Summer Fun in Pictures

Here are some of the things that have been occupying my time this summer:


Redecorating our house by finding new purposes for old items. Here's one example... this "J" has been laying around for awhile. I've tried it in the bathroom, thought about it for the nursery, and finally moved it above the stove. 

Trying new recipes. My goal is one new recipe a week. This week was Caprese Chicken... it turned out great!

Gardening. Love, love, LOVE gardening... just realized it this summer! So fun. I've planted or transplanted at least 40 different perennials, bushes, or trees this summer. Seriously... 40, and I've loved every minute of it!

We re-landscaped the entire front of the house, including edging, laying sod, mulching, and doing all of the plantings. 

I've been sprucing up our furniture. Here is a glider I picked up at a resale shop last summer- I finally spray painted it, and it looks great!

These are some benches that were at the house when we bought it. The wood was loose, so I nailed them back together nice and tight and spray painted them red. So cute!

You can see in the backyard we also edged here and planted grass (Don edged, I mulched and planted the grass- it's coming in slow, but it's getting there!). Most of this whole area was dirt before. 

I've been reading this parenting book, and it's knocking my socks off! Seriously. I don't think I've read even one chapter without a few tears falling... it talks about "dazzling your kids with the love of Jesus", but you can't read it without being "dazzled" by this love yourself! Highly, highly recommend!

Definitely thought I'd be chasing a little one around this summer, but as it turns out, God has given me this time for some much needed rest, enjoyment, and time with Him.  It has been a gift, and I've loved every minute of it! 

Wedding Weekend

Yesterday, Don's youngest sister tied the knot. It was such a fun celebration and we're so thankful for both Sarah and Steve (her new husband).


As usual, I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but here's a little glimpse. 


At the rehearsal dinner

With Joe and Rachel

Our niece, Noella. Silly girl- love her!

The beautiful bride and groom- somehow I didn't get any pictures of them both facing me at the same time. 

Happy couple...

Don and I both got to stand up in the wedding to support Sarah and Steve. It was a great day- wish I had taken more pictures to capture it all!

9 Months DTE

I was going to use this post to highlight all of the ways adoption is NOT like a pregnancy (since so many people like to make that comparison). If adoption were like a pregnancy, we'd now have completed two consecutive "pregnancies" with at least one more full term ahead of us before we have our baby home. 


But, I'm going to resist the urge to do that and instead share with you our prayer list in regards to adoption in case you want to join with us. I know that many of you are praying for us, and we're so thankful for that.

Pure hearts

• That our deepest, overriding passion would be for the glorification of God.
• That we would have a growing, genuine, heart-level desire to picture forth the Gospel.
• That we would come to a deeper understanding and delight in the fact that we have been adopted by God through Jesus.
• That we would have a deep love for and compassion for orphans.
• That Christ’s own love for orphans would be dwelling within us.
• That we would not make an idol out of adoption.
• That we would not make an idol out of having kids. 
• That we would not seek meaning or to have our deepest longings fulfilled through adoption.
•  That we would not seek to earn God’s favor through adoption.

Blessing on our current adoption efforts

• Get our child or children home soon.
• God’s presence and protection over the child.
• That God would provide everything we need—spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, financially—to complete the task.

Vision for and blessing on future adoptive ministry

• That God would clearly lead us to greater and greater adoption fruitfulness.
• That he would give us a unified vision for what that will look like.
• That we would be open to what God has for us.
• That we would trust God enough to move forward in the ways he wants us to.
• That God would greatly expand and multiply our adoption ministry, above and beyond what we could ask or imagine, for the sake of his name, and for the relief of suffering.

Children

• That God would fill our home with children that we can love and raise up to know and love Christ.

The Magic Touch

Guess who has the magic touch with our favorite 3 month old?

Well, those aren't my hands, and that's not my leg! 


As I tried comforting Lucy and helping her fall asleep, I walked around, snuggled her in close, kissed her head, made the classic "shhh" noice- all to no avail. 


Don took her, held her out like she was on a stretcher and started doing exercise squats with her (he was already doing a workout, and he just added her into his routine)- she was out in seconds. 


Who would have guessed?

Toy Bin

I picked up this little basket recently, and I'm thinking that I'm going to fill it with baby toys. 


I'm determined to not let toys overtake our home. I love to have the house looking clean, orderly, and stylish. Bright, primary colored toys that make strange noises, quite frankly, scare me. As does the toy aisle at Target, but that's another story.

I'm sure those of you with kids are probably laughing right now, but let me live in my dream world a little longer... if I just put a few fun things (blocks, teethers, some books, maybe a stuffed animal or two) in here, that's good, right? I'd keep this in our living room and hide away all of the other toys and books in cute little cubbies (and probably more baskets) in the nursery. 

What do you think? It's possible, right? 

And besides all of this, they were practically giving the basket away! It was on sale from $32 to $7 (yes, $7.98 is closer to $8, but I like to round down in cases like this). I just couldn't resist. 

And when I heard that they were giving a $20 same-as-cash-coupon if you bought anything with your Pier One charge card, well I couldn't resist even more. So, basically, buying this toy basket not only solves my toy problems (ha!), it also earned me $20. 

Nursery Time

Well, we're unofficially 7th on the list for an infant boy. Last week was a pretty big week with 3 infant referrals going out, as well as many other families passing court and clearing embassy (meaning their children get to finally come home!). I'm still hoping for more good news tomorrow! 


We were so thankful for that encouragement. It had been several weeks since there had been any movement, and to be honest, we were thinking of jumping ship. Yes, eight months into the wait, and 18 months into this process, and we were almost ready to call it quits. The waiting had gotten that hard. [Just as a point of clarification, we were not going to "call it quits" on adoption, we were just praying about making a change- switching agencies, going with a domestic adoption, or possibly another program. We love adoption and hope to adopt many more children! Just wanted to clear that up!] On top of seeing almost no referrals for several weeks, we found out that MOWCYA (remember them?) was indeed only writing five letters a day for families in the court process. By some accounts this is a 90% reduction from what they were processing earlier. We had heard about this earlier, but then things actually seemed to pick up. We were hopeful that with new leadership in MOWCYA, the process would speed up, not slow down even more. With the announcement, we were told that there could be even more delays. Definitely a low point. 


So, we cried (well, I cried), we prayed, we fasted, and we waited some more. And you know what, God confirmed that we needed to stay put. And keep waiting. And keep trusting. 

Guess what that means? I'm getting started on a nursery because there is a little baby boy over in Ethiopia that is someday going to be our son, and I want him to have a really cool nursery!

Trying out the bedding and the lion. So far, so good. 

And picking out a paint color... (these are actually shades of gray, though they look quite green in the picture).

And now the search begins for the perfect rug and rocker. This is going to be fun!

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD ; Be strong and let your heart take courage ; Yes, wait for the LORD. 

-Psalm 27:13-14

I'm Back

Seven weeks ago I started coaching track, and well, recently I found this in my fridge. 

And, actually, I found a lot worse than this in the fridge- think leftover chili in tupperware for multiple weeks. Gross. 

No cooking, no cleaning, just teaching, coaching, and sleeping. I think that pretty much sums up the past seven weeks. 

Track season is over, there are nine days left of school, and I feel like I have my life back. Looking forward to a summer full of gardening, reading, days at the pool, and lots of time with family and friends! And, of course, decorating a nursery (more on that later)!

8 Months

Yesterday was 8 months since our dossier was sent to Ethiopia. No change- we're still waiting. 

My Competition

I know that Don loves me, but his love for fishing is starting to become a dangerously close second. 


I may have to invest in some waders and a fishing pole... and get over my fear of all things slimy. 


Here are some pics from his recent steelhead fishing trip with his dad and brother:

They are kind of nice looking fish... when someone else is holding them!

Waiting

I think it's no accident that the week before I found out that our wait time was going to be extended again, I was reading a book on waiting. 


On Friday we found out that the wait time for an infant boy has moved from 6-8 months to 7-10 months. Each time we get to the end of the window, the window gets bigger and longer. It's hard. That's it... enough said. 


So, I went back to something that I read earlier in the week and read it again (and again and again):

There are no accidents, no glitches with God. He does all things well. Everything that comes to us comes by his hand and through his heart. He provides for our needs and fulfills our deepest desires in the fullness of time, not a moment too late, nor a second too soon. Hope assures us that in all things, even in the delays of life, God is working for our good. To know that is to be patient. 

One of the surprise "goods" that God is working for us as we wait is the forging of our character. What we become as we wait is at least as important as the thing we wait for. To wait in hope is not just to pass the time until the wait is over. It is to see the time passing as part of the process God is using to make us into the people he created us to be. 

Patterson, Ben. Waiting. Downer's Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1989.