Sunday, November 21, 2010

Praying BIG!

I was asked several weeks ago if I would do the children's sermon at church. I enthusiastically said yes....and then I proceded to forget completely about it until last night...12 hours before said sermon.
Thankfully, I have built some one-on-one time with God into each Sunday morning. Although I am free to sub in Sunday school classes during that time, most weeks, it has enabled me to do my Bible study or simply read the Bible. (I am attempting to read it cover to cover for the first time in my life...currently I am in the book of Numbers.)
So, as I sat there listening to the choir practice for the upcoming service, I prayed. I prayed that God would give me the words that our children (and grown-ups) needed to hear today.
The verse was Ephesians 3:20-21,
"God's power is so vast that we can't even imagine the extent of what He can do. When we bring our requests to Him, we can be confident that absolutely nothing is beyond His ability to do."
What a verse! As I sat there just asking him to give me the words, He was saying something like, "Seriously, you just want a 2 minute children's sermon? Pray bigger. I can do so much more than you could ever imagine!"
I laughed, and then I prayed bigger. I prayed to open the hearts of our congregation. I prayed for peace to overcome the earth. I prayed that my life, my public life and my private life, my role as a wife, as a mother, as a friend, and as a disciple would be pleasing to God at each and every moment. I prayed for my husband and I to feel God's grace, be filled with His patience, and to remember that it is His will, not ours!
The service started, the praise songs spoke right to my heart, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, and wouldn't you know it, the words came. The children's sermon about praying big prayers, was great. It helped that I had tied Smarties in, so each child got to take candy back to their pews, but, I believe, that even without the candy, God spoke loud and clear today.
For that, I am so thankful.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

We had our monthly visit with the adoption caseworker today. She always comes at 4pm, which is the busiest time of the daycare day, but it works with her schedule, so we do it. Luckily, the kids were content playing in the basement during that time because Sissy came over to watch them. All went well. We have decided to get a referral for counseling. It's not as easy as calling and making an appointment. The caseworker has to find an agency that can see them and then get approval. It should all go through, it will just take forever. I would like to have all of the kids go to counseling at least for an initial evaluation. My oh-so-wise mother made the point that just because Halie is the only one demonstrating her inner "junk" through negative behavior, it doesn't mean that the other kids don't have it. So, once we get approval, I am going to see about Chloe, Carter, Brice and Halie starting counseling.

Brice, Halie and Jasmine got to go over to Grandma Nancy's for a sleepover last weekend, and it was such a blessing! I never know if those interactions, whether in person or one the phone will make Halie happy or sad, but this time it was ALL GOOD! They had fun for two day, and there were no tears when I picked up, on the way home, or during the past week. I think that Halie might actually be starting to believe us when we say that she will get to see Grandma Nancy. I sure hope so. I want her to trust us and feel in her heart that she did not lose Grandma and Grandpa, but that it has just changed.
While on the subject of Grandma and Grandpa, I must say that Nancy and Mike are phenominal people. They are truly a family that puts the children first. They would drive to the end of the earth to visit with these kids, I believe. Even though they have no legal responsibility to these children, they want to continue to love them and maintain a relationship with them. We are adopting the kids legally, but they are adopting these "grandchildren" out of pure love.

We are all getting excted about the holidays. You would think that adding three more kids to Christmas would be stressful, but we have discovered this new concept called a "budget" ;-) and it has made it much easier than I anticipated. We can't wait to celebrate as a whole family.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

A Fun Reminder and Trick or Treating

Toy Story 3 came out on video today. Not really blog worthy except that 1) it was actually available from Redbox and 2) it was one of the ways God made it clear to us that we were meant to adopt Brice, Halie and Jasmine. I had forgotten about that until I saw Bonnie, the sweet little cartoon girl, again.
 
We had just met the kids and we were in the "pray until something happens" phase. The plan was to not begin the process again until October, and there we sat, in June. Dave and I both felt our hearts jump after we met the kids, and we really were feeling like these could be our kids, but it didn't go with our plan, so I was hesitant. 
Then, we took Chloe, Carter and Wren to the theater to see Toy Story 3. As soon as this little girl popped on the screen, Dave and I looked at each other and just laughed. She looked just like Halie. Short brown hair, great big brown eyes, and the sweetest smile. 



And now, Dave and I have been commenting how we don't even remember life before being a family of 9.

Halloween was so exciting! Although we had been talking about Halloween for over a month, Jasmine walked up the first house, said, "Trick or Treat" and then came running back to us yelling, "Candy, they gave me candy!" She was shocked! Obviously she didn't remember that candy was involved in the process. After each house, she would run so excitedly on to the next one, that all of the newly acquired candy would spill out into the grass.