May 13, 2011

• Nothing Inspiring…

  I like to blog at least once a week, and its been nine days so here I am…but with nothing huge stirring in my brain. So this is just an update.

  Foot and Sugar: I have been nursing a sore foot for the past 2 weeks. Finally went and got xrays and was told… nothing to see on the xray – stop wearing cheap tennis shoes if you are going to continue your hour and a half walks. So I went out today and spent $75 on shoes.  I am going to consider it a “medical” expense. I can’t bring myself to consider it “clothing.” I have never spent that kind of money on something to wear. We are making homemade ice cream for the third time this week…this is why I am walking an hour and half a day. I like sugar. And pizza. And chickfila. I am getting close to weighing what I weighed when I had both of my babies. It bothers me, but not enough to deprive myself of sugar…yet.
  
  Adoption: Things in Ethiopia have definitely slowed down on the adoption front. There have been very, very few referrals lately. It is difficult not knowing when our baby will be coming home. Difficult to come to terms with the fact that it could be a long time from now. Difficult that there is nothing at all I can do. Difficult when people ask “How much longer?” Difficult when people don’t ask… 
  
  Ministry: I have decided the hardest part of youth ministry is seeing your seniors graduate. Learning to trust God to hold on to them as they move on to adulthood. Praying hard that their reliance on God is their number one goal and desire. Mercifully tolerating their “senioritis” moments. Letting them know how much I love them without bawling my eyes out…(I failed this one Sunday night). Learning to be okay with being vulnerable.

  Here are a few of our seniors that I have had the privilege of photographing over the past year.
   
   
            
  Parenting: The Bible tells us the most important thing is LOVE- loving God and loving others. I can raise children that are intelligent, good communicators, hard working, but if they don’t truly love God and love people then I have failed. The hard thing is love is a heart issue. I can’t force my kids to love. I could force them to “act” loving, but I know that God isn’t into His children “acting.” So I am praying for wisdom and direction in knowing how to teach my children to love. Praying for LOVE to be my life motto so that I can lead by example. My daughter and I were in Target the other day, when two little girls began looking at Hope and whispering and giggling. After passing them, Hope looked up at me with big, sad eyes and said, “Those girls were telling secrets about me and that makes me sad.” It opened up an opportunity for me to talk to her about never letting another persons words or actions cause us to forget that we are loved by our family, friends, and by God. To not forget, ever, that God has a plan for us that no one can take away.  To never forget that we are here to show God’s love.
  “We have to love people even when they are mean, right?” my sweet little girl said to me at the end of our conversation.
  So I added on that those who are mean often have hearts that have been hurt, and that we need to try to remember that. And that we also need to try our best to always be kind so that we never hurt someone else’s heart.

  Praise Report: This could go under adoption, but I’m giving it a category of its own. This week we received a letter from Show Hope (Steven Curtis Chapman’s adoption ministry) letting us know that they are awarding us a $4,000 adoption scholarship. We are beside ourselves with excitement. God is faithful. His timing is completely impossible to figure out beforehand, but it is always perfect. I’m trusting Him to continue to write our story.
   
                            
                                            Excited Mommy/Mommy to be!

  • 7:40 pm
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