A BEAUTIFUL GIFT

On February 8 of this year, my world was rocked..in a beautiful way.  At breakfast, I told William about my plans for co-leading a mission trip this summer to China  for Our Covenant's Call, the orphan ministry at church.  My friend Stefanie and I were scheduled to meet with Amanda from Visiting Orphans that day for lunch.  William told me he did not think I should go this year, and gave every reason he could think of (child care, Jack...etc), but I kept butting my head and insisting.  Finally, he told me that he had PLANNED on telling me in June, but since I kept pushing on February 8, he told me then.  He had decided LAST August that he also wanted to adopt, and had been working extra hard to save money for this adoption.  He did not want to tell me until he had the finances in place...so we could just focus on HER :)  I was floored...for years I had really wanted to adopt, and felt that God was calling ME to do so, but then I realized that William was not in the same place as me. I fought with God about it, and then finally prayed that we would meet in the middle.  My passion to adopt was quieted as I focused on Our Covenant's Call,  the Safe Room, and the Middle TN Orphan Alliance duties.  William is a strong, passionate person as well, and he does not like to be "cornered" into making a decision! Once I backed off about adoption, he started his own research and decided YES...we could have one more child in our family.   It is one of the most BEAUTIFUL stories of our family!

We told the boys at Disneyworld on April  7.  They have sponsored babies at Starfish for their birthdays for the last 3 years and always asked WHY we could not bring a sister home too.  I think they thought when I went to China in 2008 that I would have brought home a sister then!  I made fortune cookies with special quotes inside, and had each one in a box that had a letter in  "SISTER" on it.  The waiter at the Chinese restaurant brought them out for us, and the boys immediately spelled out "RESIST" :).  Once they figured it out, they were stunned and excited!

They are now so excited!  They have been collecting toys to put in her "room" when she gets here, even though it will be quite awhile from now!  Ben took a Mandarin Chinese class at one of his camps so he could "talk to his sister" when he meets her! On June 19, William gave me the thumbs up to get started on the process...so we have been knee deep in paper chasing and social work meetings since then.  I will put up a time line soon, but just had to get the word out that WE ARE ADOPTING..... and adding a new precious little one to our family!!!

Love,
Eve

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

Brave

My Boys.....Memorial Day Weekend!

Jack

Ben

Alex

Getting back to blogging

Well, it has been almost 18 months since I have blogged for myself!  I have been posting the blogs for Amanda at Starfish, and sending out her newsletter, which I have sadly used as my excuse NOT to blog for me!   Life has been busy and hectic, but, that is the name of the game now and I would not have it any other way.  I am trying to update and "tweak" my blog a bit so I can get back in the groove.

For now...we have news, we have changes in our lives...my "baby" will be in kindergarten next year, and my oldest will be in 5th grade....so hard to believe!  I am so happy it is summer...what a great time just to BE with family and friends....no pressures, just fun....LOVE IT!

Will leave with this verse that has been on my mind: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

How do you define LOVE?

This is a question that seems totally easy to answer. What is love? We all have talked about love, shared love, given love since we were babies. Yet, it remains one of the things in life we take for granted. We seem to hurt most the ones we hold most dearly in our lives. Right now, William and I have a wonderful family friend who is in hospice. We had the privilege of visiting with our friend a month or so ago. Although frail, and tired, our friend still had am amazing, warm, TANGIBLE love about her. She gave her love so freely that it made us free to RECEIVE love. We (all of us) are not good at receiving things, particularly me. I can give much easier. A new friend is teaching me how much freer one can be when receiving love as well. We are beloved....these two amazing people I have talked with in the last month are so FREE...free to love others, to be exposed, to be open, to receive love, to have JOY. It is a tangible fruit that I want to know and share every day. Ask yourselves,"What is love?"
From 1 Corinthians 13:
"If I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries ad all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, en as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. "

Praying for our sweet friend in hospice ,who is so loving.

Love,
Eve

New Year, Time for Decisions....How can you make a difference?

Since it is the beginning of 2009, it is a perfect time to sit down with your children and "brainstorm" about how your family can make a difference this year. We all talk about it, and it always sounds good, but then life gets busy, kids get sick, and there you go...all done. I have found that my kids are sometimes more persistent than I am. They constantly ask when we can have the lemonade stand, the bake sale, the garage sale, to raise money for their chosen cause. I really like the way Shaohannah's Hope received donations from a precious little girl this past year (check out www.shaohannahshope.org to read the details). She saved "change" in a bucket, did different jobs, cooked items all to raise money. When I shared her story with my boys, they decided that they would like to do something like this. So, we got a bucket or 2, and have one at home and one at church. Anyone who comes over is "told" about the bucket and what the boys are doing, and the one at church is just out. I like this because it not only raises money, but it also raises awareness of the needs for orphans to be adopted....my boys want to start odd jobs for neighbors in the spring like dog-sitting, yard work, etc to add to it. Our first six weeks of just TALKING about the bucket and what is was for with family and friends over the holidays led to a total of $81.15 (plus some of the kids money that they have been saving). Since the Shaohannah's Hope is in the same town, we were able to GO there and let the boys walk the check up to them, and personally hand it over. This is another great way so the kids actually see where their money and work and love go. It teaches them that they CAN make a difference. God calls us in Deuteronomy 24:19,"When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back and get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands." As Americans, sometimes this is difficult for us...sometimes we don't see the desperate needs of others before us. It is a distant article in the paper, or story on the news. With the economy taking its downward spiral, I suspect more of us will see need around us in the upcoming months. We need to leave the sheaf behind for those who most need it. The least of these, the forgotten, the "unlovable," the hungry. I am adding a short and by no means extensive list of ideas for your kids to think about. Please add in the comments any other ways we can serve others by leaving our sheaf behind.

• Collect change and donate to a local charity
• Have a garage sale where the kids help
• Work a lemonade stand
• Post signs for yard work, car washing, house keeping
• Collect old towels, blankets for the Humane Society
• For birthday parties, instead of gifts---Have guests bring diapers to donate to foster care, or bring gently worn school uniforms to donate to foster care, or dog food/cat food to give to the Humane Society, or donations for orphans via Shaohannah's Hope or the Starfish Foster Home (you can pay for a surgery, part of an adoption, or even sponsor a child!), have donations for your local library, or have a coat drive to donate to those needing coats
• For teen parties, invite teens to volunteer at an animal shelter, or to work a day for Habitat for Humanity, or to help with a car wash to raise money for your chosen charity, then take them out to eat/celebrate afterwards
• Plant a tree in honor of a special day/event---let your child choose the tree
• Send cards to those in need---a church member in a nursing home, for instance
• Commit to praying for families who are adopting
• Be creative--there are so many things we can do that would make such a difference in the life of one other person
• For orphans, in particular, look up Shaohannah's Hope, Starfish Foster Home (see the blog there as well), Love Without Boundaries, Half the Sky Foundation, call your church's orphan ministry or your local Department of Children's Services to see what needs foster care has in YOUR community
• PLEASE PRAY about how you can CHANGE the world in 2009, led by God and your children to leave that sheaf behind!

Love,
Eve

New Year's Resolutions

Sponsor a child in a foster home


Save change for a worthy cause

Donate old towels, etc to the Humane Society