A Meeting of Encouragement

I was encouraged today by a meeting we had at a coffee shop. My husband and I were asked by another couple to meet with them about adoption. I can tell you we have spoken with countless folks about this subject and have implored people to consider as followers of Jesus Christ to save a life for the Kingdom. Usually we are considered somewhere between a freak show and sainthood. This meeting was different. The first thing that struck me was the view this couple had of their family. They have a uniquely peaceful home and feel that this should be shared, that there is a child out there that needs to be safe within this peace. Most people would not want to take on this change and rock the boat by bringing a stranger into their family. The second thing was their faith that God is in control of their finances. Usually when we talk to people about adoption the first turn off, especially for the men, is expenses. But this couple was different. The husband had a quiet confidence when he spoke of God being in control of all the wealth in the world and he was certain that money would come as necessary with an adoption. Well, when a man talks like that it is certain that is heart is fixed on God and his own family. He is not controlled by men or the world. I was excited to see the first stage in the birth of a child into a family. Today this couple walked through a door on their journey to get the child of their heart. It was obvious that God had called them to this. It is hard for me to understand why more Christian couples have not heard this call. I know many others who have adopted and they feel the same way. But I cannot focus on this. For today God encouraged me. I cannot adopt every orphan in the world...but today I can rest in the thought that one more orphan will have a safe home and will come to know Jesus because this couple is not afraid to hear from God that there is work to be done. I believe they see as we do that it is not enough to just encourage others to do the action. We are the workers and the fields of the orphans are ripe for the picking. Jesus knows this and so he will continue to call those who have ears to hear and a few more children will be snatched out of the enemies hands. I thank God that he woke us up from our lethargy before it was too late and I am grateful that He has awakened others to travel this journey as well.

A Day at the Zoo With 7/9

A perfect day at the zoo with seven of my nine children!
Such fun! Thank you Jesus for my kids!



















Naked mole rats are the best!


























































































Brothers and sisters are a gift from the Lord!

Finally... a Moment to Update!!!

After only 5 months of schooling here in the States, Beautiful E passed her first grade English exams! At the end of each school year we have our children tested by an independent testing organization. This year E was able to participate and to our great joy she passed with flying colors. She basically started homeschooling in January of 2008. She passed her total battery of tests in the 79Th percentile. She is now officially in second grade English and will continue in her 4-5 grade math. We finished up the school year with bugs, snakes and lizards! The " House of Reptiles" brought their show right into our living room. We invited about 20 other home school kids to come join us for our end-of -the-year fun! It was a creepy good time!
Last week was day camp for 5 of the 9 kids. The three little girls were first-time campers and experienced all kinds of new things : canoeing, hiking, archery, the"big swing", and lots and lots of fun camp songs. Our 14 and 15 year-olds were counselors. They had a lot of fun helping with all the little ones and they were able to get tons of hours of community service. A great time for everyone.
Three of the girls were also in the ballet Alice in Wonderland. The two little 6 year old girls were ladybugs that danced around the rose bushes and A was the Caterpillar. She has been dancing for about twelve years now and she was fantastic! I never thought I would say I was proud that my child smoked(a hookah), but of course after watching her I can so that...I am. She was so funny and flexible as she danced I was truly amazed!
While the kids were at camp I was able to organize my books and buy all the curriculum for next school year. This is a huge blessing since last year I did not have my curriculum until right before the school year began. Last summer I was very involved with the adoption and the fund raiser. I am relieved I will be starting in the Fall on top of my game!
Our oldest son finished his high school education a year early at the local community college. He made honor society and held a 24 hour/wk job. Sometimes I can't believe all that he can accomplish at 17, but then he has always been focused and goal oriented. He was also just promoted to frozen food manager at the store he works at.
As for our two oldest daughters...our 21 year old is busy with work at Cold Water Creek Spa. It is fabulous having a daughter that is a professional when it comes to pedicures! I love them and she is so gracious to comply when I am tired. ( I try not to take advantage). Our oldest daughter just finished her college education. I was able to view her thesis defense. WOW!!! is all I can say. She wrote on the Filioque Clause of the Apostles' Creed. By the way, it was this clause that was the main root of the Schism between the East and West churches. The topic was difficult and controversial to say the least and I was blown away at her ability to maneuver through all the difficult and challenging questions her board threw at her. She handled her subject like a pro and was unflinching as she calmly addressed their challenges. She passed without a problem. I was so thankful that I was able to be there and witness just how far she has grown since her homeschooling days. She is a beautiful, intelligent woman who will make a great contribution to this lost world. We are excited for her as right now she is on a three week tour of Europe. She was able to go with a good friend and the girls are having a blast. Holland, France and Germany are on the lists of stops. She called today and said she toured the Louvre museum for 11 hours. What a wonderful way to finish her education!
We are looking forward to a restful summer vacation. I am hoping I will be able to update more often now that things are slowing down...or are they???? We will see. I will try to post some pics soon...

Precious Gifts!

Each gift I received this year for Mother's Day was a gift of the heart! My husband got me the can opener I wanted and my son scrap booked a handmade card and put a Starbucks gift card in it.















The baby got me a gift card from J.Jill, which was really a surprise. My 6 year old was so excited for me to open the cat pot holder that she was jumping up and down saying," You are going to LOVE this gift mom!" Of course I did too! My other six year old gave me a cheese grater that we each got a turn at later that day when we had spaghetti. Sege was very thoughtful and made sure I had mustard, mayo, and ketchup squeeze bottles. One of my older daughters took pity on me and got me a pair of REAL potholders. (As you can tell I was potholder deficient) Two of my richer children bought me a certificate for a pedicure. Candles were even purchased by my starving college student. All in all I made quite a haul on Mother's Day...but the best gift of all was just having my children all home and present to celebrate with!

10 Things Boys Can Do When They Have 7 Sisters

1. They know to buy The Best of Deanna Durban Movie Collection for their sisters at Christmas.
2. They can sing all the songs from "Meet Me in St. Lois" with Judy Garland, and "Singing in the Rain"with Gene Kelly.
3. They can change a diaper.
4. They open doors for girls.
5. They can knit.
6. They win a blue ribbon at the fair for best homemade strawberry jam.
7. They can swing dance
8.They have actually read Pride and Prejudice, not just watched the movie.
9. They can make peanut butter cups from scratch.
10. They scrapbook Mother's Day cards better than girls.

Casting Out Fear!

Wow, I can't believe we had our second post placement report today. Our social worker was at our house bright and early this morning at 9:30am. That might not seem so early to some, but considering our entire family woke up an hour later than we expected things were a little rushed this morning. We are pleased to report that E has been extremely easy to adjust into the family! She is a dear, sweet, and helpful child who really has a love for God and is able to talk about her feelings easily with me. She has worked through a lot of grief since the last post placement and we are so proud of her and thankful God choose us to be her parents. E is enjoying the relief of being just a little girl without a lot of other stresses in her life.
Baby M is growing so fast and is very mobile...I mean fast! She is generally cheerful, yet of all our adopted children she has had the roughest time with her adjustment. I have had many sessions of serious holding time to help her work through her mistrust issues acquired from her earlier traumas. There have been times after these sessions that my arms are shaking from exhaustion. But I must report that as difficult and at times scary as it seems we are definitely seeing progress. Just to encourage any of you other adoptive parents that are experiencing attachment problems, hang in there and get outside help if you need it. Yesterday was a particularly hard day. At one point she was raging and I felt fear. Immediately it was like God spoke to me and said, " Love has no room for fear. Rather, perfect love casts out all fear..." I got a mental image of myself coming towards a ball and picking it up and throwing it far, far away. It seems that in order to get rid of fear it is necessary to move closer to what is frightening us and actually cast it away. It will not just miraculously go away by itself and running away from it or ignoring it is not Biblical. So for one more session in my rocker with my raging baby I sat until her anger subsided and a calmness came over her. She ended up falling asleep. With each of these sessions her anger is a little less. Tonight we went through the routine I have started...music, massage, blanket, rocker, bottle, singing and holding. It was better...much better! I know the brokenness in my baby came from the sin of man...she was the recipient. So as her mother I will hang in there even though it is exhausting and after six months we are still seeing her pain. But things are improving and she is worth every sore muscle and fit she can muster. She smiled and laughed tonight...what a joy. Maybe she still has more to "get out" and work through, but I am not afraid of tomorrow. I understand that I need to move toward the fear and literally "cast it out". No one will deter me, not even my angry baby who acts like she doesn't want me to hold her sometimes. I will win so she can understand that is exactly how God is and as time goes on she will learn she can trust both of us.

God-made Siblings!

How do older children adjust to the idea of adoption? Well, from my experience there are phases they go through. In general children understand the need for adoption much more than their parental counterparts. Kids understand that children need parents, so when they are presented with the notion that there are children without families they tend to say, "Of course we should adopt." Similarly, when they first hear about the concept of abortion they are horrified that any mother would choose to kill her child. Innocence generally tends to bring clarity when it comes to moral issues.
After the initial introduction to the possibility of adoption my children have been supportive through the next phase which is the paper pregnancy. All my kids have donated as much as ALL of their money for any given adoption. When we were in the initial phase of adopting the first time our oldest daughter(she was 15 at the time) gave us all her money one Christmas to help to get her sister home. This second phase consists of love that develops in the heart of one child for another. It is special and I found that as I watched my children get excited and help participate in the adoption process my excitement grew as well.
The next step is the welcoming of the newest family member. It is much like bringing in a bio child except there is an almost missionary feel to it. We were fortunate enough to have our bio kids travel with us on our first adoption and the experience for them was transforming. They seemed to grow in depth of spirit when they realized what they have compared to the rest of the world. They also felt a sense of responsibility for the adopted child, as if they actually were participating in the birth of a family member. So far all of these phases are natural and exciting for the entire family.
The last of the adjustments is the final phase once the newest child comes home. Like my mother told me so long ago, " Don't let anyone fool you in saying..,'Oh, what is one more child? Remember, another child IS another child.'" I have found this to be very good advice that I have always taken very seriously and taught to my kids. Yet as much as you warn the siblings that adjustment can be difficult that does not mean they" get it" until they experience it. Just as innocence brings clarity with moral issues, there is a blindness when it comes to reality. So now the adjustment begins and along with it the growth of each individual. During this time each of my children has learned about themselves and their own weaknesses than at any other time in the process of adoption. They learned to share more and care more. When a child invests themselves in adoption only to see the pain in their newest sibling as they adjust into the family it changes everyone. Sometimes I have seen selfishness rear it's ugly head as bio kids remember what they would consider their entitlements. We have had many talks about laying down our lives. But even in the selfishness that I see a normalcy kicks in because this adopted child who has taken so much time and effort is a real person and they are going to be with us forever.
The adjustments fade into life and the adoption is complete as the reality of permanency occurs. Almost without realizing it the miracle of adoption has taken place in each child's heart and siblings are bonded together for the glory of God!