March Madness - Now's the time to buy some coffee!

Want to win FREE COFFEE?!

Help us sell 15 or more bags of coffee this month and you could win 4 bags of coffee, a travel mug and a Just Love Coffee bumper sticker.

The idea is simple.  Just Love Coffee is hosting a March Madness incentive program.  Any fund-raising family or organization that earns $75 or more in profits during the month of March will receive 4 free bags of coffee plus a travel mug and bumper sticker.

To earn $75 in proceeds we need to have 15 bags of coffee purchased in our name this month - online or in the store.  If we gather enough support to raise the needed $75 (by selling 15 bags of coffee) we will enter each bag of coffee's purchaser into a drawing for all of the free prizes.  Yep – we will give away the free stuff!  The more bags you buy - the more chances to win.  And if you win you even get to pick which flavors of coffee you would like to receive.  And they will be delivered directly to you.  How great is that?!

To help us earn $75 this month, just go to http://www.justlovecoffee.com/TheShipleys and place your order.  Be sure to allow your name to be shown on your order to participate in the drawing.

OR

If you live in the area, walk into The Roasterie at 129 MTCS Road, Murfreesboro, open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and buy in person.  Be sure to mention our name at check out so our account gets the credit.  And you will need to notify me of your purchase to participate in the drawing - names are not available to us online for in-store purchases.

Any questions, just ask.  We have sold 10 bags in a month before so we know we can sell 15, but we need your help. Thanks!  Happy coffee shopping!

Step by Step

Does anyone else remember that old Rich Mullins’ song?

 

Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

I love that song… and although I haven’t heard it in a long time, it is what came to mind today as I was thinking about writing this next blog installment.  I guess I was just focused on the “one step at a time” aspect of things and my mind made the jump.  Go figure!

Well, that pretty much sums things up right now.  Not a lot happening in adoption land, but we are moving forward … slowly … one step at a time.  Last Monday, Valentine’s Day no less, we received both USCIS appointment letters telling Dan and I when and where to appear to be fingerprinted.  Although we have both already submitted three fingerprint cards as part of our home study process, two for the state of Maryland and one for the FBI, the immigration department requires us to be fingerprinted by their offices as well.  Our appointment was scheduled for 8 a.m. on March 8 at the Baltimore USCIS Application Service Center.

 

Good to know, though we really had no intention of waiting until the eighth of March to continue on our journey.  See, that appointment letter is “golden” in that it really is just your ticket in the door.  Yes, you can show up at your schedule appointment time and be fingerprinted with no problem, but it is not unheard of (rather, quite common in fact) for adoptive parents to show up before that appointment date and talk their way into an early fingerprinting session.  And that is exactly what we had in mind.

So… thanks to this weekend being a three-day weekend, and thanks to the fact that Dan’s office doesn’t take three day weekends, and thanks to the fact that Dan’s office takes four day weekends instead, Dan and I were both available for a quick trip to Baltimore on Friday afternoon.   So, after entrusting our three preschool children to our wonderful baby-sitting neighbor, we headed off to Baltimore to sweet talk our way into an appointment.

As it turned out, absolutely no sweet talk was necessary.  When we entered the ASC office there was absolutely no one in the waiting area and we walked directly to the service counter.  I had told Dan on the way in that he was going to do all the talking, but it turned out he didn’t really have to say much at all.  The lady behind the counter asked if we had an appointment.  Dan answered, “No, but we have these.”  The nice lady then looked at our letters and replied, “You have appointments… just not for today.”  Luckily, she said this with a smile.  And better yet, she followed the remark by checking us in and handing us the forms we needed to fill out.  Yeah!  This was easy!

It took us each about two minutes to fill in the short information sheet and return to the desk.  We did have to wait as another family was checking in, but that only took a couple of minutes.  Then we were each handed a number and told to move to the other side of the waiting area until our numbers were called.  That took so long that neither one of us even got to sit down.  As soon as we crossed the room our numbers appeared on the call board and we were led back to the fingerprint scanners.  We both did our part of allowing the technicians to place and roll our fingers correctly, filled out our customer service surveys and were out the door.  Entrance to exit – approximately 10 minutes!

Now that is the way to get things done!  Neither one of us can take any credit for actually getting our fingerprints done so quickly, but it sure felt good walking out of that building.  Finally something went right and didn’t have some dumb Murphy’s Law aspect to it.  I believe my parting words as we left the building were, "Wow!  My prayer warriors are GOOD!"  Of course we still aren’t done, we have to wait for those fingerprints to be processed and for our final approval letter to arrive, but we are definitely one step closer.  Make that one BIG step closer.  And that ain’t too shabby!

And I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.”  Proverbs 3:5-6

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7

New T-Shirt Order - 2/25

Just a quick update on t-shirt sales.  Back in October we launched our Show Hope t-shirt sales.  Our goal was to sell 50 shirts by November 1st.  We had many people join in our effort and although we didn't reach 50, we did place an order for 38.  Hurray!!

Well, after several months of quietly reminding people of the option and gathering together interested buyers, I am finally putting together a new order of shirts.  (We must place a 12 shirt minimum order, thus the wait...).

Right now we have a committed/paid order for 2 shirts, but I know that there are at least 10 more people out there wanting shirts.  So....  Now is the time!  If you have been waiting, it is time to place your order now!  And if this is the first you are hearing of our t-shirts sales, now is the time to jump in!

Just select your shirt (or shirts!) from the examples below and follow the ordering directions.  Remember, this order will be submitted on February 25, so don't wait too long! 

We have eight different shirts to choose from, and each is priced at $25.  To order, simply follow the directions at the end of this blog.  Our goal is to sell 50 shirts to raise $500.  Won't you please join us?

1.  "Tree Tee" Black - $25
Raise awareness for orphans in comfort and in style!
(Unisex - S, M, L, XL, 2X)

2.  "Tree Tee" White - $25

This long sleeve (L/S) women's shirt is great for every season!  

(Women - S, M, L, XL, 2X)

3.  "I Heart SH" Violet - $25
This beautiful shirt comes in women, baby and toddler sizes!
(Women - S, M, L, XL;  Child - 6mo, 12mo, 18mo, 2T, 3T, 4T)
*Women sizes run a bit small.

4.  "I Dig" Army Green - $25
This fun shirt comes in women and youth sizes!
(Women - S, M, L, XL, 2X; Youth - YXS, YS, YM, YL, YXL)

5.  "I Show Hope" Red - $25
Simple, stylish, bold!  Tell the world you care for orphans.
There is print on "I Show Hope" shirts - front and back.
(Unisex - S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X)

"I Show Hope" shirts (#5-8) feature this design on back.

show HOPE 

[sho'h] [hoh'p]

v. 1. Evidence your faith by loving orphans.

2.  Respond to James 1:27.

3.  Join the movement to care for orphans.

6.  "I Show Hope" Chocolate - $25
(Unisex - S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X)

7.  "I Show Hope" Heather- $25
(Unisex - S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X)

8.  "I Show Hope" Smoke- $25
(Unisex - S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X)

ORDERING -
To pay by cash or check -
1.  Email your order (shirt #s and sizes) to dndship@comcast.net.
2.  A confirmation email will be sent back to you with the total due, address for payment, and delivery information.
3.  Submit your payment.

To pay by credit card -
1.  Email your order (shirt #s and sizes) to dndship@comcast.net.
2.  Make payment using the DONATE button located at the top left of this blog screen. (see shipping note below)  Please include your name and a contact # in the "special message to sender" box before submitting your payment, just in case.
3.  A confirmation email will be sent to you with delivery information.


All shirts are priced at $25.  If you live outside the Fort Meade, MD area, please include $4 for shipping and handling.

*We must submit shirt orders to Show Hope in groups of 12.  This order will be submitted on Friday, February 25.
**We will deliver shirts to you within 10 days of receiving them from Show Hope.

Choosing to Say “Thank You”

This past Thursday I started reading a new book, Mary Beth Chapman’s Choosing to SEE.  At midnight Friday night, I finished it.  Now those of you who have known me a while know that my current lifestyle does not afford a great deal of reading time so for me to read a book cover to cover in under 48 hours it has to be good.  And this one definitely is.  So good in fact that it left me feeling the need to share a few things with you about it and its author.

Don’t worry, I’ll be careful not to give too much away and you don’t need any spoiler warnings.  I just found the book and its author worth talking about.  So I guess maybe that is what this is – a book talk.  Not a book report where I inform you of the main characters, setting and plot, but just a quick response to my reading of the book.  There isn’t much to tell about our adoption process these days so this seemed an appropriate "filler" topic. 

This blog, as it turns out, is really more about the author and me than the book, but I didn’t realize that would be the case until after I started writing and then looked back on what I had written.  So, I guess the words above really don’t apply to the finished product, but I have left them here as a reminder of what I intended to write about.  That said please grant me a bit of grace and leniency here as I simply share some of the thoughts Choosing to SEE has left upon my heart.

Back in 2008, shortly after we decided to join the Army and leave Tennessee I told Dan that before we left I really wanted to take Mary Beth Chapman out for coffee.  He laughed and said, “You don’t drink coffee.”  I laughed back and answered, “I know, but she does and I just want a chance to say thank you face to face.”  Over the years our paths had crossed here and there, mostly through Show Hope, but I had never spoken to Mrs. Chapman in person and I just didn’t want to leave without showing our appreciation.   Unfortunately, this coffee shop stop never happened and when I started reading her book this week it did not take very many chapters before I realized I really should have extended that invitation.  But let me back up a bit…

Just about ten years ago I had the pleasure of my first encounter with Mary Beth Chapman.  As I’ve explained before, one of my fifth grade students volunteered to approach her for me regarding what was then called Shaohannah’s Hope.  This student happened to play sports with the Chapman boys and did me this favor at basketball practice one night. The following day this student returned to school with both Mrs. Chapman's home and cell phone numbers written in bright blue gel pen on a tiny sheet of paper.  I was floored. 

Now, I am not a big follower of celebrities, I  have very few star-struck tendencies and having grown up in the Orange County/Los Angeles area of California I’ve never really been all that enthralled with all that mess.  Yes, there was a handful of people in Nashville that I hoped I’d someday meet (and perhaps even sing with) when we picked up our little apartment’s worth of belongings to relocate to Tennessee, but I’ve just never been one to adoringly “oo” and “ah” over a lot of famous people.  At the same time, however, I’d like to think I have a healthy respect for what comes to people along with their celebrity status and try to steer, maybe sometimes too far, the other direction when running into someone famous - a somewhat common occurrence in Franklin, TN.  Upon a chance sighting of said famous people I will purposely try to avoid invading their space or appearing to intrude on one’s personal life like some celebrity-watcher-acting-like-friend type might.  All that to say, I was quite struck that instead of referring me to a secretary or office number somewhere, Mrs. Chapman had responded to Drew’s request with her personal contact information.  Wow!  Certainly not what I was expecting.

Well, anyway, since that time I’ve had a few other encounters with Mrs. Chapman and they have all been just as remarkable and unexpected.  For example, when we went to China to adopt Jolene one of our sightseeing trips resulted in our stumbling across a woman embroidering some artwork for the Chapman family.  This later resulted in a couple of emails between Mary Beth and me, and later my mailing photos of the Chinese woman to the Chapman’s home.  At another point, when Dan and I were told by the local Christian bookstore that they had never actually ordered the “When Love Takes You In” performance CD we had requested for use on Jolene’s baptism day, Mrs. Chapman kindly acquired a copy for us directly from a Brentwood office.  Suffice it to say, over the years we’ve had several other brief interactions as well.  It is as if our lives seem to run in parallel universes, turning in similar orbits, but without ever really intersecting.

When Maria passed away I was torn between wanting to go to the public visitation to show our love and support and feeling our presence might simply be perceived as another family of fans wanting to interact with a performer they didn’t really know.  I wanted to help lift them up in their grief, but I didn’t want to intrude.  It took Dan’s asking me, “If they were not famous and you had had exactly the same interactions with her over the years, would you want to go?” to convince me I wasn’t celebrity-stalking in any way.  And now that I have typed this where she may actually read it someday, I hope she would approve of my answer as we did ultimately go.  We never spoke with the family that night, but we did leave a note on a sheet of provided stationary in the narthex and prayed that God would comfort them as we did not know how.

Then, the summer of 2009 rolled around and Show Hope was holding a grand opening event for its new Franklin offices.  A totally different event, but I really wanted to go.  It is no secret that I’ve been a Show Hope supporter and fan from the start (or pretty near to…) so being able to attend this event was exciting for me.  Plus, I am a fan of Steven Curtis Chapman’s music and so are our girls, thanks to my car’s CD player being loaded with not just The Imagination Movers but some of Mom’s music too; so they were excited to go hear some good music if nothing else.  As it turned out, this would be another one of those chance encounters with Mary Beth Chapman.

When Dan joined the Army in October of 2008 we knew this would mean leaving Tennessee.  This obviously wasn’t my first choice of plans as I love living there, but the opportunity for our family to live in the same house for more than six months of each year far outweighed any disappointments associated with moving.  So, going into the summer of 2009, it was well known that we would be leaving Tennessee soon and as I already had my silly dream of taking Mrs. Chapman out for coffee someday I must admit that as we drove to The Factory in Franklin I was praying for a chance to finally speak with her in person.  Hoping for a long awaited opportunity to say a proper thank you for all her family and Show Hope has done for us over the years.  Praying for just a moment of her time.  I never imagined what I would get was yet another shock.

At the end of the grand opening event we waited around for a little while waiting for the crowd to thin out.  I had brought a friend with me to help with the girls and she knew what I was hoping for so we just took our time looking around the office space.  And then, there she was.  As simple as that I was able to introduce myself, shake Mary Beth Chapman’s hand and say “thank you” face to face.  And what did our gracious hostess do?  Without missing a beat she said that she knew who I was and then promptly asked if Dan was still deployed or if he had already returned home from service overseas.  Wow!  This was not a busy woman politely pretending to recognize me amidst a crowd of “fans”, this was a mom who not only made a connection to our family name but pieced it together with a personal fact that I had mentioned in passing at least four or five months earlier.

Needless to say, that moment made a profound impact on me - one that I will not easily or soon forget.  You see I don’t really put much stock into the idea of idols and I’ve never really had one.  Sure, I grew up thinking that Michael W. Smith was the best thing since sliced bread and I’ve always kept my sister on a pretty tall pedestal, but I don’t really go for the “I want to be just like that” type thing.  I do, however, believe in role models and the value of having people of strong character to use as guides along life’s highway.  I also believe that for a committed Christian woman living in modern day America such role models can be few and far between, and I think that is why this moment was so compelling for me.  Here was a woman who had no real reason to even remember my name who instead was able to make a personal connection merely because she has a heart for God and outreach.  Again, wow!  Perhaps you think it is silly for me to think this was a big deal, but for me it was.  What an amazing example of Christian encouragement - a model of humility that I would be blessed to follow.

Looking back, especially after having now read her book, I wish that before we moved I really had bought Mary Beth Chapman that cup of coffee.  I think we could have had a really good conversation as we seem to have quite a bit in common, but more than that it would have been such a simple way to relay just a tiny bit of my respect and gratitude for who she is.  But maybe now the time is even better to offer her my thanks as her book has once again provided an unexpected encounter.  As a memoir of walking in and all around faith, it is most of all a reflection of a purely human walk - a perfectly human experience of one woman’s relationship with Christ and the God that made her.  Not my story or your story, but one that provides a model of life as a Godly woman - giving strength to those of us who read it merely by being an example of being a work in progress.  And for that, in addition to all of the many other things I’ve mentioned (or left unsaid), I am very thankful.  Thankful for Mary Beth Chapman, and thankful again for her being a continual influence in my life even if only through random encounters as our lives continue to spin in those parallel universes.

And for those of you reading this who happen to be personal friends with Mrs. Chapman, another example of those parallel lives, please feel free to tell her that she always has a cup of coffee waiting for her from me.  Maybe someday I will actually have the chance to treat her to it.  =)

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:3-6

An Interesting Aside

So there is a debate going on right now among the members of a yahoo chat group I belong to, a group for families who have either already adopted from Jack’s orphanage or are in the process of doing so.  What is the debate about, you ask?  Well, it is about whether or not adoptive families should use outside resources to send care packages or gifts to the children they are waiting to bring home.

The basic gist is this…  When we received our match packet for Jack (the official paperwork from our adoption agency linking Jack to us as our future adoptee) it contained instructions for how to send a care package to him if we so desired.  The process requires us to send a copy our Pre-Approval Letter (an official document received from China stating that they have accepted our Letter of Intent asking to adopt Jack); a copy of a provided form letter to the orphanage director explaining who the package is for, whether we want the items to come home with Jack or eventually be donated to the orphanage, etc.; and to use the provided direct mailing address of the orphanage director.  We were also provided with several common phrases written in both Chinese and English that we can affix to different items in the package so that the contents, including pictures, can arrive with some meaning – “our house”, “your room”, “for you to share”, “for the nannies”, etc.  We are asked to make the package no larger than a standard shoe box, and proper custom forms must be filled out at the post office - not a big deal, just a form stating what is in the box. 

The process is pretty cut and dry and relatively easy to follow, but many families opt to send items in other ways.  It seems some make this choice because of the time factor – it seems faster to deal with someone in-country rather than mailing a box from the United States.  It seems some make this choice because of the items they want to send – they want something more practical for their child, like fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than toys purchased at Wal-Mart or Target.  And it seems some make this choice because it feels more intimate to have something from China delivered rather than something shipped in from America.  There are many people on the China side who offer delivery services of various items such as blankets, food, clothing, cakes, etc.,  so it is not difficult to find a provider, and some such deliveries offer a chance that you might receive pictures of the delivered items in the hands of your child.  The current debate, however, has arisen as our agency just sent out a message strongly urging waiting families to not take part in any of these services as “The CCAA strictly limits contact between orphanages and agencies, and having a third party in there can seriously jeopardize an already delicate and sensitive situation.”  

The response to this plea has been interesting to say the least.  A few comments have centered on following the rules and stating that the usage of these outside services will not be used by the responding family.  Others have openly commented that CCAI (our agency) is being too strict in this stance and that these services have been used by numerous families without having ill effects on the process thus far and therefore do not truly need to be avoided.  And then there are the middle of the road folks who voice understanding of the directive, who may or may not have used such a service in the past, and don’t really commit to using or avoiding them in the future.  An interesting discussion to be sure, but one I never ran across in our previous adoptions.

You see, all this care package stuff is really quite new to me.   The Waiting Child Program, the adoption process for special needs children, is quite different than the waiting involved for a healthy child from China so it has different issues involved.  When we were waiting for Jolene and Becca we didn’t know yet who they were, where they were, or even when we might be provided with such information.  While waiting for a healthy child referral from China most families tend to be more pregnancy-minded focusing on nursery decorations, name selection, gift registries, etc.  This time of waiting is very similar to waiting for the birth of a child you simply have no official due date.  With the Waiting Child Program, however, that is all different as the children being placed are often identified at the beginning of the adoption process and linked by family selection of a child rather than referral by CCAA.  This is evident in our situation with Jack.  We know exactly who he is, where he is and it is only the “when” that is left up in the air.  Thus the involvement of care packages. 

Once we received referrals for the girls we had the option to send a care package to each of them, but we did not do it as we would be traveling so soon it didn’t seem worth it.  At that point, we weren’t sure it would ever get to the girls, they were both infants so in all likelihood they really wouldn’t know that something was sent anyway, and we chose to spend the money instead on items we could carry with us on our trip to bring them home.  This time, things are very different.  We have no idea when we will be traveling but do know who our child is so sending care packages really is a lifeline between us and our son.  Jack is definitely old enough to know and understand when a box arrives for him, as is proven by the last pictures we were blessed to receive before he left Maria’s Big House – the ones with him wearing his new pajamas and holding the stuffed dog we sent.  And since the entire adoption process is really out of our hands at this point, as we are simply waiting for various government agencies to move our paperwork through their systems, sending care packages is really the only active connection we have to our little boy living on the other side of the world.

And that is exactly the position all of these other waiting families are in.  These families aren’t waiting for a referral to come so that the identity and whereabouts of their child may be revealed.  They already know.  They have already seen pictures.  They have read their child’s file.  They have received updates from an orphanage, know their child’s name and age, his or her intimate medical issues, and have perhaps even more information about their child than we will ever know about either one of our Chinese daughters.  And yet these same families are stuck on this side of the world waiting for permission from two very different governments to travel and meet in person this little boy or girl that they so desperately love that they are willing to jump through all the hoops involved in an international adoption.  And while they wait, they want to connect.  They want to somehow let that child know that he has a family that loves him.  That is in love with her.  A family that is moving mountains to bring that child home.  And so they try to create the best connection they can.  They make decisions about what to send, how to send it, and how to respond to directives stating what should and shouldn’t be done.  And I can understand the inner battle many of them face.  Am I willing to break the rules and risk being that one inter-country interaction that causes an issue or creates ill-will in the adoption world?  Those of you who know me already know the answer to that.  I am a rule follower.  I believe rules are created for a reason and that respect for guidelines is imperative if order is to be maintained, but that doesn’t mean I think badly of the families making different choices than I would.

This adoption thing is both a blessing and a curse.  Loving a child you have most likely never met so much that you would fight for him or her is nothing short of a miracle and I would encourage anyone with a heart for adoption to jump on board and start fighting.  Despite what you think, there is nothing “special” about people who choose to go down this road.  It is simply a choice to stand up for what the Lord puts on your heart and trust that He will finish what He starts.  But I can promise you that if you choose to go this route, along the road there will be hard decisions to make, tough questions to be answered, and tests of your faith that may leave you questioning exactly what you have gotten yourself into.  The pros and cons of sending a care package through the US Post Office or through a third party organization may seem like such a trivial little matter, but when such a package is the only contact you may have with your child for the next three or five or ten months, suddenly nothing seems more important and your perspective about everything else changes because of it.  For in the grand scheme of things, it really isn’t about who delivers what, or what your child thinks about the items included.  It is about showing love to a child who did nothing to deserve it and yet will be changed irrevocably because you showed it.  Just like God did for you. 

It doesn’t really matter how the gospel gets from one person to the next, whether it goes the direct route or through a third party along the way.  What matters is that God loved each of us so much He was willing to fight the fight to bring us home and to adopt us into His family.  I know I certainly don’t deserve this gift, do you?  And I certainly don’t deserve the inheritance that comes with it, but He loves me anyway.  God sent me the ultimate care package – salvation through Jesus Christ.   And He sent it simply because He loves me.   He didn’t worry about who was going to make the ultimate delivery, He simply provided His Son as the ultimate conduit.  And the best part… He sent you the same gift.  Have you received it yet?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing Christ.  For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.  In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.   Ephesians 1:3-6

Crazy Ramblings of a Frustrated Adopter

I would like to say that I am a nice person all the time, but we all know that is not the truth. And if you doubt me on that, just ask my kids.  They will undoubtedly assure you that I can yell right along with the rest of them, lose my patience over stupid little things, and be short and terse without any warning, but that doesn’t mean I like being that way.  It does mean, however, that some days I have to try extra hard not to be that way.  And today is one of those days.

I am just SO frustrated.  I know I have no control over the weather, and I am very much aware that the forecasters here in Maryland are more often wrong than right when it comes to “winter precipitation”, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be mad when I listen to said weather people and don’t prepare for them to be wrong and thus don’t make plans to get my stuff done despite the forecast and then suffer the consequences when the meteorologists are wrong again and I can’t do my errands because I didn’t make plans ahead of time.  Ugh!!  Dumb weather people!  I totally could have made it to and from Washington D.C. today to get those final three documents (that we drove to Annapolis to fix yesterday) authenticated and ready for the Chinese Embassy.  But what did I do?  I watched the news last night, fell for their “½ inch of ice on the roads by morning” story, and failed to make babysitting plans for the girls given my lack of desire to ice skate to the Metro station.  In reality – it did snow/sleet/rain/something during the night, and school is delayed two hours (what I needed to happen to make me available to travel), but the main roads are fine and I could have gotten to and from the train just fine.  Ugh!  Can I say that again?  Ugh!  And again?!  Ugh!  Ugh!  Ugh!  (Insert stomping feet sound here.)

I know I come on here and write all about the crazy things that have been happening to us lately and I am able to see the silver lining in most of my stories, but today I am just frustrated so I thought perhaps I might share that side with you too.  (Remember that long vent about The Ultimate Girl’s Night…)  I know that in the grand scheme of things I have nothing to complain about – I am healthy with a healthy family, the Lord provides well for our comfortable home and lifestyle, we have a beautiful little boy just waiting for us to come bring him home, God has heaped blessing after blessing upon our adoption journey… and yet today I am just not in that happy place.

 

Perhaps I just need to scream.  Maybe that would help.  What do you think?  We live in connected, town-house style housing but our walls are pretty thick and well insulated.  Other than my children, who I’m pretty sure already think I’m a bit crazy, who would know?  Hm…  I know it really wouldn’t fix anything, but it might make me feel better.  Hold on.  Let’s see…. 

Okay, I tried it.  Honestly, I did.  I just “Grrrrrrrr-ed” as loud as I could - right here in the middle of the kitchen.  And guess what.  Three out of four children didn’t even notice.  The fourth, Jolene, just looked up from her cereal and said “What?”  So guess what.  I did it again.  Louder!  And I threw in some fist beating on the counter for good measure.  Really, I did.  And guess what.  Still no response from the first three.  And Jolene just laughed!  Sheesh!  What does a mother have to do around here to get some sympathy?!  My goodness!  Perhaps they really do think I’m crazy.  (Should I be worried about that?)

But you know what else?  I actually feel a little better.  Perhaps Jolene laughing at me wasn’t such a bad thing.  I mean she did do it in good spirits, not in a mean sort of way.  Or perhaps it helped that during her laughing she walked over to where I was standing and promptly pointed out that the poor Ken doll next to my computer is still missing his leg.  Now there is a problem.  I guess I should be glad I don’t have his issues.  I guarantee my irritations with this whole dumb paperwork mess would be far less thought-consuming if I had to worry about my leg falling off for no good reason when people played with me.  Okay, I’m feeling better.  Thanks, Ken and Jolene, you have both been an inspiration - in a strange sort of way...

Well, I think I initially started typing this rant figuring that I would at some point ask you who read it to offer me some comforting words of patience and perseverance, but maybe now that I’ve screamed and laughed a bit I can come up with a few on my own.  We’ll see.  But I sure would invite any of you who may have something to offer to post away.  No matter what type of day I am having, I never tire of encouragement from others.  Blog as therapy?  Well, no shock there – I’ve been honest about that since day one.  Blog as blessing?  Here’s hoping…  :-)

Oh!  And here are few things I just thought of that I would be better off focusing on.  Things that make my School-delayed/art-class-canceled-should-have Day more of a Yeah-I-get-to Day…

Number 1 - I can make dinner in the crock-pot since I am home right now to get it ready.

Number 2 - I can start working on Ellie’s birthday cake during naptime instead of having to wait until after bedtime tonight.

Number 3 - I have two extra hours to spend with Jolene before school.

Number 4 – I have more time to play and read books with my other children on this cold, snuggles-needed day.

 Number 5 - Staying home provided me the time needed to perform restorative surgery on Ken’s leg.

And Number 6 – drum roll, please………I typed this entire blog still in my pajamas!  Now, that is definitely something worth celebrating.  Problem solved! :-)

Thanks for letting me vent!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”  Hebrews 12:1-2a

“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance , character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”  Romans 5:3-5

“Consider the ravens:  They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them.  And how much more valuable you are than birds!  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? “ Luke 12:24-25