Little Did I Know

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Our First Fundraiser

3:31 PM

This is officially our first fundraiser for our adoption! Truly, we will also be using money that I had worked at saving for a down payment for a house, which I had thought we were being called to this spring/summer, but alas God had other plans for that money! :) and that's just fine with me! :)

This now resides on our dining room table. Any change I have (other money gets put directly into my savings account) goes into this jar. Braeden and Olivia know what it is, what it's for, and why we're doing it, and they put change in it also. Olivia puts any money she gets right into the jar, I love their hearts!!!

They are both super thrilled and excited at the possibility of being older siblings again. Braeden has it in his head that he's going to be a "savior" to the child. He keeps saying that he will "rescue the baby from drowning." It's too funny. The only thing I can relate it to, how he may have gotten this idea, is that once when Liam was little he was in a baby float in the kiddie pool on our driveway and somehow flipped himself forward into the water, to which I of course jumped in and "saved him." Then there was also the hotel pool incident!!! :) So I guess he's decided it's a "protector" kind of thing to save people from drowning! :) He's too cute!

So, we're off to save, to cut back, and to hoard even the little pennies that come our way. It'll all add up to one wonderful, God-filled GIFT! :)

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A First for Braeden

9:42 AM

A few weeks ago, this was Braeden's mouth...

He had two new teeth coming in behind his two bottom ones, but no wiggly teeth there yet. He wanted so badly to lose his first tooth! And I was hoping it would happen so that these new ones would have a place to go!

He kept wiggling, and they kept growing. Finally, on Friday, one popped out while he was wiggling it! He was beyond excited and his teacher emailed me that he had pronounced it his "lucky day" due to losing his tooth!

See how big the two behind are??? :)

When Olivia lost her first tooth, the tooth fairy gave her a five dollar bill! Lucky duck! Since then she's gotten quarters, a piece of gum, etc, but that first one, boy! So Braeden was thrilled when he received a five also!!!

Of course it was burning a hole in his pocket, so when we stopped at Big Lots to pick up a birthday gift for Olivia's sleepover yesterday, he just had to look around.

At Christmas, Braeden had wanted a remote control car. He jokingly told my dad that he wanted one that shot missles, and amazingly, my parents found one that opened up and shot missles! Can you even believe it!? BUT, we think in the hubub of packing and throwing away after opening gifts, the remote was LOST, completely gone, so he was never able to try it out and has wanted another remote control car ever since.

So going into Big Lots with five dollars, which to him is riches beyond measure, that's what he wanted to look for. I didn't say anything, but of course thought that there was NO WAY even there that he would find one! Well, God knows our hearts, and imagine my surprise when the ONE remote control car I saw, on the top shelf of an aisle, was pulled down, found to have a clearance sticker on the bottom, and was the whopping price of $3.45!!! So Braeden not only got his remote control car, but he also got one dollar and some change back!!! His change he put in our adoption fund jar (more in another post) and the dollar he is keeping for a trip to Dollar Tree another day! He was blessed, I was humbled, and tonight we will be using that example to do a Bible study on God's granting us the desires of our heart, in so many wonderful ways! :)

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Numbers...

9:37 AM

Numbers and Images have been plaguing my mind... leaving me speechless, clouding my day, showing me humility, stealing a piece of my heart.

For a long time now, the sheer amount of orphans in this world just staggers me. Did you know that there are approximately 147 MILLION orphans?! And yet there are approximately 2 BILLION Christians in the world...

Christians who are being called to follow teaching of the BIble, the words of God which tell us...

I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.

John 14:18

You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.

Psalms 10:14,17-18

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families.

Psalms 68:5-6

When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

Deuteronomy 24:19

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:17

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

Proverbs 31:8-9

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

Matthew 18:5

I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!

Matthew 25:40

Which means that if "WE" were truly living this out, if only 7% were truly following Christ, truly living these words... There would be No. More. Orphans. None. And pictures like those in the former video... those now in my head non stop... simply would NOT exist. We would be neighbors. We would help one another with food and shelter; simple, basic needs. We would take in orphans. We would help widows. And we would have instead pictures like these...

It challenges ME to live even more frugally than we already do. To cut out some of our summer plans to focus on those I can do for free or next to free with coupons and deals and specials. To work even harder to come up with fundraising ideas. To go back through all of our clothing “buckets” and weed down even more, taking the extra to our local consignment store and in turn putting that money into our adoption fund. To do the same with those toys that pile up and seem to rarely get used. To advocate for the people of the country we're adopting from. To do my part to help so that this country of the future is a safe, beautiful, happy country where my (hopefully) future child can be proud to return to visit.

I will do my best to live out these verses... how about you?

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Friday, May 14, 2010

Our Newest Author

3:01 PM

Olivia wrote this “book” in school and gave it to me as a Mother’s Day gift. It sure did brighten my day!!! And still does! (Italics are her words, the rest was already typed on the page.)

Cover: Love is amazing! MOM Especially your mom!

I wouldn’t trade my mom for all of the time or money in the world because she loves me, takes care of me, helps me with homework, and makes me happy when I’m sad. She tells me stories of when she was my age.

My mom is special because she is my mom, and she cares about me. She also gives me special things like me being able to go on a plane and go to Florida for four days. That is why she is special because she gives special things to me! She also says I’m the big sister. I also get to make breakfast and that makes her special because she is rewarding me because I’m responsible!

A Favorite Holiday Memory With Mom
Is when it is my mom’s birthday because it is her birthday and it is all about her. My mom, My mom! It’s all about her! Her birthday means she is growing and it also means it is my mom’s special day.

My favorite thing to do with my mom in the summer is to go to the mall and shop. We shop for skirts, and dresses. She shopes for me a lot. I thank her a lot too. I spend a lot of my money of clothes or earing or other jewrely. I love to go shopping with my mom.

A Funny Time With Mom
The funniest time with my mom is when one time at lunch I was done and I was suposto say may I be excused but I said my buckle was on and that is what I say in the car.

I think that my mom is the best in the whole-wide world because she loves me!
Mom Daughter Love

So, to sum it up, I guess I’m special because I buy her cool things, she loves that I talk about myself, I “make her” (she actually offers and loves it) take the boys to the bathroom when we’re at a restaurant and tell her how responsible she is, and yes I spend too much money shopping!!! LOL

The whole eating dinner and saying her buckle is on (which is what they say in the car to let me know we ready to roll) must be hilarious because it happened AGES ago and she and Braeden both still talk about it and crack up over it ALL THE TIME! LOL ☺

But truly, the fact that she took the time to write these things and that I know what she is saying and how much she loves when we spend time together, which we typically do by shopping and hanging out on a girls day, just fills my heart. She has come such a long long long way from the little, scared little girl who came to live with me when she was three. The little girl who had to be taught to hug instead of being stiff as a board when I tried to hug her. The little girl who had to be taught to play, taught to care, taught to eat healthy, taught to color. My girl is certainly growing up beautifully!