What If You Only Had Six Months . . .

To be matched with a forever family?  What if at the end of those six months you were not matched and would never have a family? 

Only three months remain, yet many children still wait.

If you are considering adoption your child might be waiting in China! 

Click on Holt's Journey of Hope main page for more information.  You can request the password to access videos and more pictures of each child and there is no fee to review their file. 

There is also a general photolisting and moving video of all the kids singing.

Adopting an older child was one of the most challenging adventures of my life--but the joys have been 1000 times greater.  One zillion times! 

Please pray that each of these kids will find the love of a forever family--and that families will welcome them with open arms so they can experience joy--to the zillionth power!

Freedom Isn't Free

Thank you to my wonderful husband for 22 years of service to our country!

Here he is, out in the field, tired of MREs and BBQing on the back of a truck.

Receiving an award after he retired.

He was very loved by his troops and the feeling was definitely mutual:

Thank you to my nephews who proudly wear the uniform.  Thank you to so many of our friends who put their lives at risk.  Thank you to my best blog commenter Stacey who combines motherhood with military service. 

Thank you to all those soldiers who I will never meet and never know.

We truly are the land of the free because of the brave.

I chose this video because the clips portray military life so well.

To Love An Orphan

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Facing The Fears Of Adoption

"Nearly 40 percent of American adults, or 81.5 million people, have considered adopting a child, according to the National Adoption Attitudes Survey. If just one in 500 of these adults adopted, every waiting child in foster care would have a permanent family."    The Dave Thomas Foundation 

Why don't more families adopt?  The number one reason is fear--fear of the cost, fear of a "broken" child, fear of the unknown. 

Read His Hands His Feet for excellent thoughts regarding the risks of adoption. 

Every child deserves a family.

Two years ago we were in Vietnam picking up Vu:

Now he is home forever!

Thank you God for Your precious gift!  He is truly a joy to behold!

"Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west."

                                                                                                            Isaiah 43:5

BOO!

Our Halloween spooks:

The Rabid Beaver Fan:

The Princess:

Shirley Temple:

The Black Knight:

A Green Power Ranger:

CANDY, CANDY, CANDY!

The Dip Stick

I am always amazed how different each child is.  And yet, they also have many personality traits in common.  All of my kids have a great sense of humor.  That's a good thing because, in our family, it would definitely be detrimental not to.

For Paul's birthday, he said he wanted a "Rip Stick" which is a new type of skateboard with a twisty joint in the middle.  Several of his friends had them and being the sports enthusiast that he is, he couldn't wait to claim ownership of one himself. 

When his dad asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he got the "Rip Stick" answer, to which Eric assured him that he could MAKE him one. 

Paul's smile suddenly turned to a frown.  Make one?  Uh, no dad.  That's just not possible.

Over the course of a couple weeks the topic came up again and again wherein Paul would be talking about the cool board and Eric would assure him he could just make one--for a lot cheaper, ya know??  He even tried to convince Paul the other kids would be JEALOUS because his would be so cool and he could call his a DIP STICK!

Let me tell you, Paul didn't seem too impressed with the idea of a Dip Stick.

So, the day of his birthday comes and there is no package shaped like The Stick but Eric is out in the garage hammering and banging and making all sorts of noise. 

I took Paul aside and told him that his dad was out there making him something and that even if it didn't turn out quite how he imagined to just pretend he was really happy so he wouldn't hurt his dad's feelings.

Paul laughed, thinking it was a joke.  I kept a straight face.  Then, Paul got really sober thinking maybe it wasn't a joke.  He vacillated between the what-ifs, all the while hearing the hammering and banging out in the garage.  He definitely looked worried--between hopeful laughs!

Finally, Eric had his proud moment of coming in with the dad manufactured "DIP STICK"!



It is a board duct taped to two roller blades!  It even has a broom stick handle taped onto the board so it looks more like the twisty thing on a real Rip Stick.

We were laughing so hysterically Paul was pretty sure it was all a joke.

Still, he was one happy guy when we pulled out a real Rip Stick!

He had a great time with friends at the Bowling Alley:

Here's a cute pic of Kim teaching Vu to bowl:

Happy Birthday Paul!  Never stop laughing!  WE LOVE YOU!

Are You Rich?

Watched this with our small group tonight.  Thought it was profound and wanted to share. 



To see the end onnect to the Rob Bell-13-part 2/2 (at the end of the first clip)