Pics & Video of Little A

Last Friday, April 8, we received some pictures taken by another adoptive family who traveled to Ethopia for their court date. They also took a care package of goodies for us to give her. Later that afternoon we received a DVD of her and God is working a MIRACLE regarding her special need. He is in the miracle business and we are blessed to see Him unfolding His work before our eyes.

Contents of our care package:

I also sent off our I-600A and the fees for Homeland Security processing and fingerprinting. They'll process our documents and then send us a fingerprint appointment time. After all that is done we can have our dossier authenticated and sent off to Ethiopia!!! After our dossier is sent then we will receive news of a court date and we'll get to visit our little miss in person!!

This week we've been blessed to have $225 donated towards bringing her home. Thank you!!! We're still waiting on a second referral (second child) anyday! We'll keep you posted!!

My Crazy Adoption-Visiting Orphans Mission Trip Fundraiser

Michael, son of Kari Gibson My Crazy Adoption is going on a mission trip to Uganda. To help him raise funds his mom is selling tote/messenger bags Tote Bag Fund Raiser. Here is what she writes on her blog:

You can purchase my brand new totes with a purpose.  Each bag will help my son, Michael go to Ethiopia and Uganda in August with Man Up Trip with Visiting Orphans. Together we are raising his support and everything above and beyond will bless orphans in Ethiopia and Uganda on his trip.  Michael has helped raise $10,000 for the well project in Chucko, Ethiopia and can’t wait to visit in person the working well and see with his own eyes the miracles God has done for a rural village in Ethiopia.

CLICK HERE FOR STORE- PURCHASE YOUR TOTE TODAY!!

Our vow renewal

 Us with our pastor after the ceremony.

 Us

 Our whole family with our pastor.

Our kids watching our vows.

Hugging after the ceremony.

A few weeks ago while all of our children, our children's spouses, and our grandchildren were here we decided to renew our wedding vows. Our 30th anniversary was actually back in October but we weren't able to renew them then. Since all the kids were here we talked to our pastor (the day before) and Sage our daughter-in-law had a friend that could take pictures for us so we decided to do it! We already had a photo shoot scheduled for forty-five minutes later so we used this opportunity to do the ceremony out in our front yard area. It was good for me to resay the vows since it had been thirty years since I had said them. I moved in with Steve when I was fifteen so in March we had been living together for thirty-five years. It was wonderful to be able to do this and reaffirm our love for one another, and for our kids to witness it as well.

Tsehai

I want to share a resource with you that was invaluable on our trip to pick up Addis & Mulu in 2008. Tsehai Loves Learning Volumes 1 & 2. We have only seen Volume 1, but we are purchasing Volume 2 for our upcoming trip. It is an educational DVD in Amharic with English subtitles, with  Select episodes dubbed into Tigrinya & Sudanese Arabic. Tsehai is a giraffe puppet who learns with other animal puppets. It is geared for ages 3-6, but my girls were about 7 & 11 when they came home three years ago and they loved it. We watched it in our hotel room and they watched it on the plane on the way home. We were able to entertain a little baby with it as well giving his mom and dad a break for a minutes. Unfortuately ours was so loved it got scratched so we are purchasing new copies. There is a preview on the website. Your Ethiopian children will love it and you'll love being able to connect with them in this fun way!

Tsehai

Anna's favorite brother

Anna has missed her Jesse since he left home last summer. After he surprised us at church she told me, "I just can't stop smiling!" She was SO happy to see him. Her smile says it all!

Surprise!

Sarah and baby Isaiah are here for a visit and had just come in the night before. Since Sarah spent the night at her friend's house I didn't see her until Sunday morning at church. We were able to sit together during the worship service, but she was up and down since she had the baby.

Church was over and I was gathering my things. I looked up and there standing before me was my daughter-in-law Sage! Then I looked to my left and there was my Jesse boy! I buried my face in his uniform and started crying like a baby. I was so happy to have my son in my arms again, except this time I was in his arms. Most of the people who were on our side of the church saw this reunion and were blessed by it.

I hadn't seen Jesse since August when we flew to Chicago for his basic training graduation. He just graduated from CTM A school, with honors mind you, and we were told that he was reporting to duty on Wednesday which was yesterday. He hadn't been home since June/July when he left so it's been about nine months for him.

He and Sage left Pensacola on Friday, and drove all the way to their new apt in the Ft. Meade, Maryland, area, dropped off their stuff and caught a flight.  Their friend Olivia picked them up from the airport so they could come to church to surprise me! Sarah, the little stinker, was in on this surprise and was part of the reason why she was here. Did anyone get a picture of this reunion? No! So I'm sorry but I don't have any pics to show you.

Anna and Adah were brought into the sanctuary from their class and Anna was so happy to see Jesse. She has REALLY missed him. When I took her into the bathroom she told me, "I can't stop smiling." Me either, sissy, me either.

Makenna turned one!

My precious little granddaughter had her birthday last week. We celebrated on Saturday at a park by her house. She had both sets of grandparents there and even a great-grandma, great-grandpa & grandma, and a great-aunt. Someone is loved!!

John and Basketball

John and Coach Conover

John has been playing basketball for our school Heritage Christian. He joined the one of the boys U12 teams halfway through the season. He had a good friend on the team so he was excited to play, and found that some of his other friends were also on the team. Last night were the awards for the basketball teams. John received "Most Improved" with two other boys. All the players were awarded a certificate with a character quality noted on it. John's was Motivated. We're very proud of John and the effort he put forth and we're glad he enjoyed it at the same time. Good job, John!

We have a referral!!

Hey everyone,

On Tuesday Steve and I went to an international doctor here in the San Diego area. We consulted with Dr. Dern when we adopted our first two girls. She gave us excellent care and advice so we brought in our referral information to see what she could tell us from the papers we held in our hands.

Our Little "A" has some special needs. We believe with our availability of medical help here in the USA she should thrive and progress quickly. We can't reveal what her special needs are, what her name is, or what she looks like until we pass court and she is legally ours. We can tell you that she is almost three.

Our next step is to finish our dossier and to send in our homestudy for immigration clearance to bring an orphan into the country.

We may or may not be pursuing a second child. If another child shows up on the Waiting Child List then we can pursue that child, or if an older child say age seven or older is available then we can add that child to our adoption without making Little "A" wait for another court date. We would need to have their court dates heard at the same time.  So this is in the Lord's hand. If He wants us to pursue another child He needs to reveal that child to us in His timing and the court's timing.

Our case just ramped up to lots of fees being due. Thank you for your prayers and support. If you feel led to help us financially please contact us on how you can give through our agency. Thank you!!!

Adoption Update

Last night our social worker sent us our homestudy rough draft. I edited and corrected a few things and sent it back. Since yesterday was a holiday for AWAA they received it today. Except the homestudy wasn't actually attached to his (our social worker) email so I sent it to our family coordinator who will take 1-3 days to review it and then it goes to the program director who will release the files of the two children that we're interested in. The two children we're interested in are from AWAA's Waiting Child List. The children on there either have a medical issue or are just older. We are pursuing one of each. I have found that most of the families waiting want children 0-5. Since Steve and I are older we're more open to maybe what we wouldn't have been if we were just building our family.

After our homestudy is approved we send it off to USCIS to apply to bring orphans into the USA and get fingerprinting appointments. We were able to raise our fees for that step through ebay sales. I sold our Lamplighter Publishing books and Our Story Hour audiobooks. $1000!!

We're sending out fundraising letters to family and friends. AWAA just opened a new program called Eternal Families and donations can now be funneled to them and are probably tax deductable. We're giving people the opportunity to partner with us financially to make the difference in the life of two children. We figure the worst they can say is no. We're letting God lead and accepting any answer. But if we don't let the need be known, well, then the need might not get met.

Sick baby

Last week Sarah took Isaiah to the dr. for his two month check-up. He was a little overdue and he had a cough so she thought that would be a good time for the doctor to check on him. Now Sarah is nineteen and this lady doctor is in her fifties. Sarah figures the doctor knows what she's doing, but the dr. said, "I probably shouldn't give them (his immunizations) to him, but I will anyways."

Fast forward about twelve hours later and I get a phone call from her, and then a facebook chat. Isaiah isn't breathing right. We confer and she decides it isn't an emergency but is going to keep an eye on him. I have to get off facebook because we were watching Makenna, and she fell out of the bed she was sleeping in. Uncle John (11) had begged for Makenna to go to bed with him so we allowed her to, but he had fallen into such a deep sleep that he didn't have a good hold on her and she rolled off.

After a bit Miranda (Makenna's mom) picks her up and I go to bed. I get up the next day and find out that Sarah had taken Isaiah into the emergency room about 3:00am because he wasn't breathing right. The doctor said he had RSV and a double ear infection. What?!!! How did the previous doctor not even 24 hours earlier miss all that? and on top of that gave the poor baby three immunizations which would have been more if they hadn't been combined.

I offered to drive over to help her if she needed it and she took me up on it. So Wednesday afternoon I headed over to the Phoenix area by myself. I love the drive over there. It is a quiet pleasant drive and the sunset in my rearview mirror was spectacular.

When I arrived Isaiah was sleeping and didn't look so good. His eyes were red and he was struggling to breathe. I wasn't so sure he shouldn't go back in. He woke up from his nap and he seemed to have turned a corner. He started back on the road to recovery and got a little peppier. Thursday he was even better. Though not all the way back we was on his way. I was able to help clean while Sarah was nursing and while I held him she was able to get some things done. I wish we lived closer to one another so I could help her more. It's good to know she's just a little bit of a drive away.

                                  He's saying, "Mom! Help me!!"

Isaiah is doing better and they need to find a new pediatrician off base that takes their military insurance. It's tough for new parents and young ones at that! I was so proud of her for taking him in to the e.r. on her own. This is a girl who hates to even talk on the phone! Baby is in good hands with his parents. Thankfully they're spectacular parents to my baby grandson.

Sitina Dolls

My friend is selling what she calls "sitina dolls".  They are flip dolls that a Nigerian widow has sewn that have an Ethiopian mother on one side and you flip the dress and find an American mother on the other side.  It can be used to share with your kids how they have two moms that are "joined by love" - Sitina means that in Amharic. Please go to her blog if you are interested http://www.sitinadolls.blogspot.com/.  You can read more of the story and choose fabrics and see the poem that comes with them.  They are $35 which includes shipping.  Let her know if you have any questions.

Valentine art

Presidential Bingo

I teach a Presidents and States class through our local ISP (Independent Study Program).  The kids love bingo so I made up a bingo game using the faces of the Presidents. I thought about buying a set but they run anywhere from $20 to $30.

First I researched Presidential pictures and found these.  President Pictures and then I printed about five or so of each. I have about seventeen kids in the class and decided to use three across and three down since these are for grades 1-3, I thought it would be easier for them and their aggravation level.

I used one set for my calling set and I glued those on cardstock and cut them apart. I then took paper and cut them in half and glued the pics of the Presidents on. I had to make sure they're all different so only one child can win at a time. I also added USA in case I wanted to say  "U-William Harrison."

I also printed this Presidential Information and wrote in the order that each President served.  We'll use pennies or beans or something else to keep track and I have little prizes for them to win. I promised two brothers that I would come up with something and I think they'll like it.

Welcome

You found us! Welcome, come on in. I've had a blog for years under another name, but due to unwanted traffic I closed it down and am starting over.

We're a large family of fourteen. We have been married for thirty years and lived together for four and half years before that. We were not Christians and I was only fifteen and he was sixteen way back when. We married in 1980 and became Christians about ten months later.

Our oldest four children are happily married and live in their own houses. Two have babies of their own and one is expecting in July. We have a granddaughter and a grandson so we get the best of both worlds! We have a son-in-law who serves in the U.S. Air Force and a son who serves in the U.S. Navy.

Our children at home range in age from fifteen to four. We have four boys and four girls at home now. That was not always the case. For sixteen years we had seven sons and one daughter, but in 2007 we adopted two little ones from Ethiopia and eight months later again adopted, but this time we brought home two older girls who happen to be sisters. We are in process again to adopt two children from Ethiopia and we're excited to find out who God has joined us with.

We have home schooled for twenty-two years. We have a son who has attended a local public charter high school for 3 quarters and is currently in his second week at our local high school. Our youngest seven are staying put at home.

We are using AWAA for our current adoptions but in the past used CWA. We love the country of Ethiopia and didn't know one thing about it or adoption really, before we adopted. God has grown us, stretched us, and educated us.
If you're willing He can always grow you too!

Isaiah

Thought I would post some pictures of my adorable grandson Isaiah.

Uncle James & Isaiah

Auntie Adah & Isaiah

The adorable man himself in all his sweetness.

 Grandpa Steve & his first grandson.

Mama Sarah & her baby boy.

 Grandma & her first grandson.
          


In his hat that Meredith crocheted for him.

Daddy Nathan & his little man.

Grandma & Grandpa Steve at Isaiah's by his first Christmas tree.

My little model

My little character

Love this!!

Saw this at the San Diego Zoo. Thought it was most appropriate!

Ethiopia Lapbook

I came across this link on our AWAA Yahoo board. Thought I would share it with all of you!  Ethiopia Lapbook

At the bottom of the lapbook the author writes: The author of the Globetrotter Lapbook Series is a homeschool mom of four who has been living in Europe and Asia since 2002. Other country lapbooks are available from the Simply Lapbooks Yahoo Group which holds all the files I create and show on my
homeschool blog: http://hebrews110.wordpress.com/.

I believe I'm going to go and join her group! I've done a lapbook with our Little House on the Prairie Class and although it was a LOT of work with twenty-something students it was fun. Enjoy!

Adopted for Life-Free Audiobook Download (February only!)

Adopted For Life Free Audiobook

I have read this book and I remember it to be very good. It's worth the effort to register for an account and download it to your computer. I'm hoping I can make a CD of it for my hubby as part of his required reading.

Taken from Amazon.com:  Adopted For Life Amazon.com

"Russell Moore has out of personal experience and with biblical accuracy produced in this work an understanding of God's purposes in adoption and its connection with gospel compassion. Every pastor should consider the responsibility he has in making adoption a priority for the church as a viable representation of the gospel doctrine of adoption."

—John MacArthur, Pastor, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California



"Thankfully, there are good books on adoption and good books on the gospel. But until the arrival of Adopted for Life, there has never been a book that puts the adoption of children so clearly within the context of the gospel of Christ. Adopted for Life is one of the most compelling books I have ever read-both deeply touching and richly theological. You will never look at adoption or the gospel in quite the same way after reading this book. How could the church have been missing this for so long?"
—R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

$1000 in the last two days!

God is providing for our adoption in His timing! Yesterday we received a donation of $500 and today my Lamplighter books that I had previously listed on here to sell and not one response, so I took them to ebay and they all sold for $580!!! Granted I just paid $69 in ebay fees and whatever the Paypal fees are, but hey, that probably figures out to be about $475-500 that we didn't have yesterday! Go God!!!!

I have some more items to sell when I get the chance. If any one has anything they're willing to part with that we could sell we could use it! Also Mapleview Baptist is having a rummage sale this weekend. Anything that you want to get rid of they could also use. The money helps the kids go to camp and different youth activities. It helps us out financially. If they work a rummage sale, they make a portion of what was sold and it goes into their account. :-) Win-win situation!!!

Adoption Update

Saturday we had our last of three interviews with our social worker from AWAA. He was so kind and brought two boxes of donuts for us! He'll start writing up our homestudy next Monday since he had a few to do before ours.
Once that is written and approved by AWAA we send it in to USCIS for embassy clearance to bring orphans into the country and fingerprinting appts for me and Steve.

Steve still needs to get his police clearance from our local agency and that takes about a week once he applies. I need to check the instructions again to see what else we need to get done.

We did up our age to 14 because we saw a ten year old boy that looked like he would fit into our family quite well. We need to have a talk with our boys though because he could be older than that and disrupt the birth order there. There was a period where I had four boys in five years so they're all pretty close in age even though with one being ten and another being fifteen it wouldn't look like it, but in ten years they'll all be about the same size.

We're still selling coffee and t-shirts which you can access by clicking on the appropriate buttons on the right. I'm selling wristbands for $1.00 each. I have books and clothing up for sale on ebay right now to raise some funds. Every little bit helps! We need to send in about $800+ with our immigration paperwork and then quite a few fees after that equaling about $10K.

Thank you for supporting us and praying for us. Help us bring these kids into a family!

Why Men Are Never Depressed

This was sent to us by a good friend. Enjoy!

WHY MEN ARE NEVER DEPRESSED:


Men Are Just Happier People-- What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too picky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time.

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

Rocking

So I have two days under my belt with Addis and one day with Mulu. With eight children in the home, homeschooling and the various places I serve I have come to realize I will can do the challenge for thirty days, but they won't be in a row.

I will say the first time I put Addis on my lap it was very, very awkward. We're talking a girl who is supposed to be ten, turning eleven but is really fourteenish. She is a woman so-to-speak and well, that's just not a natural thing for me to have a full grown woman in my lap! She has never been rocked so this is new and awkward for her as well. She is also very introverted and shy. Yesterday we sat in my recliner as I listened to her read for twenty minutes. The first time we ended up talking about her family in Ethiopia. At different times little pieces of her former life come out. Sometimes it just takes one little thing to trigger a memory, other times she's just in the mood to talk. Either way this will give us a time to do that.

With Mulu the rocking is much more natural. She is outgoing, younger, and  uninhibited. She is the age that Addis is supposed to be now. We could both almost just fall asleep together because we're so comfortable with one another. We chat and rock. Laugh and rock. Rock, rock, rock....................

Rockin Mama Challenge

Mommy: Mulu, you and I are going to rock.
Mulu: You mean we're going to have a party?!
Mommy: No, we're going to go rock in the rocking chair.
Mulu: Oh.....(big smile on her face)

We're going to try this. Rockin' Mama Challenge

Last week I signed her up for school at our local elementary school. Then I realized I cannot be without her every day all day long five days a week. We need each other. I called Tuesday morning and told them I would continue to teach her at home. This morning she wanted to know when I would rock her. I rock the little girls, but I don't normally rock Mulu and Addis. I'm going to try and do this fifteen minutes a day for the next month. I'll let you know how it goes.

Children Are a Blessing

Children are a Blessing

Why do you have so many children? Are you going to have any more? You must live in a huge house...these are some of the many questions large families receive on a regular basis. The Moore family is a Christian homeschool family of ten children, who decided to use the influences of media to share their story.

Join the Moore family in a short documentary about what God's Word says about children. The Moores will give you an inside look into their family, the birth of their tenth child and why they have chosen to to allow as many children as God would bless them with. They answer questions like, what does the Bible say about birth control and what was Margaret Sanger trying to accomplish?

My personal friends, the Redman family, Our Full House, first heard about this movie in July, at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. Fast forward six months and they are offering a free copy of the film Children are a Blessing to one of their readers.

They will be giving away one copy of the movie Children are a Blessing, this Friday. To enter, please leave a comment about your family (how many children you have or would like to have). If you have a blog or facebook page, please post about their giveaway (and then leave a comment telling them that you did) and you will receive an additional entry for each.

Our Full House

Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning!

I recently decided to get a hold of my house by trying to get ahead of it instead of it getting ahead of me! So I came up with a system that seems to be working. Now some of you need to remember that I have many hands in my house and I am not doing all this work by myself. Many hands make the mess, but many hands also clean the mess. There is nothing wrong with making your children help with maintaining the cleanliness of your household.  Below is my schedule for this month. We'll tweak it at the end of the month once we've done everything once and see how it goes.

I took my calendar and decided to tackle one big chore a day. Here's how I've broken it down.

First Monday-Sort socks (you know the ones that end up without their mate)
First Tuesday-Clean baseboards and deep clean the little girls room.
First Wednesday-Clean doors & dust
First Thursday-Clean Walls & dust (if dusting didn't get done the day before)
First Friday-Vacuum Couch and go spider web hunting

Second Monday-Clean blinds & Window sills
Second Tuesday-Vacuum under and behind beds & Dust if needed
Second Wednesday-Organize Girls ethnic hair products, deep clean bathrooms & wash shower curtains
Second Thursday-We have classes so no cleaning
Second Friday-Mop (we have a floor that you cannot tell if it's dirty or not :-) )

Third Monday-Clean little girls room AGAIN/Clean fans and light fixtures
Third Tuesday-Clean inside & outside of kitchen cabinets, linen cabinets & bathroom cabinets
Third Wednesday-Clean fridges/freezer
Third Thursday-Clean laundry room, includes counter & washer/dryer
Third Friday-Maybe a seasonal chore

Fourth Monday-Clean & organize book cases
Fourth Tuesday-Put away and organize home school supplies/books
Fourth Wednesday-maybe clean windows
Fourth Thursday-Classes again
Fourth Friday-Mop

So far my house looks spic & span. Just cleaning the doors, walls & baseboards made a big difference. What I've been doing is assigning certain doors, walls, and such to each child. The job doesn't seem so insurmountable that way. Today when we cleaned blinds I had my ten year old clean the ones in the kitchen because they're a little lower than other ones in my house. One bedroom doesn't have any so I had one of the boys clean three blinds in my room. I still need to do the two by my tub, but that seems easy knowing all the others are done.

With home schooling, family, meals, and ministry it seems the house suffers. I'm hoping this helps us keep on top of the dirt. :-)

This Means War: Equipping Christian Families for Fostercare or Adoption

I first heard of this book on one of my adoption Yahoo daily digests that I receive in by email. I like to check out the new and different items that become available in the field of adoption so I emailed the original poster who was the author of the book and she directed me to its availabilty on Amazon.com.

The book This Means War: Equipping Christian Families for Fostercare or Adoption was written by Cheryl Ellicot. The book deals with the spiritual warfare that comes with adoption/fostercare. The description on the back of the book: Are you prepared to adopt? Read on as experienced foster, adotive and even grandparents share stories of success, but also of struggles. Many entered adoption unprepared and were quickly overwhelmed. We wondered why our parenting methods failed. Why didn't our love heal these kids? Why were our previously happy families falling apart?

We lacked vital information about invisible disabilities; we didn't know how profoundly neglect damages an infant. We didn't know we'd signed up to be missionaries to miniature heathens-nor that a spiritual enemy opposed us. Perhaps we assumed the natural state of man, apart from negative influence or defective genes, would be an ideal person; in the Garden of Eden....maybe. We're not in the Garden anymore!

Before you adopt, pray for protection and guidance-and be sure you read This Means War!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since we've decided to adopt again I can attest that the enemy has been on full duty with me.

One of the comments from her book:

Satan will try to separate you from your spouse and children (by too many hours at work, too many extracurricular activities, etc.) 

Never have I felt the urge so strongly to send my children away to school as I have the last few months. I have home educated for twenty-two years and I've had a day here or there like most homeschoolers, but this is different. When I read that it all makes sense. If he can separate us then we are not the cohesive unit that we have been and that we are.

Her advice: Spend time alone with your family, getting to know them. Listen to your spouse and children and share your heart with them daily.

I have never had so many home schooling mothers come up to me and make me discontent in my decision to homeschool. They are discontent and question what they're doing which makes me discontent and question what I'm doing. I am fifty afterall, shouldn't I move on to bigger and better things?!! I have been doing this for twenty-two years haven't I put in my time? haven't I proved myself already?


Her advice: Beware of ungodly counsel. When you've decided to be led by the Holy Spirit, know that Satan will send people to insist you take another path.

She does talk about natural love vs. supernatural love. It isn't natural for us to love other children the way we love children who have been born to us. No, it takes a supernatural love, one that goes above and beyond what we feel and is natural.

She states: "The only love that was missing was the "natural" love-the feeling of a bond between mother and child. Under natural circumstances, this strong emotional bond motivateds and guides the parents as they protect and raise their child. However, adoption isn't natural and these children are not as they should have been (without damage); they have extra challenges and I've been called to something higher than natural love.  My lack of strong emotion actually was the natural response to this situation!"

BUT! We are called to a higher love: Colossians 3:12-13 was her motivation.
"My mission is to nuture these kids, inlcude them as part of a loving family, teach them scripture, and pray God will touch them in a powerful way and them into a relationship with Himself. Nothing else mattters.


I highly recommend this jewel of a book. If you're parenting children through adoption or foster care you've already opened your heart. Now buy your book, put your combat boots on and get ready to fight the good fight for your kids.

If you learn only one thing from this book, let it be this: It's easy to get caught up in the work of a humanitarian and forget your main objective in life is to love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. The only way to succeed in life is to remain as a branch connected to the vine [Jesus]. Keep your relationship with God through Jesus as the most important thing -- the ONLY thing that matters -- and He will pour out His spirit on the children... in His time.