Christmas Letters!

I absolutely love Christmas letters and pictures. Sometimes I get only a picture and no news but I'll forgive you. Writing a letter is a highlight of my year. This year I took a step back and decided not to include every little thing we did. I let the kids and Kevin have most of the letter. I wrote a bit and now I'm thinking "I forgot this" and "I forgot that" but overall it is still newsy enough. When I get the mail I open the Christmas cards while driving down the driveway making my 14 year old nervous and asking if she can hold them for me until we get home.

Today was Program practice and I guess you'd say I'm in charge of the Church Christmas program which is tomorrow night. Some minor adjustments and maybe a major one since the main character wasn't there today. I'm letting go of that too and saying it will turn out how it will with 33 kids involved and it will be really good. I'm a bit excited for it actually. I do hope I sleep tonight and don't think of too may things that will have to be done for tomorrow. But, my chicken is still cooking and will need quite a bit. How to get it all done in a day is really beyond me sometimes. Blessings. I'll leave you with the title of the Christmas Play:

His Yoke is Easy

Hello!

My computer is giving me trouble again!!! We are not planning on getting high speed until the beginning of next school year when we'll probably need it for school. We are still praying about the children we chose to find out more information on. I sent a new sibling group to her today. From my last post and comment from Kathy I guess adopting this way can take a very long time. She ended up going internationally because it didn't work for them to adopt through the foster care system. I would say we have a hugely flawed system that needs a wave of prayer from coast to coast. These children want "forever" families and they get stuck in a system that can't meet their needs. I am sad thinking about them. God Bless and have a good rest of the week. Our week is going the normal busy, busy, and more busy. We are seriously thinking of cutting out most activities next year and seeing what life is like being at home most of the time!!! It would be a tiny taste of heaven. :)

Computers!!!!

I can just never get on here to post!!! It is always saying the page is unavailable. Very frustrating. Yet, here I am, finally. I don't have much to say really. I have been going through the children on the website www.adoptuskids.org and thinking about the ones I click on and imagining and dreaming of them. I had such a vivid dream of these twin 5 year old and the next day they were gone from the site. I really didn't see us looking at foster kids to adopt from the beginning. I really just thought international was the way to go. I am sending a list of possible matches to Amy tonight and she is going to find out some more information on each group. You go on the site and type in the min. and max. number of children and the min. and max. for the age and what kind of special needs you are willing to take on and push a button and up pops a list of children matching the criteria. It doesn't say a lot about them other than things they like to do. Once in awhile you read they need to be the youngest or only children or the parents need to have a special understanding of their special needs but otherwise it is like I'm describing my own children. We have gotten out the heavy artillery and have been praying several times a day for God to help lead us to what child or children would work in our home and with our children. I also expanded my list up to 10 years of age. I was keeping it younger before but what beautiful children there are. Please remember all these children in your prayers. They all need someone to care for them and train them in the Lord. God's Blessing upon the motherless and fatherless this Christmas season.

Decisiveness

Decisive adj. 1 Having the power to decide; conclusive 2.Characterized by decision and firmness ; resolute. 3. Beyond doubt; unmistakable:

I am coming to the conclusion I am not a decisive person. I can go back and forth in my mind a hundred times a day about something. I realize that how I feel, what kind of day I have had with the kids, if I slept well or at all has a lot to do with this undecisiveness I am having about this adoption. It was so clear for me when we were going internationally. The plan was laid out for us so it seemed. Now, I am not so sure. I look at the site adoptuskids.org and look to see is there a possible match for us there? How will I know? If I check on one and the answer it no, do I just keep on checking each child? Is that God's plan? Again, the financial aspect was brought up now that the home study is ready for signatures. Will we be able to have $15,000 in hand at any moment because that is how fast it could happen. Not at this time do we have that so I was encouraged to check out the website again because those kids are in foster care and the cost if very minimal if any cost at all. How do you know? These questions and doubts keep coming to me over and over. If God had this planned for us would we have the money by now? Is this our own desire and not His? I am praying for clarity and for God to show us the way clearly to the child he would have for us. I can't imagine stopping at this point. I can't imagine what the kids would think and learn if we did that. I also believe a baby would be heavenly. Please pray for clarity and decisiveness. God will show us. I am thinking I need to be still and listen to Him.

My Oldest

Here is my lovely 14 year old, 5 weeks until she is 15. How does this happen? I remember her talking to me with her pacifier in her mouth just yesterday and now she is this lovely young girl. She enjoys playing guitar and other instruments but guitar is her favorite right now. She is a 9th grader this year and Algebra 2 has got us a bit frazzled. Writing class and a classical lit class are probably her favorite classes. She has always been an avid reader which works to my advantage as she can help me when I am teaching. She always seems to know a little something about what we are studying. She will be Clara in the play Heidi in January. She believes in adoption and at the very beginning encouraged us to get on with it before she left the house so she could be a big sister to whoever comes into our home. She loves the Lord and studies His word on her own. It is also an advantage to me as when I am searching for a particular verse I can ask her first before I go searching and she will usually know where I can look.

A favorite verse on child training that is wonderful when you start seeing the fruits:

Deuteronomy 11: 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Happy Anniversary to Us! Read to Find out Who.

This is the day 25 years ago that I say we married Sam. My mom married my stepdad on this day and really it was my brother and me with my mom. I was her only attendant and my brother gave her away. Here we are on the eve of it getting ready to all go out and celebrate this day (no children are coming though). We became a family and moved to this area and now I live 9 miles from that place and my brother lives a quarter of a mile away from them. I married someone from this area and I can't help but believe God had this all planned for purposes that might not yet be revealed. I am incredibly blessed by their union.