How Do You Choose?

We have an agency.

We are home study ready.

Our finger print application can be sent off ASAP.

Only a few minor tweaks need to be made to our paper work.

And then there is one glaring blank:

Country:______________

For about four weeks now, we've been asked to fill in that blank.

Our family vote has been  bottle necked.

Two votes Ethiopia.

One votes India.

Mommy's vote can tie it up or give direction.

The Angel and The Hero are set that it's Ethiopia.

The Dinosaur just likes screaming "I'm an Indian."

(I have no idea why this is fun. But he loves saying it.)

So at dinner each night as we pray, we've been asking for direction.

We've received nothing but silence.

To be honest, I'm not sure He cares.

Don't get me wrong.

I know He has a plan and that He has chosen a very specific person(s) to join our clan.

But we know what the Word says.

The mandate is out there for us to receive.

And now that our eyes have been opened we know what to do.

But like all things, we have a choice.

Geography is up to us.

He is leading our every step, He's waiting on us to choose to fill in the blank.

It Happened

Everyone said it would happen.

I knew it would eventually.

Even though I fought it.

Pushed it down inside.

Prayed it would last forever.

But it didn't.

I believed I would see it in snipets.

Snapshots over a series of days, strung out to months.

But it happened with one shot.

I stepped back to capture her.

Just like always.

The flash sizzled and I checked the view finder.

And I teared up.

She wasn't there.

The little girl that I once knew.

She had been replaced.

With the most amazing young lady.

It's been three summers now.

I never understood why my mother continues to call me her baby.

34 years after delivering me.

I do now.

And it brings me to tears.

I don't regret the time I didn't have her.

It's five years of her life, I'll never know.

I regret not diligently watching every moment,

to know exactly when she stopped being little.

And started being a lady. 

Lorax Birthday

The Angel turned 8 last week.

OMG!

Really.

Has it been three of her birthdays home already?

I'm already missing her accent and being a little girl.

She's almost grown.

Don't believe me?

We now wear the same size shoe.

Drop to your knees and pray for me now ya'll.

She wanted a Lorax themed birthday party.

So we added a few truffala trees for a photo booth.

And took everyone's picture with the birthday girl as they entered our home.

Got her an amazing birthday cake.

And Daddy used his artistic skills to draw a few signs.

And The Dinosaur...

Well, he donned a mustache and then headed to the pool.

While The Hero goofed with his favorite girl.

And Mommy and Daddy tried not to cry.

That their baby is growing up.

The Thing About A Garden

The thing about having a garden is that it is a lot like having another child.

The waiting.

Trying to remember patience.

Dreaming of the future.

Being diligent about weed removal.

Hoping for the maximum amount of growth.

Studying diseases and organic home remedies.

And while all of that sounds like a lot of work.

Trust me, most days it is just work.

Watching each individual plant mature and produce,

is such an amazing joy.

We are learning more about how God developed our world.

And yet, we are also learning about how He develops our hearts.

No wonder there is so much scripture about seeds and harvests.

The Angel calls this the world's smallest jalapeno plant.

But if you look close, you can tell there are at least two,

 just waiting to mature.

A Life First

About a month ago, I told The Hero that running wasn't that much fun anymore.

Hitting my treadmill three to four times a week just wasn't cutting it.

He suggested maybe we up the ante just a bit.

I agreed.

I don't play poker, so I really had no idea what he was talking about.

He suckered a few friends into joining us and we headed off early on a Saturday morning.

To a field.

To run.

A 5k.

While being covered in mud.

Huh?

Yeah. That's what I said.

We ran our first mud run.

This was what we looked like at 9:00a.m.

This was us just 45 minutes later.

We laughed and laughed and had the best Saturday morning

I've had in a long time.

Running just got a little more fun,

and compared to doing it in the mud,

it also became a lot easier.

This Just Needs to Be Said

I can always tell when we are starting, praying about or in the middle of an adoption.

I know because of the paper work that lies about,

the emails that clutter my inbox,

and the anticipation that seems to linger in the air.

But more tangibly, I know because the whole world seems to go awry.

The axis of the earth seems to tilt,

the Super Moon graces us a bit longer

and our house starts to come alive.

Not like the house in Ammityville,

but alive with activity

and none of it is the good kind either.

On our date night last week, The Hero and I discussed our second adoption.

We made some very direct goals and hard decisions.

Almost immediately, our house responded.

The vacuum cleaner sparked and died on Friday.

Behavioral issues abounded with our children.

The washing machine keeled over Saturday morning.

And Monday we awoke to the air conditioning units refusing to pump cold air.

The repairman told us both units would have to be replaced.

(For those of you who have not replaced one it quite some time,

it's about the same cost as an international adoption).

The Hero met me at the door on Monday, smiling.

I found nothing to smile about.

But as we sat at the dining room table,

we started talking about our last date night.

And I started laughing.

Our house was under attack.

Literally.

Spiritually.

While The Hero called our insurance,

I called our adoption agency.

And sent them some money.

And just for good measure,

I made some small financial gifts to some of our favorite places.

And prayed over our house.

It's Thursday morning.

The Hero called me from his car.

The a/c repairman just left.

Units are fixed and pumping.

And it's covered by our insurance.

His only words "give thanks baby. This was all HIM today."

The Hero found a part for the washing machine.

And fixed it for less than $30.

Behaviors have been identified and specifically prayed over.

The only total loss was the vacuum cleaner.

But considering it was almost 12years old,

it didn't seem like too big a loss.

Whatever is keeping you from adoption, remember:

THE DEVIL HATES IT

AND WILL TRY ANYTHING TO STOP IT.

Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Seeing...

LoPa started as a dream of three mamas who loved Ethiopia and wanted to provide a way to fund the children we had come to know with food, education and the love of a Heavenly Father.

We started funding the program with just the sales from the art that you all bought and

Hands for the Needy officially opened last September as an Ethiopian non-profit.

We had 50 kids in the program.

50 precious gifts who would no longer be defined by their existence in a trash dump.

The Hero and I travelled last September to finalize the paper work and to help organize

a few things on the ground.

One of the team members who travelled with us was my amazing friend Amy,

whose husband works for Children's HopeChest.

The entire trip we kept praying and hoping that God would allow

LoPa, Hands for the Needy and Children's HopeChest to join forces.

We are thrilled to announce that it is finally happened.

With this partnership, there are currently over 200 kids

enrolled in the Hands for the Needy program.

I never thought that I would see how God was using so many people

that I love so much to continue to do His will.

But here it is:

A chance for you to see.

To write.

To connect your heart to another.

For only $34 a month.

LoPa is going to continue to bring you great product.

Our proceeds are going to continue to fund Hands for the Needy.

But as individual sponsors step up and choose to be a part of this program,

LoPa will be able to fund bigger projects, building projects, trade training projects...

So for the next couple of posts, I'm going to introduce you to some of the kids

we met back in September, who are now available for sponsorship.

Many of you have asked us about the kids in our program

and now you have the opportunity to walk this journey next to them.

First up is Asechalew.

He gets to go first because he is The Hero's favorite.

This is his family.

Asechalew is on the far right.

He is a twin with the precious angel standing next to him.

He and The Hero played thumb wars.

A lot of thumb wars.

Asechalew is 8 years old and is ready to be sponsored.

If you go here. It will take you right to his profile and you can start sponsoring him.

We are so blessed to be able to bring you this opportunity

and can't wait to see who God lays on your heart.