It's FINAL!!! Israel is OURS!!!!!!!!

Whew....!!!!!!!!!!! We are now the legal parents of a wonderful, gorgeous 6 year old little boy! Since being granted (finally) custody of him in late July we have had MOSTLY wonderful days! As any little child who has suffered from starvation, abuse, neglect, and horrific illness, we have had some issues to deal with but he is an amazing little guy. I want to thank our Heavenly Father for allowing us this privilege to parent him and for "Miss Debbie" who was his incredible foster mom, and "Miss Shannon" who was his second foster mom. Both of these ladies are Christians and have been used of God tremendously.

 Here we areTODAY immediately after the judged granted the adoption! To the left is our attorney...a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful, me, Becca, Roger (The REAL Mr. Wonderful!!), and in front is the judge and Little Mr. Wonderful, Israel!

                        

One of the activities of this week was making a Gingerbread house with Brody and Israel. (ok...Brody has longish hair but he IS a boy....and a wonderful little one at that!) They did such a good job sharing and getting along with each other!

                                                

This is the finished product with some of MY favorite things in my house. The old doll was given to me for my birthday by my husband this year and the top sitting next to her is my oldest son's first Christmas present! 

  

  I decided to make spelling fun last week so I surprised Israel and squirted shaving cream all over the kitchen floor! He spelled his words with his finger!! (It needed a good mopping anyway!! The floor...not his finger. But it probably benefited, too.....) He said it was the most fun he had ever had!! 

                                            
Another wonderful thing that happened to us was the gift of going to The Nutcracker! I had been trying to find reasonable tickets for us but was unable to find a time that it would be affordable. (I did find tickets at a time that would work for ......are you ready???   $75.00 each!!!! Not in our budget! The very next day, Becca ran into the kitchen and told me that homeschools were now being given the opportunity to go for free!! We jumped at the chance! Israel had a good time and so did Jennie, Becca, and myself. Israel especially enjoyed it because a little boy he has gotten to know in our homeschool classes....also from the Congo....was seated right behind us!!

Well....dear hubby and I have a DATE!!!! So......I need to run! I hope your week has been as wonderful as mine has been!
Blessings, Beth

Israel's First Christmas Tree Hunt!!

Today was Christmas in the Village in a nearby town. We go to the parade every year and then we shop in the quaint little village.
Then we went to hunt for the "perfect" Christmas tree for Israel's first Christmas with us! Well.......our tree isn't exactly perfect....it is more like the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. But...it was affordable...and small!
It is not a short tree but it is an extremely skinny tree!
I will try to post some pictures of our hunt as soon as I can...but for now, here is handsome six year old Israel with a wooden soldier at the Christmas Tree Farm!
(Hubby Roger is struggling with the little tree and I think he would appreciate some help from his wife!!)
Blessings,
Beth

I can't believe that it has almost been a month since I blogged anything! A lot has gone on here...extremely busy!
I've decided to get a start on my spring gardening....because, you know, it's November and getting started on spring gardening is a priority.....?????? (I know, my dear hubby thinks exactly what YOU'RE thinking...but he puts up with me....)
Anyway, I have come upon a wonderful family that inspired me...it is a set of a Mother and three girls and their name is the West Ladies from Nashville, Tennessee. They have dvds and a website and a blog about their simple way of life and I LOVE it! I've decided to, as I said, get started on my gardening by building raised beds for my garden. Israel and I also went to Conner Prairie (a living history museum of Indiana's pioneer days) and I fell in love with their gardens. So far I have only two beds built that are 4x8. I know I will need more but my dh has gently reminded me that there are other things we need to work on here in the house and garage and mini barn....
IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO MOVE FROM A 3600 SQUARE FOOT HOUSE TO A 1600 SQUARE FOOT HOUSE!!! But I love my little country home with it's funny old knotty pine kitchen and windows that look out on a big woods behind out house! (and where my new little pioneer garden will grow....or where the woodland critters come to dine on my plants....I can just imagine the squirrels and deer whispering to each other "Awwww....how sweet! She's building us a snack bar!!")

I took pictures of the building process but right now, I have misplaced my camera. (Imagine that!!) I hope it didn't get left out there in the back yard when I finished up with the project Monday morning. Did I mention that we have already had snow? It was beautiful but just a word of advice...don't finish building your new pioneer style raised bed very cute garden in a heavy blowing snow while dressed in a denim wrap around skirt. At that point, I'm sure that the woodland creatures STOPPED talking about their snackbar and started talking/snickering about something else. (Or they lost their appetite....)

We've started thinking about Christmas already and I have the majority of our shopping done. I need to start wrapping the gifts soon! I have two snowmen displayed in my tiny living room so far. (Wood ones....)

Since our house is pretty small....part of that 1600 square ft is a 1 car garage that has been finished and is currently housing our two teenage daughters.....the kitchen and living room could not possibly allow the 22 people that just our immediate family (our children, their spouses and children) now make up. So, for this year, we are using our church's fellowship hall. We have decided to move our Thanksgiving celebration to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We wanted to have our "at home" family help at a homeless shelter...Indianapolis has several....and serve the Thanksgiving meal but they don't need any more help right now. So instead, I think we are going to volunteer at the local nursing home. We may go out to eat afterwards. Israel always prays for the poor and homeless so I thought this would be a good way to "put feet to his prayers."  He's a pretty good little guy!! We have truly been blessed!!

Well....math and reading and the afternoon homeschool classes await so I should say goodbye for now!

Blessings to you all!
Beth

Israel Pictures!!

 Ok.....honestly.....I have just about the cutest six year old little boy in the world!!! I really do!! He is soooo adorable and sweet! We went camping over the weekend...in the middle of a storm...but we had a nice morning and had yummy pancakes! Israel was quite happy with his "Mickey Mouse" pancakes that I made for him!

 We went to Battleground, Indiana and walked around the site of a battle of soldiers and Native Americans. It was a beautiful place but such sad events happened there.
What cutie pie faces these are! Israel really loves his Daddy....and his Daddy really loves Israel!

 Ooops.....this picture got out of order....this was from earlier in the fall at the Fall Festival's Car Show!

 Battle of Tippecanoe near Lafayette, Indiana.....Roger and Israel!

My sweet Blessing....I am so happy to be his Mommy!

Latest "Israel Funny" Or Colts Controversy in Our Household

The last few days have been rough! Israel...for the most part...has been pretty wonderful....but we have accepted an offer...finally...on our "big" house and are trying to get out by tonight. So things are pretty stressful. Things that don't usually bother us tend to get on our nerves. Hopefully we will close tomorrow!!

A few days ago I got out Israel's clothes for the day. I had purchased a LOT of Indianapolis Colts football sweatshirts, tshirts and things like that for him....before he came to us...and before we found out that he is NOT a Colts fan. He is a  New York Giants fan.....When I got out his Colts sweatshirt, he said, "Ok...but can you tell them I'm NOT a Colts fan??"  I told him that he needed to be grateful for what he has....I was not in a very "up" mood. It's not like we are fanatical about the Colts, but we live in the country near Indianapolis and EVERYONE here at least LIKES the Colts!! (I mean, on Sundays when the Colts play, people even wear Colts jerseys to CHURCH!! Not us...we still wear our Sunday best.....) I'm not even going into the Indianapolis Pacers versus the New York Knicks issue......I guess 1 1/2 years of living in New York City took it's toll on him! I'm not sure how long it will take to turn him into an Indiana farm boy.

Yesterday he accidentally knocked pictures off the wall in the hallway...after I told him to settle down several times. I did NOT yell at him or even say anything to him. I just picked up the mess and went on. He came over and apologized and hugged me.

So....evidently he thought he had been behaving badly, even though I didn't say anything about his behavior.
But during his prayer time last night, he prayed....

"Dear God, please help the homeless and the poor and especially the ones with lots of children. And help Holly and Dylan and Brody get home tonight and not hit a deer. And PLEASE DEAR GOD, HELP ME WITH MY BEHAVIOR. AND HELP ME LIKE THE COLTS MORE AND STILL LIKE THE GIANTS. And PLEASE help the homeless and the poor...."   etc.......

Poor little guy....I remember telling him a few days ago that he can like the Giants the most and like the Colts a little bit....but he evidently thought it was just wrong and he said "No, I don't like the Colts at all!" He met one of the retired Colts players who lives in our town a few weeks ago and he wasn't exactly "pleasant" to him.  He is really a Giants fan...

Hopefully, time, love, and patience will heal all things....even little Giants fans......

Israel's two prayers.....

It's very late here...but I had to share Israel's bedtime prayers tonight.
Tomorrow is his last soccer game of the season...he LIVES for soccer...and low and behold, his team shirt was missing. We looked everywhere, dirty clothes, toybox, under the bed, in all the drawers. Still no shirt. He was getting pretty worried and he said, "I wish God would help us find it!"
I, worried myself...suggested, "Why don't you pray about it?"
So little guy prayed. "Please God, help us find the shirt so that I can play in my last game of the year tomorrow." (Who wouldn't answer a prayer like that???)
Moments later, I found it, under a stack in MY bedroom!

So, since it was getting really late and we had already played a Memory Game of Famous Black Americans, we decided that it was just prayer and hug and kiss time. So Israel started....
"Dear God and Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and help me to play a good game tomorrow and thank you for finding my shirt and also thank you for such a good day and for my friend Jonathan (and so on and so on and so on....)(this is where it gets really good....)and help Daddy to not get any more weight and to not get any more tummy and to lose some of his tummy because I want him to not have a big tummy (and I, Mommy, personally can't wait to tell Daddy what Israel prayed! Ok...just to make it fair, I must admit to what Israel said to ME recently. He said, "Mommy, you don't have a big tummy but why is your BOTTOM sooo big???" yeah. So, it's fair....read on, it gets better! ) "And help Mommy with her sicknesses...." (what sicknesses? I do have some allergies....!!!???? Read on...you're coming to the very very best!) AND WITHOUT SKIPPING A BEAT ISRAEL PRAYS, "And Jesus, please be my Savior and help me with my words and guide me in my life...."

Wow...what a little boy we have. What a precious little boy. An amazing, miraculous, precious little boy.

Even better than that, What an Amazing, Miraculous, Precious God we have! Israel's God...who brought him out of Africa, from starvation, abuse, tuberculosis, lead poisoning, rickets, beatings, horrific abuse, to a family that gave him away (again)...and then blessed US with this sweet gift of a little loving son. What a humbling, even scary, realization this is. I told that precious little boy, just after our prayers, that he is going to be a WONDERFUL man. I'm so happy to be a tool for God to work in this little boy's life. I hope that doesn't sound prideful...I don't mean it to be that way. Its just an incredibly wonderful to SEE God's Hand at work right here in front of me every day. Maybe it will help me to remember this when he asks me the same question for the seemingly 97th time that day!!

You know, we don't have to have an orphan child from a 3rd World Country in our home to see God's Hand at work. I think we just need to be willing to be used. I'm NOT always willing. Being open to adopting Israel was not hard for me...it has been a desire all of my life to adopt. But I wonder, shamefully, how many times in my life I was NOT willing to be used, to go out of my way, to be God's tool in someone's life. How many times did I say "No"...to Him?

What if the person who told US about the Lord said, "No" to Him??

Blessings....thank you for sharing in our joy!
Beth

I Haven't Died.....

Good Grief...it seems like forever since I've written anything here! I think our little guy is taking more time than I thought he would....but it is all wonderful.  So, no, I haven't died. I've just been busy.

Everything is going well for us and Israel. We had a post placement visit from our social worker and she was such a sweet and kind lady! She said everything looked great and it looks as if Israel is bonding quite well. He is...and so are we!

Yesterday Israel and I helped out at Rebecca's homeschool classes. We each have to volunteer six times a year. Usually I choose nursery. This time, I decided to move up! We were in the kindergarten area with lot of little kids. Although he is six, he seemed to fit right in with the younger children and enjoyed himself.
The letter of the day was "C" and the teachers had everything all set for learning the "c" sounds. We even had
cream (c) which came from cows (c) that we made into butter and put it on crackers (another c).
He was amazed that butter came from milk/cream! Since the children didn't really have the opportunity to make the butter themselves, Rebecca, Israel and I are going to take a trip to the local "creamery"... a big farm that has its own store and restaurant. We are going to make butter this afternoon when grandsons Dylan and Brody come over. Then we're going to make muffins and sample our hard work!

We're going to do some experiments with a science set Israel has as well.

I just had an idea. (sometimes it happens!! Not often....) Every night we put Israel to bed with prayers and songs, a "fun" story and a Bible story. I think I'm going to start reading the Little House series at night! I think he would enjoy the books! I recently "dug" out my oldest children's Playmobil Pioneers and Indians. Israel thinks they are the greatest things EVER! So I'd love to read Laura's adventures and bring his toys to life a little bit!

Well, it's off to the Creamery/Dairy! I'll let you know how it turns out....maybe with pictures!!

Blessings,
Beth

Post Script.......Who'd a THUNK it??? Our fancy, expensive, organic, local "creamery" doesn't sell CREAM!! So, after driving all the way there, getting mildly lost, we finally went to the local, not fancy, grocery store and purchased cream.
Hopefully, we will soon have butter!
I'll keep you posted!
Beth

Another "Israel-ism"....

I'm not sure if it is just because Israel is six or because his language skills are still developing but Israel comes up with some funny things! He has done an amazing job of learning the English language...but he has only known it for two years instead of six....his actual age. So every once in a while, he comes up with a "funny"....
Friday I took him to get his hair cut. (It was a tragedy...he HATES his hair now and insists on wearing a hoodie when he is out in public. It will grow...soon, I hope...) Anyway, he was amazed at the mirrors and turned around once and said, "Look at all the shadows of me!!" (He meant "reflections...")
Sometimes he still gets "wife" and "husband" confused. He also gets "son" and "daughter" confused.

Yesterday on the way home from church, he was really excited about all the questions he could answer in Children's Church. He is a very good listener.
"I knew that Jesus speeded!" he exclaimed.
"Jesus speeded?" I asked. "Where was He going?"
Israel paused...."Ummm.......I meant, 'He FASTED!'"

Haha.....every day he brings more joy to our lives. Some days he brings a little bit of discipline...but what six year olds don't need a certain amount of sternness? I was reading on a wonderful blog recently about the "child centered" home and I think we could very easily become one if we weren't careful! We sure do love him and are pretty happy that we have been given the gift of this wonderful little boy! But we have to be very careful that in all the attention and unconditional love that we are giving him, we don't allow him to "run" our home. It's a balance!
Well...I'm off to buy a mop! I'm actually excited to get a new one! Kinda crazy, isn't it??
Then it's a Bible story, Math, and reading!
Blessings,
Beth

An "Israel Funny"....

Yesterday I was teaching at 6 year old Israel's Homeschooling Co-op. Our class was "Building Basics" and it was MY turn to teach measuring and simple fractions.
I drew a "pizza" on the board and asked what I would do if I was going to give it to four people.
"Cut it in four pieces..." was the answer several little boys came up with.
"Ok..." I said and "cut" the pizza in fourths.
"Now, what if 4 MORE people came to the door?" I asked again.
"Cut all the pieces in half AGAIN." was the answer a smart little guy said.
All was going well so I thought I'd try it one more try...
"What if eight MORE people came to the door?" I asked.
Little Israel raised his hand. "Ok...Israel?" I said..
With all sincerity and concern he loudly answered....
"BUY MORE PIZZA!"

We Accepted an Offer!!!

Wow...after 12 LONG and expensive months, our "big", "fancy" house sold. It has been an exhausting ordeal...physically, emotionally and FINANCIALLY!! But yesterday we said YES to a less than what we wanted offer...but it worked for us.
18 months ago, when we bought our little blue house in the country, we would never have imagined that it would have taken a whole year to sell our other house. We were just SURE that God would sell it immediately and that we would then have the money to go to Africa to adopt.
Well...God in His wisdom did NOT allow that to happen and we are so grateful! We would never have gotten our little Israel (who is soooooooooo wonderful!!!) if we had been given the money to do an "actual" foreign adoption. (Israel is from the Congo but his adoption was domestic since he had been given citizenship in the home he was in prior to joining us in his forever family.)
I have doubted, been angry, and felt like God had abandoned me when all I wanted was to do what we thought He wanted us to do. I will probably never understand why the house didn't sell sooner....in the spring after we had already committed to Israel. I will probably never know why He allowed us to lose $140,000 on that house. Yes, that was the correct number...no typo....pathetic, isn't it? What I think is pathetic is that we think we NEED that kind of house in the first place!!!! There have been times...many times...that I wanted to just move back to the big, pretty house. A lot of it was because of pride. But then I would think about our goal...a debt free lifestyle!
I would like to have a place for our children to come to for holidays, though, and we are hoping to add on when we can pay CASH for the work! Our little blue house in the country is a bit too small to have all nine of our kids and their spouses and kids come home for holidays. (I think we are up to 22 immediate family members now!!!)  This year, we may have to plan something else....
So, what has this year taught us? We have been living very frugally while still maintaining the other big house and it's big mortgage payment, keeping up on the yardwork, the electric bill, etc. and still having the living expenses that THIS house requires. We still had groceries to buy, doctor's visits to pay for, school items to buy....
We have done without a LOT of things. Christmas was much slimmer this past year than in years past.
We have figured out that we CAN live without a dishwasher. We can do without a garbage disposal. Clothes CAN be washed in the sink or bathtub when the washer breaks down. Life goes on...even better than before....without television! There are books to read, games to play, conversations to be had, meals to linger over....little children to spend time with...and adopt into our family.

I'm not sure I would ever want to relive this year again...except for the exhilaration of adopting Israel...it has been really hard. Some months we weren't sure how we were going to make the payments. There was a lot of stress and a lot of tension but there was also a lot of understanding going on. Can you imagine a house with 3 teenagers in it (two of them do NOT have cellphones.....) and not have a television? Everyone knew what the outcome was that we were trying to achieve...a debt free life. A life that would not be tied to bills or payments. Perhaps one that could be more generous to missionaries and people in need. A life that would...hopefully...be more pleasing to our Savior.
I'm pretty sure life won't change significantly for us now that the offer has been accepted. We will still need to be very frugal. But maybe we can get a new water conditioner for our "metal water"....which is what Israel calls our rusty water... Maybe we can get the dishwasher and garbage disposal fixed...

I'm not sure about the television...it may stay disconnected for a while yet!!

Blessings,
Beth

Sleepy...zzzzz.....

I love my sleep...I really do. I know what the Bible says about being lazy...but I do value some good sleep.
Lately little Mr. Israel has been waking us up with "I can't sleep..."
Hmmm...funny...WE WERE!

Early this morning Roger put him back to bed with another song and a sip of water while I checked my phone to see what time it was. I had a new message from baby girl Marci who has JUST moved from Indiana all the way across the world (well...it seems like it....) to Seattle. She has downloaded literally HUNDREDS of pictures to facebook....so of course, I just had to click my way through them...in the middle of the night...or early morning. But it is a comfort to see their things all settled in their little apartment....

The next thing I heard again...was, "I can't sleep..."
Poor Roger...he said, "Pray that God will let you get some rest...."  (I am sure that my Roger was praying that EXACT prayer.....")  I think that we will need to start turning off the hall light which shines right into Israel's eyes. We'll need to get a nightlight for the hallway, I think....either that or earplugs for us.

On a different subject...we have a few really odd animals. At least their personalities are pretty strange.
"Harmony" is the schizophrenic cat. She can be sweet and loving one minute and attack your ankles when you walk by the next minute.
She also has a really odd way of eating and drinking. She will literally pick up her food with her paws and eat from her "hand." She does the very same thing with water! She will scoop it up and lap it from her paw. Seriously.
Sometimes I think I'M in charge around here and I'm finding out I am wrong. It's kind of scary. Harmony loves to drink out of the bathtub. Well...not when it is full, but she likes to have the stopper in place and then have you just put a little bit of water in it for her. I don't have the foggiest idea how we knew what she wanted, we just do...
Sometimes I will walk into the bathroom and there she sits, IN the bathtub LOOKING at the faucet and the stopper....WILLING it to fill up just a little bit with water...she stares, unwavering with great expectation and confidence of what will come...willing...willing.....willing.....

Somehow, oddly, I am drawn to the bathtub and I push in stopper and turn on the faucet...just a little. She rises and drinks.......she KNEW it would come...

And I thought I was in charge around here.......

Homeschool Daze!!

Yesterday was the first official day of school around our household.
Gideon went to school on the bus...he attends public school.
Becca went to the first day of her homeschool classes at our homeschool group. She will be involved with two different groups this year. Mondays and Thursdays she will attend her regular classes and on Thursday afternoons, she AND Israel will take some "fun" elective type classes to round out their education such as Sewing, photography and game programming for Becca and Israel will take Amazing Animals, Building Basics and P.E. (P.E. to wear him out a little bit for his Mommy....!!!!)
Becca will, for this year, be taking Geometry and possibly Spanish and Chemistry at home...throughout the year.

Israel's "first day" of classes started in an "oil change" shop...thank goodness for workbooks that can come with us! Roger's elderly aunt passed away and we had to drive about an hour and 1/2 to the funeral...which Roger had to give the eulogy. (He did a good job!! I was proud of him and his testimony! What a cutie!)

So, today was school at home for Israel! I'm not sure he was terribly excited about it but he was at least cooperative! We started out rather in a grouch because Mommy did NOT make turkey bacon for breakfast! How horrible I am!! I offered him multiple kinds of cereal...but.........well, let's just say that after about 2 hours, he had a little bit of toast and milk.

Later he worked on money and the values of 4 coins. He did a very good job! (He is quite interested in money...a.k.a. allowances and what they can buy!) Then we moved on to phonics online. I don't think he even realized he was "working!" He had a wonderful time doing that. In the month that we have had him in our home, he has not done video games but I have allowed him to play on PBS Kids and now this new site I have found.
Then he "wrote" a report about what we learned about snakes last week. He dictated it and I typed it on the computer for him. I found that this is a very encouraging way to help a child "write" what they know. I used that idea with my older daughter when she was little and it was AMAZING to find out what they really know and remembered!
Next is "art" class....Israel is currently taking a break from sitting still and is having some kind of a battle with "Captain America" in the living room. He's about to paint a wooden snake to make it his own artwork!

Things are going well...except for the occasional times when he wants to trade me in on a Mommy who will give him bacon, sausage, or hotdogs every morning for breakfast....

SHE'S BACK....AND ONE'S LEAVING!!!

I drove to Chicago yesterday and picked up my Jennie....she had spent 7 lovely weeks in England with her boyfriend's parents. (well...he was there, too...) She had a wonderful time and is kind of sad to be back.  However, she is happy to meet new nephew Parker and get to know her new little brother Israel a little bit better...or a whole lot better!! She did admit to having missed all of us...a little bit!! haha

So this Momma's heart was really happy yesterday when I saw her for the first time in nearly two months. She couldn't understand why I was crying!!

Now that sad news...my oldest daughter, Marci, and her husband Ben, are leaving for Seattle tomorrow. No, it's not just for a visit...they're moving there. Weep, sob, kick and scream on the floor....

I know it's part of the growing up thing...with her going off to do her own thing and live her own life...but it's sad. I will miss her intensely! Seattle is a long long long way from Indiana....

We're having a going away party for them tonight and I know there will be a LOT of tears on my part.

I'm happy for her....kinda....

Blessings,
Beth

Introducing....

Israel and Daddy and Mommy! I finally feel like I might be safe to show a picture of our little boy, Israel! He is so precious and one of our biggest blessings so far in our lives. But to be honest, we have a lot of blessings...children, grandchildren, in law blessings....etc. We are VERY VERY BLESSED!

One of our newest blessings is a new grandson!!!!! Baby Parker was born to Erin and Danny on the 24th of July....I know, I feel terrible about not posting about it earlier...but life's been kinda crazy lately. Parker joins big brother Liam....2....as much much much loved children in their home. God is good!

We had a "get to know you" picnic today with our newest homeschool group. We are still involved with Becca's classes that she takes with other homeschoolers but I'm having the kids become involved with another group as well. Israel had a wonderful time getting to know some children and they seemed to like him a lot, as well!

Israel's first soccer game is tomorrow!! He's on the "Chickenhawks" team!! (Only in Indiana.....)

I've started getting some school work together for his school year...I'd love to start with Saxon Math but I'm not quite sure yet. We have started working on math and reading already...just to get an idea where he is with his education. He kind of had a "scattered" year last year, so I'm going to be pretty laid back this year. We're going to work on BONDING more than anything else. We're also learning alot of Bible stories and playing games to learn with!

izzy israel   dfvszjk,yuikhntyuetrwpohghfchfgggffgfbbffbfbjfbdjfndjfngbdgvbnbnbvdffbdhrrbeggfscvsfdsdfdcfxfxdcsafscdvxffgcxfgxcvsgvgvcghdfvbhgdhfebfdbhhhjehi thgutbgjribjurgtnbuh hguehtuhturht ruhtr5 b bbhkjht bhbtr urhtg  ehbheh hhhrhuehuhuitrutti8yurujtjgmijrituijtuuhj8tf4urytutj rut  bh5jntt   uthrth bu5hjuh5t5thu  b hty6t b6tjuhtiojh

Ummmm.....that was from Israel. We need to work on his spelling....and grammar....and sentence structure....

Blessings!
Beth.....and Israel.....
(Gotta love this little guy!!!!!!!!!)

"SCRIPTURE" by our little Congolese Boy....

Daddy Roger has been working on reading Scripture each night at suppertime. Israel refers to it as "The Black Book."  We've also been doing a Bible story plus a "fun" story, prayers and songs at bedtime. From time to time during the day, I have been using the Scripture to back up our "rules" in our home. Sometimes, it works.....

Tonight, Roger asked the kids what verses they have been working on or remembering in their daily lives. The teenagers were a bit more hesitant but six year old Israel spoke up readily.

"Don't let the Devil down when you're ANGRY!" he proudly "quoted."

There was quite a silence around the table...Israel was soooo happy that he "remembered"....but soon the giggles broke out. He wasn't sure why we were laughing at him and I said, "You make us really happy!" and he was pleased with that response.

Yeah, we did have to help him out a bit and tell him the REAL verse...Ephesians 4:26 "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath..."

He surprised us with the NEXT verse he remembered...in NIV "Ephesians 4:27 "Do not give the Devil a foothold."

We worked on that one last week. I had explained to him what a "foothold" was...like the climbing wall at the park. 15 year old Gideon further explained it as someone trying to get into your house and puts their foot in the door so you can't close it.

Later that "Bible time", Roger asked what we all got from the passage and Israel said, "Don't let the Devil get a foothold in your life or he will show up at your door!" I HOPE I explained that one enough that he no longer worries that the Devil will be showing up anytime soon.....

It's going to take a while for this little "Jewish Congolese" boy to understand....but he's getting there!

Blessings,
Beth

Our Boy Israel!!

For those of you who have been following our adoption story, our little guy is HOME! As I am sure you can imagine, this week has been crazy but great! Not only did we travel to go get Israel, spent three days with him, travel back, get kids ready for the 4H fair, have Roger give the eulogy for a dear friend's funeral, we are also all getting used to each other!

He is absolutely wonderful...just wonderful!
He is a typical six year old little boy but he has been through some terrible terrible things. The first few days he was really concerned that he had to save any money he might find to buy food. I think he is ok with the food supply we have now but he is REALLY concerned with his new Mommy and Daddy dying. In fact, he asked what would happen if we died and I told him that I don't think we are going to die anytime soon and not to worry about it but that IF something were to happen, we have made plans for son Danny and his wife Erin to take care of him. So...he said, "Can I have their phone number in case you die?"

Ok...gotta admit, it WAS funny but it also is a sad thing for him to worry about these things. I told him that the police and fire department would take care of him until Danny and Erin could drive here!

He also said that he is worried that he will have to find yet ANOTHER home and family. I told him "NO WAY!"  But since he doesn't necessarily think the way a child who has not been traumatized would think, I told him that we love him, are committed to him AND we have already painted and decorated his room just for him! (I know that sounds strange to you and me but he hasn't said another thing about it. Sometimes I think that he needs reassurance in lots of different ways...after all, another family said he was "home" too and they gave him up. So I thought that maybe the"We have a  room just for Israel" would be a different approach. After all, no one else ever gave him a room just for him with his favorite things! I thought it was worth a try! It seemed to work!)

Well...he is pretty hungry right now and I have some of his favorite things ready for him.

Oh, I love being a "Mommy" again!!!

Blessings,
Beth

"Get Him" Day!!

We leave first thing Thursday morning (July 12) to drive to northern Wisconsin to pick up our little boy! It's about a ten hour drive from here so by evening we should have our boy! I'm pretty nervous at this point. I hope he will like us! I know that he has spent time with us on a few occasions but leaving with us is a completely different thing!

Keep us in your prayers if you think of it...we should be returning late on Sunday and signing the papers on Monday! ( We were told we were to sign them today but the lawyers changed their minds!)

Blessings,
Beth

More Adoption News!!

We sign the papers on Wednesday....the original adoptive parents sign away their rights and we sign for our rights to adopt Israel. Kind of a bittersweet day, I guess...Great for us...sad for his previous adoptive father who really hates this whole thing.

I talked to our little Israel by phone last week and told him that we were thinking about him ALL the time! He asked, "Why are you thinking about me so much?"

Wow....if he only knew how committed we are to him and are loving him already....I think he just doesn't understand. I don't think he can understand that we love him before he loves us and that we want to be his family and give him all that we can give him....love, security, a home...

I've been thinking about that a lot this weekend. I realize that WE as humans are incapable of understanding the vastness of God's love for us...even before we love HIM....that He would die for us. Amazing. Like Israel, we just don't understand it yet. Hopefully Israel will comprehend our love for him even though we can not fully comprehend God's love for us!

I'll keep you updated...he should be joining us soon!!

Blessings,
Beth

We've Been Approved!!!

FINALLY....the biggest hurdle that we have had to jump is over! The last adoption agency that we have had to deal with has said YES to us! It has been a really strange situation since we have been approved by everyone else a long time ago but because of the unusual situation with our little boy, the original placing adoption agency had to say ok as well! And they just did so....now it is in the hands of the attorneys who will hand it over to the courts and then they will tell us when to sign the papers and go get our little guy!

I took a picture of his room and sent it to his foster mom. He didn't say much about it at first. He is really apprehensive about everything as I certainly understand that he would be that way! Poor little guy....all these different homes and different rules...different "moms and dads"....

He asked me once if I was going to take care of him for his life....imagine having to worry about that! Most of us have never been concerned about that as a six year old child. My life as a little six year old was filled with love, laughter, baby dolls and farm life...not starvation, abuse, neglect, major illnesses, and rejection.

There will be a time of adjustment for our little guy. He will have to learn to trust us and eventually understand love. We know it is going to be a struggle for all of us from time to time. We can't expect everything to go smoothly all the time but God is with us. He is the One Who set our feet on this path. He is the One Who knew Israel before he was even born. He is the One Who brought him out of the Congo and set his course to coincide with ours. He is the only One who can make things ok for all of us. He is the One Who loved Israel enough to take care of him when Israel was dying in Africa and prepared the way for him. He is an amazing God! He is the only God! He is the omniscient, omnipotent loving Father to us all....

Blessings,
Beth

Still....no Israel.....

It is certainly becoming discouraging to us while we wait and wait with no news of when we can go get our little boy. He, however, is at this moment "vacationing" in northern Wisconsin. You know, six year old boys are badly in need of vacations.....His latest foster mother, who is wonderful, by the way, has sent me two pictures of him having fun with her children. My biggest concern is that he is attaching too much to them and that it will be very hard for him to attach to us.....His bedroom here at home is just adorable...I need to do a little more and then I can send HIM pictures and post some on here as well!

I have some really interesting and sad news that I heard regarding Israel's life in the Congo. I want to think about how I want to write it so I will fill you in in a few days.

Jennie is having a great time in England! She is in the county of Surrey and is experiencing what it is like to live in England. She has six more weeks of being away from us.....sad for me, but I know she is loving it. She seems to really like Chris' family and I know that she feels more than "like" for Chris.....

Becca and I are on our way to stay for the day with my precious daughter in law, Erin, and their little boy Liam. Erin is on bed rest until she can safely deliver "Parker", our latest grandson, due in about six weeks. I love spending time with them!

The 4H fair is coming up and that is always a really busy time for us! Becca has cut down the amount of projects this year to 5 and Gideon has 2. We usually spend a great deal of time at the fairgrounds and we even have church at the fairgrounds! (Yeah....you're right....we live in a fairly "redneck" part of Indiana...but I LOVE IT!!!)

Well, Erin is waiting for our arrival...and her hubby Danny has requested that I bring her Wendy's french fries....so I need to "make haste!"

Blessings to you,
Beth

Talked to Israel!

I was able to talk to little Israel yesterday. He was a little distracted with the other kids in the house. I THINK he had gotten himself  into a little bit of trouble...he had to write sentences! Kinda hard for a little boy just out of kindergarten!

Hopefully the adoption agency is processing our case...then it all goes to the New York Courts and then to the courts here in Indianapolis. All a very long process for this little guy.

But the upside is that he gets to go on vacation to northern Wisconsin next week! It is about 5 miles from the Canadian border and from what I understand, very remote. He is excited to do that so I'm happy for him!

My own Jennie leaves for her six week long England trip on Tuesday. I'm going to MISS her sooooo much! She's growing up....(mommy wiping tears away....) She is such a big part of my life. The hardest part is knowing that this is all kind of a trial period to see if she really wants to live there permanently. The love of her life lives there.......So I want it to work out but then again, she will no longer be part of my every day life. Her BIG sister is moving to Seattle with her new husband. (Weep, sob, find a Kleenex....) I guess that is just the way it is when your kids become independent! Yeah, I need that little six year old very very soon.....

Have a lovely day!
Beth

Adoption Update....

I talked to one of the adoption agencies by phone a few times yesterday and had a lengthy "interview" by an adoption liaison for that agency. Whew....it was an exhausting 45 minutes. It was just an emotional kind of thing and I felt as though I was going to "blow" it.... but I think it went well!

The original agency who first placed Israel with his adoptive parents are now "in charge" of his adoption. It kind of scares me because we have already been "chosen" by another agency to adopt him. But legally, we had to have this other agency involved, too, in order to have him able to cross state lines and come home to us. So it seems that THEY have to accept us as well....

But, God is over Kings and Heads of State, so I am SURE He has no problem with Adoption Agencies.....

I talked to our little Israel on Friday. His first adoptive parents said "Goodbye" to him that day and told him that they were no longer going to be his parents. He, of course, cried....and so did the Daddy. I am sure it was sooo difficult for them.  But I got the phone call from his foster Mom and then talked to Israel. He said, "I really like you guys a whole lot!" I had tears in my eyes when I told him we like him a whole lot, too....and that I miss him and have been thinking about him all the time!

I know it will work out, it is just taking much longer than we wanted it to. Jennie is leaving for England one week from today and we had hoped that he would already be in our home by then. I do want her to meet him before she leaves.

It is possible that we will have him by then...but increasingly unlikely. However, his foster parents are going to Wisconsin for 8 weeks starting on Sunday and they will be driving though Indiana!!!! Hmmmmm.............makes me think that I will be making a road trip..............Anything it takes just to see my boy!

Blessings!
Beth

Not Good News...but God is at Work!

The court news we received today wasn't good news. But all is not lost...God is at work and He may have once again gone behind the scenes to get done what we could not have done on our own. The short story is that the "guardian" that the first adoptive parents picked was not accepted by the court so now the only thing left to do is the RIGHT thing that we wanted to have done all along...for privacy issues, I can't say WHAT exactly...but it is a GOOD thing...it is just going to take a little longer than we had hoped.

The sweet thing that happened today was that I got to talk to my little boy on the phone!! He was told by the foster Mom that his other family wasn't going to keep him but that WE wanted him! He cried because he wants to go home to what he knows...but he is happy that we want him! So when I talked to him the very first thing he asked was, "Are you going to be my forever and ever Mommy?" To which I replied, "OH YES, HONEY!"
Then he asked, "Are you going to take care of me for my life?"
I said, "Yes, everyone in our house wants to take care of you because we take care of each other!"
He sniffled a little but he felt happy about it!
I told him that we were painting his room and he turned to his Foster Mom and with excitement in his voice he told her...she asked him to ask me what color we were painting it.
I told him "a construction truck yellow" and that our grandson Dylan was helping me and was standing in front of me grinning from ear to ear.
"I would like to have a friend." he said with a smile in his voice.
I assured him that he would have Dylan as a friend!
Later, Foster Mom Debbie told me that it was a very good sign that  the ONLY thing that he was concerned about was if we were going to be his forever Mommy and Daddy. He didn't care about materials things, just his Mommy and Daddy.  Children with attachment issues, which he is working though, are not concerned about relationships, just what they can "get." He has come a long way....baby......

It is taking a while and we are saddened that we can't just go and get our little boy. A six year old is too young not to have a "for life Mommy and Daddy" with him all the time!

So, please pray for Israel and our newest development in our adoption journey. I know that God is working!

Blessings,
Beth

No News Yet....

We are waiting on news from the lawyers/adoption agency regarding our little Israel. His case should have been presented to the judge on Monday so I feel as though we should hear very soon....possibly on Wednesday. I feel bad that he is there without us, although he has his WONDERFUL foster mom...but it's not quite the same as having a "for life" Mommy and Daddy of your very own!

So, for now, this For Life Mommy and Daddy have been painting Mr. Israel's room a bright "boy" yellow...kind of a construction vehicle yellow...and getting ready to be parents again, this time, together!

Blessings,
Beth

Court Date!

From what we understand, our little boy's case will be heard in court today in the other state in which he is a legal resident. They are trying to switch custody of him to a third party who can then give us custody!

Pray that it goes well! If that doesn't work, I was told that there is a "plan B"...but I'd love for it to work!

We are busy switching rooms around, stirring up dust and making me really sick with allergies! We have two cats and one dog in the house as well as living in the country with lots of dusty tractors and fields around. I told my hubby that I thought I had two options regarding dust and pet allergies...

#1....keep a very very clean house.
#2...leave everything alone and just never stir up dust...

I thought option #2 was the better and more likely solution but dear hubby opted for number 1.
(But there is always allergy medications, so I guess there is an option #3....)

Hopefully we will hear good news very soon and will have a date to go get our Israel! Leaving Sunday afternoon would be the very very best time for us but I'm not sure that it will work for the foster Mom...a.k.a. Mrs. Wonderful. She really is incredible and gives all the credit to God, which makes her even more wonderful!

God was wonderful to us and made our trip to the D.C. area a sweet time for our marriage... holding hands and talking to each other.  We are hoping to take the girls with us when we come back. Unfortunately, Gideon has some commitments that will not make it possible for him to go. We didn't get to actually go to D.C. or the other historic areas on this fast trip so we want to take a little extra time this next trip with the girls. I haven't seen Washington D.C. since I was 15 or so....and that has been a couple of years for me. (yeah. At least a couple.)

We had heard some car noises when we were about to make the trip home and Roger thought it would be best to have it checked out. He made the statement that we could just pray and trust God to help us get back over the mountains in our little Aveo.....but he also said that God gave us sense and we should take care of what He has provided for us.

All checked out well and our trip home was non eventful....except that we had a wonderful time. At one point, we were entertaining each other by trying to name all the Duggar children in order. We kept missing one. Poor little Jason.
Speaking of Duggars, I bought some DVD's of their show since we no longer have "TV"...just videos. We have gone over a year with no real TV. Anyway, 19 year old Jennie walked into the room last night and noticed that we had just turned the TV/DVD player on.
 She said, "Time for our 'Daily Dose of Duggars?'"
We thought it was pretty funny! We were excited because we were getting ready to watch an episode of the Bates family with the Duggars! I just love those families! They really helped us decide to adopt....even though they haven't the slightest idea who we are!

Well, back to work! Possibly tomorrow I can work on painting Israel's room! It's going to be a kind of antique yellow...in a boyish sort of way. I'm decorating it with retro pictures of cars, trucks, and airplanes. I bought a reversible quilt with navy, burgundy and that yellow color on one side  and dark green, navy and yellow on the other side. (That is, until he arrives home and makes it his own with his ideas and likes and dislikes!) I also thought it would be really cute to decorate it with John Deere tractors....but for a little boy from the Congo who has spent the last two years in New York city or the D.C. area, it may be a little soon to throw John Deeres at him!

Blessings,
Beth

He is Wonderful!

What a whirlwind we have been riding the last few days! We were able to meet our little guy on Wednesday and we ended up spending all afternoon and into the early evening with him! His foster mom is great...what a blessing she is in these kids' lives. She is doing some really hard work with children who have had traumatic pasts.
Israel is just wonderful and really ready to have a Mommy and a Daddy who is committed to him. He has big brown puppy dog eyes and curly eye lashes. He has a smile that lights up his face and the room! We were able to visit with the "family" and then we all went to lunch together. He sat with Roger and myself and his foster mom and her little girl (who is also a child with trauma in her past.) He still had no idea that we were really there to see him. Eventually we took him to Chuckie Cheese alone to play games. He had a ball and so did we! We gave him a little birthday present...a model that he and Roger put together...and a build a bear frog in soccer clothes. He was quite happy.
Then, we went to the park to meet up with the "family" again. When it was time to go, we promised we would be back the next day. (There was an issue with the model that I bought...it was missing a piece and Roger had to superglue it...God works in mysterious ways, doesn't He? I mean, it was easily fixed, but we got to visit again! Israel is learning to TRUST people so when we said we would bring it fixed the next day, he could start learning to trust us.) We got to talk a little more to him and he told us that he wished we could be his MOMMY and DADDY! Oh how hard it was not to just break down and cry at that. Foster Mommy had some tears rolling down her face, too! How sweet it was!
She told him that we wanted to adopt a little child so maybe we could work something out! We have to be a little "guarded" at this point for him until all the papers are signed and we have a date to receive custody of him. We don't want to hurt him any more than he has already been hurt.
When we got ready to leave, he told us that he was happy and sad...two emotions that he is learning to recognize. He was happy to be with us but sad to have us have to leave. We promised to come back very soon and when we left, his foster Mommy was holding him and he was crying.

So was I...but it was all good. We are pretty much in love with this little boy!

Now it is up to the two states we each live in to get it together so that we can have our boy. Although he is originally from the Congo, he is now a United States citizen. The Lord is good. I am so ashamed that I was so impatient and upset that I felt He wasn't helping us with our adoption. But all along, He was doing some wonderful, secret work that only He could do for us and for Israel. What a blessing our Lord is in our lives...and we have the incredible privilege to share Him with Israel!

Blessings,
Beth

Meet him day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh wow....I am sooo excited! Today is "meet him" day!!! We get to meet our little Israel for the very first time! I hope he likes us!!!  Right now, we have about 2 hours before we see our little son. I'm on the verge of tears and getting nervous. I hope he likes us!!!!
We left Indiana yesterday at about noon and drove straight through to the east coast and finally arrived about 1 a.m. this morning. I was a bit wound up and didn't get to sleep until about 3 a.m. I worked on finalizing a scrapbook to leave for him when his foster mom is able to let him in on the "secret" that we are adopting him. Until we have a "get him" date, we are not telling him. But we get to enjoy the company of an adorable little boy for the afternoon!

Can't wait!!!!! I hope he likes us!!

Did I mention that I hope he likes us?
Blessings,
Beth

Lots to do!!!

We are getting soooo excited to get to meet our little boy this week! We leave tomorrow (Tuesday) and then drive to Virginia to spend some of Wednesday with him. Yay!!

Jennie's open house was a nice success...although it was HOT!!! I think it was about 95 here in central Indiana. We also had a garage sale on Saturday and again....HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of stuff going on here...please pray that our "big" house would sell. Now that we have chosen Israel, we really would love to have that house burden off our backs so that we can concentrate on our "home" and not a "house." We are busy trying to get the rooms rearranged to make room for a delightful six year old boy!!

Have a lovely Memorial Day.  Remember those who have served us well....

Blessings,
Beth

What a ride this adoption thing is! It's still a "go" to adopt little Israel but there has just been a "glitch" in the works lately. Since this is not really an international adoption (although he is originally from Africa) we have to go through a lot of red tape to get the states to agree to everything. Our state also requires that custody be given or relinquished to an agency instead of given directly to us...so that is one headache we are enduring. We also were just told that our homestudy has to be updated before the states can move forward. Yuck.

We were supposed to go get our little boy next week but now it looks like it will be a bit longer. But you know, as anxious and excited (and slightly overwhelmed and really nervous) that I am, God knows what is the very best thing for our little guy. Maybe he needs a little more time there.

We will plan to go visit him next week regardless of not being able to bring him home. That is really exciting to me. I think possibly this is the best way, anyway. That way, he is able to prepare a little bit more than just meeting us and then the next day we take him with us. How scary that might be for him!

Anyway, we are busy getting the house ready for a new member of our home.

Jennie's graduation party (very small party...she has only invited family...) is this weekend. We are also working on a garage sale to help us with the expenses of our adoption and are planning to have it Saturday.
Yeah...not much going on here!

Today was the last day of classes for Becca's homeschool "co-op." It's not really a co-op but it is too difficult to explain in any other term!

I hope God's blessings are falling all around you now and that you enjoy Memorial Day weekend. It is a big weekend here in central Indiana, with the 500 Mile Race. (Yikes...I don't even know who is racing!! I don't get a lot of news now that we don't get television anymore!!)

Blessings,
Beth

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To be completely fair to my daughter, I first need to tell how the big day for Mrs. Marci and her Mr. Ben went.
They were married on Saturday! It rained and was pretty cold. It was to be held outside at the gazebo where they first met many years ago. They were both attendants in my husband's daughter's wedding! Then...Ben asked her to marry him at that same gazebo...where Roger asked ME to marry HIM! So...they had hoped that it would stop raining so that they could add that special place to their most special day.
My dad, aka...Papoo...was to marry them and at noon, he and my mom prayed that it would stop raining and IT DID!!!!!!!!!!! (it was still pretty cold...but that's ok....)The pictures are beautiful and as soon as I can, I want to post some of them! Papoo gave glory to God after the wedding. He is soooo sweet! (I meant my dad is sweet...well, God is sweet, too...but I meant my dad....never mind....)

We had the reception nearby and it was so much fun! Roger and I did the cake, I did the flowers, I did the food with help from my dear friend Deanna and her family. It was a wonderful time!!!!

Ok.....so....drum roll, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are soon to be parents to a six year old little boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!! His name is Israel and he is gorgeous! I'm sure I can't say a whole lot more, but one of these days, you are going to read about our incredible journey in my blog!

We should have him in our home in early June.

What a blessing!! Praise the Lord. I'm so ashamed at how many times I doubted what God was doing in our adoption. He is bringing us the little BOY we need and giving him a Mommy and Daddy who want and need him. (And I'm going to have a fund raising garage sale....Israel does NOT want to wear all those dresses I bought for him/her!!!!!)

Thank you, Lord! I am so honored and at the same time, humbled that He has chosen us to have this little boy!

Blessings,
Beth

It just keeps getting complicated! ;)

This has been such a strange 48 hours around here! You would have to read my previous post to fully understand, but within 8 hours, we were told or were seeking information about THREE precious children available for us to adopt!

THEN, THE INCREDIBLE THING HAPPENED!!

Just over two weeks ago, we had applied to adopt little "I"...a 5 year old boy originally from the Congo. We were pretty certain that he would be ours...and so was the adoption worker. However, as I was expecting to get the email or phone call confirming our thought, I instead got the email saying that he was being returned to his home in the United States. (it's complicated and for privacy issues, I don't think I should explain...)

Anyway, I cried a LOT for a few days and then decided to move forward with other avenues of adoption. I returned his clothes that I bought...started putting away what I had out to make his bedroom cute....etc...

SOOOO....yesterday....drum roll, please.....we got the email saying he was available and that I needed to call immediately! So I did! (of course...) I was able to talk to the adoption agency and we were basically chosen for him!

We have a conference call set up for Saturday night and if that goes well, we will travel to the other side of the United States to meet him! (just in time for his 6th birthday! I think this prospective Mommy will need to go shopping! WooHoo...shopping for this little boy!!!)

He is beautiful! He plays the violin and speaks French and English! He's brilliant! Did I mention that he's beautiful and brilliant?????? Well, he is...just in case you weren't aware....

Please pray for our decision...and his parents' decision and his decision! He's had some difficulty and we really feel like we want him to WANT to be our little boy. It's going to be a hard adjustment for us all...but with the Lord's help, I'm sure we can do it!

Oh, by the way, my birthday is this Sunday and my husband asked me what I wanted...I told him "a little child." Maybe my birthday wish will come true!

OH MY OH MY!!

Today has been a fairly remarkable day for us! We need prayers for wisdom....

I received a phone call today from a foster mother who has a little boy who is 9 months old in her care. She wanted to tell me about him and asked if we were interested in pursuing his adoption. He sounds wonderful...he has some health concerns...but none the less...wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THEN...I got an email from our original adoption agency and SHE SENT US A PICTURE OF A LITTLE GIRL WE CAN ADOPT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is about three years old and is in an African country. She was abandoned at the gate of the home of a government official in her country.

You know...we've been calling our little girl that we have been praying for God to give us.... "Grace."

Well, her name isn't exactly Grace...but it is "FAITH" !!!!

Pretty cool, don't you think?

We're not sure what we are going to do. Right now we have three options...the 5 year old little boy from the neighboring state, the infant boy from our state, or little Faith.
By the way, I also think the 5 year old little boy is WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With both of the little boys, we will have to be chosen by the foster care "powers that be"...to be able to adopt either of them. There may be lots of red tape and issues and other families trying to adopt them...and then there is always the fight to have the parental rights terminated. The older little guy is already able to be adopted. (I kinda want all of them.........I REALLY want all of them.....) Unfortunately, we will not find out if we can get the 5 year old until the middle of June...possibly too late to see about the other two little angels. It's kind of a gamble to work with the Foster system....We haven't yet been told we are even going to be considered for him. We won't know yet for several weeks.

With Faith, I think we just have to say "Yes"......and be able to finance the adoption.

It's pretty strange...after all this time of heartache and "living in the desert" feeling we have been experiencing, we have these three options. I hate the feeling of saying "NO" to a child.

I am not sure I will be able to sleep tonight...I may need my friend, "NyQuil."

Or better yet...I need my Friend, Jesus. I can talk to Him and fall asleep in His company!

Hello! I have just hung my first load of laundry out on the clothesline! (However, I can't find my clothespins so my mattress protectors may find themselves in the neighboring farmer's field...)

We have started the process to try to find out about little "M"...a five year old little boy in foster care. We had to update our homestudy and Jennie and I had to get new fingerprinting done since ours were over a year old now.

Our agency will submit our homestudy and then find out more information about him. Then we can decide if we want to pursue it. Other families will most likely be pursuing his adoption as well so we just have to wait and see....and pray...and hope...and try not to get MY hopes up too much!

We won't know any decision until mid June....what a LONG wait!

Until then, I guess we can concentrate on organizing and cleaning our home...something that needs to be done anyway!

Marci's wedding is in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!! We are pretty well ready, yesterday we bought some more things for the meal for the wedding. It may sound strange, but we are having a "pasta buffet"....it is something we all love and it will be less expensive to do than to do a big catered meal. None of us are wealthy and it just isn't wise to go into great debt to have a lavish wedding. I'm sure it will be nice and I have a friend who is going to help me!

It is a little sad because we were planning to have our child home with us by now but the adoption just hasn't gone as we expected. We had thought that we would have a little girl in our family and that she would be a flower girl. We bought a matching flowergirl basket but her basket will remain empty.

God sees and knows all things...I need to keep that in mind. He knows which child He wants us to have, boy or girl, toddler or older. I'm beginning to accept that now where before I was adamant what "I" wanted. I'm glad that God is working in my heart and life and I really want what HE wants for us and for our future child. I was telling Roger just last night that I honestly don't have the same wish that I had a year or two ago. Now I just want to have who GOD wants us to have.

I am SURE that I will have all the love in the world to give to that special child God has picked out for us!

Many Blessings on You This Lord's Day!

Beth

Have a lovely day!

Beth

Praying for "M"

Good morning! What a beautiful day it is here in Indiana! I have little Brody today and he just makes my day!

We are praying about a little boy..."M"....about a possibility to adopt him. He is just adorable and five years old. We have to be chosen, again, and won't know anything for at least a month. We also have to have the adoption agency who did our homestudy cooperate with the agency who has the little guy. I know that there are a lot of laws and certain licensing that everyone has to abide by so it's kinda not up to us....but he is really a cutie pie!

I keep losing my heart for these little children and it is so hard when we are disappointed. But it is all in God's hands and He knows what is best for all involved.

Lots to do today...working on Marci's wedding flowers in a little while! It's coming up...April 28th!

Well, take care!
Blessings,
Beth

Not the News We Expected....

Late last night we received the good/bad news that the little boy who we wanted to adopt was being given another chance in his adopted home. He has spent several months in a therapeutic home and has just returned to his adopted parents. So....hopefully, for him, it will work out and he will not have to have any more sadness in his life. That means that we are not an option for him...if it is successful for him. Of course, we are kinda hoping it WILL work out for him because that would be better for him in the long run...but we are very disappointed...in a selfish way.

We are growing weary of our adoption journey. We aren't giving up...just very weary and battered. Perhaps we will find our child in the foster system.

(By the way, Ann....Jennie will be travelling to Surrey, England where her "true love" is! )


Blessings,
Beth

Waiting for Adoption News!!!!

Well...a lot has happened in the last week...Jennie and her English boyfriend, Chris, had a wonderful time together!! I cried when I had to take him to the airport yesterday! (I think Jennie shed her tears privately!) She is anxiously planning to get her passport and hoping to make her own travel plans to England this summer!

Now for the BIG news!!! We have applied to try to adopt a beautiful almost six year old little boy! I'm on pins and needles waiting to see what news we get. We have to be "chosen" once again so it's really out of our hands! God is perfectly capable of planning our futures and the little guy's future...but we do hope we will be together! He is originally from the Congo and has seen much sadness...so we are praying for God to heal his little spirit...and to help us understand him and to love him through all his fears! (Ok...I'll confess to you...because I know you won't tell anyone...I'm already getting a little carried away. I've already done some shopping.......) We do hope we are chosen for him! I think that the next step will be to have a phone interview and if that goes well, we will travel to meet the little cutie!

So, keep us in your prayers, if you think about it! I hope we will let you know good news within a week or two!

Blessings!
Beth

More Birthdays, A Special Visitor.....and Adoption News....

Rebecca's 15th birthday was yesterday and we celebrated by going to the zoo. The weather was perfect and we had a great time. Friday we will celebrate all the March birthdays in our family...there are 4 of them!

We recently drove to Chicago to pick up a very special British visitor to our home!!! Chris has been Jennie's on line "relationship" for quite a while now. They have skyped untold hours, facebooked each other and texted for the last 2 1/2 years...and they were finally able to meet! What a wonderful time they (and all of us) have had this last week! He will be here for just under one more week and I'm sure there will be sooo many tears when he leaves! He is such the English gentleman...in a big, rugged sort of way!

Well....our adoption seems to be going nowhere. We have finally been able to contact our agency yesterday and she said that nothing is moving in the country we have chosen and is really pushing us to change countries. I'm not sure I feel led to do that....

However, we have been emailed information about two separate cases with a child in need of a home and we are prayerfully looking into that! One is a little girl aged 7 and one is a little boy aged 5. They are both beautiful!!! We can't have both. They each need the love and attention that being an "only" little child in the home could provide. I could love either one! But we are still in prayer for the situation and just as in the earlier adoption we tried in November, we would have to be chosen by the family who has the child currently. So...if you think about it, please keep us in your prayers. I don't know if I can handle being heartbroken again. I'm sure I can...because God gives us strength, doesn't He?
The strange thing is, if we end up getting either of these precious little souls, it would all make sense why we didn't get the two children in November! These current children are both from the same agency that handled the prior case. We didn't even know about that agency until then. Perhaps God was preparing us for the child He wants us to have. We'll see, I guess!! :)
We are seeking God's Will in this.

Blessings,
Beth

Lovely, boring, rainy day.....

The house is so quiet today...Becca is at her homeschool classes, Brody isn't with me today, so it is just incredibly quiet. I guess I should like it...but I'm not too crazy about it.
I've done laundry and dishes and I made tonight's supper yesterday.
Ewww....I suppose I should clean out the kitties' litter box....something I'm NOT supposed to have to do since I'm allergic to it....but....sometimes there's just no putting it off!!

Becca and Gideon have "Teens Involved" competition this weekend so we will be travelling to Illinois to compete against other churches on Saturday. They are both in the same puppet show and Becca is in a Trumpet Trio. Gideon is in a "Drama."

I'm pretty sure this coming week will be difficult for Becca to get a lot of schoolwork done. She is going to spend much of the week at Danny, Erin, Liam, and "baby bump's" house...without Danny. He is going to be out of the state training for his police department. Erin is looking forward to having some extra help with little Mr. Liam....who NEVER stays still! She is expecting a new little one (a.k.a....baby bump...) in August and is happy to have some help from Becca this week!

That is one of the WONDERFUL things about homeschooling! Becca is learning to have a servant's heart since she can take her schoolwork with her! (that's the plan, anyway...) Her homeschool group is also very interested in service...so that's cool!

I've done a little bit of scrapbooking today and plan to take it with me to work on while I wait for Becca's trumpet lesson to end this evening. I'm currently working on Christmas, 2010....isn't that terrible that I am that far behind? Actually, I'm in worse shape than it seems....I just picked that particular thing to get in a scrapbook! I could probably still find things from 1983 to do!! Good grief, I'm old......Anyway, I had an OLD OLD movie on while I journalled. It was an Agatha Christie movie called "And Then There Were None." I have seen other adaptations of this movie so I was very surprised at the ending! I'm not sure which one is accurate but it was still exciting!

This is the report of my very boring...yet pleasant day. Sometimes it's just nice to have a candle or two burning while it is raining outside and have nothing really going on! AHHHHHHhhhh......
Time to just....breathe.....(after I clean out the litter box...that is.....)
Blessings,
Beth

Birthday Blessings.....

22 years ago I was blessed by becoming Mommy to Marcella...later known as Marcie...then updated to "Marci-without-the-e".... I was the happiest young lady in the world! I had two wonderful and handsome little boys already and then I had Marci. Three years later...almost to the date...I had Jennifer! Marci is pictured on the left and Jennie is on the right. Out of my five children, four of them have birthdays in March! (and they're all redheads that are born in March!) Danny will be out of the state for his birthday as he learns how to join the S.W.A.T. team for his police department! (Strange way to spend a birthday....dontcha think?) Becca's birthday is late in the month.

You don't know how having a child...or an additional child...will change your life. I have been blessed to have them all.
Some are (slightly....) more serious than the others. I remember worrying that little Becca would NEVER develop a sense of humor. NO FEARS!!!!! She oftentimes has to be "hushed!!"
It is crazy when they are all together. Jennie seems soooo quiet when people meet her. At home, she comes out of her shell. When she AND Danny are together, spurred on by big brother, Aaron, Marci and Rebecca, it's just one belly laugh after another. Sometimes I just have to leave the room......!!!!!!

How is it that they can remember lines from stupid cartoons or shows or music lyrics at a moment's notice? How can there possibly be an appropriate.....ummm....sometimes inappropriate....line for every occasion????

Life with my kids.....I couldn't get along without them!!!!

Cooking lessons.....

Jennie and I went shopping for a new cookbook for her late last week. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked at Joanne Fabrics and spent WAY too much time there. We got to Half Price Books with only five minutes to shop...so we went elsewhere to look for a new cookbook. (Jennie was a very good sport......bad bad momma.....)

At HomeGoods, we found a wonderful book for her! It called "The Easy to Use Beginner's First Cookbook." That sounds so juvenile but wow it is really a good one! (and not at all for children!)

It takes her through some fundamentals but then it has her really use those basics in some pretty involved recipes.

Today she made Chili Con Carne. (with steak (!!!) and red wine.) I felt really awkward buying a tiny bottle of wine...we are non drinkers. Goodness, the house smelled like a distillery when she started using it to make the cooked sauce! I think next time we MIGHT use juice instead.

Luckily, my two teenage daughters are CONVINCED that wine is the nastiest smelling thing and they don't ever think they will drink it!

I'm very proud of her efforts...it is a long recipe and she did it all alone!

Blessings, Beth

Difficult Days....

Sometimes I hear terrible news that just absolutely takes my breath away. Faces in the news and in the paper usually just that...faces. Then other times, it hits close to home.

Yesterday my precious daughter in law called me very upset. She is the mommy to 20 month old Liam and is expecting another baby in August. She is married to my son, the police officer.

Immediately, I thought that something had happened to one of my precious people but she assured me that they were ok.

Then she asked me if I had heard about-----------. She said the name of a young man that I have known all his life and is one of my son's very best friends.

"Oh my gosh," I cried, "what has happened to him?" I was just sure that he had been killed or hurt.

"He has been arrested on child molestation of five boys," she sobbed. She went on to say that he was touching inappropriately.

We absolutely LOVE this young man and his family. When you go to a church most of your life and attend the same Sunday School with his parents and when the young man has been in all of your child's classes at school, the same birthday parties, class pictures, banquets, etc...they become a staple in your life.

We have had him in our home twice recently. His big sister took our family pictures for us.
WE LOVE THIS FAMILY......

So how do you react to this? No one in the news or who leaves comments online about him know him.
"He should be shot!"
"Worthless!"
"Scum of the earth..."
"Pervert..."

I haven't known the people that I see in the news either and I have almost always thought the very same thing. I AM SOOOO QUICK TO JUDGE. (because, of course, at that moment, I act like I'm without sin.....and we all know better than that, don't we?)

I head those words and I think about the little boy that has been one of Danny faithful friend...I just can't stand it. He has been so precious to us all his life. Sometimes you have a friend for a while and then they drift away. Not this young man. He has been a faithful, dear friend his whole life.

He's not some twisted disgusting person.
He's a sinner....and he has hurt young boys. He was soooo wrong.

His parents have been our friends for over a quarter of a century. They must be devastated.

I know we are.....

Waiting......

Our dossier' is in Africa now and we are just waiting for a referral for our little girl. It may be months and months...but it is all in God's hands! We are excited to have gotten this far!

The bad news is that our big house has not yet sold. Of course, we listed it during the worst time of year to sell a house and the best time is now coming up, right? Think positive......We were told that we were going to have an offer Sunday night but the buyer "flaked out"...must be realtor lingo....She decided that she wanted to spend $40,000 less than we were asking. She wondered if that would work for our house........ummmm....no. FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS LESS??? Oh well.......

Marci's wedding is in April...we were hoping to have sold the house so that we could handle the wedding with a little bit more money but....luckily, that young lady if FRUGAL!!!

Jennie is excited to have a good...."friend"....from England visit us in a few weeks! (We are all pretty excited! ) We have never actually met him in person, just skyped, emailed, phone calls, texts, and facebook. They have had a wonderful friendship for 2 1/2 years so it is just about time they meet!

Have a lovely day!
Beth

Conversations with a Two Year Old....

I absolutely adore my just turned two year old grandson Brody. I adore ALL of our grandies...but I am so blessed to keep him two days a week while his mommy and daddy work.

For about six months or so, we have been having a friendly "argument" about chickens and ducks. He insists that every time he sees a chicken it's really a duck. We have chicken things all over the house so we do "get into it" quite often.

I'll say, "Hey, Brody, what's that?"
Brody will say, "A duck!"
I'll say, "NO it's a chicken."
He'll say, "A DUCK!"
I'll say, "IT'S A CHICKEN...." and on and on it will go....

Finally, a week or so ago, we were walking out to the car and went past a chicken lawn ornament.
I said, "Hey, Brody, what's that?"
He thought for a few seconds and then said, "It's a CHICKEN!"
I was sooo shocked and I scooped him up and we danced a little jig in the front yard and I said, "Yay! Brody said it's a chicken! Yay!!! It's a chicken!"

I put him back down and we started back to the car.

We took a few steps and he looked up at me, smiled and said....

"IT'S A DUCK!!"

Indianapolis Superbowl and other stuff.....

Can you believe that I am about 20 minutes from downtown Indianapolis and haven't been anywhere near the Superbowl thing going on? I haven't been affected by it at all, I am sure I will be this weekend but so far, not at all! In fact, since we are currently going without TV, yesterday was the first thing I have seen about it...I was at my son's house!
I guess it's pretty cool downtown at Superbowl Village. I do know about the zipline that people are doing over the city. Hubby Roger fibbed to me and told me that we were scheduled to go on it. (I think I would break it....)
I'm glad that Indianapolis is showing well. It is a really nice city to be close to. I have always lived close to Indy, most of the time in outlying areas but all the hospitals, stores, government offices have always been close to us if we needed them.
No, I'm not going to the big game.
Who is playing exactly??????? (yeah, I'm out of it but I really do know who is playing!)
We had considered renting out the "big house" for people coming in but we didn't end up doing it.

I can't believe how quickly the winter is going by! Here it is already the first week of February!
21 year old daughter Marci sent me the itinerary to her upcoming wedding and it is really getting me excited for all of us! It looks to be a beautiful, meaningful....and SHORT ceremony! I'm all for short ceremonies! My dad, affectionately known to all of us as Papoo, is going to be officiating the ceremony. He is not a pastor, although at one time had considered it, but he is able to do this ceremony with a one day permission from the state.

We are in the process of WAITING and WAITING for news of our little girl we are trying to adopt from Africa. The dossier is hopefully already there, probably in the bottom of the stack of other applicants on someone's desk. I'm praying for the safe transport of that much worked on packet containing our "life".....and a child's destiny.

We think we have come up with a name for sure for our little girl. We will keep her African name as a middle name unless it happens to be a common American name. (which sometimes happens, depending on who named her.) But we are going to give her the name Chloe-Grace. We're not sure about hyphenating it...I like having it be one name and her African name being her middle name but hubby is not so sure. I don't think he really cares so much and he does like the name! So, that's half the battle! He actually wants to name her Beatrice Grace (after his grandma Beatrice.) Ummm.....can't do it.......It's kinda growing on me but ALL the children are having a fit about it. I'm sure that she will be just as precious to us no matter what we end up calling her! It would REALLY be wonderful if she ended up being two little ones!

Have a lovely weekend! Blessings to you all!
Beth

Blessings!!

What a beautiful crisp day it is here in central Indiana! The sky is bright blue with a few fluffy clouds drifting along. The soft shades of brown of the woods behind our house look lovely paired with the bright blue sky. There are a few patched of icy spots in the nearby fields reflecting the blue above.

I'd like to pass along a little blessing that my parents did for us a week or so ago. My dad...aka Hero to my children and myself...needed someone to go along with him to pick up his new/old RV that he purchased for he and my Mom to drive around in. (He is a bargain shopper...it would be very difficult to buy even a good used car for what he paid for this new-to-him RV!) Anyway, we drove to Ohio and when we got back late that evening, HE TRIED TO GIVE ME MONEY for having gone with him! Isn't that just crazy? I mean, I would give HIM money just to get to spend the day with him!

So of course, I refused!!! The next day, Mom called and said that they had a microwave for me!
WOW!!!! WHAT A BLESSING! We haven't had a microwave since we moved here in late spring! They decided that they wanted a microwave that fit their kitchen better (yeah, right....) so they gave me theirs! Sounds kinda fishy, don't you think????

Well, I appreciate it greatly! Now, I keep forgetting that I have one and every day, I think what a nice thing that was for them to do for us!

It is really a neat thing to be a blessing to someone, isn't it? I was just thinking today what a blessing the Duggars and the Bates are to us. They have really influenced us and I'm not sure that we would be adopting now if God hadn't used them to influence us. We don't have access to the Duggar tv show right now and it has been kinda sad for me to know that I don't get to see either family on a regular basis but sometimes I can catch up with them on the internet!

Well, speaking of blessing, I need to go clean our bathroom in our bedroom and be a blessing to my husband! And I think he's going to have a meatloaf for supper tonight before church...meatloaf is one of his all time favorites!
Have a lovely day!
Beth