November - National Adoption Month

If you’ve spent any amount of time around here, you know me. And my heart.
And well, it is National Adoption Month, and a BIG part of my heart belongs to orphans. There is no denying that God has completely changed the path that we are going down right now.  You see we were living our lives comfortably and doing some things to help, but I have always had the desire to adopt more and my husband, well not so much!  So I began to advocate for the children that still wait for families.  Go Here  to read that post.

I say this to let you know that even if you are not adopting, there are many things that you can do to help a child who needs a family. 

Here is something we all can do.

Pray. There are so many little ones that need prayer. If you want to pray specifically for a little one, there are many listed on Rainbow Kids.  I love this site.  They advocate for children all around the world.  I encourage you to print out a picture of a little one who waits and put it on your mirror or refrigerator. Pray that this child will be adopted into a family and be able to know the love of a mom and dad.  It will not only be a blessing for that child, but it will be a blessing for you.

Support. Consider sponsoring a child. We have used World Vision and Compassion International to sponsor children by sending a monthly donation.  We are able to write letters and send small gifts to them and they in turn write back to us.  We have grown to love these children and their families that are less fortunate than we are.  There is nothing like knowing that you are partnering in the future of a child's life.

Koli is in Ghana and needs a sponsor.

This adorable little girl in Thailand needs a sponsor.

There are also many charities that do wonderful work in countries around the world and would be so blessed by your partnership.  Here are some that I am familiar with that help in China.

An Orphan's Wish
Half The Sky
Love Without Boundaries
New Day Foster Home
Show Hope

You might also just want to make a one time donation to help with medical care or provide chickens or a goat for a family.  That could be the best Christmas gift of all for a family.

You can also support other adoptive families.  This could be done through prayer, financial support or simply loving and caring for them once they have their new child home. That could mean taking them meals, babysitting, or just giving them someone to talk to.  Adoption is a significant undertaking – like having a baby(or so I've heard. lol), but MUCH more challenging – and newly adoptive parents can use all the help they can get especially in the first year that they are home.  Not only are they busy working on establishing a relationship with their new child, but some families have to master the language barrier, and some have children with medical issues and will have to be visiting doctors on a regular basis.  It is a big change for everyone in the home as well as the adoptive child, trying to figure out where everyone "fits" in.

Adopt. Of course, you can consider adoption. Consider giving a little one the gift of a forever family of their very own.  As much as I believe our family was called to adoption, I do not believe that all Christians are. But if you have thought about it, truly prayed about it and believe that God might be calling you to pursue an adoption, I encourage you to prayerfully take that first step of faith. If you have any questions about adoption I would be glad to help you or guide you in the right direction. 

And then just do it!  Jump in with both feet and take this journey!    Because that is what life is....a journey.  Don't just sit back and let life pass you by.  That's not what God wants.  He wants his people to enjoy all that He has given them.  "not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
1 Timothy 6:16-18

God doesn’t want His people to stand around, waiting for someone else to do what needs to be done. He wants us to get in there and get to work, even when it’s not easy and even when it’s not comfortable. Sometimes it’s in the doing that you find the joy and the desire, so don’t wait until it feels like the ‘right time’ – you might well be waiting forever.

I promise that if you step out, even in just a small way, to care for just one of the “least of these”, you will also be blessed in the process.

‘For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.’
– Matthew 25:37-40

Haircuts in the Park

Our Second Annual Haircuts for the Homeless was a great success!

 This year instead of being outside at the park with a generator, we had access to this salon!

Last year we had 4 ladies cutting hair.  This year we had 9 ladies and 1 guy cutting hair!

 

 

 Thank you to everyone who helped to make this a success.  Everyone who got their haircut was extremely grateful.

We are hopeful that in providing this service we were able to help someone get a job or perhaps just feel better about themselves.  We know we sure had fun.  This is what is means to be the hands and feet of Jesus!

ORPHAN SUNDAY

November is National Adoption Month.  Many organizations, churches and people do a lot of advocating during this month to bring awareness to the children who are in crisis situations and in need of families. 

 

November 4th was ORPHAN SUNDAY.

On Orphan Sunday, Christians stand for the orphan. We are a people called to defend the fatherless…to care for the child that has no family…to visit orphans in their distress.

The goal of Orphan Sunday is to make others aware of God's great love for the orphan and to find your part in how you can help. 

 

 

This year Robbie and I were honored when our church asked us to speak before the congregation.  We told how amazingly blessed we were to be able to adopt a child and see how her life has changed the lives of so many others.  You see, by following God's call to "help the orphan" we brought home a beautiful little girl.  Two years later we adopted again.  In sending our girls to preschool, one of their teachers has also adopted two children.  Friends of ours have adopted.  Friends of our friends have seen their families and adopted.  Not only has God used this one little girl to change our lives, but He has used her to bring at least 12 other children into loving homes as well.

We love that God placed the need to "help the orphan" on our hearts.  That is why instead of expanding our family biologically we are adopting again. 

 

 

Our pastor asked everyone to bring in children's shoes. These shoes were then placed on the steps to the alter. At the end of our one hour service there were 150 pairs of children's shoes on the steps. This is the number of children who became orphaned while we held service. 

1 hour, 150 children orphaned!

 

 

 

What can you do to help?  Pray.  Pray that God would open your eyes to help these chldren in a practical way.  I understand that not everyone can adopt(though I wish it were so), but you can make a difference in a child's life. 

You can sponsor a child.  Compassion International is a great organization.  www.compassion.com

You can become a foster parent.

You can help a family who has foster chldren.

You can volunteer at a foster home facility.

You can offer your time and/or services/hobbies to help someone fundraise for their adoption.

Here is a great place to look at other ideas as well:

http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org/agencies-and-ministries/advocacy/

What a Beautiful Day

We had a yard sale this past weekend.  I know, I know we are always having yard sales.  This is our 4th one just this year!  We have held a yard sale for each of the families that we know that are adopting.  We all gather stuff and when we have enough, we have a yard sale.  When I first started doing this, I asked people all the time if they wanted to donate anything.  Now, people approach me and tell me that they have items to put in our next sale.  It is awesome!  I have been doing this for the past four years now.  The proceeds of these sales go to the family who is closest to bringing their child home.  If there is not a family that we know of in the adoption process, we have a Foster Home in China that we support.

Well this sale was a little different because it was for our family.  I feel really comfortable asking for donations and money if it is for someone else, but have a hard time if it is for me.  So when it came to pricing the items, I just couldn't think. 
The morning of the sale, I made a sign that said all procceeds would go towards bringing our daughter home from China and I asked the Lord to bless the day.  The first few people started to arrive, and I still had not priced anything.  The first person came and asked how much her stuff would be.  I told her, "We have wonderful friends who have blessed us by donating all these items.  Please pick out what you would like and think of a fair price and that is the price you will pay."  I had a lot of people give me some very puzzled looks, I had some people who took advantage of that, and I even had some people put their things back and say they couldn't think of a price.  But for the most part, most of the people were fair and some were even generous. 
And I made a few more contacts.  This time with an organization who helps children who have been removed from their homes because they are in a dangerous situation.  They place these children into a safe shelter until they can return home safely or until they can find a place for them to live.  Man, the Lord really knows my heart!

Thank you Lord for blessing us with such a wonderful day!
 

Did we "Survive" the Week?

This week I spent less than $10.00 on our grocery bill.  No, I did not leave out some zeros on that number.  If you remember my post from HERE. Then you will know what I am talking about.  I went to the store and bought a gallon of milk, some shredded lettuce, and two bell peppers.

This was our menu for the week.

For breakfast:
eggs and bacon
my daughters famous pancakes (those are chocolate chips and syrup)
eggs and toast
cereal (three days)
On each of these days we ate whatever fruit we had, grapes, banannas and apples.
We drank milk each morning.

For Lunch:
hamburgers
Ramen noodles (my girls favorite)
chicken salad sandwiches (2 days)
peanut butter sandwiches (2 days)
ham sandwiches
There were also chips, fruit, apple sauce, raisens, bell peppers, nuts and towards the end of the week Halloween candy mixed in there.
We drank water.

For Dinner:
potato soup and potato chips (to kick us off)
Boston Butt (two nights - and some put in the freezer)
spaghetti
tacos (two nights - we love tacos)
stir fry chicken
We drank water or milk.

 

 

Did I mention, we LOVE tacos?

 

 

Yummy, stir fry chicken

 

Come and Get It!

We delivered our Boston Butts for our fundrasier.  We had a lot of fun on this chilly morning.  Thanks to everyone who purchased a Boston Butt or Chicken.

 

 

 

I had quite the helper!

Celebrating 90 years!

Poppy

 

 

We had a blast celebrating a birthday last weekend!
Robbie's dad turned 90!
  So many people came out to wish him a happy birthday.

 

 

Family

 

 

 

 

Neighbors

 

 

 

 

 Friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone pitched in to help 

 

 

We had a great time.

 Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us!

 

 

Survivor

Have you ever listened to Focus on the Family?  They have some really good information.  Their radio broadcast the other day was about Christmas and how stressed people get, how they spend money that they do not have, and try to do too many things.

One of the ideas that I liked was called "Survivor".  It is a way that you can save money quickly.  That sounded GREAT to me.  With Christmas in less than two months and adoption fees coming at us left and right, I turned up the volume.

Basically you "Survive" out of your refridgerator/freezer and pantry for two weeks.  The concept is that you save the money that you would have spent on groceries and eating out for those two weeks.  She said that you could go to the store and buy milk and produce, but "no one is gonna die if they don't get that for 2 weeks".  So you can be as strict as you want.

Well it is Friday.  That typically means family movie and pizza night.  I wasn't sure how this would go over.  I told the kids that tonight we were going to get our movie(free) and play "Survivor".  Elise caught on real quick.  "You mean leftovers?"  Her worst nightmare.
"Yes", I said, "but each of you can help me pick something out of the pantry."

So here was our dinner last night:

Potato Soup and Potato Chips!

 

Listen to the Nudges

All week I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off!!!  Last night I wished someone would cut my head off it hurt so bad.  Tension headache?  Stress headache?

So much to do:  Check on FaceBook to see if items I posted on the online yard sale have sold, check to see if there are any more orders for Boston Butts or chickens, pick up checks for pre orders for the Boston Butts or chickens, order the meat for the sale and arrange pick up times for storing, cooking and delivering, check my email for the hundredth time to see if our homestudy is complete, call to make arrangements for someone to get the kids from school thursday because of a schedule conflict,etc

All this between, packing lunches, planning dinner, getting the kids to school, piano, tennis and gymnastics, volunteering at the school, bible study, go vote, and did I mention my husband is out of town on business?
Just typing all of this makes me tired! lol

Then this morning I got a call from my friend who really has every reason to be stressed out.  They have been working towards adopting their child and they hit a BIG bump in the road.  Can't give details now, but they need lots of prayer.

So today, I will take things a bit slower.  I will trust that everything will get done in due time. 

I made a list, so I wouldn't worry about forgetting something.
5 places to stop today.

At noon I had only been to one of the places on my list, and one place not on my list.  I had also added two more stops to my list. 

It's ok, take it slow.

I get into town and go to one more place on my list.  I call a friend to see if they can eat lunch.  They have already had lunch.  On to the next stop.

It's now 2:00 super hungry, never had lunch, one more stop to make.  agh, please don't let me get a headache today because I didn't eat.  Next stop, the grocery.  I only need three items. I can run in and grab my stuff and be home before the kids get off the bus.

I get my things and head to the self check out.  It's quick and fast.  Again I hear, slow down. 

I stop and look at the lines.  Ok, the express line has two people in front of me.  I get in line.  Should I have gotten something to eat?  No, I will be home soon, I can eat then.  Robbie likes to say that I am thrifty, but if I have food at the house I very rarely eat out.  One person in front of me.

I check my phone 2:30.  I'm good, I can still make it to the house, get something to eat (I could gnaw my arm off by now) and get the kids off the bus in time.  I look up again, same person still in front of me.  We have tennis tonight so I need to hurry and get dinner started.  I look again and the same man is still in front of me.  I look at the conveyor belt, 2 packages of hamburger buns.  Normally I wouldn't think anything of if, but they are managers special hamburger buns, which means they are on sale.  Ok, that's not why I am telling you this.  They are managers special hamburger buns and they look like they were sat on.  The man is looking down trying to pull money out of his pocket.  He is trying to count out change. 

I hear it clear as day.  I hand the cashier my money.  He looks at me.  I nod my head.  The man in front of me is still looking for change.  The transaction is done and the cashier hands the man his bag and his receipt.  It takes just a minute before he realizes what happened.  The man looks at me, "You have just made my day" he says.  I just smile.  "No, you just don't know, this really made my day"  and he walks away. 

Thank you God for the nudges throughout the day.  Help me to take things slowly and not to miss opportunities to "make someone's day".

Get your Butt.....

We have been telling everyone about our Boston Butt and Smoked Chicken fundraiser. 

We tried to pick a day that something was going on so that they would want to place an order.  

 

On Saturday October 27th

we will be selling fully cooked Boston Butts ($25) and Smoked Chickens ($15) to help fund our adoption costs. 

 

We will be set up at the Sam's in Pooler, the Dollar Tree in Richmond Hill and the playground at Daffin Park. 

 

This should cover most of the general area so that no one has to go very far to pick up their order. 

 

Today we ordered the meat.  Later this week we start to cook!

Make sure you place your order now!

Waiting........

Patiently????

Not really.  I am so anxious to have our homestudy completed.  That will mark a very "big step" closer to bringing home our daughter.  We I really thought we would have completed our homestudy by September 15th.  Today is the 20th of OCTOBER!  Each time I talk with our agency they tell us we are close.  Then we find a document that needs to be verified or corrected.  Hoping that soon we will be able to have this completed.

And so it begins.........

Paperwork!


We filled out our application and had to wait for approval. (June 7, 2012)
We had an initial phone interview with the agency. (July 24, 2012)
We had our first homestudy visit.  Our social worker came out to the house and spoke with Robbie and I for over 2 hours. She looked around to make sure we had a suitable home.  ;)
We each had to write an autobiography.
I went for my individual interview.
Robbie went for his individual interview.
The social worker came back out to the house to interview us again as well as our two children.

During this time Robbie and I both have had to go and get bloodwork drawn, and have paperwork filled out by our doctor stating that we are physically able to adopt.
Dr. D. has given both of the girls a clean bill of health.
Muffin had gotten up to date on all her shots and this has been verified.
We have gotten our septic tank inspected.
We have requested copies of birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, tax documents, employer verification, etc
We have had family and friends send in letters of recommendation.  Thanks guys!
We have done 30 hours of online "training".
We have gone to be fingerprinted by GBI and FBI.

All of these documents will be compiled into a file called your HOMESTUDY.  This is what will be used to help the agency know about your family and tell China about us.  It is used to help match you with a child that would be best suited for your family.


Iwill get a timeline going on the side as soon as I figure out how! lol

The Party

Rachel was so excited to have her party this year.  Her guest list was two pages long.  We had to limit the number of guests, otherwise we would have had to reserve the entire park.  We did a detective style scavenger hunt.  The girls had to use secret decoder pens to find the clues, then solve the riddle to go to the next clue.  Along the way they collected prizes to fill their goody bags.  Here are a few photos from Rachel's birthday party!  

 

Buddy Walk

What a great day!  God has blessed us with such wonderful people in our lives.  We had such a wonderful time during the BUDDY WALK. 

This is what we enjoy doing, hanging out with our friends at a beautiful park with great weather and talking with people about KIDS!  As you can see we have a little experience.  lol

We enjoyed sharing our stories with many people today, hope to hear from you soon!

Happy Birthday "baby"

My baby girl turned 7 today

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to Youuuu....Happy Birthday to Raaaaaachelllllllll...Happy Birthday to you.

 

Cha cha cha!

 

One More Day

 

       We have had a loose tooth since before school started! 

 

August 3rd!

                                  
                            She did not want anyone wiggling it or even looking at it.




This morning I asked her about her tooth and asked if I could just see if it was ready.  I put my fingers on her tooth and she pulled my hand away and the tooth came out.  Man was it ready.  It basically fell out in my hand.  I think she was shocked because she ran to the bathroom.  (This is not the first tooth that she has lost.)  She came out all smiles, but said "I wish it could have stayed in one more day."

 

 

It made me think about all of the things that we want to hold on to.

Those clothes that we might wear one day
Those receipes we might make one day
That project we might finish one day
The toys, the books, the games, the kitchen gadgets, almost everything on your closet shelves and in your garage. 

Jesus wasn't very big on storing up things. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) reminds us how easily we can forget that our blessings come from God's grace and are not something we have accomplished on our own.

Jesus did not store up things while he was here; he shared them, gave them away, gave them to people in need, and used what he had to bless others.

Jesus wants us to ask ourselves a couple of crucial questions: What is your treasure and where are you keeping it? Every earthly treasure we have is vulnerable to destruction. 

Jesus urges us to invest in what is lasting, eternal, and ultimately perfect. If we do, nothing can destroy and nothing can steal our blessed assurance that we will be victorious in Jesus.

 

 

 

"Don't save treasures for yourselves here on earth. Moths and rust will destroy treasures here on earth. And thieves can break into your house and steal the things you have. So save your treasure in heaven. The treasures in heaven cannot be destroyed by moths or rust. And thieves cannot break in and steal that treasure. Your heart will be where your treasure is."

Moon Festival

Moon Festival is a big holiday in China.  We made our own moon cakes and they tasted pretty good.  Robbie and I drizzled honey on ours and they were even better!

We decorated some lanterns, but the rain put a damper on lighting them, so we will try again tomorrow night and share the photos.

Try, Try again

We decided to make our own popcorn today!  I had seen this on T.V. and thought it would be fun to make our own popcorn. 

Here are the ingredients:  popcorn kernels, olive oil, salt(we used Garlic salt), and a brown paper bag.

You put the popcorn kernels in a cup and pour olive oil and salt over them.  Mix. Then you dump them in the brown paper bag and fold it over twice. Put the bag in the microwave.

Our first batch BURNED!  We used 1/2 cup of kernels and popped it for 3 minutes.  Some of the kernels were still popping and coming out of the bag and all over the microwave, while the rest was burning.

So we tried again:

We used 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels and popped for 1 1/2 minutes.  YUMMY!!!
The girls LOVED IT. 

A little History

My name is Christine, my husband Robbie and I have adopted two girls from China.  Elise was adopted in 2003 at 9 months old,and Rachel was adopted in 2007 at 15 months old.  They are now 10 years old and 6 1/2 years old.  (According to Rachel, I have to put that 1/2 in there).  

A friend of mine went to New Day Foster Home in June 2009 on a mission trip with our church.  I was supposed to go with her, but knowing we were not going to adopt again I could not emotionally go on the trip. Well, my friend went back to China in October of 2009 to adopt her son and because her husband could not leave their family business she asked if I would help her bring her son home.   God had me in His arms, because on this trip to China, He taught me so many things.  He helped my lay my desires to the side and opened my eyes to the needs of these children.  I began to focus my time into advocating for these chldren that still waited. 

I began to do fundraisers sending all the proceeds to China, to New Day Foster Home as well as their Forever Home.  We sold blueberries, made jewelry and sold it, and had yard sales.  I teamed up with a few more people who also had a passion to help orphans worldwide.  We chose an organization from each continent and began to pray continuously for these children.  My heart was still with New Day.  I learned as much as I could about everything New Day does and began to share with everyone who would listen.   Our goal was to put a lot of people in one place and tell them everything we had learned about each organization.  This was a whole new game field for me, lots of planning and lots of details.  I called my husband Robert in to help me.  During this time, a child that was at New Day really began to soften his heart.  I began to pray that God's will would be done.

After months of planning, on May 17, 2012 we held our first annual benefit dinner "Step Up To The Plate".  We are still in awe of the work that is going on through this event that took place.  But even more amazing is the answered prayers of several people. 

One of those prayers was mine.  You see, while I was serving God and being his hands and feet, God changed the heart of my husband.  A little girl named "Clarie" had touched his heart so much that he had begun to pray about our family adopting again.  On May 20th, my husband came to me and told me that he was ready to adopt again. 

We have begun our paperwork and are looking forward to expanding our family.  God has laid it on our hearts to adopt an older child this time, one who possibly would be overlooked by many.  Please keep us in your prayers.

You can also search for our Step up to the Plate facebook page to learn more our organization, or just keep checking back here for updates. 

He can move mountains!

Robbie said YES!  Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially beginning the paperwork to adopt!  Our girls are so excited, they regularly talk about having a brother or another sister, so they are giving us all kinds of suggestions.  You know me I would like a bakers dozen!!  But I will be patient and thankful for all that God blesses me with.  Now we start the "mountains" of paperwork.

Food and Friends

Tonight we went to our friends house for dinner.  We had home made tacos with ALL the fixin's.  We always love getting together with them and just hanging out.  Does 8 adults and 15 kids sound like a relaxing time to you??  It is when the kids play and use their imagination and enjoy each others company allowing us adults time to talk.  Thanks Super K's for an awesome time.  Here is their blog to follow their adoption journey.   http://therealsuperks.blogspot.com/

So Many Choices

Yesterday I took my six year old with me to the grocery store. Before we went she helped me make the list. I wrote down the categories on the paper, Produce, Dairy, Frozen, etc. and she wrote down the items. As we would think of an item to get she would have to figure out which category it would go under and then write it in the correct spot. When we were almost done, she asked me about ice cream, which spot shoud it be in? Dairy or frozen? I told her to put it in the category that we would find it in the store. So she wrote Ice Cream Bars under frozen. 

When we got to the store she helped push her own small cart and we got all of our shopping done. We came to the frozen section and she was thrillled. She looked in the window of every frozen case SEVERAL times. After a good 5 minutes of just looking I told her to make her choice. Her reply was, "Mom, it is hard. There are so many choices and they are all good ones!"
Isn't that how life is? SO many choices and they all seem to be good ones?
Choices at the grocery store. Do we get the frozen vegatables or the fresh. They are both just as good aren't they?
Choices at work. Do we get involved in that conversation? We want to fit in don't we?
Choices at home. Do we get the new kitchen countertops? Nobody else still has the yellowish green ones from the seventies do they?
Choices with the children. Do we allow them to watch this television show or spend the night with their friend? We want our kids to like us right?
Choices that affect your eternity. Do I not just believe that there is a God, but have a relationship with Him?
Everyday we have so many choices to make and they all seem to be good ones. Choices are made each and everyday whether you realize it or not. Some are done without even thinking about them, like choosing to brush your teeth before you go to bed, even if it is midnight. After wearing braces for five years, I don't even think about it, I just brush them.
Not making a choice is the same as making that choice. If you decide not to make the choice, it will be made for you. If you don't get involved in that family conflict, someone may think you do not care. If you do not tell the kids that the television show is inappropriate, then they will think it is okay to watch it. If you do not make a desicion to follow Jesus Christ then you are making the decision not to follow Him.

I know that I do NOT always make the right choices, but I do try to do my best and that is all that God expects of us. He is always FOR us and wants us to do our best and He will always forgive us of our past and accept us with open arms.