coordinator of his school will post progress reports about the classes and if we are blessed enough, Solomon will be in some of the pictures and some of the video....let's just say we've been very blessed! LWB is unable to share any information about any specific child with waiting families but once he's home we can request any information they have on our little man.

We will be able to make a donation to LWB for a party for Solomon's class...we can't wait. If you have thought about sponsoring a child or making a one-time donation, this is the group to help!!


Where is our baby boy waiting??? JinJiang, Fujian :)

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

It came...

it came...it came...just in case you missed it...IT CAME!!! We just got our PA for Solomon!! CCAA now knows we want to adopt this little one and they've given us pre-approval. NOW I can show you his sweet, precious, beautiful face!!

The picture that changed our lives the second we saw it!!




Monday, February 08, 2010

Still waiting...


Still waiting for our PA...grrr...it's no fun waiting!

Our final hs visit is tomorrow...yippee. All of our dossier docs. are ready to go. Prayerfully USCIS will process our i800A quickly so we can be dtc!!!

Thursday, February 04, 2010

The Excuses

A sweet bloggy friend gave me permission to share this post with you....it's very powerful...I encourage you to pray for God to speak to you before you even read it! This mama has put my heart into words...she has so beautifully expressed the things that have weighed so heavy on my heart for so long!

I've had my share of excuses in the past....

Too busy
Not enough money
Not enough time
Too young
Too old
Can't afford it
Already have 4 children
Not sure if it's God's will
Not sure
Can't afford it
What will others say?
What will others think?
People will think we are crazy
What if they are right?
Can't afford it.
What if it's hard on our other kids?
It's not the right time
Not sure if I would be good at it.
House is too small.
Can't afford it.
Not sure if I want to start all over again.
What would we drive?
What if it's to much work?
What if it's too hard?
Can't afford it.

Yet for every excuse God has the answer-

Him.

It's all about Him- period.

He must increase,
but I must decrease.
John 3:30

We limit God with our excuses.
We limit God with our fears.
We limit God by putting Him inside a box-
A box we have designed on our own.

But by doing this we are actually robbing ourselves-
robbing ourselves of the blessings.
Robbing ourselves of true joy
Robbing ourselves of truly living.

Because you see when we take 'us' out of the picture
Our worries,
Our fears,
Our excuses,
And we put God in the center of our lives
The possibilities are endless.

He has the way...
He IS the way...
And all you have to do is
stop making excuses and take that first step.
Stop listening to the world.
Stop being afraid of the what ifs-
And listen to the one who knows.
The one who has the answers.
The one who really matters.
The truth is
we don't have to be perfect
because He is.
We don't have to have all of the answers
because He already does.
We don't have to know how
because He will show us.
Each day you wait
is a day that they wait too...

The cost of your excuse is a lot higher than the cost of an adoption
because look at what it's costing them.

Stop making excuses.
They are waiting
And so is He...
To show you the way.

So thankful

We just wanted to thank each and everyone of you for your amazing support financially and through your prayers. We have been blanketed with such overwhelming peace and trust in our Lord. We love you guys!!! Hoping to be able to show pictures soon!!

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

The WINNERS are....

Since my video camera didn't get up and running in time,
we took pictures of the drawing for the Ipod Touch........

All the entries laid out and being mixed and mixed and mixed!
No peeking

And the winner is......
My precious friend, LINDA HAYASE!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The winner for the IPOD SHUFFLE IS.......

A very sweet friend, STEFFANY BOSTER

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONGRATULATIONS!
We raised $1425 of the $3000 we needed to raise! Can you believe it...we are so blessed and humbled by your giving hearts and the love you have shown us. Thank you so much!!!

Less than 1 hour...

Less than 1 hour to go to buy your $10 tickets for a chance to win an IPOD TOUCH and an IPOD SHUFFLE....winners will be announced shortly.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

24 hours LEFT....

Little over 24 hours to go for our IPOD TOUCH Blitz...you still have time to buy your $10 tickets..hurry..hurry...don't miss out :) Can you help us raise the last $1785 we need??? Spread the word and let's see how fast the Lord will provide this money :) Every $10 helps! Click away on the chip-in button...hehehehe!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

We are almost half way....


Can you believe that Chip-In??? $1295 plus the kids $58....CRAZY!!!!!! I am honestly without words (I know...hard to believe!). We are getting so close to our initial phase goal of $3,000.

There is still time to buy your $10 tickets to win an Ipod Touch and still time to spread the news to have a chance at winning an Ipod Shuffle. All the details are below...

God is moving...He is moving to bring our baby home!