A fortune cookie revelation!

"A great pleasure in life is doing what others say you can't."

Last week we decided to get Panda Express and eat dinner watching a movie (the kids love getting to eat dinner at the coffee table!) When we finished our meals, we all opened our fortune cookies and read them to the rest of the family. We always laugh at the silly, sometimes coincidental messages. Usually they say things like, "Good fortune will smile on you Tuesday." We don't put any stock into what they say, we just find them funny, until Brian read Camille's fortune. Sometimes things are too close for comfort! Her fortune read, "A great pleasure in life is doing things others say you can't." That is our little Camille to a tee right now. She takes great pleasure in doing the things Brian and I say she can't. I am sure the quote was meant to be uplifting, but in the context of Camille, it is a clear picture of our human nature. Don't we all want to do things our own way, especially when someone else(or God) tells us not to! So, my solution for Camille has been to plant the seeds of God's Word in her heart and mind. She has recently memorized Colossians 3:20 "You children must always obey your parents, for this is what pleases the Lord." It is good to be reminded that when we do the right thing it pleases the Lord, and it is a better pleasure to please the Lord than to do things our own way! (God always uses my kids to teach me about my own heart!!)

No Excuses!

I was driving to church last week, on my way to Bible study. We are doing a Precept study on the book of John. As many of you know the precept studies are awesome, but a lot of work! Well, I didn't finish my study and I was thinking about all the reasons I was too busy to get it done. When the Lord spoke very clearly to me. He said,"Having five kids is no excuse for poor character." Wow! Let me be clear, this was not a criticism, it is the truth. God is not in the business of condemning us, but correcting us. I knew what he was saying was right and I was very convicted.
It is funny how many times I hear, "Five kids, how do you do it? I can barely manage two!" Or, if I share I had a hard time getting something done, "Well, you have so many kids around all the time, it's understandable!" So, it was easy to allow myself the same excuses other people are willing to offer me.
So, as I was driving, I realized that, yes, I have been allowing my five kids to become an excuse for poor character in some areas of my life. Completing my Bible Study for example. Of course, I could have made the time to get it done. I didn't last week, but I did this week. It was good to spend the time in God's word studying, better than anything else I could have found to keep myself too busy!

Homeschooling Perfection!

What a perfect homeschool moment! All of the kids at the table, working on age appropriate activities, happily learning together! Even the baby is coloring with his homemade toddler crayons! I should really just leave my post with this, but then I would be denying the reader the reality of the moment. Yes, it is true that in this brief moment the kids were being angels, but this didn't last long!


The true story is that we had been having a particularly hard morning. (Joseph is into everything and has made me rethink my school schedule for Isaac and Camille. They now do most of their school while Joseph is napping!) I was, however, determined that I could make this work. And I did, for a couple of minutes!


I do love homeschooling, and I am glad that we made the decision to walk down this road. I am also learning about flexibility, and what schooling two kids, raising a family, keeping a house and all of the other responsibilities I have looks like. It does look different than I expected, but it has been a great adventure so far! (And, yes, I did make the toddler crayons!!)

Joseph and the CA Budget Crisis!

Joseph fell asleep in his high chair tonight while we were all eating dinner! I guess cantaloupe and chicken just isn't exciting enough for him!


Although Joseph's adoption is moving along as expected, there have been some curves in the road! We requested a new adoption worker for him after a less than professional experience with the worker he had been assigned. I met with her supervisor; she was very kind, and I felt that she really listened to what I had to say. She said she would assign a new worker after his hearing to terminate his birth parents parental rights(which was at the end of last month). His original worker represented him at the hearing, and the court decided to terminate parental rights, as well as, grant us the power to make educational decisions for Joseph prior to the adoption finalization. This seemed strange at first given he was only 10 months old at the time of the hearing, but I think it has more to do with requesting resources and services for him if the need arises. (He has a follow-up developmental assessment in August.) So, everything was moving along. However, due to the California budget crisis, 1/3 of all the staff in adoptions will be laid off or reassigned. This means that he will be assigned a new adoption worker at some point, but we don't know when. Until that time the supervisor has taken on his case, which I am happy with. She is very pleasant to work with. Unfortunately, our homestudy worker is being reassigned to another dept., so we will be assigned a new one. I am very sad about this because our homestudy worker has been very supportive throughout our whole process, and we will miss her! All homestudies are now on hold while the department re-organizes. Luckily, our homestudy was finished prior to placement! I asked if this would affect our finalization time frame, and nobody knows for sure. I would think that the county would want to get the adoptions that are close to finalization finished and off the case load, but this is the government...so who knows! God has all of this under control!

Joseph Update!

I realize it has been too long since I have updated this blog! It isn't that I have had nothing to say, I have simply not known what to share. For the first time since starting our adoption/foster care process we have had trouble with a social worker. I will not be able to share the details here until everything has been resolved, but I have filed a formal complaint against Joseph's adoption worker(not our home study worker).This will not affect his adoption proceeding forward(or shouldn't!) and we will be granted a new worker for Joseph after an upcoming meeting with the supervisor.

This has been very stressful for me, and something I have definitely spent a lot of time in prayer about. As an pre-adoptive family, like in the case of Joseph, I do not want to do anything that rocks the boat, or causes the social workers to have any reason not to like our family. We really want to fly under the radar of the system, jumping through the necessary hoops and as smoothly and quickly as possible adopt our kids. So, to file a complaint against his worker goes against what feels safe in this situation. However, the worker's actions have left us with no other course of action. So, please pray specifically that the supervisor hears what I have to say in the way I intend it; that we will indeed be granted a new worker, who will not be put off by our action toward the past worker; and that Joseph's parental rights termination hearing which is scheduled for the end of the month will go forward as planned. I know God is BIG, and that ALL of this is in his hands! I also see that God has asked me to step out in faith more lately, and he continues to prove himself faithful to me.


So, here are some cute pictures of Joseph I took the other night! He now has two teeth! He also is crawling, up on his hands and knees, not the army man crawl anymore! Joseph is also pulling to standing at, but not yet cruising the furniture. So Cute!

I thought this was soooo cute, Joseph fell asleep curled up next to Brian. I had to take some pictures!

PS. I am sorry about the crazy picture location. I was having trouble getting them to line up the way I wanted them!

Urban Farming!

I guess we are not alone in our endeavor to grow more of what we eat! We were the first people we knew to take out our lawn and put in a garden. And yes, I have my eye on our front lawn. It is so wasteful to water and fertilize such a large space, when it could be providing food. I know that a lot of people think this is crazy, but I think it is sensible. I also know that the yard can be beautiful without lawn. I wouldn't row garden like the folks in the video, but what an awesome idea to include your neighbors! What a great way to build community, sharing something we all need and love...food. Can we make a living sharing our passion for gardening and growing your own food? We think we can, and we are about to give it a try!!

Isaiah 42:16

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,

along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;

I will turn the darkness into light before them

and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do;

I will not forsake them.

Isaiah 42:16

God brought this verse to my attention this week, and it has been very comforting! The novelty of Brian's lay-off has certainly worn off now. Now it is the reality of following God into something new. I feel virtually blind as we look at all of the directions open to us(or should I say closed?). How do you pick? How do you know which way God wants you to go? Sometimes, in the past, God has spoken very clearly and the decision before us was whether or not we would obey. Brian's Africa trip has been like that. But what to do for work, for income? That seems to be another story. We have an idea, we have prayed, we don't feel God is saying "No!", and there is peace to take the next step. I guess in times like these you prayerfully take one step at a time, and continue to seek God's will; measuring each decision against God's word. I am thankful to be reminded by God's word that along these unfamiliar paths He will guide me. He won't let us get too far off track! He will also make rough places smooth. I understand that to mean that along the path we will encounter rough places...and at that point He will make it smooth. First, we have to experience the rough place to appreciate when the change to smooth is made. I also see that in the midst of our rough time right now, God is there, smoothing out the rough edges of our lives. Unfortunately, that means my character is being developed...and that isn't always easy or fun! But, the last part of the promise is that during all of this He is there and will never forsake me! Praise God!!