And summer has arrived....

Summer has arrived.  I think we skipped spring, but who cares?  The sun is out, the weather is balmy and everything is green!  And this light skinned crazy person has managed to get sunburned because I had way too much that I wanted to get done outside!!!  LOL!  And yes, I did put on sunscreen - well, the second day anyway.....

But, we have been enjoying the heck out of the weather!  Steve got our fencing working again, and not intermittently!  So at this point all the animals have stayed where they are supposed to!  Whoo-hoo!  The wildest day was when the horses went to visit one of the neighbors and she called us at 7:30AM saying they were talking to her cows!  Talk about wide awake and running out the door!  By the time I ran out the door, the eight big horses were charging back down the driveway and all ran right past me to the gate to their pasture!  Who needs coffee after that!  Luckily, no one was hurt, no damage to anyone's property or crops, and they came right back home!!!  It was pretty (and scary) having them all charge right by me! 

I have gotten a few things in the garden, will work on more later today.  We have raspberry plants now, a strawberry patch, some flowers and a lilac bush.  The only way to keep the goats out of them is to have them inside my garden patch!  At this point, I have not been super wonderful about putting every square inch to work, so I don't feel bad about turning some over to something pretty and not food related.  I am drying some of my herbs, learning how to do it anyway, for teas and other things - can you tell I am learning as I go???  I have lots to plant today, but will have to clear some more spots in the garden before I do that - the spring was too wet to get at anything, and as we have reclaimed the garden from yard space, I still have tons of grass trying to come up!  I may be crazy enough to transplant some of it when I clear it out!  We had to trench for a new gas line to our propane tank, and though we have filled it in there is no grass there (amazingly, our free range chickens get to the grass seed as soon as we plant it, so I have given up on that!).  I may transplant some of that thriving grass to that area!  Hee, hee.  That might be a little nuts, but harmless.

I have had a great time watching my growing kids enjoying spring/summer.  Two of the boys are in drivers ed, so we may have another driver/helper for me by December!!!!  Soccer season has started, and we are prepping for the county fair!  That means horses, goats, chickens, rabbits all being prepped!  They have been so helpful with projects - at least most of the time.  I think I may have overrun their generosity (and responsibility) the day that I asked them and Steve to take out a friend's chain link fence.  A single mom wanted it gone, and wondered if we could use it - yes!!!!  So, I went to work at the stable with Kiley for the day - mucking stalls and the whole nine yards, and the others went to get this fence out.  It is HUGE, and all cemented it.  Ummmm....  But, they got it out!  And loaded in our horse trailer and brought home!  Now, we are planning to put it up as an addition off our summer kitchen for a pen for the male goats.  It is just perfect and will really help with our herd management.  So, that is likely Saturday's project, unless I get a little crazy and start it before then.....

Life on the farm is great.  Busy but great.  Everyone is learning so much, between internships, general activities, service projects, and continuous learning!  It was so funny when I was talking to the boys (taking drivers ed) yesterday.  I remember learning to drive and being terrified.  So, I have been prepping my kids for ages, literally.  I started explaining the rules of the road and getting them practicing behind the wheel long before they were really old enough to worry about it.  And then I found that we would run into a situation while we were driving that I could talk with them about - much less time pressure and all.  I figured I was driving them crazy with all that I kept explaining to them over the last two plus years, but yesterday, Zeri and Alex were telling me about a question the drivers ed teacher asked.  "Why is the road more slippery when it first starts raining?"  They both had known the answer and no one else in the class did!!!  Amazingly, not only had they listened to me prattle on constantly, but they remembered it!!!!!  Whoooooo-hooooo!!!!!  Actually, they both have said that they learned most of what they are going over in the class from me first!  Except now they are precise about the speed limit and I tend to go a few miles around it.  Sigh, so now they are calling me on it.  Sigh.  And Zeri is so motivated by this class that we are spending extra time on reading by reading through his manual!!!!  He is doing great - it is like everything is just clicking now!  We did all that teaching, all that work, and made progress but it was slow, and now it is just falling into place!!!!!  Wow!!!!  Hooray!!!!  I am so proud of him - he works so very hard!!!!!

Well, I have to run.  Two of the boys are going rock picking for a neighbor, one is going to an automotive internship, and one is going to an equestrian internship (and to prepare for her horse show on Sunday!).  Then I run to work for my one hour, and back home to my lovely crew!  Then to driver's ed, and rounding up kids from internships, and another appointment for our adoption.  I am trying to get all the craziness done before our little girls get home, so it is a bit extra crazy right now.  I have lots on my to do list for before they get home, all with the plan to make things easier and less busy when they are home, because it will have to be!!!!

Love to all, enjoy every moment, breathe in God's blessings and pray for those suffering (thinking of all the tornados!)
Christy

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Progress continues!!! And so does spring!!!!!

Hi all!
Just got an update from our international agency, and we were told that other than a few small tweaks, our dossier is just about ready to go to Ethiopia this Friday - if I can get it all done by then!  I will be working on that rapidly!!!!! 

This is much sooner than we had been fearing, so we are hopeful again to see things actively moving forward!!!  We are so anxious to get our girls home!  Scared and thrilled and all of that!  Totally thrilled overall!  Anyway, if you know of anyone who would like Vine Candles, Seroogy chocolates or puzzle pieces (see puzzle piece post about that!) please let me know!  And we have farm fresh eggs!!!!  The dossier fee is $1000 and we have part of that set away, and we will sit down tonight with payroll and bills and see if we can squeeze the rest out.  This came faster than we had thought - thankfully! What a great problem to have!  We could have our dossier in Ethiopia before the end of MAY!!!!!  Praising God!!!!  Don't know what that might mean for a court date, that is very up in the air, but each step gets us closer!

And it is spring on the farm - baby animals - soccer - gardening - training horses, we generally have lots to keep us busy!  The older boys are working at an internship at a auto mechanics/body shop.  They will get three high school credits for the automotive portion by the time they are done!  And they are loving it!  A great experience for them overall!  So, things are busy as always.  I am trying to get lots of outside work done when the weather is good and lots of inside when it isn't.  And when it is I set my timer so I do stints of inside work before I beat it to the outside!!!!  And schooling outside!!!!  Lots of science going on, in the real world work, but also it is just more fun to read and work outside - if the winds allow! 


I will figure out how to get new photos off the camera and onto my blog!  I can only find old ones stored on the computer right now!!!  Grrrr.....

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Preparing the way.....

If anyone has read my blog very long, you know that this is our strangest adoption journey ever, and also sort of the most typical for many people.  And full of strange surprises that are typical for OUR adoption journeys.

We have a completed homestudy.  Done first now, waiting for a referral.  Our profile has been shown several times - with great excitement by us - and no child.  That is fine, I am glad that families have choices for their child!!!  Very.  Wish they chose us, but I know that God has a plan for each and every one of us - the birth families, the child and our entire family.

We don't have all the funds, but it is very hard to tell how much we might need.  In fact, as of the moment, we don't have much set aside - difficulties with the furnace, gas lines, and what not have depleted our "cushion".  However, tax return time is soon, and I have in my heart that I want some of that to be put away for an adoption.

But, as you might have realized, waiting is VERY difficult for me.  To be at this point, just sitting still, waiting to move forward, seems fairly pointless to me.

I am decluttering, getting our excess out of the house, schooling the kids, organizing, and now even PAINTING in an effort to keep my sanity.

So, while I know that it is entirely possible that we MIGHT get all the funds we need for an adoption through our tax return, I also know that there are updates that we want to do on our home and land to make life a bit easier.  The goats got a barn this last year, next year it would be amazing to have a better henhouse (more eggs through more of the year), and I would like horse stalls in one area.  We aren't extravagant, we live simply.

We are considering whether we should go overseas - here, we are waiting to be chosen, one of many.  There, there are children dying for families.  Children who are malnourished and in need of loving families!  Here we have things like Medicaid, social security, foster care (not the first choice, obviously), and other supports.  There, not.

God has led us a wild ride, and I don't know where he is taking us.  But, in my intense need for action, to feel like we are getting ready, doing something to be ready to go whenever we are called, we are starting something new.

The kids and I have been taking ceramics classes as part of our arts program - and a way to pass the long winter!  So, what we would like to do, is offer items for purchase/order/donation, whatever you call it.

Several of the kids have been making these "initial bears".  We can make them with ANY letter (English letter anyway!!), any color requested.  If you would like to order one, special made for your order, please email me at mommyturtle@tm.net.  We figured that costs us about $4 to make one.  We would suggest a donation of $15 (if you don't feel that is appropriate, any donation is wonderful!).  I can send you our address.

I have also made two items that just appealed to my fancy.  The pig bank was very complex but lots of fun.  It was just too neat a project.  The costs for this one were about $10 or so, so a suggested donation of $20 would be helpful.

And an elephant to match the pig was just too cute.  The cost for this one were about $8, so a suggested donation of about $16 seems reasonable?

I can make more like these, in a variety of colors if anyone is interested.

I will post more soon, including handmade slippers that I knit myself (8 for the kids for Christmas, so I have the pattern down pat now!!!!).  Suggested donation of $20 given the cost for yarn and the amount of time it takes to make them.  I can make to specifications and will take photos of the yarns I have available.  I can make children's sizes, teenager sizes and adult sizes - if you let me know what size you need, I can get it to about that!

I have this thing about fundraising:  I want YOU to get some benefit from it too.  And maybe it will give you a reminder to pray for kids in need of families.  We have been so very blessed through these last few years. So many people have just handed us funds to help towards some of the needs.  We are so grateful for that.  So very grateful!  But that has been a hard thing to learn to accept.

We are hard working people.  Pull yourself up by your bootstraps kind of people.  Earn your own way and all of that.  We value that.  We know that everyone works hard for their funds.  That is part of the reason I share our life - to show folks who helped what they have done for these kids - they have truly invested into their lives!!!

The kids also are very inspired to be part of this, and have helped with each and every thing that we have done to raise funds to adopt.  And for them to be able to help too, well, that is priceless.

So, drop us a note, place an order, whatever.  I know that it must mean also that I am asking you to trust us, that we will use the funds as we say we will.  That is a level of trust that humbles me.  And that is EXACTLY what we do with any funds that come in intended for adoption needs.  And if for some reason God turns us away from adoption, I can promise that those funds will be handed to another family to help them to adopt a child in need.

Thanks for putting up with my "need to do something".




"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Today

Today was our first day of trying to build back a routine.

All things considered it went fairly well.  Two kids did math and made good progress, we got some things reorganized and cleaned out, hauled goodies for our goats, got two kids to work, got one kid to soccer practice and even got going on watermelon rind pickles!  And one kid rode her pony.  And I even read a little!  We also watched a neat video on Martin Luther - "Martin, God loves you!".  I learned a lot and it gave us lots to talk about.  A very good start, laid back and non-stressful, and a very good step back onto our path!

Do you ever wish God would just send you a little view into what is going to come?  I am in place of just wanting a slight vision to see that everything will work out.  And by "everything" I actually have no idea exactly what I mean.

Finances, yes.

Remodeling, yes.

Childrearing, yes.

Professional life - yes, though I think that is basically done for now, just doing a little to supplement the income, but primarily being a professional mom.  (Love that job by the way!)

We are in a season of transition (aren't we always?) and I am just taking it a day at a time.  And perhaps that is the answer.  God provides enough for each day.  Maybe I have been trying to see too much.  Trying to have too many things laid out.  Maybe the everyday miracles are huge, but missed when we look too far ahead.

So, here is to a day of everyday miracles - clean laundry, loving kids (and squabbling kids - you always get both sooner or later), house cleaning one corner at a time, kittens rolling on the floor, the scent of a horse, kids learning new things, simple pleasures.  Thanks God, though could you turn the heat down a little?

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Trying to get our routine back - again!

Well, it has been an amazing bit of time on our homestead!

I have finished out the last contract for work - which means I should be down to a much lighter schedule, which is much needed by everyone!  The kids have been fabulous with helping out and pitching in, but it has been a long stretch.  I think we have totally paid for the new bathroom.  Whew.  As soon as that last paycheck comes in.  Yay!  It was a long, hard stretch and we were all showing the strain.

So, I feel like I have gone to heaven, thinking of being home most of the time now!

Tomorrow we start getting our regular routine back - starting schooling again for all eight, continuing working on our homestead, training horses, riding, and on and on.

I have promised my husband that I will do more writing now, and this is the beginning of my efforts to do so.  I am hoping to set aside an hour a day, one way or the other to write.  I have several things in the works, and will be working on those as well as blogging more.

So,  the big events are typical for this time of year in the Frozen Tundra - at least for those of us who try to somewhat farm.  We are preparing for winter.

Sigh.

We all know that it is coming.  It is inevitable.

It will be cold, it will be long, and at times it will be hard on us and the animals we care for.

So, each year, we prepare.

We do whatever we can to improve things, and each year it gets better.

This year there is a lot, but I guess every year there is.
This year, we are have a lot of things we are trying to get done.  Sigh.

The rabbits moved out of the old rabbitry in our old garage (loosely called that).  We built all new rabbit hutches with nesting boxes along one side of the house and moved the kids' rabbits over to that.  It is really nice.  I call it the 'rabbit taj mahal'.  The rabbits are very happy, to say the least.  And they will be wonderfully set for winter!

The garage is being converted into goat housing. Problem is that the 'garage' has slipped from some of the foundation and dropped into the the ground by about six inches at one entire end of the building.

Yep that is a problem.  All sorts of things kitty whampus.

Well, we read about how to restore old buildings, to renovate and make them strong again.  Books make sense, but I always worry.  You know, when you go to do a home renovation project, it always takes three times as long as you think it will, and costs at least double if not more.  So, lifting a garage and putting in new sill plates and supporting the foundation seems like quite a challenge, regardless of how relatively simple it sounds in a book!

Hah!

For once, the book was right, and even better, while it took a while to do it, it wasn't terrible to do!  The garage went up, the bent siding straightened, and we were able to dig out the foundation.  And get the building supported!  Imagine chains holding a building together, three car jacks lifting, and a lot of amazed looks!  It worked!

The best way then to hold it all together (outside of the chains on the outside of the building), is to then support the inside as it is all straight.  So, insulation goes in, plywood interior walls go up, and the building is held together firmly.

Amazing!

So, we are still putting up the insulation and interior sheeting (plywood), so the chains are still around the building, but it is all coming together!  Can we all say "whoo-hoo"?

With a three day weekend coming up, I expect we just might get it done....  And maybe even get some goat stalls assembled in there.

So, I will be calling an electrician to help us run electrical to the barn!!!!!  Because that is what it will be!  A real goat barn!!!!  With heat lamps, heated water buckets and all.  Ready for winter babies!

And on another topic - we had a great "gotcha day" for Tsion, Aman and Ben last week.  Nothing fancy, just a nice dinner out to celebrate.  And on Wednesday we will celebrate Zeri and Ben's third "gotcha day" with dinner at the Pizza Hut buffet - that is their request.  Sounds good to me!  I don't know if it is harder to believe that it has only been one year and three years, or that it has been one year and three years.  I cannot imagine life without a single one of our kids, and they are all doing so well overall.  We have the general struggles that all parents have, but really nothing unusual, and our kids know how much we love them, through the good times and the bad.  We are so blessed, and we know it.

I am in total denial that my first baby is going to be 16 very, very soon.  Ugh.  I was just remembering him as a baby the other night as I drove home with him.  This big, gangly boy, taller than me by several inches at least, turning into a man right before my eyes.  How does this happen?  Wow.

I remember my trip cross country, pregnant with him, a single mom, hoping I was going to be good for him, that I could do everything he needed, going home to be by family.  We needed more than just I could give him.  The moment I saw that positive pregnancy test, I knew that I had made the last mistake that I would do carelessly and that from then on, what I did was not about me, it was about that innocent child I carried.  He came first, before I ever saw his little face.  He turned my life around, away from selfishness, back to my faith and God, and into reality.  It was no longer a game.  And it turned into the best thing ever.

We were so very blessed.  God gave me the best husband ever, and he wasted no time in doing that.  I am so lucky.  God sure is something else!

Well, time to sleep! I will be cleaning and reorganizing and getting us back into our groove.

Oh, by the way, I took the first digger in a while - silly me.  The three year old mule that has only been sat on a couple times was out in the pasture.  Well, I decided to climb on.  Got on too fast, too hard, and she took off at a trot and me grabbing onto her mane to stay on bareback didn't help things any.  I wisely decided to disembark before her freaked out trot became a full fledged panicked gallop across the pasture.  By the way, she is tall.  The ground is hard, and I had my hands so tightly wound into her mane that in order to get my fingers free, I took a big hunk of her beautiful black mane with me.  Oh, well!  Thankfully, I didn't give myself anything more than an ache or two (mostly from my fingers) - oh and to make it worse - I lasted right in a fresh pile of manure!  Several acres of pasture, most of it very free of odoriferous material, and I landed right in a fresh pile, and managed to coat one whole leg.  It was very funny, once I convinced hubby and kids that I really was just fine.  So, I can scratch that off my list for the year!

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Homeschooling requests

As we prepare to start our homeschooling year, this came in!

From Secular Homeschooling Magazine, Issue #1

1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's
Insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals,
Would We admit it?

2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization Means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do In fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the Planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets To socialize.

4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.

7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.

8 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of Options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just To annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

9 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and- spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.

10 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

11 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.

12 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

13 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

14 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.

15 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's Some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.

16 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

17 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.

18 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.

19 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.

20 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.

21 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.

22 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.

23 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, be quiet!

Now, can I find a list like this for large families????

Shout to the Lord!

I was really struck today, sort of out of the blue. Thank goodness, not by a flying ball, a kicking horse, or anything like that, but instead by sheer gratitude. You know, some days I am so absorbed in what the day to day needs of my family's life are, that I don't exactly see the big picture. Well, today the big picture hit me square between the eyes.

I have been in a season of really working to find my way in our new family constellation, to complete all that must be done, and to get ahead - not financially, but I would be thankful for getting ahead on the laundry!!! LOL! At least now it is generally closer to caught up. And I sometimes actually do have dinner thought out prior to throwing it together, I do actually have a plan in mind, with all the ingredients, before five minutes to wanting to put it on the table. Now if someone wanted to take me out for Chinese food or something, I would be thrilled to put my plans away for later (hint, hint). Though on the other hand, way out here in the boonies there are no wonderful Chinese restraunts. So that saves the budget and my waistline! But I digress. The point is, I have been busy in DOING all that needs to be done.

No, that does not mean all my dishes are done, or that my kitchen floor doesn't need a good wash. Not by a long shot. But I am getting things somewhat feeling like they are in a rhythm. And learning to be a mom to three boys (increased from just one) and two girl, all ages 8 to 13, so three are hitting puberty hard at the same time. Whew! Two boys comparing fuzz on their lips - just wait Mom, look in the sunlight, if I tilt my head just right! And one girl having places growing and curving that Mom and Dad really weren't ready for!!! And all the entailing hormones and drama. Whew. And the little two, both eight (boy and girl for anyone who doesn't already know) are now glued at the hip for most things. They are currently outside making a jumprope out of old twine from the hay bales - good recycling!

But it has been a season where I am doing and doing. And loving it, but sometimes you get so involved in the day to day that you forget the big picture. Even when you lived it.

Two of my sons are adopted from Ethiopia, a wondrous and beautiful country full of heritage and strength. Did you know that Ethiopia is the only African country never colonized? Yep! They were invaded by Italy early in this century and they were overwhelmed for a bit, and then chased those Italians out. No slam on the Italians, but kudos to the Ethiopians, who were definitely the underdogs. And Ethiopia was linked to Israel and the house of Solomon from the time of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. Yep, the Queen was from what we now call Ethiopia! And their son was the first of the ruling line. Until just recently their royal house was supposedly a direct line from those two ancient figures. The Ethiopian script looks much like Hebrew to me, and much of the language is considered a Semetic language. They are a very Christian nation, mixed now with Muslim, but a larger percentage Christian than any other African nation. OK, enough history and stuff. Here in American we have seen the photos, videos from Ethiopia from the 1980's and on. How many of us don't have seared into our memories the starving children from Ethiopia? Other African nations as well.

So, we have such mixed messages. But much of the sadness is true. I read and learned before I went, and I just thought I was prepared. But, the reality and the enormity was just beyond words. Again I digress.

We have a long story about how we came to adopt internationally, mostly an amazing testimony to the strength and power of our Lord, because this was surely not our plan, and surely beyond what we could do. But the story of seven orphans came to the attention of a member of our church, who mentioned it in one small bit of the end of a message to the church. Fast forward to me, homeschooling, homesteading, Wisconsin girl, never left the US, on a plane to Ethiopia! I have to tell you I spent a great deal of time asking God how this was happening. It was surreal. Believe it or not, I was in Germany (yeah, Eric, I know, you go there all the time!) for a bit, then on another plane with a quick stop in Khartum Sudan (held my breath the entire time while we watched huge anti aircraft guns around the airport, UN trucks and a UN compound, and many many soldiers with machine guns), and then on to Addis Ababa Ethiopia. What was I doing there???

I am not a hero, I did not rescue my sons, I did not take pity on anyone. I would say that we did see a need and felt called to it. But, over and over I tell people, we got the greatest blessing (sometimes very loud and even aggravating), but truly we got the best of the bargain. How it all came about was so far beyond what we could do, so many people helped to make it possible. And now I have two very dark sons mixed in with our other children. And it is a blessing, even when it is a challenge. And it is a challenge. But, it is the greatest honor in the world being the mother of all these children.

It really struck me when someone linked me to Idol Gives Back 2008 where the Idols sang Shout to the Lord. First of all that it was sung so beautifully on national television!!! Praises! But also as they share the needs and the photos, I see in my mind my trip. I see those so many who have so many needs the world over. I have to admit that it really pulls on my heart to see children who look like my sons who are in need. How could it not? It reminds me that my life is about something bigger. Much bigger. SomeOne thought I could do this, with His help. (Not perfectly or without mistakes by the way!) We can do this. There is so much need. In our towns, our states, our country, our entire world. Somehow or another our path has taken a turn I never would have guessed at. But our lives, all of us, can make a difference. God asks us to. And it doesn't have to be flying to the other side of the world!!! LOL! I am so humbled and grateful that God has blessed me with this calling. It is my calling, I am definitely best at this, but that does not mean every moment of every day. And each and every day I have to ask God for the strength to do this wisely, as He would have me to. I do want to improve each and every day. But we are all part of something bigger and wider.

Makes my dirty kitchen floor not quite so depressing, doesn't it?

Sometimes it takes something that reaches out to touch us, to really strike us, to remind us that we are more than laundry, dishes, meals, lessons, sweeping. We are beings called by God to His missions, and each one is different. For someone who doesn't believe in God, well, this may be a way that I try to make myself feel more important. Maybe so. Maybe it does give me a way to feel that I impact things. I can accept that. But I also know that it is more than that. It is more than that for all my children, not just those that we adopted, not just those that we loved and fostered. I hope that God used us to weave into the big tapestry. I hope that He can use me, small person that I am, to do something lovely for Him.

So, this is the YouTube post of that wonderful song from American Idol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXEraRnE4o&NR=1
Check it out and let God speak to you however He might. Sometimes it feels that He is silent, sometimes we just aren't listening. He is in the whispers, in the daily small evidences. And He is in the big things.
Love to all!