Happy 9th
Birthday Livy!! I was the nice mom today and gave her the day off of
school for her b-day. She woke up to a bouquet of flowers that her daddy bought her and then spent the day enjoying the weather with her
brothers. For dinner we took her out to eat. She is sooo excited that
she was able to buy an I-Pod with her b-day money. She is
growing up way to fast. We love you sis!
Sorry we haven't been blogging lately. It seems like there is something go on everyday this past week. Livy has had softball practice almost every night along with a practice game, piano practice and a 4-H meeting one night, Josh had football practice, I took Liv summer shopping today, and we managed to get school in with a field trip. In the middle of all of this we said good-bye to a sweet friend of mine that we lost unexpectedly last Saturday, who is also our preacher's daughter. Please keep them in prayer this week as they are grieving over her loss and preparing to receive a phone call any day that their other daughter, who has cancer, has past. Through it all they have shown grace, and nothing but faithfulness to God. I am really learning a lot from them right now.
Anyway, I have added a few pictures of our week. Hopefully next week slows down a little...wishful thinking.
In school they are continuing their study of the impressionist artist Mary Cassatt along with listening to the composer Bach. It is so funny to hear them talk as they are painting. They are now comparing artists while recreating paintings.
We took them yesterday to the Air Museum with our homeschool group. It was a little chilly, but they really enjoyed seeing all the planes. Here's Josh sitting in one.
Livy pretending she is flying.
Nate thought he was big stuff in all the planes.
They were able to see what their Great Grandpa Bill's ,who served in the Air Force, job was. They were amazed that he was able to refuel planes while they were flying in the air.
I finished packing up the Shoes For Orphan Souls this evening and because of all of you we collected 102 pairs of shoes! Thank you so much for exceeding our goal of 100. Jeff and I will pray over them tonight and we will ship them out tomorrow. I read in my devotional in the last week this saying and how true it is, "We find life when we live for others." Thank you for helping us answer His calling.
"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40
Happy Easter to all our family and friends. Hope you are all remembering that our chains are gone and the fear of death doesn't have a hold on us any longer! Glory be to God!
Yesterday Andrea and I took the kiddos on a field trip to the Opalescent Glass Company. It was one of the neatest field tips we have been on. The company has been in Kokomo since 1888 and still uses the same techniques as they did back then. I would highly recommend that everyone check out this piece of our community's history.
Josh and Livy gave glass cutting a shot. They were amazed at how easy it was to cut with the right tool.
I can't believe my baby is 4 today. We love you Nate!
My Little Man
Author: Patsy Gaut
My little man
You are growing
up so fast and I don't
want to
miss anything
Share with me these
moments and let me
be a part of your
wee life
I will try not to
crowd you and let you
be the person you
choose to be.
Let me come along
for the ride and I will
watch you spread your
wings and fly.
It's so amazing how God opens one door in our lives and at the same time allow us to see so many other opportunities at the same time. When adoption became a part of our lives we never realized how much it would change our attitude on our lives in other areas. My heart is overflowing for the need of orphans and the care they need along with the needs of others around us. I'm talking not wants but daily survival needs. We are so blessed and have never known what is to truly need for our survival. We have only a short amount of time here on this planet to either hoard all our belongings, which aren't ours to begin with, or we can open our hands and give back to those in need. I asked for Shoes for Orphan Souls a few weeks ago and today Christi and Aaron gave me 26 pairs of shoes they purchased with the intent of getting more in the next couple of weeks. They too are adopting and are saving to bring home a little girl. However, they too see the need and have the same attitude that it isn't our money in the first place. God is letting us use it to provide for our needs. If we want to be more like Jesus then we must become obsessed with knowing Him personally, reading about how He lived His life on Earth, and his commands for us.
I love listening and reading Francis Chan's books and videos. We watched him in bible study last week and he reminds me over and over that this life is not about us and our comfort. It's about giving and telling others about Christ. He says that people who are obsessed with Jesus live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another. Obsessed people believe that Jesus talked about money and the poor so often because it was really important to Him. (Also read 1John 2:4-6 and Matthew 16:24-26). Chan challenges us to intentionally meet people who don't live like I do or think like I do, people who could never repay me. God wants to stretch us and to use us. To be a Christian is willing to be conformed by growing, serving and trusting that He will provide our daily bread. It's knowing that we brought nothing into this world and we can't take nothing our of it.
So pray how God can use you and take you out of your comfort zone for those in need this week.
Thank you so much Aaron and Christi for being the hands and feet of Jesus! We love you guys.
I have also attached a video by Matthew West called My Own Little World. There is one line that says "God break my heart for what breaks yours." This is what I want so desperately for our family. To have open hearts so they can see the love of Christ through us.
Step out in faith this week!
What a beautiful afternoon we had. The kiddos were thrilled to go outside this afternoon and hang out with the neighbor kids. They ended up getting the dads to play a game of kickball. We are so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors.
Jeff snapped a couple pictures on his phone after I brought the boys home for a drink.
A friend of mine who sells thirty-one products wants to have an open house to raise money for our adoption. She is donating all of her commission towards our adoption! Sweet!! So on March 17 at 1:00 there will be an open house at our house for you to look at some of the products, ask questions and order products. If you are not familiar with these products they are a Christian based company who sells very cute purses, bags, and organizational items which can be personalized. You can visit their site at www.mythirtyone.com
If are not able to make it to the open house but want a product you see on their site just let me know and I will make sure it gets ordered.
Hope to see you all on the 17th!
When we began our adoption process we began researching about orphans around the world. There are so many needs in the orphanages themselves that people don't realize. Shoes is one of the needs. I came across this one called Shoes for Orphan Souls which collects new shoes and socks for orphans and distributes them all over the world. I felt led that was something that we could be doing as a church and community. So for the month of March, Lord willing, I am trying to get 100 pairs of shoes donated to ship off to Shoes for Orphans. I am really pushing this at our church and I pray that we get a 100. However, I know that our God is a BIG God and He can do immeasurably more than I can imagine. So if you would like to donate a pair of new (preferably tennis shoes and size doesn't matter) please give them to me in the month of March and I will make sure they are shipped to Shoes For Orphans. God Bless!
For Christmas Ma and Pa got the kiddos a gift card to the Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati so we headed off Monday morning for a little break. They had a blast and want to know when we can go back. Thank you Ma and Pa!
Leap pad crossing.
Josh giving it a try.
Hanging out in the wave pool. This is where Liv and Josh spent most of their time. Every 15 minutes waves are created to make you feel like you are in the ocean. They loved it.
Mom and Nate spend time on the lazy river.
Took a break before dinner to play in the arcade.
They got wolf ears with their dinner.
They got their baths and jammies on and went down for some ice cream before story time.
At 8:00 they have story time for the kids at the clock tower. It was really neat.
Story time with Sparkle.
They were excited to get their Valentine Gifts when they woke up Tuesday.
After breakfast we headed back to the water before heading home. This was a raft we all got to sit on together and go down a water slide. I was worried that Nate would be scared but he loved it and wanted to keep going.
We had a wonderful time but all were exhausted on the way home.
"That's so disgusting!" says Olivia
"Yeah, Daddy has a crush on Mommy. They are in love." says Josh
This is what we hear the other day when daddy was given momma some lovin. There's nothing better than to know and hear that your kiddos know that momma and daddy are in love. When they know that we value our marriage and put it before everything else they have the security they need. I have shared 21 valentine days with my sweetheart and I am more in love with him today then ever before.
No romantic dinner tonight. Instead we will be sharing a pizza in our swimsuits then off to ride some wild water park rides with the kiddos.
Just wanted to give everyone an update on our adoption process. As of today we are fifth in line from getting a referral for our country. We will then know who she is which will be so exciting.
We are almost finished taking our required classes. We have 2 more to get in and I have to finish writing up our country cultural essay. Jeff has been busy typing up grants and sending them in. We are praying that we are granted at least one or two. We are also looking into doing some fundraising with t-shirts. If you have a chance go to showhope.org and check out the shirts. They are soooo cute. We contacted them today about doing some fundraising so we will let you know when we have some available. Other that that we are waiting and walking in faith. God has been so good in leading in us in every step of our process. We have already seen His hand at work and have been blessed to share our story with others. I was contacted by homeschool mom in our area today about our process as she and her husband want to adopt too. It so neat to share our story and process with others and to tell them how faithful God is when you are in the center of His will. We have also been blessed to have Aaron and Christi by our side as they are also adopting a little girl. It will be such a blessing to watch these girls grow up together and be close friends. God is so amazing and good!
We sang this song Sunday at church and I just love it. It is called While I'm Waiting. As we are waiting for our little girl we will continue to serve and worship Him everyday.
PS- Happy 60th Birthday to my Dad tomorrow. Love you!!
The last two weeks we have enjoyed a couple of field trips. Last Monday we took the kiddos to the Eiteljorg Museum in in Indy. And yesterday I took them to Honeywell to see the play Jack and the Beanstalk. This was the first time Nate went to a play with us. He did really well for his first time. We have also been taking advantage of the spring like weather to get in some nature studies. It felt so good to be out and breathe in the fresh air. We have really missed this part of our day. We were all excited to see our first Robin of the year with her mate.
Here are some pictures of our trips. I took them with my phone so they are not the best quality.
Livy trying her hand at basket weaving.
Livy found a dress in their dress-up box like Laura Ingalls. She was so excited! She and Josh played store.
Cowboys Nate and Josh.
Liv and Josh building a tepee.
My three kiddos outside the Honeywell Center. It was a beautiful day.
