Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Adventure Continues

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:13-14



The Lord gave me this verse through my friend Katie yesterday and then reinforced it through my Bible study where that same verse was in our video. At the time, I actually didn't know it was for me and thought it was just for Katie. But oh how I love our God. He does not limit Himself to working in just one of us at a time. Praise Him!

When I got home from Bible study last night I checked my e-mail and had an e-mail from the birthmother whose baby we had been moving toward adopting. The Lord had led her back to deciding to place her baby with us for adoption and she wanted to know if we were still interested. Praise the Lord. We spoke with her last night and the Lord continued to confirm to us that we were to once again move forward. We leave for California tomorrow. I just love that this was not a surprise to God. He saw the whole thing and is still seeing it. I love that He is God over time and can move mountains.

So please pray for us! I have a TON to do today and probably should not even be on here to update, but I just had to let you know what God is doing! Please continue to believe with us that the Lord will bring this about and pray for each and every detail to continue to fall into place.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Play Date

For some reason when I think about play dates, I think of suburbian living where we have to stimulate childhood relationships with things called play dates. But lets face it, we really just want a little more time for us moms to see each other and the fact that our kids get to play together makes it fun too. So this past week my MOPS group had a play date. We went to this little place called Mini Town where they have everything set up like a little city. Benjamin was not really ready for most of it, but it was still fun. He enjoyed wandering around looking at everything and especially liked playing on the little cars. Most of my pictures are not the greatest because he was never still, but here they are none the less.



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Friday, October 24, 2008

A powerful story

This is an incredible story of God's power and mercy. Watch and be blessed and pray for our nation as we come up to this election.

http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/2008/10/astounding-story-born-alive.html

Monday, October 20, 2008

What Now?

While I’m Waiting
John Waller

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I’m waiting
I will serve You
While I’m waiting
I will worship
While I’m waiting
I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it’s not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting on You, Lord.
We went to see the movie "Fireproof" this past Saturday and this song was in it. The very concept made me cry as I watched the movie and I thought how I wanted my attitude to be one of worship when trials came. Two minutes before the movie ended I got a phone call that is making me put this song into action in my life. The mother of the little baby boy we thought we were going to welcome into our family has decided to parent him.

So where do we go from here? We don't have answers. Last week was a week of miracles. Getting everything together for a homestudy update can take weeks and ours was completed in three days. This included getting letters from our doctors, a child abuse registry background check (normally takes 2 weeks to get it back), and reference letters from three of our dear friends. We had no idea where the money would come from, but God took care of those details as well. He allowed me to find all the people we needed to work with between TX and CA in one day's time. Today our homestudy visit was completed. We felt like we were supposed to go ahead and finish it out in faith that God did not do all of that for no reason. Our social worker told us she has never had someone submit all the items needed for a homestudy so quickly. And yet here we are waiting to see what His plan is. I think the hardest part of having faith comes in the waiting.

I am reminded of my study of the book of Daniel a couple of years ago. In the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego where they were being thrown into the fiery furnace, they came out without the smell of smoke on them. My study brought out that in our lives, we can come through trials with bitterness or bondage (smoky smell), or we can come through having been refined by the fire. I want this to refine me. 1 Peter 1:7 says: These (trials) have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Oh Jesus, please refine me through this waiting time!

Thanks for taking the time to read my really long post. We would appreciate your prayers as we wait to see what the Lord is doing.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Please Pray

Well I have to make this really short because our computer crashed so I am at the library and they close in 8 minutes. But I wanted to share our good news! God is blessing our family with another baby. I will post soon with all the miraculous things He has done to bring this about, but please pray for us as we finish up our home study and fly to CA next week. God is amazing and I can't wait to share with you what all He's done. Pray and believe in faith with us that He will complete this adoption process.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Pumpkin Patch

I love fall! I love the colors of fall and the decorations of fall, and I love pumpkin patches! There is a church not far from our house that does a great pumpkin patch every year and I took Benjamin this morning. I think he thought all the pumpkins were balls, but he enjoyed it. We got a huge pumpkin that I now need to find time to carve and then make something fun to eat with the insides. I just love roasted pumpkin seeds. Mmmmm!



Trying to pick up the giant pumpkin
Trying to figure out which one to take home

Company Picnic

I really do not have time to be blogging today, but I just had to share a few photos. This past weekend Matt's company had a picnic and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. We were pretty excited about taking Benjamin on some of the kiddo rides, but he was not impressed with the place. Metal detectors at the entrance were extremely loud and they scared him to death. He never quite recovered. But we managed to get a few cute photos anyway. They had the whole place decked out for Halloween and it was really pretty horrifying, but they had one cute fall set-up so here are our pictures. Benjamin loves to ride on toy horses, so we were pretty surprised that he hated the carousel, but he wasn't thrilled with it at all. Guess he takes after his mommy. I'm not much of an amusement park person either. :)




Saturday, October 11, 2008

Price Drop

This past Wednesday I was out with Benjamin and saw a sign for gas for $3.25/gallon. I was excited because I hadn't seen it that low in ages. Then I forgot to stop and get it. That's a mommy brain for you. But yesterday I was out again and found it for $2.89. I honestly thought we would never see gas below $3 again, so I was super excited! I know, I get excited by crazy things, but I love it when something is cheaper than I expect it to be. Never mind that I remember well when gas was 77 cents/gallon. For now I am excited about $2.89. It's all about perspective. Hope you are enjoying the price drop as much as me. :)

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Making sense of Benjaminese

Benjamin has started calling his teddy bears "baby." I couldn't figure out where he got that from and figured he was just not quite saying "bear" right. Then today while I was in the kitchen he was playing with one of his bears that has a button you press for it to talk. When you press the button, it says "I'm a good hugger, yeah baby." As soon as Benjamin heard it say "baby" he started saying it too. Mystery solved. His bear is confusing him. :)

Pajama Day

Yesterday was a crazy day with a play date at the library in the morning and Bible Study at night. Between those things Benjamin was quite whiny due to his molars trying to break through. Poor little guy.
So today I declared it to be pajama day. We are both staying in our pajamas all day just for fun. Not sure what it is about that, but it just makes the day more fun, even when I have work to do around the house. Benjamin played outside in his pajamas and shoes all morning and I worked in the kitchen in mine. I just love a beautiful day with no pressing places to go.
What a silly face! Guess he loves being outside!
Picking peppers from my garden
Examining his find.

Such a big boy!

Adoption

This week in one of my Bible studies, we are learning what it means to be who God says we are. We were watching this week's video last night and learned several things that it means, but one was adopted. I have read the verse that talks about us being adopted as sons through Christ Jesus many times, but this time I saw it just a little different. Of course the analogy was made about adoptive parents and Beth brought out the fact that there are no accidental adoptions. No one adopts a child without deciding to do it. They come to the point where they desire to have that child as a part of their family. I think of Benjamin and how we longed and prayed for him and how I love him more than I can say. Then I think of my own limited capacity to love and I realize how amazing it is that God, with his limitless love, chose to adopt me. I didn't just end up as a child of God. I was adopted on purpose as His child. Praise Jesus!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Fun with some Hearts

This past weekend I decided to make Friday night's meal special. I was making homemade pizza and I wanted to make a fun dessert too. The problem with that was that Matt and I are fasting from sugar until late November. So I came up with a fun little dessert that was actually really tasty and much healthier than your typical dessert. I made a heart shaped crust and then mixed 8 oz cream cheese with probably about 3/4 c pureed strawberries and raspberries. Then I whipped up about 1 c. whipping cream and folded it in. I spread it on top and mmmm it was good. We topped it with sliced banana. Here is the recipe I used for the crust. I used honey rather than agave syrup and used less than the recipe called for, subbed whole wheat flour for the millet flour, and used butter instead of coconut oil because I do not have the right kind of coconut oil. I did have to use a little more butter than the recipe called for to make it stick together and I shaped the whole thing into a heart rather than making cookies. It's a very bittersweet flavor and if you prefer, I'm sure you could use less chocolate and have it not be quite so strong. Anyway, I'm not really trying to turn my blog into a food blog, but I'm on a kick right now of finding new recipes and getting healthier in our overall eating. :)

Trying to Fill Daddy's Shoes

One of Benjamin's favorite times of day is when Daddy gets home from work. He knows it's time to play and be silly. This past weekend he wanted to wear Matt's shoes and it was just too cute! He loves to do things that make him feel like he's one of the big guys. I just can't believe how much he's grown up recently. His vocabulary is growing and he can now say "bye, dada, mama, shoes, ball, more, bear (he calls them baby), jump, and banana. It's so fun to see him comprehending things. Every time he sees a dog, he says "woof woof." He's turning into a little boy. This week I have been feeling so blessed once again that I get to be his mommy and see him go through each change and new development. What fun!


Friday, October 3, 2008

Basura Bash

Matt's work has adopted a portion of the San Antonio River to attempt to keep it free of excess trash. Last weekend was their bi-annual Basura Bash and we went down to help out. It was pretty amazing what was found in the area his work was assigned to. Tons of tires, a toilet lid (maybe someone had an extra they didn't know what to do with), of course lots of beer bottles, and various other junk. Gross! But all in all, it was fun to go down and participate as a family in keeping that area looking pretty.


Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Menu Plans and Healthy Food

Today was my once every two week shopping trip. It's been quite an adjustment for me to shop only once every two weeks as it requires a lot more planning ahead, but once that trip is done, it really simplifies my schedule. Today I found a farmers market that had fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. Mmmm. I love fresh produce. My garden has been pretty slow with the tomatoes, so I splurged and got a few at the farmer's market. There is nothing better than a big juicy tomato fresh from the vine. So that will be a fun addition to dinner tonight.

So part of my shopping plan has involved coming up with menus two weeks in advance. I've had a lot of fun looking online for some new recipes. I've also found a few people who have posted their menu plans and I've found them to be fun inspiration. So, I thought I would post our menu plan for the next two weeks in case you need some inspiration. I realize that these two weeks have a lot of beef meals and normally I try to spread those out a bit, but we overspent our budget for groceries last month, so this month we are eating what's in the freezer, which happens to be quite a bit of beef. :) Hope you enjoy!

10/5 - 10/11
Sunday
-Giant Breakfast Cookies (These are so great for those crazy Sunday Mornings and they are made with oats, whole wheat flour, and honey...Yum!) - I used 1/2 c honey instead of 3/4 c.
-Leftovers
-Popcorn, veggie sticks, and cheese slices

Monday
-Pancakes and Peanut Butter
-Turkey Sandwiches, veggies, and fruit
-Kale Quiche with ground turkey sausage, salad

Tuesday
-Fried eggs and Oatmeal w/applesauce and cinnamon
-Peanut Butter Sandwiches, veggies
-National Night Out with our subdivision - dinner provided

Wednesday
-Pancakes and Peanut Butter
-Tuna Salad, veggies, fruit
-Leftover Quiche, salad

Thursday
-Eggs and Toast
-Turkey Sandwiches, veggies, fruit
-Beef Stroganoff over mashed potatoes, broccoli, salad

Friday
-Egg Sandwiches
-Turkey over Salad, fruit
-Leftovers from Thursday

Saturday
-Potatoes and Eggs
-Grilled Cheese
-Beans and Rice, salad (We are doing one meatless meal a week to get us back on track in our budget)

10/12 - 10/18
Sunday
-Cereal
-Out to lunch with Sunday School Class
-Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels, veggies, cheese slices

Monday
-Whole Wheat Waffles with Peanut Butter
-Egg Salad
-Cheesy Beef and Rice, green beans, home made coleslaw (haven't found a recipe yet)

Tuesday
-Eggs, Oatmeal w/applesauce and cinnamon
-Tuna Salad sandwiches, veggies
-Leftovers from Monday

Wednesday
-Whole Wheat Waffles w/Peanut Butter
-Egg Salad, veggies, fruit
-Beans and Rice, Salad

Thursday
-Eggs, Applesauce Bread - made with 1/3 c honey rather than 1/2 c.
-Tuna Salad, veggies, fruit
-Grilled Pork Chops, broccoli, salad

Friday
-Eggs, Oatmeal
-Peanut Butter Sandwiches, veggies
-Grilled hamburgers, potato wedges, coleslaw

Saturday
-Eggs, Applesauce Bread
-Leftover Burgers, veggies
-Homemade Pizza, Salad

Since I love hearing people's ideas for menus, I may let this be a regular post. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Also, let me know if you need any recipes.

Belief

This fall I am participating in two women's Bible Studies. I must say that it's a bit overwhelming preparing for both, but I'm so amazed at how much they overlap each other. They are both Beth Moore studies. If you have never done one of her studies, you HAVE to do one. :) I'm doing "Jesus the One and Only," and "Believing God." While they each cover different passages in the Bible, they both speak of having real faith in God and believing Him. Not just believing in Him, but believing Him. Believing that He is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do. I feel like God is growing my faith so much lately and one area that He is challenging my belief in is the area of freedom and having an eternal perspective on everything. I'm finding that the two go hand in hand. I get myself into bondage when I take my eyes off my Savior and pursue temporary things. For me, the bondage has been maintaining the "accepted" thin body image. I have been challenged once again with my lack of belief that I can be free from this bondage. I have also been challenged with the fact that when my focus is on what matters in eternity, I experience freedom. God is so merciful toward His children. I love that He is so patient with me as I learn to keep my eyes on Him continuously. So now I am praying, "Lord help me overcome my unbelief."

15 months old!

Benjamin was 15 months old yesterday. My goodness how time flies. Today he had a doctor's appointment and weighed 26.5 lbs and was 31 inches long. No wonder my arms hurt when I carry him. Praise the Lord he continues to be wonderfully healthy! As the doctor was doing his check-up, he commented that Benjamin is all boy and that I must be one tired mom. He was right! Benjamin is ALL boy! He is super active and such an explorer. Last week he became an expert at climbing up on our kitchen chairs and then up onto the table. I finally had to put the chairs out of sight so he would stay off the table. Yep! All boy! And yes, I'm tired. But I really think God must give an extra bit of strength to us mommies because overall, I'm really enjoying all the activity, even when it's tiring.