Talking about Adoption...Healing

Sometimes healing comes in surprise packages.  

Our Miss Sunshine's arrived in a care package from Ethiopia, lovingly given by her Father in heaven.  The package was unwrapped over the past 11 months and each day that has gone by, we have noticed that our Miss Sunshine, who came to us very broken, has found a new confidence arising in her persona.  

The package given and opened, was none other than her 14 year old sister from Ethiopia.  Together they walk through each day, side by side.  Often they are laughing, or poking at each other, sometimes they are embracing or whispering over some tidbit of new information.  Together they press on into each new day.

We are so thankful, as we believe God for the wholeness that He desires them to live in.  When God first brings our children through adoption, most of them carry with them varying levels of brokenness.  You can imagine our hearts' rejoicing at new found wholeness, joy, love and the breaking away of the old shattered child.  

Our Father is in the healing-making whole business.  Sometimes it comes in pieces~ our healing, sometimes it is in a twinkling of an eye, but always He holds it waiting to impart it to us.

Rejoice with us won't you?

Great Website for Homeschool Worksheets!

I found this site last week

and thought you might be able to use it too! 

It is very organized, 

you can choose worksheets by grade and by subject! 

The cool thing is they also link to the workbook that the page came out of,

if you find something you really like that works for your child's learning style.

Helpful Educational worksheets!
look under headings (all grades) and (all topics)

some of the worksheets to choose from:

social studies

writing

reading

games

math 

science

arts and crafts

coloring

paper projects

and 

holidays and seasons!

The worksheets go from preschool up to high school, so a little bit of goodness for everyone.

(and I don't do many worksheets, but when we are nearing the end of our books I like to reinforce some of the concepts we have covered and perhaps fill in some of the areas we might be light in.)

Happy hunting!

Sprink or Spring?

I took this photo a few weeks back,

our world was full of ice and snow then. 

A trip to our mailbox sent me into a world of wonderland.  

Kind of beautiful in its blue hues, 

well beautiful as I look back,

not sure I truly appreciated it when it was covering my world.

Today the last bit of snow disappeared, 

funny it was right under these hemlocks that grace the end of our driveway. 

I am more than glad to see it gone 

and love the way our little Princess Mercy (2) says,

"Mama it's sprink,

are you happy?"

Yes, baby, your Mama is happy it's spring!

Would you like prayer?

Leave me a note and together we will lift your needs up to our loving Father.  
He already knows, but He loves it when two
or more gather together and bring the need to Him together. 

I do hope all is well with you!

Of course if you want to share something cool God has done in your life

...we'd love to hear all about it! 

Feasting on His Goodness

How about a new Saturday posting...

I am calling it,

Feasting on His Goodness, 

*(feel free to join in!)*

Psalm 34:8

O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him.

1. for peace in the midst of loss  

 2.  for our adoption application with our new agency... 

we were accepted into their program! 

(even though we are considered a HUGE family!)

3.  for friends who called and came over to make sure we were okay after we put our sweet dog down.

4.  for spring and the hope it brings.

5.  for a girlfriend who is standing up against the foster care system and how it is operating in her adoption process.

6. for a great nights sleep

7.  for a sweet 2 year old who makes me laugh at times when I really need it.

8.  for expectation of another child being added to our family

9.  for being able to pray for this child by name (Shalom!)

10.  for the library and a fresh basket of books for the children to read 

11.  for the library's notice that comes to my email when one of our 60 returned books didn't make it back to the library

12.  for quickly finding the book (which slid behind the cabinet)and getting it back before it was deemed *late.* 

How about you?

Would You Pray for my Mum?

Would you pray for my mum? 

She accidently ran over her dog, he died in their arms this morning.

She is very upset and really could use some prayer.  

My mum-in-love also called crying this morning, seems today they got news from their vet that their young dog has terminal cancer.  Both my mother-in-love and my father-in-love are very upset at this news.

Not a good week for the doggies I know and love. 

Thanks for praying for us...

 we are healing up after having to put our 6 year old Golden Retriever, Hunter, down Monday.

Isn't it nice that we can hold each other up at times such as these?

A Tribute to Hunter-Man's Best Friend

Yesterday we said our final good-byes to our Hunter.  

The cancer had taken over Silly Bunter and he was beginning to show signs of pain.  Saying good-bye is never easy.  My heart aches.  He was my faithful companion, never more than a few feet away from me at any given moment.  How strange to lose your own shadow.  How upsetting when you look to see him beside you and you begin to realize that it will never be again.

Hunter was only with us for 5 years. We found him on Petfinders, though they claimed he was a girl in his little ad for a family. He brought us much joy over the course of his short life.  He only got to live 6 years on this earth, for the past four years we had battled the tumor. He was very valiant and never once complained about the tumor that seemed to be ever present in his mouth and face. 

We prayed and believed God for healing for him, 

but instead God decided it was time for Hunter to leave us.  

I will miss him terribly. 

Now as I type tears are welling up again in my eyes.  

Of course, it is better to have loved than to never have loved at all.

Prayer Request Sunday (a little early)

Hi Friends!

 Welcome to Prayer Request Sunday!

Have you popped in for prayer?

I decided to post a wee bit early, as Sundays have turned into a busy day...we do morning church with our church and then pop home for a quick bite for lunch. We then head out to our Ethiopian Church for a few hours of the afternoon.  It is a busy day, but one filled with joy for all of us.

Time does seem to fly these past few months.  God has blessed us with all sorts of lovely surprises.  This morning I walked a 5k with a girlfriend from church.  The afternoon was spent running errands with two of my friends from church. Bless friends who will take you grocery shopping to the food warehouse I frequent (and drive), then take you in search of decent t-shirts (meaning not the poor quality ones that I keep buying at Target!)  My family managed smashingly without me and I came home to a sparkly clean house, with a roaring fire in the fireplace- food in stock and t-shirts at a great price from the mall that I rarely enter! Friends are lovely...especially when they hear your cries and jump to make it happen. Blessed indeed!

I am ready and willing to join you in whatever is on your heart.

  If you send me a note, or leave me a comment-

we can get busy lifting your prayers to our Heavenly Father.

Anything new in your end of the world you'd like to share today?

Reading, Authors and Jesus Loves Me...

A few things about us:

• We love Jesus...All of us.

(*I mean we are crazy for Him!)

• We love to read...All of us.

• I try to teach the kids to choose good books(if you are going to read, make time for books that are not junk).
  They can be fun, but nothing that Jesus wouldn't sit down to read himself.

• Our youngest who is nearing her 3rd birthday (I know HOW did this happen so fast?) 
  Loves to be read to.

Her favorite books currently are

A Mother for Choco 

By Keiko Kasza.

 and 

Sleepy Squirrel

By Amye Rosenberg

(we told her the author of Choco just once 

and she loved her name so much 

that she began to ask each books author

AND then she began to memorize them.)

A Mother for Choco is a sweet book about a little bird in search of his Mama.  

He can't find one who looks just like him, but when Mrs. Bear find him crying,

she listens to his heart and after a few more pages...

it becomes a beautiful adoption story.

Our little princess has it memorized.  

If you ask her 

she recites the whole book from heart,

including the author.

The other day I found her sitting on the kitchen bench 

with her older sister's childhood Bible in her lap.

  She sat there staring at the cover, 

soaking in all of the letters she is just learning

and trying to figure out what every word must say.  

I stopped what I was doing to listen and this is what I heard:

"The HOLY Bible,

By:  Jesus Loves Me."

She opened it up and began to read, just like she sees all of us do each day. 

She claimed this Bible for her own now and

sits quietly reading to herself, in her imaginary two year old way.

I am sure that God must be smiling at how she signed His name to the cover. 

Every time I pick up my Bible, 

I will always remember that it is by Jesus Loves Me. 

 And by the way, He loves you just as much!

Enjoy your Friday friends!

A Note From my Childhood

 Once upon a time

I was a wee lass

and my mum read to me daily.

 One of my very favorites was when she read from

A Child's Garden of Verses

by Robert Louis Stevenson.

I loved the poems that became pictures 

in my wee little brain.

How I held that book close 

and studied the illustrations, 

even before I could read the words myself.

The book reminds me of childhood,

of spring,

of times in my mother's lap,

of wood swing sets, 

of hours spent in my room paging carefully, 

ever so carefully through the wonderful illustrations. 

Somewhere I have the book tucked away,

perhaps today is the day I need to go down to the cellar bookshelf

and pull it out for my children to enjoy.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

What if... (All about You)

It's March

and in my end of the world

it is still cold, wet and rather gray. 

I was thinking perhaps 

we could be a bit silly 

(to help pass the time) 

and share a bit of our 

*What If* desires.

So here goes...

What if 

you came into a Bazillion dollars suddenly,

you are told as part of the inheritance you MUST do one thing for yourself...

what would that thing be?

for me~

hmmm...

I think I'd hire a massage therapist...

nothing like massage to take away the knots and kinks that develop in my shoulders from the daily grind.

(or maybe someone to come brush my hair for hours ;-)

Okay, now how about you?  

What if...

Prayer Request Sunday

Need prayer? 

I'd love to pray with you this week...

leave me a note and we will jump start our week with prayer!

Ethiopian Orphans Need OUR Help

We have got word (not rumor) 
that adoption to Ethiopia is in trouble.

Our agency, All God's Children International has asked us to rally the troops to action.  The orphans need our help or they face the reality of hope for no future, no dream of adoption to come for them. 

My daughter shared with us that for 3 months there was NO food for the 54 orphans in her orphanage.  They got one small piece of injera (a flat sour-dough bread) that they would divide into three meals.  They cried out to God to please send help to them, their need was desperate, it was real. She lived in an orphanage for 5 years, she cried out daily for God to bring her a family.  God heard their prayers and sent a woman to help them, she began to find them homes and families...

and this is my testimony;

that I am one of those homes that she found. 

Won't you sign the petition ,
aimed at Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi.
We are urging him to reconsider the recent decisions made on behalf of the orphans of Ethiopia.  

I love this country,
I love these people,
my heart cries desperately for the orphans.
Let our voices be heard,
please share this very real need with your readers (Twitter, Facebook, Blogs...)
so that we can get 250,000 signatures before March 12th.  

We have to take action...won't you join us?
And would you please pray that adoption would not be stamped out of Ethiopia, as it has in so many other countries.  

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Something I Heard

Two Kinds of People

There are two kinds of people...

One that has something to say. 

And one who always has to say something.

This made me stop and think,

then giggle a little,

as I think it might be true.

Happy midweek to you...how's things in your world today?

Announcement...and Prayer Request Sunday

Praising God, because He has spoken to my heart. 

As I was listening to a podcast on my ipod this past week, (by Steve Stewart from Impact Nations), God spoke to me in a HUGE way.  As some of you know, we are in process to adoption.  It has been an uphill, downhill rather confusing type of paperwork chase this round.  We thought we were going to Ethiopia, but the door closed, we have been working on waiver forms with our state to get us past their "you can only have 6 children" rule.  We continue to battle and wait ...knowing that God will make the way, His perfect and pleasing way.

But this week God enlarged my vision...

He has put destiny into my heart with this larger vision.  In the past we have looked to Him in naming our children, this week as I sat on a stationary bike, peddling away, He spoke to me the name of my daughter.  

He has put in my heart a rescue mission-one that would save a wee babe from abortion (maybe you noticed the love note on my sidebar).  I have been praying and waiting on Him to move.  I can't say that it hasn't been difficult, perhaps I have found this the hardest road yet in the adoption call.  

What He spoke changes everything.  He spoke the word Shalom.  I linked so that you could read what it means and hear the Word spoken over my sweet yet to be daughter's life.  God has a plan one of protection, safety and wholeness for her life.  Praise God!!  We are now praying for her by name and believing God to continue to open doors for us to get to her.  The road is still rather long, but we are thinking it will lead us to Lifeline and our beautiful African American daughter.

Thought you'd like to know and that you too would add our Shalom to your prayers.

Would you like prayer this week?

Ethiopian Adoption-11 months Post- Changes

Princess Sweetness now

Our girl looking at us for the first time in a photo album we sent to her.

Her friends from Emmanuel Children's Home (Orphanage)...

look on, 

as she meets us for the first time.

and then...

Then we came to bring her home. 

We traveled all the way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to make her ours. 

What an amazing girl.  

She speaks three languages now (Oromo, Amharic and English).  

Today on our way home from the library

(one of our favorite things to do in all this world), 

we were discussing how someday she will be big and perhaps fall in love. 

I told her that I will buy her

a mitad 

for a wedding present, maybe two (a mitad is the flat grill that they make the injera on (injera is the flat bread they eat, like the rice they eat in China).  

She smiled at me and said she would come use my mitad, she could bring her injera home with her, 

BUT that she would really like if I would buy her a *PASTA MAKER!*  

Laughing out loud. 

This is the same girl who ate almost 100% Ethiopian food for the first 9 months of her coming to our family.  Mama was happy to do it for her (and for us...we love it too).  It wasn't until last week that she ate her first bowl of salad.  I nearly cried when she asked for a bowl to put it into (like the rest of us.) 

The first salad for her was just the salad, no dressing.  But the next night (we eat a mixed salad, romaine, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, red pepper, red onion, cucumber, red cabbage)  she put on dressing (her choice was French dressing, which I told her that many children like because it is sweet).  I looked at her an smiled, abigsmile.  She ate it all. 

The next night she added croutons and she said, "After all, I am just like you."

Yes, my daughter, you are.  And I will happily buy you an Atlas pasta maker for a wedding gift.  I will look back and remember this time, perhaps with a tear running down my cheek.  I will remember how when I retold the story to your Papa, how he laughed and asked if you too were becoming a bit Italian

(like your Papa).  

My God is amazing. 

And if you think 13 years old is too old to be adopted, I'd ask you to take a look at me and step out in faith.  Life is full of all kinds of wonderful surprises. 

My new daughter is certainly one of them!