Beginning to Decorate

We started decorating for Christmas this weekend. It is a little earlier than we usually do it, but Allison was home for Thanksgiving break and we wanted her to take part. Nathan got into the decorating some himself.

Our family has a tradition that has roots back to when Ken and I were engaged. The day we decorate the Christmas tree we order pizza when we are about finished and eat our pizza on the floor by the light of the Christmas tree. This is one of the traditions that our family has kept through the years. The Christmas before we were married (in February) Ken had moved into our house-to-be but we had little furniture, well actually none in the living room. So when we put up our tree for the holidays we ate our pizza by the light of the tree by necessity. The kids think this is great fun! For Ken and I it is a great reminder of how we got started over 20 years ago.

As a parent it is with humility that I consider how the Lord brought His Son to earth as a man, knowing what He would endure before He left this earth. May we ponder in our hearts this Christmas season all that transpired around that 'first Christmas' so long ago.

Happy Thanksgiving

Recently shopping in the store with one of our children we noticed how it seems like the season went from Halloween to Christmas. Now I love Christmas, celebrating Jesus' birth is a highlight in our house, but how really sad that we seem to skip over the holiday that encourages us to reflect on the many blessings we have received throughout the year. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite time of year, and it isn't because of the food. It is a great time to talk with our children about how the Lord has provided all that we need in abundance!

So here is a partial list of all that we are thankful for this year:

• The Lord is in control!

The Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:5

• My wonderful husband who is so patient and loving and kind.
• Our children: Each uniquely put together to be able to accomplish all that the Lord has planned for them.
• Nathan is home with us.
• A home (complete with energy improvements)- that provides us with protection and allows us to welcome family and friends.
• Our Church - where God's Word is proclaimed without apology and we are being challenged to have a deeper relationship with God.
• Friends - too many to list. Friends that may think we are a little quirky but love us just the same.
• Extended family - that know our faults and love us anyway.
• Good health.
• Our dog Sophie - Molly said I had to put that.

It really is a partial list, because the Lord has blessed us greatly. My hope for each of you this Thanksgiving season is that you are able to spend some time reflecting on how the Lord has blessed your family this year.

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When upon life's billow you are tempest tossed, When you are
discouraged thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your
blessings, see what God has done;

Count your blessings name them one by one;
count your many blessings see what God hath done.

Cry of the Orphan

The cry of the orphan is being heard more and more these days. But how do we help 143 million orphans? My husband tells me that we can not bring them all home. But we can be a part of letting others know of the need that is there and praying for the Lord to raise up families to reach out to these children.

This past May a friend and I attended the Adoption Summit and heard of many exicting things that were being done all over, but there is still much to do.

This week Focus on the Family and Family Life have teamed up to do a week of programming (Nov. 17-21) concerning the orphan and adoption. I have posted the link to their broadcast schedule below. The Lord has spoke out clearly and many times in regards to His heart for the orphan. Perhaps there is a way you can join in caring for these precious children.

http://www.cryoftheorphan.org/radio/

Put One Foot in Front of Another

Nathan has decided that it is easiest to walk using our kitchen chairs as a "walker". I am constantly putting the chairs back at the table. Earlier in the week 6 of the 8 chairs were all over the kitchen. He was having great fun, but difficult for everyone else to navigate the area.

Nathan has been walking between two people for some time but only recently is confident enough to walk to where he wants to go without coaxing. It is still easiest to drop to his hands and knees and crawl to where he is headed. Look Mom!

Compared to our other children Nathan is late in walking but I have to remember that he was barely sitting up when we brought him home a few months ago. He also has no need to walk because there is always a brother or sister ready to carry him anywhere he wants to go. Ken and I find ourselves saying, "put him down" and "play with him, he is not the toy" often. I am so glad that they all love him so much but there are times when he needs some space. Of course, just when one of his siblings decides to let him do his own thing Nathan decides that he wants to be right where they are. :)

Health History Ponderings

On a normal day I don't walk around thinking "we have adopted children". But sometimes things come up because of a school assigment that bring it to the forefront. Yesterday Daniel brought home a Health class assignment regarding health histories. We were to fill it out to the best of our ability. Daniel said immediately we could just write a note that said he was adopted and sign it - not sure if this was his take on it or the teacher's instructions. There were a couple of things I knew for sure, but most of it was blank.

It was not a wasted assignment as it brought out some great discussion with Daniel about his past and being adopted. As a 12 year old he is able to understand more about what adoption really means. I think that he is mulling much of that over in his mind. There are some hard questions and some difficult answers in the future for Daniel so we are praying that the Lord will go before us as we see that he is ready and needing more information. The Lord is sovereign and for Daniel he is realizing that that means nothing in his life happened without being sifted through the Lord's hands.

Times like this make me so thankful that we go to a church that is an encourager of adoption. I am so thankful for how adoption is championed as an instruction from the Lord. It is my hope that as adoption is looked upon favorably by the church and our children see how the Lord desires our adoption that perhaps our children will have less struggles with the facts of their adoption.

We so dearly desire the Lord's guidance as we raise each of our children, for each of them have questions to be answered and instruction to be given.

"If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. " Psalm 37:23-24

The Gift of a Year (haha)

Today was my birthday, why am I telling you that? To show you that there is still some humor in my birthdays, though the numbers keep growing.

For most of the year I had thought that I was a certain age, let's call it "x" (because there are some things not meant to be said out loud). So all year when asked by my kids, or close personal friends, I would say that I was "x" years old. Well, about a month ago when one of our kiddoes was asking me AGAIN how old I was (they were surely in awe of how good I look for my age). I said, "I'm x years old." Someone else in the room said, "No you aren't, you are x-1. So I did a little figuring and realized that I was actually a year younger than I had been saying for many months. So .... while today was my birthday it was really no big deal because this year instead of getting another year older I actually gained a year I thought was already lost!

I'm not sure if this is a benefit of growing older and not being as sharp as I used to be, or if it is a testimony to life in the fast lane with 7 children.

All joking aside, I am so very thankful for the many blessings in this past year.