We got it!!!

Yesterday at 3:15 pm we received the phone call that i thought would not be coming for a while. Our little girl has been matched to our family! She is absolutely precious, beautiful, delicate, scrumptious, just everything you could imagine. I am not able to post a picture just yet, but when she is officially ours i will, don't worry. We had our phone meeting today with the agency and found that it will be between 3-4 months before we can travel. I'm okay with that, just knowing that she really exists and having pictures and updates is enough to keep me going. Her birthday is Sept. 17, 2008 so she is only 6 months, how perfect is that! There are so many emotions running through my mind it's hard to describe. You sit here and look at the screen and then up pops a picture of your little girl, out of the blue totally unexpected. (I think God knows I like surprises) So now we can breathe and know who she is, oh how I'm ready to hold and kiss her but i know that too will come in God's perfect timing. So much to say, so hard to find the words to describe. So I simply just say, rejoice with me our daughter Stella is on her way!

God's Peace!

Hello everyone! i really don't have much to say but it's been a while so i thought i would jot down some thoughts. Can i just say to have the Lord's peace is an awesome thing! i really thought the wait for Stella's referral would be really hard and the first two weeks it was. My heart would jump every time the phone rang. But then i had this revelation that God's timing is perfect and to rush ahead of that would just be silly. There's nothing in my power that i can do (except pray) so why bother wasting tons of energy on something i can't control. It's crazy, i really feel that when we get the call it will be in just the perfect time, she will be ready and so will we! The room is coming along, we are hoping to have a butterfly painting party in the next couple of weeks, other than that it's all ready. You know what else is cool about this whole thing, God is giving me a gift, the gift of a daughter, how cool is that! And it's simply because He loves me, all i have to do is sit back and receive this precious gift and that she is!
Right now we are fighting sickness with Gabriel. Last Thursday he came home from school with a fever, took him to the doctor on Sunday, nothing wrong so they say but every night shortly after dinner his little face gets flushed and the fever comes back, a week, that's crazy huh? So if you think about it say a little prayer for my little man that he would be healed and he could go back to school, he misses it! Well it's 55 degrees outside better go get some bike riding in before dinner, the boys are desperately wanting to go play.
Be Joyful!

NO WAY

Two things in my life right now that i'm looking at and saying no way to.
#1 We just got our taxes done and are receiving more back this year than ever before, our travel to Ethiopia will totally be paid for, no more worrying!!! YEAH GOD, He always comes through.
#2 My little Ezekiel is going to be turning 8 on Sunday!!!! Wow, it so hard to believe he's almost 8. Years go by so fast now it's just incredible. i need to figure out better ways of keeping track of neat things that they do. 8 seems like a milestone for some reason. i know in our family 12 is a huge milestone but also 8. We feel like it's time to give Ezekiel more responsibilities and to let go a little. We are going to be coming up with a list of chores for him, we will let him start the car for us, no more holding hands in the parking lot (unless of course mommy wants to) just little things but i know to him they will be really big. He's such an awesome little man if you know him you know that, if you don't know him you'll just have to take my word. Ezekiel is a blessing that i never could have imagined. We were able to have a moment the other night, he couldn't sleep so i just held him for a while. It was great to remind him that no matter how big he gets, he will always have room on mommy's lap, he's always welcome.
Anyhow, just a short little update with my thoughts. Speaking of thoughts, our car door broke last night. You have to love automatic doors right??? But when the door decides to lock itself before it's actually closed really sucks. Luckily Andy was with me so he sat in the back holding the door closed. Getting home realizing he can't fix it so now it sits jimmy rigged closed in able for me to take it somewhere. So now instead of having a relax day picking things up for Ezekiel's party, valentines and getting ready for wife day (which is today, YEAH) i have to try to find someone who can get it in and fix it today, yeah for me.
That's it, be blessed!

Prayer for Stella

Okay so at Saturday night prayer at church we dedicated the first 1/2 hour, which ended up being 50 minutes, to praying for Stella with worship too. It was great. Charissa lead worship, i love Charissa. One of the songs she picked was Bring Restoration. Instantly as she started to sing i knew this was Stella's song, here are the words:
Bring restoration, bring restoration, bring restoration to my soul, bring restoration, bring restoration bring restoration to my soul, you've taken my shame, called me by a new name, taken my pain and in it's place you give me joy, bring restoration, bring restoration, bring restoration to my soul.
There's a second verse by i have to email Charissa to get it, anyhow this was Stella's song. As her mom i was so overwhelmed with the Lords heart for her. Even though she's not here yet the Lord so wants to heal her little heart and soul, it was such an awesome time. Then we read parts of Psalm 31 which was great, had a time of prayer and prophecy which of course was awesome. It just felt great to know that everyone is with us and our family is carrying this with us, we are not alone. Then later on when we got home, Andy went to bed he wasn't feeling well and Josh D. called me to say that their family had sat down and taken time to pray for our family and the words his girls got were just awesome and blessed me so much, Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." How awesome is that the Lord is saying that for Stella. Then each of his girls prayed awesome prayers, which i have written down. i was just so blessed that they did that for us. Also before prayer Nanci had asked the boys with Andy's help to craft a prayer for Stella and here is that prayer:
"We praise you Lord and give You thanks for baby sister and we ask for protection, that You would lead and guide her wherever she goes. Taking care of her with divine health and no weaknesses. We pray that you would show her loving kindness with no fear. We ask that You would bring her home quick so we can play with her and show her how much we love her."
My boys are awesome and we have been continuing to pray this prayer.
I'm just so thankful that the Lord is in control and that i get to put my hope in Him, He never changes and He has good gifts for His kids.
So today, look for your gift!

Here you go...

Finally an update, but really does anyone actually read these anymore now that there's facebook, i know i do i'm just not sure about anyone else. Oh well here it goes anyways.
So we are officially waiting now for our daughter Stella to get matched to our family. Our papers arrived in Ethiopia on January 24,2009, so now we wait some more. They say a good 4-6 months but that's just to long for me so we will wait but are praying it's quicker than they say. Still working on getting people here to paint butterflies in her room, it's so much fun seeing what people paint i can't wait until more people come, it's so much better than i could have expected. i finally finished her blanket, it says baby sister on it. We pray for her daily and know she is in the Lords hands and that He is watching over her preparing her to come home. i think this Saturday for prayer at church we will be devoting some time to pray for her so if you're reading this, come and if you're out of town it will be around 6:30, pray where you are for her to be released quickly into our family.
The boys, Ezekiel got strep but you would never have known it he was such a trooper and so bummed he had to miss 2 days of school, i hope that last. Gabriel is good, we have to teach him a hard lesson about taking what is not his but it's a great time for him to learn. Andy's great, he continues to amaze me. He works so hard every day and does so many extra things and never complains, he's the best ever. i even hear wife day may be next week which is ironic seeing how Valentines is on Saturday, wife day will be Friday, yeah i love wife day.
Well i'm working out and feeling great, still have kept the 20lbs off from my fast which makes me really happy. i didn't know if as soon as i started eating it would all come back on but it hasn't. Hoping to loose another 5 by wife day, better get back on the elliptical 45 minutes might not be enough.
Friends, aren't friends the best!!! Nothing beats having conversations with people you love enough to be your family but by blood they are not. Anyone wants to go for coffee i'm open most days, not Tuesday though that's my day at school.
God, God is the best too. It amazes me how if i get time with Him my day just goes better, i feel better, i get everything accomplished, i talk to the right people to help me through what ever is going on. i love that He looks out for me. He's such a good daddy, even when our earthly daddy's do a horrible job and leave messes that we have to clean up God always makes the way to clean them up, He's so good.
Well i guess that's all i have for now, until next time pray for Stella please!

40 day fast

Wow, i have a lot to blog about so first i will start sharing about my 40day fast. Around the middle of September i felt the Lord was calling me to a 40 day liquid fast. So i prayed more about it and decided i would start the week before Thanksgiving that way it would take me into the new year. So i felt God gave me some strategy on it and it was to be a liquid fast with some protein drinks mixed in and mostly fruit and vegetable juices. i felt the Lord wanted to speak to me in lots of different ways. I knew part of it was for Stella and part was for obedience and part was to hear the Lord. I think the biggest thing i have taken away from it is a since of self control. i absolutely loved that i made it all 40 days, including Thanksgiving, my birthday and Christmas. It felt so good to not fall short and cheat or feel like i was missing out. I was never just exhausted like i normally am when i fast. i had energy, i even worked for Andy most of the time. i felt the Lord gave me some insight to my weight and the traps that ensnare me so much of the time. Being bored is huge!!! Being bored or being bored with food, it was interesting to drink the same thing day after day after day. i became okay with it knowing that it was what my body was needing. So now im eating more veggies because i know it's what my body is needing and i'm okay with that. If you have ever struggled with your weight this next part will totally make since to you. i didn't realize this at the time but i listened to a CD about fears and false refugees. i didn't realize i was fearful of getting really obese. However when i was listening i remembered saying (in the past) that i just wish i would hurry up and get really fat that way i just wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. Which i know sounds totally stupid but i said it. i think out of fear, and out of self pity and self hatred even. But now i can renounce that fear and i know i'm not going to ever be really obese because that is not my portion. i am worthy of more than that because i am a daughter to the King. He desires me to be healthy. It's funny how what we say can make life easy or hard. i want to be positive, think positive act positive and talk positive. Did i make a new years resolution, no! However since i am done with working for Andy i can now work out on my elliptical and get back into my core exercising, which i have done all week. It's time to start thinking about me, not only me but my kids my husband all my family. i want to be active and do the things they enjoy and just flat out be healthy. So i say i'm done with the 40 day fast but not totally. i don't feel quite released to go back to all foods. i'm trying to stay away from bread, just a little meat and no sweets just yet. I'm really cutting back on caffeine too. So now i'm eating better and smaller portions and getting ready for Stella. That's part of the reason for not being totally released yet. i want to really feel the Lords heart for Stella, i know that He loves her but i want to know more so that's where my time is going right now. i'm sure there's so much more i could say but i'm running short of time.
My next post will most likely be about Stella and not to forget we are totally in a new year, that's gotta be talked about too. So for now that's all,
Be joyful today!

Birthday

Well another year has come and gone and now i'm 33. Which i think it kinda a cool age, i guess i just like how it looks. Nothing to exciting for my birthday, work, clean house, Gabriel's school program, youth Christmas party. All i really wanted to do was go out to Starbucks with my family and have a coffee (i felt like that's what i could do on my fast). But maybe next time. It's so funny when you work there's just not enough hours in the day. i'm so thankful it's only for 1 more week, and maybe a couple of days. i miss cleaning the house and cooking good meals and baking. My Christmas goodies are running a little behind this year and won't be tons. Oh well, it's just food right? I got some good things for my big day, slippers (which only seem to last a year), pajama pants (which i was secretly wanting) and some perfume, just the little bottle but it will last. i've learned that it's not an everyday scent, just for special occasions.
Well we are still waiting on our last paper to get in so they can send our paperwork off, Stella is on her way, i'm just not for sure when that is. After Christmas i look forward to starting on the room. i was going to start but didn't want to start and not finish, i have enough of those kinds of projects.
Well that's the short version up date, what can i say, i'm tired.
Be blessed with time...