A little bit of news

So we are planning on adopting.  We don't know when, we don't know where from, and we don't know how on earth we will be able to afford it.  We just know that the Lord has led us to this place and we are trusting that He will lead us forward.  I posted a couple months ago about the circumstances that lead to this place (this post) and since then there has been little to report.  We have told both sets of parents that we are wanting to adopt but that's about it.  We have contacted an agency we want to work with and are just waiting for a weekend when we can go take their international adoption course. 

That's been the most frusterating part really.  They only offer this course in Edmonton or Calgary (except, of course, last year when they came to Grande Prairie and we didn't have the $250 to attend, nor were we planning on adopting this early then) and only once a month.  Every time they have offered this course we have been busy so far.  Actually in June when we originally looked into it, the earliest we could go would have been November really.  Now that weekend is booked with swimming lessons, so it's looking like maybe February of next year? 

Anyway, so while all of this is happening I have been informing myself and researching adoptions.  An online forum I frequent has an adoption board and that has been hugely helpful in giving ideas.  I also read blogs that I find and today I took a look at this one, which has some great ideas on fundraising for adoptions!  So I will definately be keeping that in mind as we move forward!

It's my birthday....

and as I get older this day is more and more special.

When I was younger I was so excited for my birthday.  It meant so many things - presents, friends and an awesome cake that my mom made!  I was so excited every year to be older.

As I started getting towards the end of high school my birthday was still special, but it came with some different feelings.  I was getting towards the "grown up" stage of life.  I had to decide what I was going to do with my life!  I had to be responsible now!  All throughout PRBI I loved my birthdays - it was time with friends and family and even though I was always a year older (funny how that works!) it never seemed to matter.  I graduated PRBI at 21 and turned 22 later that year.  That was when I really started to feel the "older" part of my birthdays.

I had always imagined that I would be married and starting a family by around that time.  So as the next couple years passed while I worked, built a house, moved out on my own and went back to school I really, really felt the year I lost.  Don't get me wrong, I still loved my birthday, but it just brought about the reminder that I still had dreams and desires that were still unfulfilled. 

Dan & I started dating a week before I turned 25 and while I couldn't guarantee at that point that I was going to marry Dan, I knew that my life was about to change.  My 25th birthday was a great day.  It was my first birthday with a boyfriend and while I knew that this might be a lasting relationship, I was at peace with where God had me and I was really able to enjoy my time - even though I had questions running through my head all day on that birthday!

As it turned out, my 25th birthday was my last birthday before I was married.  By the next year I had been married for almost 4 months and was almost 4 months pregnant with Maddison!  Since then my birthdays have had a different feel.  Even though I am getting older, it's almost a surreal type of older.  My husband makes me feel super special every year, my girls are the light of my life and having them in my life just makes my birthday that much better!

So today is my 29th birthday.  I woke up this morning, cuddled with my baby in front of our fire, kissed my husband before he left for work, spent some time with God, went grocery shopping, had a great lunch with my mom & sister and now am just relaxing while my girls nap.  Dan is working late tonight but that doesn't really matter.  I know I am loved and that's all that matters.

Does it still freak me out a bit that I am almost 30?  Sure.  I remember when 30 seemed like forever away and now it's next year and 30 still seems to be way more grown up then I feel I should be, but that's the way life goes I guess! 

So happy birthday to me!  As to how my prayer challenge is going, well it's been alright.  We went on holidays over the weekend so getting up early was not in the cards, and I came home sick so I spent a couple days recovering, but today I once again was woken up by the Lord at 6 and I spent some time praying.  I must say it really does make a difference during the day!

Day 4

So it's been 4 days.  And I've been doing ok.  I've prayed every morning, but to be honest I still haven't left my bed to pray.  So I wake up at 6, lay there and pray, and then get up when the alarm rings at 6:30.  So while I have prayed every day, it hasn't been 30 minutes of hard-core prayer.  Part of that is because Dan is on call this week so I don't want to disturb him, part of it is just not wanting to get up and get out of bed.

However, I have noticed a HUGE difference this week in both me and the girls as well as Dan.  So I guess prayer works huh?  Hopefully next week I'll be able to continue this!

Speaking of prayer, an aquantaince of mine from Bible School found out this morning that she lost her baby.  They have had a few challenges in life - and who hasn't really - and this is very hard for them.  Please pray for them as they work through this.

My Personal 60 Day challenge

So lately I've been challenged.  Not by any other person really, but by circumstances in my life.  I won't get into the details because in this situation they don't matter.  But because of some things that have occured I've been challenged, by myself, to pray specifically for someone for 60 days.  It's actually a couple people that I am praying for (my husband and daughters!) but I've really been feeling God leading me to pray for them.  And as a wife and mother, I think that's a good thing!

So here's the deal.  Because I am a wife and mother and my youngest doesn't always allow me the time after Dan leaves for work and before she wakes up, I have to make time.  And that means waking up earlier then normal.  So for the next 60 days I will be waking up at 6 to pray for Dan & the girls.  For those of you who know me personally, that's kind of crazy.  I am not a morning person.  I don't do mornings.  But the Lord has impressed on me the importance of this, so 6 it is. 

Another twist to the story is that I don't have an alarm that I can set.  I don't want to wake Dan up at that time so I am trusting the Lord to be my alarm clock.  Think this is even more crazy?  Well it is.  However this morning was day #1.  Last night before I went to bed I prayed and specifically asked the Lord to wake me up at 6.  This morning I woke up, looked at the clock and it was 6.  Not 5:59, not 6:01, but 6:00 exactly.  So we are off to a good start! 

Hopefully I'll be able to keep you updated as to how things are going, and as much as I am not a morning person, I am actually really hoping this becomes a habit for me that I can continue because prayer and quiet time with the Lord is something I really need on a daily basis, so here's to a change in my life that brings about a change in other's lives too.

Holidays, life and good times

So we just got back from a week of holidays.  Good times was had by all!  This was the first trip where we were actually bringing our tent trailer with us for a significant distance.  It was nice to find out that it followed the Sequoia well and it didn't really affect our gas milage much!  Whoo hoo!!!!

The first portion of our holidays consisted of my cousins wedding.  Maddison was one of the flower girls so we had some preperations and involvement that way, even though we weren't really sure how well she would do.  She actually did quite well, even though I ended up having to walk with her up the aisle.  Oh well though.  Amanda looked beautiful and after all was said and done, they are now married and enjoying life together!

Our pretty flower girl!

Amanda & Andy

Since we were so close to Calgary, and on holidays, we figured a trip to the zoo was in order.  So Sunday was zoo day and it was fun!  Maddison loved the animals, the train and the parks.  She also enjoyed the ice cream and treats because, hey, it's holidays right?

Maddison & the Penguins

Part two of our holidays was situated at Ol' MacDonald's Farm near Stettler with Dan's family.  Things went well on the trip there (dispite having to take down in the rain at Didsbury) but once we got there it was a bit of a gong show.  We went to check in to find out which stall we were at (Dan's parents had reserved one for us the entire week even though we were only there Monday to Wednesday night) and the ladies were a bit snobby at the desk.  After a few go-arounds for them trying to figure out our names - which isn't that hard - we finally got our site number and directions to get there.  So we drive down and discover that Dan had to back the trailer around a 135 degree angle to get it into the site.  Wonderful.  So we tied up traffic for a while, got the trailer into the stall and then struggled to get it level because the site was angled but after about an hour or so we finally had it level enough and popped it up.  Everything went smooth after that and we enjoyed our 3 days there. 

Our site at Ol' MacDonald

It happened to rain a bit every day, but it wasn't too bad until Thursday, which happened to be the day we left.  So take down in the rain - again.  All is going ok until we are cranking down the trailer.  With about 1 inch left it stopped.  Dan tried to crank it up again.  Nothing.  The shaft just turns but there is no movement.  So we pushed it down the inch, hooked up, and drove away hoping it would re-adjust itself on the drive so we could do the rest of our camping in Whitecourt.  No beans.  We stopped in Edmonton for gas and lunch and tried to crank it up there.  Nothing.  So we just skipped Whitecourt and drove all the way home 2 days early.  We were not in the best mood to say the least.

Daddy & Brooklyn (who was stylin' that day!)

Once we got home we got all the stuff unloaded from the closed trailer (well as much as we could anyway - the groceries had to stay in the fridge) and went to bed.  Friday turned out alright as we got some stuff done in town and such and Saturday we dragged the trailer out to Mom & Dad's to fix it.  Dad was a huge help and after about 8 hours of work they had it fixed.  It turned out that a welded joint had come loose from the sprocket and so the crank would turn but wasn't catching anything.  So it was a factory problem because welds should not come loose.  Just our luck I guess that it broke on our watch and not the previous owners.  But now it is fixed and all is well - we can camp again!

Brooklyn enjoying the beach!

We also had a chance to tell my parents that we are starting research into adoption.  My mom had read "Kisses From Katie" while on holidays and recommended it to me.  She was surprised that I knew what book she was talking about so I was able to mention that it was a suggested book to read about international adoptions!  So now both sets of parents now we are planning on adopting and I'm thinking that November we will probably go to Edmonton for the adoption course.  Then we will know more about what to expect and the steps to take!

Daddy & the girls at the beach

 So that's been life.  We did have a good holiday despite the problems and our girls love camping so we anticipate many good holidays to come in the future.  Although next year we will probably have a different trailer.... Dan is sick of used stuff breaking so we are selling the tent trailer and buying a brand new trailer.  But more on that later....

I think I'm becoming my normal self again

It's after midnight and I am awake. 

I have a lot of things running around in my heart right now.  The more reading I do about adoption the more I want it to happen right now.  My daily e-mailed devotionals have been about adoption for a lot of the last couple of weeks.  I'm obviously reading books about it but I've seen more blogs about adoption in the last couple months then ever before!  Maybe it's because I am thinking about it but I believe it's because that's where God wants us.  My heart is being drawn to a country I never thought I would adopt from (and obviously can't say now whether I will or not) and it really just breaks my heart to see and hear stories from that country.  I don't want to say the country because right now it's just in the beginning stages of growing on my heart and I have no idea where Dan is on this country.

Maybe that's why I can't sleep....

Anyway, I can hear Dan snoring in the bedroom (horray for him sleeping!!!) so I should probably go back and try to sleep.  I will after all have kids waking me up at 7 tomorrow morning I'm sure!

Words from the Lord

This morning was rough.  5:30 am is not my best time of day.  Thankfully the Lord let my girls fall back asleep from 7:30 to 9ish, during which time I made coffee for me to consume (a first for me) and spent some much needed time with the Lord.  I flipped open my Bible to Psalms and started reading hilighted verses.

Psalm 19:14
       "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer."

That lead to a verse I was required to memorize many years ago while I was on my Teen Missions trip to Iceland.

Isaiah 40:29-31
     "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

Such perfect words for a day like today - and I can tell you that He kept those promises as I went through the morning!