Thank you

I wanted to stop in and thank every one who has been praying for us and Sergey.  We got some really good news this week and we are so excited for what God is doing. He has been showing Himself to us in ways that have humbled us and grown our faith.  I have to admit that I haven't posted for a while because for one we had quite a few visitors throughout the holiday season but mostly because this has been a very hard time for me.  I have been in a situation where I have no control whatsoever (not like I ever really did).  I have had to totally cling to God.  And unfortunately I am unable to talk about all the details for the time being but what a huge testimony it will be of the loving and glorious God we serve!  I can't wait to share it all with you!  This week we are preparing to send out our dossier, this is a HUGE step!  If we are approved we will then get travel dates to see our son.  There are a total of three trips we must take until we are finally able to bring him home.  We continue to ask for prayer and I will try to be better about keeping you informed as much as I am able to.  God bless:)

This is important

I have been out of the Blog World loop for about a month now.  We have been extremely busy with holidays, having family in town and busting our butts with adoption stuff.  Getting ready to send some BIG stuff out for Sergey.  Important stuff, the kind of stuff that has caused me to find at least five new gray hairs daily!  We need your prayers right now.  I am not allowed to talk about it but just know we are fighting tooth and nail for our boy and we need you to storm Heaven's gates for us with your prayers!

As I was looking around Blog land I noticed that a lot of blogs were spreading the word for a little boy named Xander.  Jeannett, the one who is hosting this fundraiser was the one who introduced me to Reece's Rainbow last Christmas in which we eventually found Sergey.  I cannot in good conscience pass by this sweet little boy and not spread the word that he needs a family!!!  Like right now!!!  There is an amazing amount of things you could win by just spreading the word for this sweet boy, although a donation would be nice too:)   Click on his picture to read all about his story.

I needed this today.

Theses pics were an unexpected surprise today and one that I needed.  I wish I could reach right through the computer and hug him...this mama's arms ache:(

The Thankful List

So I am short quite a few days for my thankful list but I think it's fair to say that I can add these seven people, hopefully soon to be eight people, to my list of what I am MOST grateful for!!!

As I thought about all the things I am grateful for over the last few weeks I noticed all of them were positive things that made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  And as I was pondering my list I was thinking that maybe the difficult things should be on there too.  God says in His Word that we are to be thankful and grateful for ALL things.  Because truthfully it was in those times of suffering that my patience grew, when I was humbled because of my own sin the Lord grew in me a compassion for others and when my disappointment was at its greatest that I felt Jesus comfort and draw close to me.  I can honestly say that I am grateful for these things because Jesus is using the not so good things to refine me and make me more like Him.  While I still have a very long way to go I'm thankful that He will never leave me and that He loves me so much to allow these things to happen so that I may grow.  I'm not saying that it will be easy to make such a list but it is something that I will have to choose daily for the rest of my life to praise Him in the midst of trials.  So if I am going to truly be thankful I have to be thankful for it all.

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!"
                                                                                                                     Habakkuk 3:17&18

11, 12, 13, 14, and 15

The last few days I have been thankful for my warm, cozy bed and sleeping in...a fireplace that I can turn on with the flip of a switch to warm my cold feet...the smell of coffee in the morning that greets me like a warm hug followed by my husband's gentle "good morning" and hug...my Sadie's sweet kisses and hugs (which she calls squeezes)...and for today I am thankful for how the Lord speaks to me in ways that I never see coming:)
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This blog post spoke to my heart so deeply today...especially this part.

"It's been a year in which I've watched you be bigger than I thought you could be, while I cowered in a corner and feared what might happen if you weren't big enough."

Reading that convicted me and brought me to tears when I looked at all that God has done for us and others, and even in recognizing this I still fear at times that certain situations are just to big for Him.

Lord forgive me.

The little things.

10.  Today I am grateful for the little things in life that bring me joy.

Today my hubby brought me this!!!!

I know this picture may look like your average Reece's Peanut Butter cups...so let me give you a better perspective on the awesomeness of this gift.

Kachow!!!!  That's right...2 half pound peanut butter cups!  So maybe it's not the little things but the big things that bring me joy...ugh now I'm confused:)jk  Seriously is there any better combination than chocolate and peanut butter?  Another little thing that brings me joy is Avery in the picture above wearing her birthday crown from September with the sticker from her banana stuck on her forehead.  As long as I can remember she has always done that.  A little thing I love about her:)

Silliness

9.  Today I am grateful for silliness.

 Some silly things that happened today are...


1.  Madi continues to call the turkey she is coloring for her school project a rooster and sometimes a chicken.  No matter how many times I correct her.

2.  That I may or may not have fallen asleep (hopefully not with my mouth wide open and drooling)while waiting to pick up my kids from school this afternoon only to awaken to my children running around outside the van with some friend's kids.   And I may or may not have looked up to see the parents of those other kids laughing at me:)  I blame it on Daylight savings!
*And just to put your minds at ease I meet at the same place and time every day with two other mothers that I have known for years so it wasn't like my kids were not being supervised.  Thank you Kayla and Amy:)

3.  Finding a tube of vicks on the counter that had been squeezed by someone (not to name names Miss Sadie Lynn) and then confronting this two year old and asking her if she squeezed it to which she replied "no, that's bad girl".  I kept asking her knowing that she was not telling me the truth to which she finally replied "no, I bit it". So she was technically telling the truth and let me tell you it was really hard to keep a straight face.

4.  Tonight I ordered Domino's for dinner and was met at the door by the pizza delivery lady and three firemen and a giant firetruck outside my house.  I can't even tell you what my face must have looked like.  They said that they were going around with Domino's delivery people offering to check smoke detectors to see if they had working batteries.  And that if the detectors were working that they would give us a free pizza on our next order.  Ash had just put in a new battery a couple weeks ago so we got a free pizza!  I'm telling you I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!

5.  And lastly as I was downloading my pictures I found this...there were eleven more just like it:)