Prayer Request Sunday

Welcome to Prayer Request Sunday!

God bless you dear friends.

Can I pray for you today and through this week? I count it a privilege to stand before God's throne with you and your need. Leave me a love note and we'll get busy, okay?

Adoption and Bonding-the how to's.

God never ceases to amaze me in our adoption journey.

My Knight and I are so thankful for how God has taken us and blessed us with bonding with Princess Mercy. Not only are her parents head over heals in love with her, but each of her siblings are totally and utterly in love. We are blown away by how God has worked out this detail, above and beyond anything we could ask or think.

If you are having issues with bonding, I'd be happy to pray for you. Honestly, God has all our answers and He is our help in time of need.

I'd love to see Him working in your family too!

Ephesians 3:20

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us...

Sewing Seeds Project 2009-Costa Rica!

Randi's Sewing Seeds Ministry

I asked Princess Mercy if she would like to help show all the beautiful skirts and shorts that came via packages from all over the world. She said, "Uh-huh!"

We won't show all of them...but let me tell you each of them were beautiful and certainly will be a blessing to a wee one in Costa Rica.

My friend Randi's Sewing Seed Project was a fabulous success!

We gathered from around the globe, 176 skirts and 53 pairs of shorts for boys. What an awesome blessing they will be in Costa Rica, on my sweet Bella's mission trip (July 7-17th).

Thank you all for joining in on this ministry. What beautiful hearts you have. I am sure many children will be greatly blessed. Last I heard they will be going to some Nicaraguan refuges, that the Costa Rican team will be ministering to during their 10 days.

Would you like to follow along on the trip?

Mergeahead.com

Thanks again...your generosity really brought tears to my eyes.

May the windows of heaven be open over your lives sweet friends.

My Orphan Dream

I know I am on a rest...but wanted to share the dream I had last night with you.

*******************

I am a young dirty orphan girl. I am alone and begging in the streets. My hands are so dirty that I can't tell the actual color of my skin. I am hungry. I desperately search the ground to find stray coins, so that I can get some food.

I meet an orphan boy. He is as dirty and hungry as me. We decide to stay together to look for coins for food.

Many years go by, we are still together, dirty and hungry, but now we are teenagers. The King sees us digging with sticks in a back abandoned field, we are looking for lost coins. Occasionally, we find a dime or a penny, we look all day hoping to find enough to by some bread for our aching hunger.

The King brings us into his castle. He adopts us. I marry the orphan boy who is now a Prince, cleaned up I can see He is my *Knight.* As we sit in the very beautiful room that is ours, outside the door a line begins to form. Orphans have been dropped off outside the door, knowing that we will take them in. Knowing that the King will let us keep them.

In my dream I am still a teenager, but now I am a mother of many. So many orphans brought into the King's protection, into His loving care. I am chosen to be an instrument of His love.

*************************

That King in my dream was Jesus...and the mission is very real. I really was an orphan, but God adopted me into His family, when I asked Jesus into my heart. He has a plan for my life and though no one has yet brought me their children...the Holy Spirit has brought me 6 beautiful children, who once were orphans too. Perhaps a line is forming outside the door?

The door is God's and He will certainly tell us when to open it and invite those orphans to come in to stay forever.

A little rest

Somethings that I hope to be doing:

learning to knit a pair of mittens (thanks Emily)

start my second pair of socks (knitted on double pointed needles)

make a couple of crocheted baby hats for Mercy

read All Creatures Great and Small

read my bible as the sunrises

have the Holy Spirit speak to me

receive a fresh vision from heaven for my family and me

take a long walk in the woods with my family

take more pictures and videos

How about you...any dreams for your summer?

and by the way...

Please feel free to leave your prayer requests, I never stop praying!

We refuse to let the rain depress us!

It has been raining for a month now in our state.

I began to think *hey, I better do something or we are all going to get depressed*

Wha~lah...Rainbow Pancakes...for lunch!

Sour Cream Pancakes

~Rainbow style~

Makes 16ish pancakes

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups of sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup flour (can use whole wheat)

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients, mix with a wooden spoon. Separate out in small bowls some batter, add food coloring to each bowl, we used purple, yellow, green, red and blue.

Heat your griddle or pan to medium high. Grease cooking surface.

When surface is hot, drop desired amount on to the griddle. With a spoon or syringe drizzle assorted colors onto pancake. When pancake begins to get bubbly, flip.

Load up a stack, butter and drizzle with pure maple syrup. Or cover in peanut butter like my oldest likes and roll up like a burrito. Eat and enjoy.

We made enough to have left overs, as it looks like it is going to rain some more, sigh.

The kids think I am so cool, as a little bonus.

From deep within

I have to confess, I have a broken heart.

If you have ever experienced one, you'll be sympathetic. If you ever browsed pages of

*waiting children* perhaps you will be able to relate.

On Friday, I popped into our agency's waiting child pages. For the past few months, we have been praying over a sibling group of three. I had cried out to God so many times for Him to rescue them. I asked Him if it could be *us.* We talked to the agency, but they said we had to wait the full 9 months post adoption. The rule is so that bonding could happen and be well rooted, before you embarked on becoming emotionally involved in another adoption. I understand the rule, I just don't like it. Especially now.

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled they found a family for them. However, I really did love them. I find myself crying as I pray, crying as I read my bible, thinking about how I opened my heart to them.

Of course this isn't the first time this has happened.

Actually, it has happened a lot of other times too.

Having a tender heart is a gift I am told. Sometimes I have to bow my head and just cry. I know full well, that Jesus is asking me to live it out. He doesn't desire that I keep my heart for myself, but that I open it up, pour it out and offer up the shattered pieces once again to Him.

Its good that I know He is in the healing business.

God has *others* for us, in due time He will direct our path. You and I can count on it. But for now Lord, would you watch over those 3 wee ones and prepare them for their new family. Let the healing begin and let them grow in wisdom and knowledge of You all of their days. May love flood them and may they receive it and give it out with abandon.

I ask this in Jesus' name. amen.

When everything seems against you...

As I was looking through pictures, I came across this in one of my files. As I passed it the Holy Spirit whispered that someone needed encouragement. As He spoke to my heart, I heard that we are just like this wee frog that Fozzdike is holding. However, we may be unaware that God has His Mighty Hand wrapped lovingly around us.

Sometimes things suddenly change, life becomes difficult, everything seems to loom against you, how good it is to know that God is holding us, if we are His. Get your heart and mind around it, our enemy would want us to think that He has forgotten us, that somehow we are quite alone in the midst of our situations.

How very untrue. God wants to remind you that He is holding you tight. He will carry you through, so gently and lovingly that you might now even be aware of His Presence.

Today, He just wants to remind you how much He loves you.

Ponder it and envision yourself in the palm of His Hand, take comfort ...and know that YOU are not alone...ever.

Proof:

the Hand

Strength

Watcher

Guard

Adoption ~Kingdom business...and Prayer Request Sunday

God has put it on my heart to use yesterday's post for today's Prayer Request Sunday. Shawnda had asked me to stand in prayer with her family, I'd be glad to do that with you as well.

Read on AND let's "do" what His family is supposed to...

Looking for an opportunity to be a blessing? Have adoption on your heart, but not sure what God wants you to do with it?

Well, I have a wonderful opportunity for you!! Would you like to help an orphan climb into the arms of his Mama and Papa?

My passionate friend Shawnda, Spirit of Adoption and her equally passionate hubby Jason Kovacs, Abba Fund Blog, are in need of some support for their latest adoption to Uganda. They are not using an agency, so are not able to apply for grant help to assist them with the cost of this adoption. Shawnda and Jason have several cool ways that you can come along side of them in this Kingdom opportunity...

• Jason is selling some awesome photographs!


• Some friends of theirs donated cd's to help raise money!

and

• they have a donate button on their sidebar.

Shawnda has made a list of prayer requests too...time is of the essence...please prayerfully consider what our Father would have YOU do. There is a beautiful Ugandan boy who is waiting to come HOME!

***spread the word!***

Pictures for our adoption update *Ethiopia*

Thought I'd share some of our 6 month *post adoption* pictures, required for our Ethiopian adoption follow-up.

We also sent a couple of these.

A park, prayer and the Holy Spirit

Upon invitation of one of my best friends (Beth) we embarked on a park date with a bunch of homeschooled friends.

In previous posts I have shared that lately I have been feeling particularly low. On top of it we've had strep throat and I have a sinus infection that is just plain gross. So before I left, I asked the Holy Spirit if somehow He could come with me to the park and use my life for His glory. A simple prayer, with heart, body and soul tied to it.

Shortly after our arrival and settling in chatting (moms), my daughter Princess Giggles brought over a new friend, her name was Laura. Along with Laura came her dad. You see Princess Giggles wanted her new park friend Laura to meet her new baby sister. The dad tagged along quietly. He commented on how nice Princess Giggles had been to his daughter and how cute our new baby was. I could see the pain in his eyes and feel the hunger for another child for his family.

I told him she came through adoption. That we were so blessed by God. About our adoption(s), Princess Giggles included. We talked about foster to adopt, we talked about the how to's, about international adoption. I shared about our agency, All God's Children and their Ethiopian program. I had his attention. God was squeezing his heart.

The night before he had talked to an adoption agency. He wasn't happy with them. He wasn't sure what to do next. But God did.

Turned out that he was in the same business as my Knight. We talked for quite a while, I introduced each of my children to him and my girlfriends. He commented on how nicely my children treated each other.

He was watching, soaking us in. He was not a man of faith...yet. But God is drawing him.

I gave him our email and told him he could call my Knight if he had any questions about our agency or adoption. He thanked me and said he definitely would.

Thank you Holy Spirit. Thank you for using my life and my family for your Kingdom business. I pray that that Jim and his family would come to you through Jesus. I pray for their child that awaits them, I ask you to put them on the path. Holy Spirit, I ask you to soften their hearts and to speak to them in tangible ways~gently wooing them to all you have for them.

In Jesus' name. Amen