chickabug

Just a quick little post. :) Check out this cute cute blog called chickabug! Heather has such cute ideas. I especially love the ones in for the bug garden theme! How fun and happy and spring/summer ish are all these ideas??? Makes me want to do a just because party. Just because. :} Go explore her blog - and watch for a familiar tutu mixed in with all the other cute garden theme ideas! ;)

10k in 20 days

So continuing the topic of adoption...

I briefly referred to Courtney's blog in my last post. Her story is amazing. So is her rockstar husband. ;) So are her children - all ten of them. God is using her as an active advocate for supporting families who are adopting - mostly she shares her heart and her stories. Some of her children are biological. Some are adopted. Each story brings glory to God in how that child came home.

Right now Courtney and her husband decided to do something for 26 very special families who are adopting. They are calling it 10k in 20 Days. The goal is to raise $10,000 in 20 days. One family's name will be randomly drawn and will receive a $5,000 donation towards their adoption fund. The rest of the money will be evenly split between the other 25 families.

All she is asking is that you give $5 or $10. Everyone has that much. That's one coffee from SB. One lunch at McD's. You know it's true. Five bucks is not much. But to that child who is waiting for a forever family - a mommy and daddy to tuck them in at night and give them goodnight kisses - it is a lot. It would bring them $5 closer to going home. HOME. Stop and think of what that word means to you. Safety. Comfort. Family. Security. Home. Now imagine you had never had any of that. How much more would the hope of that word mean to you?

Right now the little thermometer on her blog is stuck at $4,390. That's not even enough to give one family the $5,000, much less split the rest between 25 families! I challenge every one of you who reads my little blog to join me in helping push that number up - even just by $5. It would mean so much more than you will ever know. And if you do, you can even also be entered in a drawing to win some fabulous items! You can check out the list at the bottom of the page and read more about it when you click on this:

Will you take the challenge?

Oh yeah, and the Walser family I introduced to you in my previous post about the Hannah and Danielle tutus? They're one of the 26 families this will be helping! So cool! :)

And stay tuned because OH BOY do I have something to share with you. Not yet. But soon. :)

fire of my heart

I was recently reading through a couple old journals from back in high school and college (heavens, that makes me feel old!)...you know, when I actually would sit down and write with a pen on paper.... :-p Some of the entries cracked me up - everything is a drama in high school! Some entries still resonate with me today. One in particular, from 2002, caught my eye. Max Lucado is one of my favorite authors. God has given him an incredible gift of being able to make the smallest details of His word come alive. I had found a quote of his that I evidently wanted to remember and now I'm glad I wrote it down. Here it is:

The Fire of Your Heart

"My God, I want to do what You want. Your teachings are in my heart." Psalm 40:8

Want to know God's will for your life? Then answer this question: What ignites your heart? Forgotten orphans? Untouched nations? The inner city? The outer limits?

Heed the fire within!

Do you have a passion to sing? Then sing! Are you stirred to manage? Then manage! Do you ache for the ill? Then treat them! Do you hurt for the lost? Then teach them!

As a young man I felt the call to preach. Unsure if I was correct in my reading of God's will for me I sought the counsel of a minister I admired. His counsel still rings true. "Don't preach," he said, "unless you have to."

As I pondered his words I found my answer: "I have to. If I don't, the fire will consume me."

What is the fire that consumes you?

~ from The Great House of God

I love this. I have a few friends, some "real" and some "bloggy" who, like me, are becoming ever more passionate about the orphans in our world. I know there are other people who are becoming ever more convinced that we're crazy for talking about this all the time but this quote from Lucado reminded me that this is the fire that is in me - in us. Not only that, but it is a fire that He is stirring. So even though all this adoption/orphan stuff may get a little old at times, it is something that I have to keep coming back to. It is too important not to share about.

Now, of course, you knew there was more coming, right? :) There is. When I started my etsy shop last September, I had no idea how God would end up using it...and I'm still figuring that out today.

I knew I wanted to set aside some money to help my friend, Rebekah, with her adoption fund. After she God provided everything she needed, I started looking around for another family to help. There are SO. MANY. families who need financial help with the crazy high cost of an adoption - domestic or overseas. I have come across so many blogs telling their family's story of their own adoption journey. They all are trusting God to provide for their needs. And I wish I could do something to help every single one of them!

I have prayed often for God to show me the next family I could help through my etsy shop. I would pray as I read each blog, "Is this the family?" I knew I would just know when I found them. I had plenty of families to click on through the comments on one of my favorite blogs. This mom has several adopted children - 10 children in all - so lots of other adoptive families read her blog because she "gets it". I figured I would find a family through her blog most likely. I didn't. :) I was reading my other favorite blog - the colorful, happy, cheerful one that i just love. On Meg's blog she has a "happy things" list on the left side of her page. Everything on that list is worth clicking on! :) Mostly it's just-for-fun stuff. But one day I saw "great post on Africa", so I clicked on it. It took me to the blog of the Walser family in FL. After reading the post Meg had linked to and reading through their "background" section - who they are, what they do, why they are adopting, etc., I knew. It was them. I don't know how or why, but they were the next family.

So let me very briefly introduce them to you. (You'll have to go to their blog, Love with Abandon, to learn more about them!...and please do!) Joe and Rachel Walser have four biological children - twin boys, Nathan and Josh, 12; Hannah, 11; and Danielle, 9. Joe is a church planter, Rachel is a homeschool mom. They have lived several places - including Nebraska (and now my dad approves of them...! lol He grew up there and is a Huskers fan.) They are in the process of adopting a child age 0-4 (they don't know yet if it will be a boy or a girl) from Ethiopia.

How am I getting to help? Well, my original idea for my etsy shop was to design handmade cards. It's like a tiny scrapbook page - gives you a "scrapbooking fix" without having to get out everything! :) As an afterthought, I stuck up a few tutus that I had made for Little MIss Giggles' birthday photo shoot last September. I had them lying around and thought why not? Well. I have sold no cards and almost all tutus! God obviously had different plans for my shop and I love it! :) SO! I asked Hannah and Danielle to each design the colors for a tutu for me to list in my shop and 50% of all sales of those two tutus, plus 25% of all other sales will go directly to the Walser family and their adoption fund. And here is what they came up with:

the Danielle Tutu:

the Hannah Tutu:

I think they chose great colors and turned out so cute, don't you?? :) These tutus will be up in my shop with the money going to their family until God provides all their funds. After that they will remain in my shop with money being set aside to help another family with an adoption. So if you hear of anyone needing/wanting a fun tutu that will also be going towards bringing one small orphan home to a waiting mommy and daddy and four siblings who will smother them with love, spread the word about these tutus and Hannah and Danielle and their family!

I have more on the adoption topic...but I'll stop for tonight.... :)

mother's day crafts

Yes, this post is a little late...I'm having trouble finding time to post more often! Anyways here are the crafts we made for Mother's Day...

Painting! Out on the back porch was a perfect spot.

Decorating our flower pot.

LM Sunshine took this picture and the last one for me. I told her to be sure she could see her sister in it. She promised she could. Hmm...guess I forgot to specify her face! Lol!

The girls drew and cut out their own flowers, glued a cotton ball in the middle and we used pipe cleaners for stems. I made the boxes and they decorated them.

This is what Mr. Happy was painting in the first picture - little locket necklaces! They're made out of empty match boxes. I think they turned out so cute! They each picked their color paint...and paper...and decoration for the front. LM Giggles put her buttons so they looked like Mini Mouse...LM Sunshine wanted flowers on hers...and Mr. Happy dug through my button box for a l.o.n.g. time and found all the super cool buttons...then placed them all on the table and studied them to find just the perfect one that he thought mommy would like...it finally came down to three choices: an American flag, a teddy bear, and the one he ended up choosing - the heart. Y

love is not a color

I borrowed this video from Rebekah's blog...she found it on another blog. It's worth watching, but be ready - this guy's story is so neat, but the part you will see next is both sweet and heartbreaking. I challenge you to watch it with an open heart. You will feel for these children, knowing there are ohsomany more just like them. But what will you do after this clip is over? Go back to your busy, regularly scheduled day? Let this move you to an action. What that might look like for you, only God knows. So ask Him. And be ready for whatever He might say.

If you are ever looking for a resourse or way to get involved, just ask. I have plenty to tell you about. :)

happy mother's day!

I asked my kids to finish these statements two years ago. I ran across them recently and thought it would be interesting to ask them to do this again this year. And this time Mr. Happy was big enough to give his own answers too. :)

My Special Mommy

My mommy is the most wonderful mommy in the world.

She is as beautiful as a ... unicorn.

She is as strong as a ... croc

("That's my short way of saying crocodile, kiki.")

She can clean the house as fast as a ... fast fish.

Her favorite food is ... well, I know she likes spaghetti.

Her favorite thing to do is ... spending time with her family.

When mommy was little she used to ... make flower chains!

I think mommy looks funny when she ... makes funny faces.

But I know she is really mad when she ... makes a mad face!

I wish my mommy would ... go swimming ... with me everyday.

I would not trade my mommy for a ... new mommy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Love,

Little Miss Sunshine

My Special Mommy

My mommy is the most wonderful mommy in the world.

She is as beautiful as a ... queen!

(this is a step up - last time it was a princess! lol)

She is as strong as a ... buffalo!

She can clean the house as fast as a ... princess.

(princesses clean their house?)

Her favorite food is ... everything!

Her favorite thing to do is ... cook.

When mommy was little she used to ... play with dolls - but not the ones with teeth!

I think my mommy looks funny when she... acts like a frog.

But I know she is really mad when ... I kick her in bed!

("Cuz sometimes I sleep in her bed with her and it bothers her when I kick her and I'm asleep!")

I wish my mommy would ... play with playdough ... with me everyday.

I would not trade my mommy for ... three boxes of coke-a-cola that are all mine!

Happy Mother's Day!

Love,

Little Miss Giggles

I should have taken pictures while interviewing Mr. Happy. He thought very carefully about his answers.

My Special Mommy

My mommy is the most wonderful mommy in the world.

She is as beautiful as a ... flower.

She is as strong as a ... rock.

She can clean the house as fast as a ... bull. Bulls can be fast!

Her favorite food is ... coffee!

(Ok, this answer was impressive. The girls just sort of guessed on this one. This one is pretty true - mommy has coffee every morning before going to work!)

Her favorite thing to do is ... to eat.

When my mommy was little she used to ... play with Buzz Lightyear. I like to play with Buzz Lightyear.

I think my mommy look's funny when she's...crazy!

But I know she is really mad when ... I do something bad.

I wish my mommy would ... hug ... me everyday.

(no problem there!) :)

I would not trade my mommy for a ... doll!

Happy Mother's Day!

Love,

Mr. Happy

insignificant?

Have you ever had a bad day or been going through a tough situation and in an attempt to make yourself feel better about things, stopped and said some version of this sentence:

"There's always someone with worse problems than me."

I have no idea how many times I've told myself this. Or heard a friend say it. And I guess it is true. But even though that thought is supposed to help make my problem seem small in comparison to what it could be...it never really helps at all. It just always makes me feel worse.

Like I am completely insignificant and what ever I am going through isn't worth bothering anyone (including God) with. I can remember in college saying that sentence to a friend. It was the first time I ever heard anyone come back with an answer other than, "Yeah, that's true...". She said to me something to the effect of, "Yes, maybe so, but this pain is your pain. This is the situation God is walking you through and it is just as real in your life as someone else's problem is in their life."

That made me stop and think. I know technically that He knows when a sparrow falls (Matt. 10:29), and clothes all the lillies of the fields (Matt. 6:28), and yet He loves and cares about me even more and says I am worth "many sparrows." The Bible tells us that, right? But even the little stuff? The stuff that seems to fade compared to 147 million orphans in our world...or the number of people who are dying every day without knowing Him?

A couple weeks ago, I was reading another one of my favorite blogs and Courtney, the mom, who I really want to meet in person some day, talked about the same thing. I'm going to put an excerpt from her post here, but be sure to stop by and check out her blog. It's worth your time.

She was writing a review of the book "Where is God?" by Dr. John Townsend and said...

"I think at one time or another every Christian struggles to understand why God allows suffering. Even in our own difficulties we find it hard to see the hand of God. This book helps to answer those questions. Even as long as I have been a Christian, there are still things I do not always understand. I needed to read this book for so many reasons, but mostly to know that God is with me. He is for me. And that even in the hardest seasons, He is still good. Right in the introduction before the book even begins Dr. Townsend writes something so profound. It was like he had read my mind and wrote just what I needed to know. "To God, your experience matters. So it should matter to you as well. It will help you to move ahead on your journey toward healing if you focus on your experience and what it means rather than enter into comparisons. Comparisons distort reality. Even more, they get you focused on what is not helpful and distract you from what is helpful. Comparisons can minimize how severe your situation is, such as thinking , Lots of people in other countries have it much worse than I do, so I should stop feeling bad. That sort of guilt message isn't really helpful. Your situation is yours, and your pain is yours. Aren't you relieved reading that? I know I was. Because I do that all of time to myself. I am always telling myself how so many others have it worse than I do. Or that life could be so much worse than it is. Or that whatever I am struggling through isn't important to God because how could it be when there are people literally starving to death. Reading that took a huge weight off me. Because it does matter to God...."

It was such an encouragement to hear someone say once again that we don't have to compare and minimize our situation - whatever it is. We have a King and Father who cares about the big and small stuff and wants us to come to Him with everything, whether it is loosing your keys for the umpteenth time, or the death of a parent, or the loss of a baby, or a friendship that seems to be over, etc.

I am reminded of the missionary George Muller. My girls and I read a book about him in history this year and it was amazing. He relied completely on GOD for everything. He supported thousands of orphan children and several other ministries - on prayer alone. He never once asked anyone but his heavenly Father for money. And he knew that no problem or situation or needed item was too small or too big to pray about. He knew and lived out the fact that God cared about every detail of his life and ministry.

I guess the point is that what ever we are gong through, it is not insignificant to Him. And we don't have to try to convince ourselves that it is by comparing our own situation to what others may be going through. So the next time you catch yourself saying that sentence, rethink things for a minute and instead, take your problem - no matter the size - to Him. He's waiting. :)

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."

1 Peter 5:7