Preparing for a new year...

This year has really flown by. We have been so involved with our church family, friends, and kids, that it left little time for anything else. This year was a good one! We have been so blessed with our finances, health, and new friendships. Christmas was good as well, and though the kids got less than they used to, they were all thankful and happy. Normally Christmas is hard for me emotionally, thinking about that child out there somewhere that needs a family. But this year we made many steps that give me hope for the near future. I think the setting up of the adoption account really made things real for me. Now if we can just get a few more details ironed out and get things started!

Ok now on a slightly unrelated note, I found these really neat Christmas Ornaments on clearance after Christmas at Meijer. They are made in Kenya by a company called 2Fysh that employs African people who have no other means of income. The company also produces some neat kids clothing items, purses, and coffee. I bought almost the entire line because they were just so neat. Instead of packing them away till next year, I decided to put them on a shelf in my bedroom. They are all made out of local materials. The bead chains are made from rolled paper beads, and are really neat. I got 3 of them so that I can use them as garland or something.


They also had tree skirts & stockings. I picked up one of the stockings.


Out of all of it though, this is my favorite. So simple but so beautiful.


2010 (and hopefully Ethiopia) here we come!

We have an account!

About 2 weeks ago I went to the bank and set up our official Adoption Checking Account and put a starter fund in it! Baby steps but we are getting there! It feels so much more real now. Still have a lot of decisions to make, and funds to raise, but we are getting there. Yay!

Also November is Adoption Awareness month, and November 8th is Orphan Sunday. Please check out the link on the side bar for more info on that event! This is something so very dear to my heart.

Really awesome jewelry!

I wanted to mention that I have also added a link on the side to this really cool Etsy shop & Blog called Junk Posse. They have some really amazing Christian Adoption wearable art. Check em out!

Slowly Rolling!

I know it has been ages since I have posted anything here. I wasn't really sure what to say. We had quite a few back and forth moments while continuing to discuss the adoption. Now we are slowly creeping forward! This week i set up the dedicated checking account for our adoption funds! It's a start at least. We still have not fully decided on the 'where from', or special needs vs. healthy child. Both of us have a heart for the special needs, however we need to be sure the we have the resources to be the best option for that child. So it is still undecided. I know that when God brings us *our* child, we will know by the peace in our hearts.

Meanwhile I am making all sorts of blankets. Most of them will probably end up going to an orphanage because no kid needs this many! lol I just can't help myself though.

Five years

It has been exactly 5 years since I felt that God first put that pull on my heart for adoption. Wow. I have learned and grown so much in that time. God has done incredible things in our lives, and hearts. And I have learned so much patience. Still working on that one though! This time of year rivals Christmas in the strange pull towards family expansion. Christmas is understandable. I am guessing the Spring surge has to do with hormones. LOL Why not, all the critters are feeling the twitterpation. Babymode has definitely set in.

If you read any adoption book, site, or blog, you will inevitably find something about bonding. Bonding parent to child, child to parent, children to each other, etc. While sitting in church this past Sunday listening to the speaker, I realized there is a whole lot of Me to God bonding going on. Bonding is not a one time occurrence. It happens slowly through many events, on a daily basis as we learn to trust. That is what has gone on through these 5 years and I am so thankful for every moment.

I did it. I am a Scrapper now!

A couple weekends ago I attended my first crop party. We didn't stay the full 12 hours, but did a good 6 hours worth of work and play. It was a lot of fun and I got a lot of ideas and won some cool scrapbook prizes. I did not have any pictures to do so I just made up some generic pages that I can fill in later. I had some scripture printed and took it with me to put om some of them. I even printed my favorite verse in both English and Amharic. I love working on it, and day dream often of the photos that will hopefully someday fill it. Since the party I have gone and gotten some more supplies and started one for our family album as well. It has been fun to go through all those old pictures I have had stashed away in boxes.

This is the first page of the baby's scrapbook.


This is the second page. The coupon is what hubby gave me for Christmas this year. He diaper pinned it onto a piece of fleece (with a puppy on it, which is now on the front cover of the scrapbook) and tucked it into a sewing box that he bought me. It says " This Coupon Good For ........ Ethiopia (Make a wish, and I'll do everything I can to make it come true.) Yes". Hubby had gone around saying "Yes" over and over for more than a month so I had a good idea that this was coming. The verse I put on the page is John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.", which seems to fit right in with the people running on the coupon. Now I know that is not the complete context of this verse, and I am usually a stickler for that sort of thing, but God called us to be like Jesus and care for the orphans & widows so It is not that far fetched.


Yesterday we swapped bedrooms with our 4 girls so that they would have more room, as our bedroom(which held my office/studio) was larger. Still have a bit more stuff to move around, sort, and find places for. When I set up our room I kept thinking about where the crib could go. Baby fever hits me hard in the Spring, and this one is no exception. I really hope we can get started on this soon! I keep reading a few other blogs I follow, and watching their journeys, hoping ours is not in the too distant future.

The Tote

For the past two and a half years or so I have had a tote that I kept baby things in as they were collected. Most of the stuff is things from the clearance racks that was just too cute to pass up. I usually only permit myself to purchase if it is a really good deal, since we obviously have time yet. There is no rush. Every once in a while I see something really cute and will pay full price if it is not too much.

The tote has grown in the past 3 months to a larger size. It got so I could not shut the lid on the other without employing duct tape. LOL There are also the assorted toys, mostly safari themed, and some announcement cards I found for like 25 cents per package.

The latest addition is a scrap book that I want to create to document our little ones home coming and the adventure after he comes home. I wanted to make a cover for it so I made it to coordinate with the quilt I made for him. I also got some scrapbooking stuff that was cute. I don't want the whole thing to be really baby-ish but I do plan to do some of it that way.

Now I have a confession to make. I have never done anything like the new scrapbook type stuff they have out. I have actually kind of balked at the thought of it. It just seemed so cutesy. Haha. I apologize to all you scrapbookers out there. I hope you won't give up on me. I have come a long way. ;)

Providence

The last month or so has been rough. We have been a bit more financially tight than I would prefer, and our only working vehicle has had its mechanical issues. The economy stinks, and we disagree with the way that our government has decided to try to fix it. Hubby and I have some differences in our adoption plans that we need to prayerfully work out. In the financial pinch I find myself second guessing our decision to adopt. Will we have the emotional support from our families? Will we be able to find the funds needed? Through this I have allowed my faith in God's providence to be shaken when I know I should not have. God is good all the time.

I went to Dictionary.com and looked up providence. This is what it says:

prov⋅i⋅dence

-noun

1.	(often initial capital letter) the foreseeing care and guidance of God or nature over the creatures of the earth.

2.	(initial capital letter) God, esp. when conceived as omnisciently directing the universe and the affairs of humankind with wise benevolence.

3.	a manifestation of divine care or direction.

4.	provident or prudent management of resources; prudence.

5.	foresight; provident care.

Isn't that powerful? A manifestation of divine care or direction. God is good all the time. Directing the universe and the affairs of humankind with wise benevolence. God is good all the time.

In BSF we are studying Moses. The entire study revolves around God's providence. Every step of the way he just requires the people to have faith in him, and follow his commands. That is all he requires of us too. Why is that so hard?

Leviticus 26:3-13
" 'If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until the planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

" 'I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

" 'I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians: I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high. "

God's promises are eternal. He is unchanging and these promises are for us too. If I replace the word "Egyptian" with "sin" it parallels what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

"... I will walk among you and be your God, who brought you out of sin so you would no longer be slaves to sin: I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high. "

God is good all the time.

The last month I have been trying hard to do this. Giving our tithe even though money is tight. I know deep down that I do not need to worry. God's providence is beyond measure.

God is good all the time. AMEN!

ps. My favorite verse is Hebrews 11:1. That verse leads me through over and over. When I was researching agencies, I just could not settle. Then I opened up the Holt packet again after having them tucked away a while and there on the inside on a bookmark is that verse. It came to mind as I was typing this post up tonight. Well, I posted and went to read it to make sure the formatting and everything came out ok. you will notice I have a Verse of the day widget on the side of this blog. Well guess what verse came up. Hebrews 11:1. God is so good. I put my hand on my mouth and my eyes teared up. God is good.

New Quilt

I have wanted a nice BIG quilt for our bed so I decided that that would be my next project. The one that inspired it is called Haute Chocolates (seen here) . I have most of the fabric picked out before I decided on the design and knew pretty quickly that this one was perfect. I love blues and browns! Yesterday at my mother-in-laws I cut out about half of the pieces. I still have to cut out all of the Double X blocks and assemble them. That will probably take me a month. Which is great because it will help kill the time between now and when we can start the real adoption paperwork. The Social worker called while we were gone on Wednesday and she won't be back in her office until Monday so I have to wait till then to get back with her. Still debating between domestic waiting child and Ethiopia.