Little Helper

Sweet Pea loves being a little helper.  She has started to ask me if she could help.  I am beyond proud of her.  I'm blown away by the blessing God has given me in my daughter.

Here are just a few helping moments:

Helping Mommy vacuum.  I'm almost big enough.

Helping Daddy cook.....time to add my secret spice.

Helping Nana with dishes.....boy this is tough work.

Shutterfly

I LOVE Shutterfly.  Many times when a birthday or holiday comes around or I'm itching for a photo book I find myself drooling over the designs at this website.  I also love them because they have some amazing deals to get me some amazing prices on things.  (46)

So here are some of my favorites of their Christmas designs:

I'm quit a sucker for black and white contrasting with a bold and viberate color.

I love the ways the blue and greens play off the middle design.

I'm a huge fan of this one.  The colors are great and I'm really liking the family letter in the middle.  The only thing I'm not a big fan of is that their are 5 pictures in this.  I wish that could be changes a bit.

The design on this is not my favorite.....however, I love that you can tell about each member of your family.

The simplicity of this one blows me away.

Shutterfly is currently offering 50 free cards to bloggers who are willing to blog about the.  I can't wait to choose my card for my family and get them in the mail.

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Please Note:  I will be recieving free product for this blog.  However, I would not endorse a product unless I had used it and like it myself.  I stand behind what I say about Shutterfly.

The Wait

The wait.....it's something talked about around all adoption circles and I'm sure many other circles.  It is something that has recently hit me in the face, full force.  I did the math the other day and realized that if we were going with our original plan to space our children 2 years apart then I should be pregnant right now.  That was sorta like a wow moment.  It hit me then.  At the same time it hit me as I watch Little Miss, not toddle or teeter, but run around the room.  I watch her climb on furniture with ease, I listen to her communicate better and better daily, I watch her become so girly and so grown up.  She's getting older, quickly.  

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All this made me realize that now we are officially, waiting.  Waiting on God's timing, waiting on His answers, waiting on His direction.  Addilece has a book by Dr. Seuss that is called "Oh the Places You Will Go."  And it talks about you will go here and there but sometimes you will get stuck just waiting.....waiting for this and for that and the waiting is not so fun.  That's how I feel....just waiting. 

With our wait just beginning I realize its a whole long way from ending.  See as of now we are planning on adopting from the Philippines.  You must be 27 to adopt from that country.  So we wait until we are 27 before we can begin the process. Most adoptions take at least a year and sometimes 2 or more.  Now do the math......Addilece could be 8 or older.  Wow. 

So last night I was telling my wonderful hubby (who lets me cry and vent and repeat myself 10 million times) how much I was already hating the wait.  And we were discussing the changes that could take place in over six years in our families......the number of marriages (at least 2....that we officially know of now) and grandchildren being born (at least one is on the way).  Thinking of our immediate family is easy....extending that is when my heart strings start to really pull. 

And my amazing and wise husband (whom I'm very thankful God picked to lead this particular family) starting talking about Joseph.  At first I wanted to shrug him off....Joseph has been a constant reminder to us through this whole process and frankly sometimes its way to convicting for me to dwell on.  But Tony wouldn't let me and he started talking about how Joseph had his dream and then how he waited, and waited, and waited for it to be fulfilled.  

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So I got to thinking.....how many years DID Joseph wait.  When Joseph had his dream  he was 17 years old and when it was fulfilled he was 38.  Joseph waited 21 years to see God give him that dream.  Through the pit, being a slave, being wrongly accused, imprisonment, forgotten, and good times of plenty and leadership he held on to that dream....trusting God.  His trust in God and reliance on Him granted him his positions.....but it took a long, long time for that dream to be fulfilled.  And what changed in 21 years......at least one brother was married and had three children and two grandchildren (Judah), another brother was born (Benjamin), his mother died, he got married and had two children of his own, and I'm sure that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Knowing Joseph's story and his extremely long wait doesn't make mine seem any shorter but it does give me the strength to choose to give this day of the wait to God and to praise Him (even in the storm).  Tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next I will have to make that same choice.  Some days I will fail, some days I will stumble....but I serve a God who is faithful and I have a husband who is wise.....and one day that wait will end......one day.

Why Adopt? Part 2

This has taken quit a long time for me to find the time to work on this.  However, Orphan Sunday is this Sunday and I wanted to have this part done for this.  In Part 1 I talked about how tough adoption is, but how their are two main reasons behind it.  The first (which I'm talking about here) is because it is close to God's heart and the second (comin at a later time) is because it is a Biblical picture of how Christ adopted us.

Ok, so God has a true heart for orphans.  He calls us to help both orphans and widows.  Here are some promises (both good and bad) that have to do with the fatherless....

God...

• Defends (Dt 10:18, Ps 10:17-18, Prov 23:10-11)
• Helps (Ps 68:5)
• Protects (Jer 49:11)
• Sustains (Ps 146:9)
• Provides Justice for (Mal 3:5)
• Shows compassion for (Hos 14:3)
• Hears their cry (Ex 22:23)
• Considers it pure and faultless to look after (Jam 1:27)
• Is Father of (Ps 68:5)

We are to.....

• Provide for (Dt. 24:19-21, 26:12-13)
• Defend (Ps 82:3, Isa 1:17)
• Not take Advantage of (Ex 22:22)
• Not Oppress (Zec 7:10)
• Provide Justice for (Dt. 24:17, 27:19)
• Do no wrong (Jer 22:3)
• Look after (Jam 1:27)

Also.....

• We will be blessed (Dt. 24:19)
• What we do for them will be done for us (25:40

God will do if we hurt the orphan....

• Kill (Ex 22:23)
• Curse (Dt. 27:19)
• Destroy (Isa 10:1-4)
• Punish (Jer 5:28-29)
• Judge (Mal 3:5)

I'm sure I missed something in this list.  I am not a Bible Scholar by any means.  However, this excites me, encourages me, and I'm sure one day will sustain me.  This is why Tony and I do it.  We want God's heart and passion to be our heart and passion. 

One of the favorite says on the founders of 147 Million Orphans is: God funds what he favors and he favors orphans.  I pray that my families heart would always be in line with what God favors.