Her Momma Carries A Sword

Because of the litigious nature of my legal practice, it is not surprising that I'm a history buff and I especially enjoy reading and studying warfare throughout the ages. The same obsession runs rampant in my office. My senior partner travelled recently and she stumbled into a replica shop that specialized in types of swords.
For each lawyer in my office, she returned with a replica sword that she felt was indicative of each person's individual skill set and trial style. While each person's was unique and extremely accurate of the new owner, it was unanimously voted that mine was a dead ringer for my personality.

It's a replica of the sword that was believed to have been similar to Robin Hood's. It's a small scabbard that was worn close to the skin for easy access. It remains one of my favorite gifts of my life and it is displayed honorably on my desk.

My kids are use to seeing it by now and while they occasionally question its appearance, origin or reason for momma's appreciation for such weaponry, it usually remains unnoticed.

My daughter has a way of disarming me. At the most unexpected times and places she makes a statement or asks a question for which I am unprepared. She bounds into my office today, not unlike every other day and while I'm finishing a phone call, I see her staring at my sword.

Before I can hang up the receiver she triumphantly announces "Mommy, I know why you have that sword."

"Really?"

"Yup. It's so that if anyone ever tried to hurt me or Daddy or Alazar, you will be there to save us. Because Mommy?"

"Yes baby"

"You carry a sword really good."

Ah...it's compliments from a six year old that make you feel like you can take over the world.

We Have A Winner!

Wow! I'm exhausted! But I'm also sad that our Recycle Love Campaign is over. What an amazing blessing to be such a part of people's lives and processes of life.
After counting, re-counting and re-counting again, we are thrilled to announce that the winners of the first ever Recycle Love campaign are the Habuda Familly! They not only kicked it up a notch and sold a WHOPPING 40 shirts, as the biggest sellers, they also won an additional $500 for their adoption.

Can I tell you how much I adore the thought that our little family had a small piece in bringing another orphan into a family?!


So jump on over to http://forthesakeofone.blogspot.com and show some love and tell them how excited you are that your Recycled Love helped bring them one dollar closer to their ever growing family.

Thank you to everyone who made this event possible. Thank you for my amazing husband and his staff for seeing my artwork into fruition and onto a t-shirt. We are so excited and cannot wait to see all that God does for His glory through Recycle Love. If you have some pics of you in your Recycle Love regale, we would love to see it and post it!

Thank You!

Hey all! Well Recycle Love is officially over and we are over the moon excited about this project. We will announce the winner hopefully tomorrow (we can't get a final tally until several people respond to our emails about which family their proceeds benefit). Thanks for being great sports! T-shirts were ordered today and will ship within 1-2 weeks of today.

Weekend Giveaway Winner!

Congrats to the Habuda Family who won our weekend giveaway! They won all this cool stuff to help with their fundraising!

Remember there are only 4 more days to Recycle your Love! So keep spreading the word and recycling the love.

182 Reasons

I read a blog post today. Big deal. I read at least a blog post every day. I'm sure I'll read one tomorrow. Not like today's. May be a long time before I ever read another one like today's. Please Jesus, I hope I never do.

There are days I become bogged in life. Laundry. Dishes. Groceries. Sibling squabbles. Marital misunderstandings. There are days I beg for meaning, existence, passion to do more than monotony. I'm even reading a new book challenging me to do life differently, to grow where God has me now, for this season, right here in my home, church, work, my immediate skin.

I usually judge time by weeks or years. Today's blog post challenged me to judge time by breaths, minutes, moments. Sounds so cliche to say "...life is measured by the moments that take our breath away." What if we actually lived like we had only moments? What would we do differently? Would I hold my tongue? Let is all out? I don't know. That challenge is not before me just yet. And if I knew my expiration date, would it really change my perspective? I know I would be welcomed into the other side by my Savior, my paternal grandparents, my half-sister. But would be the sound of my steps towards the pearly gates? Would they be carefree and full of wonderment of the other side? Or would I trudge with bitterness and moaning for life I never got to live here?

Today's blog post was written by a 27 year old woman living in Phoenix. 27. I'm not sure I remember 27. But I can promise you Crystal will. That's her name. The author of this blog that messed with my thinking. She's been given 6-12 months to live. Stage 4 cancer. Stage 4. For a 27 year old. Isn't that a diagnosis for someone 3x her age? Her insight into her condition is ugly cry beautiful. She's got a termination date and there is no exasperation in her written voice. Even if it is a voice on a schedule 182 days. Tick. Tock.

Choosing to skip towards those gates, this tattooed, gorgeous, fair skinned angel is writing a list of what she wants to experience in these last, calculated, measured, docketed days. What are some of these things, here's just a few:

1.) Win a contest
2.) Volunteer in a 3rd world country
3.) Hold a newborn baby
4.) Pet a lion.
5.) See an elephant.
6.) Learn to knit.
7.) Get a tattoo on her hand and neck.
Kiss James Franco

I have an amazing friend who lives out love the only way Steffany knows how: out LOUD. Upon reading Crystal's "bucket" list, she contacted Crystal and told her she had won a trip to Ethiopia, a "contest" that did not exist until Steffany created it in her head, 5 minutes after reading Crystal's list. I love that Steffany. With no plan of how to pay for such an adventure, just a faith that screams to the mountain "MOVE", she gets on her knees and prays it into moving and then picks up a shovel to make sure that mountain is moved precisely to the spot Steffany planned it.

This trip that Steff has planned has been planned for months. She's heading back to Ethiopia. This trip will also mean checking off 7 of the things off of Chrystal's list (but if anyone knows James Franco, Steff would like to pull off 8!). It just so happens (like it always does when the Holy Spirit is involved) that Crystal will finish a round of chemo and have the exact time off she needs to regain energy and head to Ethiopia in a few weeks with Steffany.

Why did I tell you this story? Did you really need a sad, dramatic end to your weekend? Yes. Yes you did. Why? Because I live out LOUD too. Tomorrow is valentine's day. I personally hate the holiday. If the hubby needs a Hallmark date to be reminded to buy me flowers that I don't need, chocolate that's been harvested by slave labor and a card that he put no thought into, then he and I have bigger problems than just where to go for dinner tomorrow night. This entire month, we've been challenging you to Recycle your Love for adoptive families. Tonight, we're asking you to Recycle your Love for Crystal. To give a woman a chance to pet a lion, hold a newborn, win a contest, learn to knit, see an elephant, get those tattoos and volunteer in a 3rd world country. My friend Steff has been hard at work all day trying to raise $2000 to cover Crystal's expenses to Ethiopia. She more than halfway there.

Go read Crystal's blog. Leave a Comment. She's asking for quotes that you love and your suggestions about what you would do if you only had 182 days left. Do you even know? Go here and donate directly to her travel fund, please make sure you put "Crystal" in the memo line. Or you can buy a Recycle Love tee (or 10) and put Crystal's name in the memo line and we'll donate $10 for each shirt sold to her travel fund.


I know you guys are tired of me tweeting, blogging and facebooking about one more cause, event or need. But I cannot believe that if you didn't understand my crazy, passionate heart, you would still be on this journey for me. I thank you for that. For understanding, for supporting and helping me get the word out. Let's do it again!

We designed Recycle Love to be an overflow of people's love to help others who have a great cause. Crystal has 182 of them.

A Weekend of Love...Recycle It!

When we were starting our adoption process, one of our biggest concerns was the looming financial obligations. We were terrified. It is also one of the most often asked questions we get about our adoption process. It was also an area that we knew we were going to end up helping other families with after we were home.

It was one of our biggest reasons for our Recycle Love campaign. Since we know that every little bit helps, we went through our treasure trove this weekend and have come up with a fun way for families to be supported and earn some extra money for their adoption process.

Here is how it works. From now until Monday at noon, every t-shirt that is purchased will provide $10 to the adoptive family who is designated in the memo line, just like normal. BUT...each tee will also provide that family 1 entry into our giveaway. On Monday at noon, we will tally the sales from Sat, Sun and Monday and the family that sold the most shirts will win ALL of the following:

A brand new copy of "Half the Sky" which is an amazing insight into how reversing female oppression can change the world.

A brand new copy of "Fields of the Fatherless" by Tom Davis, who just so happens to be one of my favorite authors.

2 brand new Ugandan paper bead necklaces!

A stunning hand beaded bracelet made by women who were rescued from trafficking and sponsored by The Beautiful Dream Society in Lesotho, Africa.

A handmade Hope Hat!

This one-of-a-kind Kids' Large (14-16) tee that the hubby and his artist were goofing with and printed

And a green, Adult Large ringer tee that was part of the first fundraising shirts we did for our adoption. It has John 14:18 across the back "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you."


We hope this is just one more opportunity that we can help our families earn some extra cash. Or who knows, maybe that will share with YOU!

So go, buy a tee, put in the instruction line of what family you are supporting and enter them for some more opportunities to win some free stuff!

Have a great weekend and let's continue to Recycle our Love!

Ahhhh!!!!

We spent last week in Colorado Springs, visiting some old friends and making some new ones. The trip was centered around business, but we took plenty of time out for playing too. Hopefully, I will be able to tell you all about it soon. I also took the week off from blogging. It was definitely a much needed break for all of us.

This picture sums up the trip the best:




Remember, there is still plenty of time to order your Recycle Love tees. We will take orders until February 18th!

Meet the Olivers!

I love a family with a sense of adventure and the Olivers surely fit the bill. After spending two months in Africa last year, they felt pulled to adopt another little boy from Ethiopia. Can I tell you how jealous I am that they spent that much time on one of my favorite continents? Anyway this amazing family's adventures don't stop with their travels. Have I told you that they live on an island off of Alaska? How is that for adventurous?!

The Oliver family blogs at http://oliveradoption.blogspot.com. Go. Read. Then Recycle your Love.