tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66678602944198286952024-03-13T22:54:07.492-05:00a boy and a girl.I have recently discovered a new found appreciation for my job. I used to get frustrated with the day to day of crying, changing diapers, laundry, and throwing something on the table for dinner. But lately I have been challenged to improve. The job that God has given me is to take care of two beautiful children and an amazing husband. Why not work on figuring out the best ways to do that!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-78163551408171791062015-10-15T13:13:00.000-05:002015-10-15T13:55:01.722-05:00Update!Update! It has been six months since Oliver and Ruby's little brother and sister Grace and Gannon were born. God knew exactly what was best for them, and I believe He protected us and guided us, as to what was best for our family. Grace and Gannon have amazing adoptive parents who love Jesus and adore them. We have been able to see them and keep in contact with them these past six months and I am so thankful for that. When I see pictures of their big smiles and beautiful brown eyes that remind me so much of Oliver and Ruby, I am a tiny bit sad because my heart misses them, but mostly I am thrilled and thankful, they are exactly where they are supposed to be.<br />
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Ruby just stared at Grace and gave her kisses, I am excited to see their relationship grow!</div>
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Gannon is so laid back and is such a sweetheart.</div>
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Oliver wanted to roll around and on top of the babies!! </div>
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Meanwhile, these last six months with Oliver and Ruby have challenged me so much as a mother. God knew. He knew once the babies were mobile, and into everything, my days would get much busier. He knew that juggling 4 kids and all that comes with that would stretch me, I just didn't know it yet. I am thankful that He knew and that He guided us.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-21983552544856484332015-04-14T13:11:00.001-05:002015-04-28T16:45:06.614-05:00The perfect combination of happy and sad.While our birth mama was in surgery, Jarrod and I talked with our social worker from Deaconess and just poured our hearts out. We told her how much we already loved these babies because they are Oliver and Ruby's full siblings and we consider them our family. When we thought there was only one baby, we knew it would be challenging but we would make it work. I imagined myself wearing one baby and pushing the double stroller, or chasing after the twins. I was tired just thinking about it but I knew we would get through it.<br />
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Now that there were two, it meant 4 babies under the age of 14 months plus of course our older two Lily and Jett. It meant buying a full size van, a quadruple stroller and hiring a nanny because it would not be physically possible for me to feed infant twins and care for Oliver and Ruby, pick up Lily and Jett from school, take them to soccer, track and piano. Plus of course help them with homework and oh yeah, spend anytime with them without loosing my mind!<br />
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It was a lot, it was more than a lot, it was too much and we both knew in our hearts it was not the best choice for anyone.<br />
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It broke our hearts. This was Oliver and Ruby's brother and sister, we wished so badly that things were different and we could take them home. But as we prayed throughout the week we asked God to be clear about His will and if there were any red flags we would know without a doubt what was best for these precious babies.<br />
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After talking with our social worker we knew that there were several families that were waiting for babies and were PRAYING for babies and would be over the moon excited to adopt these sweet twins.<br />
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Then, the nurse came in with a big happy grin telling us that it was A BOY AND A GIRL and they were healthy and big and ready for us to come and see them!<br />
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Before we walked into the NICU Jarrod and I stopped and prayed again, we asked God to show us clearly if these were our babies or not, we were OK with whatever He had for us.<br />
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We walked in to see those precious sweet healthy babies and when I saw them I instantly loved them so much but I knew without a doubt that they were not our babies, that God had another plan for them. Jarrod knew it too.<br />
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It made us sad but there again, was a sense of peace that this was a part of God's plan.<br />
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We went home that night and we were sad, we were grieving the fact that we thought we were bringing home one baby and now we were not. And we were sad that we had to say no to adopting these precious twins. I was also dreading having to tell our birth mama the next day.<br />
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When I woke up on Saturday morning I had a good long cry and went back up to the hospital to check on everyone. I asked God to give me the words to tell our birth mama that we would not be able to adopt the new twins.<br />
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I went to her hospital room and mustered up the courage to tell her what we had decided. I cried and shared my heart, I told her how I didn't feel like it would be the best choice for our children or the new twins for us to try and take on all 4 babies. I told her I loved her and loved Oliver and Ruby and I already loved the new babies and wanted the very best for them.<br />
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She told me that, she completely understood and that she considered us her family and that she was so thankful for our kind hearts and that we pray and seek God in all our decisions. We ended up crying and talking for hours and it was just so incredibly amazing.<br />
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Then she asked me if I would help her choose a family for the new twins. I told her I would be so honored to help her do that. Again God knew, I needed to be there that day.<br />
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It was pretty surreal reading family profiles and looking at families photo books just a year after we had turned in our own. I silently prayed as I read the profiles that God would make it clear to us which family the babies belonged too.<br />
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We instantly agreed on a family, they were perfect and I was excited again. I remember how life changing our phone call was 13 months ago and I knew this was their day, a day they would never forget!<br />
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This sweet couple had experienced heartache as they waited for a baby and now they were getting two! God answered so many prayers that day, he answered their prayer for a baby and doubled it (:<br />
He answered our prayer for clear direction and peace with whatever the outcome.<br />
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Our birth mama asked us to be there when they arrived so that they could meet Oliver and Ruby the BIG brother and sister, believe it or not! We were so thankful to be able to meet them and see what a loving family they were. They agreed that they would love for the new babies to know us and Oliver and Ruby and we already have summer BBQ's planned!<br />
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God carried us through, he gave us constant peace amidst the storm and our faith is stronger because of it. It is all as it should be. We are thrilled for this new family that was created this weekend and our bond with Oliver and Ruby's birth mama is so much stronger.<br />
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We serve a loving God.<br />
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Every hard moment this week was worth it.<br />
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I wish you could see their smiling faces, but this will have to do for now. God is good!<br />
<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-79784704736398085082015-04-14T10:51:00.001-05:002015-04-14T11:21:28.848-05:00a boy and a girl It was a typical Monday morning, the big kids were off to school and I was feeding Oliver and Ruby breakfast when my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number so I let it go to voicemail.<br />
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We continued our morning playing and getting some things done around the house, when a few hours later my phone rang again with the same number. Now I was curious who this might be when I realized that they had left a voicemail.<br />
When I heard the message, my heart started to race.<br />
"Rebecca, this is Sarah from Deaconess Adoption Services and I need you to call me back right away."<br />
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My mind was racing with all the reasons why she would be calling me, we had not spoken since we finalized Oliver and Ruby's adoption about 7 months earlier. So I called her back.<br />
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The news that she had for me, was the beginning of the most challenging week Jarrod and I have ever had. She informed me that Oliver and Ruby's birth mama was pregnant, she would like for us to consider adopting her baby, AND she's been having contractions so baby could be here at anytime.<br />
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Just to give you a little insight into our lives, we have four children. Lily is 8, Jett is 6 and Oliver and Ruby are 13 months old. Jarrod and I were in that sweet spot where we made it through the first year of twins, they were sleeping through the night and we were just loving our family. Although our year with four kids has brought us so much joy and we have honestly loved every minute of it. We also had no plans of adding on and felt pretty sure our family was complete. But we know things change and sometimes God has plans different from our own.<br />
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And so we began to pray, constantly. We asked our closest friends and family to pray. We knew this decision was so much bigger than us, there was no pros and cons list that could help us know what we were supposed to do. This had to come directly from God.<br />
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As we prayed God began to remind us of verses in the Bible about how Jesus loved and accepted everyone, how he was never too busy to help someone or heal someone. How Jesus the Son of God always put others above himself. During Easter week I remember feeling impressed by the fact that the night before Jesus went to be beaten and hung on a cross, he had the last supper with his disciples and during that time he washed their feet. Our Savior who was about to be brutally beaten and killed took the time to wash their feet, because he wanted them to know that this was what it was about, serving others.<br />
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This verse also came to my mind.<br />
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. " Romans 8:28<br />
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So this is what we know, God calls us to love and serve others and put them before ourselves. God loves us and wants what is best for us. God is in control and already knows the outcome of this whole situation. Peace washed over us. We gave it all to God and said your will be done.<br />
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On Tuesday, our birth mama went into the hospital to have all her tests run and check on baby, everything was looking great and their was a strong heartbeat. We told the social worker that we felt like we needed to proceed with yes, we would adopt her baby boy as long as there were no red flags that came up.<br />
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We began preparing for baby #5, and after a few freak out moments of "OH MY WORD I'M GOING TO HAVE FIVE CHILDREN!" We started to get excited, we picked a name, and we bought a car seat. We had to do some major rearranging of our mini van to accommodate 3 car seats and 2 booster seats, which was not easy.<br />
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We could not believe how quickly our lives were about to change again, but we were ready for anything. We knew God had this and we felt such peace and joy knowing that we were walking with Him. We knew He would give us strength when we needed it and His will would be done.<br />
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Friday morning, baby still had not arrived on his own, and our birth mama had an appointment for an ultrasound. Jarrod and I took Oliver and Ruby with us to meet her at the hospital. This would be the first time she has seen them since they were about 2 weeks old. We were so excited to see her and for her to see the babies in person! When we got there she let us know she was having some major contractions all morning and there was a good chance baby was coming today. I went with her into the ultra sound while Jarrod went outside with Oliver and Ruby.<br />
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I was getting excited to see for sure if it was a boy and see how far along she was because at that point we were not sure.<br />
The ultra sound tech was taking a really long time to tell us anything and was having a hard time figuring out what was going on, so after about 15 minutes of her looking, she said well, I think I have finally figured out what we are looking at here.<br />
"Has anyone told you that you are having TWO babies?! There are definitely two babies in here!!!"<br />
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I froze and my heart dropped, because I knew in that instant this was our red flag there was just no way we could take on another set of twins so soon. To say we were both shocked was an understatement.<br />
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We just couldn't believe all this time no one caught that she was having twins again. I sat there in silent prayer asking God, what now Lord? During this time I was timing her contractions and told her that she needed to get checked out because these babies were coming today.<br />
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The next few hours were a complete whirl wind. They took her upstairs to labor and delivery, while I went outside to tell Jarrod the news. We both started crying because we both knew that this was going to change things for us.<br />
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I went back to be with our birth mama, while the doctors quickly prepped her for a c-section and while she was having painful contractions. I was sitting there with her while she told the nurses I was the adoptive mama and they looked at me excitedly and started to give me information on the babies.<br />
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I silently cried out to God, what am I going to do Father, and I felt Him say to me, don't worry about the future right now, hold her hand and be here for her in this moment. So I wiped my tears and told our birth mama I loved her and I was here for her. She looked at me and said I am just so glad you are here, thank you. God put me right where I needed to be, by her side holding her hand. I will never forget that moment.<br />
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They took her back to surgery and I knew in about 45 minutes Jarrod and I would be holding twins again, just like we did only 13 months earlier.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-11128412682428863232014-12-01T13:07:00.002-06:002014-12-01T13:07:16.440-06:00Elf on the Shelf and acts of Kindness-Day 1<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: green; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Lily and Jett,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">I am so excited to see you all again this Christmas Season! I see
that you have two new babies in the house! Oh, how wonderful! I also have
noticed what a great job you two have done being their big sister and big
brother! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Lily I am so excited to hear that you are doing so well in school
and are so helpful to your mom and dad!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Jett you have also been doing a wonderful job in school and WOW you
are reading books, that is so awesome!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">This year I have decided to do things a little differently. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">I have come to help share the magic and love of what Christmas is
really all about. JESUS! Each day I will bring you a new message of kindness
and grace from God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: green; font-family: "Lucida Calligraphy"; font-size: 18.0pt;">The bible says in Ephesians 2:8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: green; font-family: "Lucida Calligraphy"; font-size: 18.0pt;">For by grace you have been saved through faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this is not your own doing; it is the
gift of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">God has saved a place in heaven for each of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He forgives us and gives us grace when we do
as God asks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Each day I will send you a note, it will have a verse that Lily can
look up in the Bible and read to Jett. The Bible is God’s perfect and Holy
Word! He asks us to read it and to do what it says! So after you read the verse
there will be an activity that you can do that will help you to apply the Bible
to your life! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">This is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait to get started! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold"; font-size: 18.0pt;">Paul<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-47922927581125878152014-03-25T01:16:00.002-05:002014-03-25T01:16:50.717-05:00His Perfect Plan-Part 1<br />
In May of 2011, God clearly told Jarrod and I that we were to grow our family through adoption. God has taught Jarrod and I so much through this journey. We have grown closer to Him through our constant reliance on Him in prayer as we made so many tough decisions these past 3 years. For that I am thankful.<br />
One of the most amazing parts of this journey has been experiencing God erase our fears and give us the ability to fully trust Him and his plan for our family. It started with the fear of adoption in general, there are so many unknowns that your mind can race with different scenarios of all the things that could go wrong. When we felt God wanted us to pursue Ethiopia there was the fear of traveling so far and leaving Lily and Jett, and all the things that could happen with bringing a child from a 3rd world country into our home; unknown diseases, behavioral issues, attachment disorders the list goes on. But as we prayed and gave God our concerns, he calmed our fears and told us to TRUST Him.<br />
<br />
The period of waiting was hard at times, but mostly it was a time of maturing on our part, of being happy with the season of life we were in and trusting and praying that God had it all planned out and we just needed to follow His lead. Being completely submitted to God in our decisions gave us great JOY and PEACE knowing that He was in control.<br />
<br />
And then God's plan began to unfold.<br />
<br />
It started with a stirring in my heart back in the spring of 2013. I was spending a lot of time in prayer while I was on a mission trip in Costa Rica with my sister. We had lots of quiet time to pray and think. God clearly told me He wanted me to quit my part time job and stay at home. I had no idea why, and although it took me a good 6 months to FINALLY obey him, I did. I quit a job that I really loved. I spent every morning after that praying and reading His Word. I knew that He wanted my undivided attention and I had better give it to Him.<br />
<br />
Most of those mornings I spent on my knees crying out to God, praising Him for the time I was allowed to spend with Him and asking him what He needed me to do. I will always remember and be so thankful for that time of closeness I had with Him.<br />
<br />
As I prayed for our adoption journey, God once again began to stir in my heart the desire to adopt domestically. I had my list of fears that I brought to Him about domestic adoption and through prayer and several friends who had adopted domestically God put all those fears to rest.<br />
Again, He said trust me.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
In May of 2013 I knew we were going to need a bigger home. For some reason Jarrod and I both knew that God wanted us to adopt two children. This was all GOD because Jarrod and I had always said we never wanted four kids. (HA!) But he changed our hearts and we knew we needed to be open to two children.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
We found a house that we loved. It has four bedrooms and one of the bedrooms is HUGE, a perfect room for twins, I jokingly said when we toured the house. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
He began to prepare us for something we didn't really know was coming. Jarrod and I both agreed we needed a mini van, something silly maybe, but actually a little odd that Jarrod and I would both agree that we needed to buy a mini van when we only had two kids and honestly were not real into the mini vans. (: But on New Years Eve we drove home in an eight passenger mini van. OK God, what are you up to?<br />
<br />
As I was spending time with the Lord while my big kids were at school, I felt a peace about starting the process of domestic adoption. Our agency we were working with for our Ethiopia adoption continued to give us bad news about more slow downs and even possible shut downs of all international adoptions from Ethiopia. We really prayed about whether God wanted us to continue to wait it out or move on to a domestic adoption.<br />
Close to the end of January we started talking with Deaconess Pregnancy and Adoption services about pursuing a domestic adoption, we prayed through each decision we made and felt that this was what we needed to do. It only took a few weeks to get all the paperwork done since we were home study ready. I felt this urgency that I needed to get our paperwork done quickly. The paperwork was a breeze (which never happens in adoption) and on February 20, 2014 I turned in our last form and birth mother letter and book.<br />
<br />
On February 21, I decided I needed to buy a few baby items and some bottles, and diapers just in case. I felt really silly jumping the gun when I knew we could wait anywhere from 6 months to 2 years as Deaconess told us in our orientation. But just in case I bought a few girl sleepers and few boy sleepers.<br />
<br />
On February 23rd just 3 days after our paperwork was turned in, on a Sunday afternoon at 4pm we got our call. The call we had waited for for 3 years!<br />
A birth mother had chosen us, she wanted to meet us.<br />
<br />
Jarrod and I were shocked and filled with joy at how quickly this had happened. Then the most exciting words came next.<br />
<br />
It's TWINS and they are already HERE, a boy and a girl.<br />
<br />
<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-83641157080396039082014-02-09T15:34:00.002-06:002014-02-09T15:39:46.357-06:00Racism, starving children, and human trafficking...I went there.<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Recently I was asked the question what gets your heart racing what are you most passionate about? The point of the question was to try and discover what makes you as a daughter of Christ unique, with the end question being how can you use your unique talents and gifts to serve Christ and serve others.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">My easy go to answer was that I am passionate about my children, parenting them, raising them, teaching them everything from tying their shoes to what it means to love and follow Jesus. Well of course I am passionate about my kids, MOST moms are. But then I thought about it for the rest of the day and night. I began to really search my heart. I did two things to try and discover what my talents, gifts and passions are, I first asked my mom. She is the one person who has known me since birth (obviously) has seen my good and bad sides and has watched me grow up. Her insight was such a blessing for me to hear. The next thing I did was go to God in prayer and open His Word. My prayer is that I would be passionate about the things that Jesus is passionate about. He took me to the story of Jesus feeding the crowds that came to listen to him speak. Most of us have heard the story of Jesus feeding over 5,000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Why did Jesus feed these people, why didn't he just send them on their way to eat on their own? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I looked into some verses on what the Bible says about feeding the hungry and caring for the poor. Here are just a few:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;"><strong style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Proverbs 14:31 (ESV)</span></strong></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.<strong style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> </strong></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: center;">
<strong style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Proverbs 22:9 (ESV)</span></strong><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.</span></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Proverbs 28:27 (ESV)</span></strong><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.</span></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Isaiah 58:10 (ESV)</span></strong><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.</span></div>
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<strong style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">1 John 3:17-18 (ESV)</span></strong><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Jesus is compassionate for the poor and the hungry. He cares about people's EVERY need, not just their spiritual need. Because we do not SEE people who are truly starving and hungry everyday it is very easy to forget that world hunger is a HUGE issue. I read an article that stated that "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 21px;">The world's 100 richest people earned a stunning total of $240 billion in 2012 – enough money to end extreme poverty worldwide four times over," (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://rt.com/news/oxfam-report-global-inequality-357">www.rt.com</a>) </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">When I think about what God sees looking down at the world he created and the HUGE imbalance that there is, I am ashamed. A quick search online informed me that taking care of the poor is mentioned in some form 300 times in the Bible. Why are we not listening?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Recently I watched the movie Lee Daniels The Butler, I highly recommend this movie. But as I sat there watching this movie and seeing the real footage of white people beating black people to death and setting them on fire and acting so crazy, in the 1960s for the simple reason that they were a different color as them, I had to ask the question WHAT was being taught in the church during those times? What were people doing to stop this insane unbiblical behavior. Did they just not read the Bible? Did they not read the story of Jesus talking to the women at the well who was a Samaritan and he a Jew? Jesus didn't care that in their culture Jews and Samaritans were not to speak to each other. Did they not read the part in Galatians where it says "There is neither Jew nor Greek, their is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus." Or in Romans 2:11 when is says "God shows no partiality". </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The gospel is all about<u> loving your neighbor</u>, and that we are <u>ALL created in Gods image</u>. It just blows my mind that so many people sat and did nothing while this was going on.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">So my question then turned to, so what is it now in our generation. What awful crisis is happening right under our noses that we are sitting by and doing nothing about. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Two BIG issues came to my mind. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The first, people that die everyday because they simply don't have clean water or anything to eat. The second one is the thousands of girls and women who are being beaten and abused into slavery every day.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">God help us if we sit by and let this go on and do absolutely nothing about it in our lifetime. God help us if our goal in life is to have the perfect family, the perfect house ,the perfect car, the perfect vacation and think about me, me, me while this is happening all around us.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">These issues are so big and so overwhelming that a lot of us have used that as an excuse to do nothing. But what IF, we all did a something? What if we all sponsored a child, or gave money to the many great organizations who are on the front lines of fighting these issues or better yet joined them! $35 dollars sponsors a child through <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://fh.org/give">Food for the Hungry</a> which will provide medical help, clean water, food and education for one child. That to us is sacrificing one dinner out a month.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I know that I am opening a can of worms, I know that we have heard the horrific stories of human trafficking and starving dying children. But oh how easily and quickly we can forget. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">My prayer is that we would be an active generation who does not sit by and let this continue without a fight. I DO NOT want my grandchildren to read about the 1 in 5 children who die in Africa because they are starving or the 8 year old girl who was sold into years of sexual slavery and for them to say grandma what were you doing when this was happening? How could you bare it? and then for my answer to be well, I was too busy worrying about myself and enjoying all that I had to care about them. I can just see the look of disgust on their face. I know I am dreaming big when I say this, but my prayer is that we will ALL be able to tell them I <i>didn't</i> sit by, I fought, I prayed and we ended it through nothing else but the help of God Almighty!</span></span></div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-15636510070680884782014-01-14T12:12:00.000-06:002014-01-14T12:12:16.370-06:00PatienceMy six year old daughter said something pretty mature yesterday that made me a proud mama. We were talking about how everyone has strengths and weaknesses. We all have things that we are really good at and then we have some things that we need to work on in order to get better. I was actually getting ready to talk about some academic things that she needed to work on. But she interrupted my thought to tell me she already knew what she needed to work on. I said " Oh you do, what do you need to work on?" She said "patience, I need to be more patient."<br />
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Don't we all Lilybug. Patience is not my strong suit. I am an OCD planner, I love planning my day, my weekend, and my year! I like to see what's coming and be prepared for it. I could never be one of those women who waits to find out the sex of her baby on labor day, I need a gender, a name picked out and a room decorated! But our loving, all-knowing God likes to challenge us, teach us and mold us. He is teaching us patience and teaching us that we are not in control. <br />
I don't know when this baby will arrive, I don't know what the gender will be, I don't know if he/she will be 1, 2, 3 or 4 years old, I don't know if they will have special needs and I don't even know if we will be blessed with one or two babies.<br />
The fact that I can write all of that, accept it and have a total peace about it, is ALL GOD. He has given me a joy and peace about this adoption that is nothing short of a miracle.<br />
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God has taken away every ounce of fear and anxiety I have had about this process, and turned it into excitement. I am so thankful for this hard journey we are on, because it has brought us closer to Him. We are learning to TRUST Him, to praise Him for being sovereign and for loving us enough to work out all the details.<br />
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"God cares, cares right down to the last detail." James 5:11<br />
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23 months waiting....but whose counting!?</div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-87725222881371651902013-09-19T21:56:00.001-05:002013-09-19T21:56:24.074-05:0019 months!There was a time not long ago that I never thought we would be at 19 months. But here we are, still waiting. It is very difficult not to get discouraged. Our agency is saying the wait time has now increased to 3 years for a referral. There are times when my heart aches for our child in Ethiopia. I desperately want to get on an airplane and run into that orphanage and scoop them up into my arms and share the love that I already have for them. Lily and Jett never draw a family portrait without our little baby in the picture, we are all so ready.<br />
What I know is that God is in control, He knows everything that will take place and when our adoption will happen and He knows our hearts. He is teaching us patience, perserverance as we continue yet another home study update (number 3). I cling to the encouraging words of those who have been there and done this before. It is all worth it when you welcome your child into your home. I pray everyday for our sweet child, I pray for their birth mother because adoption comes from a loss or a very tough decision. I pray for her heart and whatever situation she is in. It is amazing how you can feel bonded and close to someone you dont even know. But it's there and it's real.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-18722896213415929262013-08-11T02:32:00.000-05:002013-08-11T02:35:16.120-05:00An Answered PrayerI am a thinker, not a speaker and definitely not a writer. But I do have passion, and sometimes I get so passionate about something I just have to tell somebody!<br />
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I want to share what God has been teaching me lately. Because it just blows my mind.<br />
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Several months ago I read the book The Road Of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam. I highly recommend reading this book. There had been so much talk in my circle about human trafficking that I really just wanted to understand more about it. I believe that God absolutely lead me to pick up this book. I stayed up all night reading every page and sobbing the entire way through.<br />
Without giving too much of the book away it is a true story of a young girl who was sold to a brothel at the age of 12 by her grandfather. It is a story of a young girl who suffers more than we could ever imagine in a dangerous and very dark world of sexual slavery. She tells her story of a living hell that will break your heart. I wont tell you the ending but this book changed my life.<br />
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After reading this story I felt just sick over the thought of how many young boys and girls this is happening too. I cried out to God for an opportunity to do something, I had no idea what, but I could not know about this and just do nothing.<br />
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Less than 2 weeks later, my sister called and asked if I wanted to go to Costa Rica and visit and help an organization who was fighting human trafficking on the streets of downtown San Jose. (no joke)<br />
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Friends, LISTEN if you pray and ask God to give you the opportunity to help broken, desperate and lost people He will not mess around! Be expecting something to happen and probably quickly!<br />
I almost laughed when I got the phone call, I remembered the prayer that I prayed to God at 3am just a few days earlier sobbing over the many people that were in such devastating circumstances.<br />
I could not wait to go! I knew God was all over this trip and that He would do amazing things. Oh, and He did...<br />
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/road-of-lost-innocence-somaly-mam/1100180822?ean=9780385528542">The Road To Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam</a>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-64385678395804476352013-02-26T00:36:00.002-06:002013-02-26T00:38:50.570-06:00How you can help change lives!International adoption is getting more and more difficult, countries are shutting down, wait times are getting longer, costs are increasing, adoption workers are working around the clock, waiting families are frustrated and orphans are stuck.<br />
We recieved a letter from our agency today not related to our personal adoption journey but just international adoption in general and like I mentioned in my last post it seems to be getting more and more difficult to adopt internationally, which means so many children are left without ever knowing their forever family.<br />
Here are some heart breaking statistics from our Agency<br />
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<ul>
<li>every 20 seconds another child is orphaned</li>
<li>10 million orphans are living in institutions</li>
<li>every year 2,102,400 children are orphaned-in Africa alone.</li>
<li>in many countries 15% of orphans commit suicide before age 18.</li>
<li>every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out.</li>
<li>every day 38,493 children age out of the system.</li>
<li>153 million orphans in the world today spend an average of 10 years in an orphanage or foster system.</li>
</ul>
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It is so frustrating to me to know that there are families that are so willing to adopt and restrictions, money and wait times are making it very difficult. Please help by signing this petition.<br />
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<a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/make-a-child-s-right-to-a-family-our-priority">A child's right to a family petition</a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We need to gather one million petition signatures by May 17th to ask Congress, Global Leaders and President Obama to take specific actions to change the landscape of international adoption.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The next thing you can do is watch this documentary </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://bothendsburning.org/movie/">STUCK</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STUCK is a new award-winning documentary film, created to help the average person understand the issues and create a movement that will ultimately put pressure on U.S. officials to force a more supportive attitude toward international adoption. The film will premiere across the country from March to May 2013, as they visit 60 cities in 80 days. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jarrod and I have already bought our tickets to view this movie in Bricktown on March 17th at 7pm.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can purchase tickets <a href="http://tickets.samuelgoldwynfilms.com/">HERE.</a></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://bothendsburning.org/movie/#trailer">Watch the Trailer Here</a></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-76544065514217319112013-02-12T10:00:00.000-06:002013-02-12T10:00:28.259-06:0012 months paper pregnant12 Months!!!<br />
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Its been one whole year since we got the phone call from our agency that all of our paper work went through and we were officially wait listed. It took 6 months to get all the paper work done before that. We have done 2 home study updates, numerous background checks and fingerprints, and 8 doctor visits for our whole family to prove we are healthy enough to adopt. ANNNNND we are only half way there. The estimated time right now to adopt from Ethiopia is 2 years until you receive a match (unless your Madonna of course). So after people ask me how my adoption is going, the next most common question is why does it take so long?<br />
Good Question! The answer is not, that there are a lack of orphans, (i wish that were true).<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It all seems to boil down to government. If you are adopting from a 3rd world country you can guess that their government processes are not going to be very organized. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first step is to prove that a child is an orphan. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just because a child appears to have been abandoned, or one or both parents have relinquished that child to an orphanage, does not mean that child can or should be adopted.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In order to ascertain what is in the best interest of a child, a government must determine that:</span></div>
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<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the child is a true orphan</span></li>
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<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">there are no other relatives able or willing to care for the child on a permanent basis</span></li>
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<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">family reunification through sponsorship, mentoring, etc. is impossible</span></li>
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<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">no indigenous families are willing to adopt the child</span></li>
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<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lengthy interviews must take place between government workers, living relatives and attorneys to answer these questions. Relatives can be difficult to locate and lawyers and government officers are often overworked. As a result, this process can be painfully slow. But, it is vital to ensure that every child who is adopted is a true orphan, and not the victim of child trafficking, etc.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">The Country becomes "popular". Many people don't realize all the restrictions on international adoption. If you have always thought you would adopt from a specific country that you like, check out the requirements on that country and you might be surprised! Ethiopia is the only African country you can adopt from if you have 3 or more biological children. If you want to adopt from Haiti, both you and your spouse have to be 35 and older and be married for 10 years or more. If you want to adopt from China you must make a minimum income of 80,000 annually. The list goes on.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I'm sure some of you have heard of countries shutting down international adoptions, the most recent country in the news is Russia. I couldn't begin to tell you all the reasons why that happens, I don't think any of us know for sure.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But often, a country opens to adoption and is then swamped with parents hoping to adopt available children. This puts an enormous amount of pressure on a government still in the infant stages of building its program. Logistics, legal concerns, coordination with Western Embassies, can pose an incredible challenge.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As more and more Westerners pursue inter-country adoption, corruption or the fear of corruption can make those in power quite nervous, causing them to slow the process down in order to ensure ethics are maintained.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Countries open to adoption often have periods of political instability. Wars break out, government elections go wrong and tensions build. When these things occur, adoption programs can be disrupted for reasons that have nothing to do with adoption itself.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There is not a black and white answer, but I will say from a spiritual standpoint. The enemy is at work. The bible tells us that Jesus loves children, we know from scripture that His heart is with the needy and the helpless. He wants nothing more than for these children who are uncared for and unloved to be joined with loving families. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">5 years ago adoption was not even on our radar, we just never really thought about it. Times are changing, more and more families are adopting, more families are supporting families who want to adopt. There is a movement across our nation to love these orphans and to fight for them. I am so thankful for this, at the same time the more we fight for these lost children the more roadblocks are going to come our way. The enemy wants you to be overwhelmed with the cost of adoption, the extremely long wait times, the horror stories. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But I am here to tell you, that there is no greater joy than the joy that comes from obeying God's calling on your life. We have already been so extremely blessed by this process, and we still have a long way to go. I am overwhelmed by how God has shown himself through our adoption.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">God knows exactly what we needed for our adoption and He has provided every step of the way. There is a comfort in knowing that we don't have to worry, God laid it on our hearts to do this and he will make a way. And He has! God's timing is always perfect and I know we will bring our baby home at the most perfect time. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Financially God has provided, it's still amazing to me. The $30,000 price tag on international adoption is probably the number one deterrent to people pursuing international adoption. I am thrilled to say that after, our adoption garage sale, which was so much more than a garage sale, it was our friends, family, neighbors, church members and other adoption families coming together to support us, so much that it brings tears to my eyes to think about. Jarrod and I prayed over that garage sale and hoped to make at least $500. You can read about it here <a href="http://lilyandjett.blogspot.com/2011/08/garage-sale-day.html" target="_blank">Garage Sale Day!</a> Our grand total for that wonderful Saturday after the sale, donations, a cupcake stand, and a photo session with an amazing friend was over $5700! Uh-Maz-ing!!!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have also been blessed with an wonderful job that has been exactly what I needed to help us save money. My job has been a real God send, it's a job He knew I would love and is flexible enough to where I can take care of my kids AND save for our adoption. He is so good. (: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Through an organization called <a href="http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/" target="_blank">Lifesong for Orphans</a> we have been able to open an account that allows people to give to our families adoption and receive tax benefits. Jarrod has a childhood friend who was able to make tshirts for our families adoption and sell them to raise money. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I am happy to announce that God has provided over and above what we could imagine. In this past year we have raised and saved $27,839! We have one year left and we are only $2161 away from being fully funded. REALLY GOD!?? Even just writing that down and seeing it, still shocks me. God has changed our heart to be passionate about adoption and he has provided everything we need every step of the way. </span><br />
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-32083550300089625302012-07-20T08:52:00.003-05:002012-07-20T09:10:37.458-05:005 months!God is continuing to show us how we can love and support orphans as we wait. Some good friends of ours who live in our neighborhood and are also adopting from D.C. Congo and St. Vincent recently told us about a sweet lady living in St. Vincent who is a foster mom. They have become very close with this women and have been able to skype and facebook with her! They have been moved by her passion for these babies and her heart for God. I am excited for them because they are now adopting a baby girl who is in her care, and will be bringing her home in November!<div>Our friends approached us several weeks back, and asked if we might be interested in adopting a baby from St. Vincent as well. We have been very content waiting on our Ethiopia adoption and said we would pray about it! Our first thought was well we could do both! But after talking with AGCI our agency we quickly learned that we were not allowed to adopt another baby while we waited for our referral from them.</div><div>So we began to pray, while we prayed we heard of a few babies that would possibly be available very soon (like a matter of weeks) from St. Vincent. </div><div>I began to research like crazy and talk to as many people as I could who have adopted and get some advice!</div><div>Jarrod and I told God we were open to whatever His will is either way! We know that this is something God has asked us to do and we are open to whatever He has planned. </div><div>After praying all day everyday for an answer and talking to as many people as I could, I finally felt God telling me just be still and listen! </div><div>I dont know how else to explain but say when I finally stopped to listen all I could think about was Ethiopia. I feel that our baby is there. I KNOW God has picked out a very special baby girl or baby boy to be apart of our family. I truly believe that they are in Ehtiopia. </div><div>We havent heard anything else from St. Vincent and we are not completley shutting that door. I still want to help in any way that I can find homes for these precious babies. I have been able to hear a few specific stories, and have been able to pray specifically for the needs of each one. </div><div>God had shown me these past few weeks, how BIG his heart is for children and orphans, he wants our heart to hurt for them just like HIS does! He wants to use us to help them! </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus...said to them, "Let the little children come to me. Dont stop them. The kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these little children. I tell you the truth. You must accept the kingdom of God as a little child accept things, or you will never enter it. " Then Jesus took the children in his arms. He put his hands on them and blessed them. -Mark 10:14-16</div>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-79220789621593760362012-06-17T21:45:00.003-05:002012-06-17T21:52:00.358-05:004 months!<div>Today Marks 4 months that we have been on the wait list for our sweet baby! We continue to meet families who are in the process of adopting and are inspired and encouraged by their stories. We are continuing to pray about how God wants to use us in loving and supporting orphans. I came across these adoption facts today and wanted to share them.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsX_CxBciGR5tmew627HLDsdYQ7E_iDkVuXMG1N6656J-TaC9NUxTiSqPqG6udd6eLScH0ehGbWwwj2q_4HPttXpZeYZfQ3YZvJ4nld4RYuudJuM-91_NgH1p4Enj-pygwQ7zlZZLA2K7-/s1600/AJ_STAT_5.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsX_CxBciGR5tmew627HLDsdYQ7E_iDkVuXMG1N6656J-TaC9NUxTiSqPqG6udd6eLScH0ehGbWwwj2q_4HPttXpZeYZfQ3YZvJ4nld4RYuudJuM-91_NgH1p4Enj-pygwQ7zlZZLA2K7-/s400/AJ_STAT_5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5755203669539445970" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfRVCKadDcF2JcOxf_kOfCJOuWRh_bN94ihZtdDImTvjXA8LmtKLjr1QxkMnE7Mto096r_jJcLMTU-Ru17aIO6OQcvGnPqQ2zW77pY1TAGnHiCjm-VaRvdwail0DezuoJ12mWZEGbS0UJ/s1600/AJ_STAT_4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfRVCKadDcF2JcOxf_kOfCJOuWRh_bN94ihZtdDImTvjXA8LmtKLjr1QxkMnE7Mto096r_jJcLMTU-Ru17aIO6OQcvGnPqQ2zW77pY1TAGnHiCjm-VaRvdwail0DezuoJ12mWZEGbS0UJ/s400/AJ_STAT_4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5755203665741535298" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-25946323141152875122012-02-17T16:37:00.005-06:002012-02-17T16:44:36.349-06:00February 17, 2011 ON THE WAITLIST!Today marks a very important day in our adoption Journey! The day we are officially wait listed for our little baby girl or boy! I am already so excited to see their sweet little face! Our agency informed us that the latest families have waited 17 months for a boy and 18 months for a girl! But to expect that we could wait up to 24 months for a referral. We are currently number 134 on the girl wait list and 119 on the boy wait list. Which means we will probably be having a little boy since we did not specify we wanted a certain gender and the wait time for a boy is less. But you never know!<br />Once we get the referral, it could be between 4-8 months before we actually bring our baby home.<br />It is all hitting me today, having a 3rd child is starting to feel real to me! I am so excited and thankful that this is God's plan for our family. I know that this child will be such a blessing to our family!<br />Oh Happy Day!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-32683696852032905692012-01-27T14:08:00.004-06:002012-01-27T14:22:01.101-06:00ALMOST DONE!I am pretty excited at where we are at with our adoption! I just spoke to our agency, they have reviewed our dossier, which is our final set of paperwork. It is the portfolio about us that goes to Ethiopia. It has to be absolutely perfect by Ethiopia standards and USA standards. So we had a few minor adjustments to make and THEN, THEN we are on the wait list!<br />Every time I speak to our agency and ask how long the wait is, it gets longer and longer.<br />We started at a 12 month wait for a referral, then 18 months and today she said expect to wait 18-24 months.<br />Ethiopia adoptions are really slowing down.<br />I am not at all frustrated or worried. I know from experience that God's timing is ALWAYS perfect. He already has the perfect little one picked out for our family, and he is working in our lives and in their life getting ready for us to be together!<br /><br />God has done so much in our little family this past year, I am just amazed. I cant wait to see what these next two years bring! I know it's going to be bigger than I could ever imagine!<br />Living life knowing that HE is in full control, leaves me with such a peace, an overwhelming peace.<br /><br />Plus God gave me these two munchkins to keep me plenty busy, while I wait for His perfect plan to unfold!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTW9O62Pu1pYdHitkCr_3Y3f65hm_lZCtn4DfFaAjejEX3b-d1N39-YermlCy3YgGERBtkE79NbQTr7FD1PJtrOnrQY8lUKp7kNEPak5H_SmEaSyBoSDBTbz-rXvOrmGPca0T-kabcchVW/s1600/photo-23.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTW9O62Pu1pYdHitkCr_3Y3f65hm_lZCtn4DfFaAjejEX3b-d1N39-YermlCy3YgGERBtkE79NbQTr7FD1PJtrOnrQY8lUKp7kNEPak5H_SmEaSyBoSDBTbz-rXvOrmGPca0T-kabcchVW/s400/photo-23.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702409192480826306" border="0" /></a>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-28943084506720883072011-12-23T12:12:00.002-06:002011-12-23T12:22:17.739-06:00Adoption T shirtsI am so thankful to our friend Matt Klein and his business Hard Driven in Fresno, California for making these awesome shirts for us! From this fundraiser we were able to raise $860 so far! Wow, what a blessing! Thank you so much to those of you who ordered shirts!<br />We still have quite a few t-shirts left over in all sizes. We would love to sell the rest of them. If you would like one, instead of them costing $20 per shirt we will cut the cost in half to $10 per shirt! To get rid of what we have! Thanks again for all your prayers and support!<br />Message me or email me your tshirt size and which color!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-56795223833620725522011-12-10T19:09:00.003-06:002011-12-10T19:22:32.435-06:00A light at the end of the tunel!I have been so bad about blogging lately. We have just been trying to power through the paperwork for our adoption, and there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel!<br /><br />Our Dossier portfolio is put together and just needs to be notarized, we have our USCIS fingerprinting appointments set up, once our papers are notarized and turned in, we will officially be waiting!<br /> I am still really hoping to be on the waiting list by Christmas.<br />Our only drawback is of course along with any paperwork turned in there is another payment. This time we need to turn in $5500 with our paperwork. Our agency also has an expiration date on all our paperwork, we have to be finished with payments and paperwork by February 1st. After that we start over....<br /><br />God has been so faithful in providing for us every step of the way and I have no doubt that he will provide this money for us just in time.<br /><br />I came across this picture from our agency of a little girl in an orphanage.<br />When I think about the long wait,the traveling,paperwork and expenses and I start to get discouraged, God reminds me why this is so important.<br />This picture is a perfect reminder of why we HAVE to do this. The teddy bear is not enough, this baby girl needs a loving family.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs0C0ER9xffYlTQLcBYJa6bo9zAGozYt8imoTV7BLUeBrOqps_QP7c0r2NG6bhpHRbuysPgtD-30OzN1TfLy_tkCkBM-WGsz0XYbtdQVZMiw44ApxVDCjBnrf1ALHAbTmoopFWBcMzFuc/s1600/316479_283273081698597_112879278737979_1240772_672385856_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 334px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs0C0ER9xffYlTQLcBYJa6bo9zAGozYt8imoTV7BLUeBrOqps_QP7c0r2NG6bhpHRbuysPgtD-30OzN1TfLy_tkCkBM-WGsz0XYbtdQVZMiw44ApxVDCjBnrf1ALHAbTmoopFWBcMzFuc/s400/316479_283273081698597_112879278737979_1240772_672385856_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684674138948924802" border="0" /></a>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-78761394973753317302011-11-17T21:20:00.002-06:002011-11-17T21:22:03.156-06:00Adoption Testimony<style>@font-face { font-family: "MS 明朝"; }@font-face { font-family: "MS 明朝"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria; }.MsoChpDefault { font-family: Cambria; }div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }</style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Jarrod and I are applying for a grant through lifesong to help pay for some of the costs with our adoption. We had to write our adoption testimony and I thought I would share it with you guys.</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Adoption Testimony</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>I am still amazed at our adoption testimony. Because it is so clear that this is all God. About 6 months ago, Jarrod and I both felt a stirring in our hearts that something big was coming. We were and still are so eager to serve God with our lives. We were reading books about what the Bible says about how Christians should be loving and caring for the poor, the needy, the widowed and the orphans. We kept reading about God asking us to care for Orphans and if we cared for them and loved people that needed it, it showed our love for Him! We wanted so much for our lives to show how much we loved Jesus. We began to pray and ask God, what can we do as a family? How can we better serve you? One afternoon I was deep in prayer, crying out to God, God what is it I know there is something? The word ADOPTION flashed through my mind. I was shocked at how clear it was. I kept praying, and asking God if this was it? The more I prayed the more sure I became that this was what God was calling us to do.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>I talked to Jarrod about it and he wasn’t so sure, so we committed to praying about it for one month. In that month God worked on both of our hearts. We met new friends who were adopting or had already adopted, we were encouraged, we did lots of research, and most importantly we prayed like we have never prayed before because we knew this was a huge decision and we needed a lot of peace. When one month was up we both knew without a doubt in our minds that God was asking us to adopt. Our fears were gone, we were completely comfortable and had a total peace about this decision. All the things that I was “scared” about before were gone. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Now fast forward 6 months and we are so excited to meet our baby. Our son/daughter is in Ethiopia and we ache for them and long to meet them. <span style=""> </span>We pray for our child daily. <span style=""> </span>God’s hand is in this, He is guiding us and providing for us every step of the way. Our God is an awesome God.</p>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-13059311183881657452011-10-22T11:22:00.003-05:002011-10-22T11:34:04.237-05:00TShirts TShirts Get Your TShirts!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcq3U79vdXfjVMtkVFJUTqiOxaM9l3kEfGH8532Q8CPyMLjc7jepzadnFz26ewZLlKDwAVqz8H_X40alf4O2XwlFSAowJXw2wNBVBLkjR9472PySzEoGPUfc_WJgw4ByCrHY1FMwGKGAwr/s1600/Adoption+Shirt+-+8-11-11%25282%2529.jpg"><br /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Hey Friends! We have quite a few t-shirts left! I want to sell most of what we have before we order more. I know some people were needing different sizes that we don't have in stock. Here is what we have right now, let me know if you are interested in buying one in one of these sizes. Shirts are $20!<br /></div><br />WOMENS -QTY LEFT<br />SMALL -4<br />MEDIUM - 8<br /><br />YOUTH <br />X-SMALL- 2<br />SMALL- 2<br />MEDIUM - 3<br /><br />MENS<br />X-LARGE- 5<br />2X - 1<br />3X- 2<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Thank you so much for supporting us! If you know anyone who would be interested in helping us with our adoption, please pass this along!<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcq3U79vdXfjVMtkVFJUTqiOxaM9l3kEfGH8532Q8CPyMLjc7jepzadnFz26ewZLlKDwAVqz8H_X40alf4O2XwlFSAowJXw2wNBVBLkjR9472PySzEoGPUfc_WJgw4ByCrHY1FMwGKGAwr/s1600/Adoption+Shirt+-+8-11-11%25282%2529.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcq3U79vdXfjVMtkVFJUTqiOxaM9l3kEfGH8532Q8CPyMLjc7jepzadnFz26ewZLlKDwAVqz8H_X40alf4O2XwlFSAowJXw2wNBVBLkjR9472PySzEoGPUfc_WJgw4ByCrHY1FMwGKGAwr/s400/Adoption+Shirt+-+8-11-11%25282%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666355044292197042" border="0" /></a>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-49112969445231282522011-10-19T21:48:00.007-05:002011-10-19T22:26:30.966-05:00God's WorldThis past week as we prepared for Orphan Sunday coming up on November 6th, Jarrod and I and two other couples, talked about how God has changed our hearts to be passionate about adoption and orphans in general. We watched this video,TRUE RELIGION, and it explained EXACTLY what has weighed so heavy on my heart in the past year or so.<br /><br />I have grown up in church, surrounded by Christian friends and family. I have been blessed with everything I could ever NEED. I have not had a heart for the poor or orphans really, of course it made me sad to think about people living on the streets, but honestly I very rarely thought about it. I don't remember it ever being talked about growing up. But God has slowly been planting seeds in my life. Showing me <span style="font-style: italic;">what</span> the WORLD looks like to HIM,not just to me. I constantly struggle with wanting things that I don't need at all, looking at what other people have and wishing I had that.<br />With my job I spend most days looking at amazing, huge expensive homes and sometimes you cant help but walk through homes like this, and imagine what it would be like if I lived here! How nice it would be to have all this space and the gorgeous backyard and views. I start to get this twinge of jealousy.<br /><br />Then God gives me the reality check that I so desperately need, He reminds me that I have everything I could ever need, I have Him.<br /><br />Tonight I read about a women who has commited her life to serving in Africa at a children's prison. YES a prison for babies, toddlers and children. These children are picked up off the streets and thrown into a prison and put behind bars simply because they have no family.<br />I spent the day buying expensive fabrics and looking at beautiful homes and ended my day with this story:<br />A little boy living in a Uganda children's prison, told this women his story as they were sitting on the concrete coloring pictures.<br /><p>While living with his father and stepmother he was physically abused. His birth mother picked him up and then brought him to and abandoned him at M1(the prison). He is only 13 years old and has lived there for quite some time now. He tells her</p>“I am thankful to be here,” he said. “Because before I came, I was a muslim. Now I know Jesus.” He went on to say that his favorite story in the Bible comes from Luke 23. As he told to her the story of the crucifixion and how Jesus took his place when His hands were nailed to the cross.<br />He wrote this in her notebook:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />“I [know] that Jesus is my Savior. And died for my sins and is going to come back to see me. thank you Jesus for loving me and my friend Kelsey. And I want you bless all NGO come here to share with us the word of God and only son Jesus Christ our Savior. When I come here I didn’t [know] that Jesus my Savior. But when I come to [M1] I have a chance to [know] that Jesus Savior – and he loves me.”</span><br /><br />To have a joy and peace like this little boy who in our eyes has nothing.<br /><br />God is teaching me and reminding me to view the world not how I see it, but how He sees it.<br /><br />Watch this video it says it all...<br /><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2809712/Videos/True%20Religion%20-%20Orphan%20Sunday.mp4">http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2809712/Videos/True%20Religion%20-%20Orphan%20Sunday.mp4</a>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-26135150104002597792011-10-13T21:26:00.003-05:002011-10-13T21:33:01.860-05:00Moving Along!I am just plain excited right now, our fingerprints came back after only 2 weeks! Normally I was told it could take up to 6 weeks at least! Our California background check was sent back, (wrong form...) but they just processed it again, and our homestudy has been turned in for review, so any day I should get a call that it is approved! It is all coming together fairly quickly, which we are so thankful for. I cant wait to get on the wait list and wait!! (:<br />I am not the least bit worried because I know God will provide all our needs, but with this finishing of the next step comes another payment. A large one I might add. If you haven't bought a shirt from us already and would like too, we ordered lots of extras to sell. Right now we have:<br />Youth XS, S<br />Womens S, M,L<br />Mens L, XL, XXL, 3X<br />You can order a shirt from paypal, or send us a check!<br /><br />Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support!<br />PS if you have ordered a shirt please pass this on, to anyone you think might want to support us!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-15901085146916222122011-10-09T19:08:00.002-05:002011-10-09T19:11:16.113-05:00Orphan Sunday<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiLR9rl-yWxwEVfsXDhumknFCxlfmh9Fg_DIdDbcuEVOw0dNuhnWWx7r9zTYdPsitmJlodaz0R0rKDIbuTXSHku1KBpNFZjQbesn648LeZm0G9hAbf8zS-5ILD6BEkSetSqh38bur9jw8J/s1600/Orphan+Sunday+Banner.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiLR9rl-yWxwEVfsXDhumknFCxlfmh9Fg_DIdDbcuEVOw0dNuhnWWx7r9zTYdPsitmJlodaz0R0rKDIbuTXSHku1KBpNFZjQbesn648LeZm0G9hAbf8zS-5ILD6BEkSetSqh38bur9jw8J/s400/Orphan+Sunday+Banner.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661648953053762274" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size:small;"><br /><br /><a href="http://qsbc.org/">Quail Springs Baptist Church</a> is teaming up with <a href="http://orphansunday.org/">Orphan Sunday</a> to kick-off our first ever Orphan Ministry event! We feel that God has big plans to provide for orphans in our city, state and all over the world through the people of Quail Springs. One of our goals is show those interested how to care for the fatherless whether it be through adoption, foster care, sponsorship or prayer to name a few.</span></div> <div style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div> <div style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size:small;">If you are in the Oklahoma City area, we would love for you to join us November 6th at 5:30pm at Quail Springs Baptist Church (located on N. May just north of Memorial) in the cafe area. Refreshments will be provided as well as childcare.</span></div> <div style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div> <div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><span style="font-style: italic;">Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27</span><span style="font-size:small;"><span style="color:black;"><br /></span></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-36537939324219251312011-09-20T09:59:00.002-05:002011-09-20T10:02:45.029-05:00T-Shirts are here!<div style="text-align: center;">Hey Everyone! We have lots of shirts left to sell! Mens, Womens and Youth sizes in Gray and Blue!<br />We are making it super easy by having a buy now button on our blog. Just click on shipping or no shipping, then message me your sizes and I will get them right to you! Thank you so much for supporting us! We cant wait until we are at the point where we are done fund raising and are writing about our trip to pick up our baby!<br />Thank you!<br /></div>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-79231426041670372672011-09-14T16:51:00.008-05:002011-09-14T17:11:53.715-05:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yfyxnNIJZ6n-cOO9trIpeJ_d8j7oLhTv1bmIoxWavSy_QgLhfxyTy999_cAC0SSOrJnKGB8EJtl-EgX8GEE7noyNZbs36ixVyx7kzJMqAzHdL4x586Kh21Hdzsol9hmpOdsd_EQW0S4Z/s1600/IMG_0121.jpg"><br /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;">It is a very busy season in our life right now. Sometimes I love the busyness and sometimes I long for the days with nothing on the calendar. Jarrod has started a new job at Chase bank, and is getting his MBA, going to school and studying at night. I am working a new job along with all my regular mommy duties AND doing LOTS of adoption paperwork and education. I have almost finished our education requirements. About 20 hours of education total. Then we will be finished with our home study!!!</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />This is such an exciting step to have that out of the way!</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">After our home study is complete we can make an appointment to get our FBI check and fingerprinting done. We are waiting on our t-shirts to arrive, they should be here any day so if you have ordered be expecting them soon!</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Here are some pictures to let you know what we have been up to!</span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQG1EofMNK9gjf4uBRAbptEjxEj2Ejwu8UW-vQKzgL6DveM0wJWAT3IpNvVJH3hJKm1CK5GBDniPlRF6_ENS2pSX2tFpL4wsMWc6XYlP2_YcWXEXOKmD_K7d25ytJZgAg-G7fS-In99LnT/s1600/IMG_0072.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQG1EofMNK9gjf4uBRAbptEjxEj2Ejwu8UW-vQKzgL6DveM0wJWAT3IpNvVJH3hJKm1CK5GBDniPlRF6_ENS2pSX2tFpL4wsMWc6XYlP2_YcWXEXOKmD_K7d25ytJZgAg-G7fS-In99LnT/s400/IMG_0072.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652338634125764514" border="0" /></a>Playing with Cousins!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs777Mqg9o4dy1Dh6fHgX-AE73yvRssvVjXDfhwD1JFD0x63Ok9N2aQbVRTVjC7hpuGCY-O0zYHCbW7La8j32ORL4ED1BpVsAr8zQHpWVN6bqqOJ0s6_Fj1_3s0xj_2DbzXIbXfx99oJFa/s1600/IMG_0045.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs777Mqg9o4dy1Dh6fHgX-AE73yvRssvVjXDfhwD1JFD0x63Ok9N2aQbVRTVjC7hpuGCY-O0zYHCbW7La8j32ORL4ED1BpVsAr8zQHpWVN6bqqOJ0s6_Fj1_3s0xj_2DbzXIbXfx99oJFa/s400/IMG_0045.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652339427628889442" border="0" /></a><br />Frontier City!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimzQEiIns_aVNVnLLrYLTvUTU-y7Kdb2HCQM4ctNZVaUqhi5KTkyKllPYKSaxS1teaBqgqKhJgvKM-NrfuoBGYytjvmhuIdgZ9UKXfMbsWK_z-Ei3Cq00bg-Jygyn4imtuMZedYoxLP31/s1600/IMG_0104.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimzQEiIns_aVNVnLLrYLTvUTU-y7Kdb2HCQM4ctNZVaUqhi5KTkyKllPYKSaxS1teaBqgqKhJgvKM-NrfuoBGYytjvmhuIdgZ9UKXfMbsWK_z-Ei3Cq00bg-Jygyn4imtuMZedYoxLP31/s400/IMG_0104.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652340352048673410" border="0" /></a>Flower Girl and Ring bearer in Cousins Wedding<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPVc3l2KnHvGjFFduI3kiIj4lfThWEKzEaicJZ7vELbPpJKHuUP_Ay5Qzdt3vd-oRDVR9d-8EqG5E91RrxYQOW7d56wi8PG9EVAW8cmG_gpJfh42noH2z5WWqKLPR8m0E36eI9hBq__jP3/s1600/IMG_0113.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPVc3l2KnHvGjFFduI3kiIj4lfThWEKzEaicJZ7vELbPpJKHuUP_Ay5Qzdt3vd-oRDVR9d-8EqG5E91RrxYQOW7d56wi8PG9EVAW8cmG_gpJfh42noH2z5WWqKLPR8m0E36eI9hBq__jP3/s400/IMG_0113.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652340652441532114" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yfyxnNIJZ6n-cOO9trIpeJ_d8j7oLhTv1bmIoxWavSy_QgLhfxyTy999_cAC0SSOrJnKGB8EJtl-EgX8GEE7noyNZbs36ixVyx7kzJMqAzHdL4x586Kh21Hdzsol9hmpOdsd_EQW0S4Z/s1600/IMG_0121.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yfyxnNIJZ6n-cOO9trIpeJ_d8j7oLhTv1bmIoxWavSy_QgLhfxyTy999_cAC0SSOrJnKGB8EJtl-EgX8GEE7noyNZbs36ixVyx7kzJMqAzHdL4x586Kh21Hdzsol9hmpOdsd_EQW0S4Z/s400/IMG_0121.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652340793512284002" border="0" /></a></div>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667860294419828695.post-12160525472770681412011-08-30T08:10:00.010-05:002011-08-30T08:36:03.254-05:00Pre-k! Jett and Lily's First day of school!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xxvrpoDOcz1wbd1h3xHwwJxPjJCVeP_FoUD1yz7ZYGLRqAbQE_Mmj23nhnyPfqkqdx8L6YlDRNxufL5qAAroRsHj3TakGq0DVi09i0nyUaUoL8GRAv_mxWOKZdm54J0Hu117RmU62kS8/s1600/IMG_0041.JPG">
<br /></a><div style="text-align: center;">My little Lily started Pre-K yesterday! I have to admit I got a little teary eyed at her open house seeing her name up on the bulletin boards. She was so excited about what she saw in her classroom. Writing, reading and science centers; and the class's pet fish, cowboy!It made me so happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I know she is in a great class and will have so much fun learning and sad because she is not my baby anymore.
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjr0b9M5R696Qzlt9MeRzBDJLdIgMnTWuLaD32ji7nOicxQQ3YVblIEXXA8Uvcd_YMBsmzzka3U0zgjZCWnlpzJYQTFXQ4VBdvyPfo4y2JF7P_KtfmRXuz7PImU3UG7Ppt8ppBocQEBjN/s1600/IMG_0039.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjr0b9M5R696Qzlt9MeRzBDJLdIgMnTWuLaD32ji7nOicxQQ3YVblIEXXA8Uvcd_YMBsmzzka3U0zgjZCWnlpzJYQTFXQ4VBdvyPfo4y2JF7P_KtfmRXuz7PImU3UG7Ppt8ppBocQEBjN/s400/IMG_0039.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646641036952633794" border="0" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXfHI5yRUukfhhE0Vgl-jsetoqZWtLxx0yhFuQqXERuFAPBQPGu7c_I6oUjqtidYxgIFy5m0DV2sXQTrmL04jiyzdS4iXHrOoIuHTRdCdTiUAosh-upj_hqUmQhbqmORnfGBB4mBtbU68/s1600/IMG_0037.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXfHI5yRUukfhhE0Vgl-jsetoqZWtLxx0yhFuQqXERuFAPBQPGu7c_I6oUjqtidYxgIFy5m0DV2sXQTrmL04jiyzdS4iXHrOoIuHTRdCdTiUAosh-upj_hqUmQhbqmORnfGBB4mBtbU68/s400/IMG_0037.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646641047846323058" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Mr. Jett is going to Mother's Day Out at the same place (our home church) two days a week. He walked right in, and I was told had a blast. He was pretty stoked about his toy story lunchbox and they had some dinosaurs in the class to play with so he was very happy!
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLDo0owzuYDou3lqpiju-PH0VVJQKz1id6p1ep9W2mRarLhoPihyp5GH428t00iKhLfBvv_-a7PGLzCxfI0Te7HUsdX8ZIrKXL0gkuGA5tlcvlOOEOxfTJAhHHfyK9wqrLMONR18QV9Lw/s1600/IMG_0030.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLDo0owzuYDou3lqpiju-PH0VVJQKz1id6p1ep9W2mRarLhoPihyp5GH428t00iKhLfBvv_-a7PGLzCxfI0Te7HUsdX8ZIrKXL0gkuGA5tlcvlOOEOxfTJAhHHfyK9wqrLMONR18QV9Lw/s400/IMG_0030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646641042122416754" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Here they are all ready to go with backpacks and lunches!
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJvQBGNc8ERdCdtgZ388AbO3hUEczj1d5w1dr8Kv6PgC4qp5NamqJVNVEEzO0jGviTNOA1LSPrH_-oNkG1_BrVpcvp4re6nFkn_NKwfA9m20MAL_SDIB2zuIV79UBe5S_yrZfjN03dIq9/s1600/IMG_0033.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJvQBGNc8ERdCdtgZ388AbO3hUEczj1d5w1dr8Kv6PgC4qp5NamqJVNVEEzO0jGviTNOA1LSPrH_-oNkG1_BrVpcvp4re6nFkn_NKwfA9m20MAL_SDIB2zuIV79UBe5S_yrZfjN03dIq9/s400/IMG_0033.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646641575495075698" border="0" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3pmj9D15aw-dhq0y348YJZBz6y0a7h9qvc5Df5_DJPfXAuxWdsrkaZn6G62v4PulDbmunxkvKwH18BpWHZ08iAL84C2uHCewvZ6jX7ShgdbIvdqQOkR9CUFSHo6yNGlCW6ITdXkylZbww/s1600/IMG_0031.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3pmj9D15aw-dhq0y348YJZBz6y0a7h9qvc5Df5_DJPfXAuxWdsrkaZn6G62v4PulDbmunxkvKwH18BpWHZ08iAL84C2uHCewvZ6jX7ShgdbIvdqQOkR9CUFSHo6yNGlCW6ITdXkylZbww/s400/IMG_0031.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646641569442703282" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhffpRKYmxIozBgJ17Z5P9FzN33xSwgNO03zbwTghV2A4_yoKQRvhVPloCVNDaMGYnb69gXJsrRKG8jVU2CpYvOmiK_7RDvilcdVvX0CrSqsjiO3KAokGSAO_IcmsbIBMVpIrbeX9EYvMDa/s1600/IMG_0031.JPG">
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMBkueYDE_QMoY83KCFFKSdZmt81yNXX5L-THwsgh6Wm4OF4iMdgpi3MDHSk-wkgTOupFD0v9m4cjAcyIkx-eX9Xh8PJvtqZ8EX7xyJ5w2MzDwjMKtZ0n4k-RKcDdx2uVBtaokdTv30xz/s1600/IMG_0033.JPG">
<br /></a>I kind of get the best of both worlds. Lily goes to school 3 days a week and Jett 2, so on Tuesday's and Thursdays we get to stay home and do this at 7:30 in the morning.
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<br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xxvrpoDOcz1wbd1h3xHwwJxPjJCVeP_FoUD1yz7ZYGLRqAbQE_Mmj23nhnyPfqkqdx8L6YlDRNxufL5qAAroRsHj3TakGq0DVi09i0nyUaUoL8GRAv_mxWOKZdm54J0Hu117RmU62kS8/s1600/IMG_0041.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xxvrpoDOcz1wbd1h3xHwwJxPjJCVeP_FoUD1yz7ZYGLRqAbQE_Mmj23nhnyPfqkqdx8L6YlDRNxufL5qAAroRsHj3TakGq0DVi09i0nyUaUoL8GRAv_mxWOKZdm54J0Hu117RmU62kS8/s400/IMG_0041.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646641774847995602" border="0" /></a>
<br /></div>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09060688482455072962noreply@blogger.com0