Understanding a Ransom

According to the dictionary, a RANSOM is the price paid to deliver or redeem someone from bondage; the deliverance or rescue.

As a Christian I have often heard (and thought I understood) that I was ransomed by Jesus.  The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and I am a sinner (Romans 3:23).  I, however, did not have to die because Jesus died for me (John 3:16).  All rather neat and tidy, when you're sitting in Sunday School reading learning about it.

But there was nothing neat and tidy about it.  It took a man, giving his life, so that I could live.  He had to leave His Father and His home, voluntarily lay aside His heavenly authority and take on the frail shell of a man, and submit to death one Friday afternoon.  He was spit on, laughed at, ridiculed, beaten, and murdered.  All so I wouldn't have to be.

And then -- HE AROSE!

This past Easter was more victorious to me than those in years past.  Why?  Because I understood just a little bit more about a ransom.  My heart was able to embrace the victory of redemption just a little bit more than it had in the past.

Why?

Because of ADOPTION.  Adoption is the ransoming of a life.  A precious life.  A forgotten life.  An important life.  A neglected life.  A valuable life...that has been devalued.

What man sees is not what God sees.  God has a different vision.  God is calling forward an army to make a difference.  If only 7% of Christians stepped up to the plate to adopt, we'd see a new world with no orphans.

Will you help?  A ransom is costly, but worth it.  You can pray, you can shout loudly for these kids, you can join a missions team, you can help raise the ransom for a family who will go and redeem them, or you can go yourself.  But please, understand that you have been ransomed, and you can help ransom someone else!

Here She Is: OUR ANGEL!

This week we made an 'official' commitment to a child who has been advocated for by the folks at Reece's Rainbow.  That doesn't actually mean anything truly official in our country, but it does let the world know who we are praying for and already love in our hearts as our girl. It is who we will be pursuing as soon as our feet hit the ground!  It also gives you a face to put with your prayers and support!  Isn't she lovely?

To be "fully funded" we need a lot of money ... about $21,000 more than we currently have.  Our goal for this week is to find 75 people who will donate $21 each ... that's $1 for each of her extra special chromosomes.  We also have extra jobs we are picking up, money we scrimp out of our budget by not spending, and fundraisers going on ... but because we adopted last year, we have very little savings to kick in.  Will you consider giving?  Even $5 makes a BIG DIFFERENCE to this little life.  You're not just blessing our family ... you're shaping her future.  Thank you.  Donations can be made HERE, or via the button on the sidebar.

Ready for a Sister!

As I shared in my post about going crazy NESTING, we've been busy bees around here.  In the midst of the insanity, though, I've been having some awesome moments with God.  I've had great, precious times with my children also.  They continually teach me how to be a better mother.  I love them so much!

Now for the fun stuff...the big reveal!  Here is the girls room:

This dresser was so much fun to make over!  It came out so much better than I could have ever imagined.  The bunkbed got a fresh coat of paint, as well, but it's not as fun as the dresser!

We tacked up a lovely curtain panel that had a garden scene on it so that is the view from the bottom bunk.  We are anticipating that our child has spent much of her life in a crib without all that much to look at, and I couldn't bear for that to continue.  I think this was my favorite part of our little angel's nook.

The owl pillow matches The Princess' top bunk (of which I could get no good picture because the angles were awful!) and the colors in the quilts overlap, but the patterns are different.  If you look closely, you can see that the shelf in the headboard has been papered with a zebra print.  That was totally for the Princess who currently has a huge zebra thing going on, as does her momma.  We really liked that part, too.

What you can't see is the reading nook and book shelves because I forgot to take a photo of them.  Sorry!

In the Waiting Season

The waiting season during our last adoption was nice. It was a simple time of waiting.  Sure, I nested and we prayed and we worked on the house, but by that time we were done with the stressful stuff.  We were pretty close to fully funded, we had the bedrooms set up, and everything that could go wrong already had.

This adoption process has been so different.

Nothing went wrong at first; apparently it all wanted to wait until the home stretch when all we were supposed to have to worry about was waiting.  Hmm.

I won't go through my "laundry list of woes" here, because complaining serves no purpose.  I'll just say that it's been a rather eventful few weeks and I can't wait to be bored.  Really.  Bored.  As in, nothing to do, nothing to stress about, nothing to worry over.

We have been hanging tight at about 1/3 funded and that is starting to freak me out a bit.  But I'm trying to walk in faith.  We have been blessed with a few matching grants up to this point, and have satisfied every one (through lots of hard work on our part ... BUT also LOTS of help on yours, so we THANK YOU SO MUCH!).

And now, now we are "crunch time."  We have close to $15,000 left to earn, save, and raise (more than that if we are able to bring home two!).  We don't have a matching grant, but we do have two incentives.  At the $1,500 mark we will have our car seat need met.  And at the $3,000 mark our stroller needs will be met.  I've got hunches other incentives are coming, but we have to hit these two first to find out!  

Take a peek at our fundraising tracker for this month's goal HERE.  

More than anything, we covet your prayers.  Please pray for wisdom, for provision, for every need to be met and for us to submit to God in every area of this process and all others in our life.

Watching Things GROW Is What They Do!

I was really blessed today to hang out at Green Eggs and Goats Farm and learn about Square Foot Gardening.  I gotta say, Heather is pretty impressive ... she even had a Power Point presentation for us -- and the best home grown yummies I've had in ages (from jellies to bread to pudding to cheese).  I got to see her sweet cow and pet her goats and invade her chicken coop.  And then we got to poke around her garden and learn what the deal is with composting and reaping a good harvest.  This lady knows her stuff!

I also met one of my real life inspirational heroes: two-time adoptive mom (this year!) and homeschooling momma who still finds time to be an amazing blessing to others.  And another woman who has four stinkin' adorable kids with big hearts and sweet personalities.  And a bunch of other ladies, too.  This group was super cool.  And they let me tag along for the fun today -- so awesome.

And as I was leaving, I was told I had a week
to match a $200 matching grant!!! 

I smiled as I drove away, thinking these ladies are all about planting and harvesting, in so many ways.  So here's your chance ... if you help plant into our adoption fund, they'll double our harvest up to $200 -- which means, if we raise that much in one week, we REALLY END UP WITH $400!  How cool is that?!?!
Here's where to get involved if you're interested!

We're working towards bringing our sweet angel home...

Nesting Time...We're in the "Third Trimester"

I have this crazy delightfully quirky side of me that comes out in the third trimester of a pregnancy ... or an adoption process.  This is now the fifth time it has happened (actually, sixth, but that's too long of a story to explain) and no one was surprised.  Papa Bear and the Best Friend just laughed.  The firstborn (aka The Princess) recognized the signs and saw it coming from a mile away.  Lil Bit (who shall henceforth be called is having a blast "helping."  Lil Man and the Eldest think Mommy is crazy highly motivated.

Normally when I spring clean, I'll spend a day dusting ceiling corners, another washing windows, another dusting base boards, and so on.

Not so when I'm expecting.

That's when the tooth brushes come out to make sure Every. Little. Speck. comes off of the baseboards.  That's when a room gets gutted and I spackle and sand and paint and organize.  Often with giant trash bags that find their way to the thrift store or the curb.  That's when I empty a dresser, line the drawers, and wash and iron the clothes.  And those are the normal things I do.

In short, INSANITY REIGNS.  And I'm okay with that.  I find it fun.  And the rest of the family loves me enough to go along for the ride.  Not to mention, they love the final result!

So yesterday the goal was to finish assembling a bunk bed and swap the location of the bed and dresser.  Simple and sweet, right?

Except that I really wanted to paint the bed.  And if I had to paint the bed, it had to go out of the room.  And really, since we were painting the bed, didn't it make sense to paint the dresser also?  I mean, it really needed to be done.  REALLY.  As in, I should have done it back in the days when I had only two kiddos (I barely remember those days, ha!).  And if the dresser and bed were getting taken out of the room and a fresh coat of paint, then surely the little cubby shelves could be spruced up, right?  And that leaves us with an empty room...

Which means the 8 year long goal of "Someday" taking up the carpet in that room could become a reality.  Surely you're right with me on this, and can see the LOGICAL train of thought, right?

Oh, and I should add that it was totally Papa Bear's fault inspiring suggestion that turned the walls from a whitish green to a lovely Young Willow.  He's the one who suggested the paint.  I just jumped all over it!

So that's how the GAL'S ROOM began it's makeover.  With the simple suggestion that we finish assembling the bunk bed.  And today I'll paint the trim -- it really needs a good coat to match the rest of the room.  And wax the furniture that's ready for it (which will be a new thing for me).  And give the bed a second coat of paint.  Tomorrow it will all go back together.

...Every Family...

During our last adoption, I was amazed at all we went through ... and still came out joyful and victorious.  This journey, I have no doubt I'll look back and say the same.  There is something so humbling, so overwhelming, and so beautiful about watching God grow your family and knowing you have to depend on Him for every single step.

My focus today is on Ephesians 3:

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

This verse encourages me so much!  My children, those here in our home, and those abroad waiting to come home derive their name from the God of heaven.  Our family, here on earth, is declared His and named by Him.  He names us: Growing, Flourishing, Holy, Whole, His, United, Unique, Blessed, Joyful, Expanded, International, Precious, and Desired.  

And to think that He can do immeasurably more than I ask or imagine...WOW!!!!  Because these days, I am asking and imagining a lot.  No joke ... dreaming BIG dreams these days, and asking God to weed out the ones that come only from my own heart and not from His -- to grow only that which has His blessing.  And yes, HE ALONE GETS THE GLORY for anything and everything that happens in our family, because it is through His grace and His provision that it happens.  I also love the thought of it bringing Him glory through the generations of our family tree, this tree that is bearing fruit from around the world.