November

N ot many leaves left on the trees.

O ctober and warm days are a distant memory.

V ery brisk wind.

E mpty branches waving their arms.

M any geese flying south.

B ringing thoughts of coming winter.

E ager deer hunters prowling the woods.

R ustling leaves scudding across lawns.

This is what November means to me.  What does November mean to you?

Motherhood

I Corinthians 13 for Mothers (by Jim Fowler)

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,
but have not love,
I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,
but have not love,
my children learn cleanliness, not godliness.

If I scream at my children for every infraction,
and fault them for every mess they make,
but have not love,
my children become people-pleasers, not obedient children.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child’s laugh.

Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.

Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love accepts the fact that I am the ever-present “mommy,”
the taxi-driver to every childhood event,
the counsellor when my children fail or are hurt.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, and runs with the child,
then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God’s perfection of my child.

All the projections I had for my house and my children
have faded away into insignificance,
And what remain are the memories of my kids.

Now there abides in my home scratches on most of the furniture,
dishes with missing place settings,
and bedroom walls full of stickers, posters and markings,
But the greatest of all is the Love
that permeates my relationships with my children.

A Few Good Reads

I read some extra good blog posts this week.  Thought I would share them with you.


Have you ever wondered if there was something you could do with all those old wooden pallets.  This post is FULL of ideas.  Some practical, and some just pretty--all of them inspiring!
http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2011/10/creative-uses-for-free-wooden-pallets/

If you have more than one child you are always looking for creative ideas for one-on-one time with them.  This post gives a simple/free/quick idea for special time with each child.
http://lifewithapersonalgod.blogspot.com/2011/10/one-on-oneand-then-again.html

I needed this reminder that as a mom I set the mood for my home.
http://stairstepboys.blogspot.com/2011/10/it-starts-with-me.html

A yummy recipe for left over mashed potatoes!
http://lotsofhelpers.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/mashed-potato-pancakes/

Did you read anything interesting this week?

What Kind of Mom Are You

I've been thinking lately--about how I parent. It's so easy for me to get busy, and focus constantly on the next load of laundry or the next pile of dishes.  I forget to take time to have fun.

Permit me a run down memory lane?

 When I was young my dad was a school teacher, and several times a year he had parent/teacher conferences.  This meant that he didn't get home until about 7 or 8 o'clock at night.

I LOVED parent/teacher conference nights--because my mom made them into something fun.  We would have a supper that included foods that were very untypical in our diet.  "Fun food" was what I called them--in reality it was just things like frozen dinners from the grocery store, or hot dogs. 

These were meals that my mom knew my dad was not fond of, and she purposely chose them for us because we thought they were "fun."  It made the whole evening seem like an adventure.

Now that I have a family of my own I do something similar.  My husband drives truck, and he often works long hours during the summer.  I often try to have my house-work done by about 5 o'clock and plan a "fun" evening with the children.  We have our own version of "fun" food and we play games.

Sometimes we get take out food, drive out to the lake, and eat supper while watching  the seagulls.  It makes the long evenings pass quickly, and before we know it daddy is home.

My children act like I've handed them the world when we do these simple things.  Which is my point--it really doesn't take much effort or money to be a fun mom.  A child's definition of fun mostly just involves doing something together.

What are some ways that you have fun with your children?

I'm Just Sayin'

WARNING!!!

This post is not for the weak of heart.......or stomach.

I think as mothers we should help one another.  When we discover something that works with parenting we should pass it on. 

On the other hand when we fail or our plans fail--sometimes it's good to share that information too.

It helps other moms too see that we're human too, and sometimes it gives them a good chuckle.


Having said that..............

We have some trouble with constipation at our house--especially with the two youngest children.

I combat this with--what else--prune juice.

The two year old likes it ok, but the baby LOVES it.

This morning I fixed a bottle for the baby, and a sippy cup for the two year old.

Both of them had about an inch of prune juice and the rest was water.

The baby somehow inhaled his bottle, and when I wasn't looking got ahold of his brother's sippy cup.

May I just say-----------when a baby drinks two cups of watered down prune juice.

He will no longer have constipation.

The results were disastrous!!!!!!!!

I gave him a bath...........and there is quite a bit of extra laundry.

I'm just sayin'

Our Adoption Story Part 2

You really should read Part One of this story if you didn't already.

 I got off of the phone with disappointment in my heart because I was sure that we couldn't handle foster parenting. 

Foster parents are these really special people that are strong and can protect their hearts so that when a child has to leave they don't struggle..........right?

The odd thing was that when we started praying about it both my husband and I started feeling this overwhelming peace.

I kept thinking "What if that was my child that needed a safe place to live while I straightened my life out?"

I would want them to stay somewhere like our home.

With people that--although they aren't perfect--would love them and care for them like they are there to stay, and would cry and miss them when they leave.

Isn't that what family does?

So we took a huge leap of faith, and started filling out paperwork, and attending training classes.

Eight months later we received our foster license.

We assumed that we would have several months to adjust to the idea of being foster parents before we would have children placed with us.

Silly us!

Exactly two weeks later we had two little boys--almost one, and almost two years old placed in our home.

Four months, and one week later they are still here.

So, what is the rest of our adoption story?

Is there a part 3?

Why of course!!

But...........you'll have to wait for it.

Because--you see--I'm not really the one writing this story.

God is, and only He knows for sure what part 3 will be about.

I have a pretty good idea..........

but you will just have to wait and see.  : )

Our Adoption Story Part 1

If someone were to ask me to name one thing that I am passionate about--I would say "adoption!"

Adoption is woven through our family in several different ways.

~~~

First of all, we are adopted by God.

We were born with sinful natures, and that separated us from Him, and yet He reached out with loving arms and pulled us back, and redeemed us.

~~~

Secondly, my husband comes from a family of seven children who are ALL ADOPTED!!

His parents adopted before it was "popular"--before there were adoption support groups--back when a lot of Christian people thought adoption was "too risky."

God gave them a heart for the fatherless, and they have poured themselves into their family selflessly.

When I first met my husbands family I was amazed at how connected they were--if you made one mad at you--they were all mad at you--one of them loved you--they all loved you.

When my husband and I were dating we talked about adoption--how we thought we might do it someday.

~~~

That brings me to the third way that adoption is woven into our family.

After we were married several years we found out with the help of several doctors that we would be unable to have biological children.

There were a lot of emotions that went through our minds at that time, but I remember thinking "so we will adopt after all"  and feeling a measure of excitement about it.

Several years later, we adopted two little boys through a domestic infant adoption program.

We thought our family was perfect, but once in a while I would get the feeling that there was a missing piece.

About a year ago we decided we were ready to adopt again.

By now our youngest was almost six--so we thought it would be perfect to adopt a waiting sibling group.

We started the mound of paperwork, and almost immediately we began running into snags.

The age of children we were interested in was uncommon in a waiting sibling group.

I received a phone call from a case worker we knew from our previous adoptions.

She asked me if we had considered being foster parents.

Now, adoption seems pretty easy to me, but foster parenting seemed scary.

There are too many unknowns--too many risks--too little control on my part. 

So, I told her that we would pray about it, and hung up feeling rather sure what God's answer would be.

To be continued..........