Sunday, May 29, 2011

Ugandan Necklaces $20 shipped!!!



We are selling beaded necklaces from Uganda! 
The beautiful beads are handcrafted by the women of Uganda. 
The length offers a double necklace or you can wrap it to make a bracelet. 
No two are alike!


$20 shipped within the US


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The last week!!




This is the last week of school!!!

I am so ready for my kiddos to be at home just hanging out with me. 

That is all for now. :)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

As of late

I am joining up over @ Critty Joy for As of Late
Photobucket

Lately I am ready to meet my children in Africa more than ever.


Lately I am learning that it's not my job to educate the world on negative adoption or "large family" comments. That's between them and the Holy Spirit. 


Lately I love my husband more than ever. My life with him just keeps getting better and better


Lately I am D.O.N.E with school. I want my children home for the summer!!!


Lately I am struck with just how much God loves me. I don't know why He would choose rotten me, but He did and I am so grateful!!


Lately I am actively ignoring the fact that I will have a child in HIGH SCHOOL in the fall. Heart failure!!



Saturday, May 14, 2011

Check out our fundraising opportunities

source


   
We have several fundraisers going on!!

Please take a look and see how you can be involved with bringing our children home!!

Thank you so much for supporting us in this journey. 

Friday, May 13, 2011

My week in review



High: 
I just once again have to brag on my hubby. He has gotten very busy over the last couple of weeks with work. He is a very involved husband and father. He doesn't really have hobbies outside of our family. He loves being with us. It's quite normal for him to wash dishes, make lunches and have a kid (or three) in his lap at all times. And I know it's very difficult for him to miss out on what's going on here at home. And "being gone" means riding around in a hot, sweaty truck with no ac and manual labor for 12-14 hours a day. It's no walk in the park. Thank you babe!!

Not the best quality, but this was daddy/daughter night at Chick-fil-A a few months ago. My oldest daughter is behind the camera. I was at an adoption retreat so he got them all ready and took them by himself. 




Lows: 

More like  U G L Y!!!!!

I hit a wall this week. 

I was OVER IT!!!

As a fellow adoptive mom described it, I was at a place called adoption burnout. The not so funny thing was that she posted that on the same day as my meltdown. At least I was in good company. 
I called and blubbered like a fool  spoke to our adoption coordinator who was very supportive and understanding. She, herself is an adoptive mom from this sweet country in Africa and experience a lot of the same heart ache we are facing. 

The good news is that it brought me to my knees and I was completely fine the next day. 


Lesson learned: 
It's ok to not like this sometimes. 
"This" being whatever you're going through. 
For us it's the not knowing what our life will look like in 6 months.
 It may be an illness or a broken relationship or a wayward child. 
The point is that God's grace covers it all. 
He hasn't forgotten about us or the sweet children that wait for us in Africa. 
Nor has He left you to walk whatever trial you are walking, alone. 
We are not alone. 
He is carrying us through. 
We do not see the whole picture, but He does because He wrote the story. 


lFilled With Praise

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Old married couple

The hubster and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage this year. 
Pray that he remembers. haha


I have been pondering all things marriage lately. And I thought I would share some of our story.

In our first year of marriage we moved across the country, cared for ailing grandparents (basically parents,) went through a very difficult pregnancy complete with a month long hospital stay for me, and planned three funerals, one of whom was our first born son. It was a very rough year. 

God was faithful to keep us binded together over the next few years as we went on to start our own business, move a few more times, have three more babies, deal with postpartum depression, lose everything we owned for our business due to theft, etc., etc. 


Life happened. 

 Probably around year 7, we hit a bit of a rough patch. I think that was about the time that the living crisis to crisis wore off and we looked at each other and thought, "Who are you?" 

There were no "major" issues, we just realized that we had really neglected some very important things... 
Each other. 

The enemy loves that friends! 
He gets great pleasure out of watching us neglect our most important earthly relationship. 

I know we are all busy. We have lots of irons in the fire and things calling us in all different directions. 

And then there are the kids....

Children are such blessings. But we have to remember that those blessings are made to leave us one day. They are temporary blessings. 
Sure, we will still be a part of their lives when they are grown, but in a very different way. 

Your relationship with your husband is permanent. 

We have to be diligent to date our husbands. To spend time one-on-one with them. Find out what's going on with them and how we can give our input. 

We also need to find a fun outlet. Ours is college football and concerts.

I know it's tough to "find time." You aren't going to find it. You have to make it. 

An awesome pastor and friend always said, "Date weekly, depart monthly." 

Realistically, we can't do that. But it's not at all uncommon for us to have a "home date." The kids go to bed  early and we watch a movie or just hang out and talk. It doesn't have to elaborate. 

This is a battle friends. Satan doesn't want happily, married couples. 

Fight back!! 

.


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Monday, May 9, 2011

No news is good news?


I don't know if I agree with that or not.

But right now, it doesn't really matter if I agree or not.

That's the deal.

No news.

And we are resting in His timing.

Honestly. We really are.

That's not to say that I don't check my email 10 million times a day.

But we really do trust God that His timing is perfect.

In the meantime, we will just keep praying them home.

Friday, May 6, 2011

The dangers of the internet and cell phones



I talked in my post yesterday about an internet "situation" that we recently had. I want to dig deeper with that. 

I think there are many things that we can do to keep our kids (and ourselves!) safe on the internet. If your kids are using the computer, you must safeguard it. Google has a safe search feature that you should keep on. We have had Norton Internet Security, which adds another layer of protection. You don't want them to search on something for school and instead get a eyeful of something inappropriate. 


Another major issue is Facebook and texting. This is where the lines can get blurry and if we are not extremely careful, things can get really dangerous. If you choose to allow your child to have a fb page, you should be their friend and have their password. We repeatedly tell our children that anything that goes on with the computer or phone is not private. We have access and will check up regularly. That is not to trick them. It's to help them stay accountable and not slip into sin. 

We don't allow our girls (right now only our oldest) to have private messaging of any kind with boys. Not because we are mean or don't think she notices boys. We have this layer of protection for her (and all of them one day) so that we can help her (and the boys) stay clear of sin. Private messaging, chatting or texting the opposite sex can lead to temptations that young teens are not ready to deal with. You wouldn't BELIEVE what goes on through texting and chatting on fb. Things can get out of hand very quickly. 

You also have to monitor who they are "friending." It's very common for them to friend people they don't know. It can be very innocent. A friend of theirs knows the person, so they friend them. Or they meet them once and friend them. Once they have friended the person, that person has access to everything on their page. They will quickly find out a lot of information about your child. 


We also have limits on texting and fb. There is no texting at home. Again, not because we are meanies. But because texting constantly takes away face time with your family. This is true for adults as well. So when she is at home, the phone is in the kitchen. We have limits on fb as well. In general, we keep an eye on how long she's been on it and try to help her not let it become addictive. 

The thing about all of this, is that it is a lot of work for the parents. It can be quite time consuming. So you have got to take that into consideration when making the decision to allow fb or a cell phone. You can't simply hand them these communication options and never check in. 

We are living in unprecedented times. Our children are being targeted and attacked by Satan in ways that we never were. And we need to be prepared and ready for battle. Communication with our kids is absolutely the key to keeping them safe. And if something slips by, as it did in our case this week, face it head on. Don't get angry. Be thankful that God brought it to light sooner rather than later. And use it as a teaching opportunity for you and your children. 

My week in review




I am linking up with Amy @ Filled With Praise for my week in review.



Filled With Praise



Huge blessings this week!

Our landscaping business is busy!! It's been very slow over the last couple of years and things are really picking up. It's a big change for all of us girls not to have our man around, but we are so thankful. He is really good at what he does, and it's such a blessing seeing him using his God given ability in a way that he loves. 

Check out more of his work....
His Scapes



Lows:
We didn't hear any word on our adoption this week. This is a very difficult wait. 



Lessons we're learning
We learned a lesson this week that was very difficult. We learned first hand the dangers of the internet with our children. God brought about great conversations and for that we are thankful. 


Thursday, May 5, 2011

In tha Muthahood



This is hysterical! 

Happy Mother's Day friends!!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Beautiful Beads for Adoption!






I have gotten so many compliments on my beads, that we decided to sell them to help fund our adoption. The colors are vibrant, they are long so you can use them for a two layer look or a bracelet as well. 


147 Million Orphans is an organization that sells t-shirts and accessories and uses the proceeds to feed, educate, and empower people all over the world. They offer these products to adopting families at wholesale to help with fundraising.
Some African women earn their living making these beads. According to 147 Million Orphans, many of these women formerly picked trash or worked as prostitutes to make a living. 147 Million Orphans buys the beads for a fair price and sells them to adoptive families to use as fundraisers. 147 Million Orphans also donates the proceeds from these to the Amazima Feeding Program. 


So for $20, you give a woman a safe and sustainable way to earn a living, support Amazima's feeding program, and help us fund our adoption! 
Delivery/Shipping is included for US buyers. 


To purchase beads, CLICK HERE


We will be taking orders through the end of May and then we will place an order. 

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Ordinary Hero sale extended!!


Ordinary Hero has extended their additional $500 grant opportunity until tomorrow night at Midnight!!!

If you haven't already, please check out their site. They have added lots of beautiful jewelery that will be perfect for Mother's Day or Graduation presents.

They also have t-shirts, totes, and many items that you can donate to families in need.

Thank you!!