Hope.

I have an overwhelming sense of hope today. I don't know why, nothing has changed. I've been having a hard time with my anxiety attacks while switching medicines. I've had dear friends write very encouraging words and Bible verses. I've started a new personal study on Joy. In this study I came across Psalm 27: 13-14 "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

I found that particular verse when M first came to us. His life and that of his siblings was so very ugly, scarred, and scary. I found much comfort in that verse. There was so much good that has come out of that ugly home. One of the best, of course, is that M is here with us and will have an open adoption with his family. Any day now. And that there where I am finding strength in that verse once again. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. I'm certain that on this side of heaven, I won't know why it's taken so long, or why the long wait once things seemed so ready to happen. There is a reason and I will take heart and wait on the Lord. For when M joins our family and I can shout it from the rooftops, it will be in the perfect timing of God!

All that, I believe. However, if you wish to pray with me that a few sheets of paper make their way to our lawyer so we can sign, that would be great. Prayer can't hurt after all. :)

As for my Carlee. We have good news waiting around the corner, or more precisely on Thursday. Her nuero doctors are hopeful to get her into a study to help her condition. I am being firm in the fact that she needs to be ours soon, so we'll have control over her medical care instead of having to go through social services and medicaid. We have such hope for our girl. 

I've decided to stop stressing so much about our school work, it gets done. I still have a public school mentality even after 6 years of homeschooling, I feel like a failure if we haven't finished every subject that day. Well, here's to a new way. As I type Shane is doing his reading, on his own, after a long struggle. Jackson has started his first batch of multiplication and seems to have taken to it well. And Sam, is starting a whole new unit of stuff. It will delightful. :)

2013 Reads.

I'm going to keep a track of what I've read this year. So this particular post will be updated. Often, I hope. I love to read, but I've gotten off track a bit, so here's to diving into a bit of everything.

1. Sin Boldly by Cathleen Falsani. I really loved this. It was different and eye opening. It read like poetry to me. Reminded me a bit on 1000 Gifts in the type of writing.

2. Undaunted by Christine Caine. I saw Christine at Women of Faith this year. Her first speech rubbed me the wrong way, but wow, after hearing her story I have nothing bad to say about her. She's intense with a capital I, but this book is great. I highlighted probably half of it and it filled 16 pages in my journal with quotes. Go read it.

3. Children and the Supernatural by Jennifer Toledo. I was a little weary of this book. Judging by it's cover and all. But it was amazing. Jennifer has witnessed God using children in amazing ways. She also opened my eyes to the fact that children are part of God's family too and shouldn't be shuffled away from adults. We have a lot to learn from them. They just seem more open to hearing from God and noticing things that we as adults walk past.

4. Jewels by Danielle Steel. Don't judge. I have loved this book since I saw the movie when I was 13. Not sure it was an appropriate read at 13. It was an even less appropriate book report. Yup, I did this book as an 8th grade book report. I can't imagine was Mrs. Garcia thought of me or my mother. I still very much love it. It's one of those books I can just open a page to and know what's going on.


 

 5. Love Does by Bob Goff. I cannot say enough good things about this book. First it has a fun cover! Second it has short chapters, which I love when reading at night. There are tons of amazing stories and many many great quotes. The picture to the left is all the folded over pages that I want to quote into my journal. It's a really good read, light and funny, but full of awesomeness.

6. Start with Me, A Modern Parable. By Seaton and Blase. An easy read. Basically asking the question, where do I start? Or how do I start? I didn't really get into this too much. They tried to do combine characters to show how we all interact with one another. There were too many characters to shallowly described for me to remember who was who and what their storyline was. Out of ten, maybe a 5.

7. Christmas Is Not Your Birthday by Mike Slaughter. Easy little book to read. Getting your focus off stuff and onto Jesus during the Christmas season and during the year. Very typical stuff and kind of "Christianese". A good start if you're looking to change how you 'do' Christmas.

     8. The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klavan. I grabbed this as a spur of the moment buy. I didn't know going in that it was a trilogy, so now I have to go find the rest of them. A young boy wakes up being tortured and can't remember anything of the last year of his life, but he's in big trouble. It's kind of like 24 for the young adult set. Easy read, but very much a page turner.                          

  9. Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This book is powerful. The difference one person can make in one life and in turn, a lot of lives. Denver Hall was working as a sharecropper right up into the 1960's and then becomes homeless. Ron Hall if a very rich art dealer. This is the story of how they become friends for life and redoing an area of homeless not just by serving food but by serving people. Highly Recommended.



10. Harry Potter and The Chambers Of Secrets. That's about all I have to say about that. I can read all of them. I could probably hear just one sentence and tell you what book it's from. They make me happy.







 

11. Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. Rereading again. Love HP. This one is my favorite.

12. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Rereading again. This is my least favorite HP book, but I still love it, which is how great they are. :)

13. Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis. OH MY GOODNESS. I have waited ages to read this one. I didn't want to pay full price. It's been on my Amazon wish list for a long time. Tuesday night after Bible Study, there it was sitting in the church library. I squealed and grabbed it! I finished it in two nights. It's one of those books that I cant' stop talking about. There's adoption, foreign missions, non profit group, children, miracles, deep sadness, overwhelming happiness, and to top it all off Katie is only 22. She's the mother of 13 Ugandan girls. The book is amazing. It's really changing some things in my head. Slowly, ideas are forming. If and when they come to fruition it will be because of this book. 

 14. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Second favorite. Love it.

 15. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We all hate Snape (for awhile anyway)

16. My Son the Savior by Melody Carlson. This is a fictional account from Mary's point of view. I'm very intrigued by Mary. Her whole story. Being choose to carry the son of God. Being unmarried in a time where it could have resulted in her death. Explaining to her fiance, "um, sooo I'm pregnant" Enduring ridicule. Then birthing this perfectly average newborn. Raising him. We know so little of his young life, and obviously non of this book is "real" but it could be. Full of scripture and the parables. I thought it would start as a light read, baby Jesus, toddler Jesus. Yeah, not so much, it starts the night of the Crucifixion. Hard stuff to read, it took me a long time to read more than a few pages at a time. But it was well worth the read. 

17. Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst. I actually read this last year, but I've reread it this year for my Ladies Bible Study. I think it's a book I really should read often. How to recognize becoming unglued, how and why. Do you stuff or explode. Triggers. And very helpful and real ways to overcome. If you do become unglued, that God's mercies are new everyday and you are not a failure.

18. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Or Harry Potter and the never ending camping trip in the cold and being hungry a lot. But I stood in line at midnight and read for a day straight. I miss Harry Potter.  

19. Twilight. Yes, I love Twilight. Let's more on :)

20. Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. This was a church wide study along with our small group study. It's an intriguing book. A you a fan of Jesus (Yay Jesus) or a true follower. What that means and what that includes. It can really be summed up in the title. If you can get the video, the backdrop story is a really great tie in. There are a few 'ouch' moments in this book, it's not a feel good book, but it's also not a 'sell everything and move to Africa' book (unless that's something you want to do. )

21. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. This was a wonderful story about the story of making a story into a movie. If that makes sense. It's the story about making your story. Full of inspiring actions taken my normal people. It was really enjoyable and opened my journal to start my own story. 

22. New Moon, I know it's stupid fiction and I know how it ends, but I still can't read the chapter where Edward leaves her in the woods. I'm a geek. I know.

23. The Pastor's Wife by Sabina Wurmbrand. This was given to the mothers of the church on Mother's Day. We were warned that it wasn't a feel good book, but a book about how important a strong faith is. Sabina was in jail for being a Christian, lost years with her son and husband. Lost friends and family. All through it all she kept her faith. It's a hard read, but amazing. 

24. Eclipse. I was serious when I said I read these and Harry Potter over and over and over and over. 

25. UnSweetined by Jodie Sweetin. Child star turned meth head turned sober mom. Pretty much what you've read in the tabloids, but it was an interesting read. Her "rehab" stints and how they failed over and over should open eyes.

26. Mommywood by Tori Spelling. Tori is all grown up with two kids trying to be 'normal' as normal as a daughter of a producer mogul with severe mommy issues can be. Trying to raise her kids in a smaller setting than her life was. Nice easy beach read.

27. Stori Telling by Tori Spelling. Again in the mood for a pool read. Major mommy issues going on in this book.

28. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. Yeah, I know. But I can't help it.

29. Praying for Strangers by River Jordan. Brady gave this me for my birthday. It was really good. A woman makes a resolution to pray for a stranger each day. Then it turns into a books. Amazing stories and very inspiring.

 30. Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman. I read this after watching the series on Netflix. The show is LOOSELY based off of the book. Basically the premise, that's it. Very little that happened in the show actually happened in the book. The book was very tame compared to the series. However, it was a great book with an eye opening looking into the prison system.

 31. The Hunger Games by Suzanna Collins. I read this before the movie came out, but I was reading about four different series at the same time and this one got shuffled to the back. I really don't remember what happened. So I'm rereading them, however, I think I'll wait to read number 2 until after the movie comes out. I tend to get mad when the movies don't follow the books.

 32. Misconception By Paul and Shannon Morell. After undergoing IVF and freezing their remaining embryos they Morell's are summoned to their fertility doctors office. Their embryo, their baby, had been mistakenly implanted into another. This is their story.






33. Inconceivable by Carolyn and Sean Savage. This flip side to Misconception. After finally becoming pregnant via IVF, the Savage's world is rocked when a mistake at the lab occurred. Carolyn was pregnant with another woman's baby. A baby that the genetic family wants. She was given two options. Terminate the pregnancy or give birth and hand over the baby. Making the life saving choice to carry the baby, the Savages embark on a nine month mission.

 34. Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor. Grabbed this in a sale bin. Cute young adult novel. I think it could have been a lot more interesting, there was a great plot going and it just flopped. Easy beach read.

35. Home Another Way by Christa Parrish. This was a great read. I devoured it. However, there's a reason I love series, I want to know what happens next. This is not a series so I don't know. And that makes me sad.








 36. Twilight. Yes again.

37. How Sweet It Is by Alice Wisler. Coming of age story. Girl is sad, girl gets a gift that comes with a price, girl learns her lesson. Easy read.

38. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. So very very good. I read it before, but I was caught up in a bunch of series so this got lost in the shuffle. I can't wait to see the movie. 

39. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The end of The Hunger Games series. I seriously didn't want to finish it, but couldn't wait to finish it. I'll be interested in what they do with this on the big screen.

Miracle

A few years ago we had decided to adopt a waiting child through Adopt Us Kids. I fell in love with this little girl, Miracle. Today I happened to check the site. Many many of the children I had put in my favorite list have been placed. It made me so happy. However, Miracle's case was still 'Active'. It's just heartbreaking. She's 11 years old and lives in Arkansas. We didn't pursue her because Shane had to stay the oldest. Here's a description of her:

 Miracle is a cute young girl with an old soul quality about her. She is friendly, tenacious and smart! Miracle likes to play with dolls and has an excellent imagination. She is prissy and loves to do things that are girly, like pageants and playing dressing up. Miracle likes to read and is very into her books. She loves to scrap-book pictures. Miracle enjoys visiting the zoo, going to museums and attending concerts.

Miracle needs a family who is loving, nurturing and structured. She enjoys being active and on the go and would enjoy a family who is active. Miracle looks forward to having a forever family.
Would you please share this information around? Maybe together we can find Miracle a forever home!

Here is the contact information for Miracle:

	Rebecca Kincannon (social worker)
	DHS/DCFS Adoption Services
	115 Stover Lane
	Hot Springs, Arkasas
	501-321-2583 ext.138 rebecca.kincannon@arkansas.gov

This

This was a Christmas card. I just loved it. I stared at it all the time. I couldn't put it away with the others at the end of the season. So I framed it. There's just something about it that I love. It's so peaceful and full of hope and promises. But it's also just a mother looking lovingly into the eyes of her child. Not caring that he's been sent to her by God. Not caring that she was gossiped about. Not caring that she didn't even get to have sex and had to endure labor. Not caring about the circumstances of His birth, the pain and filth of a stable. She's forgotten all that. She's just in love with her child. Just like the rest of us. In this moment.

Word of the Year

Have you heard of this. I've heard rumblings. Last year I chose ADOPT. We now have two little ones on the way to adoption!!! This year I chose OPEN. Open to whatever God wants to put in my life. Open to others ideas. Open to change. Open to adventure. Open to listen. Open to hear. Open to realize there's a reason things don't go by my plan. OPEN. So in enforce it a little bit in my life. I made a collage. I have no real artistic talent. I pictured something different in my head, but this is what happened. :) What is your word of the year?

Let's get him home!

This sweet little boy found a home! I saw his picture on Facebook, through Second Chance Adoption. This site helps find homes for children adopted from overseas and for whatever reason need to be adopted again. This little boys birth family left China, because they already had one child. They came to America and gave birth to him. Then they discovered he had Downs Syndrome. They decided they could not care for him properly and placed him for adoption. Well, he found a family. Or they found him. You can read the blog over at My Cup Overfloweth. I'm so happy for them and for this sweet baby boy. Now, since it was so last minute, they need financial help to bring him home. The cost is about $15,000. There's a whole other blog about why adoption is so much, but this is not really the time for that argument. This family needs this money to bring THIS baby boy home. Now. So please share. Share their blog, or this one (as it has a link) and let's get Simeon home into his loving parents arms!