Who Wants To Party?

I have the honor of having several amazing people come to OKC in October: Brandi, Sarah, Vince and Wendi. While they are here we are going to advocate for the poor, the orphan and the widow. How are we going to do this? We are going to PARTY! That's right. On October 23rd, we are going to host a poker tournament, Aces for Africa. Then on Oct. 24th, we are going to have a necklace/apron/t-shirt party. What does that mean? Well on Friday night, bring your husbands and let them play poker and on Saturday, leave him and the kiddos at home and come shop wiht a purpose. All the proceeds of both events will benefit orphans and widows in Africa. More details to come. Whose in?

10 Weeks Waiting and Ngariam

Today was 10 weeks of waiting. I WANT my kids! I want to see their faces and know who they are, but lately there has been a different group of kids on my heart. You see, my church is sponsoring a village in Uganda. A village called Ngariam. I asked you all a few weeks ago to pray for my friends as they visited this region in Uganda. Not only did they meet my "Ugandan kiddos", they loved on them, fed them and prayed for them. Soon, I will be asking all of you to join together with my church and sponsor and pray over these amazing faces. My amazing friends Dan and Sarah Smoker, put this video together of the precious children of Ngariam. I am honored to share it with you. While I am waiting to meet my children, I am praying for these children, who by YOUR faithfulness, giving and prayer will be fed, loved and provided for, just as JESUS asked of us. Dan and Sarah, you both ROCK!

How Great Is Our God?!

The last couple of weeks have been hard on me. I felt stalemated in a project that I have prayed for since May. I thought that maybe I wasn't being obedient, maybe I missed what it was I was supposed to be doing, maybe I didn't hear God's voice. I struggled with Le being gone, with work and how I was supposed to be making a difference. But yesterday was one of my favorite days of all time on this walk of faith. Not only did God reaffirm that I had heard His voice, but He showed off all day to the point that I thought I was dreaming. Not only does my project have the green light, but it is being advocated in several different areas and that was only yesterday! Le only has two more days of class and there is not only a light at the end of my tunnel, but THE LIGHT is at the end of the tunnel and walking right beside me in the tunnel.
Thank you to all of you for your prayers and thoughts during this really rough time, I have felt them and needed them. And the only thing that would put icing on the cake this week would be a referral today or tomorrow.

Nine Weeks Waiting and Love in Odd Places

This has been the only man in my life lately. Le's class continues and Walter and I have spent a LOT of time hanging out. It is good that frenchies are so good at giving out love, 'cause I've needed a lot of it lately. I am so stressed out from work, doing everything around the house and the pressure of the wait, is really getting to me, but coming home has been fun because Walter is always happy to see me. But only six more days and I will have my husband back. And after nine weeks of waiting, the courts open soon, so maybe that mean we will be getting a referral soon.

Tired....And Oh So Cranky

Laundry. Cleaning. Cooking. Praying. Fasting. Packing lunches. Mowing the Yard. Home Repair. Fence Repair. Working 8-6 at my real job. Church. Checking my phone every second for a referral. Stressing. Repeat.

This has been my life non-stop for the past five weeks. Le being a never present fixture at home, coupled with doing EVERYTHING myself and the stress of the adoption, work, home and a project that God has been laying on my heart for the past few months has come to equal total exhaustion. I am frustrated. I need Le to be at home. I need to know who my children are. I need to finish their rooms. I need God to answer my prayers about my project. I feel as though I am obedient, as though I have been doing all of the things that He has asked me to do, I just seem to be waiting on other people. And I hate to wait. I think that is what I am supposed to be learning from God right now.....Patience. Le will be home more, just one more week. I will finish their rooms and discover the identities of my children, I just don't know when. God will intercede and move those individuals who are key to my project, I just don't know when. And although all I want to do is sit in my office and cry about, whine and blame everyone else, the problem lies with me. God forgive my ignorance in believing that the God of the Universe should function on my schedule. I am sorry. I'm just exhausted and need rest in you...and I'm also really cranky, so please don't be offended if my prayers are a little rude or argumentative. I know I need to wait on YOU, not me.

8 Weeks Waiting, With a Broken Heart

Today marks 8 weeks of being on the wait list. And while I continue to pray for my children who are half a world away, God has pressed another group of children on my heart this week.
There is a village in Uganda called Ngariam. It is comprised of women and children, a majority of whom are orphans. A party of my dear friends are there right now, in Ngariam, visiting these children, feeding them, loving them and sharing Jesus with them. This party is comprised of several individuals from Children's HopeChest, an organization dedicated to serving "the least of these" through individual sponsorships. HopeChest joins communities of individuals here in the United States with specific communities that have huge needs in other areas of the world. I have been talking to my church about sponsoring Ngariam for sometime now. When HopeChest sent out assessments to discover how many orphans were in need of sponsorship in the Ngariam area, they estimated about 150-200 orphans. Imagine their surprise and heart break to know that within this community in Uganda, over 600 children were orphaned and on the brink of starvation. 600 children on the brink of starvation. RIGHT NOW! You can follow my friends' journeys as they become the hands and feet of Jesus to Ngariam, Amy and Ben, Sarah and Dan and Greg (who has taken over Brandi's blog this week). But for those of you reading this, I ask you for one thing this week: I covet your prayers. Please pray for these children. Please ask God to move not only in Ngariam, but HERE in Oklahoma and specifically through my church and respond according to God's guidance.
Also, if there are any of you who think that your church, business, organization, or blogging community would be interested in sponsoring an individual community in need, please contact my dear friend Brandi. I have also attached a video of Ngariam that Amy, Sarah, Dan and Ben took.

Madam President

I am what some would consider a strong willed person. I can be pretty pig headed at times, ok, most of the time. It takes a lot to change my mind and I jump to conclusions pretty fast. I use to tell my family, even as a small child, that my future was in politics. I would be the first woman governor of my State, maybe even President. I would change policies that made my state and nation a better place to live, blah, blah, blah. I joined every political group at my university and then again in law school. Even as I began my career, political aspirations floated over my head like a cloud. I loved the excitement, the debate, the thrill of victorious elections, and then I grew up. Maybe not grew up, maybe I just grew out of that phase in my life.
I was always terrified until a few years ago of being a mother. I didn't understand how someone could devote their entire life to the health and happiness of someone else. To put another's needs first and not think about your next career move, but to think about how a physical move might effect what kind of school your child went to. But then again, falling in love does something to a person. It changes our way of thinking and I never understood that until I fell for Le. And starting pondering a family, then dreaming, then awaiting the moments of soccer practice, school projects and leaving the office early for a dance recital were a part of my average routine.
Today, as I sit here, nothing bores me more than a political debate. Oh, I love the policies and procedures of how laws are made and what effect that has on us a people, but the chore of watching two blowhards debate an issue, which they will only dilute and diminish into a whisper of what it is really about makes me sick. I can't imagine how I ever lovingly spelled out "Governor" before my last name. I would much rather simply be known as having one great career in my life: MOM.
I am then reminded of someone else whose sole career was to love another and I am thankful to the Father that He loved us enough that He sacrificed his son, so that I may know what love is really all about. Thank you Father, for the change in priorities and the love for a child(ren) that I still have never seen, but that You hold safely in your care. I am truly blessed to have already been chosen by YOU to be their earthly mom, a career that I cannot wait to begin. Politics would have been easy...this will be the most rewarding.

7 Weeks

Today marked 7 weeks of waiting. We've been so busy getting the house ready that I was really grateful for the long weekend to start moving furniture, getting ready for our garage sale and planning the layout for the kids' rooms. I can't help in the bustle of being busy, still continue to speculate as to when we will know who are children are going to be. I wonder if our referral will come this week? Maybe as a birthday present to me? Hmmm....I guess we'll just have to see!

Bye Bye Birthday

This year I will be 30 years old. What a milestone. A big deal. A reason to celebrate. Last year I told Le that I wanted an Alaskan cruise for my 30th birthday. And then we got the news we were infertile and began to adopt. And as it is with me a lot in my life, God used my selfishness of wanting a child of my own and opened my eyes to world of hurt, suffering and need. It's not just about Africa, though I am beginning to believe that my heart is now in that shape.
I saw this video last week and I made a resolve: I am giving up my 30th birthday. Did you know that one BILLION (yes, with a B) do not have access to clean drinking water? The man who started charity:water had a dream, to build a water well for those who couldn't get to fresh water. He gave up his birthday and asked people to donate $20 each and he raised over $14,000. This organization to date (in three years of existence) has raised over $10 MILLION dollars and provided clean water to over 700,000 people across the globe.
You know that I am selfish and one of the things that I don't like about myself is that I don't like water very much. Add some sugar, food coloring, and carbonation and that's my kind of drink! But plain ol' out of the tap drinking water makes me curl my nose. And there are a BILLION people who can't get what I can pour right out of my tap. God~forgive my selfishness.
This year, there will be no birthday party, no cake, no presents that I don't need. All I want you to do is donate $30 (for my 30th birthday) by clicking this link and supporting clean water. Oh and the coolest thing ever is that this year all the money raised in September will be going to build 333 wells in ETHIOPIA!! Which means that a relative of Le and I's children could directly benefit from MY birthday.