thankful

The sweetest of friendships are the ones who walk by your side through many seasons of life. They love you at your lowest, embrace you at your weakest, endure you at your most foolish, and rejoice in your happiness. There is no way to know who will end up being these friends, because it takes time, mistakes, ups, downs…but most of all, time.

 I am so very thankful that God has blessed me with sweet friendships like these. I look around me and I am filled with thankfulness that God has loved me directly through such rich friendships, but especially for these friends who have bore with me for decades. These friends are overflowing with God’s love in a way that always pursues me, is patient with me, is kind toward me, and is quick to forgive me.  They never let me stay stuck in resentment, bitterness, jealousy, or fear. They show me what it means to be like Jesus and what it means to live out 1 Corinthians 13. Life is richer because they walk it with me.

Thank you mostly my dear husband and best of friend…my sisters Lauren, Amber, and Heather…Aunt Chris & Uncle Brent 

Philippians 1: 3 “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Team Keehn

I am very excited for the Keehn family. Heather and Bryan were apart of our church family while Bryan was going through medical school until they moved out of state so Bryan could finish residency.

They are pursuing international adoption. Check out their blog: Team Keehn 

To raise money for their adoption, Heather will be selling these hand-made adorable onesies. They would make a great baby shower gift.  You can see more styles on their blog.

my new posts @ Together for Adoption

Here are my most recent posts up at Together for Adoption. The National conference is coming up in October and it is in Phoenix this year!! Register before August 1st for the discounted rate!

How Do You Suffer?
    Do you rejoice in your sufferings or grow hopeless and ashamed? How does justification by faith in Jesus help us suffer well?
http://www.togetherforadoption.org/?p=10835

Before God made...Family Was...
    Family existed before creation...God's plan always has been to adopt his children into his family.
http://www.togetherforadoption.org/?p=10784

Abraham is in my forever family?
    Who is actually our family?  Is it those we share DNA with or those we share communion with?
http://www.togetherforadoption.org/?p=10650

sTiCkY NoTeS

Vermon and I were out of town in April for almost a week without our kiddos. Leaving town is always hard for me (and them!). I'm sure no child likes having Mommy gone for a few days, but especially children whose life began with some difficult losses, having Mommy away brings up a flood of emotions for our children. And I typically feel nervous, anxious, and guilty for whatever negative emotions might come up for them as a result of us being away.

But this time when we came home, I was surprised to see how well the kids did (compared to past shorter trips away). Their sadness/missing us seemed more normal child behavior. It was much less about their past and more about just missing their Mommy and Daddy. Instead of returning to tantrums and super emotional children, we returned to stacks of pictures and projects made for us. This was very exciting to me and just another answer to prayer as I watch the Lord continue to heal my children, mend their broken hearts, and knit their lives to ours.

A few days after we returned I cleaned out Marcel's lunch box and found a sticky note from one of the young ladies in our church who helped get Marcel to/from school. "Marcel, I'm praying for you. Have a great day!" I cannot tell you what it meant to me to read that note. Sticky notes in lunch boxes are what I do for my son and to know that even that small detail was still taken care of filled me with such joy. My children are deeply loved and cared for by their church family and I know that a large part of why it seems like Marcel and Mya have grown so much in such a short period of time is because the role our church family has played in loving them.

And it wasn't just sticky notes in lunch boxes...another friend picked Marcel up for a special play date. Another took Mya on special "Target" shopping trips so she'd have time to talk one-on-one about how the week was going. Another took them on special trips over the weekend to explore old ghost towns and eat pistachio ice cream.

And none of this was necessary...my dad ("Grampy") was doing a great job taking care of them and loving on them, but having so many other friends take the time to check in with them made such a difference...

...I'm so thankful for a church family that cares not only about physical needs being met for the orphan, but their heart needs as well. I know that the Roosevelt Church community has been instrumental in my children's healing and I am so thankful for my family.

A Family of Adoptees

One of the beautiful things about the theology of adoption is that it changes the way we think, speak of, and do “church”.

Being a part of a church community that understands adoption is a life-changing, beautiful thing. It is unlike anything you will ever experience on this earth, because it is a taste of our eternal reality.

Read the rest @ the Together for Adoption

Loving Someone Who Doesn't Look Like You

I recently wrote a three part piece on the Together For Adoption blog answering the question, "Can you love a child you adopt as much as you love your biological children?"

Check out the entire post @ T4A

a FULL house

Mya has a doll house that she absolutely loves playing with. Recently, she had her 3 infant babies, 3 kids, and 1 teenager all sitting in one room.  Vermon joked with Mya, "what on earth are there 3 babies for? 3 babies at once is crazy!"  Without skipping a beat Mya looked up at Vermon and said, "its okay Daddy, I use some of them as foster kids." Marcel often asks newly weds at our church how long before they will have a baby or adopt some kids.

I love that they play, think, and speak this way. I love that they assume couples will adopt one day and that they see foster care and adoption as natural as having babies is. I pray they continue to grow up with this attitude and that us adults would shift our thinking to match theirs!