WOW...it's been a while since I posted, hasn't it? The holidays have been kinda crazy here, as it has been in most places.

WE'RE STILL WAITING ABOUT THE BLUE HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm NOT a patient person but I am learning through this house thing and our adoption of our little girl in Africa, that God has His hand on everything we do. It's not easy, though, and as a human, I WANT WHAT I WANT WHEN I WANT IT!! But then we don't value things as much as we do when we have YEARNED for them as we do. (As I yearn for a little girl to love and nurture...)

Christmas was pretty wonderful at our house...ALL our children and young grandchildren were at our house...so yeah, it was pretty full! I got a CRICKET!! (No, not one of those pesky summer insects that seem to invade our Indiana summers...) It's one of those really cool scrapbook thingies that cuts and prints words and other really neat stuff....
Ok...I admit it. It isn't even out of the box yet....BUT I REALLY LOVE IT!! I'm trying to organize my scrapbook stuff FIRST before I can reward myself with my new "toy" from my dear hubby!

We really tried to center our celebration MUCH MORE on Christ this year. We made a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake and had the two older grandkids blow out the candles after we sang happy birthday. It was soooo cute!

We're planning to spend a VERY quiet New Years Eve at home...most of the kids are spending the night with other relatives so it will just be a few of us at home! Kinda nice, doncha think?

Yawn. It's getting very late and my contacts are getting fuzzy.
We literally had 13,900 emails in our inbox. Isn't that amazing???? I've spent hours tonight going through them and getting rid of email junk. Whew. I'm TIRED!! That's alot of hard work....just sittin' there, ya know??

Well, hopefully things will get back to normal around here soon and I can get on the computer a little more often. I miss reading my favorite blogs!
Blessings to you all! Happy New Year!!
Beth

Snow Day!!!

Wow!! What a snowy blustery day it is here in central Indiana! No one has classes today, Gideon and Jennie go to public school and Becca is homeschooled with organized classes with other kids on Mondays...so we are all home!
Becca and Jennie are making pancakes, Gideon is playing the Wii and I am about to work on online adoption classes. I have 10 credit hours to get done! I think Roger does, too, so we had better get started!
No news yet about our house that we are trying to purchase. A few weeks ago we were told that the bank that is foreclosing on it has to do some inspections and that we have been assigned a mediator but we thought it should have been inspected by now. Waiting has never been an easy thing for me! However, it is allowing me to get other things done.

We are working on Christmas decorating and shopping. (I picked up the cutest little cloth horse for little Grace...when we get her. I just didn't think it was right to buy Christmas presents for all the other kids and not include her! I'm a strange person, I think. She might not even be born yet....) It is my prayer that we will have her by next Christmas but that may not happen either...

Well, I need to get my adoption classes started. Let's hope I can sign in. Last time I tried this, I didn't have success...however, I realized that I didn't have the correct sign in code...that will help, I think!!!!!

Happy almost birthday, Jesus!!!!

Blessings,
Beth

Just a Christmas Adoption Thought...

The snow had just finished fluttering to the ground, leaving a light white layer on the sidewalk, dampening my sneakers just enough to make me wish I had worn my boots. “Precious”, our German shepherd mixed breed dog was eagerly pulling on her leash, impatient to explore the sights, smells and sounds of the snowy “new world” she had just discovered outside our door.

The surrounding neighborhoods were just waking up to the Christmas spirit with the newly strung lights shining at almost every front yard as we walked into the early evening darkness. Wreaths decked most front doors and twinkling and flashing decorations adorned the houses we passed. Christmas trees, both inside and outside, graced nearly every front window we viewed.
One window especially caught my eye as the dog and I slowed down in front of the house.

There, inside the home, was a little girl whose smile was broad enough to be seen from the sidewalk. Her blond bobbed hair bounced with excitement as she helped her mother decorate their Christmas tree. Her little white sweater was trimmed in the red and white stripe of candy canes. Her father stood just behind with a cup of something hot in his hands, smiling at the two as they enjoyed their task of decorating the tree.

I realized that my “slow” walk had turned into “stop” and I looked around in embarrassment, hoping that no one saw me staring into this neighbor’s house. Precious was again tugging on her leash and I quickly, but reluctantly, looked away.

I walked on, suddenly feeling very lonely for something-someone-I had been yearning for for several years. This little girl I witnessed inside her house reminded me of the little girl waiting for us in far away Africa. Our adoption papers were almost completely filled out, our home study nearly done and somewhere our child waits.

As I continued the snowy stroll, my thoughts were completely encompassed by the little girl I did not even know. I had never seen a picture, I didn’t know her birthday, I didn’t even know her name but she was known to me alone as “Grace.”

My eyes filled with tears missing the little girl I didn’t even know. I worried about her. “Did anyone…except us…love her?” “Was she safe?” “Was she hungry?” “Who was caring for her?” “What was she doing RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT?” “Did she wish she had a Mommy?”

I thought about the plans I had for her. I already had bins and bins of clothes and toys for her in all different sizes and recently I had moved on to buying shoes.
“Shoes were harder to judge the sizes”…but then I thought, “Most likely she doesn’t even have shoes…” and the sadness returned.

I tried to shrug it off and reached down to pet the very patient and old dog and hoped that she would live long enough to see our little girl, knowing that the adoption process was an extremely long one. I thought once again about Christmas…NEXT Christmas, or the one after, and about the little girl who would be grinning from ear to ear in OUR front room window as she helped her Mommy decorate her first American Christmas tree.

I thought about the gift she will be to our whole large family and how God showed his Grace on us to even allow this child in our lives.

Then I thought about another child who was a gift to the world, the Savior, Christ the Lord. What an incredible Gift He was! Not only are all good and perfect gifts from Him…such as our little girl…but so is the gift of Eternal Life for all who believe!

I walked home, my heart lighter and more tender to the Season in which I was living, grateful to my Savior for all his unfathomable gifts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick note to say Happy Thanksgiving to you all! It is about 5pm on Thanksgiving night and we are waiting for the rest of our kids to arrive to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. I think that around here, most families celebrate earlier in the day but since we have soooo many kids and they all have other families as well, we have decided to have our Thanksgiving in the evening.
Danny, my police officer son, has to work tonight so he and his sweet wife and precious little baby boy, Liam, all came early and had breakfast with us. Danny left around 12:30 and Erin and Liam are staying all day and eating supper with us and the rest of the family. I think this is the first time that Danny wasn't able to be with us on a major holiday but that is the way it is with his job. We are so blessed that his Sergeant has had a change of heart/mind and is allowing him to be off most of the day on Christmas! I am also off most of that day, I'll be working at 11p.m. on Christmas night until 7 am the next morning but that is sooooo much better than working 12 or 15 hours on Christmas and New Years Day like I did last year!! So it sounds like we can all get together for Christmas!

I'm thinking of our little girl we plan to adopt from Lesotho, Africa. I wonder if she is born, if she is being well looked after, if she feels any love at all today. I wish she could know right now how much I love her. I bought a Christmas tree ornament that is an angel and on the skirt of the angel, it says, "Bless and Protect Grace"....Grace being the name I am calling her. She will AT LEAST have the middle name Grace! Isn't that precious??I'm going to keep it out all year long until we bring my girl home!
I want her to know that she has been wanted and prayed for for such a very long time!
We have told the agency that if there are TWO little ones available, by all means, we want them BOTH!! That can only happen if they are siblings...and from what I understand, not very likely. However, God is in control and we want to be open to what He wants for us!! I just can't wait.

Sunday a lady told me that although she knows that I'm not "pregnant", I have that pregnant "glow"...that is pretty wonderful that other people can tell how excited and grateful I am that God is leading us in this way!

We haven't yet heard if the house we are trying to buy on a short sale has been ok'd by the bank. It might be a while before we know. The holiday time probably isn't the best time to try to get things done in a bank. I know that when I worked in banking, things got really really slow...lots of people also took time off and weren't often in the office! God may be trying to teach me patience!!

Well, have a lovely Holiday weekend!
Love,
Beth

House News...Roger's Health....

Soooo......a bit of an update.
Roger's doctor was afraid he had phlebitis (or however that's spelled.) but he doesn't. He most likely has cellulitis in his leg and it is pretty swollen and painful. But he's on medication and doing better. Hopefully, he has just had a bug that has been going around and that's why he has a cough. (he's had a tummy issue, too, but the family has been sort of suffering from colds and tummy stuff.)

And now for the house stuff.....we DID put in an offer on this fairly modest little ranch house on 2/3 of an acre. We knew that house was being foreclosed on and that they said it was a possible short sale. So, we offered what we could...with settlement money coming from my divorce from lots of years ago...and had planned to have the little house paid off.

However, for some reason, the seller counter offered it. We are kind of confused as to why he would counter offer us. We know how much he owes and that it is a short sale and the first week of December it will be foreclosed on. So a counter offer is doing him no good...that we know of.
We thought about it over night and did some praying and soul searching. I cried. Mostly because before we can fully jump into the adoption of a little girl from Africa, we have to have an address that we will use the whole time our process takes. That means, if we send our information to the government and to Immigration, we can't change our address unless we want confusion and long delays. We also can't really stay in this house for very much longer. IF the adoption takes 12 to 18 months, we would have to wait to put our house on the market until AFTER she comes home to us. We don't want to do that for two reasons, First, we really need to sell this big 6 bedroom house for financial reasons. Secondly, I don't want to confuse our new little girl by making her move twice once she leaves Africa. I want her to be secure with us and with her new home.

I say all of that to tell you that amid some reservations, my tight wad hubby (and I say that with all respect and love I can possibly have...) agreed to accept the counter offer. We most likely will have a tiny little loan on the home that we can probably pay off in a year or less.
NOW WE ARE WAITING TO SEE IF THE SELLER'S BANK WILL ACCEPT THE SHORT SALE!!

I am hoping that the seller, his attorney, and his realtor have been told what the bank will accept. That's the only thing that makes sense...why he would counter our offer. His realtor told our realtor that the bank would not accept the offer we made so that's why I really wanted to go ahead and do accept the counter offer in hopes that we will have offered enough to satisfy the bank and that we can get our new home! (It really is pretty modest...just an average vinyl sided ranch house...but it would be "easy living" for us financially!)

It might take a while to find out...possibly we can save up some more money?? We could probably pay the house off but then our money for the adoption is gone. Our little girl is more important, don't you agree???? OF COURSE YOU DO!!!! ;)

Of course, then we need to sell this big house...the market isn't the best but then, MY HEAVENLY FATHER HOLDS ALL THINGS IN HIS HANDS AND IF HE WANTS IT TO SELL, THEN IT WILL! Isn't that the best thing to think about? HE loves us more than we could possibly love each other and HE holds the future in HIS hands!

The plan is to get our new house ready to move into and in January/February we can move in and allow one or two of our big kids to stay in our big house until it sells. In the meantime, we are working with our adoption homestudy agency, filling out stacks of paperwork, providing numerous documents and such, waiting for paperwork to come in the mail from our background searches, and filling out just as much for the actual adoption agency. WHEW...it's a bit overwhelming...almost like labor!! Hopefully, when all is done with the house, I will have gathered all the information together, applied for and received passports and all I will have to do is turn things in to the "African"adoption agency...by then the homestudy will be completed!

Gotta go....4:15 A.M. comes pretty early and it's about 10:30 at night. Hopefully one of these days I can say goodbye to these long work hours!
Blessings,
Beth

Prayer Requests...And exciting HOUSE news!!

It's been another busy week around here! My dear hunny hubby is sick though, and I'm beginning to worry. I know, worry is sin...but I am concerned about him. He went to the doctor today and they're sending him for tests. They think he may have a problem with his leg and he has had a cough for a while...So...please pray that my best friend/husband will be ok!!

On another note, we put in an offer on another house this weekend! It is, unfortunately for the seller, going to be foreclosed on in a few weeks. We have offered a decent price but one we realize the bank might not be willing to accept. We might now know for sure for a few weeks but I do believe it is in God's hands. If this is not His will, there will be another house!

It is cute...in a 50's style ranch house sort of way...kind of in the country but not with a LOT of land...just 2/3 acre. But HEY!! It's enough for me to have that LONG LUSTED AFTER clothesline AND HIGHLY DESIRED CHICKEN COOP!!
It's a 3 or 4 bedroom blue vinyl sided ranch with a detached garage and trees. It backs up to a beautiful woods...not "ours" but we can pretend! The taxes alone are about 1/3 the amount our current home has! (And the best thing of all...LORD WILLING...it will be paid off!! WOOHOO!!) We will use the current family room/office as our bedroom...if we get the house, that is. The previous owner turned the 1 car attached garage into that room AND added a bathroom in it as well so THERE YOU GO!!! Our "Master Suite"!! (Minus a closet which can always be added at some time, right??)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE THE IDEA OF LIVING MODERATELY! Now let's just see if my semi-hoarding tendencies can cope with getting rid of a LOT of stuff! We will be decreasing the size of our home by at least 1/2 AND we are planning to add to our family by adoption! Doesn't make much sense, does it? But we both feel that this is what God is asking us to do to be better able to serve HIM...and that's what it's all about, right?? 13 year old Becca has always LOVED stuffed animals and she has decided to donate them to a charity. She has a tremendous amount of "Build a Bears". She worked for a food pantry last Thursday and realized that there is such a need for little children to have Christmas presents! That will lighten our load in her room considerably...enough to accomodate a new little sister...or two....
Eventually we will probably add a family room so that we can have all of our kids, in laws, and our grandkids home at one time! We are up to 19 of us (with baby Gabe expected in January to Abi and Sam AND including "Permanent Fixture" Ben...Marci's boyfriend...) NOT including our little girl who is in Africa! Yeah...we will need a "gathering place" for all of us!
The house needs a "little" work but it seems like an incredible blessing to me! There's nothing that can't be lived with and the only thing that really needs to be done is just "preferences." (Like I would PREFER that the dead mouse currently taking up residence in the kitchen drawer be removed.... Yeah.) It is what we need...and not more than that! I love the yard and can just imagine my chickens pecking the ground and my little girl going out there with a basket to help me gather eggs! There's room for a garden, too!

So, if you think about it, keep my Roger in your prayers, our house offer in your prayers, and our little girl who may or may not be born yet in Africa in your prayers! (I love her already and we are REALLY getting excited about it!! )
Blessings to you all!
Beth

Whew! Long day at work today! Since I fell a few weeks ago, I had been working at a "light" work site...NOT!! That site was really difficult as well and today I went back to my original site with the 4 special needs adults. We made a decision, though...(Roger and I)...that I will not work as many hours as I had been. I usually work 30 hours in two days and it is just exhausting. I am now going to be working "fill in" where I work where and when I want to! Much much easier hours and possibly in not as hard sites as I do now. Probably just 12 hours a week, which with babysitting the grand babies and homeschooling and the regular homemaking duties will be quite enough! ;)

I mailed off a lot of our adoption papers today. I sent our fingerprints to the FBI and also sent things to the State Police, etc. Things are moving along!

I went shopping with one of my clients today and we went...just for fun...to Babies R Us. Oh my goodness, I have gotten so spoiled shopping at Goodwill, Consignment shops and garage sales that I had totally forgotten how much things "in the real world" cost! Our soon to be little girl doesn't need ANYTHING but I just thought it would be fun to look. Goodness! I kept thinking, "I can make that...." or "I saw something like that at Goodwill..." Over $200 for crib bedding???!!!
I'm cheap. (the preferred word is frugal...)

Well, it's been a LONG day and I have to get up at 4:15AM to put in another 15 hour day so I think I had better call it a day!

Little Grace in Africa...I am thinking and dreaming about you.....XOXO!!
Blessings,
Beth

Today is Fingerprint Day for Jennie and Marci! I wonder if I should bake a cake for the occasion? I can't believe all that we have to go through to get this adoption thing going!! Roger is going to go tomorrow morning. We can only go between 7:30 AM to 4 PM so it's kind of hard for him to get there during working hours.

I am trying to write something either on my blog or in a journal every day regarding our lives and adoption. I would like to know what we were doing and how were were feeling... JUST IN CASE our little girl isn't born yet...on the day that she is born. If she is already born, I've been praying for her and thinking about her all the time...kind of like a mother who is wanting to be pregnant or is pregnant already loves her child even though it isn't here yet. It's kind of a strange feeling to be so infatuated with a little person you know nothing about.

Yesterday was our oldest daughter's birthday. (Roger's daughter, Abi.) I love the relationship we have together. Not quite "mom" but not unlike "mom" either. She is mommy to Seraphina and expecting Gabe in January. She is VERY much supportive of our adoption!

I'm very grateful for the relationships I have in my family. I am blessed.

I have lots to get done today and Little Miss Seraphina arrives here shortly. I'm sure she is expecting her cookie she asked for late last night. I promised her she could have it today because Mommy and Daddy said she didn't need any more last night! She is such a cutie!!

Blessing to you all!

Beth

What a crisp fall day....election day...it is in central Indiana! Roger asked me to get up and vote first thing this morning with him. I kind of wanted to stay in my nice warm bed and vote later but when my husband WANTS my company, it isn't something I want to say NO to! It's so nice to be loved...

Anyway, yesterday I was fingerprinted by the police for the beginning of our home study for our adoption of a little girl from Lesotho, Africa! Thursday is our first meeting for our home study! It's actually happening! Amazing, don't you think????
Roger, Marci, and Jennie will be fingerprinted tomorrow and then I can mail the forms to the FBI. Sounds kind of ominous...I wonder if I'll find out that I'm REALLY somebody else...I think Roger thinks I am sometimes!! :) Everyone 18 and older needs to be fingerprinted. Jennie will be that old by the time the adoption is done so I am sending hers along as well!

I'm not quite sure just how long it will take to get our little precious girl. One place I saw said once they get their paperwork til the time we go to get her will be 6 months. Another place said 6 months until the adoption agency processes it, 6 months for Lesotho to process it and then we will travel to get her. So, anyway, I guess I will just wait and see. Once we get all the paperwork turned in I'm sure we will get a better idea. I'm thinking somewhere between 6 and 18 months. I wonder if she is even born yet. I've started praying for her circumstances and her birth mother.
I've been praying for our little girl for quite some time. We are pretty sure her middle name will be Grace. It depends on how old she is whether or not we change her first name. She might have an "English" name already so who knows!

Well, lots and lots to get done today. I'm also babysitting little grandson Brody. He's soooo adorable!
Blessings,
Beth

A little bit of "cohesion"...

Today I was quizzing Rebecca in preparation for her Science test. A word she had to define was "cohesion."
The definition in her book said it is "The phenomenon that occurs when individual molecules are so strongly attracted to each other that they tend to stay together, even when exposed to tension."
"Wow!" I thought. "That sounds just like our marriage!"
I decided that it would be a wonderful object lesson for Becca...and me.

"It's just like Roger and I are the molecules and we love each other so much that we will stay together even when we are exposed to tension."

We have lots of tension sometimes in our home. I'm sure most families do but it is how we handle the tension that determines how well we are "cohesive." (THAT was Roger's word for ME tonight when I told him about our science lesson today. Ummm...I had to look it up after he went upstairs just to make sure I understood what it meant...)

He said, "Now that we have had cohesion we are cohesive." (Well integrated or unified.)

Most of the time we ARE unified. It hasn't been easy with two separate families living in one house. It is easier NOT to be unified because it takes WORK for our marriage to be COHESIVE. (I like that word...I think I'll use it more often...!!!) We could just go on our selfish lazy way and not make the effort it takes to be successful!

The thing that makes us more COHESIVE....if I dare call it a "thing"... is Jesus Christ. We are led and guided by the Holy Spirit and He is the One leading our marriage. God is the Foundation on which our marriage is built. After that is the love, companionship, friendship, and commitment that we share.

This is something that I did not have when I was married before and I am so grateful to have God as the focal point of our marriage...although it isn't perfect, God is, and we strive to better ourselves every day!


Blessings to you all!
Have a lovely day!
Beth

A Little "Slice" of Our Lives....

Isn't this just the cutest thing EVER?? When I went downstairs one morning, I found this piece of cake on a pretty glass dish. We had decorated a HUGE cake for an anniversary reception for the company Roger works for and he had decided to take the rest of the left over cake to the office to share. He put a few pieces aside for us for supper but I found this extra special one on our island with a note in frosting. I couldn't "have my cake and eat it too" so I decided I'd do the next best thing and take a picture THEN I could EAT it! If you can't quite make out his lettering...it says "Beth's piece cuz I love her" Isn't that sweet? (Literally...it was very sweet....) How romantic!!

Becca, Gideon, Jennie and I took a day and drove to Anderson, Indiana where there is a nice State Park called "Mounds State Park." It has all these Native American built "mounds" all over the place where they most likely built them even before the time of Christ for religious or seasonal observances. To be honest, the kids weren't terribly impressed because to them they just looked like small shaped hills. But when I explained to them that they knew the seasons and the placement of the stars and that the mounds lined up with certain stars during certain times and that they had primitive tools to use to create those "scientific and religious" mounds, they were a "little" more impressed. However, the area was just gorgeous and it was a perfect fall day!

Gideon and Becca did NOT want to cooperate with getting a good picture of them! BUT, more importantly, they did cooperate behavior-wise and we had a great day!!

Gideon, Jennie and "Precious" playing in the river. Precious loves to get in the water as long as it isn't up over her chest or a BATH. She hates baths!!

Earlier in the week Becca and I took little grandson Brody to a country market where we bought some Golden Delicious apples and some cornstalks to decorate our house. Brody is a wonderful little guy!

We got eighth grader Becca's first grades for the period last week. For those of you who don't know, she is going to a one day a week "school." (It can't REALLY be called a school but it is a homeschool organized tutelage and they take a "classical" approach to education.) There is a LOT of schoolwork and she is busy almost every minute of the day. I really like it and so does she but we're trying to figure out how to whittle it down a little bit so that we can still enjoy a free moment or two during the day to spend together baking, sewing, etc. (The things that we love to do together!)

Anyway, her grades are good and I'm so delighted that I don't have to keep track of all her grades anymore!! I wasn't sure how to do that so I was very excited to show up at her open house and to find out that they already had them compiled for me! (I have to keep her records but they will give me her grades!! Woo Hoo!!)

We're still working on getting our adoption papers all filled out. It's a big step...kind of scary but we both feel that God is leading us this direction. Hopefully in a year or two we will have a little girl from Lesotho, Africa. A new friend that I have made at Becca's "school" has adopted a little girl from Africa as well but she is from the Congo. She is supposed to be travelling on FRIDAY to come home and join her family!

That brings tears to my eyes because I know that somewhere in Africa is a little girl who belongs to me. (or WILL belong to me.) She may not even be born yet and maybe her birth mother is doubting whether or not she should carry this baby. But she is mine and her middle name is Grace. (We may decide to keep her first name to honor her heritage and not to confuse her if she is an older child when she comes home to us. But we have decided on Grace for a very likely middle name!) It's so strange to be completely in love with someone I don't even know anything about yet, isn't it?? She has more clothes already than any little girl I know! Most of them are gorgeous little dresses and jumpers that I have purchased from Goodwill......of course! They look brand new! I have them in all sizes from 2T up to some size 8's. I'm not getting my hopes up to adopt a baby under 2 years old. I'm praying that God will give us the child He wants us to have! I even have bins full of shoes...Stride Rite, etc....things that are almost brand new but that we most likely won't be able to afford once we get her home! She's going to look like a wealthy little girl...who's gonna know the difference???? I love the Goodwill Store!! It is a real blessing to have such a nice one so close by. UMMMM....Roger thinks it's a CURSE.......crazy man.

Have a lovely fall day!

Blessings!

Beth

Birthday Season at a Close....finally......

Another busy weekend here at our house! Roger's "Birthday Season" continued through Sunday. His actual birthday was Oct. 7 but we celebrated all week! We went to a 4 star downtown Indianapolis on Oct. 5th and 6th. By the way, if you have never used Priceline or one of those kind of discount online places, it is really worth the effort! We have used this numerous times and usually get a $200 hotel room for $50 to $65 a night!
It was nice although we like our own cozy bed much better! We went shopping at Circle Center Mall and then went to a large antique mall for the rest of the day.
Sunday we had all the kids over for Roger's birthday! It was really wonderful!

Friday and Saturday I spent at work...and at the Emergency Room. I was pushing a wheelchair into a client's room when I slipped on some "Febreeze" another worker had sprayed. The "fall out" from the spray had made the floor very slippery and I fell on my right knee and then back on my left elbow. I spent the next few hours getting Xrays! Nothing broken but a lot of pain. The doctor said I sprayed my knee and my elbow. My knee is painful but not as bad as my elbow. However, I am VERY glad I didn't actually break anything! Today I go to "Associate Health" to be examined since it happened "on the job" and they determine when I go back to work.

We're continuing to fill out the lengthy adoption papers and to try to get our paperwork in order. When I go to Associate Health today, I'm going to get some shots that I am behind in and I will need before I go to Africa! (I'm ALMOST as afraid of shots as I am of FLYING!!!!) I won't travel for a year or so but there's no need in waiting to get shots, anyway! (Yuck...I could probably find a LOT of reasons NOT to get the shots now but since my arm is hurting anyway, I might as well get the shots now, right? I tend to get really sore with Tetanus shots....)

So that's about all that's happening in our house right now. Tomorrow I hope to post a "how to" on inexpensive and easy pumpkin decorations for your house...
Blessings to you!
Beth

Adoption Process Starting!!!!

I received an email from an adoption agency and in that email was all the application information we will need to get our adoption started. Believe it or not, it is POSSIBLE that we could have our adoption completed within a year. (Other information states less than that by far but I am NOT going to get my hopes up!!) It's kind of a scary process...I've been thinking, dreaming, hoping, praying and planning for this for a LONG time and for some reason, all of the sudden, I'M SCARED!! Part of it is that I will have to travel to Africa...possibly alone...for two weeks. I HATE TO FLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only one of us needs to go and it seems best for ME to go since I will be MOMMY and since I'm used to having the bonding time while pregnant, I insist that I go! Studies have shown that adopted children do much better when the new parent travels to get him/her and has several days to let the child get to know you and trust you and realize that you are Momma!! That makes perfect sense! Can you imagine being a young African child, not able to speak our language "dropped off" at the airport with a family of strangers and then those strangers take you to their strange American house?? I'm VERY fearful of taking the trip but I think it probably IS the best thing in the long run!!
Besides that, Roger has to work and I might need some time for him to be home with us when we get home!!

Most likely our child is in Lesotho or Uganda. We're not sure which country God is directing us to. We were going to go to Ethiopia but our particular adoption agency has closed that location due to concerns about child trafficking and such.

This is a serious decision. This is for life! A commitment to someone you don't know...but that I already love! Seems strange to feel this way! I keep imagining a little child...I never see a face...and then I think what his/her (usually HER) life would be like if we DIDN'T do this! So many people don't understand WHY we would want to do this when we are in our 40's and have all those precious grandchildren! I absolutely ADORE our grandbabies. But they aren't REALLY ours! I keep having to give them back to their parents! Selfish parents!! LOL.... I usually don't tell people that they aren't REALLY ours when I have one of them with me at the store or somewhere! But then one of those precious little kids calls me "Grammy" and they ruin my illusion!

There are a LOT of hoops we will have to jump through and I'm worried that the biggest hurdle will be the fact that I'm overweight. Yeah, believe it or not, it does come into consideration! In fact, we are BOTH ineligible to adopt from China because of our weight. Even if I were to lose LOTS of weight and got down to a healthy weight, my actual body weight is too high. I'm not sure if they take into consideration my huge farm girl muscles or not....... But the GOOD NEWS IS....drum roll, please......I've lost 6 pounds this week without even trying. I've just cut back some and ate less!! I think that my weekend job is disastrous on my diet and so was my hysterectomy I had two years ago! The weight has kind of piled on lately! But it's going to come off! I have some major motivation now...I can't imagine traveling to Africa for two weeks this much overweight!! Don't ever expect me to be skinny....that's NOT going to happen. I'm shooting for 60 pounds. "Pleasantly plump."

So there you go. Keep us in your prayers...for lots of things AND for us to be able to finance this very expensive venture! I am full of faith that God will supply!

Blessings to you!
Beth
p.s....if the child is young and we can change her name, I'm thinking about Johannah Grace. Or Lydia Grace. I always think of a girl...but possibly a boy. I love the name Nathanial Allen. Roger's middle name is Allen. Most likely we will keep the African name and add an English name so all this is just my silly waste of time...when I should be doing push ups or jogging or SOMETHING!!!!
Me....

Daughter Jennie with her nephew Baby Brody (above) and her nephew Little Liam (below)

Monday was Becca's first official day at her "one day a week" school. (It isn't technically a "school"- it is a tutelage but it is run just like a school. I think they can't call it a school because of licensing and the days they meet.) She LOVED it! She has been so very busy doing her Latin, Literature, History, Choir, Science, Speech, and her Math. (Math is done at home only...Switched on Schoolhouse...) It is really good for us. She gets out one day a week without her "Mom" and it keeps us on track with her school work. I have been WAY too much fun the last two years...running around, etc. However, as long as she works hard most days, we CAN take a day to take field trips and bake and craft occaisionally! Pretty cool! She gets all her assignments (except math) from them. I also have all the answers online so I can grade them. She can also start earning high school credits this year while in 8th grade. I'm not quite sure how that works yet. I have to investigate it! Sounds really good though, right? It would be really neat if she could graduate a semester early and then do something else (Mission trip, volunteering, etc.) before she starts college. I'm sure she would prefer to do something with dogs. Can she be a missionary to dogs?? I have SUCH high aspirations for my children.....yeah.......

Last week her school polo shirts arrived and she felt "official!" Then her Latin kit and her Science and history books arrived and she felt a bit overloaded!

I've been busy taking care of little grandy kids, cleaning house and baking. Roger is going on a men's retreat Thursday through Saturday and he has requested that I bake the men LOTS of cookies. I think he wants to be popular....hehe! By the way, if the recipe CALLS for shortening, don't decide that margarine will be better. When making chocolate chip cookies, if the chocolate chips are taller than the actual cookie, you know you have done something wrong. Not that that ever happens to me...

I made more this morning. With Crisco.

I worked on cleaning the "baby" room yesterday and I have sorted through lots and lots of toys that are not really necessary to a child's happiness so I have so many to put in a garage sale...if that ever happens! I would love to earn enough money at the garage sale to help with Christmas this year!~

That's about all that is happening right now at our house!

However, last night Roger and I had a date! (I figured that if he could go on a men's retreat on a HOUSEBOAT in Kentucky for several days, he can take me on a date! RIGHT?) We had a nice time with candlelight and the whole thing. Italian, of course. It was delicious!

Sunday was Grandparents' Day and we (Roger, Beth, Jennie, Becca and Gideon) went out with my Mom and Dad. Dad's birthday was Friday so we celebrated his birthday as well. THEN we went to my son and daughter in law's house...mommy and daddy to Dylan and Brody...aka WONDERBOYS! They were joined by WONDERGIRL Seraphina and equally wonderful....WONDERINFANT Liam. They were....WONDERFUL!

Oh, their parents were there, too. (Yeah, they were wonderful, too.)

It was a delightful day made especially delightful since we are seldom together all at one time. Actually, daughter Marci and her boyfriend/sidekick couldn't be there due to work schedules but all the rest were there!

It was hysterical watching Roger and almost everyone else trying to get 4 little kids to smile for the camera (or at least LOOK at the camera) at the same time. They all looked like rodeo clowns trying to get their attention. THAT would have been the picture to take!! Good Grief! I can't figure out how to get those pictures on here today...I guess I will have to wait until Jennie gets home later. All I could find was pictures I took of her and the baby boys! But they are pretty cute pictures so it's ok!

By the way, it looks like the brick ranch house with a full finished basement on 1.23 acres sold the day we decided to go ahead with it. Sigh. Oh well. I guess God has something else planned and one of these days we'll be grateful. (I'm not sure I feel terribly grateful right this minute. Isn't that awful??? I think I am just disappointed and I hate this feeling of not knowing what we're doing. Oh dear, there's that "TRUST" word again.)

Have a lovely day...lots to do and little Seraphina will be here in about an hour! She will want her grammy to play with her. Rats....what an awful job I have!! HEHEHEHE!!!!!

More Romance...especially for Missy......

I suppose I should EXPLAIN that title...More romance...especially for Missy...the name does NOT imply that I think Missy should have more romance. Nor do WE necessarily need more romance...except that Rog has been sick all week!! Does kinda put a halt to all the kissing and hugging, doesn't it?

Anyway, my blogger and facebook friend Missy has requested that she be told all about our romance! And since she has known Roger for many many years but has never TECHNICALLY met me, I thought it was only right that I fill her in on all the GOSSIP!

Actually, dear Missy, Roger and I met when we were 14 years old at Bethesda Christian School. Neither of us were impressed with each other and it remained that way while we attended school together. I thought he was stuffy and he thought I was a bit on the wild side. Neither was true...he is very quiet and I am simply WAY MORE OUTGOING than I need to be! (I always wanted to be a quiet little petite girl and I am NONE of those things...except I am a girl....) He is not very tall and I didn't think that he and I would go together very well so I didn't really consider him. I don't even remember talking to him and we did not have a very large class...maybe about 60 or so in our class?? I DO remember him giving me some of his "Roger Looks"...as if to say, "Ok, that's enough now..." (I still get those looks, by the way....)



Anyway, we both grew up went our separate ways and years went by. We briefly saw each other at a class reunion and I did talk to his wife on the phone. I actually knew her from elementary school and we rode the same bus to school. She even drew my name for our 5th grade Christmas gift exchange! We all attended the same Christian school in high school.

A year or so went by and I was called about her death. I was going through a divorce at the time but I remember thinking how sorry I was and that we had children about the same age. Another year went by and I had decided to move closer to my parents and I enrolled my children in the same Christian school that I had attended...not knowing that Roger had done the same thing with his children.

My daughter Becca and his son Gideon became fast friends...best of friends or worst of enemies!! They wound up in the Principal's office once or twice. (They were only six years old...)

We (Roger and I) were thrown together throughout the next two years since we both attended the same meetings and field trips. (I must admit that eventually I found out if he were going on the field trip before I volunteered....sneaky, huh??)

He eventually asked me if I thought I was ready to go to some singles events because he attended a church that had a large active adult singles group. I was going to some events at my church but I thought it would be fun to meet some other people too. I started attending a Bible study that Roger was leading....(Oh dear, he was QUICKLY becoming MY KIND of GUY!) and then other studies and more singles activities. EVERYONE thought we were dating but we weren't! We were just becoming very good friends.

Roger's older son told my older sister...who happened to be one of his teacher's...that HIS DAD was going to marry HER SISTER and she promptly told ME! I assured her that we were NOT dating and the boy was just "wishful thinking."

I told Roger that I needed to tell him that and he told me that he already knew because his son had told HIM as well.

We kept talking via email (the highlight of my day!!) and eventually I got a few phone calls from him before Roger said that we "needed to meet." It scared the life out of me and I was just positive that Roger wanted to tell me that he was NOT interested in me. I told him that we didn't need to "meet" and that I was fine, no problem.

Well, he insisted and we agreed to meet at Applebee's. We stayed for three hours while we talked and he discussed the "pros and cons" of dating...ME! I was halfway offended and halfway pretty excited. I understood that I had five children...he had three...and that we didn't make a lot of money. He also told me that there were "OTHER" women that he was interested in.

WELL!!!!!

The next evening we hosted a singles' outing together to watch a Christmas program given by my church. HE showed up with another woman and sat there next to her. I was pretty upset but there happened to be a tall good looking man who asked ME to sit next to HIM sooo.......



What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right????



Roger turned around and motioned for me to move down there and sit next to HIM!! I got a rather smug look on my face and shook my head "no."

(I later found out that the lady he brought was NOT a date...they rode together and were just good buddies and had known each other for years and years...Whatever....)

We all went to a pizza place and the guy sat on one side of me and poor Roger sat across from me. (I was having a ball!!! That's not very nice to say, is it??)



So then came Christmas and Roger showed up at my house with Christmas cookies and his children and niece all carolling us. I was so impressed that he remembered that my daughter had severe allergies to nuts and that we couldn't have any walnuts or pecans in the house. My own family has a hard time remembering that sometimes so I was really impressed!



Over the next few months we kind of dated...secretly...and I wasn't completely sure he was the one. Sometimes he aggravated me and I didn't always answer his emails. I guess I didn't understand his sense of humor and his lack of commitment. One of our friends decided that we all needed a party so we had a "Groundhog Day Party."

Roger didn't go to the party but his best friend said to me, "I want to know why you haven't answered my friend Roger's emails for two weeks."

I was pretty happy that it evidently BOTHERED Roger enough to tell his friend that he hadn't heard from me in two weeks....so I said, "I want to know why YOU know that I haven't answered his emails in two weeks."

He just kind of got an awkward smile on his face and dropped the subject.

Before long, spring break came and we had been seeing each other a little bit. He went to Florida with his children to see his sister and I...being the poor person that I am...vacationed in Michigan for a few days. (I mean, who in their right mind leaves cold Indiana for even colder Michigan for spring break??) One evening, I got a long distance phone call IN THE HOTEL from him! Then it happened again the next night! He asked if he could see me the following Saturday!

When we finally saw each other...we met halfway since we lived a pretty good distance apart...I got in his van and he actually asked me if he could kiss me!! (I said no and slapped his face....NOT REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I told him I was wondering if he was ever going to get around to doing that!!!! By that time we had "kind of" dated for 6 months!!)

Before that, he hadn't even held hands with me. What a gentleman!

So we started dating seriously but his friends were telling him that he should be seeing other women besides me. We had a discussion about that and I asked him if he were going to KISS other women? He promptly said NO!!! Well, I figured that we were well past that stage in our relationship...if he were kissing ME he shouldn't be seeing other ladies!! After all, I had waited for 6 months before I got a kiss and I wasn't sharing him with anyone else. I told him that we had a limited amount of time to "date/court" and I wanted to spend the time with him. I also asked him if he thought that God had brought us together. He said, "YES."
So....why question God, right????

He didn't date anyone else.

We dated for 2 years before he popped the question but he first asked ALL my family...his kids, my kids AND my parents...permission to marry me!!
He and I were supposedly walking to a restaurant in his town and we walked through the gazebo that we had recently had his daughter's wedding in and I turned around and there he was on his knees! His hands were shaking and he asked me if I would wear his ring! Of course, I said YES!

THEN we went to a different restaurant where all of our kids were waiting for us! (There were 12 of us for supper that night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

So, that's the story. (For the most part. I did leave out the part about walking in our town park after dark and getting cold. We decided to get into my full sized van and talk. He smooched me and just THEN, we were SURROUNDED by two police cars who had us cornered! Roger said, "Let's get out of here!" I couldn't move the van and I'm SURE the police preferred we stay where we were.... Anyway, I showed my license and registration and after explaining that we had been walking and got cold, they let us go....evidently the park was closed! I'm glad it didn't make the papers...."Youth Pastor and the Divorcee Caught in Lion's Park"....oh dear....)

We've had our ups and downs...the difficulties of a blended family of mostly teenagers are always with us. We are currently trying to get "OUR" house so that neither of us feel uncomfortable here. I thought it was a good idea to move into Roger's house and not uproot his boys. It wasn't a wise decision but hopefully one we can rectify someday soon.

But while I wish some things hadn't happened in blending our families, I wouldn't trade Roger for the world. He is one of my greatest gifts from God and the best friend I have ever had. I love spending time with him just doing silly things. (we do a lot of silly things....)

We are also really considering adoption. It is my greatest wish to raise a little child with this man of my dreams. I love him with all of my heart!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Ok, well, it's not really. It's beginning to look a lot like September. I've tried to hang a fall wreath on my front door but the hangy thing fell off the door. So it looks like I need to get dear hubby to fix it or buy one of those over the door hangers.
I have, however, been THINKING about Christmas. More correctly, I've been thinking about Christmas COOKIES!!
It has been our tradition in recent years to deliver Christmas cookies to our friends, neighbors and families. (In fact, lots of years ago, Roger delivering Christmas cookies to my house AND remembering that Jennie has a severe allergy to nuts was what STARTED me off falling in love with the guy. That, and I thought he was really a cutie pie. Truth be told, I already had a crush on him but when he made sure he didn't use any nuts in our cookies because of Jennie, I was QUITE impressed!!)
So I was wondering, does anyone REALLY know how long cookie dough can safely be frozen and stored in the freezer? I was thinking about spending part of September mixing up batches of chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin and those kinds of cookies and freezing them in balls. Of course, I will double wrap them in plastic and put them in freezer bags in the freezer.
I tried to look it up on the Internet and found that some people say they last a month, three months or six months.
Anybody have any ideas???

WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS???

No one is allowed to mess with my antique tea cart and my tea things. NO ONE...Not Marci, or Jennie, or Becca, or Gideon, or the grandkids...especially the grandkids...not Roger (well, maybe Roger....)
So who does Miss Harmony think she is? This is her new favorite place...when she is not on my computer chair...She loves to look out on her world.
She does make a pretty picture, though, doesn't she?

Blessings!
Beth

A Week of Earnest Prayer!!

Many years ago, four or five at least, when I was a little girl....ok, ok, I said four or five years ago AT LEAST!!! Perhaps it was a few more years ago than that. Anyway, when I was a young girl, my brother and sister and I would sometimes take our bicycles and ride several miles on our local country roads to get to "Smith's Service Station" in the closest "town" that there was to us. This was a very old fashioned gas station...it wasn't old fashioned because they thought it quirky or quaint, it was just very very old. There was only one aisle in the little store where you could purchase necessities and CANDY and Mrs. Smith stood behind the counter. Mr. and Mrs. Smith owned the store and I was terrified of her. However, as I became a teenager, I discovered that Mrs. Smith had a very cute grandson who sometimes worked in the little gas station. (Her grandson has nothing to do with this story and had nothing to do with me, by the way.....)
Anyway, that was a wonderful bike ride for summer days. I'm not sure why we would ride miles and miles just to get a coke, guzzle it and return the coke bottle for a few cents, and ride those same long miles back to our house. I think it was just fun to do something all grown up without our parents!
The service station and little store is no longer there but the house we have been looking at is just a hundred yards or so beyond that little corner. The house wasn't there then since it was built after those eventful summer days. There is nothing really in that "town" so I'm not sure why it is a "town". There are two churches but I'm not sure where the congregations come from because there are probably less than 20 houses in that "slow spot in the road." No schools, stores, post office...nothing. But I think it's cute! Hey, it would sure help me to stop spending, right???
We are still asking for God's leading in this decision. I am getting kinda nervous, though, because I am afraid someone else will buy it before we do! My honey wants to spend this week in earnest prayer before we make the decision. I think it is a wonderful idea and we really want to do God's will. We both just don't know yet what His will for us is!
I told Roger last night that if the house sells this week, we will take it that God didn't want us to have the house. Last night as I was taking my turn praying with Roger, I asked for God's leading in this matter...and I almost added..."PLEASE PLEASE LET IT BE YOUR WILL!!" I didn't do that, however, partly because God already knows what "I" want...I just don't know what HE wants!
I feel like this is a turning point in our lives. He could be calling us to do something completely different than what I want...or Roger wants...Or He could be calling us to go ahead and buy the house He has provided for us!
I have some good news, however! We have been worrying (I know, worrying is a sin...ok, we've been "concerned"...) about how our finances will change when our children get older and right now we have had some financial answers to prayer. I can't really go into details about it but just know that we have recently been blessed in ways I didn't expect. The Lord is good even when we aren't!
I hope you all have a lovely day!
Blessings,
Beth

Too Old for this Kinda Stuff!

We went on a 11 or 12 mile canoe trip yesterday with our church family...mostly teenagers and those crazy enough to still think we ARE teenagers! I am still exhausted from all that paddling on Whitewater River! It was a lot of fun, though, and it started out rainy as we drove for about 2 hours to get to the river. It soon lightened up and we enjoyed the water and beautiful scenery.
It all went pretty well until I (insane person that I am...) decided to try the rope swing and jump/drop into the river. I climbed up on the rock and was really too much of a chicken to climb up into the tree that other people had jumped from. So I grabbed the rope as high as I could and jumped and held on for dear life...for about 1 second...when my hands slipped off the great big knot in the rope...and I fell/plummeted into the large boulders submerged at the base of the river.
I survived.
However, I have a LOVELY big bruise on the back of my leg. I was not thinking very clearly as the teenagers shouted "do it, do it" when I jumped into the river because I still had my life jacket on...which forced my head and neck into a terribly painful/uncomfortable position as I bobbed back to the surface. My life didn't exactly flash before my eyes but I stayed down long enough to wonder if I was going to die and to think about the poisonous snakes we actually DO have in the rivers of certain parts of Indiana and the fact that there might be MANY of them just waiting to nibble on my chubby body.

I think it is time to realize that I am NOT as young as I think I am.

However, if I have to die sometime, I think I would rather go having a great time rather than languishing forever...making my life and everyone else's miserable.
I just don't want to do it for a while.
Maybe I will wait for another 25 years or so to act like a teenager again.

A little bit more house hunting...

We looked at a house on Tuesday evening and I fell in love. (With the house-not the realtor...I am still in love with my husband as well...)

It is NOT what I thought we were looking for but it is what we NEED. (I think we have given up on the old farmhouses...lots of work and money!!)
It is a fairly modest 2 bedroom brick ranch. It was advertised as a 4 bedroom ranch but two of the "bedrooms" are in the basement. We can't use them until we add windows for a way to escape a possible fire. So it CAN be a 4 bedroom house but it needs some work to make it so.
I LOVE the upstairs and it is what we have come to realize that we really want in a home. Small enough upstairs to afford but it has a basement to have all the grown kids and THEIR kids come home to for holidays and celebrations.
It is in our price range. We wanted to be able to have a tiny mortgage and this will accomplish that! It is in a tiny tiny town without a stoplight or a store or anything like that. It does have two churches...one of which is right next door.
Roger isn't thrilled with the location...I'm not THRILLED with it but I am content with it. Since it is in the little town, the speed limit is, I think, 20 miles per hour but it is on a highway. However, it is still considered "rural" and we can have CHICKENS, GOATS, and MY HIGHLY COVETED CLOTHESLINE!!! The church is a nice sized one and Roger is worried about the traffic. It is also a Baptist church, though, and I told him that anytime there is traffic at THAT church, we will be at our OWN Baptist church so we won't even be affected! We would be 15 minutes from my parents, Roger's daughter Abi, my son Aaron and his family, my college student, Marci and 20 minutes CLOSER to policeman Danny and his family!
The kitchen is wonderful...kind of small but open and has lovely new maple cabinets and new appliances and counter tops! Oh my! There is a pretty living room with a fireplace and new laminate floors. All on 1.24 tree lined acres with the churches' rolling field behind it.
I asked Roger what he thought about all of it and he said, "I would be very content with the house!" It has a partial goldfish pond and fountain with a little path around it and I can just imagine him "piddling" around with that while I'm out with my chickens and other critters!

I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high. I know that there are a LOT of hoops to jump through and it might be that the bank will decide that it is going to be too much for us to handle until we get our house sold. We're going to pray for God's leading and would appreciate any prayers you might go to God with on our behalf.

I know that God has everything work together for good for us and if this doesn't work out, something else will come along. I am learning to TRY not to out plan or over plan God's will for our lives. I'm a control freak.......I can't control God. I need to try it the other way around.

Have a lovely day!
Blessings!
Beth

Whew...what a day. It's been about 97 degrees in nearby Indianapolis today and I was out in it doing grocery shopping for the assisted living home I work in. It doesn't seem too much to do but since I do not have a handicap license or hang tag for my van and I had a client in a wheelchair with me, I had to park waaaaaayyyyyy out there so that no one (hopefully) would park next to me and I could load and unload the wheelchair. And the little old man I had with me decided that he really couldn't make it to the van thus needing my assistance...all the time I was also pulling a shopping cart with $200 worth of groceries in it. It was loaded down. I am quite a shopper...

Anyway, I'm home now. Yay! I have six hours before I have to get up and go back to work. One of these days I'm gonna have to get a different job. But God is good. I think He wants me there for a while...if for nothing else but the insurance it provides our family.

Some of you know that we have been talking about adoption for a while now. I got a call from the adoption agency we had decided to go through. This was about nine at night on Wednesday and we had just gotten home from church. To make a long story short, they said...."no." at least for a newborn. "No birth mother would choose you and your husband because you are too old and you have teenagers." Ok, yeah, maybe we aren't in our 20's...or 30's...but we aren't exactly old. And they don't know OUR teenagers!! What wonderful big brothers and sisters they would make.

I'm a little bit disheartened but not terribly. I didn't really feel like God is calling us to take a newborn. It seems like everyone is fighting over newborns and to be honest, I remember the newborn time...FIVE times to be exact...and it wasn't always wonderful. Of course, I thought it was THEN, when I held my little baby during the night and did all the wonderful things I did.
But I wouldn't want to rob another lady of that joy. I can't imagine NOT having been a Mommy.
But a newborn isn't absolutely necessary to me.
A toddler or preschooler would be PERFECT!!

So, we may try foreign adoption or adoption from foster care. God is planning something for us, I know.
My heart is really burdened for third world countries and the orphans. However, parts of the United States aren't much better. Oh, of course, the CONDITIONS are better but there are so very many people without the Lord and they are raising their children without the Lord.

I work in a VERY rough part of Indianapolis. A few weeks ago there was a shooting about a block from the house I work in. In fact, at the end of the street where I turn into the neighborhood, there were ambulances and police cars all over. (This is 5:30 a.m.!!) Evidently, there was a shooting at the gas station down the road and the victim drove home to his house and called the ambulance. (There is an armed guard at the gas station all the time and the workers stay in a bullet proof "cage" to do their transactions! I know this because I bought gas there today. Oh dear, I think I am CRAZY!!!!! Scary place! It's not too bad during the daylight but when I leave work during the winter months, it's very dark out and I am not very comfortable with it!
But people are raising their dear little ones in this neighborhood. All the time we see little "memorials" for children killed on the street in gang or drive by shootings. And this is Indianapolis...a reasonably safe city!

I feel that I would be doing the same amount of good for the Lord by adopting from foster care if I could take a child or two from this kind of environment and love and nurture him or her. We have our own "mission field" in our back yard! (Well, not exactly OUR back yard...thank the Lord! Did I sound like a snob?? I didn't mean to!)

So, anyway, that's where we are now. I think we need to talk to an adoption attorney and ask around. We are also planning to take "foster parenting" classes.
Keep us in your prayers, if you think about it.

Blessings!
Beth

Incredible Answer to Homeschooling Prayer

Wow...it seems like forever since I've been in blogland! The 4H fair has taken up most of our time. The kids did well in it. Becca was able to get blue ribbons, Honor ribbons, two reserve champion ribbons and a champion ribbon along with it's trophy! Trinket kitty was awarded one of the reserve champions in her "short haired cat" class in the cat show. Becca got a champion trophy for the "most beautiful cage" contest. You would NOT believe the effort these kids and parents put into the cat cages! (Every cage has to be totally covered except the front to keep the cats from fighting.) There was a "Chalet", a "Haunted House", a "70's" house just to name a few. There were probably 60 or more cages entered. Becca's was an Asian themed one.

Now for the really cool thing that has recently happened in our homeschool! Becca has been listening to her friends from church and her older siblings telling her that she needs to return to regular public school. (This conversation has not made the momma of the house very happy...)
Anyway, we had a long talk (Becca and I) and I promised her I would keep an open mind about it and we would pray about it. I told her that I wanted to explore some other options in getting her out with people more often. This is MOSTLY what she has wanted. She has stayed home almost every day and has only recently made a couple of good friends. (Who are nice girls and a blessing! But they go to public school and Becca wanted to go to school with them...One is her age but the other one is several grades ahead of her!)
I called a local church that I heard had a large amount of homeschooled children in it and a woman I talked to told me about a program/school run out of the church. It is a ONE day a week school (with tuition, dress codes, etc...) but they spend the other 4 days of the week at home doing their homeschooling! Her particular class (8th grade) would have about 14 kids in it.
Math would be done on our own time at home as well as a foreign language. They teach History, Art History, Language and Literature, Science, Speech and Drama, Bible and Philosophy, Latin, Choir...possibly some other things I have forgotten.
They have a "mission day" each month outside of school with a lecture, lunch and then a "servant's heart ministry." Isn't that just the neatest thing??
She is so very excited about it and I have heard no other talk about her going back to Public School! This seems to be the very thing I was hoping for!
I know that there are other "co op" kinds of homeschool activities but the one that is fairly close to us has been "cancelled" every time we have tried to be involved. I want it to be a well run program that we can count on. I just can't believe that God has shown this to me just when we really needed it. He's awfully wonderful, isn't He?

I understand that it is a pretty difficult curriculum with reading and studying based in history. She's pretty excited about learning Latin! (Strange kid...)

Yeah, she's pretty excited...we had to go out and buy a backpack.

I'm excited about it, too, because even I might get to know some other like minded people. We live in an extremely "upper crust" town and there are not many homeschoolers here. I don't even know of one other homeschooling family although I am sure there are some. We're not "upper crust"...we buy most of our belongings from Goodwill. (Just thought I'd make that clear...)

That reminds me...a few months ago I was just finished working out at a local gym and I was standing there blow drying my hair and I overheard a conversation nearby. A woman was talking about her husband who was the Head of Surgery...or some such title...at a local hospital. The ladies were all dressed in their finest work out clothes and looking expensive and skinny. I looked down and noticed that I was using my hair drying that I was so thrilled to have purchased....at the local Goodwill Store...and it still had it's big black and white price tag on it.... ( $2.99 GOODWILL)...
I wonder what those ladies thought!! Probably wondering how they let me in there!! Haha!!

And So It Begins!

Wow...the preparation for our county fair has started with the kids turning in their projects! Friday is the "official" opening of the fair. So far Gideon and Rebecca have turned in their photography projects and have received blue ribbons. Rebecca has also done a "Self Determined" project which is a project that is the child's choice as long as it can't fit into another category. She did a study about China and has done many mini projects on that theme. She has so far gotten a Blue Ribbon/Honors on that one.
Today she is competing in the Food Preparation project and is taking a Chinese dish. (Keeping with the China theme and her homeschool studies....) It is really a delicious meal and quite pretty! She has been working hard on it so I hope she does well. It was kind of a difficult thing getting up and fixing Chinese food at 6:30 a.m.!
She has to be at the judging session at 9:30 a.m. along with the many other children and then have a "pitch-in" with the other children's exhibits!

Sunday is her "Cat Show" with Miss Trinket. She is also an "Asian" project since she is part Siamese. She was actually the inspiration for Becca's theme she kept with this year.
Becca also drew the Great Wall of China for her Fine Arts project. Our church is having our church service at the 4H fairgrounds on Sunday morning again this year as an outreach ministry to the community. (we are still having church services at our church as well for those who aren't going to the fairgrounds service...)

I really like 4H for the kids but I am always happy when their projects are over with! I think Becca took 8 or 9 projects this year. She wouldn't be taking so many if we didn't incorporate them into her home schooling year. This way, she has to be responsible to someone other than just me and learn to do things "by the book." She also has a nice "reward" for work well done since she doesn't really have a reward system in our home schooling. That may be something we change this year, I am looking for ways to encourage her but not to have her showing off with her good grades or projects. I think that is a fine line to walk, sometimes....

Hopefully we can go and see Baby Liam today. It has been a few weeks since I've visited with them and I miss them all! (Daddy, Mommy and Baby Liam!) We spent the day with Dylan and Brody yesterday and I was blessed to see Seraphina on Sunday! Grandbabies are awesome!!

Blessings to you all!
Beth

A Sweet Smell

I'm just sitting at my computer this morning smelling like a guy.
I mean that in a good way.
I found some cologne, "Mustang", at a local drug store on clearance sale for 75% off yesterday!
I can't pass up a bargain and since my DAD is a BIG MUSTANG fan, he HAS to have some for his birthday in September!
He's really fond of the Mustang CAR...I guess I should clear that up.

Anyway, so this morning, I sprayed a little bit on my wrist to show Roger how it smells. It is really pretty nice!
So now I smell like a guy.

I used to spray a little bit of Roger's cologne on my wrist or sweater just so that I could be reminded of him all day long when I was at work. (Not that I really NEEDED to be reminded to think of him...I think of him all day long!)

I love it when I get a "goodbye" hug and kiss from Roger and then I am left smelling of his cologne. I have proof that I have a close "relationship" with my husband.
But that kind of has me thinking today. I don't mind smelling like my father, better yet, smelling like my husband...but how often do I smell of our SAVIOR? Am I left with the sweet smell of just having been around the Lord and having a close relationship with Him?
I mean, can people REALLY tell that I'm a CHRISTIAN when they're near me or do they just think that I'm a relatively nice person?
I have been around people that I just INSTINCTIVELY KNEW that he or she was a Christian!
I want to be THAT kind of a Christian.
I don't mean the kind of pious, judgemental people that we all know. I don't believe that they have the sweet perfume of our Savior about them. I want to be the kind that REALLY lives what they believe and that is the love and GRACE of our Lord.

The world needs something different than they have. They need to be shown what it REALLY means to be a Christian.
I think sometimes we (I) make it look like we THINK we have to go to church 3 times a week, volunteer in the nursery, give LOTS of money to missions, etc., to be OUR kind of a Christian.
While ALL THOSE THINGS ARE GOOD, EVEN GREAT, THAT'S NOT WHAT GETS US TO HEAVEN!
I'm sure that the Lord appreciates all those things but our Salvation is not a works salvation...it is a faith Salvation.
We can do all the good things in the world but if we are trusting in ourselves to be saved, it is all in vain.

Unfortunately, I don't think we are getting that message across to people that they don't have to "BE" anything to be a Christian. It just takes faith and the GRACE of God.

"For God so loved the world that He gave is only begotten son that whosoever BELIEVETH in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

I'm afraid that we as Christians are putting so many things into Salvation that don't belong there. Church attendance (while wonderful and NEEDED for growth and fellowship) isn't "salvation." Neither is good works or tithing. It's just repentance and faith in the death of our Savior to be all we need.

I don't' need to act pious or self righteous. I just need to try to act like Jesus.
I need to be better in my Bible studying and my prayer life. I need to be spending time with my Lord. I need to get daily "hugs" from Him and to continue to ask for God's guidance and help to be who I am supposed to be...someone who smells like Jesus.

Wow! Two posts in one really difficult day!

Have you ever had a difficult day that just wouldn't end? Mine started yesterday.

I have always hated it when someone says "I'm having a BAD day!"
I have this little flip answer in my head that rings out, "Every day that God gives you is a GOOD day! There is NO BAD DAY!"
Then I had yesterday evening....the beginning of my very difficult day.

I was hurrying to get to Michael's (craft store) to get Becca something ELSE she was needing to get her 4H projects done when right behind me appeared Mr. Police Officer. I wasn't speeding, I was obeying all traffic rules in my pious little way....but the red lights flashed anyway

It wasn't a big deal...a bit embarrassing...but I had a brake light out. I knew I had a turn signal out...and I kept asking my husband to get it fixed....ahem.....but I didn't know about the brake light as well.

The very nice officer asked me for license and registration and I promptly handed him my license but I couldn't find the registration. You see, the glove compartment is broken and I put all the important information in a box that somehow disappeared. He said, "Just sit tight and I'll see if I need it..."

I was pretty confident that I was ok....the last time I had been pulled over was probably 20 years ago or so...and just got a warning.

He came back to me and said, "Miss, do you have a DRIVERS LICENSE? This is just a state issued Identification card!"
"OH MY!!" I exclaimed. "THAT'S not even ME!! It's my CLIENT!!" I went on to explain that I work with special needs adults and that evidently I hadn't remembered to put her I.D. back in the file at work. I finally located the proper driver's license!
He laughed...a little...and had me further explain why I would have someone else's i.d.

I got off with a verbal warning and was asked to find the registration! We did so, this morning!

Roger had to take my van this morning to take kids from his company camping. I was left with his little compact car. He won't be back until tomorrow night and Gideon went with him. We were kind of excited to have a ladies' day/night for just me and my girls...you know, possibly shopping, cereal for supper, watching silly movies as long as we wanted to....etc....

This afternoon, we set out for the mall to see Toy Story 3. (VERY CUTE, by the way...made me cry and I had to keep telling myself that this is a CARTOON! The people behind me snickered at me because they knew I kept wiping my tears away! Good Grief!!)
On the way home, we ran out of gas. Thanks to God's provision, we were actually in another parking lot and safely off the road! However, I had to walk about 2 miles in obtaining more gas for the car. It is very hot in Indiana right now. Did I mention it was rush hour? How about the fact that I was walking down one of the busiest streets in a denim skirt and my church shoes? Or that when I finally got to the gas station, they had sold out of gas cans? When I asked where the next closest gas station was, he pointed toward the direction I had just come from.
"It will be a couple of miles, though," he said.
Tears welled up in my eyes and I said "I have to sit down and cool off a little while. I don't think I can do that."
Soon he came back with another employee who was carrying a gas can. Some time ago, a customer bought a gas can to LEAVE at this gas station just in case someone might need one! The station was no longer lending gas cans since they most often are never returned. But someone had thought of someone else and decided to leave the gas can.

Isn't that amazing???

ISN'T GOD AMAZING?

Once again, He provided for me.

When I brought the gas can back after walking back to the parking lot, the employee said how lucky we were that we hadn't run out of gas somewhere else.

I said, "I know, God was looking out for us!"

He said, "Yes, that's true!"

So, I'm RIGHT! Any day that God gives us is a good day. Or better yet, a GOD day! It's kinda nice to end the day being able to praise our God!

Oh, and the PIZZA I just had DELIVERED isn't too bad, either!

Farm house news and camping fiasco...

Well, we have had quite a week. Right after the 4th of July, we took the two younger kids on a camping trip. We were planning to join my parents at Turkey Run State Park for a time of just our family and grandparents.
We got about 10 miles away and the belt on our van broke. We spent about 5 or 6 hours in a truck stop. My parents live within a few miles of that truck stop so my dad came to our rescue. Then two men passing through tried to help. THEN my two brothers drove up...one on his new motorcycle! There were two trips to the closest town with an auto parts store and finally, it was fixed...or so we thought.
My parents decided not to go camping with us since it was so late but Roger, myself, Gideon and Becca went on to Turkey Run. The van started making the same nasty noises that it had been making BEFORE the belt broke. (But we got there AND we made it home ok...just slowly..) (I drove it to drop the kids off at their 4H meeting yesterday and heads turned! Not because it is such a lovely van but because of the terrible noise it makes!)
Anyway, we DID have a good time for the rest of the trip and we even went canoeing! Neither of our canoes were tipped over and we had fun! We went to some Amish stores on the way home and loaded up on a few items we needed. (They sell things in bulk packages and I am amazed at how much we save!)
We hurried back to get Becca to her "Fun Show" for her Cat Project in 4H. Trinket DID NOT enjoy being there one little bit! In fact, she "pee peed" ALL over the floor AND on my denim skirt! She was sooo nervous! I went into the restroom and successfully washed up.
Becca was a little disappointed because SHE believes her kitty is the BEST EVER and evidently, the judge did not.....
The REAL Cat show will be in a week and 1/2....

The NEXT big thing to happen is that we had decided to put an offer in on a precious little farm house on almost 5 acres. It has 5 bedrooms but needs LOTS of work. We were willing! It has barns and a HORSE barn with a cement floor in part of it to store our little camper or...as Gideon says...to have a skating rink or a basketball court! It is huge! Oh and you should see the chicken coop!!! My DREAM CHICKEN COOP!!!
It has trees, a soybean field and the most incredible well house covered in vines just like in "The Secret Garden!"
So we decided to put an offer on the place and we called the realtor. He would NOT make time anytime that day to let us do so. We decided to call another realtor. She ALSO would not make time to do it for us. (My dad said "They must not be hungry.") Anyway, THAT particular realtor said to me, "It will take $20,000 to fix the septic system!" I don't know if that is the truth or not but it is enough to scare us away from buying the house.
There is quite a lot of remodelling to be done in it and there is no heating or cooling system AND the upstairs still needs to be completely redone, all of which we were willing but we just can't afford the new septic system.

*Weep*

I guess it is not the house that God has for us. At least for now. It most likely will be taken off the market and repaired and THEN put back on at a higher price. Maybe then we can see if it is something that God has for us in our future.

I am certainly extremely disappointed. It is just a few miles from my parents, my older son and about 15 miles away from my younger son. All my family live within 15 minutes.

However, I am in the middle of being amazed at God's provision for us in this situation. Had the first realtor...someone related to my husband...not refused to write the offer...we would have had NO idea that the septic system was in such bad disrepair. We were planning to offer a large deposit and then have a contract for 6 month to a year while we worked on the house. We have just enough money to do that but did NOT plan on the septic system having to be replaced. We had not even planned to have it inspected since we knew that there were issues in the house that would NOT pass a regular inspection or finance with the bank.
We would not have had the extra money to fix the septic system yet we would have been under contract with this man. We could have lost all the money that we had put into it.

I think it very very strange that neither of the two realtor we spoke to would write an offer on that day even though we were willing to do whatever it took for as late as it needed to be. In fact, we called a THIRD realtor before we talked to the particular realtor that told me about the septic system!! I have worked as a real estate secretary for several years and my mother was a realtor and I am so used to having to "JUMP" when a buyer has an offer to make!! It is very odd that no one would do it on that day!

I guess it's not odd....it's just GOD.
He is still protecting his little impatient children. And I am very grateful. (yeah, a little disappointed, but grateful. In fact, the day we were making the offer, I took LOTS of pictures to show YOU but now I can't bear to post them! )

I WONDER WHAT GOD HAS IN STORE FOR US. I THINK IT MAY BE SOMETHING WE HAVEN'T YET EVEN CONSIDERED OR COME ACROSS! I hope it has a chicken coop.....

NOT sooo Funny.....hmmmm...

EVIDENTLY, it is QUITE a blessing to be the source of incredible humor as I must be to my 17 year old daughter. I have NOT yet fully realized the whole "blessed to be a blessing" thing in my current situation.
Let me explain.
I went to a big garage sale today in which I purchased lots of retro items at just a dime or a quarter. I was able to buy old aprons, a sewing basket, retro fabric, a little dog statue, yarn, and rag balls. I also bought 60+ year old looms for weaving pot holders. I think I spent $6.00.
I brought them home and was arranging them on my couch to take a lovely picture of them to share with YOU....and my daughter walked in and sat down on the floor next to me.
I had them all arranged nicely and was explaining them to her when suddenly, my ear itched a little bit and of course, I scratched it. It still itched but now it was making some really strange crackling sounds! I rubbed it again to no avail. Again I rubbed it and as I brought my hand down, to my HORROR of ALL HORRORS, I realized that I had actually stuck a spider's nest in my ear!!
"AWWhhhhaaahhhh!!!"
I was NOT happy. I do not care for spiders. AT ALL. Especially in my ear.

My daughter, Jennie, on the other hand, has been almost rolling on the floor in hilarity at my disgusting situation. She can not speak at this moment because of the "mental image" she keeps getting. She is laughing until she has tears rolling down her face. She has ruined her mascara. Good!!

I do not think it is very funny.

I think I will not feed her supper.

Ok...post script...I fed her supper. That is, 13 year old Becca cooked supper tonight as more practice for her 4H project. We loaded up the hot and spicy Chinese food and picnicked at the local park! I'm not sure why...I think I've had enough "nature" for today!!