What I Love Wednesday.... YEAH I'm back!

The Holidays are here and with that I am loving all things Christmas and Holiday Cheer!

First up, a fire in the fireplace with the Christmas tree lit, that view is from my favorite spot on the couch :)

Next up, my holiday music, which I have been playing in my car and at my desk since before Thanksgiving but my husband wouldn't let me listen to it at home or with him in the car until after Thanksgiving. Now Lydia and I dance to #2 on this cd every morning on our way to drop her off for the day. I love her little wiggle she does in her car seat to dance along.

Now go visit and see what others are loving on this Wednesday, maybe you will find some inspiration for the day.

Sneak Peek

Full reveal to come soon. I have a couple finishing touches that need to be done and then I will share our "new to us" kitchen.

Tis the Season

While decorating last year and while decorating this year, the difference one year makes.

How does this happen so quickly?!?! Love the fun and wonder she brings to the holiday season, it's almost like I'm a kid again but way better watching it through her eyes. 

Final November Guest Post

For my final guest post of National Adoption Month, I have the super sweet and super talented Lauren here to tell you their story, it's a good one!! I promise you will want to jump through the screen and hug Lauren ... you might want to kiss her sons cheeks too, they are yummy!

Enjoy and I hope you were as inspired as I was by these women and their stories this month, thank you for sharing ladies and thank you for your hearts and inspiration you provide me everyday!!

_________________________________________________________________________

Hi, I’m Lauren from Love Makes a Family. It’s such an honor to be asked to share the story God is writing for us - thank you Allison!

 

Rewind to the summer of 2009. John (my wonderful husband) and I had just taken the biggest leap of faith God had asked of us to date. We had left a cozy mountain home, a stable government position, a thriving ministry, and all of our friends to follow his call to seminary. We were living with parents while we waited to see if John’s interviews with a local church were going to turn into a full time youth pastor position and I had just started working full time at the seminary after being a stay at home wife for 4 years. John did get the job as a youth pastor and after several weeks we weren’t homeless anymore but were unpacking boxes in our new home - the parsonage. By September John had started class and we were knee deep in figuring out a brand new ministry. It was easily the most high stress, messy, and disorganized time in our lives. Just when we thought life couldn’t get any crazier God threw a curve ball into our lives...

That September I started feeling a nudge toward adoption. This wasn’t the first time in our marriage I felt that way, but every time in the past we would talk it over, do some research ,and then not feel right about it... so it would go on the back burner. I expected this time to be the same so I ignored the nudge for a few days until that little nudge turned into a full on aching in my soul. I was having trouble concentrating at work and sleeping at night. It just wouldn’t go away! I finally brought it up to John and given the craziness of our lives at the time his response was not surprising - no way! So I agreed that it was not a good time and worked on ignoring the feeling. It only increased. I built up the courage to talk to my husband again and this time he was open to listening. God had been working on his heart and showing him that this was His plan. The funny thing is that we had never considered international adoption in the past. Any time we would talk about it we were talking about domestic adoption with a specific agency in mind. But this time I somehow felt drawn toward Africa... Ethiopia more specifically. As we sat in a Mexican restaurant having this conversation about adoption on my lunch break I finally let John know what I was feeling. The moment the word “Ethiopia” came out of my mouth I saw a transformation come over John’s face. I asked what he was feeling and he said, “peace.” It was very clear to us that we were supposed to adopt from Ethiopia. After praying about it for the rest of the week we jumped in!

It wasn’t always the easiest journey. Did some people think we had lost our minds? Yes! Did we have the $30K in savings to pay for the adoption? No, but by God’s grace we raised every cent! Did we always have the support of every single family member or friend? No. But we always had God by our side helping us through and on January 15, 2011 we walked through the gates of the transition home and held my son in my arms for the first time and knew that it was worth every moment of heartache.

Something else happened in our weeks spent in Ethiopia... we knew we would be back again someday. We knew that there were more children meant for our family. That brings us to this September and a new journey. This decision wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the last, but every bit as special. It was just a conversation on our couch. I was feeling that now familiar tug for a few weeks. I sat down to tell John and with tears in his eyes he said he had been feeling it too. So we’re off again! We’re back on the roller coaster ride of fundraising, paperwork, prayer, and waiting. Is it the most convenient time in our lives for another adoption? No! Do we magically have the $30K to pay for this journey? Nope! Do some people think we’re crazy? I’m sure they do! But we have learned that God can do anything. We have learned that we don’t have to have it all together, be the most talented, the richest, or the best. We just have to be willing. God can do amazing things through those who are willing to be used. 

We can’t wait to see who this next little one will be. We can’t wait to welcome him or her into our arms and our home. We can’t wait to be back in Ethiopia and we can’t wait to see where this journey will take us. 

*A note about our son’s name. Remember when I said that John’s face changed the moment I mentioned Ethiopia and he said he felt peace? We had the opportunity to ask our son’s birth mother what his name means and we nearly burst into tears when she said, “peace.” So we have chosen to keep his Ethiopian name... our Mareto... our peace.

___________________________________________________________________

P.S. Lauren is the one who did my amazing blog redesign and she is using this talent to raise money for their adoption so check out her place HERE and leave her some love HERE. 

Happy almost Thanksgiving everyone, don't forget your stretchy pants tomorrow!

Friendsgiving 2011

For those of you who are new around here, I am super blessed that I have a group of friends who have been with me since high school and we all still get together a few times a year to celebrate holidays and catch up. In 2009 I posted {HERE} about our "friendsgiving" and how blessed we were to be there and expecting our first child.

2009

We weren't able to make it in 2010 but this year we returned with our bundle of joy, ok so she's not much of a bundle anymore but a spunky, crazy, toddler! She made sure to talk everyones ear off, play with the doggie Bayden, and eat lots of chocolate that my friends kept sneaking her while I wasn't watching.

I cannot imagine my life without these boys and the beautiful women in their lives. It was so fun to see them with their wives/girlfriends/fiances/baby bumps, new jobs, homes and lots to catch up on. My heart is so happy after an evening with these great people. God blessed me with these boys as my big brothers growing up and I love watching them now with my daughter. What a blessing they are! Can't wait to keep adding to this group. Happy Friendsgiving :)

2011

Fall, before it is over

I've been a slacker on posting new Lydia pictures, so enjoy some of our fun Fall day. Thought it would be fun to post a few pictures with leaves and green grass before snow is falling. Have a fabulous weekend loves!

November Guest Post #3

Next up in my guests posts for Adoption Awareness month is Amy at Filled With Praise, she is so sweet and has such a heart for adoption and other adopting families. She actually features fundraising families on her blog and that was where this idea blossomed. Thank you Amy for sharing your heart and your story. ENJOY!

____________________________________________________________________________

To Allison, thank you so much for sharing our story!  {A big Southern} Hey Ya'll!  to all of Allison's readers.  My name is Amy and I blog at Filled With Praise.

In July 2009, my husband and I had three children; our youngest being only six months old.  We were living life, unaware of how drastically God was about to change all that we knew.  In an instant, our eyes were completely opened to the orphans of the world.  Not only did He open our eyes, but He placed an urgent calling on our hearts to adopt.  After late night conversations and a lot of prayer, we began the adoption process on complete faith that He would provide every dollar needed and that He would lead us to our child. 

Were we scared?  YES!  Were we afraid others would think we had lost our minds?  Quite honestly, many did think we had lost our minds.  We were met with many rude and hurtful comments when we made our announcement and throughout our process, but we knew in our hearts that adoption was absolutely something that God had placed upon us.  We followed Him and it turned out to be the journey of our lives.  At every twist and turn in the road and during every time of wait or delay, we felt His presence. 

Our walk to our son ended in Ethiopia in July 2010, exactly one year to the day that we started the process.  There we were handed our son, Elijah, and we were met with confirmation after confirmation that this was indeed the child that God had chosen for our family.  We also ended our walk through the adoption process completely paid in full through God’s works. 

After being home for over a year, I can tell you that there is not a day that goes by that we do not thank God for the day that He “wrecked” our world and opened our eyes to adoption.  It was in no way an easy walk, but it was oh so worth it!  We have a deeper understanding of God’s love for each of us and the sacrifice that was made through Jesus.  

Elijah is filled with beauty and is a blessing to our family.  I cannot imagine missing the blessing of being his mommy.  He brings joy and laughter to our home and he is adored by his siblings.  I can tell you that we are far from perfect parents, our children are not always angels, our life is often crazy and sometimes hard, but life is so good.  When his name is broken down by meaning, it perfectly summarizes how we feel: Elijah (God is Lord) and Mihretu (God’s grace).  God is Lord and through His grace we will forever be a family.  It does not get any better than that!