A Trip To The Grocery Store

I needed to go to the grocery store, and Mike needed to go teach his weekly bible study at the local Nursing Home....  So he left, and about 20 minutes later I left.  The girls were all engaged in having a fun time at various activities, and I told them, "If you need me, call my cell or daddy's cell"....
And I left.
While I was gone:

There was an amazing Tea Party! Glad they like Veges!

 Somehow, Umbrella's were needed!

 And then, there was MUD!

LOTSA MUD!

And somehow, the mud made it inside!

 This is some sort of clean pact!  Anna coordinated everybody who was muddy to take showers and clean up BEFORE I got home!!  Thank you Anna!

When I returned home, the house was clean, everybody was bathed and laundry was going in the washing machine and being folded by all! 
WOW! What little angels! Right?  :)
CAMERA'S TELL ALL! LOL

Something On My Heart

Most of you know that we have 8 children.  Our older sons are all grown and married. Three of them have blogs that I link to from my sidebar. :)  Three of our sons were born prematurely. VERY prematurely.  As a result of that prematurity, our second son Timothy had a brain hemorrhage which resulted in him having Cerebral Palsy. 

I was always careful to include Tim in everything possible, but also, I tried to keep him from being "center stage" all the time too.  This meant, some things he cheered his brothers on, and some things they cheered him on, but we ALL Cheered!

In the early 2000's, before we brought our girls home, I watched a documentary  or news type show about siblings growing up with siblings who had special needs.  It was one of the saddest things I had ever seen. 
The bitterness some of the siblings had was downright unreal.  And oh, how the "I'm so sorry for you's" poured out from the host of the show.
I was sickened to my core. 
It caused me to think about my boys.  I remember asking how they felt, and honestly, it was QUITE the opposite of that show.  I was glad that I was not living in some sort of fantasy land!

Then came the girls.  First Anna, then Sarah, then Erika and then Alli.
I remember when we had our last home study updated, Anna said that she was glad to be getting a sister who had all her arms and legs.   She didn't mean it in a rude way, but she has had the unusual position of being the person with a normal body, instead of the other way around.
We all laughed at the thought that she was the "unusual one". :)

Anna, is such a sweet girl.  She is an amazingly helpful sister.  There is no bitterness in her, like what that news show portrayed either.  She is always saying to me, "Mom, I'll do that!" or "Mom, I can help with that."  
These last 2 weeks have been filled with wheel chair events and lifting since Erika's surgery.  There is a LOT that has to be done, including bathroom, bathing, dressing etc. 
Erika is doing more and more now that her pain is better, but still needs us for a lot. 
Today, she took her first NON SPONGE bath.  I really wanted her to get a nice, long, luxurious soak in the bath and guess who was there to help me get her in and out?  Anna.
And she takes joy in her service.   I am so proud of her.
She and Erika have a wonderful relationship.  And just like our guys,  she is proud of her brothers and sisters who have special needs.  She is also proud of her brothers and sisters who don't. 

I took her out today. She said, "I am most like Joe. We have the same smile and sense of humor. ". :)

Victoria Needs A Home

Once again I woke last night to with this little one on my heart.  I began to pray for her.  Is there a family out there for her?  She is 9 years old, just 1 1/2 years older than Erika was when she came home.
Victoria also has Arthrogryposis.  (apparently from  the waist down) I have never seen her waist or feet, but my guess is, they are not very useful.  She is able to get around, and if she had a wheel chair, she could probably REALLY get around.

Is there room in anybody's heart for her?  She is available for adoption and has been listed on the Reece's Rainbow website for years. 

Arthrogryposis is not the end of the world. Handicaps are not the end of the world. They just make us function differently, use our other abilities better and shine for the Lord. 

She needs a loving home, to feel a mother's touch, to have a daddy hold her and to have a chance of a life outside of a bed. Wouldn't it be awesome if she had sisters?

In her country, she has no chance.  When we were in Ukraine with Erika, trying to get her around even the biggest city was nearly impossible.  It literally required we CARRY her wheelchair down flights of stairs and back up again, with NO WAY to get onto the metro.  We could not cross major streets because the crossing was underground.  Just to get her into a few stores was difficult and at some, we had no access.  We had to walk away.
Supposedly there is a "wheel chair" access to get under ground. Do you know what it was?
Cement on either side of a stair way, at a STEEP level (no ramp, this was above stairs, so how to get up there was ?????) and then at the bottom, a CEMENT WALL!  Our translator told us that a wheel chair bound man tried to use it, and died.  The mayor was sad, the town was sad.... not really anything has changed.
We saw no access for anything there.  I take that back, there was ONE sign for handicapped parking... but it was no different than any other parking, and at the airport, there was a handicap sign on a bathroom door.  I was going to help Erika use it, and the door was locked.
That was it folks!

Please pray for Victoria. Please pray for her future family that the Lord will bless them with the finances and ability to go and get their little girl. Pray for her heart to be ready, and pray that she can recover completely from such severe neglect.  Poor baby.

Artem Has A Happy Home!

Last year, I wrote about little Artem being sent back on an airplane to Russia.  I was so very upset, and was able to make contact with the Taxi driver in Russia who had to take Artem to the MOE.  He was so very upset by the entire thing.  I have often thought about Artem since that time. WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO HIM???? Was he OK?  I had heard "rumors" that he was not doing well etc. and that it proved he was a terrible, unstable, violent and damaged child.  I have HOPED it was not true all this time. And so, with JOY I can present this article.
. I am so happy for little Artem.  
Here is the text:

These are the pictures proving that there is finally love and happiness for the boy who suffered the most appalling neglect when his American adoptive mother sent him on a plane back to his Russian motherland with a note saying she no longer wanted him.
Torry Hansen, a 34-year-old nurse, unilaterally revoked her adoption of Justin, then seven, that she had agreed after travelling to Russia and plucking him from an orphanage in 2009 offering him a new life in the West.
Less than a year later the child had virtually forgotten his Russian when he was unceremoniously dumped alone on the plane and sent back to Moscow, with a note  'to whom it may concern' saying: 'I no longer wish to parent this child'.

Artem Saveliev, aged nine, is now living with a foster family outside Moscow. Last spring his American adoptive mother put Artem, who was then going by the American name Justin, alone on a plane to Russia with a note pinned to his clothing

Her action sparked worldwide outrage and a diplomatic rift between Moscow and Washington, as the Russian authorities - left to pick up the pieces - desperately sought a suitable home for a child who Hansen also cruelly labelled 'mentally unstable'.
The Kremlin's tsar for children Pavel Astakhov took a personal interest in the case but despite his efforts, initially the right home for the boy eluded them. Yet now almost two years on from his horror flight, Justin finally feels loved and cared for - thanks to a remarkable Russian foster mother.
Once again, he now lives under the name he was born with - Artem Saveliev - and he is approaching his tenth birthday.
Vera Egorova, 53, is the woman he now calls Mama. She is an 'SOS mother' in Tomilino village, part of an unusual and highly effective project to rescue society's most neglected children.
A former office worker, she has no children of her own yet she now mothers six, all under 18, and has 11 more who have grown up and left her village.  To her, they are all her sons and daughters, and she raises them with her husband Vasiliy Tibenko, 46.

'Artem came to live with us on  25 October last year (2011),' she recalled. 'We had a party that day - my daughter Sonya turned 9 - we invited Artem to join us and eat something but he was not so keen. '

Artem now calls Vera Egorova, right, Mama. She and her husband hope to adopted him and five other children they have been fostering. The Kremlin's tsar for children, Pavel Astakhov, left, has a special interest in Artem's case and makes periodic visits

He was 'exhausted by plane flights and going back and forth between orphanages and foster parents', she said.
'He then walked around our house, met the other children.  I went  with him saying - 'Look, this is your home now, you will live with us here, in our family'.

'He does not like to recall anything about America and does not want to answer any questions about it.'

- Artem's foster mother Vera

'I told him there are two more kids of the his age and he would not feel lonely. In the evening our kids talked to him and told about our life - that we are one family here, kids call each other brothers and sister, and here are your mother and father.
'We don't say orphanage, and we want Artem to find a good family here, not just another orphanage.
'Next day Artem began to call me 'Mama'. He asked me for a notebook and a pen and said he wanted to write a diary.
'He also went to our local school. Now, almost six months later, I can say he's coping well. He is a good student in school, not the very best but all is fine. There are a few slight behavioural problems, but this is natural, he's a typical boy. He went to the winter camp with other kids for New Year and learned to skate. He says he likes it here, especially that we are a family rather than an orphanage.'
Her description of him is far from the label that Hansen and her mother tagged him with before packing him back to Russia.

Vera says Artem is a good student in school, not the very best but fine. And unlike the claims of his former adoptive mother, Vera says there are only slight behavioural problems that are typical of a boy

'Artem is a nice boy, very kind and responsive. He is also very reasonable, as if he is older than his years,' said Vera.
'He likes to help me around the house, to clean and cook. The other day he helped me to clean and fry potatoes.
'I simply do not see that Artem has problems communicating with other children. I think he is mentally normal, there's no problem to establish good contact with him. He is just a child with a very sad life experience and our task is to help him. One day if he wants to tell me his story, I'll listen carefully, but I won't push him, if he wants to forget it, it is his right to do so.'

'I simply do not see that Artem has problems communicating with other children. I think he is mentally normal. He is just a child with a very sad life experience and our task is to help him.'
-Vera

Before Hansen chose him at the orphanage in the far east of Russia, he had been neglected and rejected once already - by his natural mother, who was stripped of her parental rights by a Russian court. It is hard to know how the impact of his treatment will affect him as he gets older but Vera is confident she can help him to grow up normally.
'I was shocked when I heard Artem's story, who wouldn't be?
'Whatever happened in his American family, that woman did not have a moral right to throw him away like a useless thing.
'I am sure there is a clever legal way to cancel adoption if it is all going wrong so I cannot begin to understand why she chose such an inhuman way.'
She said that Artem now wants to forget his time in the US, so painful was the ending. 'He does not like to recall anything about America and does not want to answer any questions about it. He openly tells me this.'
She stressed: 'Frankly, I was also surprised to know that normal healthy kids like Artem can be adopted by foreigners. I was sure before that it was sick and disabled kids can go to live abroad where foreign people have money and facilities to help them and take proper care.

Tennessee nurse Torry Hansen took a trip to Russia in 2009 and met Artem, who she renamed Justin, in an orphanage. Their meeting is pictured here

'I do not think it is right to let healthy good Russian kids to leave our country. We must take better take care of them ourselves.'
'I am glad that God gave me the chance to work and live here.
'I became a mum here, I started a family, I just became happy here. I am so proud that I am a mum of 17 kids, can you believe it? Artem is the 17th and he is  loved as much as all the others which is as much as any child can be loved.
'My elder kids come to see me with their children and they all call me grandma. '
This way Artem and the other younger children see that they will have a proper family, too, after they grow up.
'My husband and I now plan to officially adopt  all the six kids including Artem who live with us now, so we will be a totally normal legal family,' she confided.
Astakhov's determination that right must be done by this child have paid off, and the Kremlin official regularly finds time to visit and check up on Artem's progress.
Vera spoke as a US judge this week ruled that Hansen, from Shelbyville  in Tennessee, must pay child support even though she has not been prosecuted for neglect.

Worth forgetting: A swing set seen here in Hansen's shared backyard in Tennessee is part of life Artem hopes to forget

This followed a lawsuit from her adoption agency, World Association for Children and Parents. The judgement was made even though Hansen has now vanished to California.
'I do not believe that I can obtain a fair and unbiased hearing from this court,' she said in a letter faxed to the court.
'Whether or not Ms. Hansen will ever realise the consequences of her actions remains to be seen, but at least we know now there has a been a ruling by the court that she has been determined to be liable for her actions,' said Larry Crain, attorney for WACAP, after the hearing.
The sum that must be paid in support is yet to be fixed, and it  is likely to accumulate and go to Artem when he is an adult.
'The irony is if you leave a child in a car with the windows rolled up in a parking lot today, you can be arrested,' said Crain.
'But sending a child 3,000 miles across the Atlantic and there are no consequences for it, that is truly disturbing.'
At least, though, Artem finally has the loving home he so craved

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2112735/Russian-boy-rejected-adopted-mother-thriving-foster-home-outside-Moscow.html#ixzz1ofgAuFSX

God bless this Russian family for opening their home and loving their children. 
Best wishes Artem!

Funnies For March

My back has been really hurting.  Anna offered to help me with laundry right before bedtime.... I said, "You are MY GIRL!"
She said,
"Well, DUH! I'm not the next door neighbor's girl! :)

 Alli: "Quick mom, get a picture before she throws me off!" LOL

Anna :" Mama, Do you know I love you?"
Yes.
Anna"  It is one of my passions, right next to cats". :)

Me- "Alli, it is time to do the dishes!"
Alli- "Can I wait a while?"
Me-  "Why?"
Alli- "Because the weather is bad and if there is a tornado, it would be a waste of time to do dishes!"
Me- "do the dishes".  :)

Anna to Alli- "Stop worrying about tornados, God is in control!"
Alli to Anna-  "That is true, and if the Lord wants us to die, He'll kill us".

Sarah twirls through the room and runs into me, (ow) then she twirls some more and runs into me again. OW!
"I'm not doing to bad for somebody twirling with their eyes closed!" ??? :)

Alli at 9:55 a.m. She just woke up... "I had a TERRIBLE time sleeping!" Really, you just woke up. "Yea, but I slept all night on a pencil and a flashlight!"

Head Coverings Revisited

I wrote a post a long time ago about Head Coverings called "Head Coverings and Me".....

I have been covering my head for years, but not 100% of the time.  Since the new year, it has been 99% of the time. :) 
I am one of the only people at my church who cover my head, and I am THANKFUL that it is no big deal there. :)   Before we joined our church we asked if it would bother them if I did, and they said no. Oh how I love this body of believers. :)

I found this article while looking for new head coverings tonight.  I thought it was really a good article, though I didn't care for the coverings shown. LOL
I have needed to find something that STAYS ON! I think the Amish and Mennonites have perfected that need. :) 
If I am BRAVE..... I am going to attempt to make my own as needed. But for now, I'll order ready made.
As I have prayed about this subject over the years, my heart has not changed and the Lord continues to convict my heart that this is right for me to do.

When Alli was baptized, Marcus and Ivy came to our service, and Ivy has also joined in covering during worship.  :) 

For me, it has become not just a time for public worship, but for all the time, as Paul speaks about  praying without ceasing. 

I think my struggle has come to an end, and I am at total peace. :) 
Hope Anne has also helped in this, as she too has come to the same conclusion. :)

As I have said before.... I do not judge those who do or those who don't .... but I have to walk in TRUTH as I believe the Lord has directed me to do.  This is not a "salvation" issue, but for me, it is an obedience issue.

Blossoming

 When I was a kid, I remember clay day at school. We had to make something beautiful, it was then painted and taken away to be fired.... when it returned, I was so proud of my beautiful bird.  I took it home and showed my mom.  She looked at it, and was rather unimpressed.  It was never mentioned again.
About 30 years later she gave it back.  It looked like a little kid had squished clay in their hand and painted it, then fired it and said it was a bird.   Oh boy! That is NOT how I remember that bird looking.  Maybe she mistook MY masterpiece for somebody else's?  hmmmm.  Probably not.

It is fun to watch the Noelles blossom. :)  When we made our lungs last month, I noticed how detailed Alli was.  They all did really good, but she seemed to have this detail to her work.

Well, the rest of the clay has been sitting there, and this is what she has done in the last HOUR....

 a cat for erika

 a girl for Sarah

 a dog licking his paw for Anna
Yes, I think she may have some artistic talent there. :)

I think my latest talent is baking gluten free cookies to add to my waist line. :)

 YUMMMM!

And then there are the talented people at LifeSeasons who have developed this Anti-Hotflash capsule!  Yes, THANK YOU!

Alli declared that everybody has talent in this family! She went on to name Anna's writing ability, Sarah's Dancing, Erika's knitting, mommy's singing and cooking and daddy's fixing things.....

The neat thing about her discovery is that she is seeing that her own talents are HERS and they are OK. She doesn't have to strive to be like everybody else. :)  This is BIG for her.  
Last year at this time she was trying to convert herself into a clone of Sarah.  Today, she is happy to be Alli. :)  And we are happy she is seeing that she has much to offer from within herself.

Connected

An impromptu dance:
Filmed by Miss Erika.... so sorry you couldn't dance too baby.  :) SOON!

An Object Lesson On Forgiveness

Yesterday was a bit of a fall apart day after a huge weekend and one week post surgery for Erika.  To say that I'm exhausted would be a bit of an understatement. :)
But, we press on!  Because that is what we moms do.

Well, It wasn't just Miss Alli's fall apart day, but it was mine too.  I'll start with her and then move on to me.

She was just being snippy during school, and struggling to remain in control.  It wound up being one of those, "You may not  talk LIKE that to mom. It is not ok, use your tools, and more sorta day." 

I asked her, "Alli, if you were a mama, what would you do with you?" (I could NEVER have asked this a year ago)
She said, of course, "I don't know!"  So I asked her to think about it. 
Our day went on and she finished all her school work, and then asked if she could go outside to play.
I told her, she could, AFTER she answered my question. 

(I had thought up this object lesson and wanted to use it to help her understand grace and mercy)

So she sat there for a minute, and wanting to go outside helped her come up with an answer.  It was also very telling for where she is in her heart, towards herself.

She blurted out.... "I would punish me by taking away computer for a year!"  Wow!
So, I said, "Is that what you think you deserve?"  She said yes.... and then added , "But I don't really care about computer."
So I  asked, "Is that all you think you deserve?"  She looked puzzled and thought about it.


"I think I shouldn't be allowed to go outside for a year!"   "Really?  Do you know how long a year is?"

I just wanted to make sure she understood how harsh she was being with herself.

She said she did.

And and then I said, "Ok, that will be fine." And I turned around to read something.  She was standing there in disbelief... She had just sentenced herself to a year of no going outside to play and a year without computer!   The reality started to sink in, and little tears started to flow.

I asked her what was the matter?

She said, "I like playing outside."  I said, "I know you do. I'm sorry you were so hard on yourself." "Just remember, Mama didn't give you that punishment, you gave it to yourself. "   I waited about another minute and she was still standing there feeling the weight of her impending doom.

And then, I turned to her and we talked about all of the things she knew and understood about the gospel.  How she knows that Jesus took the punishment for sin, and we do not have the penalty of sin, but walk in His Grace.
The next thing I said was, "In the same way that God forgives us, I am going to forgive you. Your punishment is gone, it is covered and is no more." 
Tears streamed down her face as she listened to me speak words of love to her.  I told her, to be very careful not to take advantage of the grace given to her, and to remember that even though we deserve punishment, God gives us grace and mercy, and mama is going to do the same thing. 

WOW...what a light bulb went off for her.  She could see things very clearly.  I could also see just how hard she is on herself.  She still bears deep shame and believes she is deserving of harsh treatment. :(    Was she trying to create a situation where she would get what she felt she deserved? Yes. Many kids do this very thing. 
It is hard not to fall into the "shame trap" that our kids can set up.... but oh so important not to.
HOWEVER... there is the human factor.

Our sweetie went outside and played and did really great after that..... and then MAMA Happened....

Did I say I was exhausted?  It doesn't matter. That is an excuse.  Last night right before bedtime, Daddy smelled fingernail polish remover coming from Sarah and Alli's room.  Sure enough, there was a mixing thing going on in there. Alli had mixed some things together to play and put it in a shampoo bottle of all things!    He brought it to my attention, and we both went in to inquire about what in the WORLD they were thinking.  (they were cleaning barbies??) 

Well, I didn't handle it so well.  I came in blazing..... "Don't you know that somebody could have mistaken that for shampoo and could have been BLINDED???"  "If you aren't mature enough to use things for what they are meant for, then you can't have them! blah blah blahh..........
Yep, this came out of my mouth....
What I was saying wasn't necessarily wrong.... the DELIVERY was VERY Wrong!

Accusing isn't the best way to handle things. Both girls started feeling defensive .
Mike, graciously said, "Mom and I need to go in the other room"..... "Dear, you are not handling that very well".   
OUCH...and he was RIGHT.

I regained myself as best I could.... and then we went back in  and finished talking with the girls. We gave them opportunity to explain, and then we explained that they cannot use those things for what they wanted to use them for, and everything was better understood.
It was time for bed and all contraband had been handed over.  We let them know we would talk more about it in the morning  and then we retreated back to the kitchen.

Guess what?
Both of our girls came in on their own and apologized and said they were sorry.
I said I was sorry too.
And I received grace and mercy back, from my husband and daughters.  Because that is what families do. They forgive.

Post Surgery Update

Erika and I went to see the Surgeon this a.m.  We have a better plan to manage pain, and then in 3 more weeks we will start prosthesis.  She has too much swelling right now.  But the good news is, she has 3 sisters to keep her distracted, and they are taking VERY good care of her. :)

She is looking forward to walking again, but it will be a couple of months.  Alli LOVES to steer her around in her wheel chair, so does Sarah.  Anna, has been very helpful in every way.

I have been touched watching the girls love on their big sister.  It is not easy being down....and Erika VERY MUCH is not inactive, even with arthrogryposis. 

We will all get through this TOGETHER!

A Celebration

Today, we celebrated Alli's Baptism, and her 1 year anniversary in a big way! 
                                               CHUCK E. CHEESE

Here is the video of Alli's Baptism:

And then, after Church, we went and celebrated both her baptism and our Year together with several friends.

 Waiting for daddy.

 Having Fun

 Friends

 More Friends

 Picture wars

 Tickets

 Anna explaining to Erika how she won that game.

 Precious friends

 Enjoying herself

 Anna and her best friend Hannah

 Erika and Alli

 In the car on the way home...Everybody is pretty tired.

 Erika is in my seat....

 So I could take a picture of daddy from the back seat.

And that was our day.  Thank you Marcus and Ivy for coming, and for all of our friends who took the time to celebrate with us. We love and appreciate you!

Thank You Anna!

Anna takes joy in helping.  She LOVES her sisters.  She loves her mama and daddy. :)  This week is NORMALLY Erika's turn for Kitchen Duty.  But Erika is in a wheel chair. (She has even insisted on helping LOL)
 I have been doing it for her, and several times this week, I have found it already done, and done WELL.... Guess who has been sacrifically serving?  Miss Anna. :) 
We had a guest over  this a.m. with his little grand daughter.  While I was talking with our guest, Anna began the kitchen, dining room, living room and did the floors. 
Our guest was so impressed with her servanthood.  She was being Christ to her sister, and to me. :)
Thank you sweet heart. :)

Leading By Example

Jesus said, "Follow Me!"  Paul said, "follow my example"...

Paul could say that, because he followed Christ. 

How about us?  Can we say to our children, "Follow me" ?    Can we say to them, "Act like me"?
If not, Why not?

Self inspection is a good thing. We all have short comings and flaws, and yes, Mrs. Nasty rears her ugly head now and again.... But that is not an excuse for lazy acceptance.  We need to strive IN CHRIST to be more like Him.
When parenting children with challenges, or children without, I have asked myself over and over in the last 33 years...
Would I want to be parented by me? Are my children imitating MY behavior?  Am I a good representative of Christ to my children? Do I give them any reason, through my example to want to follow Christ too?  When I am wrong, Do I apologize?   Do I say NO too often, or just because?  Are my Yes's more than my No's? 

Am I KIND?  "It's your KINDNESS that leads us to repentance Oh Lord!" (Romans 2:4)


Just a thought.....

Mom Dad and Me Books: Updated

I wrote about Mom Dad and Me books, here.
We have consistently used our books at least on a weekly basis, sometimes daily.  It is funny how you can get into a routine and each of our girls is different how they use them. 
We have talked about delicate girl things, or we have even told jokes to each other.  But the great thing is, everybody is using them, and everybody seems to like them. :)

If you haven't tried something like this, I encourage you to  do it.  Writing encouraging words to your children can never be wrong. They can even go back and read your kind words again and again. 
If they are sad, and not ready to talk, sometimes they are ready to write.  If they are embarrassed, they will write, if they are happy, they will write. 

Spelling does not matter in these books and it is not corrected.    If things become dormant, all it takes is mom or dad writing a word of encouragement, and the writing begins once again.

If anybody started to use the idea, how has it gone?  Has it made a difference?

The Answer: ADOPTION

I believe in the sun even when it's not shining. I believe in love even when I don't feel it. And I believe in God even when He is silent. (quote found on the wall of a concentration camp)

combine with this quote:

"If I were to ask God why He lets poverty and injustice exist, why there are so many orphans and why He does nothing about it, I am SURE He would ask me the same ..."
author unknown

and you get ADOPTION..... 
The first  quote is the perspective of the orphan, the second, of the person who's concept about life needs to change. " It isn't all about 'Me'."
God LOVES orphans....He is the author of adoption.  After all, He DID adopt US.  He works in the hearts of people and moves them, when they are willing to take a risk, dive off of a cliff. :)  

There are no guarantees in how our lives will turn out.... except IN CHRIST.... There is EVERY GUARANTEE that HE will be with us, no matter what.  My Erika remembers the Lord visiting her in that dying  laying room.  And when her hopes were dashed in the orphanage, and God seemed silent.  He was NOT.  He was speaking to US.... about a little girl we knew almost nothing about; a little girl who was at the brink of forever being a lost child.

A person from our church went on a missions trip and saw her before we did. They knew we were planning to go and get her.  They came back with "BAD NEWS", "We don't think you should adopt her... she seems to be clinically depressed." 
Well, do you think??  I surely would be.

When Erika longed for a family; when she thought nobody would ever come.... God was speaking to OUR hearts. He was shouting to us, in that still quiet voice.... Erika is yours.  His desire was for her to be here.  And HIS desire became OUR desire.  Some may ask, why her? Why Ukraine?  I don't even question it.  The Lord guides different people to do different things.  That is why we are His hands, His Feet.... we are all called to different purposes and plans.

Adoption IS like jumping off a huge cliff into the land of the unknown.  You CANNOT hold back or protect yourself.... you dive in head first and DON'T LOOK BACK!  And when you DIVE... YOU DIVE INTO LOVE. 

A Pocket Full of Blessings!

Erika has been having more pain today and struggling to keep it under control.  It is amazing the timing of this Pocket Full of Blessings that arrived! 

She said, "Wow, I am feeling better!" :)

Thank you so VERY MUCH all of you over at Blessed By A Child!  What a wonderful group of artists! The Lord used each of you today to cheer up  my girl! :)

Blessings to you!

Happy Anniversary Sweet Alli part 3

To God Be the Glory Great Things He Has Done, So Loved He The World That He Gave Us His Son.....

When Alli and I were in the hotel, she mentioned to me on day 2 or 3 that she had this secret to tell me.  Honestly...my heart went into my throat on the inside.... I was afraid to hear her secret.  I was nearly panicked! I won't mention what I was thinking.  But I was GREATLY RELIEVED when she revealed her secret.
"I have this really bad side!" 
"You do!"  "Well, I have a secret to tell you too!"  "I have a bad side too!"

You should have seen the look on her face! LOL
I went on to tell her about the true nature of her bad side. EVERYBODY HAS ONE! EVERYBODY!
It is called a Sin Nature.
"Did you know that?"
She replied, "No." 
"Did you think you were the only one?"
"Yes".....
How very sad, that she felt so badly about herself.  How very sad that she had not understood that everybody has emotions and anger and fear.

We had many talks that carried into our home life. One talk built upon another until Alli acutally understood the gospel. 
There is NOTHING you can do to be good enough. Only God is good enough.  We lay our sin at HIS feet and HE carries us, bears our burdens and changes our hearts.

We began to pray with her every morning when she awoke.  And we began to see HUGE changes in her.  Most of our times were rather peaceful with a big storm in between.  It was a pattern we would see.

The pattern would be happy and calm, then work to slightly jealous, then irritated easily, then Kaboom!
This meant up a tree, or running to her bed or saying something rude.  
As we worked through this, we found ways that calmed her and ways that didn't.  We adjusted our approach and had many talks in preparation for the next time.  She participated readily in these talks and we always came to agreements on what was best to do.

In the mean time, we also explained to her (I have written extensively about this in other posts) how when your life is mostly Chaos, normal seems odd and unfamiliar.  We comforted her in the midst of her pain, reassuring her that she was going to make it.  We were ALL going to make it!

We spent our school days working on vocabulary and building reading skills.  She REALLY NEEDED to go back to basics.  And it has payed off!  She is almost ready to move into a more age appropriate grade.

We have learned so many things about our precious daughter this year.  She is KIND. She is SENSITIVE. She WANTS to obey. She WANTS to LOVE and be LOVED.    She just didn't know how. :(
Honestly, one of the worst things a person can do to a child is to make them feel that they are unworthy of love.  This happened to her over and over again. 

But in Scripture.... HE is worthy. We don't have to be. We are LOVED pure and simple.  Alli is loved not because of how she performs or what she does, but because she deserves to be loved.
She had never experienced that before.  It was hard for  her to accept. She tried to reject it.
The more she rejected, the more we loved.  And finally, she allowed the Waves of Love to roll over her fully.  She was overcome with joy and peace....and she asked the Lord Jesus to change her.

That was about 6 months ago.  
And WHAT A CHANGE!


We saw it immediately.  The struggle was less. The anger was less. And when we spoke to her about sin, she responded immediately. 
Our baby was HOME.... she reached a place of peace and rest that many people never achieve in a lifetime.

She is not perfect. Neither am I.  But oh the fellowship we have together. :) 

I took her out today for a special time. As we were talking she said, "Mama, I never dreamed I would make it to a whole year!"  "Now I KNOW I am here forever!" 
I told her, "And next year, it will be two years, then three, and before you know it, daddy will be walking you down the aisle!" 
She had this big, satisfied grin on her face.

Yes.... she is home! :)

This Sunday, our sweetie is going to be Baptized.  One of the things we ask our children to do, is to give a testimony in front of the church.  This is Alli's personal testimony. Written in her own words:

                                                                   My Testimony

I believe that Jesus was the Son of God, that Jesus was the Messiah and that He died of our sins.  I believe that some people go to hell and some go to heaven.
I do not believe in Jesus because I do not want to go to hell, but because I know He is real and that He can change people, because He has changed me.

He has brought me where He wants me to be, in a good place and a family that is good to people and that trust in Him.  I believe in God! :)

I was in a hotel with my mom. I really didn't know about God, so I said that I had a really bad side. Mom said, "every body does, but God can change that if you pray to Him."
And then I was home and I learned more about God. I prayed every day and my bad side started to go away a little at a time.  I realized a pattern. If I did not pray the day will not be very good. If I did pray, it would be a good day.
I went to church with my family and I met this AWESOME Preacher.  He was really nice and I learned more about God. I said I wanted to be baptized.
I found out taht my bad side was because we are all sinners, and I felt really bad that we are sinners. I wish we were not sinners.  I found out that Jesus died for our sins and that He washes our sins away!
I felt bad about sin because God does not like sin and it makes Him sad. I do not want God to be sad. I want Him to be happy. And that is how I became a believer.
Since I became a believer my life has changed. I now trust my parents and God has helped me be part of a family.
Alli

On Sunday, I will take a picture and then we will all go and celebrate at the famous
Chuck E. Cheese! :)

( for those new to this blog... I have chronicled the best I can our first year with Alli, who is originaly from Russia. She came to America at 9 and a half.  Unfortunately her adoption disrupted, and then her second adoption also disrupted. We are her 3rd family in the U.S. ( not including respite care and her birth family, and orphanage experience)  She is a living and true miracle. :)

See Parts one and two here and here.