Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Isaac's New Big Boy Bed!
May 5th- Isaac transitions to his new big boy bed! He loves his new bed so much that we are finding it hard to get him out of it in the mornings when he is "cover-licious", as uncle Justin would say. I love his new bedding....cars, trucks, bikes and fun matching pillows. What a fun day to remember. 
Mommy's little helper
Hudson loves rummaging through our shelves in the kitchen pantry. He enjoys stacking cans and jars of food just like Isaac did at this age too. 
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
New Potty
May 4th- This picture reminds me of a similair picture that my mom has of her dad! Grandpa McNutt received a soft toliet seat cover one Christmas and he took a picture for all of us with his head peeking through it. He was a stitch! I really wish that he would have lived a bit longer when we were little...he was such a fun grandpa! 
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Yesterday
This comment is in actual real time...The weather here has been amazing lately, so we have been taking advantage of it by getting outdoors. Josh and I took the boys for a hike yesterday and it felt so good to breath in the fresh outdoor air! Towards the end of the hike I started feeling a bit melancholy...too much on my mind. The last week or so Josh and I have watched way too many intense movies...great, incredibly moving movies, but the kind that you need to intersperse with pretty little tulip, light and fluffy movies, if you know what I mean. We watched, "Amazing Grace" which is a movie about William Wilberforce and his incredible efforts to abolish the slave trade. Wilberforce supported the campaign for the complete abolition of slavery, and continued his involvement after 1826, when he resigned from Parliament because of his failing health. That campaign led to the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which abolished slavery in most of the British Empire; Wilberforce died just three days after hearing that the passage of the Act through Parliament was assured.
A few nights later we watched, "Valkyrie" with Tom Cruise. It is a 2008 historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the July 20, 1944 plot by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country. What incredible people that God used to change the course of history. It was only a month or so after this last and final attempt to assassinate Hitler that Hitler himself committed suicide. These men gave up their lives to save so many. They did not die in vain. I am in awe of their courage!
It has been this sort of a week for me as I have been thinking a lot about the impact that one life can make if we really have the desire to make a difference and if we don't allow fear to hold us back. I am attaching a link to a web site that deals with many hard issues that people are facing today in our world. Although William Wilberforce was successful is abolishing the slave trade back in 1833 there are actually more slaves today that ever! Please go here to find more information on how you can be apart of helping others in great need today.
As I stated at the beginning of this post, I was feeling a little blue towards the end of our hike yesterday. Isaac was also tired, so he was on my back enjoying his free ride. :) As I trudged up the steep incline I could hear Isaac beginning to sing in a quiet little voice. As I listened more intently I could hear him singing, "Mommy, I love you... mommy, I love you...mommy, I LOVE you!" and he repeated it over and over again. I just about started to cry. Isn't God amazing how He knows just what we need at just the right time. Thank you God for using my son to encourage my burdened heart yesterday. I do love you so much.
A few nights later we watched, "Valkyrie" with Tom Cruise. It is a 2008 historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the July 20, 1944 plot by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country. What incredible people that God used to change the course of history. It was only a month or so after this last and final attempt to assassinate Hitler that Hitler himself committed suicide. These men gave up their lives to save so many. They did not die in vain. I am in awe of their courage!
It has been this sort of a week for me as I have been thinking a lot about the impact that one life can make if we really have the desire to make a difference and if we don't allow fear to hold us back. I am attaching a link to a web site that deals with many hard issues that people are facing today in our world. Although William Wilberforce was successful is abolishing the slave trade back in 1833 there are actually more slaves today that ever! Please go here to find more information on how you can be apart of helping others in great need today.
As I stated at the beginning of this post, I was feeling a little blue towards the end of our hike yesterday. Isaac was also tired, so he was on my back enjoying his free ride. :) As I trudged up the steep incline I could hear Isaac beginning to sing in a quiet little voice. As I listened more intently I could hear him singing, "Mommy, I love you... mommy, I love you...mommy, I LOVE you!" and he repeated it over and over again. I just about started to cry. Isn't God amazing how He knows just what we need at just the right time. Thank you God for using my son to encourage my burdened heart yesterday. I do love you so much.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Pyjama Day at Kindy
April 28th--Isaac loved pyjama day at Kindy! Isaac loves laying in bed in the morning and he is particularly fond of his pyjamas, so he is not readily keen to take them off in the morning. Thankfully, on this special day at Kindy, we didn't have to pry his pj's off of him. Take a peek at the third picture down...do you notice the little red headed girl on the left-hand side of the picture? This is Isaac's little girlfriend named, "Tyler". I was unaware of his fondness for her until recently. About a month ago Isaac and I were playing with trains in the living room and he looked at me and said, "Mommy, I love Tyler and she loves me". Isn't that sweet. The very sad news is that unknown to us, Tyler's parents had been planning to move for quite some time and only the Kindy Teachers knew of this future move. A few weeks ago Isaac missed Kindy one morning and that happened to be Tyler's last day, so he never got to say "goodbye" to her. How sad :( He was so upset when he found out that had moved! He has been asking about her every day for two weeks now and I can't get a hold of her parents for the life of me. Maybe you all could pray that I will be able to locate Tyler so that we can go and visit her and have a proper, "goodbye". I know that Isaac appreciates your prayers. Sweet boy. 
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Work Bench
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Petone Beach
April 24th-- We took a little trip to Petone Beach for our family day. Even though it wasn't as sunny as our trips to the beach in the summer, the boys still enjoyed every minute of it! So many interesting rocks, sticks, dirt, shells, and sand to play with...our day was a definite hit. Can you tell that mommy was the photographer for the morning? :) 
Monday, June 01, 2009
A Heart for the Fatherless
Here is an interview of my friend Angela and her wonderful heart for orphans...read on...
many of us might not know this, but may is national foster care awareness month. the statistics are staggering, the number of kids in the US and abroad that are without families. as we focus in on justice this month, we cannot ignore the plight of these kids who need our voices, our help, our love, our support. angela and marrty dormish are new to the refuge community and are passionate about orphan care & social justice. we asked angela to share from her heart a little of their journey to take a step of faith and adopt two HIV positive children from ethiopia. you can read more at their blog.
listen in..
as part of our justice series this month we are focusing in on various issues & raising awareness of certain groups who are marginalized, under-represented, oppressed. you are passionate about orphan care. where did that stirring come from?
Well, it didn’t come from me. I can’t take the credit. It really was the Spirit of God at work in my heart. The book in the Bible that I go back to most often is the book of James. Over the last 15 years I have read and reread it. One fall day in 07, I decided to read it again. (You see, I struggle with saying things I shouldn’t and the book of James gives some good encouragement in that area! That is why it is my go-to book!) This time, I didn’t make it to that passage in Chapter 3. I couldn’t get passed vs. 27 of Chapter 1!!
“Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God is to take care of widows and orphans in their distress, and not to be corrupted by the world”.
God spoke directly to my heart as I read that verse. I knew that it was Him who stopped me from reading. I can’t explain it, but I knew that He wanted me to do something about the current orphan crisis. At that time I thought my husband wouldn’t be open to more than the 2 children we already had, and I hadn’t really seriously considered adoption before…. I told the Lord that I would do anything He asked of me…but pleaded for Him to please tell Marrty so I didn’t have to! What I didn’t know then was that God was already at work in Marrty’s heart as well. A few weeks later Marrty came to me (without me saying anything about my secret prayers) and asked me to listen to some podcasts…on adoption!! Less than a year later we were in Ethiopia, holding our 2 youngest children.
as you’ve been researching, listening, learning more about this issue, what are some things that stand out that most people don’t know about the plight of orphans domestically and abroad?
I think what continues to burden my heart is that there are so many children, both here in the U.S. and abroad that need parents. They are just little kids, who want a mommy and daddy to read to them and tuck them in at night. I recently attended the Summit Orphan Care conference in Dallas, TX. During the conference someone spoke who had grown up in foster care… They spoke about how they didn’t care if their mom was black or white or purple…old or young or in between… they just wanted a mom to love them. Any size or shape would do. It breaks my heart that even here in the U.S. where we have every resource readily available to us, still there are kids in desperate need.
Overseas, the kids are the same. They just want to belong to someone. I think one thing that struck me is that it is the LUCKY ones who make it into orphanages…for every one child in an orphanage there are numerous more out there who are fending for themselves…alone, and without hope. They are in need of good nutrition, clean water, medication…and love.
There are children out there….young children…who have lost parents due to poverty, or the HIV crisis and are now the heads of their houshold. They are trying to survive, and often have to resort to selling their bodies for a loaf of bread to feed themselves and their younger siblings. They are getting HIV in the process of trying to survive. Who will speak for them? Who will give them voice? Who will stand with them, and love them?
How did you decide to adopt 2 kids who are HIV+?
After Marrty and I decided to adopt from Ethiopia, I began to read a lot of adoption blogs. One day I came across a blog of a mom with 10 kids. Her youngest was from Ethiopia and she was in process to go back for number 11, also from Ethiopia. These kids were really really adorable and I fell for their sweet smiles and spunk. One day she wrote about the fact that her youngest daughter had HIV. I was shocked. “What?!?” I thought. “How could this be?! I mean…she is chubby, and healthy, and full of life!! Shouldn’t she be sick looking? And…I didn’t even know it was legal to adopt a kid with HIV…. Isn’t she worried about her other 9 kids getting it?!” I had a million questions and I immediately wrote her and began asking her questions about HIV and the possibility of adopting a child with HIV.
She graciously wrote me back, and answered my questions, and even put me in touch with a few other moms who had adopted kids with HIV. The more I learned, the less scary it seemed. In fact, the more I learned, the more I felt I had no reason NOT to adopt a kid with HIV. Afterall, there were people lining up and waiting for healthy infants and toddlers while these kids with HIV were standing in line for parents. It didn’t make sense to me. Why would someone not want to step up for these kiddos. HIV, I learned, is a chronic but manageable disease in the U.S. The treatment is even better than the treatments available for diabetes or rheumatioid arthritis. I knew God was speaking again. When Marrty got home that afternoon I asked him “Would you consider adopting a kid with HIV?” to which he grunted a short “No.” :) “Okay” I said and left it at that. The very next day he walked in the door and said “I’m not saying ‘no’…” and we went forward from there.
What have some of the responses been, both negative and positive?
We have found that most people don’t really know a lot about HIV, but they are willing to be educated. We haven’t really had any negative responses yet, for which I am very very thankful. Most people are thrilled to hear how treatable the disease is now and how far medication has come in the last 10 years.what scared you the most about taking this step?
Everyone will tell you that the stigma is worse than the disease, and I feared that. It turns out that for us, it hasn’t really been an issue. It was scary to step out in faith and tell our families and friends, but everyone has been a huge support.
what are you learning about God’s heart as you dig more deeply into issues of justice on orphan’s behalf?
He is the Father to the fatherless…
many of us might not know this, but may is national foster care awareness month. the statistics are staggering, the number of kids in the US and abroad that are without families. as we focus in on justice this month, we cannot ignore the plight of these kids who need our voices, our help, our love, our support. angela and marrty dormish are new to the refuge community and are passionate about orphan care & social justice. we asked angela to share from her heart a little of their journey to take a step of faith and adopt two HIV positive children from ethiopia. you can read more at their blog.
listen in..
as part of our justice series this month we are focusing in on various issues & raising awareness of certain groups who are marginalized, under-represented, oppressed. you are passionate about orphan care. where did that stirring come from?
Well, it didn’t come from me. I can’t take the credit. It really was the Spirit of God at work in my heart. The book in the Bible that I go back to most often is the book of James. Over the last 15 years I have read and reread it. One fall day in 07, I decided to read it again. (You see, I struggle with saying things I shouldn’t and the book of James gives some good encouragement in that area! That is why it is my go-to book!) This time, I didn’t make it to that passage in Chapter 3. I couldn’t get passed vs. 27 of Chapter 1!!
“Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God is to take care of widows and orphans in their distress, and not to be corrupted by the world”.
God spoke directly to my heart as I read that verse. I knew that it was Him who stopped me from reading. I can’t explain it, but I knew that He wanted me to do something about the current orphan crisis. At that time I thought my husband wouldn’t be open to more than the 2 children we already had, and I hadn’t really seriously considered adoption before…. I told the Lord that I would do anything He asked of me…but pleaded for Him to please tell Marrty so I didn’t have to! What I didn’t know then was that God was already at work in Marrty’s heart as well. A few weeks later Marrty came to me (without me saying anything about my secret prayers) and asked me to listen to some podcasts…on adoption!! Less than a year later we were in Ethiopia, holding our 2 youngest children.
as you’ve been researching, listening, learning more about this issue, what are some things that stand out that most people don’t know about the plight of orphans domestically and abroad?
I think what continues to burden my heart is that there are so many children, both here in the U.S. and abroad that need parents. They are just little kids, who want a mommy and daddy to read to them and tuck them in at night. I recently attended the Summit Orphan Care conference in Dallas, TX. During the conference someone spoke who had grown up in foster care… They spoke about how they didn’t care if their mom was black or white or purple…old or young or in between… they just wanted a mom to love them. Any size or shape would do. It breaks my heart that even here in the U.S. where we have every resource readily available to us, still there are kids in desperate need.
Overseas, the kids are the same. They just want to belong to someone. I think one thing that struck me is that it is the LUCKY ones who make it into orphanages…for every one child in an orphanage there are numerous more out there who are fending for themselves…alone, and without hope. They are in need of good nutrition, clean water, medication…and love.
There are children out there….young children…who have lost parents due to poverty, or the HIV crisis and are now the heads of their houshold. They are trying to survive, and often have to resort to selling their bodies for a loaf of bread to feed themselves and their younger siblings. They are getting HIV in the process of trying to survive. Who will speak for them? Who will give them voice? Who will stand with them, and love them?
How did you decide to adopt 2 kids who are HIV+?
After Marrty and I decided to adopt from Ethiopia, I began to read a lot of adoption blogs. One day I came across a blog of a mom with 10 kids. Her youngest was from Ethiopia and she was in process to go back for number 11, also from Ethiopia. These kids were really really adorable and I fell for their sweet smiles and spunk. One day she wrote about the fact that her youngest daughter had HIV. I was shocked. “What?!?” I thought. “How could this be?! I mean…she is chubby, and healthy, and full of life!! Shouldn’t she be sick looking? And…I didn’t even know it was legal to adopt a kid with HIV…. Isn’t she worried about her other 9 kids getting it?!” I had a million questions and I immediately wrote her and began asking her questions about HIV and the possibility of adopting a child with HIV.
She graciously wrote me back, and answered my questions, and even put me in touch with a few other moms who had adopted kids with HIV. The more I learned, the less scary it seemed. In fact, the more I learned, the more I felt I had no reason NOT to adopt a kid with HIV. Afterall, there were people lining up and waiting for healthy infants and toddlers while these kids with HIV were standing in line for parents. It didn’t make sense to me. Why would someone not want to step up for these kiddos. HIV, I learned, is a chronic but manageable disease in the U.S. The treatment is even better than the treatments available for diabetes or rheumatioid arthritis. I knew God was speaking again. When Marrty got home that afternoon I asked him “Would you consider adopting a kid with HIV?” to which he grunted a short “No.” :) “Okay” I said and left it at that. The very next day he walked in the door and said “I’m not saying ‘no’…” and we went forward from there.
What have some of the responses been, both negative and positive?
We have found that most people don’t really know a lot about HIV, but they are willing to be educated. We haven’t really had any negative responses yet, for which I am very very thankful. Most people are thrilled to hear how treatable the disease is now and how far medication has come in the last 10 years.what scared you the most about taking this step?
Everyone will tell you that the stigma is worse than the disease, and I feared that. It turns out that for us, it hasn’t really been an issue. It was scary to step out in faith and tell our families and friends, but everyone has been a huge support.
what are you learning about God’s heart as you dig more deeply into issues of justice on orphan’s behalf?
He is the Father to the fatherless…
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