I once was LOST, but now I am FOUND!

With the time that I have right now, not being able to do much that requires walking or moving around, I am focusing on the things I CAN do. One of which is creating a scrapbook for Rachel & Jordan. They have seen the other kids' books and have asked if they too could have one.

As I was downloading some pictures into iPhoto today I was amazed at how far these kids have come. Our director of our agency is amazing and one of the things that makes her awesome is the amount of pictures and video you receive of your children. I wanted to share some pictures that were taken back in June '09:

In just 18 months, these two children have gone from:

HOPELESS to HOPEFUL

SAD to JOYFUL

FEARFUL to CONFIDENT

LOST to FOUND.

Brent and I continue to marvel at what an awesome journey this is. It is such an awesome picture of our relationship with Christ:

He gives us HOPE when we are hopeless,

JOY when we are sad,

CONFIDENCE when we are fearful,

and He lovingly pursues us until we are FOUND!

We stand in awe as we watch all of our children grow in wisdom and love for the LORD. I know that not all are called to adopt, BUT we are ALL called to do something. What is your something? What is God calling you to do today??? Don't be afraid, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline," 2 Timothy 1:7. Step out in FAITH and see the blessings the Lord has for you!!!

Clearview's Next "31" event...You're Invited!

I want to invite all Franklin locals to attend our next "31" event at Clearview.

http://www.clearview.org/adults/events/127/2011/01-30/womens-31-event

Gwen & Suzanne from 147 Million Orphans are leading a class. You can come and hear their story and get your adoption questions answered!!!

When: Sunday, January 30, 2011

From 5:00-7:30pm

Where: In the Children's Worship Room

What: Food, Fellowship, Fun, & Classes

Cost: $15 for your Food and 2 Classes

Registration ends tomorrow, Monday, January 24th!

Update

This time around was SO much easier than the first! The first surgery was at a surgery center and this one was at Vanderbilt. I believe that location can make all the difference! The staff was great...didn't hurt either that I had friends who were advocating for me before I even arrived. I learned that the "nerve blocks" they did the first time around did not work which is why I was in pain so much the next day and why they had to put me under general anesthesia which was not fun coming out of. This time the nerve block worked and recovery was SO much better.

The doctor was able to pull out the broken bone graft which he described as working more like a joint on the side/top of my foot (I guess that explains the pain :-) and replace it with bone from my tibia. One blessing is that he was able to remove 2 of the 3 screws from the original surgery. My physical therapist called them deck screws. They started at the back of my heel and prevented me from being able to rest my foot on any hard surfaces like the coffee table. It was not a super big deal, just annoying and I am grateful it is a thing of the past.

My doctor feels that my recovery should go a little faster this time around. I will be on crutches for the 6 weeks and then in a boot for another 3. He said I would be back in a regular shoe in about 9 weeks.

I will be heading home this morning and my kids are ready. Hayley wants to care for me. Rachel has been super helpful to take care of things around the house with my mom. Ryan told Brent he needs to protect me and he can't do that while I am at the hospital:-) I am sure I will have Whitney and Jordan in the bed reading books and snuggling with me.

Thank you for all your prayers! I know I have had many prayer warriors praying us through the last several months and we are SO VERY THANKFUL for you! Blessings to you ALL!!!

Off to Vandy this morning...

How appropriate that my daily devotional, Jesus Calling, has these scriptures for January 13th:

1 Peter 2:21 "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."

Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Gwen warned me that I would be calling her to tell her that this book was written just for me. Thanks Gwen, you were right!

As many of you know, in August of 2009 I underwent reconstructive surgery on my left foot. It was supposed to correct some problems I have dealt with my whole life. The surgery was extensive and included 3 bone grafts and 3 LARGE screws. For months after I was in pain still when I shouldn't have been. Last May my doctor ordered an MRI to see if there was something that wasn't showing up on x-ray. When I went back to see him in June, he gave me the news that felt like a bomb: one of the bone grafts didn't take and most likely I would need surgery again. At this point we had already passed court in Ethiopia and Rachel and Jordan were legally ours and we would be traveling to pick them up sometime in the next 2 months. You can imagine my thoughts...seriously God? The statistics said that this only happens in 5% of cases and of that 5% the risk factors were smoking and diabetes (I do/have neither). My doctor decided to try an ultrasound therapy with me for a couple of months in hoping that I would fall in the favorable 85% success rate this machine boasts. Once again the odds were not in my favor. I went back to see my doctor in September, one month after being home with our new kiddos, and got the news that yes, surgery was the only option. I decided that since I had dealt with the pain as long as I had, I could wait a little longer. I needed time to continue to bond and get through those first few months with our new children. I had already thought ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas and wanted to make them extra special for their first ones home. My doctor agreed that we could put it off until January; after the holidays and after sport seasons are over for a few months for the kids.

So this morning I am off to the hospital. I have 2 friends on the anesthesia team who will be overseeing my care so I shouldn't be in any pain :-) My mom is here to take of the kids, who happen to be home again today for snow day #4. I will be on crutches for 6 weeks and may be on my back for the first 2 or more to control swelling. I think my husband needs more prayers than me as he will be shouldering the biggest load. He is amazing with the kids and I know they will be fine. I will just shout orders from the couch LOL!

I know my God is willing and able to supply all our needs in Christ Jesus! I don't know why God has called me to this, but I will rejoice in it anyway. I know that He is working this and ALL things to my good for HIS glory!

Enjoy the snow my TN friends and Have a great weekend....

Let it Snow!

For the first time in my life we had a white Christmas! It was so pretty. My dad (who is originally from FL and has resided in TX the last 40 years) said it was his first white Christmas and he wanted to go for a walk and enjoy it. He took these pics of my house Christmas afternoon. It snowed and snowed; really hard at times. It was really just SO pretty and picturesque.

The day after Christmas we had almost enough snow to go sledding so the kids took to the hills by our house. Below is my mom and Whitney. Don't worry for those of you who know my mom, she didn't actually sled down the hill just posed for a pic (she broke her hip back in March so sledding is NOT something she wanted to try this Christmas).

Ryan

Rachel

Jordan

Daddy & Whitney

Me and my Mom

My mom & Rachel

Two videos of the kids sledding...

Happy New Year to Everyone! I hope 2011 brings much joy for all...

Merry Christmas!

This was our first Christmas since we have been in TN that we did NOT travel home to TX or have both sets of grandparents here at different times. What this meant was that we had ALL the gifts for our family, from Brent's parents, my grandmother, my great aunt and my parents under the tree at the same time. You could hardly see the tree. You must remember also that we had 2 more kids stuff under there too. It was a little nutty so we decided to do gift opening in "rounds". That proved to be a good plan. After each round we threw away all the paper, took stuff out of the box (which took all 5 of the adults we had to take stuff out of packages and put stuff together). Poor Brent was putting stuff together all afternoon :-) It was such a fun day and so many new memories.

I took this pic as the kids were waiting to run down the stairs on Christmas morning. To say they were excited was an understatement. By the time we took this picture they had already been up for about 45 min. We made them wait (mean I know) because my parents were sleeping downstairs and were tired from the long drive they had the day before from TX.

Jordan opening a present...

Hayley's gifts from Memaw and Poppy

Rachel was pure joy over every present!

Jordan's new watch from Nena and Pops

I loved this pic...just wish my dad's eyes were open :-)

My mom and Rachel

Whitney and my mom wearing her new hat, scarf and mittens from Meemee

We moved the coffee table against the wall so we had a big open space to open presents. It was a good move on our part.

I love the next 2 pictures. I took them as they opened their favorite present; an IPOD touch! These are going to be such a blessing to us the next time we make the drive to TX!

It was crazy, but Oh so fun! I was sad when it was all over! I LOVE Christmas, everything about it. We added some new traditions this year and my favorite was our advent calendar. We read a scripture, did an activity to go along with the scripture and then each had a piece of candy. It was a great way to have a devo every day and learn about all that Christmas means. We also did the candles on the advent wreath and it was neat at our big dinner on Christmas night to light all the candles and review all they had learned over the last 25 days.

Unlike many of you I have not started taking down decorations, but am planning to today. Blessings to you all...

Christmas Eve 2010

For all of you who have told me that you wish you could be a fly on my wall this Christmas, I am going to do my best to give you an accurate picture :-) It has been the best Christmas ever! Big families are SO fun during the holidays. I have been quiet on the blog for the past few weeks as we have been busy preparing for the holidays. I just can't get it all done. Today is my day off. I told everyone that Mom is not cooking or cleaning today. I have been working on downloading pics and watching the kids play with all their new stuff. We did take a break and head outside to enjoy sledding in the snow. I will show that in a later post :-)

We started a new tradition: Eating Ethiopian food for Christmas Eve. We went to our local ET restaurant and picked up some Injera, yellow pea and cabbage. This mom made Doro Wat, Gomen, Beef Tibs and red lentils. It was lots of fun and yummy too!

Doro Wat (Chicken stew)

After dinner we rolled out cookie dough and made cookies for Santa. We enjoyed eating a few too!

The First Gift of Christmas...Every year the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve. It is always new matching PJ's.

Christmas pics to follow...it was a GREAT one!