I think I mentioned that I was embarking on the "Daniel fast". (http://www.danielfast.wordpress.com/) I did a partial fast for 21 days. There are so many reasons that it was a great experience. I learned a lot about health. I was able to concentrate on God and building our relationship. I really wanted to do both of those things before we brought our daughter home. When I thought about things I might want to change in my parenting a young child this time around, nutrition was a big one.
So, since I ended my fast I have been struggling with what foods to add back into my diet. I have surprisingly liked have vegetarian meals, but wasn't sure that I wanted to try and live a vegan lifestyle. For a week or two I have done so well, but this weekend I have just collapsed in my efforts. I haven't had pop yet, but I have had dessert and meat, though it was venison which is at least healthier.
I need to get back to my original desires. I also need ideas for snacks and drinks that are healthy. I am getting tired of just water, and I need my snacks. Especially when I am out and about, what do I eat and or drink? Any ideas?
Monday, April 28, 2008
Nesting
I'm not sure that I even nested this much with my other two children! We are having to switch bedrooms all around. We painted our downstairs guest bedroom orange to house our son. Yes, that's his favorite color. Then we sorted through every item in his room, I think it was like four trash bags and three Goodwill bags. Then we hauled it all downstairs. We need to hang all of his favorites up on the wall and then we're done.
So that room went from green to orange, now his old room will go from orange to green. Go figure. Then Noelle will move in there and her room will go to number three! She is in a hurry for us to get started but I said I needed to take a break and work on adoption papers. I really thought that I would be able to just stick that Liberia dossier right back in the mail. No such luck! Some of our documents expire in July- September so we are being asked to completely update our home study. Also, the dossier, in general, for Ethiopia is much more involved than for Liberia. I just mailed off to documents to be authenticated by the secretary of state! We are still waiting for our I-171H to be returned reading Ethiopia not Liberia.
This process seems even more intimidating than before. I suppose it's because #3 is waiting for us, and we are so waiting for her!!
So that room went from green to orange, now his old room will go from orange to green. Go figure. Then Noelle will move in there and her room will go to number three! She is in a hurry for us to get started but I said I needed to take a break and work on adoption papers. I really thought that I would be able to just stick that Liberia dossier right back in the mail. No such luck! Some of our documents expire in July- September so we are being asked to completely update our home study. Also, the dossier, in general, for Ethiopia is much more involved than for Liberia. I just mailed off to documents to be authenticated by the secretary of state! We are still waiting for our I-171H to be returned reading Ethiopia not Liberia.
This process seems even more intimidating than before. I suppose it's because #3 is waiting for us, and we are so waiting for her!!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Jewels
I finished reading Kay Warren's book, "Dangerous Surrender", and listening to the accompanying information on her website. Her are just a couple of the things that struck me:
*Luke 12:48, "Much is required from those to whom much is given."
*Ephesians 6:12, "This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels." (the Message)
*"The Lord of all calls us to live lives of love, mercy, and grace thus making the invisible God visible. It's not a matter of one or the other; we must care for both body and soul. We are Christ's ambassadors. If we fail, he has no plan B."
*"Become a positive advocate for you own local church by speaking well of it, in spite of its limitations." Maybe for most of you this is a no-brainer, but our church has been in turmoil for so long that some days this is a hard one for me.
*God wants us to be surrendered, disturbed and ruined for his people!
On the adoption front the Lord is teaching me patience, which is a character quality I have always said I do not have. We received the DVD of waiting children Friday night. Noelle and I anxiously watched it. Not Scott and I, because he was out of town. We feel like we know exactly which children are ours. We're dying for Scott to get home. He does, Sunday night at midnight. Monday night he falls asleep at 7:00 and sleeps until 6:00 this morning. Obviously the man needed sleep, but enough already! So we are praying that tonight we can sit down as a family and contemplate this huge issue before us. Talk about life changing! I am hoping that without too much encouragement that Jake will join us, at least for awhile. More as soon as I know more!
*Luke 12:48, "Much is required from those to whom much is given."
*Ephesians 6:12, "This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels." (the Message)
*"The Lord of all calls us to live lives of love, mercy, and grace thus making the invisible God visible. It's not a matter of one or the other; we must care for both body and soul. We are Christ's ambassadors. If we fail, he has no plan B."
*"Become a positive advocate for you own local church by speaking well of it, in spite of its limitations." Maybe for most of you this is a no-brainer, but our church has been in turmoil for so long that some days this is a hard one for me.
*God wants us to be surrendered, disturbed and ruined for his people!
On the adoption front the Lord is teaching me patience, which is a character quality I have always said I do not have. We received the DVD of waiting children Friday night. Noelle and I anxiously watched it. Not Scott and I, because he was out of town. We feel like we know exactly which children are ours. We're dying for Scott to get home. He does, Sunday night at midnight. Monday night he falls asleep at 7:00 and sleeps until 6:00 this morning. Obviously the man needed sleep, but enough already! So we are praying that tonight we can sit down as a family and contemplate this huge issue before us. Talk about life changing! I am hoping that without too much encouragement that Jake will join us, at least for awhile. More as soon as I know more!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Amazing books
I am currently reading two books: "Dangerous Surrender" by Kay Warren and "What Happens When Women Walk in Faith" by Lysa Terkeurst. They are really blowing me away. Kay recommends the above song, and I totally agree. It captures how I feel; how I want to feel! I am also participating in a "Daniel Fast". (See http://www.danielfast.wordpress.com/) I am not ready to comment a lot on that, other than I felt led to fast on behalf of our adoption and nothing "fit" until I came across this plan.
Some quotes from Lysa's book: "Leave the way you've always done life and start doing things differently with God. Leave the attitude, leave the stubborn pride, leave the right to be right, leave the control, and biggest of all, leave the unbelief."
"God does indeed have a plan. Not just a good plan. Not even a really good plan. God has the perfect plan."
Psalm 68:6a, "God places the lonely in families..."
"A life that requires very little faith is not a life that God will use. When we are willing to embark on a life that requires faith, we are more aware of God and His ability to provide for us in every detail of our lives. We won't wait until everything in our lives is in order and then decide, "Okay, now I have the time to work on living by faith." We will never have everything in order, and faith can't be dispensed like a can of soda from a machine. Faith is learned through life."
Psalm 37:5, "Commit everything you do to the Lord, trust Him, and He will help you."
"When you're embarking on an adventure with God, it's easy to get bombarded by all the "what ifs" of the task at hand...Instead of looking at the impossibilities of the adoption, we (Lysa and her husband) ultimately decided to step out in faith according to shat we knew God was telling us to do. When doubt began to take root, we depended on God to work out the unknowns...We knew we served a big God who could handle all that we had to cast upon Him."
That's just a taste to whet your appetite. On the adoption front, we have not yet received the waiting child DVD, and Scott and Jake are out of town until Sunday evening. So we will not be making any decisions in the next day or so. Though I am on pins and needles as I wait! Noelle is as excited as I am, so that makes it fun! We check out the list and photos almost every day.
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