All Dressed Up

We went with friends to the zoo a couple of weeks ago for their really fun, non-scary Halloween party.  Then tonight we went to the mall with friends to walk around and gather some candy.  Our little princess and superman had a great time and were just about as adorable as can be!

Sleeping in the Car

I have fond memories of a picture that my parents took of my sisters and I when we were little.  We're all bundled up in winter coats in the back seat of the car, and we're all slumped over sound asleep.  So the first time our kids fell asleep in their car seats that picture came to mind.  And I snapped a shot of our little snoozers.

Since then, I've taken many a picture of that same pose.  I can't help it.  It gets me every time.

I'd still love to get a picture of them asleep in our arms as we carry them from the car to the crib.  Precious little days that won't last forever!

Taking on Risk as Cross-Bearing Love

This is a straight copy and paste from the Bethlehem Baptist Church volunteer disability blog.

“Adoption is about taking on risk as cross-bearing love.” Russell Moore

October 13, 2011 by John Knight

Recently, Brenda Fischer, our coordinator for the disability ministry at Bethlehem, sent me statistics on the numbers of children with disabilities God has brought to Bethlehem.  She ended with this statement:

At Bethlehem we have a disproportionately high number of the last three mostly because of so many adopted children in our church body.

The ‘last three’ she is referencing are fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and reactive attachment disorder.

Each of those disabilities carries heavy, lifelong burdens on the children and families. And they are coming to our church because families are pursuing the good of others in obedience to Christ.  Families are intentionally taking the risk that their adopted child will have a significant disability which could change the entire family.

So I particularly appreciated Dr. Russell Moore’s blog post from yesterday, Don’t Adopt!  Anyone even remotely familier with him or his book, Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches, would immediately recognize that he’s trying to say something important through that provocative title.  And he delivered:

Love of any kind brings risk, and, in a fallen world, brings hurt. Simeon tells our Lord’s mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, that a sword would pierce her heart. That’s true, in some sense, for every mother, every father. Even beyond that, every adoption, every orphan, represents a tragedy. Someone was killed, someone left, someone was impoverished, or someone was diseased.

Wrapped up in each situation is some kind of hurt, and all that accompanies that. That’s the reason there really is no adoption that is not a “special needs” adoption; you just might not know on the front end what those special needs are. . .


We need a battalion of Christians ready to adopt, foster, and minister to orphans. But that means we need Christians ready to care for real orphans, with all the brokenness and risk that comes with it. We need Christians who can reflect the adopting power of the gospel, which didn’t seek out a boutique nursery but a household of ex-orphans who were found wallowing in our own blood, with Satan’s genes in our bloodstreams.

Yes and amen!

So, if a church is serious about adoption, it will either already be serious about disability in the lives of its members or it will soon need to become serious about it.  And every church should be serious about adoption, because we know that God is:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV).

Children, Obey Your Parents and the Lord's Prayer

I try to use Scripture in my conversations with the kids, especially when I correct them.  I'm planning to start doing Bible memory with them at meal times when they turn two, using this method that came recommended by a friend.  I'm excited!  But the past couple of days I've been thinking that our little man already has a verse memorized that they've heard repeatedly -- Ephesians 6:1.  Sure enough, he knows it, our little talker!



Translation: Children, obey (your) parents (in the) Lord, (for) this (is) right.

Our kids aren't geniuses.  I'm convinced that repetition is the key.  For example, we say the Lord's prayer and read the Bible with them before their nap and before bed.  And after hearing it twice a day, our little talker can't help but have the Lord's prayer down.



Our sweet miss is pretty talkative for her age too, and I think she knows a lot of what he knows, but she isn't verbalizing it yet.  What a good reminder for me as a mommy that they're soaking in what I say whether they let me know it or not!

Family Pictures

Thank you, Allen and Melanie Seay!

Day at the Farm

Last week we went with friends to a local farm to celebrate fall together.  The kids got to visit a pumpkin patch for the first time and took bites out of whole apples for the first time too.

We had such a great day!  And it's been fun that they recognize and notice all the pumpkins around the neighborhood now.  Except that they call them all "pumpkin patch."  Working on that.

Sometimes We Hang Out at Home

Now that our kids are getting older and the days are getting colder, it's been good for me to figure out creative things to do on days when we hang out at home.  I've found a few blogs and a book at a consignment sale with game suggestions for toddlers, and they've been helpful for a not-so-creative person like me.

One night when daddy wasn't home for dinner we decided to have an indoor picnic.

Another day we got out some ice cubes and played with them until they melted.  Who knew all that free fun had been hanging out in our freezer?

We tried out some new games, like crawling across the floor with a stuffed animal on our backs or trying to move a ball across the room with our heads.

We've played a game where the kids match a toy up with construction paper that's the same color.  He's pretty good at it.  With her, it's hit or miss depending on if she's in the mood to concentrate.

For five days straight, our neighbors had a really big tree cut down from their front yard.  That provided hours of fun on the porch!

Of course, we do still like to get in some time outside while the weather is nice, so staples like buckets and footballs are always good fall backs. 

Fall Fun

We've had a fun, busy fall so far!  The seminary kicked off the new school year with a Narnia themed family festival.  Even though it was almost five weeks ago now, the kids still talk about it.  They usually say "seminary festival.  horse running.  man fall down."  There was a sword fight on horses at the end, which they were fascinated with.  And there were so many bouncy castles there that they got to jump in one for a while with only their little friends from church, almost like we had a private bouncy castle.

At another local family festival they had a petting zoo, which was a hit!

 
Mimi and Poppy came to visit a couple of weeks ago, and that's always so much fun.  We love them!

We went to our first story time at Pottery Barn Kids with some friends.  Did you know that for each child that goes five times you get $10 toward books there?  We're planning to make it a regular activity!

On free museum day, we took the kids to the Slugger Museum and Factory, which they liked even more than we expected them too!

And the highlight of the fall so far has been having our children dedicated to the Lord at church, which was such a special, exciting day.  May God help us to raise them up to love and serve Him all their days! 

Domestic Adoption

At our home study meeting last week, our case worker mentioned a surprising thing.  Their home study agency receives calls at least once a week from domestic adoption agencies trying to find families to adopt African American newborns.  She told us that it's very common for agencies to have mommies ready to give birth and asking to view family profiles, and they have none to show them.  Imagine!  Mommies are choosing life for their babies and trying to make an adoption plan for them, but there aren't enough families ready to welcome them in.  This is really crazy and really sad to me.

Our ladies' book group at church just finished reading Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader's Eye-Opening Journey Across the Life Line by Abby Johnson.  It was excellent and very thought provoking.  Abby was once the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic, and her autobiography gives fascinating details about her journey from pro-choice to pro-life.  It's so motivating for us as Christians to get involved and provide alternatives to abortion! 

In light of Steve Jobs passing away, a few news reports have talked about the fact that he had been adopted.  One great article titled Steve Jobs Changed the World: Adoption Changed His mentions other notable figures that were also adopted, such as Babe Ruth, Charles Dickens, Nat King Cole and Dave Thomas (Wendy's).  The article ends by saying "No matter the perceived worldly success of an adoptee, adoption is a loving act that transforms, not only the life of the child, but the entire family. And, sometimes, the world."

So let's keep domestic adoption on our radars too.

Democratic Republic of Congo

We had our home study the other night, and it's exciting to be moving forward in the process.  At dinner that evening, hubby prayed for our two children in the Democratic Republic of Congo and for their birth parents.  It's all seeming more and more real!

Friends of ours adopted recently from the DRC and they shared a video mostly taken in the orphanage where their children are from ... of the orphans that are still there. The ones left behind. As she says, "It is too easy for me to forget how materially blessed we are in America...and to forget that we are blessed to be a blessing to others."


.

Too Cute to Keep to Myself

Our kids are hilarious and smart and oh so loveable!  Here's some evidence of their silliness:

And here's some evidence of their brains, our little not-quite-two-year-olds!  God keeps reassuring me that they'll be ready to be an older brother and sister.

Bloodlines

Please enjoy this beautiful, short documentary of John Piper's freedom from racism by the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus.  He just released a new book called Bloodlines: Race, Cross and the Christian, which I really hope to read!