My Letter to The Children's Place

I can't believe that this is what is bringing me back to ye olde blogosphere, but here it is, warts and all.

Thank you for taking the time to consider feedback from your customers. I am a long term shopper of The Children's Place, having found your products when my oldest son (now 20) was only about 2 years old. For the most part, I've been very satisfied with the quality and the variety of offerings you carry for children. I'm not at all happy that the (local to me) store has closed but I'm making due on that angle. I'm writing to you today because I was so disappointed by my experience when shopping the piles of graphic tees for young girls at your (alternative to the local to me) location.

All the tees that have little girl faces on them were very Caucasian-looking girls (wide eyes, long flowy hair, typical "white girl" features, etc.). There were NO "girls of color" featured on any of the tees stacked in the displays at all. I fully realize that this might be true of just this season's offerings, as in the past I've been happy to find one tee or so every couple seasons. But yesterday was the final straw for me - I have to speak up. I find this lack of diversity in your product lines very alarming in this day and age.

When I inquired to an employee who was working the floor, she encouraged me to speak up. She and her fellow employees (who were lovely and very friendly and helpful. AND were beautiful African American ladies who shop there also!) stated that they too had noticed the lack of diversity. As a mom to two gorgeous Chinese daughters, I feel that the products I buy for my children should be representative of the vast differences that exist in our culture, that we should be applauding the differences by showing beauties that are far more representative of the many families who shop at stores like The Children's Place.  As I stood in that store observing the clientele, I noticed many families of varying ethnicities. I heard mommas speaking Spanish, Korean, and English. It was a truly diverse crowd in there trying to find great bargains and outfit their kiddoes for spring. The products on your shelves and racks need to do a much better job of addressing those demographics!

Moving forward, I hope that you will please consider a more wide-angled approach that will honor the diversity and the beauty of ALL of your customers! Again, thank you for hearing me out and allowing a venue for customers to share this sort of feedback.

Sincerely,
The Gang's Momma

Miss Particular

The control issues that our Mei Mei experiences affect a lot of our daily life. It's exhausting sometimes, but we're taking the philosophy that we're building trust and confidence. So that if she's feeling uncertain and a choice about something small makes her feel more peaceful and secure in our interactions, we give that latitude.

It's bigger than the old adage "choosing your battles" with this kiddo. It's more about helping her feel that her voice matters and that her feelings count. So that when and if we arrive at a bigger issue where there can be no choice, she feels safe and trusts us. More than any other time in my parenting, I feel as if this kiddo has us on a huge learning curve and we're all kind of finding our way together in this particular lesson.

We know how ridiculous her need for choices can get, we all try to make them non-issues when we can. As I sit her typing this, she's "helping" her big brother put away the dishes and he's cracking up because she insists the forks go in the spoon slot. He's really good-natured about it and he knows he'll have to fix it when she tires of the task. We've come a long way, baby.

Thank goodness for this and for the other light-hearted funny moments that make the learning enjoyable along the way. These are the moments that keep us all sane.

***********************

Yesterday, while The Boss was getting a plate for her strawberries, he was grumbling a little bit about how picky she is and how a bowl would be just as good as a plate, even though all the bigger kids had plates with their berries. He walked back over to the cupboard and pulled out a plate and walked back to Mei Mei.

When he set the plate full of berries on the island for her, he said, "I'm going to change your name to Miss Particular, Mei Mei."

Without skipping a beat, Li'l Empress piped up (in her cheery, eager-to-please voice), "I am gonna keep my name the same, right Daddy?"

Julia Learns How To Vote Wisely

Purchase the book here!

Since we are heading into primary season in our region, I thought it would be timely to share this story with you and offer you my thoughts on this great little book that was sent to me by a friend of the author. {sheepishly admitting that it was QUITE a while ago}

This darling little book is full of Scriptural advice, simple explanations and engaging illustrations as little Julia walks through the month before a big election. As a momma to three very fashion-minded girls, I especially enjoyed the cover illustration of Julia in her too-cool-for-school voting ensemble!

The story starts with Julia's bedtime conversations with Mom about what the family will be doing for the coming month. Her parents open up a lovely age-appropriate dialogue and spend the whole month sharing their basic principles for civic responsibility. I loved, particularly, that the message was boiled down to this: Seek Biblical Truth first. Then seek and pray for a candidate that you feel most closely represents the Biblical Truth in which you believe. It really honed the focus down to God's Word and HIS heart for the privilege that we have as citizens to use our voice in the election process.

As I read through the story and conversations that Julia and her sisters have with their parents, I appreciated anew the simplicity of a citizen's participation in the process and the importance of choosing wisely. I also really liked that the book doesn't tell Julie WHAT to believe, only that she must consider what The Word says and that she need only measure the issues she faces against the standard of that Word to find the answers she seeks. That's such a great lesson for our kids - beyond even the message of how to vote.

I really enjoyed the book and Li'l Empress enjoyed the idea that her voice will "count" some day when she gets the privilege to vote. I've always made an effort to include my kids in the conversations of election seasons and usually bring them into the voters' booth with me. This book helped "pull it all together" for Li'l Empress when we voted together last fall.

If you are a politics-junkie or news-junkie like I am, or if you are looking for additional resources with which to teach your children about the election process, this great little book is for you! And if you are a home-schooling family looking for another resource for your civics or social studies curriculum, I even more highly recommend the story.

*I was sent this book free of charge in exchange

for a fair and honest evaluation.

Fanning The Flames

I think I might have neglected to mention this to ya'll: Dr. D has spent the last ten days in Alaska! How cool is that?! He is part of a ministry work team that was sent by our home church to go and support the work of Last Frontiers Ministries. As soon as we knew about the trip, we just KNEW that this was something he had to do. And from the reports that have been trickling in for these last days, we weren't wrong. It's been awesome to hear things like "killer work ethic" and "in his element" and "awesome team work" from him and from the other folks with whom he has been serving. Makes a momma's heart proud!

His most recent status update on F@ceb**k alluded to his love of the beautiful land and the fact that he could see himself going back and settling there. Heh. Imagine how much this momma loved hearing that! I assigned one of the team members the special task of being 100% certain that Dr. D gets on that plane and comes home to his momma. The team arrives home tonight and we cannot wait to hug him and hear all about his adventures!

But seriously, what a blessing to be able to launch him off to something that is so life-changing and at the same time, so RIGHT UP HIS ALLEY! I love that God takes such joy in the way He wired my boy AND that He crafted an opportunity like this one for Dr. D to learn more about His Great Love and His plan for his life. As I'd mentioned in my previous post about his enlistment, we've known from a very young age that God had a very creative and unique wiring built into our boy's heart. This trip and the kind of ministry that it offered, with its brand of teamwork and its type of practical ministry (like digging trenches, weatherizing, and other construction projects), set in that rugged environment are indeed integral to the man that Dr. D is becoming. I'm not sure I would have known this as a young mom, but I gotta tell ya: as the mom to two almost-adult young men, one of the most exciting things I get to experience is their steps into that plan and the path that sets them off to pursuing it. I'm so proud, I could burst open with it!

This is now the second short-term missions project one of our Gang has done and I have to say, we are hooked! The benefits AND the lessons that these experiences bring to their lives are really invaluable. Early in our marriage, The Boss and I both did a couple short-term experiences (as staff) with our former youth ministry so we knew that it was something we'd incorporate into our bag of parenting tricks. We are anxious to see what opportunities will be available when LadyBug is ready to venture out.  And we are SUPER excited about a potential trip that The Boss is hoping to take this coming March, ministering in a manner that is very near and dear to our hearts. I'm equally excited about what his experience on that trip will speak to our kids as they watch him prepare and hear about it when he returns. Fanning the flames of ministry in our kids' hearts by exposing them to all different kinds of opportunities to serve around the world is a really fun part of being the Momma to this Gang He's given us!

As soon as Dr. D has settled back in and we get our family debriefing out of the way, I'll be sure to share more about the trip and some of the pictures various team members have shared. Who knows, maybe he'll be excited enough to "guest blog" a photo post?! Until then, here's a sneak peek at a pic my brother-in-law shared with us.

In the meantime, if you are the momma to a little one OR a teen, consider including a short-term missions trip in your family's "curriculum" for launching them to adulthood. You won't be sorry - it's a priceless life-changing experience!

**********************************

If you want to hear more about some of the experiences and resources to which we are connected, I'd be happy to share! Leave me a comment or shoot me an email and I'll be in touch!

To "csmith"

Thank you for reading and commenting, "csmith." I have no other way to connect with you, as your profile shares no contact information or email address for a more private conversation. So I'm going to address your valid concerns and questions here. The questions you pose are too important to not address, as I do feel very strongly about attachment and bonding and how we choose to facilitate healthy adjustment. Hopefully other readers will also glean from the conversation (albeit a fairly one-sided conversation).

First, I appreciate you reading and following along. I appreciate that you are interested in learning and growing and preparing for your own adoption journey. I hope you have a great community of adoptive parents similar to what I am blessed to have. The sharing and learning that I've enjoyed with those folks has equipped me and encouraged me more than I will ever be able to articulate.

Second, with regard to your inquiry about our homecoming and settling in: I didn't take offense, nor did I receive it as criticism. But I do think you are only seeing a tiny glimpse of our life, the tiny portion that I choose to reveal and highlight for the sake of sharing our journey. I would caution you to remember that when reading any blog, there's huge parts of back-story that you aren't reading or may never fully grasp. In light of that, I've been writing here about adoption for a long time now, and I have many, many times addressed the very issues which you are questioning. Both in my own thoughts and in sharing links and writings of other adopters I read and follow.

So let me get to the heart of your inquiry, in my view. You said that the traditional wisdom you've been hearing is to:

"avoid crowds, not let others hold them or feed them, stay home as much as possible, in order to create really good bonding and establish you as the primary caretaker. You guys seem to be out and about a lot, sharing her with others (not that I blame you)."

Let me assure you, with the exception of the very important family day on Sunday that was planned far in advance of our travel plans, we have done just that. I mean, we can't avoid the crowd that IS our gang, but we have been very intentional to pull away, hibernate, and "shrink our world." If you follow either of the links I've just highlighted, you'll see what I'm talking about. Further, if you search the label "attachment" (see the "cloud" on my left sidebar) you will find lots of similar conversations I have had over the years since our wait for Li'l Empress.

By "out and about" I can only assume that you mean our "on the go" day this past Sunday, after only being home for 24 hours. (I'm assuming you cannot mean the actual trip time in China, as staying in the hotel room for hours on end is not a good plan for anyone.)

In point of fact, attending Sunday's events was a calculated risk that we knew would potentially have some hard consequences (and indeed, the fussy cranky baby and grumpy momma were not pleasant the next day!). But we also knew that Sunday was about more than just "The Gang" and our journey. The day was about honoring what God is doing in and through my brother, his wife, and their ministry. In a family as big and busy as ours (both immediate and extended), we often choose the bigger picture of the "wholeness" of family over the immediate of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. This was one of those choices, and I'd make it again.

In the midst of that choice, no one but The Boss and I (with some occasional help from LadyBug) held her or fed her all day long, not even my siblings or my parents. We are very intentional that right now, even the kids are barely participating in her physical care. We let them offer her finger foods and sit with her while she eats but they aren't giving her bottles or spoon-feeding her. It would be a lot easier for sure, especially since she is in "adoration of big sister mode" right now. But we know the link between providing for that basic need and establishing trust and confidence in our ability to meet that need for her so we are soldiering through.... though I must admit, yesterday's dish of yogurt was offered with drooping eyes and very little meaningful interaction on my part. I could.not.wake.up!

To your point that we seem to be "out and about alot," we've actually done no other socializing. We are in full hibernation mode (as we did in the fall of '08 for our first adoption). Yes, we step out to pick up Li'l Empress from school. To run to the grocery store. To get the banking done. And {sob, sigh}to say good-bye to my brother and his family as they load the truck for the big move. But it's limited. It's guarded carefully. For just short trips. And we make a big deal about coming "HOME."

And frankly, I'm loving it! I'm puttering in my kitchen, hanging out on the floor with my baby, folding laundry, and enjoying the absence of regular responsibilities. It's a short season of our life, and I fully intend to enjoy it while I have it.

Except for the necessities of school for four of the kiddoes, work for The Boss, and the older kids' events (to which they drive each other and themselves), we are pulling away from the world for the foreseeable future. It's a little pathetic how much fun I have saying "No" to requests for help or involvement and definitely a little sick how much joy I had on Sunday night when filling out our weekly family calendar. It was so empty! And it is likely to remain so for the rest of the school year.

If I thought I could get away with it longer than that, you can bet your bippy I'd sure try! So, thanks for your inquiry. I hope that you continue to learn and grow in your journey to your child. And I hope that you continue reading here... I'm going to continue to share snippets of our life together and be real about our journey. I hope that you do the same for your own journey.

Redeeming and Redefining.

Over the 6 years we've been part of the adoption community, I've had a lot of time to learn and think about the good, the bad, and the ugly of adoption. A lot of time to mourn the broken-ness of our world at large and the losses in Li'l Empress' and Mei Mei's little worlds that brought us all together. To think and pray about how God would have us intentionally go about redeeming that broken-ness and loss. It's not the easy part of adoption to dwell upon but I've chosen to "go there" in order to more fully understand and thus be more available to participate in my daughters' healing and growing.

Yesterday, as the household was returning to the normal week-day routine, Mei Mei was bewildered by all the activity. After all, the first two days since she's been home we've spent largely on the couch or on the floor together, propping our eyes open with toothpicks and watching her play with the kids. (It's actually kind of amazing how quickly she has gotten used to having an older sibling at her beck and call during the waking hours of her day!) But yesterday she was noticeably unsettled. It took me a while to catch on, as I was puttering around the kitchen and reveling in my coffee.

First, Dr. D left. She kept reaching for him but didn't really cry.

About half an hour later, LadyBug was ready to catch her bus. Mei Mei didn't want to be put down but LadyBug toughed it out and said good-bye while Mei Mei cried a little bit.

Then I ran up to hop in the shower while The Boss supervised Baby BlueEyes and Li'l Empress as they prepared for their day. The Boss walked them out to the bus and the good-byes were likely more painful for BBE and Li'l E than they were for Mei Mei, as she was busy taking in the big yellow thing and the fresh air and green trees all around her.

Twenty minutes later, The Boss put on his coat and started doling out the hugs and kisses. He was trying to say good-bye and she was having no part of it. We walked him out to his car and she was crying like her little heart was breaking. Reaching for him, calling "Baba!" and arching her back to get out of my arms. It was pitiful. Just so sad. 

To her, this was another good-bye. In a long line of good-byes over these last two weeks.

I've been particularly mindful of all the good-byes we've been logging since we met her.

Good-bye to the nannies in her orphanage. Who likely doted on her, as reports indicate that she was a favorite with her charming little smile and teasing sense of humor.

Good-bye to the orphanage - the only home she knew from about 2 weeks old, for 21 months.

Good-bye to the familiar sights, smells, and sounds of those 21 months of her life.

Good-bye to the familiar routine and rhythm of her daily life.

Then, good-bye to our guide in Beijing, with whom she thoroughly enjoyed flirting and teasing.

Good-bye to the hotel room where she had just started to feel noticeably confident and secure.

Good-bye to an environment where her emerging baby-babble actually made sense to the Mandarin-speaking folks around her.

Good-bye to Beijing - on to Guangzhou.

Good-bye to yet another hotel, another city.

Good-bye to China.

Now a good-bye to all these great new playmates who jump when she says jump. And who sit right where she tells them too when playing the magnet game. Who fall all over themselves and each other to make her giggle, smile, or best of all, offer a rare kiss.

Worst of all, good-bye to that new, big man, that Baba who kept her safe on all those big moving vehicles she had to endure for the last two weeks. "Why, oh, why, are they making me say good-bye to him?!"

But as I was simultaneously giggling and empathizing with her pouty face and big crocodile tears and trying to soothe her little sobs, it hit me.

"This is the day we begin the process of redeeming all those losses. Today, she will learn, even if she forgets it tomorrow, that when the kids go away, they come back. When Baba leaves, Baba always comes back."

This is the day we get to redefine "good-bye" for our girl.

I can't promise either of  my daughters that they will never suffer loss or heartbreak now that they have been planted in our family forever. I can't promise them that the broken-ness that brought them to the place of adoption will go away and never touch their hearts or minds again.

But I can promise them that in this family, good-bye is not forever. Good-bye can also mean another opportunity for a joyful and loving celebration of "Hello again."

I held her tight against my heart and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry. Baba will be home later. He will come back soon. Baba always comes back home."

And I thanked the Lord that I get to be part of redeeming the losses for these two gifts He's given us to parent. It's a privilege and an honor that carries a huge responsibility - may I be mindful of it, no matter how good, bad, or ugly it gets in the process.

One Week

Wow. It's been a full week with our girl today. I can hardly believe it. On the one hand it feels like yesterday that this dream was just that - still a dream. And on the other, it feels like she's been with us forever. She's doing really well in the days since we met. She's very independent and opinionated but I am more so, so I am confident that I can out last that to teach her healthy dependence and loving relationship.

Remind me of that when we've been home awhile

and she's still not "getting" that the tantrums on the floor

don't wash with Momma. Heh.

Yesterday I was talking with Lily about why we were spoon-feeding an almost two year old, explaining that we were trying to "re-wire" her brain and her heart for a new understanding of "family." We want her to eventually grow to be a strong, confident woman who is able to care for herself fully, but we want it to come from the right place. A place of strength and healthy identity. Given the director's descriptions of how the healthy, capable children in the orphanage are encouraged to care for themselves, we want Mei Mei to know that she doesn't HAVE TO care for herself right now. That she has Momma and Baba and a bunch of big siblings who will help her and support her. We want her to be released from self-reliance and survival mode and live in the freedom of healthy dependence, healthy reliance on the people God has given her in this new life. Our intention is that this path will lead her to more fully and more easily trust in the unseen Father to provide all she needs.

Indeed, it is some big aspirations and hopes, but we know that God equips us and sustains us and we look forward to showing her and telling her in the years to come that HE is our source and our strength. I consider it an honor and privilege to be able to parent yet another little gift in the ways my parents taught me. I'm not sure that they ever dreamed that they'd have now 16, soon to be 17 grandbabies learning the lessons that they taught the four of us but isn't that the awesome thing about God's economy? He more than multiplies the blessing when we walk in His favor. I am so grateful that The Boss and I both come from a heritage of faith as the bedrock of our homes.

This adoption trip-hotel home-visit China bubble won't last much longer and I'm trying to enjoy it while I have it. When I think back to how long it took last Sunday for her to trust us enough just to change her diaper, and how sad her face was all that day and the next, I'm really humbled that I get to be part of her healing process, of her blossoming into the little girl God created her to be.

I wasn't laughing at her pain, honest.

I just couldn't get over how much hair she had.

One layer of clothing off, about three more to go.

Poor little thing was just so tense and stressed.

And sweaty. So, so sweaty.

We see her opening up a little more every day and what a privilege it is to be a part of that process. Her eyes are clearer, her smile comes very readily, and she's completely comfortable, even a little naughty (in a completely cute, impish sort of way!), in allowing us to care for her, even in her most vulnerable state. Our learning curve with her medical issues has been a bit steep but we are getting the hang of it and she's so far been very patient with us, now that she's not so wary of what we are doing.

Her health seems to be quite improved from our first day or two together. She is no longer coughing and rattling in her chest when she breathes. Her nose has stopped running and her color is excellent. In fact, we've had quite a few comments about her beautiful skin tone. She's pretty fair-skinned and her hair is very dark brown with only a few shades of jet black. Yesterday in the van, we were commenting that it's actually very similar in shade to Li'l Empress's hair. The texture is NOTHING like her sister's, leaning more toward thick and coarse than Li'l E's hair.

It's amazing to me, even having done this once before and having seen scores of friends experience the same journey, just what an incredible difference LOVE makes. What a treasure it is to be part of that, to have my own heart expanded yet again to take in this love that she is learning to give. Looking over this past week, I am brought low by the gift of being Momma to this gang of mine. All 6 of them.

One week later, Mei Mei was too busy waving to every passer-by

to smile for Baba's camera, as we walked through an ancient

Hutong village of Beijing.

A post on that tour will come later!

Living Hope International

Saturday was a really priceless experience for The Boss and I. We had the honor of spending all afternoon with Lily Fang and her daughter Elizabeth. For those who aren't familiar, Lily and her husband Samuel are the founders/directors of Living Hope Adoption Agency. This is our second adoption with LHAA and after 6 years of interactions, they really feel like family to us. Their passion for bringing families together by adoption has obviously touched our lives. But further than that, what I find most admirable about this family is the scope of their work through Living Hope International.

As you can tell, our itinerary has been a fairly flexible and loosely set one. We had originally planned to go to The Great Wall, in addition to visiting LHI, and join the other LHAA family that arrived on Thursday. But we felt that it would be too long a day for Mei Mei and that we would be pushing her too hard if we tried to keep up with the pace they had planned. It's a good thing because their plans all got changed and shifted by the orphanage from which their child was coming. So we still haven't met them but we rejoice that another little one has met her forever family as of Saturday evening! And not walking The Great Wall twice is no big deal - we're still among the few folks we know that can say we did it once!

As I was saying.... LHI is a beautiful training center for children who have no family that can raise them. Run by a large board of directors from all over the world, and headed up by Samuel Fang, this home focuses on educating them while giving them a place to live during the school year that is safe and provides for all their needs so that they can learn well. The kids are all given regular school curriculum, music lessons, language lessons, household chores, and vocational training when they are of age, all in a family-style atmosphere in the process. In the past, I've talked a lot here about LHI and what they do so it was a great treat to see their operation in person (again.)

Last summer, one of their campus sites was destroyed by flooding. A new location was imperative. And boy, did God provide big! So much so, in fact, that the facility that we toured in '08 has been combined into the site we saw today. This one houses about 40 school-aged kids, various staff members, and still has room for guests of the organization. In fact, The Boss and I had thought about staying on site but with the great distance and so many unknowns about Mei Mei's medical needs, we thought easier access within the city would be wiser for us.

Lily picked us up from the hotel on the way back from violin lessons for some of the children. It was such a treat to see a familiar face from home. We all joked that it is pretty sad that we have to travel all the way to China to spend the day with someone who literally lives just across our little town.

Once we arrived, the staff had a hearty lunch waiting for us. Mei Mei just ate, and ate, and ate. We couldn't believe it, especially since she had a late breakfast and a snack before Miss Lily arrived! They got a kick out of her and her very spunky (demanding!) insistence on "MORE!"

This is the cafeteria where everyone eats together

for all their meals.

There's also a big screen at the end that they

use for presentations and so on.

Shaggy, I just had to snap this picture of all the rice.

I know how much you love rice!

Then the staff, Elizabeth, and Lily took turns showing us around the campus. It was great to see Elizabeth "in her element" - she is such an engaging and mature young lady - I just know God has great plans for her!

Around this center "family room" they have a computer room, a conference room, a beautifully stocked library (YAY!), study rooms, and a nice open "family room" for group gatherings and movies together.

This "family room" is in the center of the main

building and offers lots of seating, a very large fish tank,

and a roomy place for "movie night" for the kids.

All of the classrooms, guest rooms, library and conference

rooms are on the perimeter of this center space.

This large tree-looking structure

used to be a fountain but they have it decorated

like a Christmas tree.

From this vantage point, the kitchen is off to the left.

This is the main entry to the center.

The courtyard out front is wide and spacious and

several boys were playing dodgeball when we drove in.

Wouldn't it be nice to see a basketball court set up at one end of it?!

As we were walking, I was asking Lily what LHI needs the most right now to keep functioning well and keep meeting the needs of even more children. Her response was so gracious and telling of the heart behind this organization: "We don't really need more things from America like clothes and so on. The kids have enough things." But she went on to share that they are regularly in need of prayers for protection and safety, as this new location is governed by officials who are not empathetic to the mission of the school. Further, they are in need of regular monthly support to be able to run the facility, afford the rent and expenses, and still pay for high quality, skilled staff members to train the children for productive adulthood. The lessons for violin, voice, and vocational training do not come cheaply but in this culture, they are vital to making sure that these kids leave this boarding home well prepared to support themselves and their families.

I promised Lily that we would indeed pray and that we would work to share the word about the physical needs of the organization. If any of this tugs at your heart and you feel led to support what Living Hope International is doing, please go to their website (CLICK HERE!) and check out what they are all about. You will be making an investment in the eternity of several young lives that could change the world!

Thank you, Lily and Elizabeth, 

for a fabulous day and for showing us

the amazing work you are doing there

at Living Hope International!

A Little Tease

This is just to whet your appetite and keep you sharp.... 

I'm very excited about a little give-away

I'm hosting at the end of this week.

Keep your eyes open

and when it is revealed,

PLEASE share it far and wide!

That's all.

Have a nice day.

Full Circle Moment

I've shared with you all before that the Lord gives me life verses for my kids as a platform for which to pray for them. It's kind of my starting point and my habit to keep me focused on how to hear from God for my gang.

It's a practice I started when I was expecting Shaggy, 19 years ago. His (in real life) name means "Who is like the Lord?" - a rhetorical question meant to inspire awe at His greatness and incomparable awesomeness.  His life verse is Micah 6:8.

"He has shown you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justly, To love mercy,

and to walk humbly with your God?"

Over these last 18 years, I have had many conversations with God. Seeking His heart for my son, asking God to show Himself so good, so amazing, so BIG to Shaggy that he would never want what the world has to offer. Sometimes, begging God to give Shaggy such an experience of His love that leaves him completely spoiled for any other kind of experience or love. Frankly, some days those prayers felt rote. Trite. Other days it felt like slogging through mental mud. Still other times, I truly wondered if he would EVER find his way to dissatisfaction with the world's definition of life, success, love ...whatever.

When we picked Shaggy up from the airport last week, the whole gang headed out to to our favorite diner to celebrate Shaggy's graduation from YWAM DTS. During our meal, Shaggy started sharing small snippets of his time away from home and the things he experienced. At one point in the conversation, he said to us, "I feel like I just spent the last 5 1/2 months learning that God is so good to me, so much BETTER than I ever knew He could be. Like there's never going to be anything better than knowing Him and serving Him."

I froze.  There it was. THAT was it. But in the interest of "keeping it together" and not reacting immediately, I tucked it away and processed it and prayed through it the rest of our night together.

The next evening, Shaggy was sharing some more reactions and experiences with me as I prepared dinner. When he was winding down, I repeated what I heard him say at the diner the night before. Then I reminded him of the meaning of his name and the life verse I've been using as my platform to pray for him all these years.

He made the connection standing there across the counter from me. Tears in his eyes. Tears in mine. I am not exaggerating when I say to you that this was the MOST. FULL. CIRCLE. MOMENT. I have ever experienced in my parenting journey. Standing there in my kitchen, that moment felt holy. It WAS holy.

*********************************

This is why we pray, moms! This is it. It's hard. It's exhausting. Sometimes it feels as if it's bouncing off the ceiling. Sometimes it feels like it's never going anywhere. I really felt like I needed to share this with you today. Maybe one of you is weary. Maybe you even feel hopeless. Maybe you wonder if you are even making a difference in the destiny God has for your son or daughter.

Hang in there, momma. There is a purpose to your prayers. There is a reason for that particular prayer that rises up each time you stop to think about that particular child. And it WILL be fulfilled. It will come full circle. His Word promises it to be so.

"...so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

Isaiah 55:11 (English Standard Version)

"And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick,

and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Therefore, confess your sins to one

another and pray for one another,

that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous person has

great power as it is working.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours,

and he prayed fervently that it might not rain,

and for three years and six months it did not rain

on the earth."

James 5:15-17 (English Standard Version)

*emphasis mine*

OH! And a hat tip to my sister for posting this last week,
just when I was looking for it!

“I remember my mother’s prayers
and they have always followed me.
They have clung to me all my life.”
Abraham Lincoln

Untangling the Tangle

So many of you have asked about the tangled mess of our pending I800 approval in the recent days! Thank you for that - really. We're astounded at how folks (virtual strangers and friends alike) have taken the time out of their own busy lives to check in on our progress toward Mei Mei. While we have certainly had our fair share of feeling helpless to "do" anything during the wait for progress, having folks come alongside us like this has been a wonderful distraction to the days of "no progress."

Here's what's the most recent update as of yesterday afternoon: (including a bit of re-cap)

On Thursday, January 31st, the Supplement 3 packet was sent to Immigration's "lock box" and our postal service tracking numbers indicated that it was received into the general Immigrations lock box in Texas on Friday, the 1st. Beginning on Monday morning, there has been a regular flurry of phone calls and emails from our agency to our Immigration Officer's desk. In that process, we found out that our case was turned BACK into the hands of the second officer to whom it was assigned. Seems that the first officer has been re-assigned and the third officer was only covering cases for the second officer as a temporary measure. The flu hits Immigration offices too - seems no one is immune these days!

Late Monday evening of this week, The Boss got notification that our paperwork was being forwarded from the general lock box over to the Adoptions department of Immigrations processing in Missouri. That was excellent news - we are in the pipeline!

In addition to our Social Worker "hounding" our Immigrations Officer daily (and with her permission), I've made contact with our local Congressman's district assistant. She's been amazing and so compassionate regarding the details of our case. Upon learning that the Supplement 3 had been entered into the processing system, she got busy and contacted the Colorado fingerprinting offices on our behalf to pave the way. It's now possible for Shaggy to get into their offices at the first possible date as a walk-in. Her advocacy on our behalf is so crucial AND so incredibly appreciated.

So, right now we are kind of in a new holding pattern. Once Shaggy arrives to his YWAM base in Colorado, he will go to the local USCIS fingerprinting site (about 1/2 an hour from his base) and walk in with both his official fingerprinting appointment invitation AND the letter from our Congressman. He's leaving Cambodia today and arriving in CO on Saturday. The Boss made contact with the leadership of the YWAM base and they've agreed to get Shaggy in to the USCIS office on Monday, the 11th.

Then we'll be in another holding pattern. (Heh. I know. So much "hurry up!" followed by a whole bunch of "wait!" to the average adoption journey. And this is by far NO LONGER an average adoption journey!)

Once Shaggy is printed, we'll need to "hound" someone (still working on who that would be!) to expedite the processing of the fingerprint results back to the Immigrations officer for the final step - that darned I800 approval we've been waiting for since January 16th. I'm working on a post will be a quick summary of what happens from I800 approval to Gotcha Day. Yes, we will finally be able to start visualizing an actual Gotcha Day once the I800 approval is finally issued!

All told, this delay is likely adding 6 or more weeks to our journey to Mei Mei. It's been very hard to sit back and be "okay" with those 6 weeks of additional separation from our little gift. Especially since we were at the "tail end" of the longest part of the journey and fully expecting to have the remaining steps fly by with our request for medical expedite in place. Talk about a crashing of expectations. In my efforts to be very real and honest about this journey, I'm going out on a limb to say that this has been a test of more than just our trust in His timing. It's been a test of our resolve, of our determination to keep focused on HIM as the author of our story (and hers). In many ways, it's been a test of our maturity - a refining of the skills He's grown in us over the many years of life experiences together. The tests (and to be fair, the rewards too) have come from the most unlikely places as we've tried to share the experience along the way.

Support and prayers from folks like you have really carried us more than we can even articulate here. We KNOW all the "stuff" of a solid faith journey. Living it daily, sometimes hourly when news changes or progress stalls, has been the focus. Choosing to act upon the truths that are in our hearts (that He is in control, HE is sovereign, HE has a plan, His timing is perfect, etc.) and then choosing to trust those truths has been bigger and harder than we expected. It's forced us to lean on HIM when we were too weary and sad to stand firm on what we know.

Yet through it all, He remains faithful. Unchanging. And very willing to show Himself merciful and mighty through the hands of those He's placed in our lives. Folks He's given to us to act lovingly on our behalf. Folks who have shown us "Jesus with skin on" in these recent weeks: Our social worker, the Immigrations Officer, our congressman's assistant. The friends who have offered creative and extraordinary measures of support or intervention. Strangers who sent gifts to invest into our Adoption Jar. All of it has been strategically placed in our path at His timing and by His grace to show us how very much He loves us. And how much He loves our Mei Mei.

Given the "mission" He's placed in my heart for my girl, I shouldn't be surprised that HIS plan for untangling the great big tangle of our yet-to-be approved I800 Immigrations process brought me right back to His love. His unchanging, all-consuming, new-every-day merciful love. It may be that I can only see it through that lens now, that it's almost completely untangled. But it's okay. He saw it and He knew what I needed in my journey to be able to see it too.

I'm On A Mission, Part 2

I never intended for there to be such a length of time between posts about what God is doing in me through this adoption journey for our Mei Mei.... Life kinda got away from me for a couple days of unexpected happenings. Additionally, I've been struggling with how to put all this into words while still respecting and holding sacred my daughter's story. I've been profoundly affected by conversations like this one over the last few years and I know it's all been in preparations for this beautiful little one God is bringing us.

You see, her "need" is not apparent to the world, as is Li'l Empress's need. The nature of her need is one that we have chosen to only share with folks in person, in the context of relationship "in real life." That has come about both because of all that we've learned about respecting our children's life stories AND through the learning curve of understanding this particular child's need. It's been quite the journey in and of itself, but the balance is one we are still learning and processing, so I'd imagine that it will continue to unfold as we parent these two precious children who have come to us with such divergent history behind them.

But the story of the work God is performing in me as I prepare to parent Mei Mei is also one that continues to unfold while we wait. For those that have been following the details of the paperwork tangle on our way to Immigration approval, hang in there. An update is coming. In the meantime, I am excited (and if I'm being totally honest, a little apprehensive) to share this part of the "mission" I'm experiencing in this adventure to Mei Mei....

As I keyed in on the themes that kept emerging during the fall months, I found my "platform" from which to pray for our girl. Bear with me as I share this, as it's still "raw and uncut" and I'm still grappling with it for myself and NOT just in order to pray for her more effectively.

I mentioned late in January that the Lord had led me to this verse in my prayer time for Mei Mei:

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness!"

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV~1984)

It's been an integral part of the process - understanding and grappling with a new understanding of HIS love for us. For me. For Mei Mei. As my understanding of Mei Mei's difficult beginnings, her current environment and the status of her needs have emerged, I have been struck over and over by a three main thoughts, none of them new to me but somehow so completely new, stark, and painful at the same time:

This child has already, in only 19 months,

experienced the most profound rejections

that a human can experience.

(I still have the hardest time writing that out. It pains me greatly when I dwell on it. Harder still speaking it and accepting it as her current reality. And it's been months of unfolding and processing....)

It is our job, from the moment we accepted her referral,

until we draw our final breath, to point her

to unconditional and everlasting Love.

In our words. In our actions. In our parenting style.

In our prayers over her and for her.

It is our calling. MY calling. My mission.

Finally, I am completely ill-equipped to parent this child.

Really, to parent any of them, if I'm being real.

But that's been the greatest thing about the unfolding of this journey. It's okay that I am ill-equipped. HE is perfectly equipped. HE is the best parent and HE knows exactly what she needs from her parents. HE chose US to parent her. HE planned this path for her and we get to be the ones that walk with her out of the ashes of pain and rejection and abandonment. Because HE chose us.

I don't have to be well-equipped to parent my little Mei Mei.

I just have to let HIM parent her through me.

There's a huge difference between the two ways of parenting.

Heh. "Just."  Yeah, that's the hard part. Isn't it?

But as I've mulled over and over the process through which He is bringing me, I've had to first let HIS acceptance of me wash over my heart. I've had to give myself over (and over and over and over) to HIS view of me. So that I can properly have HIS view of my daughter and the gift that she is. It sounds bane and trite to say it. But given the combination of her needs, her beginning story, her current situation, and my own difficulties and struggles, I've had to press in and accept this cleansing. Let it equip me in a way that I haven't had to yet process with the other five gifts that call me Momma.

This season has been one of humbling and digging deeply into areas of my heart that I haven't really had to examine before, at least not in these ways. I've had to specifically PRAY over my countenance and my responses to my daughter-to-be.

I have begged God to work in me in such a way that when Mei Mei watches me caring for her and for her basic and medical needs she sees nothing but loving acceptance and unconditional care.

I have had to ask God to prepare me and prepare my heart for especially those early first moments of examining her sweet little body and cataloging the details of her need as we learn how to care for her. Again, medical "stuff" has traditionally not been my "forte" and those who know me best are learning just what a leap of faith this adoption has represented to me.

Trust me when I tell you, these have not been easy prayers to pray. It's been a process that both disgusts me for my own squeamishness and selfishness and yet empowers me to GROW! in spite of my irritation with myself.

Through it all, HE has been just as His Word says He is:  He is merciful. Every single morning, in new and amazing ways. He is unchanging. Every single day. He is uncompromising in His love for me. His patience and compassion toward me. That verse has not just been for my girl. Obviously. And He has proven it over and over. Through the conversations and experiences of the recent months in which I've been seeking Him.

And through all the worship ministry that He's brought my way in this season.... That part of the story is coming to you soon. Worship and music has always been part of how the Lord speaks to me (as I'm sure He does with you also) and I'm excited about the "playlist" He has been compiling in this journey to growing me up and preparing me for this mission to which He has called me.

I'm On A Mission

Shortly after we accepted Mei Mei's referral, I started sensing the Lord had something quite missional for me in this journey to our girl.  Given how I was starting to freak out a little about caring for her need and what I was learning about the medical side of it all, I assumed that it was going to be about growing me up and giving me courage over my fear of "medical" issues. Particularly medical issues that pertain to my kids. See, I've not shared this with a ton of folks but I have long struggled with at times a gripping fear that one of my kids would be victim to a horrible, even fatal, accident. Or diagnosed with a life-threatening illness that would change our whole life forever. While I understand that every parent deals with this to some degree, I also know that my fear is truly an enemy that Satan wishes to wield against me to cripple me and make me parent from a position of fear. So I have chosen over the years to "take captive every thought" and keep my eyes on the ONE who created them and loves them even more than I could imagine. It sounds lofty and holy to say it that way. But it's not. It's gritty and hard. And requires a kind of relinquishing of the facade that I have any control over my children's lives. It's not easy, but  it requires me to choose a posture of prayer. Which is actually a great thing when I am choosing well.

As I pressed in and prayed about it more, several things started happening. First, I kept hearing several songs over and over. I mean, not hearing them in the background of my life, but HEARING them. Feeling their essence and their message expand my heart. Gripping me and charging me up with a passion for my daughter. I sensed that the themes underlying these songs was the key to what the Lord had for me.

Second, a friend from church came to me and told me that the Lord had given her a specific urging to pray for the angelic ministry of HOPE over our daughter. That we commission angels to hover over Mei Mei and fill her with hope that her family is coming, that she is loved, that she has a purpose. Another friend later said something about her own daughter that gelled with that perfectly, to the effect that (our waiting children) don't know that they are longing for a family. Or a momma or a daddy. Most of them don't even know what that might be. But they do know that they are waiting for love. Taken together with the other things God was stirring in me, I knew that what He has for me in this adoption journey, and beyond, was going to be something bigger than my battle to keep fear at bay and be a prayer-focused momma.

Just before Thanksgiving, it all started really coming together. Not in any grand revelation, rather in a few snippets and prayer times here and there. Talking and sharing with a couple friends. Again, through hearing a couple songs in a new way. It crystallized as I listened to the exquisite details woven into the love story of Ruth and Boaz by author Liz Curtis Higgs at our denomination's annual Women's Retreat.  (Seriously, if you EVER get a chance to hear her speak, RUN, don't walk to the line at the door. Her style, her knowledge of the CONTEXT and the CONTENT of The Word has changed the way I read my Bible. Really. Truly.) Finally, thanks to the worship led by Kim Walker Smith and her husband in that same weekend, I picked out a cd for myself and asked for another for Christmas. Both cd's have had significant roles in directing my prayers and clarifying what God has been speaking.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story..... and I'll even share the playlist that God has woven together of songs that lead me to prayer for Mei Mei.

Mei Mei's Life Verse

One of the things that I really desired to accomplish this January, aside from all the sorting and organizing I'm doing in my "Get Ready for Baby" mission, was to finally get a "life verse" nailed down for our girl. It's something that I did for each pregnancy with my older bio kids and the Lord gave me one for our journey to Li'l Empress too. While we were waiting for Li'l E, I actually also had a regular "playlist" of sorts - songs that ministered peace and hope and purpose to me while I was praying and waiting. So as we entered our church-wide season of prayer and fasting, I have been asking the Lord to give me a verse for my sweet girl and bring a song or two my way that would capture the essence of what this adoption means to me and to our family.

I had no idea that this month of focused prayer would be so incredibly meaningful in this journey to our girl. That I would NEED it to steady me and anchor my swirling thoughts and feelings quite so much. But He did. He does. I'm so grateful for that.

This particular journey to Mei Mei has been so different from our previous adoption, what with all the obstacles we've faced and the crazy busy pace of life that our home has now with 5 kids. I've been sorely distracted by it all (not necessarily in bad ways, just not as focused on the details of the process. Till now that is!). While that often helps with making the days fly by till we meet our Mei Mei, it doesn't help when I realized that I've yet to find a verse that I feel rightly characterizes this journey and how to pray for our girl.

Before all the "stuff" with our I800 approval blew up, I'd been spending time soaking in some of the new worship music I got for Christmas. Several of the songs really were ministering to me and so I sought out the verses from which they originated. And I wasn't surprised at all to see that it was a section of Scripture that I have long loved and relied upon. That I've quoted it here before. That it FIT.

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness!"

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV~1984)

And just like that, I've found Mei Mei's life verse. I feel sure that while it is of great comfort and sustenance to me right now in this hardest part of the long adventure we are on, He has a bigger purpose and a plan behind this urge He put it in me to seek these verses for each child. And now for Mei Mei in particular. I've seen it come to life in front of me over and over with the other kids and I can't help but think that it is a unique gift that He's letting me give to them, for now and for their future. (I'm kind of a big picture thinker by nature, can ya tell?!)

I'm excited about the couple songs He's led me to and I'm singing them over her in prayer daily. I'll share them with you later. In the meantime, why don't you share with me a life verse God's given you for your child? I love hearing the stories of how that happens for other families!

The Next Big Step

Well, the day has arrived. Today, Shaggy boards a plane with the other members of the team they have dubbed "Team Thaibodia" for the "Outreach" portion of their YWAM experience.  We F@cetimed with him last night, to chat, say good-bye and pray together as a family for his team and for him. NEVER in all of my life have I been so incredibly grateful for the technology that allows interactions such as this to occur. While I greatly dislike the inability to hug his neck and kiss him as he journeys off, I am so thankful that he got to hear our prayers over him. From Li'l Empress's prayer for safe travels all the way up to Dr. D's prayer for them to be used by God to The Boss's prayer for anointing and power in sharing The Gospel, the time together was sweet and one I will cherish in the many days ahead while we are missing his physical presence here in our home.

If you could, please pray with us for his team. There are 13 young people from YWAM Arvada heading out today to spend a month in Thailand and a month in Cambodia. They are being led by a young gal named Molly. Please pray with us for the following things:

• safe travels in each leg of their journey
• unity, health and physical protection for their team
• spiritual wisdom and discernment in light of all the new experiences they will have
• great opportunities to show the love of Jesus to the teams they are supporting and the work they will be doing themselves
• deepened intimacy and strengthening of their own personal faith journey as they follow the path God has set them each upon

Please also pray for the teams that Shaggy's team is partnering with while in-country. The work these teams are doing include things like campus ministry, ministry to victims of human trafficking and caring for orphaned children. There is much opposition to a lot of what the teams do each day, it's truly a supernatural spiritual battle they must face daily. Pray for strength and clarity in the face of the evil and opposition they face in their mission.

I have an update letter written by Shaggy that I would be happy to email to you if you are interested in what he has experienced and learned thus far. And the team leader will be sending weekly updates that I'd be happy to share with you and your family. Please just email me at the gmail address connected to this blog.

Thanks for praying with us for our boy. We are so proud of him and his passion to follow Jesus' calling on his life. My momma's heart would ask that you also pray for us who are left behind. There were quite a few tears here last night, as it sunk in to the littler kids that their big brother would be flying across the world today. It's a lot to take in and they are doing a great job of supporting him and praying for him. But we all miss him terribly. And all our holiday activities have that little tinge of missing him kind of lingering in the background. Thanks for that, too.

Re-evaluate Your Methods

Wow. Sunday night was brutal around here. There were LOTS of tears. Shaggy helped us put Baby BlueEyes and Li'l Empress to bed, as part of his good-bye time with them since he had to leave so very early this morning. The reality of just how long it will be till they see him again and have him home to hang out with again really sunk in. These four days together just weren't enough. For any of us. But I think the two little ones really connected with the good-bye differently this time because they have lived with his absence for the last 7 weeks.

Shaggy was so wonderful about it. He spent some time hanging out, talking with Baby BlueEyes, hugging him and really loving on him. As they were winding down their good nights, I happened to look over at Li'l Empress. She was sitting in the living room behind me, silently crying.

Oh. My. Gosh. The silent cry kills me. Yes, I started crying too.

And then she wasn't silent about it anymore.

We walked upstairs together and she crawled in to her bed, just sobbing. Shaggy came over to her room and just crawled right onto her bed with her. He was so loving and comforting and she calmed right down in his arms. The two of them looked up at me with big tears in their eyes.

As she was quieting down, he looked at me and said, "This is the downside of raising a tight-knit family. You might want to re-evaluate your methods."

I just smiled through my tears. We both know, whatever "method" we have employed to get us to this point is exactly the right one for us. This crazy, slobbery, messy love is exactly who we want to be. Exactly who we want them to be. And while they all may express it between them very differently, with or without tears, this close tight-knit family is the greatest accomplishment of my life. The most rewarding, most satisfying thing I've ever done. Even if sometimes it's also the most painful thing I do.

And I won't be re-evaluating that any time soon.

ELMO Has Left The Building

Noooo, I'm not referring to the recent disgusting scandal associated with the furry red guy. That's just really coincidental and certainly very bad timing for this story.... In fact, maybe when you read this story, you'll have a far more pleasant association to imprint in your brain. And more importantly, in your heart! Settle in, it's a bit long this time, but I hope you are encouraged and find it worth your time.

Several weeks ago, when I started promoting our Holiday Open House, I added the pretty red invitation as a picture into my Purchase With a Purpose yard-sale album on F@cebook. My thought was to allow folks from my different blogging and on-line communities to access the details since that album is set to "Public." I then shared that particular picture in several of my on-line groups.

The next day, a member of the Creating a Family forum contacted me. I didn't know her personally but had had several pleasant interactions with her on this forum and she usually posted very hope-filled, encouraging things to folks in the discussions in which we mutually participated. But that's all I knew of her.

Turns out, in her note, she indicated that she wanted to "invest" in our adoption journey but didn't need or want to buy any of the items being sold at the Open House. She wondered if I'd be okay with sending her my address so that she could send me a monetary gift directly. Before I even could respond to that with a yay or nay, she popped another message right back into my inbox and said something like, "Never mind, I want to buy that ELMO TMX toy for $100.You can send it to this address and I'll send you the check when I get the toy." Apparently, she'd been paging through the whole on-line yard sale album and found the furry little guy. She was convinced he'd be perfect for a little friend of hers, so I packaged him up and sent him off the next morning.

Frankly, that morning I made a conscious choice to keep my expectations of this transaction really low. It was certainly nothing personal to her or her promise, but I know how life gets and I know that sometimes things don't work out the way we think they will. So when I sent Elmo out the door and on his way in his snug little box, I did so with a prayer and a release. I was determined to be okay with whatever came of this interaction with this virtual stranger.

Cut to this past weekend. I hopped on the forum to check up on any new news. I was heart-broken to read that this same gal had recently experienced a very difficult situation in her own quest to build her family. I had no words, beyond a simple apology and prayer for comfort. I prayed for her right then and there while I was logging out. I moved on to preparing for our Holiday Open House and frankly forgot all about Elmo or the stranger for the time being.

Tuesday afternoon, I opened the mail to find a check from this virtual stranger. Only, it wasn't for $100.

No. Friends, instead, God showed up in a Holy SWOOP of love and generosity.

The check was for $200.

Ya'll.

You did not read that wrong. This total stranger, who loves adoption and loves God, sent our family TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS.

That, my friends, is GOD.

I mean, who else would tell a total stranger to send TWO STINKIN' HUNDRED DOLLARS for a furry, red, crazy noisy toy to another total stranger?? And a SECOND-HAND toy to boot!

Certainly NOT anyone I know. Or rather, any human I know. It reminds me of the verse in I Corinthians:

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." I Corinthians 1:27

I can't think of much that is more foolish than a crazy, slightly freaky Elmo TMX. And I am totally okay with being "shamed" by my very low expectations of the transaction. Cuz it ended up show-casing a kind of glory and love that few of us really fully know without events such as this happening to get our attention.

That, my friends, is God. And only God.

You see, the other piece to this amazing crazy story is that just Tuesday morning, I was sharing with a friend that God had been showing me how important it is for me to keep my focus on Him. To keep my heart and mind pure of negativity; to flee from vain imaginations that only become distractions to the purposes to which He has called me. To rise above the "human" element of things like our adoption journey and parenting, and keep my eyes trained on HIM and His heart for my family. I had been at our denomination's annual women's retreat on Friday and Saturday. While the event was amazing and refreshing and re-charging in many, many ways, the big take-away that I had was that I was coming into that retreat "battle weary." And that I was there to be reminded just how INTENTIONALLY He pursues me. How DETAILED and EXPLICIT He is in His desire for ME and for relationship with ME. It was like I got a re-charge of "He Loves Me" down to my tippy toes. I was sharing that with my sweet friend on that same morning, as we encouraged each other by phone on this long journey to our little ones.

And then in the afternoon, this check arrived in the mailbox. A gift from a stranger. But make no mistake about it. That gift was from God. And as long as I have breath in my body, I will give HIM the glory and honor and credit for reminding me of His love in such a sweet, and tangible way. I am incredibly grateful to this stranger who listened to His voice and obeyed, even in the midst of her own painful circumstances. It is humbling in all the best possible ways.

Only God knew when Elmo left the building just what his trip across the country would come to mean for this momma.

Go. VOTE.

Much has been made on both sides of the political aisles about the importance of today's historical elections. In my view, none of it is an exxaggeration. This is likely one of the most important events that our nation stops and marks in its march to the future. And this particular election carries weight for our future that few other elections in history have borne quite so heavily.

I don't much care how you vote, frankly.

I don't much care why you vote the way that you do.

However, I do care very much that you vote.

Your right to do so didn't come easily. Nor did it come freely.

It is an honor and a privilege that should be exercised with great respect.

Get out and vote. Encourage others around you to vote, too. Don't bother getting "into it" with them about the particulars of their personal leanings. You won't likely change their minds at this late date. But you CAN encourage them to SPEAK their minds by pushing that poll button. And you should.

It's one of the most precious rights we have. One that sets us apart from many other nations and many people around the world. Don't take it for granted. There's really NOTHING more important for you to do today. Period.

************************

OH! And don't forget, comments to the give-away for my 1,000th post close on Wednesday morning. So go back one post and read up on how you can participate. You won't be sorry!!!

Tune in tomorrow, 

when the three winners

of our 1,000th post

give-away will be announced.