Love Is In Bloom

I am going to use the name "Janie" for our little one. This is not her real name, but a meaningful one to me. 1. When I have read about how God has adopted us as His own, I always felt like I was His "good deed". I was, but it is so much more than that. When he took me into His family, it was His good pleasure to have me as his daughter. When Janie was brought to our door, I felt a miracle in my heart take place. I felt the love God had for Janie and for me and for all of us on a level I hadn't experienced before. I don't know what the certain future of this sweetheart is, for now we are her foster family for a season and that is what  I know. She is not legally adopted, but she is our family, as loved and as included as my biological children and this is what she and all foster children deserve. I am living for today, and today she is grafted into our family until we are told differently and that day she will still be prayed for as my own forever, even if...

              I'm at a really unusual place in life. I am in a waiting room that one phone call will change. We are officially an open foster/adoptive home! This excites me, but also pains me, because the realization that something bad has to happen between now and having another child in our home to love on is the reality of this situation. I don't know what our story will look like. I wonder if we will be one of those homes that has many children come through, or if adoption will happen soon or in the distant future. I do know I am called to this, with all my heart I know I am called to this. What "this" is, I don't know tonight. My "this" is actually a person, a soul, a child who deserves to have their needs met and to be loved unconditionally. Their parents are real people who did not choose adoption at birth, who are in dark places in their life right now, needing hope, help and a fresh start. I wonder what the...

                I used to go to Summer camp when I was a kid. I went to Kanakuk K-7, K-West, K-2, and Brookhill through the years. I honestly had great experiences learning about Jesus, but I was VERY READY to see my parents and get back into air conditioning. I will never forget at Kanakuk there is a parent's night before the day we actually would leave and as all the parents were streaming in, I was anxiously awaiting the first glimpse of my mom and dad. A memory that sticks in my mind was when I was younger at K-7. As all of the parents were coming in, I caught a glimpse of the most beautiful mom. My heart beat out of my chest as familiarity flooded my heart and the feeling of calm came over me that only my mom could give. She was and has been my safe place all of my life, the most beautiful mom. I thought in my head about how much I was glad she was my mom and how nice she always was to everyone and couldn't ...

My Two Cents This is not your average "mommy blog", although it will be about mommy blogs.;)  I had a married friend, not yet with children remark how she hated mommy blogs, because so many were whiney and full of complaints about how they didn't even have time to brush their teeth or wear makeup or do anything that sounds remotely fun to an adult woman (but somehow had time to blog, be on facebook, and respond to comments) 😗  I feel like this is a post to simply take the fear out of women who aren't moms yet and all they have to go on are these "blogs", which in reality is one person's two cents, not everyone's reality. You don't have to be afraid you'll never put on real pants again if you're a stay at home mom... YOU choose your clothes, YOU choose how to spend the time, YOU choose to make brushing your teeth a reality!            I have to admit my stomach starts to churn if I read an average mommy blog about a "stay at home...

       Today as I was picking Samuel up from his Bible Study Fellowship class a little early I peeked into the door to see what he was doing. Evelyn was at home with daddy, because she insisted she "needed him" and begged to stay home. He has an unusual schedule, so some mornings he gets to be home and this was one of them. As I was enjoying BSF, I knew that I had a little window to get to the store for "emergency groceries". We were low on Cheerios and goldfish, so this was a code red! I went to go get Samuel from his class early to be able to run to the store before picking up his friend to come play. As I looked in the window, I saw that it was a rest time and he was cuddling his blue blankie he calls "purple" and obeying so well for it not being anywhere near his normal rest time at home. My heart turned to mush as i gushed in my mind about how sweet and cute he was in there and that he was obeying so well. His teachers always say he obeys well in thei...