You won't see me get too political here, I save that for conversation with my husband (he gets really passionate, I love it) but I do hope you take the time to make your vote count.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
I Count
I vote, I count! Now that I am out on my own, I have a family, I have a job, a home and pay bills. I truly believe in making your voice, your vote count. It matters it really does and I am thankful for a country that allows me to have a voice.
You won't see me get too political here, I save that for conversation with my husband (he gets really passionate, I love it) but I do hope you take the time to make your vote count.
You won't see me get too political here, I save that for conversation with my husband (he gets really passionate, I love it) but I do hope you take the time to make your vote count.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Orphan Sunday
November 6, 2011. Today marks Orphan Sunday, a day to bring awareness, prayer, and to stir hearts to move for the orphan.
I am thankful that this year I even know there is such thing as Orphan Sunday. I hope that next year even more of my friends and family and others in our communities will know what it is as well.
So take a minute today and pray for the orphans, pray about how you might be able to get involved in some way, pray about adoption for your family, pray about supporting an adopting family, simply pray and remember the fatherless today.
Check out more information on Orphan Sunday HERE.
And as promised the winner of the Light Gives Heat necklace is: Matilda Joyce (email me with your info)
Thanks for playing along with me and stay tuned for more to come in November, more guest posts, holiday fun, hopefully a kitchen reveal (fingers crossed, holding my breath!)
I am thankful that this year I even know there is such thing as Orphan Sunday. I hope that next year even more of my friends and family and others in our communities will know what it is as well.
So take a minute today and pray for the orphans, pray about how you might be able to get involved in some way, pray about adoption for your family, pray about supporting an adopting family, simply pray and remember the fatherless today.
Check out more information on Orphan Sunday HERE.
And as promised the winner of the Light Gives Heat necklace is: Matilda Joyce (email me with your info)
Thanks for playing along with me and stay tuned for more to come in November, more guest posts, holiday fun, hopefully a kitchen reveal (fingers crossed, holding my breath!)
Friday, November 4, 2011
InstaFriday
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| Our sweet puggy girl, 7 years old |
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| my new purchase for our bedroom! |
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| our project right now, what a mess but will be so worth it |
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| Trick-or-Treat |
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made it to the first Butler game of the season, fun and great seats! Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE!! Ends Saturday night, winner announced on Sunday November 6, Orphan Sunday!! |
Thursday, November 3, 2011
November Guest Post #1
Today marks the first guest post for the month of November. Once a week throughout the month a family will share their adoption story, I am so excited to have these women sharing with you! They have been such an inspiration to me and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
First up, Alison sharing about their journey to Caroline Faith!
_____________________________________________________________________________
I love November. I love that November is National Adoption Awareness Month. I love that two years ago this very month God began to stir my heart to international adoption. I love that at that time I had no idea that November was National Adoption Month! I love how God works!!!
Here is a little bit of our story...
Our family is on a journey. It is a faith journey with our heavenly Father that is going to change our lives and the life of a child…forever. This all began with a God-given season of "holy discontentment". I was no longer content to live a life of complacency, and I began to feel that God was about to call us to do something BIG! However, I was unsure of what His calling would be. During this time, God led me to the blog of a Tennessee family who had adopted a baby girl from Ethiopia. My first thought was, “They are so sweet to adopt, but we could never do that.”
Then I heard God ask, "Why not? What if I asked you to? Do you trust Me? Do you trust MY plan for your family?" And I sat at my computer and wept. He was breaking my heart for orphans, and I knew His calling was beginning to unfold.
In November of 2009, exactly 2 years ago, God revealed His plan for our family...to adopt a baby girl from Ethiopia! God had already chosen our fourth child...and she would have beautiful brown eyes, brown hair, and brown skin. But were we willing to take that big step of faith and trust His perfect plan?
At first, I was scared! I knew absolutely no one in our community, church, or the entire state of Mississippi that had adopted from Ethiopia! As I began to pray, I felt very alone and the doubts and uncertainties continued to creep in.
But God soon revealed something profound; we were supposed to be obedient to His calling to adopt from Ethiopia, no matter what! Whether or not our parents approved, our community accepted, our finances allowed, or another local family ever adopted an Ethiopian child...it really did not matter! God was leading us to this child, this was His will for our life, and that was the only thing that mattered!
As we continued praying, God began to blow us away. It was truly one of the most amazing times in our life. Confirmations from Him began to pour in, one right after another. As we started to move forward in obedience, all the fears and uncertainties were replaced with joy and excitement! With every step forward in the adoption process, we grew more confident in His calling. We claimed the following verse from Hebrews over our adoption journey: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."
We started off on our agency's (All God's Children International) Ethiopia waitlist at #93 for our baby girl, our Caroline Faith. Now, 13 months later, we are currently at #22 and hoping and praying to see her sweet face in the next few months! The wait has been long, but God has used it so much! We have grown so much in our faith, and we are learning how to wait patiently on the Lord and His perfect timing! We know that our daughter will be so worth the wait!!!
We are putting all our faith in God, believing that adoption is a beautiful picture of His love and redemption. He sacrificed His only Son, so we could become His adopted sons and daughters. Psalm 68:6 says, “God sets the lonely in families”, and we know He will one day set our baby girl into our arms…and into her forever family. This baby changes everything. Our lives will never be the same, and we would not want it any other way!
We are so THANKFUL to be on this journey to bring Caroline Faith home from Ethiopia! But we do not believe our journey ends when she is home. We know that God wants us to encourage others to seek His will in adoption and caring for orphans.
It has been so amazing to see how God has already been moving so much in our church and in our community by calling families to adopt! We now have a local adoption fellowship group that gets together monthly, and it's such an encouragement to have such wonderful families to walk this journey with! My prayer is that God would continue to call Christian families to adoption and orphan care.
I don't know when our daughter will be home, but I am choosing to trust the One who has all the answers. I am confident of this: God has a plan that is greater than ours, and it will bring Him glory! We are putting all our faith in Him and trusting His perfect timing to complete the adoption journey that He has called us on. And we can't wait to see the precious little face our Caroline Faith!
"...once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12
Thanks for sharing Alison, you can visit her blog here!
First up, Alison sharing about their journey to Caroline Faith!
_____________________________________________________________________________
I love November. I love that November is National Adoption Awareness Month. I love that two years ago this very month God began to stir my heart to international adoption. I love that at that time I had no idea that November was National Adoption Month! I love how God works!!!
Here is a little bit of our story...
Our family is on a journey. It is a faith journey with our heavenly Father that is going to change our lives and the life of a child…forever. This all began with a God-given season of "holy discontentment". I was no longer content to live a life of complacency, and I began to feel that God was about to call us to do something BIG! However, I was unsure of what His calling would be. During this time, God led me to the blog of a Tennessee family who had adopted a baby girl from Ethiopia. My first thought was, “They are so sweet to adopt, but we could never do that.”
Then I heard God ask, "Why not? What if I asked you to? Do you trust Me? Do you trust MY plan for your family?" And I sat at my computer and wept. He was breaking my heart for orphans, and I knew His calling was beginning to unfold.
In November of 2009, exactly 2 years ago, God revealed His plan for our family...to adopt a baby girl from Ethiopia! God had already chosen our fourth child...and she would have beautiful brown eyes, brown hair, and brown skin. But were we willing to take that big step of faith and trust His perfect plan?
At first, I was scared! I knew absolutely no one in our community, church, or the entire state of Mississippi that had adopted from Ethiopia! As I began to pray, I felt very alone and the doubts and uncertainties continued to creep in.
But God soon revealed something profound; we were supposed to be obedient to His calling to adopt from Ethiopia, no matter what! Whether or not our parents approved, our community accepted, our finances allowed, or another local family ever adopted an Ethiopian child...it really did not matter! God was leading us to this child, this was His will for our life, and that was the only thing that mattered!
As we continued praying, God began to blow us away. It was truly one of the most amazing times in our life. Confirmations from Him began to pour in, one right after another. As we started to move forward in obedience, all the fears and uncertainties were replaced with joy and excitement! With every step forward in the adoption process, we grew more confident in His calling. We claimed the following verse from Hebrews over our adoption journey: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."
We started off on our agency's (All God's Children International) Ethiopia waitlist at #93 for our baby girl, our Caroline Faith. Now, 13 months later, we are currently at #22 and hoping and praying to see her sweet face in the next few months! The wait has been long, but God has used it so much! We have grown so much in our faith, and we are learning how to wait patiently on the Lord and His perfect timing! We know that our daughter will be so worth the wait!!!
We are putting all our faith in God, believing that adoption is a beautiful picture of His love and redemption. He sacrificed His only Son, so we could become His adopted sons and daughters. Psalm 68:6 says, “God sets the lonely in families”, and we know He will one day set our baby girl into our arms…and into her forever family. This baby changes everything. Our lives will never be the same, and we would not want it any other way!
We are so THANKFUL to be on this journey to bring Caroline Faith home from Ethiopia! But we do not believe our journey ends when she is home. We know that God wants us to encourage others to seek His will in adoption and caring for orphans.
It has been so amazing to see how God has already been moving so much in our church and in our community by calling families to adopt! We now have a local adoption fellowship group that gets together monthly, and it's such an encouragement to have such wonderful families to walk this journey with! My prayer is that God would continue to call Christian families to adoption and orphan care.
I don't know when our daughter will be home, but I am choosing to trust the One who has all the answers. I am confident of this: God has a plan that is greater than ours, and it will bring Him glory! We are putting all our faith in Him and trusting His perfect timing to complete the adoption journey that He has called us on. And we can't wait to see the precious little face our Caroline Faith!
"...once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12
Thanks for sharing Alison, you can visit her blog here!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
NEW BLOG DESIGN & NAME
So my dear friend Lauren just created my oh so new and fabulous space on the web :) Didn't she do a great job???? I am so thrilled with it and so thrilled that I am helping her get one step closer to Mareto's baby brother or sister. They are adopting AGAIN from Ethiopia!
So behind the new name:
As most of you know by now, we plan on adopting, we are saving for this adoption already, we also recently had a miscarriage. Our life will always be a "Life With Lydia" but it is so much more now. I want this to be a platform for loving others, loving the fatherless, moments of inspiration, moments of fear and overcoming, a place to share my heart as a mom to beautiful babies. I hope this will be a place to do just that and so much more.
So take note of the new name, delurk yourself and become a follower because I think good things are about to happen here.
So behind the new name:
As most of you know by now, we plan on adopting, we are saving for this adoption already, we also recently had a miscarriage. Our life will always be a "Life With Lydia" but it is so much more now. I want this to be a platform for loving others, loving the fatherless, moments of inspiration, moments of fear and overcoming, a place to share my heart as a mom to beautiful babies. I hope this will be a place to do just that and so much more.
So take note of the new name, delurk yourself and become a follower because I think good things are about to happen here.
Lydia's Halloween
I was short handed on Halloween with a sick husband at home. So Lydia dressed up in her costume to go see her Mama and Papa, they had a little gift bag ready for her (pics from my camera have not been downloaded, mom fail) We also went to see Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tony, they also had a gift bag and my Aunt took some pics for me on her camera while we were there.
Lydia dressed in a pink and black witch costume, complete with hat that barely stayed on her head. (Yes I was worried what I might be starting by dressing my 18 month old in a witch costume when every other 18 month old was wearing a fluffy puppy or duck costume) BUT it was $7.50 at Menards and we have no hand me downs yet, so we went with it and she looked pretty darn cute! She even twirled and modeled for us!
We then went home and answered the door for our trick or treaters. Lydia stayed in her costume and loved seeing everyone come to the door, she never got scared which I thought she might, but she would close the door and say bye when they left and soon run to the kitchen window asking for "more". I think it was a good plan to stay home and let her experience costumes for her first time in the comfort of her own home.
Halloween has passed which means Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, I love this time of year :)
Lydia dressed in a pink and black witch costume, complete with hat that barely stayed on her head. (Yes I was worried what I might be starting by dressing my 18 month old in a witch costume when every other 18 month old was wearing a fluffy puppy or duck costume) BUT it was $7.50 at Menards and we have no hand me downs yet, so we went with it and she looked pretty darn cute! She even twirled and modeled for us!
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| Cheese |
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| mid twirl |
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| she got an Olivia in her gift bag |
We then went home and answered the door for our trick or treaters. Lydia stayed in her costume and loved seeing everyone come to the door, she never got scared which I thought she might, but she would close the door and say bye when they left and soon run to the kitchen window asking for "more". I think it was a good plan to stay home and let her experience costumes for her first time in the comfort of her own home.
Halloween has passed which means Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, I love this time of year :)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Welcome November & a Giveaway
How crazy that October has come and gone and Holiday season is upon us! Better yet November is here, this means Adoption Awareness Month. This month marks exactly one year since Matt and I decided we would grow our family by adoption. We researched adoption agencies, countries, and sent in our pre-application to see where we were at regarding guidelines and options. What a joy it has been since then to get to know other adopting families, to share our desire for adoption with friends and family and to just simply open our eyes and our hearts to the world of adoption and orphan care.
Since November 2010 a piece of my heart has been in Africa, I have watched families travel to do short term mission trips, travel to meet their children and travel back to pick them up. I have dreamed of what our sweet one will look like and what their story might be. What their birth-mom is going through what their family is going through. I pray for them all the time and hope they trust in God's plan for their child and that he will place them with a family who will love and keep them safe.
With that I have learned about a lot of organizations that do great work in trying to stimulate the economy in African countries, they provide a skill and platform to make an income for these families. To feed, to provide education and health care. One of those organizations is Light Gives Heat. You have probably seen my posts regarding my Spread Campaign Store. This store is a way to promote and help the great people of Uganda who so desperately need food, education and health care. I set a goal, I spread the word, and I receive NO compensation (just to make that clear) it is simply a way to get involved from right here in Indianapolis, in my home and at my computer.
So with their 24 hour sale yesterday I bought a little something special that I am going to be giving away to one lucky reader to KICK OFF Adoption Awareness Month!
To Enter you must do the following:
1. Leave a comment, yup that is it... pretty easy :) But of course delurk yourself and become a follower if you want to see all the fun I have planned for November :)
Giveaway will end Saturday November 5th and the winner will be announced on Orphan Sunday November 6th!
Since November 2010 a piece of my heart has been in Africa, I have watched families travel to do short term mission trips, travel to meet their children and travel back to pick them up. I have dreamed of what our sweet one will look like and what their story might be. What their birth-mom is going through what their family is going through. I pray for them all the time and hope they trust in God's plan for their child and that he will place them with a family who will love and keep them safe.
With that I have learned about a lot of organizations that do great work in trying to stimulate the economy in African countries, they provide a skill and platform to make an income for these families. To feed, to provide education and health care. One of those organizations is Light Gives Heat. You have probably seen my posts regarding my Spread Campaign Store. This store is a way to promote and help the great people of Uganda who so desperately need food, education and health care. I set a goal, I spread the word, and I receive NO compensation (just to make that clear) it is simply a way to get involved from right here in Indianapolis, in my home and at my computer.
So with their 24 hour sale yesterday I bought a little something special that I am going to be giving away to one lucky reader to KICK OFF Adoption Awareness Month!
You can win this necklace!
Each SUUBI® product is 100% unique - hand-crafted by the Suubi women in Uganda and made of recycled paper.
To Enter you must do the following:
1. Leave a comment, yup that is it... pretty easy :) But of course delurk yourself and become a follower if you want to see all the fun I have planned for November :)
Giveaway will end Saturday November 5th and the winner will be announced on Orphan Sunday November 6th!
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