I shared a picture last night on Facebook that said, "Adoption is not for the faint of heart". I believe that now more than ever. As I was thinking about being strong through this whole process, Isaiah 40:28-31 came to mind. It's one of the most popular scriptures in the bible. There's a reason for that. I'm reminded that my strength doesn't come from me. It comes from the Lord of Lords and King of Kings who loves me intimately and personally. I can say, without any doubt, that I would not have made it this far into this adoption journey without Him. We've waited, sometimes patiently and other times impatiently. We've been filled with joy, and we've suffered heartbreaking loss. Through it all, God has provided comfort, peace, and strength. And now, we are filled with hope as we once again wait to hear good news.
"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJV)
Prayer requests: Please pray for referrals for not only us but also for friends we've made as we've walked this road together. Please pray for peace for all those waiting and those home. Please pray for wisdom and bonding both for those home with kiddos now and those who will be bringing kids home in the future.
Join me in my adventures in parenting, adoption, marriage, faith, and life in general.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015
My Take on Dating and Valentine's Day
Disclaimer: It's never good when my posts have disclaimers. Someone, probably quite a few someones, are going to be royally ticked by my first paragraph. My intent is not to tick anyone off, but more, it's to make us look at our very me centered culture, which seems to have worked its way into our marriages. Please read on past the first paragraph as I do have a point beyond the first paragraph.
And as a side note: I'm far from perfect as a wife. I have plenty of me, me, me moments. God is working on that.
Tonight Patrick and I will go out for Valentine's Day . . . alone. I've told y'all my feelings on dates before. I do think it's important to spend time alone, but I don't buy into the "we must have a special date once every (fill in the blank) or else we'll fall apart" line of thinking. I think we've created this culture of couples, and quiet honestly women, that "need" constant pampering and attention in order to survive marriage. And yet, marriages seem to struggle now more than ever. If you're going to fall apart if your husband (or wife) doesn't do "XYZ" every single month and holiday, maybe take a step back and look at your priorities. So yeah, Patrick and I will go out alone tonight, but 90% of the time Andrew is with us, and that's okay too. He's spent many a Valentine's Day dinner sitting in the booth at the restaurant beside us. We dated for five years before we got married and were married four years before we had Andrew. We had lots of fancy dates so I'm good with a few big dates a year. But we have a VERY traditional marriage with VERY traditional roles (by my choice as much, or more, than his) so I may be way off base in my thinking. (And this is not saying ignore your spouse and worship your kids. I just get so irritated with this culture of excessively fragile marriages that will shrivel up and die without a special date every 4-6 weeks. A movie after the kids are asleep is fine by me.)
I should stop now. I'm digging myself deeper.
Wow . . . sorry, I think Valentine's Day, in particular, gets me pondering these things. So my original topic . . . Valentine's Day. It's a cute, fun little holiday. I just wish it wasn't so over-the-top. I think it's for kids as much as adults, and who doesn't love a little character card with a sticker and a sucker? We don't do big, extravagent gifts or anything major. I look it as more of an opportunity to show my family a little extra love, which I should probably do every day. So tomorrow, Andrew will wake up to a card, some candy, and a book (because I look for reasons to buy books), and tomorrow night I'm going to make a special dinner for all of us. Then we'll do our normal routine. Patrick and Andrew will play (which may involve nerf guns and me hollering at them not to break something) while I clean up what's sure to be a colossal mess in the kitchen. Then we'll probably play a rousing game of Life or Chutes and Ladders or Trouble, and I'll wrestle my child to bed at a hopefully decent hour.
Why tell you all this (because it's, quite honestly, B to the ORING)? I see a lot of people particularly sad this time of year because they are single, and I think it makes many feel like the last kid picked in dodge ball (been there, done that . . . it's a barrel of laughs). I'm telling you, however, don't look at this day or any day as a day or week or month exclusively for couples. Look at it as an opportunity to show love to those who mean the most to you. Maybe that's a best friend who has been there for every up and down. Maybe it's your own kiddo or a niece or a nephew or a whole bunch of nieces and nephews that fill your life with joy. Maybe it's your parents or grandparents. The who doesn't matter. Just look at this as an opportunity to show a little extra love. And please, for the love of your future and your sanity, never settle for less than the best just because you want a date on Valentine's Day or any day.
And that my friends is my take on Valentine's Day. That and a dollar won't even get you a cup of coffee because coffee is expensive these days, but hopefully it will help you look at the whole holiday with a slightly different perspective.
And as a side note: I'm far from perfect as a wife. I have plenty of me, me, me moments. God is working on that.
Tonight Patrick and I will go out for Valentine's Day . . . alone. I've told y'all my feelings on dates before. I do think it's important to spend time alone, but I don't buy into the "we must have a special date once every (fill in the blank) or else we'll fall apart" line of thinking. I think we've created this culture of couples, and quiet honestly women, that "need" constant pampering and attention in order to survive marriage. And yet, marriages seem to struggle now more than ever. If you're going to fall apart if your husband (or wife) doesn't do "XYZ" every single month and holiday, maybe take a step back and look at your priorities. So yeah, Patrick and I will go out alone tonight, but 90% of the time Andrew is with us, and that's okay too. He's spent many a Valentine's Day dinner sitting in the booth at the restaurant beside us. We dated for five years before we got married and were married four years before we had Andrew. We had lots of fancy dates so I'm good with a few big dates a year. But we have a VERY traditional marriage with VERY traditional roles (by my choice as much, or more, than his) so I may be way off base in my thinking. (And this is not saying ignore your spouse and worship your kids. I just get so irritated with this culture of excessively fragile marriages that will shrivel up and die without a special date every 4-6 weeks. A movie after the kids are asleep is fine by me.)
I should stop now. I'm digging myself deeper.
Wow . . . sorry, I think Valentine's Day, in particular, gets me pondering these things. So my original topic . . . Valentine's Day. It's a cute, fun little holiday. I just wish it wasn't so over-the-top. I think it's for kids as much as adults, and who doesn't love a little character card with a sticker and a sucker? We don't do big, extravagent gifts or anything major. I look it as more of an opportunity to show my family a little extra love, which I should probably do every day. So tomorrow, Andrew will wake up to a card, some candy, and a book (because I look for reasons to buy books), and tomorrow night I'm going to make a special dinner for all of us. Then we'll do our normal routine. Patrick and Andrew will play (which may involve nerf guns and me hollering at them not to break something) while I clean up what's sure to be a colossal mess in the kitchen. Then we'll probably play a rousing game of Life or Chutes and Ladders or Trouble, and I'll wrestle my child to bed at a hopefully decent hour.
Why tell you all this (because it's, quite honestly, B to the ORING)? I see a lot of people particularly sad this time of year because they are single, and I think it makes many feel like the last kid picked in dodge ball (been there, done that . . . it's a barrel of laughs). I'm telling you, however, don't look at this day or any day as a day or week or month exclusively for couples. Look at it as an opportunity to show love to those who mean the most to you. Maybe that's a best friend who has been there for every up and down. Maybe it's your own kiddo or a niece or a nephew or a whole bunch of nieces and nephews that fill your life with joy. Maybe it's your parents or grandparents. The who doesn't matter. Just look at this as an opportunity to show a little extra love. And please, for the love of your future and your sanity, never settle for less than the best just because you want a date on Valentine's Day or any day.
And that my friends is my take on Valentine's Day. That and a dollar won't even get you a cup of coffee because coffee is expensive these days, but hopefully it will help you look at the whole holiday with a slightly different perspective.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Moving Foward with Grace
We are still waiting for news. If I don't drive our caseworker at the adoption agency crazy it will be a miracle.
A couple weeks ago I was anxious and frustrated and generally in a very bad mood. I guess I hoped that after the new year we'd hear something, and when we didn't, I found myself extremely upset and unhappy about it. We have no choice but to go forward, but how we go foward is up to us. As hard as it is, I'm trying to go foward with patience and grace.
I believe God cares about us. I believe He knows us better than we know ourselves. I believe that He placed this deep and strong desire to adopt a little girl from Bulgaria in our hearts. I believe He will see us through.
Now if I can just manage to keep myself and my emotions in check.
A couple weeks ago I was anxious and frustrated and generally in a very bad mood. I guess I hoped that after the new year we'd hear something, and when we didn't, I found myself extremely upset and unhappy about it. We have no choice but to go forward, but how we go foward is up to us. As hard as it is, I'm trying to go foward with patience and grace.
I believe God cares about us. I believe He knows us better than we know ourselves. I believe that He placed this deep and strong desire to adopt a little girl from Bulgaria in our hearts. I believe He will see us through.
Now if I can just manage to keep myself and my emotions in check.
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