"V" is for VICTORIA!

This post is for VICTORIA!
Not for anything special,
Not that All my kiddos could / should / will have a post,
Not that alot of words are needed.....................
Just simply said, there are some days as her mommy, that I gaze across the room at her, or watch her on the soccer field, or hear her beautiful LAUGHTER (larger than life), peek at her trying on my lip gloss, and think.......
Her life tells 1,000 plus stories and I now get to be in them!"

I love you lovie!

God's Economy!

Today I wanted to share the delight of helping some friends raise money for their 2nd Ethiopian adoption. They worked hard at setting up a one day garage sale in hopes to cover the finger print and filing fee....and they made over $800.00 YEAH!

They put out this story board of their last adoption and a jug to collect funds for anyone who wanted to donate. People were generous and supportive. We baked brownies and homemade bread to sell and split the cost with this family. The kids sold the food items and had a smile and a story to share as people asked them questions about the new adoption. It is a GIFT to see the whole family involved and making an impact on the community with their testimony.

A few posts back...I posted about "Pickles For Dinner".....well here is our Johnny man putting the money in the jar that his friend from Ghana (Moses) and Moses' brother Joshua gave to our family for our adoption. The JOY of JOYS as John put it ALL in and ALL out several times!

Really...the process of trusting in faith that God will and is bringing the funds all together at just the right time is and has been an amazing process for our whole family.

Yesterday as I was walking down the isle at the store I popped a bag of candy corns into the basket and one of my kids said, "hey, if we don't get that bag of candy, you could put that money in the pickle jar for G"

Oh my heart!

So, in the economy of God, nothing is impossible!

I have heard and have said this myself..."God owns the cattle on 1,000 hills" in relation to adoption and or situations where someone is in need.

Well, I was set back on my heels this week as I re-read that section of scripture and realized that God was not talking about how much He owns and what He can do for us...but rather the whole section was about "sacrifces and offerings" and what kind of sacrifices He is longing for from us.

Ohhhh, was I humbled!

"I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. .......for the world is mine all that is in it...Sacrifce thank offerings to God, fufill your vows to the Most High." Psalm 50:9-12, 14

As I wrap up this post I want to offer up "Thank Offerings" to the Lord for who He is and for His perfect love and plan for our lives.

Lord, you do not need to sell any of those 1,000 cows for me.....you have already given it ALL!

Thank you that you know the plans you have for me and you are working them out for my good. (even the money :O)

Glory of God!

I know I said I would blog each Sunday...but really the last post was wordy and I know when I am blog surfing it is so wonderful to see the "life" in the pictures people post. So, here ya go...I titled this "Glory of God!" because ONLY God could do what this picture represent...His Glory shouting for all to see! Once in a while God brings someone into my life that "fits" into the plan He has for my life, and it is a GOD size connection in friendship, amazement and thankfulness....Romana is one of those people. Having her in our home this summer and getting to have day after day face time with her was a GIFT!

The WA Beacon House reunion was a week long adventure of seeing God's Glory SHINE in obedient parents who have answered the call on their lives to adopt, Directors and BH volunteer staff seeing the connection of children who knew each other in Africa, then Beacon House, now in WASHINGTON...how can that be?
To see and hear them playing at the park, skipping and holdling hands along the beach, dancing, eating and GIGGLING so loudly as they recall memories, FILLS my heart to a place that does not have words!
(there are 100's of pics...but not having talked to each family represented, I am not putting the big group picture here)
...but close your eyes, picture the beach on a sunny summer day, 19 children all sitting close, older ones with younger ones on their laps, Directors standing behind them and SMILES upon SMILES on the faces of these once orphans, NOW FOREVER FAMILY adopted children! )
Like I said:
GLORY of GOD!!!

"Seasons"

For me, some of life's seasons change like our natural seasons...meaning gradual small things begin to happen. Examples like the temperature drops just a bit, the shade of the leaves begin to turn on the edges, the sun is down just a little bit earlier.

Then it happens, we wake up one day and there is frost on the ground, the furnace in our home kicks on and we are into a new season. It did not happen over night, and there really was not one big event that brought it all to come into play...but a change of season happened.

This is the place I find myself at this time. In a new "season."
When did it change and what did it change from? Can not really put my finger on it, but I do know who put it all the small changes together to accomplish this change. "GOD"

Anyone who has been in our home, seen my email address or read anything I have had the chance to write, has seen the phrase "SIMPLIFY"
My season has been one of God gracefully setting me FREE based on His wonderful word in Ephesians 2:10 "For you Carrie are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that you Carrie should walk in them"

In this season God called me to simplify my life so that I could HEAR his voice...Homemaking, baking, freezer dinners, homeschooling, taking care of our 4 acres, co-ops, and mentoring women were all things God had for me to invest my time.

I loved and enjoyed all the details of creating a HAVEN in our home, for creating simplicity for my heart and others to live in.
Little did I know that the leaves in my life were starting to change color about this time last year.
We saw God move in many many ways as we put our 1928 home on the market in a down economy, only to have it sell in 20 days, and got to buy a home in town that has to many wonderful things about it to list. Hummmmm, CHANGE was upon us.

Dave and I both knew that having a newer home would set free some of our time we had been spending on our old home with land to up keep. Little did we know how MUCH time.
It will be one year in Novemeber that we have lived in our new home with our new time arrangement. Kid time, family time, office/ministry time and friend time has all opened up.

The realization of the "frost" showing up one morning, and the change being upon me was the realization that baking, homemaking, freezer dinner making, home-schooling etc had all become like a faint call in my heart.
Changes had been happening and were subtle.

Where did it go? Why did I not miss it? Where was the pull and the urge to do all these things?
Now, don't get me wrong, my family is not being fed fish sticks and tater tots in a crazy messy house (okay some days it is just like that) but for the most part the desire and pull to do all of those "HAVEN" things has faded....and guess what, it is OKAY and I am OKAY and the family is OKAY. I am a planner at heart, but God is moving me into a "fly by the seat of my pants" place that quite frankly is FREEing.

I have spent about one year of no dinners in the freezer (family still eating),
Kids in public school (yep...all still loving the Lord and growing, shining the light inside them),
buying Walmart $.79 a loaf bread, (baking bread only a few times), letting the house GO, (knowing that there is always a tomorrow and the chores will still be there) putting the chore charts aways (letting the kids pick what they can and want to do and stuff still getting done) working in our home office 20-30 hours a week for the cause of the orphan (took a computer certificated class to keep office time most effective...yet still keep a window open at all times to my Face Book account...the biggest time sucker of all :O)

Whew...BOY does my life LOOK different!
YEAH GOD for change I did not even see coming.
I could not of organized or planned these changes or even picked these changes...but BOY am I glad He is in control and directing and re-directing.

I guess this weeks post is a glance of what was, what is and a some what question of what is to come.
What I do know for sure is this:
We are all God's workmanship and the things He created for us to do even before we were born are being worked out, day by day, small change by small change, creating NEW and WONDERFUL and sometimes difficult seasons for us to walk in!

Happy WALKING!
Enjoy the Season you are in and know that He is in the loving business of transformation and change!