Praise God! Good Adoption News

He rescues the orphaned and abandoned children of the world and He places the lonely in families! Psalm 68:6a, Psalm 9:9-12

ADOPTION UPDATE:

When we followed God's leading to adopt we knew that we couldn't afford the process. Most people in the world can't. International adoptions can cost from $24,000 up. If only the abundantly wealthy adopted there would be even more orphans out there without a loving home. So we knew that God would make a way as we trusted Him. We have been saving for several years and our family and church family have come together to bless us greatly with items to sale for proceeds for the baby.

We have been overwhelmed how God is providing!

THE GOOD NEWS: We also had applied for 2 grants for our adoption. Though one of the organizations had no funds left and the other one we hadn't heard from. We know that thousands of families apply for grants, so i really wasn't expecting anything to come of it. Jonathan had hopes that we might be given a few hundred dollars.

To our surprise we got a letter in the mail today from one of the grant organizations.....

$3,000 for our adoption!!!!! Yay!!!!!

God is good! We are are now a little closer... and we are still waiting on our refferal (to be placed with and given the picture and information on our little one or ones). :)

Christmas through the eyes of a child

This year it is like i am seeing Christmas for the first time through the eyes of a child with child like faith. Each night we have been reading the passages during our advent time from the Bible. That He was God’s plan from the very beginning, that He was a fulfillment to all of the prophesies spoken of Him over 700 years before He was born, that He was God’s son, and God’s purpose in sending Him. We have also been reading Christmas books, doing Christmas crafts and activities, watching Christmas movies, talking about Him and His birth.

Elijah knew that it was Christmas which is Christ’s Birthday Party and I was soooo giddy Christmas morning i couldn't wait for my little ones to wake us up so we could officially start the party!

He was so excited to see the house full of balloons for Jesus’ party. We even let one fly up to the heavens today as the snow was coming down.

He noticed the HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner in the tree too first thing! After that we got to play a party game… he opened up a treasure box where there were 3 crowns for the 3 wise men…

Elijah, Jeriah, and my beloved Jonathan!

He scurried around the house with daddy trying to find all of the stars. Under each star was a present for Jesus…

We opened up all the gifts and presented them to Jesus. Each year we work on special gifts for Jesus. i know God was smiling when Elijah opened his “BIG, BIG” picture that he painted. As a family this year we gave goats and sheep to a desperately needy family India in His honor (there was a card and i made goats and sheep confetti to pop out so Elijah and Jeriah could understand a little better what that was about)… though we know it is all His money anyway i know He was honored that we chose to do what He would want us to do with it. Tony, our Iraqi friend staying with us, even wrote a note to Jesus and gave a gift to Him. Then we listened to story again for a few moments.

Elijah noticed all our little people group ornaments holding hands like a garland around the tree… and asked me why. We had been hanging up each little person every day on the tree but not like this before. i told him about the end of time when Jesus comes back, that the Bible says people from every tribe tongue and nation will be worshiping Him together and that is what Heaven will be like.

i was also amazed at the beautiful party decorations that God did! He made it snow on Jesus’ Birthday! i am convinced He did that just so Elijah could see again how amazing He really is. We even went on a few sleigh rides before we went to the other parties!

Life is but a breath

i know that life is but a breath..... but i easily forget and chose to live selfishly or just for the temporal.

But God in His grace is constantly reminding me....

“ how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, how fleeting my life is. Lord, You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to You; at best, each of us is but a breath.” Psalm 39:4-5

Today i cried through 2 videos that we received for Christmas. Though i wanted them for the kids, i find myself being reminding again about my All powerful God and in awe of Him again. i have read the true life stories of Eric Liddell and Gladys Aylward many years ago... but as i sit there with my childern watching ....the Lord showed me my sin. i know where true Joy comes from. i know the Joy that goes beyond anything that man can produce on his own. The Joy of sacrificial love. Which is the whole purpose of Jesus coming.

The verse echos in my heart again... "Remember it is a sin to know what you ought to do and not do it." James 4:17

ABSOLUTELY HIGHLY RECOMMENDING FOR YOU AND YOUR LITTLE BLESSINGS!! Animated true life stories that will transform your life if you let them...

Christmas Tradition #7: Jesus Birthday Cake

Every Christmas since i was a child we have gone up to my Grandmother's for a scrumptious brunch and family time. She has the best biscuits and gravy on the east coast... i would dare to say "the world". :) We always leave happy with a plate full of chocolates and delights! We started a new tradition a few years ago where we go up to my moms for an evening Christmas feast and celebration. i am pretty sure my mom and grandma are some of the best cooks in Virginia.

i wish some of that Virginian home style cookin' would have rubbed off on me. i still haven't quite found my niche, but i do attempt every year a birthday cake for Jesus. Thanks for the idea from Joyce and Jo Ann, dear friends of ours whom i met in Slovakia on a trip with Jonathan!

i have kinda made a "not on purpose" tradition of trying the cake in a new way every year ...

2007 - Cake

2008 - Jello dessert

2009 - Ice-cream cake

The cake has 4 different colors that symbolize the story of Christ's life purpose. We discuss the meaning of the cake, We thank God together for sending He son, we sing happy birthday and all the kids blow out the candles and dig in. My sister's kids got the story telling down. They are smart kids, of course because they have a smart mom!

Dark color (like chocolate) - In the bible it often refers to darkness as the way life is without God. 1 John 1:5-10, 1 John 2:9-11

Red - Represents Christ endless love and His sacrifice of His life. Basically God's plan from the beginning to restore our relationship with Him. Ephesians 1:3-14

Light color - In the bible God and Christ are often referred to as the powerful light that pierces through the darkness bringing us into the light and a new life. 2 Corinthians 4:5-7, Ephesians 5:8

Green - Represents growth and what are lives like are like when we are seeking Him with our whole hearts. 2 Peter 3:17-18, 2 Thessalonians 1:2-4

I have 8 days left to figure out what this years cake is going to look like... i am thinking cupcakes filled with bavarian cream...mmmm....

sad second snow of the season

What we saw when we woke up this morning...

Elijah during the first snow of the season. See the sheer glee....

little Elijah today during the second snow of the season...

Poor thing has a horrible flu. This morning when he saw the snow he shouted, "i want to go outside daddy!" then up came his drink and whatever else was left in him. I'm pretty sure he is one of the most disappointed boys on this side of Virginia today.

And the pics below are of little brother watching the snow fall and waiting on big brother to get better.

Christmas Tradition # 6: Mistletoe

Everyone needs another random excuse to kiss!! Our mistletoe even has a little bell beckoning a smooch! Why mistletoe? Well just because Christmas just ain't Christmas.... sometimes i leave mine up through February. :)

Tradition #5: Christmas Coffee Table Books

Every year i put all of our Christmas season pictures in a small 7" x 7" hard back coffee table book. Each book tells the story from a different person (or people) in the Bible and when they realized who Jesus was. Also, there are lyrics to Christmas songs in the book that go along with the story.

Examples:

Christmas 2007: Mary sees Jesus

Luke 1:26-56

Songs: Mary Did You Know, What Child is this, Silent Night

Christmas 2008:The shepherds see Jesus

Luke 2:1-20

Songs: Hark the Herald Angels Sing, While the Shepherd Watched their Flocks by Night, The First Noel

Christmas 2009: The wise men and herod see Jesus

Matthew 2

Songs: Oh Holy Night, We Three Kings, Away in a Manger, The little drummer boy

How do you make a book? Making books is cheaper than printing your pictures and the book lasts till the end of time or at least past your lifetime for sure. :) Plus if the kids get their cute little gooey fingers all over it you can (most of the time) just wipe it off. You can find great sales at inkubook. i like blurb for my baby books but there are a ton of book companies out there. My sister in law uses shutterfly. Also, if you are more of a scrapbooker then I have an aunt whose aunt was the lady who started Creative Memories, so what kind of niece would I be if i didn't put a plug in for their books.

Will i run out of material for the books? Why of course not, there are plenty of people in the Bible who realized who Jesus was... even before He was born... so i have a feeling i will have enough stories for the years to come. Though we may run out of Christmas songs... i will have to get my talented friends to make up some for me. It is great having the lyrics on hand because we like singin' and dancin'... even though we can't carry a tune. He just said to make a joyful noise anyway right?

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. Psalm 95:1-3

Will you make me one? Of course i will ....for baby money... that is money to bring our precious Ethiopian baby home. These books are a great way to remember your family celebrations. If you get me your pics i can make you one, a baby book, wedding album, or a book for any occasion.

Tradition #4:Gifts for Him

Christmas is Christ's birthday party! Did you know He came to the earth over 2000 years ago and the world is still talking about Him? Though we give to God throughout the year, this is a special occasion where we take time as a family to celebrate the birth of Christ, praise Him and give Him gifts!

All month, with our children, we talk about possible gifts each of us can bring to Jesus' Birthday Party. On Christmas morning we bring the gifts. They can be anything that we think would bring joy to the Lord. A song, a picture, something that we can give to someone in need, something we can do for someone in need or some special way of showing love to someone... this year as a family we are going to give a gift to Him from my FAVORITE CHRISTMAS CATALOG EVER! I want to circle everything!

Also, I think I am going to do an idea from this site (10 things to do on Christmas when all the gifts are for Him) this year and when the boys wake up I will have little crowns for them to wear like the wise men and they can do a treasure hunt around the house searching for the Star (and at "the star" I will put the last pocket, with the story ornament, treats, and baby Jesus (for the Nativity).

Our kids are so blessed… well beyond what a person needs and wants! They receive gifts all throughout the year! God is so good to us!! I was just thinking this morning about the blessings we have that millions of people throughout the world don’t….too much food in our pantry and fridge, a warm house, beds, too many clothes, even clean water. So as a family on Christmas morning we give to Jesus… which essentially is giving to others in need because that is what brings Him pleasure.

Maybe you think I am crazy... but God is doing something in me.. and I can’t get the reality of the 26,000 children that will die today of starvation and preventable diseases out of my mind. I know my little family can make a difference. We want our children to learn to be content, to give, and to love like Jesus does.. those are some of the biggest presents we feel that we can give them this year.

GREAT GIFT IDEA: If you like to give gifts at Christmas to others this catalog has great gift ideas for the person who has everything! You can give a gift in someone’s name and Global Partners will send them a Christmas Card with the details about the gift that was given in their honor. Proverbs 22:9 , Proverbs 28:27

Christmas movies and books (great gift ideas)

Tradition #3: Christmas Movies and Books

Well this really isn't a tradition but it is just something extra we do to teach the kids about Christ's miraculous birth!

In December we put out books about Christ's birth and we watch Christmas movies (while eating Christmas cookies of course). I have "Book time" with the kids each day anyway so this was easy to add to the agenda. We even have a special "Book chair" that we all fit in (that will change soon i am sure...sigh).

Fun! Fun! These are great Christmas gift ideas as well (also check out my "i insist for Parents" book list on the side bar).

Christmas books List: (some are great to read year round as well)

The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg

The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt

From Akebu to Zapotec by June Hathersmith

Joy for the World by Tim Wesemann

Room in the Stable by Crystal Bowman

The Nativity by Francesca Crespi - A beautifully illustrated pop up nativity book. I got it for a few dollars on sale a Barnes last year but.... it calls the donkey by the other name...may not be good for reading children. he he...

Also i found a great list on my friend's blog!

Christmas Movies List:

2 movies from the Storybook bible about Christmas... must watch with the kids!!!

Shepherds and Baby Jesus

The Nativity Story - I insist! :)

The Star of Christmas (Veggie Tales) -We haven't watched the other Christmas ones they have but we like this one because it teaches about the miracle of Jesus. It does start off a little slow for us adults but the kids like it.

If you have any books or movie ideas for Christmas (specifically about Christ's birth) I would love the suggestions!! And if you comment about it others can see the ideas too! Thanks so much for your help!

Christmas cookies

Tradition #2: (this one is simple but a fun thing to add to the celebration)

We are making 2 dozen cookies once a week. Elijah loves to help me in the kitchen anyway so this is fun for all! Plus they are great gifts for people who stop by, for the neighbors, special treat while we watch Christmas movies, great ways to focus a 3 and 1 1/2 year old while we tell the Christmas story each night and great to bring with us to the parade and share. Yum!

This week was Sugar cookies. Notice, behind Elijah, Jeriah snaging another uncooked cookie when we weren't paying attention. He has got a little sweet tooth like his moma.

Any ideas for what cookies we should do next week?

The parade is a tradition mom started. The boys really like the bands, floats, and lights! All the grandkids do it together and this year was little Sueseita's first one (she just moved here a month ago from Nepal). It even snowed a little for us!

coolest advent ever

Joy to the world! That is what our amazing Creator God brought over 2,000 years ago. He loves us so much that He sent His son to the world in the most humble way possible, as a baby in a manger.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

This is the miracle of Christmas. We want every person in the world to know God's great love story!

This month i will be sharing fun traditions our little family has. We want to teach our children the miricale of Christmas. So i have been busy on an idea God gave me a couple of years ago and I am pretty sure we have the coolest Christmas Advent ever.... it makes me giddy just thinking about it. I love celebrating God!!!

The calendar I made out of material so we could easily roll it up for storage and take it around the world..in case one day we are spending Christmas somewhere else in the world. I am all about being mobile! P.S. The world is made of a goat hair blanket from the Balkar people of Southern Russia. And I used burlap for the pockets... i think it just a real humble material.

Every night this month as family we go and light the candles on our advent log (Thanks to Carson Kistner for this idea). We light the number of candles for the day it is (Dec 6th -6 candles)... so at the end all will be lit. Leave a note with your email if you want to know how to make yourself one - pretty easy.

Then we go to our Advent calendar and look in the days pocket to find all kinds of goodies...There is an ornament that has a Bible passage on it that the boys hang on the tree and then one of us read the story. Each story helps us to understand the purpose of Christ coming and leads up to the Christmas story and who Jesus is. (list of what we are reading is below)

There is also an ornament nations doll that represents one of the least reached people groups in the world with a little card explaining how to pray for them. We read about the people group and pray for them. Their little hands clip together so they can eventually make a garland. I like garlands....especially little people group ones. Isn't my little Chamba cute?

Sometimes there is candy and pieces to their nativity that they add too as we tell the story. Baby Jesus is in the last one.. :)

Below is our reading list. If you want me to make you the ornaments or an Advent calendar of your own with little nation dolls... i am taking orders ...for next year that is..(this thing took forever to do) and all the proceeds will go to our adoption.

This is just one of the fun things we are doing this month as a family... and tonight I am taking my Nepali friends to their first American Christmas Parade... don't worry i warned them... long johns are a must!! Maybe we will see you there!

Advent Scriptures (NLT version of the bible is great for reading to kids, though any will do)

Jesus was God’s plan from the very beginning

1. God’s plan was Jesus! -Romans 5:6-21

2. John the Baptist recognizes God’s plan. – John 3:27-36

3. Praise God for His great plan of Jesus! – Ephesians 1:3-14

4. God’s plan for Christ from the very beginning. – Colossians 1:15-22

5. How should we respond to God’s plan? – John 1:1-18

6. Believe that Jesus is God’s son! – 1 John 5:1-13

God showed men that Christ would come over 600 years before He was born

7. Jesus was born for us! - Isaiah 9:1-7 (Matthew 4:12-17)

8. The Hope of Jesus make the desert grow grass! – Isaiah 35

9. They knew that Jesus would come! - Isaiah 40:1-11

10. Out of Bethlehem will come a ruler! – Micah 5:1-5 (Matthew 2:1-6)

11. He will be born to a virgin. Isaiah 7:10-14 (Matthew 1:21-25)

12. The prophets marveled at what they couldn’t see. – 1 Peter 1:3-12

God revealed to many that Christ was His son

13. God revealed Jesus to Zechariah. – Luke 1:5-25,37-80

14. God revealed Jesus to Elizabeth. – Luke 1:39-45

15. God revealed Jesus to Mary. - Luke 1:26-56

16. God revealed Jesus to the Shepherds. – Luke 2:8-20

17. God revealed Jesus to Simeon and Anna. – Luke 2:21-40

18. God revealed Jesus to the Wise Men. – Matthew 2:1-15

God’s purpose in Jesus coming

19. He came to give us freedom! - Galatians 5:1-15

20. He came because we failed to be good. – Galatians 4:1-7

21. He came to be the new covenant. – Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 10:1-18

22. He came to bring us near to God. – Ephesians 2:11-22

23. He came so that we can know God. – John 14:1-7

24. He came so that the world can know God. – Isaiah 52:7-10, Matthew 4:23-25,

John 3:16

25. JESUS IS BORN! Matthew 2:18-25, Luke 2:1-7