well hello, 2012!

Jesus has a wonderful way of restoring us when we fail Him!
He does no humiliate us.
He does not criticize us.
He does not ask us to make a resolution to try harder.
Rather, He takes us aside and asks us to reaffirm our love for Him.
Experiencing God Day by Day,
Henry Blackaby & Richard Blackaby


I really can't tell you how thankful I am that 2011 is over.
As many of you know,
the first year of adoption, particularly the first half,
is often grueling. The enemy hates it when we step out in faith
to do Kingdom work, and by golly, it makes him downright
teeth-gnashing-mad when we fight hard to press on,
even when it's dang difficult.

Anyway,
I'm so excited about 2012.
After an amazingly great message at church this weekend
about fasting, I'm so stoked to receive God's blessings that come
only through that discipline.

I've also got a few "resolutions" lined up.
Though, I hate to call them that.
It really all just comes down to living out what God has called us to do
in the first place...

To be better stewards of our time, talents, and everything else He
has so richly blessed us with.


Now get out there and do it!
Let's go, go, go!
Fight, team, fight!
Hip-hip, hooray!

That reminds me, Lucy came in the house this afternoon
crying hysterically because she dropped her
pom-pom on her forehead.
How will this girl ever make it as a perky cheerleader?
I do not know.

Moving on.

Now if I could only find my cord for my camera,
I'd post a pic or two.

That would fall into the, being-an-organized-steward, category.

Baby steps.


Celebrate & serve in 2012, everyone!!

Calling all prayer warriors!!!

There are countless times when
Dwight and Linn have
prayed and fasted for so many of their
friends and family...

including, bloggy friends.

Now it's our turn to flood heaven with
our prayers for them.

Would you please join me on Friday for a day of
prayer and fasting
for
Dwight and Linn?

Laverne & Shirley....on a fast

My friend Patty (and when I say friend I mean one rockin' cool adoptive
Mom that I met online), and I email constantly since
we have so much in common, mostly, our current adoptions of
our older girls.

We have a good time and we even call ourselves,

Laverne & Shirley

because we are such fun, quirky gals who are totally up for an adventure.

I'm Laverne....Patty's Shirley


As I mentioned recently Patty is watching
the clock tick-tock away as the time is drawing near that she must
travel in order to adopt her adorable daughter
before she turns 14.

Trouble is........

She's still waiting on that dog-gone LOA (Letter of Approval).

***Sigh***

And.....the sw*ne flu continues to keep things at a stand-still.

**Sigh**

I honestly can say that I've prayed just as much, if not more, for her adoption as I have my own.

Last Monday we both (plus some sweet real-life friends) fasted and prayed.

Truly, it made a difference....I have no doubt.
But we haven't seen the fruit of that yet.

Last night we were emailing back and forth and I told her that perhaps the biggest
lesson God would have us learn in all this is to COMPLETELY
rely on Him.
And that perhaps......we were relying a bit too much on rumors....and tid bits
of information we scrounge around for on the internet.

Ouch.

This is a huge habit for both of us. Huge.
We can get our hopes way up or plummet into discouragement.....

all based on something we've read online (aka, RUMOR).

We both knew this was wrong.
And Patty suggested we go on a fast.....from all rumors.

You may think.....that's silly, that's no sacrifice.....that's just an excuse to not give up food.
Well, let me tell ya.....hard as it is, going without food for a day
would be much easier for both of us.
But actually, I'm planning on fasting from food on Monday also.

To give you an idea of how much I "rely" on these rumors.....
I refresh the rumor site no less than about every
half hour (when I'm home), and read ALL the comments....
in hopes of finding something that
will give me some hope and a sense of control.

See! That's all wrong.

So......no more Rumor Qu*en, no more yahoo groups
where it's more of the same.

Now until next Friday.

I ask you to join us.......if giving up RQ isn't a sacrifice for you, then please consider
giving up something else that will lead to you pray
frequently about this sw*ne flu situation, that Patty would get
her LOA SOON (OK, and me too!!), and all the other adoptions being held
up because of this illness (like my friend Rachel who has her TA travel approval and
is ready to go!!).

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

If you are unfamiliar with RQ, it is a site for information and yes, rumors, in regards to Ch*na adoptions. Much of the information truly is reliable and based on facts but a lot of it is speculation.