tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661718604538739002024-03-19T12:52:32.973-05:00Our Journey with ElizabethJenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.comBlogger261125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-18204562917757646862018-05-14T03:33:00.000-05:002018-05-14T03:34:59.239-05:00<div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'>sup Blog<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'><a href="https://goo.gl/1g6Tam">https://goo.gl/1g6Tam</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'>poortexan<br>Poortexan<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-1377471323867549372017-12-06T04:25:00.001-06:002017-12-06T04:25:11.626-06:00hey Blog
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<br>PoortexanJenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-82408770868187306322011-01-15T19:43:00.000-06:002011-01-15T19:43:30.273-06:00Being Diligent*I am reposting here for those who haven't headed over to the new blog. poormanponderosa.blogspot.com*<br />
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Life has been rocking the boat so hard around here that we are reeling with everything going on. If I look at the facts of we are adopting (again), we are buying a new home and moving soon, we homeschool (at least trying to get the major subjects done), M has been having MAJOR issues lately, E just got hearing aids (the Lord provided funding!!!), taking over the lead in our church's foster/adoption ministry and the simple tasks of laundry, dishes, etc, I start feeling so overwhelmed that I just want to crawl in a hole and sleep until the storm passes. The waves are crashing over our boat and though I know we are not sinking it is hard to have faith when EVERYTHING is so difficult. YET! If I place my focus on God and HIS provision and I set my sights to accomplish one thing at a time, it is doable. If I can be diligent to trust that HE is in control, He will show (and is!) Himself powerful. You can eat a whole pie, one bite at a time. We can get through all these tumultuous times, one thing at a time!<br />
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With that in mind- God is continuing to AMAZE us. Today we got Mr. Incredible's passport back, the agent had said that with adding pages it would take 7-10 days. We dropped it off on Tuesday and have it back on Saturday. That's FOUR days! Today we got the last paperwork for our State of Texas grant for special needs adoption. <i> TODAY we got our I-800 Provisional approval in the mail</i>! Just a couple of weeks ago it took 9 days in the mail to get our I-800A approval from immigration. This Provisional approval took TWO days in the mail!!!! (The difference between the two is you first have to apply for immigration for a child you are adopting and <i>then</i> you have to apply for the specific child you are adopting)<br />
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We have gone from submitting the contract with our agency October 14, 2010 to having full US immigration approval to bring Lillyanna home January 15, 2011 in <b>93 days</b>! That is roughly the estimate for just getting paperwork through immigration now. <br />
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I know that God has big plans for Lilly's life if He is moving SO BIG just to bring her home. It's kind of scary since HE is entrusting her to <i><b>US</b></i>. I don't think that I think THAT much of myself. What <i>does</i> God expect from us?<br />
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My best answer is:<br />
Obedience. A willing heart. And diligence in the midst of the storm.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-9046502670354291092010-12-15T10:28:00.000-06:002010-12-15T10:29:47.538-06:00Fingerprinted!We got in and had absolutely no wait! Headed out for lunch to celebrate our 14 year anniversary today!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-15921413310511837402010-12-13T17:01:00.000-06:002010-12-13T17:01:11.049-06:00Fingerprinting Appointments In Today's Mail!!!!Check out more at <a href="http://www.poormanponderosa.blogspot.com/">www.poormanponderosa.blogspot.com</a> !!!!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-65867379485571327582010-12-06T15:05:00.000-06:002010-12-06T15:05:01.125-06:00USCIS UpdateWe are still waiting for fingerprinting appointments. I had expected them no later than today's mail and when the paperwork didn't arrive I called our adoption agency. Because of the recent USCIS fee increase, applications are backed up. So instead of 45 days we are looking at 60 days, this is from November 19th. Please, please pray that either the adoption agency will see the need to expedite- due to little miss needing biophosphonate infusions- or that miraculously USCIS would just get it done quickly. Little Misses future depends on strengthening her bones. We are talking possibly the difference between being wheel chair bound or leading a normal life. She walks now, but the medicine is growth dependent and we've already missed her first four years of growth and as you grow more strain is placed on the bones. Please pray. We have to have have this paperwork before China can do anything else. Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-12058405196540107482010-12-06T14:45:00.000-06:002010-12-06T14:45:36.968-06:00Don't forget we've moved!Our new blog is www.poormanponderosa.blogspot.com. See ya there!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-90434838486653248412010-12-02T15:28:00.002-06:002010-12-02T15:28:56.825-06:00Upsizing(from poormanponderosa.blogspot.com) <br />
Well we've prayed, we've test drove, we've counted the cost and test drove some more... The last month it seems has been filled with uncertainty about what vehicle God would have us buy. At first we thought he was leading us to an eight passenger minivan, but our hearts didn't settle. We've compared minivans to suburbans to 15 passenger vans, looked at seating, pricing, etc. Yesterday, we went and saw 15 passenger vans. It is with fear and faith a lot of trepidation and still some hesitation, but we are going to be buying a 14 passenger van and we feel at peace about it. Why all the fear and faith, trepidation, hesitation? Have YOU ever driven one?! It's like driving an aircraft carrier!!! The fear is because we know of a young man who was injured in a 15 passenger van accident and his life will never be the same because of it. Trepidation and hesitation are from the fact that we never imagined ourselves here, have never been in this situation before and it is a bit overwhelming. The faith aspect is we believe that we are following what God is telling to do, but we really don't want to understand or try to comprehend why we need a 14 passenger van, an eight seater would fit us fine. Maybe it's the cost, maybe the room, I honestly cringe to think about other possibilities.<br />
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God equips who He calls, He doesn't call the equipped. So if he's called us to care for orphans and He's equipping us with a 14 passenger van... (I'm not ready to go there!)Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-85299590645318632152010-11-18T22:05:00.002-06:002010-11-18T22:11:13.960-06:00Moving Blogs!Dear Friends,<br />Just wanted to let you know I will be posting at <a href="http://www.poormanponderosa.blogspot.com/">www.poormanponderosa.blogspot.com</a> from now on. We would love to have you join us over there. Making the change has a dual purpose- not singling out one child for who the blog is about as well as we wanted to make a play of our wonderful name! We hope to see you at our new blog home! Still working on it, but it is up and running!!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-91984470700937952782010-11-16T13:28:00.001-06:002010-11-16T13:29:58.118-06:00Our Homestudy Has Finally Been Approved!Nothing really more can be said! We are working hard on bringing new little miss home. Working on new blog as well.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-16175269176597052522010-11-11T08:18:00.000-06:002010-11-11T08:18:45.108-06:00One LESS!!!<object style="background-image:url(http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/8SDwZL5zGL8/hqdefault.jpg)" width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8SDwZL5zGL8?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8SDwZL5zGL8?fs=1&hl=en_US" width="480" height="295" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-22432996387048454402010-11-09T12:39:00.002-06:002010-11-09T12:47:03.003-06:00The Evidence is Overwhelming!!!!!We got a call from our adoption agency today. The next piece of paperwork that we were needing in order to bring little miss home came today!? I am reeling from shock and awe. God is making it overwhelmingly clear that he wants HER to join our family. Due to the favor that is happening on her and our behalf I am not sharing what came and though we could our agency is asking that we still not post her picture. Yet. The only pieces of the puzzle left before we can bring her home are immigration approval and travel approval. Our God is working MICACLES on behalf of this little girl already. May HE redeem her and make her whole. He is moving MOUNTAINS!!!!<br /><br />As a quick follow up, the house we thought of pursuing already has four contracts on it. Pray that if this is the house for us God would make it abundantly clear and make necessary PROVISIONS.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-66657373484283637652010-11-09T08:14:00.004-06:002010-11-09T08:39:28.301-06:00Things May Be Quiet Here, But Not At Home!I've wanted to sit down and write so many times, but have such a hard time finding the time! We are currently praying about a certain house, a certain vehicle, a certain tractor... We are also praying and deliberating on putting Elizabeth in Deaf Ed classes a couple of days a week. Her progress has been so slow and there's the argument that at home she's not around her peer group... <br /><br />Our homestudy will hopefully be done in a couple of days and we can submit for immigration approval to bring little miss home. I just wish we could get further in the process so that I could post pictures!! <br /><br />We finally had almost a normal school day yesterday (our normal that is), it was such a blessing after three weeks of pell mell, helter skelterness. <br /><br />Last but not least. We approaching the season of giving and it would be helpful to bring in some money to help with adoption expenses so I had this idea. I coupon shop, I get things free or almost free when I do this. What do you think of "buying" items, but however instead of me shipping the items to you I can donate them to our local homeless shelter, the women's shelter and the free clinic and the money raised would go straight to our adoption?! Would anyone be even interested in this idea? I don't want to waste my time, I have so little, so if you could PLEASE share your comments this would be greatly appreciated. I would probably use paypal to process the money. Any input in the way of doing some sort of fundraiser would be appreciated. We have considered a garage sale, but our house was taken over with things for the one for Elizabeth's adoption and I don't want that to happen again.<br /><br />I promise this really is the last thing. Elizabeth has a NEW SKILL! She can climb into a chair now! It's those little things that I had taken for granted before.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-10372909643971167562010-11-07T09:07:00.000-06:002010-11-07T09:08:23.585-06:00Happy Birthday, Mr. Incredible!I love you honey. May your day be full of blessings. :)Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-90084545900492888362010-11-07T08:54:00.002-06:002010-11-07T09:07:14.100-06:00We Survived and Thrived!The last three weeks have been so challenging, but we made it! For the Children was a success and we had several people outside of the participating agencies come! Thank you so much to all of the volunteers, the childcare workers, with special thanks to Ms. A, Ms. K, Ms. C and Mr. M (not our M) for all that you did and thanks to the attendees! I pray all were blessed and were able to get informed on the topic they chose. Five churches attended the session on how to start a foster/adopt ministry!!!!<br />Thank you everyone for your prayers. They were felt. Though stressed yesterday, I never got a migraine!!! My throat still flares and my stomach is still knotting, but hopefully as the stress reduces so will these. <br />Our meeting with the social worker on Friday went well even though the sewage had backed up into our house Friday morning! Oh, yes it did. Our bothersome tree root struck again! LOL!!!<br />Hopefully life will get back to normal, though I am coming to realize that our normal means nothing is ever normal!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-23852753775435859552010-11-03T09:35:00.002-05:002010-11-03T09:43:23.017-05:00Dodging BulletsI think I finally realized what has been going on for the last two and a half weeks. Spiritual warfare. Guess I'm not real quick on the uptake. It does make sense though. I am supposed to present information about making adoption a reality at For the Children on the 6th. What better way to disable me than to feel horrible, have so much to do that it's hard to get my presentation ready, have sick, complaining kids...?! Even technology has not been friendly lately! <br />Please pray for us. I have canceled our appointments for the day to try and concentrate on getting me and the kids better, the rest of the stuff from our trip unpacked and getting the house presentable for the social worker's final home visit on Friday for our current adoption. Breathe. Just breathe. And clean. And unpack. And file. And work. Be in prayer the bullets are flying!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-80631394938298601302010-11-01T21:06:00.000-05:002010-11-01T21:07:09.008-05:00Stuck or Trust?We all have expectations. Maybe we expect to have children or get a certain job or live in a certain manner or even that God wants us to do a certain thing. We have expectations of our children. We have expectations of our spouse. We have expectations of our parents. We might even have expectations that when we pull up to a light that soon it will change and we will be able to go. <br /><br />God has expectations of us. "Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself". Fairly lofty expectations. Am I truly loving the Lord in all those ways? Is my neighbor getting any of my attention? Am I getting any of my attention?<br /><br />I did not want to vacation in Colorado at this time of year. Snow was my major concern and being stuck indoors. It was also not a very convenient time, but I resisted and Mr. Incredible persisted. So to CO we go. <br /><br />I expected to be able to go sledding on the mountain next to the condo when I saw snow on the ground. Denied. I expected to be able to sled down an 8 foot pile of snow in a grassy area. Denied. To say that my expectations were dashed would be an understatement. I didn't want to be here in the first place and now we were being legislated what we could do!? As far as I was concerned our vacation was smashed, stepped on, run over and then thrown into an odiferous landfill. I was mad, mad at Mr. Incredible for making us come, mad at myself for everything, mad at the kids for just being kids. My expectations weren't met and I had a choice to make. Were we seriously going to pack up and go home with 5 days left? Was I going to let my attitude control me or was I going to control my attitude. Yes, when your expectations aren't met it isn't easy. <br /><br />Our vacation started off with not being able to find either of our two atlases. While loading the van, one child unscrewed the antennae and another child tried to "fix" it unbeknownst to us. We were puzzled by the noise of a vibration as we merged onto the interstate. A little way down the road Mr. Incredible saw 1" of the antennae hanging onto the area between the hood and windshield as I was whizzing at 70+ miles/hour and proceeded to hang out of the van to retrieve it. So we get to the exit after our entrance and pull off to reattach the antennae and try to get my phone to pull up a map of our route. Less than 120 miles down the road we hit torrential rains and are almost involved in an accident when trying to leave the C-F-A that we lunched at. Sunday- no sledding. Monday- no sledding. Tuesday- sledding in town with incidents. Wednesday- finish Hague training and go shopping for forgotten grocery items from Sunday. Thursday- great sledding in town. Friday- not so great really mushy snow sledding in town. Saturday- leave and bump a parking garage support; a Denver GF bakery and cafe is no longer a cafe we find out as we stop for lunch; T too small to slide down at FOTF. Sunday- take a detour to a volcano and enjoy a chilly hike down into the crater and around the rim, at least some of us.<br /><br />I try to laugh at our vacation, and we did have funny parts. Like getting a floss pick stuck between my teeth while flying down the road. Or the tank of gas that lasted 456.4 miles = 7 hours. (I had determined to drive at least a tank on the way back, it took us three tanks to get there and only two back!?) Apparently I choose the wrong tank! LOL!! Why do things always happen when I'M driving?<br /> <br />So will I let ruined expectations and a vacation that all were glad to see over be the defining moment of my life? Or can a let my focus return to what God expects of me? Be stuck or trust?! I cannot let a few mishaps tarnish the incredible provision and safety that we DID experience. (loving God) I can continue to pray for the administrators of WP. (loving neighbors) I can also treasure the time with family and the break from my usual schedule. (loving myself)<br /><br />Mr. Incredible now understands my hesitation in going in the first place and our marriage has had the chance for a lot more laughs. It really is hard to not laugh when you tauk wif a withp bacauth of de fwoss thtuck in your mowf (talk with a lisp because of the floss stuck in your mouth).<br /><br />Note for posterity. Colorado is best enjoyed in September when lots of hiking can be done and little people have an outlet for their energy. :-)Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-2868919453039190072010-11-01T16:01:00.001-05:002010-11-01T16:04:05.379-05:00Free Giveaway- Support Orphans!!!<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><strong><span style="font-size: 130%;">GIVEAWAY!</span></strong></div><br />This week, you have <strong>TWO </strong>chances to be entered in a giveaway for a <strong>FREE Lifesong for Orphans t-shirt</strong>! Lifesong will be debuting 2 new colors (chocolate brown for men and red for women) and are offering to give away 2 shirts before they are available for sale!<br /><br /><strong>Here’s how to enter: </strong><br /><strong>#1:</strong> Go to the Lifesong <a href="http://lifesong.squarespace.com/home/2010/11/1/give-aways-are-fun.html">blog posting from Monday</a> and guess how many children are no longer orphans that Lifesong helped to bring home through financial assistance.<br /><br /><strong>#2:</strong> Leave a comment on <a href="http://lifesong.squarespace.com/home/2010/10/29/lets-do-this.html">Friday’s posting</a> about how we can creatively work together as the body of Christ to care for orphans around the world! Here's what you do... share with us <em>your</em> ideas. Leave a comment... maybe about a ministry your church is involved in... or a family you helped support financially to adopt.<br /><br /> Maybe you have this <strong>aMAZing</strong> idea that has been just waiting to get out and be put in action. Here's your chance! <strong>Let's inspire each other to rise up on behalf of orphans!</strong><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="color: #191919;">“With this in mind, take some time to walk through your house and ask God what he would have you do with your part of the 200 million orphans worldwide, most of whom may never hear the gospel, much less have it lived out in a loving family of their own.” – Greg Lucas</span></div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-47354281549852154282010-10-29T11:17:00.005-05:002010-11-01T21:11:42.544-05:00We have Pre Approval!We got awesome news last night. We got our pre-approval!!!! That news came a week after our LOI (letter of intent) finally got submitted. Once we get back from vacation we will finish up our homestudy and fill out the form for immigration approval. Hopefully we can get all sent to USCIS maybe by the 10th or before and get fingerprints maybe before Thanksgiving.<br />God kept me up last night and I hope to share with you this afternoon. Gonna do some more family fun first though!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-27424383498655741402010-10-26T18:04:00.002-05:002010-10-26T18:41:04.891-05:00Sites and SoundsThe snow is coming down again. We were able to get some sledding done today in town. For the first two days we had run ins with security over sledding at the resort. First day, not on the mountain. We were only going 30 feet up and were with our children. I was hacked that there is nothing to do, no one around, no one on the mountain and we couldn't even sled 30 feet up from the bottom!? People were hiking all the way up and they weren't getting on them! (and we weren't in the hikers way) So day 2 we use a pile of snow that they made at the end of a sidewalk that leads to a grassy area and made that into a little sled run. We cleared off the hill when the bobcat was adding to it, we were being very safe and guess what happens. Yep, security comes around again and says absolutely no sledding period. The guy from the previous day said we could sled in the area that we were in. And now-nope. ARRGGG. So 2 1/2 hours of sledding with no incidents. The reason for this no sledding policy, apparently some children died one year after they crashed into a tree. How many people die from skiing and yet they still allow skiing! They do however have sledding in their sledding area, where we were!!!!, whenever it is set up, but it is not because usually there isn't this much snow on the ground already...<br /><br />Today with our sled run in town, there for an hour, we suffered a bump on the head, a bloody nose, an almost continuous temper tantrum and this was supposed to be "safer"? Oh and bad road conditions getting into and out of town. I don't know about the general population, but my vehicle sliding on ice is not my idea of fun. <br /><br />I don't want to be stuck at a closed resort and yet I don't really feel like being animal food by going out and hiking around the national parks with a foot of snow on the ground... I really hope that this vacation gets better... <br /><br />The kids have been able to continue learning Chinese though and Mr. Incredible and I have been able to complete our 10 hours of Hague training each, so all is not lost. :)Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-30308632405769070732010-10-22T16:29:00.002-05:002010-10-22T21:10:24.422-05:00Bye, Bye Super PToday was Super P's last day. He has been hired on for a full time job and we are left praying and wondering who God will provide as our next helper. (maybe God is speaking to you?) It's our usual lazy Friday (Ha!), no appointments, however we have been busily cleaning and preparing for tonight's visit from our adoption agency's social worker and for all of what is happening next week!<br /><br />Quick update on adoption: I had asked our agency over a week and a half ago what I needed to be preparing and gathering for the homestudy. They said "nothing". Monday I called to see if our LOI had been sent and had to leave a message. Tuesday I sent an email to follow up the phone message. On THURSDAY I finally got a response and it said that all the stuff that I had asked about the week prior and told I didn't have to do, we would have to do!!! It also said that our LOI was getting sent off on Thursday! Whatever happened to sending it Monday?! I was angry and wanting to scream, not at all in the mood for being around our five blessings, feeling so pressed for time in other areas of my life that I thought about skipping exercising. But, I knew I would feel better besides being a better mommy if I went. So I did. When I got back home God had the MOST amazing news for us in the inbox. (I started crying while reading the email and was still crying when I called Mr. Incredible.) We only have to redo a few things and most I got taken care of already! The others will hopefully be here the first week in November! I also found out information that made me have to go change <a href="http://elizabethssong.blogspot.com/2010/10/two-worlds-collide-part-3.html">this</a> post. The favor that we are being shown is simply amazing. I am so humbled by what God is doing. This stretching is hard and so many days I feel like a complete failure, but God is working to bring our daughter home and I simply need to do what HE asks and trust. And as Beth Moore says, MOVE IT!!!!!<br /><br />I will post more about the 7 Habits for Highly Effective Families, later.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-70271469979222934872010-10-19T23:31:00.004-05:002010-10-20T00:01:15.496-05:009-1-1 Does Work!So I bet your wondering what happened. Through a series of events Mr. Incredible was home alone with our younger four doing dinner, baths, etc. Mr. M found a sticker earlier or at some point prior to his next action and when daddy said go upstairs and get jammies and underwear, he interpreted that to mean do what the sticker says, which was to call 911 in real emergencies. Well, guess our reading needs some help. Because though no "real" emergency was present, Mr. M commenced to sneak into our room and use the phone to call 911. Mr. Incredible was finishing dinner with Mr. T and Elizabeth and was only made aware of what happened when he answered the ringing phone and was asked if there was an emergency. Oh yeah. Wait for it. It gets better. If you dial 911, they will come to your house, even if you answer the return call. So... One of the two officers that responded is our neighbor who I had already waved to twice tonight through our various coming and goings. Apparently he did have quite a smile going on while speaking to Mr. Incredible, however they did save their laughter until after Mr. Incredible had shut the door.<br />Thankfully Mr. Incredible did answer the phone although he had debated not doing so since there had already been one telemarketer call tonight. Not sure he would have heard their knocking from the bathroom... <br />So (drum roll) that makes 3 poison control calls for a certain child and now a 911. And he's only 6!<br />I love you, Mr. Incredible. It could happen to anyone, it just seems to keep happening to us!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-28629727140365400792010-10-19T00:02:00.005-05:002010-10-19T00:23:56.076-05:007 Habits of a Highly Effective Family, #1 and #2So this is what we learned this past weekend....<br /><br />Habit #1- Be Proactive<br /><br />Instead of being reactive<br /> Stimulus -> Response<br /><br />Be Proactive<br /> Stimulus->Choice in Response ->Response<br /><br />The goal here is to stop and choose a response better than your initial gut (probably not prudent) reaction. Choose the best thing to do. Exert control over your response. The only thing we can control is our reaction to the situation.<br /><br />Habit #2 Begin With the End in Mind<br /><br />Imagine your life in 20 years, who are you with and what are you doing? Start whatever it is you want now!<br /><br />Be intentional. Be intentional with who you are. Be intentional with what you do. Be intentional with who you do it with.<br /><br />Make a 2-3 sentence family mission statement that clarifies your goals as a family.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">___________________________________<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Don't think we have it all together, we are still working on our family mission statement! The biggest thing that these two habits spoke to me was I HAVE to be intentional with spending time with each of the kids each day. It is NOT going to just happen. This is a choice I need to make so that I can better meet each of my children where they are. I need to be willing to stop my to do list and do something with them that they enjoy (probably not school related) and meet them where they are. It's not easy, but do I want my children to think the house or email more important than them?!<br /></div></div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-80785691715234863612010-10-17T17:55:00.007-05:002010-10-17T19:16:54.147-05:00The Little Things...Eat YouSo many things have been going on, and on, and on, and on...<br /><br />Trying to finalize details for "For the Children" on November 6th. There is also something else local going on the 6th and we are trying to resolve that conflict.<br /><br />Instances of why I didn't want to use our same adoption agency again have permeated the week. It took them four agency agreements to finally send us the right one. (We are the first family doing this 2nd "immediate" adoption from China) The cost of this adoption is more expensive (initial cost) than their "basic" adoption, now it's only by $20, but COME ON! Saying that they couldn't begin our homestudy for two weeks because of the "refund" period in our contract. Well the fourth contract they sent, the one we signed DIDN'T have a refund period! AAAAAAHHHHHH. So that was Mon.- Thur.<br /><br />Lest Friday and Saturday be somewhat calm, I mean we were at a retreat for foster/adoptive families! Our helper let us know that he found another job and wanted to know how much notice to give! I really wanted to scream, "YOU CAN'T LEAVE!!!!", but I knew that was my insecurity about abandonment talking. Considering we are going to be on vacation for 10 days, I knew I probably had a right to say 3 weeks, but that would disqualify him for this new and *better* job. GRRRRRRR.<br /><br />Right now I am flying on a wing and a prayer, so close to tears all the time and wondering just how I'm going to get this southern family prepared for 10 days in CO with gluten free food, all our usual weekly stuff and find a new helper and and and.... Sometimes it's all the little things that really eat you up.<br /><br />Lord, you are the maker of time. Please help me to budget mine wisely because it's slipping like sand through my fingers.<br /><br />I will post about the wonderful training we received, later...<br /><br />*40 hours a week, more pay and benefits* Not sure how that's better than being around 5 awesome kids, but apparently some think so. Oh wait! There are days that<span style="font-size:130%;"> I</span> think so too! LOL! :)Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966171860453873900.post-44711493345091715122010-10-12T21:05:00.007-05:002010-11-01T21:11:42.544-05:00Two Worlds Collide- a sister for ElizabethWhen Mr. Incredible and I started praying about adopting again, <span style="font-size:130%;">I</span> had plan. <span style="font-size:130%;">I</span> wanted a little black baby girl. (notice there isn't much room for <span style="font-size:180%;">GOD</span> in <span style="font-size:130%;">I</span>) Mr. Incredible wasn't sure about the timing - seemed too soon- but admitted that the whole process does take a while and so we started praying for the Lord's will to be done...<br /><br />If you had asked me back back in August when I posted <a href="http://elizabethssong.blogspot.com/search?q=pregnant">here</a> , what God was going to do I would have said I thought I knew a direction. Little did I know! LOL! If God had revealed where we are now then, I would have RUN SCREAMING and NOT have posted. Funny how God works!? He only gives us what we can handle, then He stretches us and we can handle a little more, followed by more stretching... If HE had showed me the whole thing, I would have said it wasn't HIM. But now I can see how HE is WORKING. He has a plan. I have to trust.<br /><br />Our world has collided with God's plan and we will never be the same. God is moving in our lives and giving us favor with foreign governments <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> we are now going to be adopting a little three year old girl with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bones) from China. Yes, we know she breaks easy. Yes, we know we already have five kids. Yes, we know it sounds TOTALLY INSANE. And yes, it is God's leading! Not what we imagined, thought of or even considered, but when God moves <span style="font-size:130%;">HE MOVES</span>.<br /><br />I was not going to ever use our adoption agency from Elizabeth adoption again and they knew it, but our name kept coming up and other families kept saying "no" to this little girl and so they contacted us. They contacted us the last day that Mr. Incredible was in Indonesia. A few days prior he had been in the Chinese city where this little girl lives. God had laid on my heart that his business trip would change our lives, I could only think of negative, VERY negative, ways "our lives would be changed". So when that email slipped in the inbox hours before Mr. Incredible was to end his business trip, I just had to wonder. It also turns out that she went on the waiting child list within hours of Mr. Incredible and I coming into agreement that God wanted us to look at adopting again. (remember that<a href="http://elizabethssong.blogspot.com/search?q=pregnant"> post</a>?) Within hours of THAT!!!<br /><br />This last Friday we submitted formal application to the adoption agency not knowing what China would say about the dossier, had an inkling but nothing official. At the end of the application was the "submit" button. Before I sent it off I called Mr. Incredible at work and we had one of those just to make sure, really?!, not too late to back out you know, no money spent yet conversations. He asked me what was so hard. Being real I had to say that I knew what this meant, the waiting, the strain, the work, the financial and emotional cost and I just didn't want to do it,... but I knew that God was leading us here. Interestingly, I had to click "submit" to complete the application, not "finish" or "done". I wasn't just clicking a button to finish an application, that click of the mouse was the difference between obedience and my way. Clicking that button indicated my/our submission to God's will for our family no mattered how it differed from MY plans. Never would I have imagined a simple task to cause such a pause, yet I KNEW that if I didn't obey, God could not be glorified.<br /><br />The reward for obedience?! I can finally get excited(!!!!!), TODAY the Chinese government officials gave the go ahead to be able to *proceed. (it's amazing what submission does, we've been waiting for a couple of weeks for that approval!) *It also means that we will be able to bring her home a lot sooner- very important medically and emotionally (more on that later). That we can *proceed is such an answer to prayer and such a confirmation that God does truly want <span style="font-style: italic;">her</span> to join our family. Oh, I forgot to mention... our *.<br /><br />It's strange, we know we are going to adopt her, China knows we are going to adopt her, but apparently we are the first family to do what we are doing and so there is a bit of a hangup on the paperwork and until it is officially official we can't post identifying information or pictures :(. So bear with us until God straightens this out.<br /><br />For whatever reason God has chosen us to be the parents of this little precious girl. He has seen her birth, her abandonment, her life, her many broken bones. We haven't (so far). He knows how Mr. Incredible hates needles and can't stand to see his children in pain. God knows my mother's heart and how tough it is to be with the children through their various procedures and surgeries, even if it's for their good... and yet we are going to have to be willing to break her so that she can be healed.<br /><br />Well that's our news. Our world is colliding. Our family expanding. To God be the glory!<br /><br />*as of 10/21/10 we received news that what we had previously shared is now confidential. So in the interest of keeping China and our adoption agency happy, I deleted some information. I am sorry it doesn't read as well now and you are privy to all the cool things that God is doing. But OH MY HE is WORKING!!!!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05592483705893932688noreply@blogger.com7