Sunday morning our sermon was about how both Moses' mother Jocabed and Pharaoh's daughter chose life for the baby Moses rather than death.
I would like to expound on that a little and take it in a slightly different direction than the sermon.
There are over 147,000,000 orphans in the world. This means that there are millions of modern day Jocabeds. A woman who knows that she is dying of AIDS and takes her child to an orphanage rather than leave it to fend for itself when she dies. She chooses life for her child. A woman who watches her child slowly dying of starvation and takes this child to an orphanage rather than let it die. She chooses life for her child. They give up living (or dying) with the children they love in hopes that someone else (modern day Pharaoh's daughters) will also choose life for their children.
The question is -Is the Church encouraging it's members to choose life for these children and adopt them?Or is it ignoring the fact that there are millons of birth mothers praying that someone else will choose life for their children. These birth mothers who may be just like Jocabed and know that keeping their children with them would mean certain death, are willing to give up knowing and raising their children in hopes that someone else will.
As you know from reading the Bible, orphans weigh heavy on the mind of God. Why do they not weigh heavy on the mind of the Church? God had a plan for Moses, and I am sure that He has a plan for every orphaned child and He asks the Church to carry out His plan for them.
Deuteronomy 24:17-18 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
1 John 3:17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
And lastly...
Proverbs 24:11-12 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "but we knew nothing about this," does he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?
I hope this link works. A great blog post about the "Cost" of adoption http://haskinsadoption.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/are-we-really-considering-the-cost/
Next stop China
Next Stop China!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Encouragement
I have been tag team teaching the teen girls this quarter at church with a friend of mine. The first 3 weeks of the quarter, I taught the ladies class. Part of that class was about our adoption and what the Bible says about it. Mom suggested that I use that as a lesson for the teen girls and I am so glad I have. I have avoided blogging about all of the negative comments we have recieved about adopting, or even more prevalant than the negative comments, the completely ignoring of it. No I don't want to be the center of attention, but since the 3 years we have been going at this, I have one friend I talk to about it all the time and another that asks me how it is going, where we are etc. I appreciate that so much, but that is pretty much it.
When whining to my friend about it one bad week, she asked me what I wanted from everyone. It was one of those whines where you don't really no what you want, but you know that how things are can't be right. But I think it just came down to the fact that I wanted to know that people cared. Sadly, I haven't felt it from many at all. But as always, God reminds me that what I do in life all comes down to me and Him. What does He want me to do? Is He for me doing this? Then why do I care if everyone else is? Did He put it in our hearts to adopt? Did I not promise to Him when we first started that I would have faith that any delays were His doing so the timing would be His perfect timing? Forget that people don't care, remember that God does.
That has completely changed my attitude. Most days. Do I still fall into the pity party of no one gives a hoot? Some days, but it is farther and farther between.
Anyway, back to the teen class. After doing two classes on our adoption, etc. My teacher/friend comes up and says that it has really impacted the teens and stated they had no idea we had gone through so much to adopt and had lost so much money, etc. They wanted to know what the church was doing to help and why weren't they helping. She mentioned that a long time ago I had mentioned a benefit dinner and they were so excited and wanted to help. This brings tears to my eyes. Someone does care!
I don't know what will come of it, but I am so grateful that I found caring when I wasn't expecting it or looking for it. Thank you God!
As a disclaimer - as pointed out by my wonderful friend who still comes around even though I whine - perhaps it is not that people don't care, they just don't know. I realize that my perception of no one caring may not actually be the reality.
When whining to my friend about it one bad week, she asked me what I wanted from everyone. It was one of those whines where you don't really no what you want, but you know that how things are can't be right. But I think it just came down to the fact that I wanted to know that people cared. Sadly, I haven't felt it from many at all. But as always, God reminds me that what I do in life all comes down to me and Him. What does He want me to do? Is He for me doing this? Then why do I care if everyone else is? Did He put it in our hearts to adopt? Did I not promise to Him when we first started that I would have faith that any delays were His doing so the timing would be His perfect timing? Forget that people don't care, remember that God does.
That has completely changed my attitude. Most days. Do I still fall into the pity party of no one gives a hoot? Some days, but it is farther and farther between.
Anyway, back to the teen class. After doing two classes on our adoption, etc. My teacher/friend comes up and says that it has really impacted the teens and stated they had no idea we had gone through so much to adopt and had lost so much money, etc. They wanted to know what the church was doing to help and why weren't they helping. She mentioned that a long time ago I had mentioned a benefit dinner and they were so excited and wanted to help. This brings tears to my eyes. Someone does care!
I don't know what will come of it, but I am so grateful that I found caring when I wasn't expecting it or looking for it. Thank you God!
As a disclaimer - as pointed out by my wonderful friend who still comes around even though I whine - perhaps it is not that people don't care, they just don't know. I realize that my perception of no one caring may not actually be the reality.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Trees and SC Trip
We had a great trip to SC last weekend. We planted approx. 550 Christmas trees back in Jan. 2007, then found out a few weeks later that we were moving. It was awesome to see our old friends. We really miss them and it was great to catch up.
We left Friday after coop and got to SC around 8 or 9 Friday night. It was rainy Saturday so rather than go to see our trees we had planted, we decided to go to the Riverbanks Zoo. More for nostalgia sake, since we used to go to that zoo 3-4 times a year when we lived there. Thankfully, we missed most of the rain while we were there and had a good time.
We left Friday after coop and got to SC around 8 or 9 Friday night. It was rainy Saturday so rather than go to see our trees we had planted, we decided to go to the Riverbanks Zoo. More for nostalgia sake, since we used to go to that zoo 3-4 times a year when we lived there. Thankfully, we missed most of the rain while we were there and had a good time.
After Church Sunday afternoon, we all rode out to the land and checked out the trees. Before the trip, Aaron was discouraged, figuring that the trees were unsalvagable, since they hadn't been trimmed since we planted them. However, upon inspection, Aaron was very pleasantly surprised and excited. Some of the trees were over 6 ft tall already. They weren't quite ready to trim and we are planning on going back towards the end of May to trim them. They need to be at a certain point of spring growth to trim correctly. Hopefully in 2-3 years they will be ready to sell.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Pet Cemetary
Continuing on the theme of animals that live here that aren't pets... A few weeks back, this black dog started hanging around on our property. It would kind of slink around and wouldn't get close enough for us to pet. The girls immediately named him Blackie. We tried to encourage him (by throwing rocks) to leave, we didn't need 3 dogs, but he still hung out. The same day the girls left for TN with the grandparents, Aaron and I were walking around outside and I stepped up on the back porch and see a black nose and paws sticking out from under our cat house. It was barely able to fit through the hole to get in and out. Long story short, it tried to bite Aaron when he was trying to lift the cat house and let it out and that was Blackie's downfall.
Blackie met a swift end ( I will spare you the details), but was able to run about 20ft into the woods before falling over. I felt guilty at first, but then I could picture that dog hiding in the cat house, the kids sticking their arm in with a cupfull of cat food and having it torn off by crazy dog and decided that I didn't feel so bad after all.
It was time to leave for church so we put off burying the thing (mistake #1). The next night Aaron went to look at it, it was already covered with flies and the buzzards were literally circling and it wasn't stinking yet. By the time the girls got home Thursday, if the wind was right, you got a wiff of it, still not too bad. Friday, Natalie comes inside and says "I think Blackie is dead" I asked why and she says "because there is a black furry leg in the front yard." Sure enough, our dogs decided they needed to spread Blackie around.
Aaron got home from work that day, and due to the stench now being bad, took a couple of wheelbarrow loads of dirt and covered the thing. Ahhh, no more stench and problem solved.
WRONG!
Next morning, a beautiful day, I was opening all the blinds in the living room like I do every morning and I look out our window and about 5 foot from the house was a nasty pile of Blackie. No hiding it now. Aaron happened to call to ask a question and got a good laugh out of the fact that our beautiful view now included a dead pile of dog. All day we found teeth, jawbone, nails, etc on our porch, by the swing, everywhere.
Aaron finally just put on some gloves and stuffed the thing in a thick trash bag and put it out with the trash. Hopefully Blackie won't be back.
Blackie met a swift end ( I will spare you the details), but was able to run about 20ft into the woods before falling over. I felt guilty at first, but then I could picture that dog hiding in the cat house, the kids sticking their arm in with a cupfull of cat food and having it torn off by crazy dog and decided that I didn't feel so bad after all.
It was time to leave for church so we put off burying the thing (mistake #1). The next night Aaron went to look at it, it was already covered with flies and the buzzards were literally circling and it wasn't stinking yet. By the time the girls got home Thursday, if the wind was right, you got a wiff of it, still not too bad. Friday, Natalie comes inside and says "I think Blackie is dead" I asked why and she says "because there is a black furry leg in the front yard." Sure enough, our dogs decided they needed to spread Blackie around.
Aaron got home from work that day, and due to the stench now being bad, took a couple of wheelbarrow loads of dirt and covered the thing. Ahhh, no more stench and problem solved.
WRONG!
Next morning, a beautiful day, I was opening all the blinds in the living room like I do every morning and I look out our window and about 5 foot from the house was a nasty pile of Blackie. No hiding it now. Aaron happened to call to ask a question and got a good laugh out of the fact that our beautiful view now included a dead pile of dog. All day we found teeth, jawbone, nails, etc on our porch, by the swing, everywhere.
Aaron finally just put on some gloves and stuffed the thing in a thick trash bag and put it out with the trash. Hopefully Blackie won't be back.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Not much to tell
Why does it seem like stuff always comes up that you need when trying for a financial goal? Still paying down the debt, but not as fast as I want to. I worked 36 hours last week while the kids were in TN with Aaron's parents. I am not working at all this week, but start back up again next Tuesday. We are planning on going to SC this weekend to check on some Christmas trees we planted 3 years ago to see if they are salvagable or not. We have done nothing to them since planting them. Our friends offered to let us use an acre to practice on and 2-3 weeks after planting 500+ trees, we got transferred here to AL. Not looking forward at all to the 6 hour drive. yuck!
I wish I had on a video camera yesterday when Madelyn found a 3ft Black Racer snake. It was lying beside the house and not long after we went out to look at it the dogs sniffed it out and went nuts. They had it backed into a corner and it was taking turns striking at each one. Looked like they both got bit on the nose at least once. I was about 5 feet away watching, the girls about 10 feet away the opposite direction. When all of a sudden our lab mix grabbed the snake by the head and took off running straight toward the girls, slinging the snake around and finally let go and the thing was tossed in the air. I was screaming "Run girls!", but they didn't need to be told, they had split by the time I looked up. I think the snake was injured or lost it's will to fight because after that I was able to pick it up with a long metal thing and take it to a place where it could slither away into a hole. Fun times.
I wish I had on a video camera yesterday when Madelyn found a 3ft Black Racer snake. It was lying beside the house and not long after we went out to look at it the dogs sniffed it out and went nuts. They had it backed into a corner and it was taking turns striking at each one. Looked like they both got bit on the nose at least once. I was about 5 feet away watching, the girls about 10 feet away the opposite direction. When all of a sudden our lab mix grabbed the snake by the head and took off running straight toward the girls, slinging the snake around and finally let go and the thing was tossed in the air. I was screaming "Run girls!", but they didn't need to be told, they had split by the time I looked up. I think the snake was injured or lost it's will to fight because after that I was able to pick it up with a long metal thing and take it to a place where it could slither away into a hole. Fun times.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Debt be gone
Aaron was called to a fire in East AL last weekend. They called on Sunday and told him he had an hour to get to the office which is 30min. away if he wanted to go. So we started throwing stuff in his bag and packing his fire clothes and he was off. He came back Thursday evening. We have been praying for money or a way to make more money for the adoption for a long, long time, so we figure if God gives us a chance for overtime, we need to take it. He went to Arkansas for 16 days in Feb, and again 16 days in March. When we lost so much money on the last failed adoption, Aaron decided we wouldn't spend any more money on another adoption until we had all our debt paid off (except our house). We have put our adopton plans on hold the last almost 2 years so we can do that. We will hopefully be out of debt at the end of next month. Yes!. As hard as it has been to wait for the adoption, it feels so good to start out again without the debt hanging over our heads.
Thankfully, Aaron got back in time and we didn't have to change the date of Natalie's 8th birthday party. We are getting ready to get the final preparations at Walmart. Like normal, I havent heard from any of the parents of the kids we invited, so I have not idea how many hot dogs to buy. At least they freeze. We are going to have a hayride, cook hot dogs over the fire and hike in the forest behind the house. It will be fun, even if not many kids come.
Thankfully, Aaron got back in time and we didn't have to change the date of Natalie's 8th birthday party. We are getting ready to get the final preparations at Walmart. Like normal, I havent heard from any of the parents of the kids we invited, so I have not idea how many hot dogs to buy. At least they freeze. We are going to have a hayride, cook hot dogs over the fire and hike in the forest behind the house. It will be fun, even if not many kids come.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Homestudy
Last night we drove to Huntsville to meet with our Social Worker, Kathie. It was time for our update and she has to see and talk to everyone in the family. The girls were disappointed to miss church services, but this was the only time she could meet with us before 4/4 and we wanted to go ahead and have her working on our stuff, as well as the updated paperwork I have to fill out.
The meeting lasted approximately 60 min. where we discussed the new direction we are headed and the implications of adopting a child from another race. Something we have had to discuss at every meeting so far since we have applied to Guatemala, Vietnam, and now Ethiopia.
Today I wrote out updated ages and interests of the girls so she can change that part of our home study. We are also filling our our "Child Abuse/Neglect Central Registry Clearance Request" papers again so that the powers that be can make sure that we haven't had anything come on police reports since our last home study update. Lastly, I will be mailing our $200 check to Kathie that was in Aaron's wallet the whole time last night. I remembered 1/2 way home that we forgot to pay her. I emailed her when we got home and told her it will be in the mail today and she was very understanding. oops.
I also have medical forms for our doctor's to fill out -for all of us. I think I will wait on those until we get the forms from our adoption agency. That will be after we apply next month. That way we can go to the DR. once and not twice to bug them to fill out paperwork for us...again...
Now it is work, work, work for me the next 3 weeks to get us financially ready to apply. Trying to be optimistic this time!
The meeting lasted approximately 60 min. where we discussed the new direction we are headed and the implications of adopting a child from another race. Something we have had to discuss at every meeting so far since we have applied to Guatemala, Vietnam, and now Ethiopia.
Today I wrote out updated ages and interests of the girls so she can change that part of our home study. We are also filling our our "Child Abuse/Neglect Central Registry Clearance Request" papers again so that the powers that be can make sure that we haven't had anything come on police reports since our last home study update. Lastly, I will be mailing our $200 check to Kathie that was in Aaron's wallet the whole time last night. I remembered 1/2 way home that we forgot to pay her. I emailed her when we got home and told her it will be in the mail today and she was very understanding. oops.
I also have medical forms for our doctor's to fill out -for all of us. I think I will wait on those until we get the forms from our adoption agency. That will be after we apply next month. That way we can go to the DR. once and not twice to bug them to fill out paperwork for us...again...
Now it is work, work, work for me the next 3 weeks to get us financially ready to apply. Trying to be optimistic this time!
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