No More Candyland!!!

I remember it like it was yesterday... I carried the tattered box out to the garbage and threw it in. I thought I was done with Candyland forever, or at least until I had grand kids! I was totally relieved, I really don't like Candyland(or Chutes and Ladders). But that was before Isaac, Camille and Baby J. came along.

So, this afternoon the UPS delivery truck showed up, and a box was left on my doorstep. Inside that box was Candyland! I had completely forgotten about ordering it with reward points right before Christmas. It must have been a moment of weakness, when I thought a childhood isn't really complete without playing Candyland! So, tonight the kids gathered around the coffee table for a rousing game, and had a great time. Elise wanted to teach the little ones how to play, so I was off the hook! I tried not to act relieved!

Adoption and Reunification

It has been a while since I have blogged specifically about adoption. I think in my regular, day-to-day life I forget that we are in the process of adopting Baby J. I feel that he is already mine, and maybe I prefer to think of him that way, instead of in process. However, his birth mom has a hearing next week that should decide whether or not to continue offering her reunification services. As this date approaches, I am divided. Of course my heart is hoping for her services to be terminated and for us to be one step closer to officially adopting Baby J. But, there is the side of me that understands the weight of each hearing, and the loss involved both for Baby J. and his birth mom. I continue to pray for each of my kids' birth parents, and I truly hope for the best for each of them. I know the best thing for any of them is that they would meet and fall in love with Jesus. That is my main prayer for them! So, today as I think about adoption, I am hesitantly excited, anxiously hopeful, and obediently prayerful. Does that make sense?

1000 Books?

OK, here it is... The Kesler Family 1000 Book Challenge!!

As a family we read a lot. So, there isn't really a need to encourage reading or literacy around here. However, I wanted to come up with something to reward the kids for the great job they are already doing and reinforce something we think is invaluable...reading. So I came up with the idea for the Kesler Family 1000 Book Challenge.

The idea is simple, we will log each book read by every family member and celebrate at 100 book intervals until we reach 1000. When we reach 1000 books we will do something extra special as a family! This is not about getting bogged down in a bunch of rules (as I explained to my oldest son), but about having fun! We will count any book, read by anyone or to anyone in the family, including books on tape we listen to in the car. The books can be read more than once(we do have 4 & 3 year olds in the house!), and toddler board books also count. I used an old, half used notebook to make a log, and included date, title of book, read by, and audience columns. Yesterday was our first day logging books, and we wrote down ten books, which is less than usual, maybe because we didn't read to the little ones before bed last night! I expect this to take a little while, but that is OK. I also want to have the family vote on the reward at the end. We aren't in a rush, so we have time to come up with something fun!!

Another thing our family has done, but we are out of the habit lately, is that the older kids each read a book to their younger buddy every day. We learned about the buddy system from the Duggars on TV. We use it loosely, but it has been a great help! So, we are back in the "read to your buddy" mode, which has been great for providing one more way to build a close relationship between siblings!

Inauguration Day!

Please don't consider this a political post, it is far from that. Instead I see this as a post about hope, possibilities, and a better future. Regardless of your political bent, or mine for that matter, today was an amazing day for our country. I am not a political person, and to be honest politics overwhelms me. But today my bi-racial son and daughter watched the swearing in of our first bi-racial president. (The other kids were at school and will watch the recording tonight. My husband didn't want me to keep them home since we are recording the inauguration to watch later!!) I know the little ones really didn't understand what was going on. I did let them know it was important, and they had the opportunity to see people of color in a very prestigious setting. I was very moved! My kids will grow up never having known a time when a black child couldn't grow up dreaming of becoming the president, and actually have it happen. Things aren't perfect, and I am not naive to the racial tension that still exists in this country. But I have to believe that today was step forward. I am grateful to have been able to witness history in the making. Who knows, maybe one of my children will be the President of the United States of America? That dream is no longer too big for anyone to dream!!

New Direction?

So, how do you decide to take your life in a completely new direction? I guess for me it is continuing to follow God wherever He leads. My husband and I are praying about some HUGE, life changing decisions. I can't share yet, but God continues to draw us closer to himself and in that process we are changing. We are changing our minds about things we never thought we'd do, and places we never thought we'd go(literally and figuratively)! The verse that our church has made the "verse of the year" is:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

It is so reassuring to know that whatever situation we find ourselves in God is there with us!!! I think I just needed to remind myself of that today!

Everyday Life!

What a sweetie! Baby J. is such a great addition to our family. He has just slipped right in to all of our hearts, and seems unaffected by the busy nature of our lives.

This is where he tends to take many of his naps. On the kitchen counter, among the newspaper, books, and dishes. He seems very content to be in the middle of things(the kitchen is the hub of the house). He likes to be close to me and he will sit in his seat and hang out with me while I do dishes or make dinner. At least for now!!


We moved some furniture around, so we could have our old computer in the living room. Isaac thinks it is his! He has really enjoyed learning to play some preschool level computer games. It is nice to have the computer downstairs where I can see it. Since I am planning to home school Isaac for Kindergarten in the fall, we are rethinking the use of some of the spaces in our house. What an exciting time! God is doing a new thing!!

My son...the orphan!

My son is an orphan. That seems like an almost impossible statement, but it is true. In the past, when I have thought about orphans they have lived on the other side of the world, not in my own home. However, our newest son(what we consider him) is technically an orphan. I have never really considered my own kids orphans. Even during the time before they officially joined our family. I guess it is because I feel that God has always planned for them to be part of my family, and they haven't had to wait long. However, that doesn't change the fact that until our adoption finalizes(hopefully later in 2009) he is an orphan. As I look at him, I am so thankful that God has brought him home to us, but my heart breaks for the kids still waiting!

No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. John 14:18

It is funny how sometimes God speaks to you through a verse in a new and exciting way, even though you have read it many times before. This happened to me with this verse recently. I have been thinking about what it might feel like to be left as an orphan. How alone, desperate, helpless and hopeless that feeling must be. Add to that being sick, deathly sick, and hungry. It is almost unbearable for me to even let my thoughts wander to that place. Yet, that is the reality for so many of the worlds orphans. How fortunate I am not to have to live the life of an orphan. In the true physical sense, or in a spiritual sense. How good God is! His promise to us is real. I will not abandon you as orphans. THANK YOU JESUS!! How can I be Jesus to these kids...show them they will not be abandoned any longer as orphans...bring Jesus to them? (Obviously this does not include me adopting all of them, so I need to pray about otherways to be involved!)

My Verses of the Year: 2009!!

John 15
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.



Each year as the holidays come to an end and the new year begins, God puts a verse, or verses on my heart. I usually pray over them for a few days, and then adopt them as my "Verses of the Year". The first step is to memorize them, then God has me meditate on them at different times throughout the year. It has been awesome to see how God has used the verses He gave me in January much later in the year, when I have almost forgotten about them! Well, this year it is a fairly well known section of scripture. I have bits and pieces of it already memorized, but I do look forward to learning the whole thing in context of the other verses!

I was thinking about these verses when I read them as my daily scripture in a new devotional I am doing. God is always good about confirming things! So, I am thrilled, and scared when I read(really read)these verses. I have been feeling lately like I need to simplify my spiritual life like I have my daily life. I need to get back to the basics(not that I have been far off). I need to focus on reading my Bible, prayer, and helping others in Jesus name. I am excited to see where this new year will take me!

During the Christmas break, we went to lunch after church one day with all the kids. We were sitting at a mexican food place talking about church, life and the new year. The kids all said they wanted to adopt more kids. They have been saying this even though we have a new baby at home! (We told them a while back to pray for a different house if they want a bigger family...We are full!) This is when Brian said he feels that we should be praying for our situation in regards to adoption, and for what our families' growing involvement in Africa might be. This is a big statement from Brian.

So, where is God leading our family? I don't knowexactly. I do know we will dig deeper into His word and prayer. We will continue to grow through serving the people in our community and at church. Hopefully we will finalize Baby J.'s adoption!! Please pray that whereever God leads we will follow!