"Mommy, this is the best day ever!"

"Look Mommy I'm reading your big girl bible just like you." 

Have you guys read the post about the talk Amy Eldridge of Love Without Boundaries gave at the Chinese Heritage Camp? She spoke about how the landscape of Chinese adoption has changed and the challenges of orphan care in China. It was really informative. I get questions often from family members and friends about what's going on with adoption in China. This article spells it all out. She did a great job in sharing how things have changed and why. I would have loved to have been there for that. And she's correct in saying that adoption while it's the best thing for the orphaned child is not the solution to the orphan crisis in China. Only preventing children from being orphaned in the first place will solve the problem. I never really looked at it that way. I just always thought about the need for more families to adopt.  It kind of changes how I will be praying for the orphan crisis in this world. Anyway, it was a really good article. You should check it out if you haven't already read it.


http://chinaadoptiontalk.blogspot.com/2010/07/amy-eldridge-of-lwb-speaks.html

Dancing Queen

Baking.....

It wouldn't be a birthday around here without a little cake baking going on......

Is it ready yet??

Still not ready....

Yeah! It's ready.

oh, and check out the cooking get up she's got on : )

Yummy

Happy Birthday to me !

Happy Birthday my sweet girl

"Measure me Momma, Measure me!"  "I'm five now. I grew last night. I'm bigger today cause I'm five now. " Come on Momma, measure me."

That's what I woke up to this morning. She was so excited that she was five now and she was convinced that she grew last night. Silly girl : )

Strange thing is though..... She was taller. She said "See Momma, I grew. " "Cause I'm five. "

We just measured her last week and she was 41 inches tall. Crazy, huh?

Sure enough my sweet little bit is 42 inches tall and 5 years old today..... Sigh. Time is going by way too fast when it comes to my baby girl growing up. Just last week I told her that I wanted her to stay 4 forever and she told me "Momma, I have to grow. That's how God made me. It's life. You have to deal with it."

Can you believe that? She's something and she's getting too big too fast for my liking.

Happy Birthday Isabella

Right Side Up

We did it..... Whew! We had our first garage sale. Well, not our first garage sale ever. Our first garage sale since.... well, since God removed the scales from me eyes. And oh my how incredible it was. I was exhausted no doubt, but what a freeing experience. Yes, there are more to come. We made our first pass through the attics, shed and storage. We sold about half of the that. We did a short little sale for four hours on Saturday morning. It's so hot right now we didn't think a whole day was going to get it. I'm thinking the fall would be a much better time : ) I had no idea it would feel so good to get rid of this stuff. I had no idea that we had this much stuff. And there's so much more. I was actually somewhat embarrassed that I had so much that I wasn't using. Isn't it weird that when you're buying it, it doesn't seem like "stuff " does it? But when you're getting rid of it, it feels very much like just "stuff ". I had no idea it would be this easy to let it go. Even Izzy got in on the cleansing : ) She cleaned out her play room for the sale. She was too sweet. She met everyone that came by. She told them she was raising money to go get her sister in China. Then told everyone about her friends in China and that she was going to bring some money to them so they could buy fun toys to play with. Isn't that sweet? Then she asked me if we could just buy the toys here and pack one toy for each child in our suitcase. It's hard to explain to a 5 year old that money is easier to fit in your suitcase that has 44 lb airline restrictions on it. Well, we may have to pack some small goodies for them in our luggage.  I was quite impressed by my mission minded little one. How I wish that I could have "got it" at such a young age.

We had an Izzy's Dream fundraiser this past week at VBS at church. We're still not sure how much was raised because people are still turning in baby bottles. Well, at the end of the week they had their closing program and the director brought Izzy up on stage to talk about Izzy's Dream and explain to the parents how they can help Hidden Treasures Home and I could really see that Izzy was serious about it. She always wants to help the other children at her orphanage. Always. She talks about it all the time. But this time she had this very serious look on her face and I knew right then and there that this was a calling for her. Even at 5 years old. She reminded the other children to fill up their bottles and bring them back so that she could send the money to China. So that we could help them. She was so serious about it. I had not seen that in her yet. There was a determination that was new. I LOVED IT !

I want that kind of determination. To please the Lord. To serve His children. To go where He calls me. I really want that. Who knew that my 5 year old could be my inspiration : )

So..... one garage sale down....... many more to go.

Thanks to you guys that are praying for us to find our way through whatever the Lord is calling us to. It means a lot.

Yes, I finished reading Radical. And well, it was radical all right. Then again when our Savior was here in the flesh He was pretty radical, wasn't He?  I know this is hard stuff. I hear ya girls! I can tell by the lack of comments that it's uncomfortable. I encourage you to read it though. It was eye opening to say the very least. The Lord was already prompting my heart in that direction, but the book just blew it wide open. What's really interesting though is when I was about half way through it I felt like my life was being turned upside down. I really felt like I was in the middle of chaos. I didn't feel chaotic, but everything around me felt chaotic. The world itself just didn't make sense. It felt so out of control. I'm not sure if this will make sense or not. Anyway, I kept reading the book. I was in my bible at a ferocious level. I just kept going. Kept praying. And then it all just clicked into place. And now. Now everything feels calm. Peaceful. Still. God is in control of my life. I know that. I believe that. The world doesn't make any sense. It's not supposed to. I'm not from here (this is where my relatives go " Uh Oh, she's gone off the deep end " )  LOL :) This IS a temporary place for those of us that call on the name of the Lord. And I'm more determined than ever to make an eternal impact while I'm visiting. Our pastor always says that because we know Jesus we have Hope. And not Hope with a question mark. Hope with an exclamation point. HOPE ! I just love that.

You know in the last couple weeks I've come to realize that my life wasn't being turned upside down at all. It was actually being turned right side up.

And the perspective is amazing!

Everything has changed

Ok, so I'm reading Radical by David Platt right.... Whew!!! And it's everything I thought it would be. So hard. I put it down overwhelmed every night. I'm usually a fast reader, but this book requires so much thought. I look up everything. I have a hard time believing everything I read. I've learned to filter it all through scripture, so it's taking me awhile to move through it. Someone in the beginning of the book that wrote commentary on it said that it will be a book that you will put down often just because of the uncomfortable nature of it. Yes, it has made me uncomfortable. I put it down constantly because I'm truly shaken by it. You know when the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you something? Some of us call it gut instinct. I know it's the Spirit leading me. I'm learning to listen better, but I've also chosen to ignore many things that are too difficult to face. Recently I've had to really look at myself, my life, my calling. To see clearly what God is calling me to. What He is calling all of His people to. Some of these things have been coming to us (my husband and I) slowly before I started reading this. But this book has confirmed many things for me. Some of the things are so scary to me. Some will require so much more than I think I'm capable of. And I know intelligently that the Lord will not call us to something that He won't equip us for. I know that. But I'm scared in a crazy excited kind of way.

I just finished Chapter 6 last night. It ended talking about orphans. I've had a burden for them for awhile now. Obviously we're adopting our second daughter that was orphaned in China. But the thing is that while adopting orphans is a beautiful gift and absolutely a calling from God it is not enough. I've known this for awhile but have chosen to do nothing about it. We give to ministries that care for orphans and Yes, that is great. However; last night when I went to sleep in my big comfy home filled with plenty of food (a chest freezer because I need more space to store all the food), plenty of things (two attics filled with things, a barn/shed outside filled with things)...... by the time my head hit my pillow 26 thousand children died because of starvation and preventable diseases. I am not doing enough. I'm not. I've known this for awhile and I can't continue to live this way. I am slowly realizing that I am blessed by God for a global purpose and I am going to do something about it. Please pray for us. For God to show us clearly how to make a difference. I have a plan, but I want it to be His plan.

Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.... David Platt Radical

Everything has changed. My world is up side down right now. Absolutely up side down!

Thank the Lord for pipe cleaners.... Yes, pipe cleaners. Oh, yeah and hot glue. Hot glue has kept my sanity many a day. It's been raining for two weeks. Lazy days in the pool have ended..... temporarily I hope. We are running low on arts and crafts (didn't plan on getting more until we were about to start school) so anything and everything that can be used as a craft is fair game around here. We didn't need that headband anyway. Tad-daaaah.... Googly Goos, her name for them, not mine : )

My little artist

This is titled "Sea Creatures". They all have titles these days. They haven't always, but these days she's titling them. And there's always a great story that goes with it. I love it. Absolutely love it. Every single day she draws. Everyday. Many things. All day long. We go through a 500 pack of card stock a month. It's like a compulsion for her. She can't help herself..... She has to draw. I love to listen to her explain her drawings. She has such an incredible imagination. I'm always amazed at what she can draw especially at four. Last year I made a little book of her artwork when she was three. I was trying to figure out a way to memorialize it so I thought this would work. Well, try figuring out how to pick 100 drawings out of a gazillion. Not easy. She loved it though. So much so that I published (on blurbs.com) another book for her with all of her drawings at four years old. I just finished it. I hope it's in before her birthday. So, tonight she gave me "Sea Creatures" She worked on it all during Barbie as Rapunzel. That little sparkle in her eye told me that she was proud of it. She was so excited to give it to me. These little things are so special to me. I am cherishing everyone of them.

What is Jesus worth to you?

You ever buy a book that you know you're supposed to read? You order it right away. You're so excited for it to come. Then you get your package from Amazon.com and you take the book out and thumb through it. You read the first couple of pages and it scares the heck out of you and the next two weeks it sits on your nightstand. Just sits there.

Well, as foolish as this sounds, I have been afraid to read this book. I know from the commentary that I've read on it that it's a must read for every believer. I know that it's not one of those books that you can't put down. I know that very likely I will want to put it down a lot. I know that it will challenge me. I know that it will make me very uncomfortable. Yep, I'm just plain scared. Oh well.... here goes. Chapter One "Someone worth losing everything for.... What radical abandonment to Jesus really means"