Monday, August 27, 2007

Who made you?



Who made you?
God

What else did God make?
God made all things

Why did God make you and all things?
For His own GLORY!

Today was our first day of school! Grace was so excited! In addition to the 3 R's (reading, writing and arithmetic), we are working on verse memory and learning basic Bible truths through catechism. These were her first three questions today. Could you answer these questions? Would you answer the third one that way? It's that simple. For His glory, all for His glory.

I found this image online the other day- it is called Early Morning in Sona, Simien Mountains,Ethiopia. How can you not see God's delight in creating these mountains?! I cannot wait to experience this part of God's creation- especially knowing that it is ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

Monday, August 20, 2007

tornado....

I guess it's not a coincidence that ever since we made the decision to take a leap of faith on this adoption, things have been crazy! Spiritually I mean. I hate even giving Satan the credit, but boy does he like to have a fun when we need desire Lord more than ever. I hate that the day to day issues I deal with can so easily pull me away from my Heavenly Father. I am so thankful and humbled that I can still turn to Him even when I fall short. He loves me regardless, and sometimes I just don't know what to do with that. Yesterday at church was one of those days where I was just broken. I have been asking God to show me, and He did. I am a sinner, broken and wretched. But He sent His son, for me, so that I might be whole again. I can't even wrap my mind around that. All I can do is praise Him. Thank you Lord.

If you have the time, watch this movie from GodTube, I found it on another blog I read. How often do we let sin take over and ignore our Heavenly Father, our PERFECTER! We actually think that other things in life will mold us, shape us and perfect us, all while the Lord is patiently waiting, sometimes fighting for us, just to come back to Him.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

One mans trash, anothers treasure......

We are planning our first adoption fundraiser!
In order to utilize the money that we are raising with Kingdom Kids, we need to have a completed and approved homestudy. That's what we are working on now....and things we are having a hard time finding the funds for are, fingerprinting fees, home inspection fees, social worker fees, notary fees, etc. (Just wanted to clarify in what having ZERO funds meant as I stated in a previous blog..)So we thought we'd host a yard sale and try to check some of these things off our adoption to-do list!

If anyone has any items (not clothing) that they could donate to our yard sale, it would be GREATLY appreciated! We will also be selling baked goods and possibly some sort of breakfast item (I haven't quite worked out the details on the food part yet....) Or if you want to come hang out and help us sell, COME ON! The more, the merrier! Here's the scoop on the details:

WHEN: Saturday, September 8, 2007 7:00AM
WHERE: our house (for those of you that don't know where we live - email me.)
WHY: To raise money for our homestudy and get this adoption moving! Our child needs to come home to us!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Letter to the Editor....

Today, I wrote and sent this letter to the Editor of our local rag. We'll see if it gets published. Doubt it. Peace all.

Dear Editor,

A few months back we planned to attend the “Movie Under the Moon” event, put on by the Salvation Army. We arrived early and our two young children were very excited to experience watching a fun movie outdoors. They had 60’s type music playing to make the time pass while we were waiting for the sun to set. As dusk was approaching, the man in charge made an announcement that they would be playing some music videos before the movie would start (again a tactic to pass the time). My husband and I looked at each other and both wondered what type of music videos they would play, knowing that the majority of what we see on MTV is NOT appropriate for young eyes. As soon as our eyes turned back to the screen, we saw a scantily clad woman on the screen dancing to the song “You Shook Me All Night Long”, by ACDC. “Knockin me out with those American thighs…and we were makin’ it and you shook me all night long.” We were shocked! My husband immediately went to the man in charge and asked if they thought that this was appropriate for young children to see. Unfortunately, the man in charge of the movie equipment, and the head of the event for the Salvation Army argued that, yes, this was fine and they didn’t see a problem with it. We had to make the tough decision to take the kids home trying to explain that this wasn’t after all, a family event. As we left the video that proceeded was “Wild Thing” by the artist Tone-Loc. “Hopefully if things go well, I’ll be with you tonight…Couldn’t get her off my jack… that’s what happens when body starts slappin from doing the wild thing.”

Is this what it has come to? Have we become so complacent and our hearts so hardened that we don’t care what our children see or what their precious ears hear? From what I noticed at the time, we were the only family that had a reaction to these videos. How sad that we can’t have a local event that is truly “family friendly”.

In the spirit of not giving up on our community and continuing to try and find events that we can experience with our children, we often check out the Daily Times website, delmarvanow.com. I was so disappointed the other day when I went to the “entertainment” section and was bombarded with photos of half-naked women from the “Miss Seacrets” competition. The coverage of this event is in my opinion, NOT news, totally unnecessary, and VERY offensive. As a family trying to live righteous, morally sound lives, I am pleading with you and your paper to remove these images from your website. I am sure I am speaking for many families in this area when I make this plea. Take a stance against what our society deems as “acceptable” and stand out from the norm. Have pride in your establishment as one that protects the spirits and eyes of your viewers, especially the children.

Once again we are let down by our community. We will pray for you and for our city.

Thank you.
Becky V.

(I did sign my full name by the way...)

Friday, August 10, 2007

On your mark, get set, go!

Run with endurance the race that lies before you, keeping your eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2

This week is Vacation Bible School at our church. A friend and myself have headed it up this year and it has been a great week! Lots of work, but great nonetheless.
This verse from Hebrews is our theme verse for the week. How fitting it is for our adoption journey! I literally get goosebumps everytime I say it in my head- it really pumps me up! Eventhough right now things are at a stand still with our adoption process, due to having ZERO funds, we know that God is in it. We are going to continue to run the race and keep our eyes on Jesus!

Friday, August 3, 2007

anxiety...

I often find myself having a moment of anxiety when I think of my child in Ethiopia. All of a sudden it hits me, that I have a child somewhere on the other side of the earth. I don't know if she is hungry, cold, afraid and crying or warm, satisfied and taken care of. I want to know that she is okay. I want to know where she is, if she has a bed to sleep in and if she is safe. I want to be able to pick her up, hold her and rock her and tell her that everything will be alright.

It's amazing that God has put this in me. I have carried two children in my womb and have experienced the anxiety that comes along with being pregnant. Waiting for the baby to kick or get the hiccups, so that I know he's in there, snug as a bug.

Although I am not pregnant, I am experiencing the same sort of emotions. This seems to be a bit more difficult though. Being a world away leaves me feeling out of control. I am trusting that the Lord is watching over my child. He is comforting her, holding her, and assuring her that she has a mommy and daddy waiting to bring her home and love her forever! He is answering her prayers.

He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge.
Psalm 91:4