Tonight we’ll play and eat candy… but save a few pennies, because the Angel Tree launches tomorrow! Stay tuned!
Miracles
I just wanted to share with you something God did. We have prayed since March that God would bring Jordan home soon. On October 19th, we were emotionally and spiritually exhausted. You can see our post here: http://breezysunday.com/blog/2011/10/19/grueling/. That day, all day, Brian and I prayed differently. We prayed, “God, give us a miracle. Give us news tomorrow. Let the news be that court is in no more than two weeks.” We repeated the prayer for an answer “tomorrow” all day. We believed God could do it, but honestly, I’m not sure if we lifted our heads more than an inch or two to think that maybe God would. We were just that tired.
The next day… well, you know how it went. The next day, we got news at 3:40am that court had been scheduled! Not only that, but court was only four days away! Unheard of! PRAISE GOD! Our adoption was granted on Monday, October 24th and we are legal PARENTS of JORDAN SCOTT DAVIS!!!! I cannot contain my joy! Thank you, Lord! Thank you for our son. Thank you for giving me faith. Thank you for giving good gifts. And thank you for teaching my heart to trust You more.
And now… pictures.
Jordan’s blanket… originally started for James, is finished. It’s super soft and cuddly. If he doesn’t want it, I do! BTW – Anna asked how balloons go up to heaven. Remember how we tied notes to James to a balloon and flew them up to him in heaven? She remembered. I explained that it probably didn’t actually go to heaven, but God saw the notes and read them to James for us. That, I believe.
On Saturday, almost all of “the cousins” got together! We were all married for the first time (and all together) and with eight children, one adoption and two pregnancies between us. It was a BLAST. I am so glad to have been able to get together! Thank you, Lydia!!!! We will do it again! Next time, your place. Soon as Jordan is ready. Maybe next summer?
We drew houses and roads and rainbows. Jackson sat himself down on a chair and watched his “movies” for a loooooong time. Guess it was a good show!
See the roads? Yes, we were having fun! Felt like a child again myself.
Then off to the park for a Subway farewell feast. Grandma and Grandpa got to come too! It’s good to have a family so full of love. Lydia, I am very impressed by your running. And inspired!
My girls are just soooooooo cute!
Then on Sunday, we got to attend church and Bible study. Again… just can’t take too many pictures of my girls:
Ever thought of doing a lobby registry? This is our toddler adoption shower board that my amazing friend Hollie made for us. She asked what we wanted and hung up all the information on this beautiful board. Then people shopping for our shower just grabbed one off. We were COVERED in blessings by our church on Sunday. Thank you all so very much!!!
And what’s an adoption shower without a table full of international stuff and things about Jordan?
What’s a shower without a rousing game of jeopardy!? (Categories: Down Syndrome, Jordan, Eastern Europe, and Adoption) THANK YOU AMY especially, for the beautiful time of blessing!
Back home again, Brian made mashed turnips. He likes them better than mashed potatoes. Jury’s still out for me:
Then off to Hollie’s house! Roy and Hollie were set to have their last born-from-Hollie’s-tummy baby on Tuesday! We loaded up the car with stuff and made ourselves at home. I can now say that I’ve driven a “club van”, have cared for eight children for three days, and that small houses (with fewer rooms to clean) can definitely be a blessing. hehe And I only made her kids cry a few times. Really, most of the time the kids take care of each other by playing and encouraging.
Family photo of nine!
First time big sister:
Reading to the little ones at bedtime:
Now home again, home again, jiggity jig. Preparing for a little harvest party tonight and a orphan ministry meeting tomorrow. Keep us in your prayers! We will get permission to buy airplane tickets sometime next week. Travel will be sometime around Thanksgiving. Yippee!!!
A few videos on the way:
KM singing happy birthday:
The kids running around their road. They did lots of running that day:
Maggie running pell-mell:
Maggie riding her 2-wheel bike:
Filed under Everyday Stuff
Penny Pinching Friday – Napkins
Napkins are cheap. Well, most napkins are cheap. Most napkins that I would buy are about $.01 each… and they go up to ridiculous amounts. Really… $.05 per napkin??? But I’m going to take Frugal Tip Friday beyond buying cheaper brands.
What if you never had to buy napkins. Ever. Again. Would the savings be worth the trouble of making a switch?
Say you buy a pack of 500 Fred Meyer napkins. It’s $4.99… about a penny apiece. You only go through this every month or two. Say, 3 napkins a meal times three meals a day….. plus 4 more for two snack times…. plus maybe 2 extra a day for cleaning up spills. That’s 15 per day. $.15 per day and you run out every 33 days. So that sounds about right. You’re spending $5 every month on cheap napkins. Up to $25 a month if you buy expensive napkins, but I won’t go there!
I had the good fortune to have a young lady make me some simple, attractive flannel napkins. She charged $5 per six napkins. I bought 54 napkins for $45. That’s nine months worth of napkin expenses. (And a bonus is, it was a charitable fundraiser, benefiting an orphan with special needs… which you know is very close to my heart! See http://handiworkforelijah.blogspot.com/ and email her to make your own custom order to benefit an orphan!)
I’ve been using these napkins for years now (two?) and my only complaint is the light-colored ones have stains. Otherwise, they are still in excellent condition. I expect to get five years use out of them… or more. Let’s do the math:
Five years = 60 months
60 months x $4.99 per month = $300
I spent $45. So, my savings is $255 for something PUNY like NAPKINS!
Are you willing to spend $255 on the convenience of not tossing your napkins into the wash? (I think the detergent and water usage expense is negligible, because napkins are so tiny!) If you have more hands, you’ll have more savings!
(You can have napkins made out of almost any absorbent cloth! I chose solid snuggle flannel, because it’s soft on hands and faces)
Filed under Everyday Stuff
Dear God, how was your day?
Part two – by Brian
I’ve been thinking about how we grow and maintain our relationship with God. I’ve been praying about it and asking God to show me how I can grow in my relationship with him and I had a moment of revelation when Anna prayed at dinner the other night. She wanted to pray about Pepper (Rachel’s parents dog) who had just died. So starts out praying and talking to God just like she would to me, “Dear God, I really miss Pepper. She was the best dog at Grandpa and Grandmas because she didn’t bark and she was my favorite. I hope I get to see her when I get to heaven.” She was just telling God how she felt about Pepper and talking like God is a normal person. I don’t pray like that. I’m usually thanking God for this and asking Him for that and confessing the other thing. I suppose I pray more “religiously” than Anna does. But she was having a conversation and conversation, or communication is the foundation of any relationship. The idea that knocked me over was that God knows everything she just told Him, but I think He wanted to hear her say it anyway. He wanted to hear how she felt about Pepper. That is how their relationship works. And I got to wondering, could I pray like that and what would it do to my relationship with God?
A couple verses I know regarding prayer:
Matthew 6
5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
I Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.
If we are to pray without ceasing but not to use vain repetition then we are going to have to do a lot of talking. I tend to run out of things to say to God after about 2 minutes. But I were to leave behind my religious ideas about prayer and let it be a continual conversation I suppose I would have a lot more to talk about. I also suppose I would be more motivated to abandon the thoughts that I don’t want to share with God. If I was truly open and talking to Him all the time it would be much harder to be tempted by ungodly thoughts.
When I get home from work, Rachel and I have our little routine: “How was your day?” “It was fine.” Such and such happened that was funny or interesting. “How was yours?” “The kids were good today.” This routine dialog is necessary, it’s got the facts we need to know to be current with each others lives. But if don’t move beyond it to: “What have you been thinking about? How are you feeling? What plans are you making? What do you need? What do you hope?” If we don’t get deeper then we both start to feel disconnected. I think that having regular normal things to pray is a good thing. I even think that memorized prayers that are always the same is ok. But if that’s all my prayer life is, then I’m never going deeper with God and I’m going to drift away from Him. I speak from experience. God is our Creator, our Father, and (I have a hard time with this analogy) our Husband. Those names all speak of intimacy. Jesus said we grow by being connected to Him. I want to be connected to Him and I want to be intimate with Him. You would think that if there was anyone I could feel safe being close to it would be my Savior. Since He tore down the veil the only thing that keeps my from being close to Him is my own sin and stubbornness.
That’s all for now. back to our regularly scheduled family updates…
Filed under Everyday Stuff
Good News from Court!!!!!!
JUST GOT THIS EMAIL:
Dear Carla and Dear Rachel and Brian,
We have good news from the Court.The Decree is that you are adoptive parents of Jordan!!!
Best regards,
[our adoption facilitator]
Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Filed under Everyday Stuff