Got room?

My sister and her husband are foster/adoptive parents.  They got 2 calls this week.  Hear this:  at a hospital in the city a newborn was abandoned and they were looking for a foster family ready to take him in.  In another hospital in a city, a newborn boy was ready to be discharged, but had no family.  Can you really imagine it?  Not one person wanted to take those babies home?  Their agency, which works with the state's CPS dept was having a hard time finding families.  I'm shocked, really I am.  Got room for an abandoned newborn needing a safe and loving place?  It won't be easy, convenient, cheap, self-preserving, you won't get much sleep, not many people will understand your motivations, and heck, your heart may be broken....
But, what does God's word say?

proverbs 31:8
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves


Isaiah 1:17
 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

Haircuts and Orthodontists

All 3 boys got haircuts yesterday.  Carter chopped his off in order to get ready for football practices next week.

Dillon looking rather suave in his new "crunchy" hair do.  The stylist spiked it with gel and thus, he calls it crunchy!

And here is Hudson eating a rice cake and showing off his green/purple eye from the nightstand! 

Abby is not here this week.  She's at my mother's house with my 10yr old  neice.  Every summer they have "Ma Camp" with my mom and do the things I hate:  paint fingernails, sew, cook and such.

As for orthodontists, well good and bad news.  Carter gets his braces off the day before starting 9th grade!  Dillon had an evaluation with Carter's ortho.  I knew it was going to be involoved.  Dillon has a tiny mouth with crowding.  It turns out that he has a bad underbite that will require wearing a reverse pull headgear.  Kid ya not, it looks like a medievil torture device!  He will begin palate expanders in 6months and then the headgear in 12months.  The doctor said he may even need surgery as an adult.  It is super tough with him because of his developmental delays and sensory processing disorder.  He is fearful of anything new and has few coping skills.  This will be a slow process of correcting his teeth.  When your orthodontist says " you and I are going to be real good friends" it is not a good sign :(

Poor Dillon, nothing is easy for him, well, except being incredibly handsome, sweet, loving and funny!

More Korean Heritage Camp

At camp, Mike attended a Korean cooking class and learned to make delicious vegetable pancakes.  He plans to make them for us soon.

Here is a group pic of all the campers/teachers/teen counselors.  So cool to see 180+ campers! 

Here is Carter playing with the adorable kindergartners.  They loved him.

We had a fantastic Korean lunch on Saturday and then watched the closing ceremonies.  Dillon's class did a Korean fan dance.  Abby's class read the Korean version of Cinderella.  I know who is going to be an extremely fun and excited camper in 2 years....Hudson!  He is a party dude.  He went to nursery while Mike and I volunteered all day Friday.  When I picked him up he was perfectly happy sitting in a circle with the toddlers eating a snack.  Last night driving home Dillon was beating on his Korean drum and teaching Hudson how to say Kimchi!  They obviously learned something.

We got home late last night.  Let's just say I don't want to sleep anywhere else but my house for a long time!

Korean Heritage Camp

Korean Heritage Camp started today.  Our adoption agency, Dillon International, has been putting on heritage camps for the adoptees and their families for 25years.  This is a huge reason we selected Dillon International.  They are pioneers in post adoption work and are committed to the family throughout the life of the child.  Why heritage camp?  Well, we feel it is very important to not only honor, but learn as much as we can about Korean culture.  After all, every time Abby, Dillon, and Hudson look in the mirror they see a Korean face.  Sure, they are American kids, but they will always be Korean to the world who sees their features.  At camp, our family is "normal" instead of being the only family around with biological and Korean children.  At camp our Korean kids make friends with other adoptees who completely understand what it is like to have experienced great loss and turmoil in their young lives.  At camp, the moms can sit around and talk about their immigration nightmares and other people get it instead of always hearing birth and labor stories.   At camp, Carter experiences reverse minority--he's odd man out and understands what his siblings feel everyday.  They teach the kids language, cooking, music, taekwondo and other facts about Korea.  We don't go every year, it is a big trek and really expensive for our family.  But, we do try.

We checked into our hotel with many other Dillon Int. families.  The funny thing about being here is the "Asian Invasion"(to steal my friend Kathy's term)!!  In the pool, it is hard to spot your Korean kids for once.  Usually I can glance at a pool and quickly find my Korean kids.  Not so at heritage camps.  A sea of black haired/dark skinned kids were swimming. 

Our hotel is a nice one with a small indoor kiddie water park. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies came to town.  There's nothing  like a large family toting in sleeping bags and snacks to make you think classy!  An example of how the world is so 2kids and a dog oriented--if you have more than 3 kids you have to reserve 2 hotel rooms.  Well, on our budget, there is no way.  So, we snuck Carter in later!  4 people on beds, 2 on the floor.  Hudson was clumsy and fell into the nightstand. 

A shiner for Hudson!  Funny cause before we left, my good friend from Tulsa told us to go to St. Francis Children's if we needed an ER visit.  She knows what the past 3 weeks have held for us.  Hmmm, that was close!

Dillon wasn't thrilled about beginning camp.  He doesn't adjust to new things very quickly and was overwhelmed.  Carter was his teen counselor so hopefully that helps.

All in a all, a successful day. Abby made friends with a girl her age and we hope they will be buds for years to come.

Mike, Hudson, and I ate a little Vietnamese restaurant for lunch today. I've always wanted to try a bowl of Pho noodle soup--yummy!

Who exactly needs a family?

I got my issue of Rainbowkids online magazine yesterday.  This is one of the little boys there are looking for a family.  Is he not a sweet little pumpkin???  Oh, he is adorable and so deserves a family of his own.  Do you know someone whose home and hearts have room for one more smiling face?  145million kids without parents--maybe he will stop being a sad statistic soon?

Found out Hudson's babysitter quiting......I'm stressed!
Off to work....I'm worried about more changes for Hudson
She was going to also help with afterschool care with Dillon.....have nobody....school starts in 5 weeks
Okay Lord......show up big time please.....H E L P!

Great starter....bad finisher

I'm one of those types of people who has great enthusiasm for new ideas.  I get all fired up and declare that "from  now on......" and then fill in my new goal.  As I've said before, I'm a first born, bossy, know-it-all, type A, goal setter and a bit of a perfectionist.  I have grown enough to realize that I'm terrible at finishing strong.

Remember my running in the mornings-- not done!  Hey, I am walking 2 miles a few days a week.  Take my Radical Experiment(if you don't know what I'm talking about, click Radical) for example.  As for the giving up fast food, I've done really quite well.  I've only bought fast food twice since late May.  Yes, we have taken our family out to eat a few times though.  As for giving sacrificially to the needs of the poor, not done it(other than our monthly Compassion Intl girl we sponsor).  As for praying everyday for the nations, totally fell off the bandwagon.  I'm not proud of this attribute.  I want to change it.  Here is my new goal.  I just finished listening to Dave Workman(author of our favorite book Outward Focused Life) preaching last Sunday.  He interviewed a man who made a habit of not complaining, criticizing, or gossiping.  It took  9months of concious effort to get to where he doesn't do those 3 things.  So, I want to start today.  I'm going to wear a bracelet to remind me of my efforts(yes, I've done the Beth Moore blue bracelet thing where you practice living by faith--fell off that one too!).  I'll keep ya posted on my progress.

Quote for the day

From "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan

    I think a lot of us need to forget about God's will for my life.  God cares more about our response to His Spirit's leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year.  In fact, the decisions we make next year will be profoundly affected by the degree to which we submit to the Spriti right now, in today's decisions.  It is easy to use the phrase "God's will for my life" as an excuse for inaction or even disobedience.  It's much less demanding to think about God's will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes.  It's safer to commit to following Him someday instead of this day.


Personally, I'm a 5 year plan kind of gal.  I like to do lists, goals, action plans.  Many a time God's thrown me a curve ball in my 5 yr plan!!  But, I'd sure rather walk in obedience, live on the edge, grow and experience the Spirit's leading rather than follow MY plan :)

Another book shout out

Now I'm reading "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan(one of my all time favorite speakers/authors).  It is about how most of us ignore the workings/person/power of the Holy Spirit. Check it out.

Francis Chan and his family live radically for Jesus.  He walked away from a huge successful church, is going to serve victims of human trafficking in a 3rd world country with his wife and 4 children, them begin an inner city ministry at a lare US city in a few months.  Happy reading.

cool shirt for a good cause

I'm loving my new tshirt.  I ordered it from http://www.adoptionbug.com/ and the proceeds go to help a family I know who is adopting a 2nd son from South Korea.  It says Faith Hope and Love in English and Korean.  Adoptionbug.com has lots of items that families are selling to help raise money to bring their children home.  Go shopping and support these folks!

I recently learned that many people think I'm obsessed with orphans and adoption.  Yep, that is most likely true.  I can't help it, 145million children in the world without parents keeps me up at night.  Can I sleep knowing those kids are going to bed with no mommy or daddy to kiss them and give bedtime prayers? 

Back home from the lakehouse.  This was our 6th year to go with my side of the family to a rented lakehouse(it has to get bigger and bigger each year due to the children increase).  We really missed Carter-he was at youth camp.  This year was extra special because of all the changes since last year's trip.  My neice Kylie(Emily's daughter), 11months old, was a very big surprise to her parents last year and was in the womb during the trip.  Though they had no plans for another child, God had a fun twist!  Kylie is such a precious little angel.   Another big difference is the fact that my neice Aspen(Melody's daughter) was still a foster child last year.  This year she became officially a member of the family!  And..... don't forget the addition of Hudson Lee!  This time last year I was major frustrated with the delay that Immigration office was giving us.  We were praying for Hudson to get travel clearance to join his family.  So, this year we had a fun time, nobody was missing. 
We had fun watching the little ones dance, floating, we played some games, and did lots of eating and talking, even debating some deep spiritual matters.

Here are my parents in the baby pool.  In the background is the floating island that we lounge on.

The fishing off the dock was pretty lame.  Abby caught the only fish!

The annual mani/pedi that my youngest sister Katy gives the girls.

Dillon sitting on Uncle Kyle's boat.

Baby Kylie.

Hudson pretending to drive the boat.

 

 He was pretty much miserable the whole time.  He had a bunch of tiny ulcers in his mouth and couldn't eat.  Poor baby was so unhappy and cried constantly.  He also just doesn't do well away from home in crowds.  As soon as we pulled away today in the car, he was singing and laughing.  I keep forgetting that he's only been with us since last September.  He's never been to a lakehouse shindig that is loud and fun! 

All in all, the lakehouse tradition was a blast.  Back to reality.  I work tomorrow.  Our next big event is Korean Heritage Camp with our adoption agency, Dillon International. 

Summer

So here are our kids with my 2 neices on Mike's side of the family in Nana's lush yard.  I worked all weekend of the 4th.  The hospital was a zoo and I'm still sore from turning and caring for overweight patients on the ventilator.  The good news is that I got time and a half AND weekend differential!  Whhooooohhooo!

Mike and the kids spent Saturday at his mom's in the country.  They had an old fashioned 4th complete with tons of food, home-made peach cobbler and firecrackers.

The youngun's always put on a show on Nana and Papa's big front porch. 

And just cause she's adorable, here's my sister's little girl Aspen.

What is the best thing about summer??

For me:  a dip in the pool substitutes for a bath

no school lunches to make

I don't have to make sure there are clean uniforms ready

Daddy is home a lot more

We leave for the lakehouse Thursday morning.  My whole family will be there with bazillion of children.  Should be interesting!  The awesome thing about this years lakehouse(my parents rented it from vrbo.com)--it has a hot-tub!  I see the kids in bed and me in the hot-tub :)

Can't wait for October 1

                                            

Ooooh, I'm so excited!!!!!  A huge adoption/orphancare conference is coming to Austin Texas and I'm going along with my friends who are adopting from Nepal!!  YIPPEEEE.   The theme of the conference  is “The Gospel, the Church, and the Global Orphan Crisis.” I believe God will do great things through this conference.  Anyone out there attending? We are hoping to start an adoption/orphancare ministry at our church with the tools we receive at the conference.  We also will attend a breakout session about the number of orphans that end up as human trafficking victims.

Why is this necessary?

Did you know there are 145million children in the world with no  parents?  Can you really even fathom 145 million kids, alone??

Orphans are more vulnerable and at risk of becoming victims of violence, exploitation, trafficking, discrimination, or other abuses.^vi

Within two years of leaving a Russion orphanage-~15% of all orphans have committed suicide while another 60% are involved in criminal activity (gangs, drugs, prostitution)

70% of homeless mothers who were in the US Foster Care system as a child have at least one of their own children in foster care. 
A church that learns to love beyond the borders of biology will learn to do mission outside the borders of geography.  Dr. Russell Moore

 

Abby's checklist and,yes, another ER visit

Apparently Mike and Abigail had a discussion that you guys will totally get a hoot out of!  They were looking at old family pics and Abby said she wanted a "chubby Korean baby" when she is older.  Mike asked her if she was going to marry a Korean man.  She explained that she didn't care what he looks like, but there are 3 things that will determine if he is worthy to be her prince:

1.  no smoking
2   not crazy
3.  loves Jesus

People--I'm thinking the 50% percent divorce rate in the USA would plummet if all women used that checklist ;)

And, just because we were starting to get bored around here, we visited the children's ER last night. 2 ER visits with 2 different boys within 3 days.   Hudson is officially initiated into our family with an ER visit.  Mike picked him up out of the carseat funny and Hudson couldn't use his left arm.  I knew exactly what it was---nursemaid's elbow.  We tried to find alternatives to the ER(urgent care-they didn't feel comfortable with it, I tried to pop it back, prayed for God to just fix it on our drive there).  Anyway, our sweet friend who has worked there forever called ahead to give them a head's up that her friends were coming.  We whisked right in, the doc reduced it, and we were on our way in an hour and 15minutes.  Thank you Bethany!!!
You know what, I give Lord, "Uncle."!  Seriously, we've been trying to serve and live radically(if you don't know what I'm talking about click hereradical)  for you and it is one thing after another--1 step forward 2 steps back.  Mike and I so badly want to go to Panama in March with  our friend and I'd love love love to return to Haiti or go to Africa, but everytime we start to get where we can save money something blows that out of the water!!!  If You want us to go, You will have to provide a miracle.

The kind of mommy I wish I was

This is the kind of mommy I wish I was:  gentle and patient, not controlling or worried so much about messes, loves just hanging out with the kids doing things like crafts, homeschooling(and doing it well), teaching my kids to cook and sew, never raise my voice.

The real me:  very patient up to a point and then snap, I'm done!  I care way too much about the kids not making messes, I hate crafts, having the children cook with me totally stresses me out(but I do let them help cause I know that is what I'm "supposed" to do), I need space and quiet time and therefore after them all being home from school a month--I'm starting to lose my sanity.

Mommyhood sometimes hits lows.  Or maybe it  is just me?  I'm not wanting to be a blogger who whitewashes things so that  you all think I'm some great person, the best mom ever, the perfect Christian, an always sweet wife etc....  I read some blogs and think "man, she's always glowing and happy!"  I really don't think that is real life, do you guys?  I mean, being a mother is wonderful and I love my children dearly, but sometimes it is haaaarrrrddd!!  The past few days have been trying.  I feel like my patience is zapped, Hudson and Dillon fight all the time, like ALL the time!  In adoption education, it is a well known fact that after a child has been home sufficient time to feel secure, the honeymoon is over.  The child will begin to really test the limits to see if the parents will be there forever--despite the child's behavior.  We are going through  this with Hudson.  He is defiant at times and when given clear instruction, will look me right in the eye and continue doing what he was told to stop doing--just doing the action is slow motion.  I know what he is doing is normal, heck, he is a 2.5yr old whose whole world was turned upside down 10months ago.  But, that doesn't make it any easier.  In fact, I'm really really tired of it.  Last night, after the boys bickered all day, I shuttled kids all over our county, and Dillon dropped a bowl of yogurt on the floor and it shattered, I was done.  I headed to my room to read.  The little boys were yelling out "momma, momma".  I couldn't do one more act of mommydom.  I stayed right where I was and pretending to not hear anything.  Let's just say Mike got the picture and took care of things(thank you God for a good daddy, I don't know how single parents survive).

The really funny thing is I had written this post earlier and left it as a draft.  I had my quiet time before work today.  I use a Bible that is divided up into daily readings to read the Word through in a year.  No lie--today's psalms was 127 about children
3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Okay Lord, thank you for that reminder!