Thankful List ~ October 2013

October 2013 Thankful List

* We are thankful for God providing safety to and from visiting over 200+ family and friends in South Carolina and Georgia. We were able to have rich conversations with friends we had not seen in over a year. We were able to meet our nephew Abel for the first time. We were able to visit Josh’s mom’s church and see all the wonderful changes that have taken place since a new pastor came in. We were able to see Addilyn and Josiah have an incrediable time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many more relatives. We were also able to attend my cousin’s wedding!
* We are thankful the Lord gave me grace to get through the airport with both kids and our luggage (without Josh). The kids had a great time riding the train, watching the planes take off from the runway, and they did phenominal on the plane ride back to North Carolina.
* We are thankful for Josiah starting to talk a lot more. He is now saying and doing all sorts of funny things and his joyful spirit is just so infectious. One of my favorite developments he picked up (from the PBS show Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) is giving us “Hugga Muggas,” or what most people would know as eskimo kisses. 

* We are thankful for my grandmother who came up for a visit and helped us with our second yard sale fundraiser.
* We are thankful for God’s grace with the 2nd Yard Sale. To see more about how that fundraiser turned out, check out this post.
* I am thankful for several close girl friends. One friend helped me take both my kids and the little boy I babysit to the NC State Fair. Josh did not have any time off of work so we didn’t think we were going to be able to go this year. However, thanks to Traci, we went and had a great time just walking around, looking at the animals, watching a motor cross stunt show and eating some yummy treats. Another friend came over and we spent a whole day making Halloween costumes for ourselves and my kids. It was a great time just spending the day together.
* We are thankful for Josh’s job. Even though he works long hours and things tend to get more stressful during the last three months of the year, we are grateful that he works with some wonderful people and has a supervisor who is a great encourager.
* We are thankful for our community group. We recently asked for help with some of the responsibilities and we had several individuals volunteer to help by serving. We are certain this will be a huge blessing over the next few months. In addition, because we meet on Thursday nights, Halloween fell not eh the night we would typically meet. Everyone showed up in costumes and we had a great time handing out treats to all our neighbors.
* We are thankful for funny things our kids say and do. For example, Addi has started using the phrase “Ready, Steady, Go” to begin any type of activity. Josiah has been dancing, singing, and drumming on anything and everything recently. Their imaginations and their ability to make a simple chair into anything (i.e., helicopter, plane, magic school bus, etc.) continues to astonish us. We love seeing how God has established such creativity in the minds of both of our children.
* We are thankful that God is continuing to sustain us and encourage us in the adoption process especially as I have put literally hundreds of hours into preparing for the Online Silent Auction taking place November 11-17th.

Our Yard Sale -The Sequel

Call me crazy, but I thought (as if we didn’t have enough going on), that we could try to do one more yard sale with all the stuff left over from the last sale before winter crept up on us.  Back in August I mentioned the idea to Josh and he thought it was a good idea so we started searching our calendar for a weekend we had free.  Between his work schedule, traveling to go out of town, birthdays, baby showers, and other commitments we had already made, we only had one weekend available between the end of August and end of November.

We had several families drop off donations the week prior.  My grandmother, who is the Yard Sale Queen, came up to help us price items, run the check out table, and help watch the kids.  One of the guys from our community group helped Josh pull out all the boxes from under our house that were left over from the last yard sale.

We live along a busy street so this time we were hoping to get additional traffic at our sale by setting up Friday morning and being prepared for the after school shoppers and all those driving by when they got off of work.  However, I hadn’t done my research and had not taken into consideration that it was Fall Break and the first full day of the NC State fair- whoops.  Needless to say, we didn’t have near as many people stop by on Friday as I had hoped.  However, I am so thankful for two of our neighbors who helped watch our kids for a bit so my grandmother and I could set everything out.

Saturday, Josh was off work, which made things (especially managing the kids) a lot easier.  That morning we battled the rain for a little while.  I was thankful that the night before we had gone and bought several painters tarps to cover the tables.  I had prayed that the Lord would show us grace and not let it rain on us too hard and he answered my prayer!  When you looked at the radar there was a little circle over Raleigh where there was no rain and I’m pretty sure that was my neighborhood because the most we got was a lots of little sprinkles and even that ended around 10:00am.  I think the rain may have kept a lot of people inside that day so we didn’t have as many people as I had expected but it cleared up and we still sold a LOT of stuff.  We also had many friends come by to shop.  By the end of the two-day sale we made around $800!  In summary, we are so grateful for God’s provision yet again!  To Him be the glory!

Thankful List ~ September 2013

Some of our friends who are adopting started a monthly “Thankful List” on their blog Another Pair of Shoes.  I thought this was just the neatest idea.  I know that the adoption process can be trying and there will be days that I will just want to throw in the towel.  I want to be prepared for when those days come.  I want to look back and see the millions of ways my God has already proven himself faithful and be reminded that He is sovereign over everything in our life.  In addition, our pastors just finished a sermon series through 1 Thessalonians.  One passage that has been coming to my mind over and over again is 1Thess 5:16-18 which says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  For this reason, I am going to try and create our very own monthly thankful list! 

September 2013 Thankful List

*  We are thankful for Addi's interest in learning and the ability to start a preschool homeschool cohort with some of our neighbors and fellow church members.

* I am thankful that the Lord provided a babysitting job for me with an absolutely wonderful little boy and that all the money made can go directly towards adoption costs!

*  We are thankful we were able to sell our honda CRV and purchase a Honda Odyssey so that we can now fit at least 3 carseats in our vehicle.  This has been so helpful with still begin able to get out with all the kids (my two and the one I babysit).  We knew that before we completed the adoption we were going to need a bigger vehicle, and we are thankful for how the Lord provided it already.

*  We are thankful for our new church facility which has a playground the kids can enjoy.

* I am thankful that over the past month I've been able to reconnect with an old friend, spend time with her and her son, and invite them to be a part of our church family.

*  We are thankful for fun community events like Krispy Kream Pirate Day where we dressed up like pirates and went with friends to get free doughnuts.

* We are thankful for time to work on adoption paperwork and for the ability to nail down a few details for the Adoption Online Silent Auction that will be taking place in November. We are also thankful for some items and services that people have been donating already!

* I am thankful for my husband who celebrated another birthday this month!

*  We are thankful that Josh got to attend a church planting network meeting in Memphis and spend time with some amazing godly men who are passionate about Jesus!

Thankful List ~ August 2013

Some of our friends who are adopting started a monthly “Thankful List” on their blog Another Pair of Shoes.  I thought this was just the neatest idea.  I know that the adoption process can be trying and there will be days that I will just want to throw in the towel.  I want to be prepared for when those days come.  I want to look back and see the millions of ways my God has already proven himself faithful and be reminded that He is sovereign over everything in our life.  In addition, our pastors just finished a sermon series through 1 Thessalonians.  One passage that has been coming to my mind over and over again is 1Thess 5:16-18 which says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  For this reason, I am going to try and create our very own monthly thankful list! 

August 2013 Thankful List

*  Josiah turned 2 years old!  We can't imagine life without our adorable, full-of-energy, mischief-making, handsome little boy!

*  We had the opportunity to take the kids to the swimming pool a few times and they had a great time learning how to jump into the water from the side of the pool and swim around with lifejackets instead of us holding them.

*  We saw two summer series movies for $1 per person at the theater.  This was a great new experience for the kids and we discovered they love popcorn!

*  I am thankful for the nursery workers at the YMCA who allow me to take an exercise class, get a hot shower, and check my email or work on adoption paperwork.

*  I am thankful for my amazing husband!  We celebrated our 9th anniversary in July by painting on canvas for our adoption silent auction.  Since then, we have had several more fun painting nights.  I love that we are a couple who enjoys doing fun things together.

*  We are thankful for our amazing church family.  A few months ago our church (who is only 8 years old) took the big leap and purchased a permanent facility.  The facility had been foreclosed on and was an absolute disaster.  Over the course of a few weeks in July and August the members of our church rallied together, made tons of sacrifices with their time, energy, and money so that we could hold our first service in the new building on August 25th!  I can not even begin to describe to you the number of hoops and hurdles our elders had to jump through to make that happen, but with lots of prayer and God's grace it actually happened and was better than any of us could have imagined.

*  I am thankful for the local library.  My kids LOVE books and Mr.Eric (the librarian who sings and plays his guitar at story time).

*  I am thankful for the discovery of Facebook Buy, Sell, Trade groups.  I've sold at least $75 worth of stuff we didn't want and every penny goes towards our adoption!

*  We are thankful to have found a local group of people who play Ultimate Frisbee!  We've been out a few times this month!  We've had a great time getting a good work out and meeting new people!

*  I am thankful for a new friend.  I had been praying for quite awhile for God to bring a woman into my life who was married, had kids slightly older than my own, and who could be a friend and mentor to me.  After months of praying for this, I met a lady in Starbucks one day who just happened to be visiting my church and taking the same classes at the YMCA as me.  We've hung out a few times and I'm not quiet sure she understand what a blessing she is to me.

*  I am thankful that I have been able to start working on the webpage for our Online Silent Auction we are having in November to raise money for the adoption.  I have sent out numerous letters asking for donations and quiet a few individuals (and even a few business) have already responded (even without me having to follow up).

*  I'm thankful for my small group ladies.  They are a true treasure to my heart.  We had a ladies night out this month and I really think I may have smiled for four hours straight.

*  We are thankful that God is continuing to sanctify us.  Specifically, I can see one area where I really feel the Lord is transforming us.

*  I am thankful for long-distance friends that came to visit.  We had great conversation that lasted late into the night (early morning) and was really refreshing.

*  We are thankful for board game nights (and babysitters)!

*  I'm thankful to serve in the Two Year Old class at my church.  What an opportunity!

A Little Sister

Today was a big day.  We sent off our application to CCAI! 

Well, to be honest, I actually thought it got sent off a month ago.  Ha! Ha!  That’s what happens in those crazy seasons of life when you and your husband are like ships passing in the night.  I am thankful for the opportunities Josh and I have had over the past month to work, volunteer, and participate in different functions, activities, and events, but I am also thankful that our schedules are beginning to open up a little more and we have time to talk about important life things (like if certain adoption paper work  has been mailed or not). 

Last night, as Josh was putting the application in a large envelope, Addi came in the room and asked, “Daddy, what is that?”  Up until this point we had not mentioned the adoption to either of the kids because we didn’t think they could really understand how long we are going to have to wait before bringing home another little one.  However, in response to her question we casually answered, “It’s a letter asking for you to have a little sister one day.”  With that, she turned around and ran off to go play.  Josh and I looked at one another, smiled, and just assumed that was that.

I should have known better.

You see, Addilyn doesn’t forget a thing.  Sometimes she processes things for awhile and will bring it up in conversation at the most random times.  Today, she made it evident that she had not only heard what we said, but had been processing it, and was VERY excited.

She woke up early and was playing quite contently in her playroom.  As I walked out of my bedroom she looked up at me with her big bright eyes, and her bushy morning hair with little ringlets falling in front of her eyes.  She smiled excitedly and said, “Good morning Mommy!  Today we are going to get my little sister?” 

My heart melted.

“Awe hun, it’s going to be a long, long, long time before we can get your little sister.”

“Well….I know….We can go to the hospital.  They have babies.”

“You’re right, hun.  Hospitals do have lots of babies.  However, we can’t get your little sister yet.  We have to wait and be patient.  Your little sister will come from China which is a long way away.”

Later, when we went to the post office, Addi insisted on holding the envelope addressed to our agency.  Here is an 11 second video of a conversation we had while waiting in line to buy the stamps.

If that wasn’t enough, tonight at bedtime, Addilyn’s prayer was “Thank you God for my little sister.  I want her one day.”

I’m sure you can imagine the tears of joy that were streaming down my face!

God is so gracious to give us two amazing children and to lead us down a path where we can love an orphan, make her our own, and train up all of our children to know Jesus.  God, I pray that you will save my children, all three of them!