Reece's Rainbow

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What's Your Part?

Waiting

I am ready to go....or so I think. My heart is hurting to go into an orphanage and take out at least one, if not two babies to bring home and be OURS. To be a mommy to a little princess and a little prince, or two little princesses, or who knows but my Father....Who also knows I must not be as ready as I think. For He continues to tell me I must wait. So we are waiting. Waiting for money, yes. But I think perhaps more, He knows there are things in my heart, in my life that need to be refined. More to give up and let go of before I am REALLY ready. I KNOW He is beckoning me trust Him. He is showing me around every bend. In the music I listen to, He whispers, "I am here, I am taking care of this for you. I know your heart is aching to hold them, to love them, to bring them home." In the quite minutes in the morning, though few they are, when the TWO of us sit there in the silence, He tells me, "Seek ME. I am taking care of all the other things, just SEEK ME!"

Father, make me clean, refined, beautiful in YOUR sight. Show me what I hold on to that keeps me from being most useful to YOU. Make my heart your home and break my heart for the things that break YOUR heart. I praise You, Father, that we are not walking this journey alone. You have ordained our steps and the paths that we take. You are with us, You are for us, and You love ALL of our babies more than we could possibly imagine. Help us to see You, to trust You, and to walk in YOUR way and not our own. Be glorified in our lives. I love you, Father. I WILL trust YOU.

Some Light

I can see some light at the end of the this tunnel. It is a LONG way away, but after some serious number crunching I see some light. Like I said, it is still VERY far away, but it is good to have a glimpse. Of course, this is all with my human planning. I very seriously believe that God is in control of this situation and laughs that I even consider having a "plan" that stretches so far into the future. He could provide the money we need tomorrow if He wants to. So we will wait and see what His beautiful plan is for us on this journey.

"It Began with Bale" from Drawn From Water on Vimeo.

Blessed

I got an e-mail the other day from a precious gal in our SS class. She was wondering if I'd gotten the check she and another girl had sent back in April. I had not, but we have piles of mail in different bags from the past couple of months that my darling husband has taken out only what was important (i.e. only HIS stuff). :) Anyway, I told her I'd look and low and behold there was an envelope with TWO checks to add to our adoption fund.

I am SO blessed to be a part of a group of believers that are learning and desiring to live out what they believe....to be RADICAL. I love you gals.

Yard Sale Profits and other thoughts

So, I told a friend this weekend that if I ever doubted God's plan for us to adopt, I have NO doubts now. Satan is working TOO hard to keep it from happening. Case in point....the yard sale. From family illnesses to busted pipes. We postponed the yardsale from last weekend. With everything going on, we just did not have time to get things ready. So, this weekend I scheduled to pick up donated items from many wonderful gals. I walk into the bathroom to get something, and I hear a strange noise that sounds like someone is pressure washing my bathtub from INSIDE the wall. Busted pipe. :) So I had to call everyone and tell them I could NOT pick up their donations that day. A huge praise is that the pipe was not in the wall like I originally thought, but under the house and easily fixed by my knight in shining armor, Jason. I do also have to give a shout out to our neighbor/brother, Mr. Robert. He takes care of us all as if we were his own father/mother, and brother and sister. He brought Nene and Pop to the hospital numerous times while Sherry was there, and stayed with us throughout those last days. He stayed with Pop while Nene was with us, and continues to sit with Pop if Nene has to go somewhere while we are working. Mr. Robert is a true angel from Heaven for us. God has blessed us greatly.

Okay, back on track, today I made my first $20.86 from this yard sale. Some people donated clothes that were J's size and REALLY cute. :) My mom bought them because she knew I could not use something that someone DONATED for our ADOPTION YARD SALE. She has been wanting a few more outfits to keep at her house, so she just asked what I would charge and I told her. Then she bought them. The $.86 came out of one of the bags. Not sure whose it was or I would have returned it, but I told momma as I kept finding the change that maybe it was a good sign of the profits we would make to help bring our sweet girl home.

Another side note, have I mentioned that I do have the best parents in the whole wide world? I mean, yes, they drive me crazy sometimes, but they are wonderful to Jason and me. They had planned to leave Saturday for Las Vegas to visit my baby sister. They have postponed their trip so that they could be here to keep my kids while Jason's grandmother has surgery next week. How did I get so blessed? I was so worried about who would watch them while Jason was working/caring for his pop, and I was at the hospital with Nene. I did not even mention to them the idea of putting the trip off, they just told me they were doing it. I am so thankful for my momma, daddy, and sweet Annie.

Yard Sale

We are having a yard sale at mom's house June 4 and 5th. Get the word out for us. We have many baby items, household items, clothes, and some furniture. I'm excited....this is our first big fundraiser.

Update

So, I am horrible at updating the blog. I've got to get better I'm told, to help with fundraising. :)

So, fundraising...update, a precious couple in our Sunday School class recently sold some of their kid's clothes in a consignment sale and sent us the check for what they made. What a blessing!!! So, $113 and some change was added to our little girl's fund. It came at a much needed time. Since my last post we have lost a very special person to all of us. My mother-in-law ultimately won her battle with cancer on March 19. Though we hoped and prayed that the victory would occur in this world, she is sitting at the Savior's feet even as I type.

Needless to say, while she was sick, funds got a little tight and we are still catching up some. It is easy to get discouraged at times like this, when you are TRYING to save for something as important as an addition to your family. :) So, this gift was so precious to me during this time. A simple little way God was telling me He is still here and we are still on this path, even if it is painfully slow.

Another update, obviously...we have changed her name. As time passes, you may find that this happens again. I don't know right now. We'll just see. I loved the name we picked, but, I don't know. Maybe it is just all I feel we have the least bit of control over, so I change it. I don't know. Maybe I'm really just reading way too much into it. Either way, right now, we are tossing around Lucy Lee. Lucy is what Pop called Sherry all her life (Lucy Locket) and Aunt Heather was Lucy Jane. Lee is Sherry, Heather, and my mom's middle name, so Lucy Lee. Jason's dad's mom was Ellen, so we tossed around Ellen, and call her Elle, so there you go....Elle.

I'll try to do better to keep the blog updated.

A Conversation with Jesus

I found this on another mommy's blog. I thought it beautiful and appropriate, so I'm adding it here.


A child sat on Jesus' lap in the splendor of heaven.
The child asked, "Is it time?"Jesus parted the clouds, looked and said,"No, not yet child."
The child asked "When will it be time?" Jesus replied, "When lessons are learned,hardships endured, and loneliness lived,then it will be time."

Time passed. The child asked, "Is it time?"Jesus parted the clouds, looked and said,"No, not yet child." The child asked, "When will it be time?"Jesus replied, "When maturity is reached,self-worth affirmed and spirits strengthened, then it will be time."

Time passed. The child asked, "Is it time?"Jesus parted the clouds, looked and said,
"Their love is strong and their hearts are open.Yes, now it is time-Your parents are ready."~author unknown

God, Have Mercy

I just watched this video posted on another blog I read. THIS is why we are going down this path. It is long and hard and LONG. Did I mention that? Watch this video with tissue in hand, NO kids in the room. Your heart will break. It should. What are YOU going to do about it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v7ZQUzr0yo