Seed Planting

Today Anah participated during speech therapy/special ed. She didn't actually speak, BUT, she did understand instruction and follow direction, one of the first steps in speech! The pre-K class that she sits in on was planting seeds. Each child had half of an egg carton, they were to take a spoon full of dirt and put it into each of the six cups. Anah did this with minimal cuing. When it came to taking the right number of seeds, poking her finger in the dirt to make a hole, and placing the seeds in the hole, it was more than her limited English skills could comprehend, so Mama did that part. Afterwards, Anah covered the seeds with more dirt and then scooped a spoonful of water on to each cup of dirt. I was very proud of her ability to understand what was said, to use visual observation and cues to complete her task. She really is doing very well.

The seed planting got me to thinking about the Word of God and how we, as christians, are to share God's word. Like a seed, we can "plant" God's Word in "soil" (people), but we cannot make it grow, only God can do that. We have to trust that the people have been prepared (like the soil) to hear God's Word. If they are "fertile", the seed will take root and grow, if not the seed may just lay dormant for a time and at a later date, will grow. Some seeds just wither up and die, just like the Word of God does on some people. We cannot make the Word (seed) take root in a person. We can share the Word (plant the seed), pray for the person (water the seed), encourage the person (give light), but ultimately it is between God and the person as to whether the person will grow in Christ or not.

I need to remember that when things don't go the way I think they should go and people don't grow like I think they should grow. It isn't up to me, I am called to plant, water and give light, the rest is up to the seed. I just need to be faithful to do my part, when it comes to those we love, it is much easier said than done. Don't we always want those we love to grow and succeed in the christian life? When they stumble and fall we can't blame ourselves, as long as we have been faithful to our role, we just need to keep tending to our garden. However, we need to be faithful in the care of the gardens that God has given us.

Camp Meeting

We went down to our cottage for a long weekend. It's in the beautiful PA mountains. It was Anah's first time there, she really seemed to enjoy it. She liked taking walks and enjoyed looking at the trees and flowers blooming. She was interested in everything and had a good time reconnecting with Bob's Mom, sister and brother in law, who she met in January.

We didn't have internet access so I spent part of yesterday and today catching up on email and blogs. I'm so glad for all the good news people have had on the adoption front! I'll post some pics once I get a new battery for my camera and upload the photos.

Nothing new in our world lately and I like it that way, lol. Praying it lasts a while longer.

Another Year Older

Well, I'm another year older, and hopefully wiser in the ways of the Lord. We had a quiet evening yesterday, my b-day, Joey made dinner, macaroni and cheese, it was very good. We had celebrated on Easter when my parents and both of our older children were here with us. My hubby got me a yummy cake from Wegman's...hmmmm, my favorite! My birthday present may seem odd to some people, but believe me, when you have a bad back and migraines, it's a dream come true. Tomorrow I'm going to the chiropractor, that in itself isn't the present, but I am also going to get a massage before hand, go on the water table (warm pulsating waves) and go on the decompression table. I should be a new woman by the time I get done! What can I say, I'm a simple/practical woman and that is what I'd rather have than any material thing. I already have the best gifts anyway, eternal life with my savior, a wonderful/loving husband, the best kids in the world, terrific family and the best friends, so what more do I need? (other than a few more kids with DS ;o) ).

My Dad's cellulitis came back!! They were late getting here on Easter Sunday, my parents are NEVER late, they are ALWAYS early. It was close to time for us to eat and the phone rang, I had already guessed they were in the hospital when they weren't here and hadn't called before then. Sure thing, they were in the ED, Dad was getting IV antibiotics and a prescription for oral antibiotics. I knew it! Dad had his follow up with the specialist today, he incised it to see if it had any pus in it, but it just showed skin cellulitis. So the doc closed his incision up, kept him on his antibiotics and wants to see him again Fri.

We're heading off to our cottage this weekend in the beautiful PA mountains! Anah hasn't been there yet, so it will be nice showing her around the place. Bob has a board meeting there this weekend, so we'll all go along for the ride, we'll also stop in and see PJ on our way, since we go right through Williamsport. Bob said we had a roof leak there in the winter, so we're hoping it wasn't too bad, otherwise we're going to have a mess to clean up this weekend, along with new drywall to put up, yuck! Between the cottage and it's bats and the house and it's total remodel, I think we've both had enough of drywall to last a life time!

Jonathan is walking all over, he's even started to dance a bit, toooooo cute! Anah is being more observant and not shaking her head "no" quite as much. Progress all around!

He Is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

We had a lovely breakfast at our church this morning. All of the ladies on the social committee made some kind of breakfast dish as well as 3 doz. "sweets" each. I made my egg/cheese/broccoli bake and scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon, we had a french toast bake, a potato cheese dish, a peppers and sausage egg bake and a couple other sausage and ham egg bakes. We had so many sweets that we will save them for Wens. evening after we eat our pizza and before bible study.



We then went up stairs to the sanctuary for service. The music was wonderful. We are blessed to have some great musical talent in our church. People not only are gifted musicians, but we have some wonderful singers. There was one song that was vocals only, it was so beautifully sung it brought tears to my eyes. Our pastor did something different this year, he did a first person narrative from Peter's view point. It was different, but in a very good way. It brought some things to mind that I hadn't thought of before. It also made it personal, as in I could see myself feeling or saying similar things at different points of my life. Thought provoking.



We are also very blessed in that we have had several new families attending our church lately. It is always so awesome to see new families join our church family. I feel we are a very close, loving church and welcome new people with open arms and hearts. I pray that we can be a blessing to any and all people that come in our church but mostly make sure they know Jesus and His sacrifice.

How Our Story Began

I have met many on line friends who have adopted children with special needs. One such family is the Cornish's, Meredith asked this question: "How did your story begin?", (in regards to our adoption), so this post is my answer. I cannot possibly put in to words quite as eloquently as Meredith did, so please be sure to read her post here.

About four years ago, a poor Guatemalan woman, who thought she was "done" having children, got pregnant. She had already raised her children and was barely able to provide for herself. When she gave birth to a baby boy with Down Syndrome, she knew there was no way she could care for him. I'm not sure of the details, but the baby boy went to live with a foster mommy shortly after birth. In such a poor country, with limited health care and information regarding special needs, this beautiful little baby spent a majority of his time in a crib or a nipnap. He had his diaper changed and was fed, but had limited interaction and physical contact. When he was three months old his forever family found him but the process took until he was 22 mos. old before he could come home.

Twelve years ago a poor Vietnamese farm worker got pregnant. She gave birth to a beautiful little baby girl with Down Syndrome. As far as we know, this woman cared for her child until the child was about 4 or 5. At that time the woman was going to get married and is often the case in poor countries, her child was not accepted. She made the undoubtedly painful decision to place her daughter in an orphanage. There the little girl had no schooling and no therapies. She saw babies come and go, but no one ever came for the little girl. Two families started the process of being this little girls family, but had to stop due to personal reasons. Her American adoption worker had been trying for years to find this little girls family. She contacted a third family in the US, who knew that this little girl was to be their daughter. Her forever family started the process when she was 9 and brought her home shortly after she turned 11.

That is how the story began for Jonathan and Anah. Now they are part of our family and we couldn't be happier or more blessed. They now get fed 3 meals a day with several snacks. They get tucked into a warm bed with clean clothes every night. They get love without end. We share many hugs, kisses and tickles with our little blessings. They have therapies and education, but most of all, they have a family that will tell them of their Savior's love and how He gave His very life so that they could live. Once they realize that, they will have no doubt as to how special they REALLY are! To be chosen as a child of the King, who could ever doubt their worth?!

We ALL have been chosen to be a child of the King, we just have to accept His invitation of adoption. If the Lord sees fit to adopt such sinners as us, and to offer His Son as a living sacrifice for such sinners, who are we to doubt the value He has put on adoption? Has God limited how many children He will adopt? Then why should we put a limit on how many children God has called us to adopt? Whether we are to actually do the adopting, pray for the families or help out financially with adoptions, it is clear that we are to take part in something that is so important to God.

So, on this Ressurection weekend, I ask you to think of "new life". Not only Christ's new life, but the new life He guarantees all who believe in Him, and what He would have you to do with that life. If you would like to see how you can impact an orphan's life, please go and check out Reece's Rainbow, there are many options available to you there.

OAMC

Saturday my g/f and I did our Once A Month Cooking. We've really been slacking doing it lately and boy, do we ever notice it. Every night we'd say to ourselves "hmmm, wonder what I'll have for dinner tonight?", then we'd try and come up with the quickest/easiest thing possible, lol. I have to admit, I'm not one of those people that loves to cook. Once in a while I get into it, but for the most part, I only do it out of love. I do it because I love my husband and children and it blesses my husband to no end! He LOVES eating and he loves my cooking....so I cook. But to be honest, I'd just as soon not. It really isn't an option however, Bob doesn't cook at all and Joey can only make PBJ, cereal, mac and cheese or ramen noodles. The other two are just too young...that leaves only me.

My g/f feels pretty much the same, that's why we do the OAMC, plus it saves a ton of money buying in bulk and not buying more expensive meat at the last minute, or eating out. And, misery loves company LOL ;o) This time Rona's mom joined us, so it was the 3 of us. Mom brought her own chicken and meat, Rona and I bought our stuff, then we split the cost of everything in two. We calculated that it cost us $125/family for three weeks of meals. The other 7-9 days we eat at church 4x/mnth, I'll cook pork chops, a ham, a roast and we'll do breakfast 1 or 2x/mnth for dinner as well. There are also leftovers, eating at other friends houses and the occasional sandwich or mac and cheese.

This is what we made:

11 pans of stuffed manicotti with spaghetti sauce. (2 for dinner that night and 3 each to bring home).
10 1lb. bags of ground beef cooked (5 each, mom made raw hamburg patties with her meat).
15 1lb. bags of cooked/chopped boneless, skinless chicken breast (5 each).
19 bags of 1 doz/ea raw meatballs (6 ea. Rona got the extra one since I have some I made at home already).
17 raw meatloaves (mom got 8 small (2people) loafs, Rona got 6 big loafs and I got 3 small loafs per what we chose for our own families).
6 2 lb. bags of chili (2 each).

For me, that's 24 main meal dishes. Chances are we won't need to make meatballs or meatloaves next month, so we'll probably make hamburg patties for the grill and marinate indiv. chicken breasts also for the grill. We'll still do our ground beef and chicken, there are so many different meals you can do with those things. We'll probably also make spaghetti sauce and maybe more chili. If we find some pork on sale we may buy it and shred it up for pulled pork or barbecued pork sandwiches.

We don't like to mix all our ingredients for meals ahead of time, because that limits you to what you will have. If you leave the beef and chicken plain you can do so much more with it.

It took us 6 hours to do all that, but then we are set for the month pretty much. Time and money saver, can't beat that!

Last year before teenagerhood!

Today is Joseph's 12th birthday. I remember seeing him being born. He was so beautiful, black hair, dark skin, dark eyes...it was definitely LOVE! I tease that it was my easiest delivery of them all, I didn't feel a thing; that's because Joseph is adopted.

Joseph was my first adoption. I was blessed to be chosen by his birth mother to be his Mommy. His birth mother was a wonderful young woman, she was engaged and going to college and did not feel able to parent at that time. She had not "planned" on getting pregnant and had even considered abortion. Through an intermediary I begged her not to have the abortion and told her that I would adopt her baby, no matter what the special need might be or what race he would be. We went through all the legal channels that needed to be taken, so when the time came, I was at the hospital to see him being born!

I had already given birth to my own two children and had worked in the hospital mother/baby unit for several years, so this wasn't a new experience for me, not technically any way. But it was new in that it was my child being born, but I was not in any pain, so could really pay attention to his birth without distraction. I was the birth mother's coach and helped her progress through the labor and delivery. I stayed in the room with her and Joseph and cared for them both. The next morning I watched him get circumcised (I'd done that many times before also) and we went home after 24 hours.

People have asked me if I love my adopted children as much as my biological children. Without doubt or hesitation, I can say: YES! Each child is a different personality, but each is a special gift to me, from God, that I cherish and love without reservation.

I have had many joys with Joseph through the years. It blesses me to see him grow into a Godly young man. It is my privilege and honor to be able to homeschool him and spend every day with him. I am thankful to God for allowing Joseph to be my son. He is a wonderful son, little brother AND big brother to his siblings. He loves his family so dearly.

Happy Birthday son, we all love you!