Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The best deal Target has to offer!!!!

I decided I should not keep this deal to myself. While shopping in Target a couple of weeks ago I was walking through the food isles (no, it isn't a Super Target) and found the deal of the year on... PINTO BEANS!!!! We use them in chili which is a winter staple so when I noticed that they were only .26 a can I was elated!!! Last time I was there I grabbed eight cans. The lady next to me was a little shocked and I said to her, "I have to stock up, this is cheaper than ALDI!!!!" She was excited too! If you know of any other great deals like this... let me know!!!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

My 4th and last post of the day... a funny photo...

This Christmas our nephew bonded with Brandon's cousin's son. Both baby boys were celebrating their first Christmas, but Baby S is much bigger. We put them together for a photo and S went for A's nose immediately. Baby A sat there stunned and we all laughed. We are thankful that no harm was done and that this photo was able to capture it!!!!

"There's No Me Without You" is an AMAZING book... and I am not done yet!!!

I received many wonderful adoption books for Christmas. I have read one called "Answers in Abundance" and would recommend it. I started reading my second, "There's No Me Without You" and have been blown away. It is very informative and heartbreaking. Not only does it give very helpful information on Ethiopia's history and the history of AIDS, it also tells the amazing story of Haregewoin, a woman who opened up her home to MANY AIDS orphans. The number of orphans in Ethiopia will boggle your mind. Many of you know that I cry easily, but the numbers are so staggering that I can't even cry. I am numb! I know my heart is changing. I am now wondering if I will have the courage to act on what I now know. This is the kind of book that can change your life. If anyone is considering an Ethiopian Adoption... PLEASE read this book!!! I am sure there will be more to come as I read more!

Stepping Stone and "Wait" poem

I have subscribed to the "Stepping Stones" newsletter for about a year. If you are going through infertility there is no greater resource I have found. I just received the last issue a few days ago and there was a wonderful poem in it about waiting. I really relates to so many more things than just a baby so I wanted to share it with all of you. I just realized I have a dear friend who has posted this on her blog too... well hopefully someone will appreciate it today!!! I know as we wait on graduation, jobs, adoption etc it is so fitting!!!
Wait
by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

My "Resting Place" is no longer the Internet!

Friends,
You might have noticed that it has been a couple of weeks since I posted on here... and there is a reason. We no longer have internet in our home. At first it was really hard for me to deal with. I am ashamed to admit that now! It took me several hours to process through what had taken place. I had a conversation with God in my journal about my feelings and here is some of it:

"Being without internet has caused a wound in my heart. This is because for me, honestly, I confess the internet has become my resting place. When the day is hard I long to run to the comforts of my little laptop. My mind knows that You Lord, are my resting place! My heart in some ways longs for you to be my resting place, yet it also wants the easy and painless comfort of the computer. In the internet world I am among friends, others possibly escaping their messy realities and finding hope on a screen. They are like me, they love You and their husbands, they too have longed for You to fill their wombs and have found joy in adoption. They are my safe sisters. They don't often ask hard questions abut faith, life, marriage etc and I don't ask anything of them..."
I go on to ask God to become my true resting place again... to restore me to the joy of my salvation. Guess what??? He has!!!! Through the love and care of my Heavenly Father, my Good Shepherd and through the grace and love of the greatest husband, I have FOUND REAL JOY beyond the laptop! Thank you JESUS!
I am at the library now. I will still come weekly to respond to emails, facebook, and read and update my blog.
I seriously want to challenge each of you to search your heart and recognize your source of comfort. If it comes from the screen you are now staring at please turn it off and open God's Word! It will change your perspective and your life!!!

Leaving you with this verse...
"... You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with JOY, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever" Psalm 30:11-12
Amen!!!!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

It's Ganna!!!!

My Christmas tree is still up and our nativity sets are still filling our home with cozy Christmas joy. We are still listening to Christmas music and... besides laziness and not wanting to say good-bye to the special decorations we have an actual potential reason for keeping the Christmas season going... Ethiopia still follows the ancient Julian calendar, so Ethiopians celebrate Christmas on January 7. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church's celebration of Christ's birth is called Ganna. Now I can stretch the Christmas season a little longer as I honor the celebration of Christ's birth in Ethiopia! Thinking of so many sweet babies having their first Christmas in Ethiopia today... Have you all heard the Third Day song called "Merry Christmas"? It is on their Christmas offerings CD. For anyone who is waiting for baby to come home, grab a tissue before you listen!

.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Our First Christmas with our nephew!!!

Uncle Brandon, Aunt Shelly, Sweet Baby A, Mommy Adrienne and Daddy Chris
Uncle Brandon lets Baby A check out the angel on the tree

Aunt Shelly does the airplane dance with Baby A

Our favorite little Bear!

Christmas Day Brandon and Baby Santa
Shelly and Baby Santa

2009... it isn't mine!!!!!

I can't believe it is 2009! I feel like I thought for so long that this year would never come. When Brandon applied to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School back in 2004 his 2009 graduation date seemed a lifetime away and yet, here it is. When I sat down with the Lord on January 1st I had much to discuss :) As an act of surrender I wrote out all of my HUGE prayer requests for the year, things like: a job for Brandon, selling the townhouse, moving/transition, Ethiopia adoption, etc... This year is FILLED with unknowns. While writing the list I realized that the requests were all about ME! The Lord has a plan bigger than ours and this day (year) is HIS not mine!!! I know that this New Year's Revelation is not a one time surrender. There will be many times each day (hour) that I need to lay these requests before God. I know he loves to hear the prayers of my heart, but how much more does He love surrender and obedience! May He increase and we decrease this year dear friends!!!

Friday, January 2, 2009

2008 the year of WAIT!!!

In some ways it felt like 2008 was a year of constant waiting. When I look back through my journal I am reminded of God's faithfulness through the wait, but in almost every page I see God's answer to my many prayers was WAIT... NOT YET! In 2008 I began to realize a bit more about the journey of life (with great help from my dear husband). I often look ahead to destinations, but my husband enjoys the journey. 2008 was a beautiful year of "journey" for me. There were no destinations and no huge changes... 2009 could be a different story!!!

Home!

We are finally home from our weeks of traveling. It was so wonderful to spend Christmas with our families! More posts and photos to come!