Bread & Beans

Bread & Beans Center services hungry and homeless people in the Baltimore area - they provide hundreds of lunches five days a week and offer an array of other services.  They are truly reaching out to "the least of these" in many substantial ways.  They are in the process of expanding their center and starting April 1st, their kitchen is closed for renovations for 2 months.  They reached out to the community to help provide the meals they would be unable to put together during that time.  Our small group happily accepted the task for one day - we were in charge of gathering supplies and assembling 100 bag lunches.  This included a meat & cheese sandwich, a fruit, a drink, and a sweet treat.  We did this at our house, and then a sweet friend delivered all 100 lunches to the Bread & Beans Center.

It sounded a little overwhelming and expensive, but wow, God sure provided for us.  Bagel Works provided the bread (leftovers from the day that weren't used and would have been thrown out otherwise), Red Brick Station donated ALL of the meat and cheese (that is over 20 lbs of turkey and 5 lbs of cheese, people!), and Chic-Fil-A donated mustard and mayo packets.  And then our small group filled in the rest, providing fruit, juice boxes, yummy homemade treats, and paper bags.

We had a few assembly lines going while a few of us drew love notes on the outsides of the bags.  This was a perfect service project for the kids to be involved in, and it made an impact.  Angel said at one point, "Mom, this is so cool!  I can't believe we're doing this!"  Almost brought tears to my eyes!!  It was a beautiful night and we were finished in 30 minutes!  100 bag lunches created and stuffed in 30 minutes.  So super cool.  We had a fun time serving together, and it was amazing to see how many businesses were willing to help out.  We also heard from many other people that they wished they had known so they could have gotten involved too!

And that's why I wrote this big long blog post, as well as snapped a few pictures ... if you are local and interested in covering some of the bag lunches, Bread & Beans NEEDS your helps!  They have most of the April dates covered but still have quite a few May dates to take care of.  Will you please consider serving them in this way?  I promise it's fun and rewarding, and the kids will love it!  You only need to get several families together and make some phone calls to make it a true success.  Email Kathleen at kathleen.filkins@vincentbaltimore.org for more information about available dates!

He has risen, indeed!

Orphan Sunday at our church

My heart is so full after this Sunday's Orphan Sunday service.  I am honored to be part of an amazing congregation who shares God's heart for the fatherless.  The service was also a wonderful reminder that we are ALL adopted into God's Heavenly family.  That is a true blessing and the best truth I can think of.  I am so thankful for the church staff, the volunteers, the adoptive families of our church, and the worship band that totally rocked the praise music.  So many people helped to make Orphan Sunday what it was.  God was glorified and I know He will continue to do BIG THINGS with this day.  Trusting in Him to lead the way for our church.

Below was the one and only picture I snapped during the service, but it really was such a powerful moment.  Our "Children of God" music video was finishing up and the band members had just revealed their "adopted" t-shirts too.  They performed the song live while the video played on the screens.  I love that you can also see the shoe demonstration laying at the front of the stage ... I led a group that brought up a total of 240 pairs of shoes throughout the service to represent the 240 children that were orphaned around the world just during the hour of the service.  Powerful stuff.  HERE is the message that our children's minister delivered (click on the Orphan Sunday message from 3/17/13).  She did a fantastic job explaining our adoption into God's family using scripture, as well as explaining that God calls us to care for orphans of the world.  She talked about a few ways to care for orphans that do not include adoption, and as a result, the congregation sponsored 18 new children through Compassion after the services!

If you have any questions about how we did our Orphan Sunday service, please shoot me an email - I'm happy to help in any way I can.  We also did an interview video with four of the church's adoptive families (us included) that included a very emotional clip from a little girl who was old enough to remember her time at her adoption center.

Our Morning Basket {Time with God}

I've mentioned before that Bible study with the kids has been a struggle the entire school year.  I started with the best intentions and have tried many times to make Bible Study Guide For All Ages work with the kids, but there is too much of a gap in their ages.  Angel is very interested, Lovebug plays along out of responsibility, and my little Sunshine tends to make things ... well, just plain difficult.  We have good days and bad while working through the lessons but a lot of the time, I end up totally frustrated ... which is bad.  It seems like the enemy wins the battle on many days.  It just wasn't working well given their different attention spans and academic levels.

So I finally had an idea a few weeks ago that I think is working for us.  And this idea could actually work for any family, homeschooling or not.  Partly based on reading about a Morning Basket over at Inspired to Action, partly inspired by Date With God at Created 4 Care, and partly because of attending Together Called, our very own Morning Basket was born.  The kids are much happier to participate with this kind of devotion versus the more formal lessons I was trying before.  In many ways, I prefer the formal lessons because it's more systematic and complete, but I am happy to work with this for now.  What's important is that they have their time with God, not necessarily how it happens.

There are a variety of devotional books for kids so they have a choice each day, as well as an Adventure Bible to look up verses, several other books (I'll outline them below), and a few Sunshine-proof board books.  Some of these books were purchased just for our basket, others we already had.  I realize our basket has a lot of different books and that certainly isn't needed, but I know my kids like variety :-)  I also included our Prayer Sticks, journals for the older kids, and crayons.  I may add a "journal" for Sunshine also because she has really enjoyed drawing during this time.  They pick their own devotional book in the morning, find the verse in the Bible, and then write/draw in their journal afterward.  I'll also pick from one of the other books to read or pray ... still working that out but I just adore having this time with the kids!  It's very much mommy-led at this point and I am totally fine with that.  I love sharing God's Word with my children and consider it such a gift.  Jesus' love and grace for us is the most important life lesson I could possibly pass onto them, and what an honor it is to do that!

Here's what's in our Morning Basket:

Adventure Bible
Angel's Journal - storytelling pages with lines for writing and open space for drawing
Lovebug's Journal - unruled notebook just for drawing (I write the Bible verse of the day on top of each page)
Jesus Calling for Kids - dated daily devotional
One Year Devotions for Preschoolers - dated daily devotional
My ABC Bible Bible Verses - alphabetic devotional with short stories
His Mighty Warrior - devotional for warrior boys
His Little Princess - devotional for princess girls
Children's Everyday Bible - dated daily devotional
Sticky Situations 2 - dated family devotional using everyday situations
Window on the World - outlining all the countries around the world and how your family can pray for them (LOVE!)
Usborne Children's Picture Atlas - to go along with Window on the World
Children's Adoration Prayer Book - learning to adore God using the alphabet
A Child's Book of Character Building - teaching Christian character using Bible stories
Lift-the-Flap Bible - board book perfect for toddlers
Tiny Bear's Bible - another board book for my little Sunshine
Noah Builds an Ark - another board book for variety
Our Prayer Sticks
Crayons, pencils, pens

I'd love to hear how you do Bible study and devotions with your kiddos too!  And if you've blogged about it, please share links in the comments!

Advent Day 2: A Giveaway!!

Today we read "The King's Christmas List" by Eldon Johnson, and then visited their website.  We gifted a share of a new water well, 2 chickens and 2 ducks to other less fortunate families around the world.  The kids had a hard time deciding how to spend the money but really gave it a lot of thought.  I liked this activity because it forced them to think about families in other parts of the world that live very different lives ... a concept that I know must be quite difficult for them.

The book itself is really sweet with pretty illustrations.  Without giving away the whole story, it's about a girl who learns that helping people in need is the best way to give gifts to the King on His birthday.  It teaches young children the true meaning of Christmas in a way that makes sense and is easy to understand.

It would be a perfect addition to your Christmas book collection and I'm GIVING AWAY one free copy on the blog!  There are a few ways to enter the giveaway:

1. Share this post on Facebook or your favorite social networking site and then comment here letting me know.
2. For an extra entry, visit "The King's Adventure" website with your kids (you don't need to purchase anything, although that would be wonderful!) and then comment here letting me know.
3. And for another extra entry, "like" the Living Out His Love's Facebook page to stay updated on the rest of our Advent activities and then leave a comment letting me know you did (or comment letting me know if you are already a "liker").

You will need to comment for each entry.  Please make sure that I can get in touch with you by leaving an email address!  Tell your family and friends, spread the word!  The winner will be drawn on Monday, December 10, 2012 in the evening!  Merry Christmas!

Advent Day 1: Prayer Sticks

I love how this project turned out!  In case you don't know what we're doing for Advent this year, click HERE to read about our Random Acts of Christmas Kindness Advent projects!  Our first day's project was to create Prayer Sticks  -  we now have a collection of popsicle sticks with pictures of family & friends glued on them to help us pray in the evenings before bed.  And we'll definitely be adding more in the future!

The kids had fun putting this project together.  I painted a wooden cylinder box from A.C. Moore to hold our Prayer Sticks and mod-podged the image on the front (that I found online).  This is a new tool we will use every night.  Praying for others is definitely an act of kindness that will reap rewards indefinitely, and we are so excited to have a fun way to incorporate it into bedtime prayers!

How we're doing Advent this year

We are on a never-ending journey to make Christmas more meaningful for our kids.  And no, I don't mean by purchasing more gifts ... I mean by buying less and helping them truly understand Jesus' love and why we celebrate Christmas.  It is not about Santa, and Rudolph, and Christmas trees, and watching our favorite Christmas movies, and buying a bunch of gifts for people.  Although those are fun secular things too, they are not what we are celebrating.  We made the mistake early on of getting too caught up in the extra bells and whistles of Christmas, and now we are slowly re-teaching our kids
(and ourselves).  It's about getting caught up in consumerism less, and instead giving more of ourselves and our time.

I can't think of a better way to teach our children about the gift of Christmas and to truly honor Jesus on his birthday, than by serving others.  The way Jesus would, on a level that the kids can understand.  I have created an ever-growing Pinterest board of ways to serve others, and I adore all of the creative ideas.  Teaching children to have a heart like Jesus and to serve is such a beautiful thing, and we want to start passing that onto our children during Christmas.  So this year for Advent, although we are still doing lots of fun Christmas crafting, we are excited to be "RACK-ing" people ... doing a Random Act of Christmas Kindness per day, up to Christmas.  The kids are totally on board and keep asking when December 1st is coming :-)  So very sweet!

Although we may have to alter the order of our days, here is a basic rundown, beginning on December 1st:

1. Create Prayer Sticks for our family and friends to help us remember to pray for everyone.
2. Read "The King's Christmas List" and then pick out several gifts from their website to send to people around the world.
3. Handwrite letters and draw pictures to mail to others.
4. Paint rocks and then leave them wherever we go throughout Advent.
5. Write happy notes and then leave them on car windshields in a parking lot.
6. Make homemade cookies to give to neighbors we don't know well.
7. Handmade gifting!  We will be making handmade gifts all day!
8. Find a homeless person to give a meal to.
9. Leave a big tip when we're out to lunch after church with a nice note.
10. Tape quarters to a few vending machines.
11. Leave a sweet treat and a note for the trash men in the morning.
12. Go caroling with our MOPS group.
13. Take doughnuts to the local Fire Station to thank them for their service.
14. Hide dollar bills in the toy section of the Dollar Store.
15. Make and colors cards, and then visit an Assisted Living facility to pass them out to people who need a little pick-me-up.
16. Pick toys out of our rooms to donate to others.
17. Take dinner to a new adoptive family.
18. Pay for someone else's toll on the highway.
19. Leave a sweet treat and a note for the postal workers at our local post office who we see a lot!
20. Take lunch to someone at work.
21. Pass out Sillybandz to any children we happen to see (we are planning on doing this on a special trip out somewhere, but I am not sure of the date yet)
22. We are hoping to visit a hospital to donate arts and crafts supplies to the children's areas (I am still waiting on confirmation from the hospital).
23. Tape quarters to a laundry machine at the local laundromat.
24. Leave a sweet treat for our mailman, who so diligently delivers our mail (even during a hurricane!).

Ok, that's our list!  I will be doing some posts for these throughout December (especially of the ones we're doing at home), but I want to be as present as possible and am going to try to not take my camera with me on outings.  We'll see how that goes :-)  I'd love to hear more ideas for serving with your kids from other readers, especially if you have done something that seemed to really impact your kids!  It will be great to tuck those little nuggets away for future use :-)

Happy Advent everyone!  Here is the note we will be using during Advent - I created it using inspiration that came from several other blogs that have done something similar in the past.

(Come find me on Facebook!  And if you have been blessed by my blog, would you mind taking just a few seconds of your time and click on the 2 links below?  You don't need to do anything except click each button once (you can click once a day!).  Each click is a "vote" that allows my blog to be seen by other homeschool and adoptive families so I can help them too!  Thank you so much for blessing me with your help, may God bless your day!)

Operation Christmas Child - SUCCESS!

And it was a success in more ways than one!

This week is National Collection Week with more than 3,400 drop-off sites available!  The kids and I had a lot of fun shopping for 3 shoeboxes this year, one for each of the kids.  They each helped pack a box for a girl (or boy in Lovebug's case) in their age range.  We picked up lots of little goodies and Angel even brought $11.65 of her own money to contribute.

That was all of her savings.  She gave it all.

Their hearts constantly amaze me and help put life in perspective!  Angel drew pictures for each of the boxes too and was so happy to know they'd be received by kids around the world.  I absolutely adore that they are getting old enough to understand what giving means.  They seem to have a natural compassion and kindness for others that I hope we can continue to foster.  Loving and serving in the name of Christ ... I can't think of better values to teach my precious littles.

If you haven't put any shoeboxes together, but would like to participate in Operation Christmas Child, there's still time!  Shoeboxes need to be dropped off by this coming Sunday, November 18th.  And if that's not possible for you, you could  build a box online with the OCC website!  It's easy peasy and will give the gift of Jesus to a child this Christmas!  Check out all the details on their website and don't forget that you can follow your box to see where it goes!

Photo credit - Samaritan's Purse

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly I say to you,

as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,

you did it to me.'"  Matthew 25:40

I Am The Church

On Sunday, our family participated in an awesome church-wide event.  Instead of going to church on Sunday morning, we went out in the community to "Be The Church."  There was a sign on the church door that said: "The church has left the building."  LOL.  Fitting.  We all went out into different parts of the community to share God's love by serving others.  We hoped to share God's grace with others in many different ways.  The types of service varied greatly - some with large groups from church, others with just one family.  Some groups visited people, some made meals, some went to local trails to pass out water and granola bars, some went to the local hospital to pass out doughnuts to nurses.  There were tons of service ideas that I don't even know about.  The point was simply to get out and BE the church by serving others ... not evangelizing, just serving and sharing God's love.

DH and I led a group at a local park - we passed out free water bottles, munchkins and coffee.  Many of the park-goers there weren't sure what to make of us and just said "no thanks" whenever we offered.  I think the typical American response is "we don't want whatever you're selling."  It took a little while to make people understand that we didn't want to sell anything, we simply wanted to give.  There were a few families that stuck out - I know we blessed them.  One family was so happy that we had left our church to come be with the community, the dad just kept saying "thank you" over and over again.  It was totally precious.  Another family, as they were driving away in their car, had their arms hanging out the window to waive goodbye.  They had such big smiles on their faces, well I just know we blessed their day too.  And only God knows how many other families we may have blessed somehow that we didn't even know.  It was a cool day, the kids really enjoyed it.

And if that wasn't enough, we had a touching celebration worship that evening back at church.  The service brought me to tears several times as I stood in awe of our amazing Creator.  What an awesome, everlasting God we serve.  It can be easy to forget that people are the church, not the building.  We are the hands and feet of Jesus.  You and me.  This event was a great reminder.  As our church continues to share God's love while serving others in the community, I want my life to glorify Him more and more every day.  I know I fall short daily, hourly, minute by minute.  But I pray that through Him, I will lose more of myself in service to Him.  And hopefully in that process, bring more people to Christ.

It's far better to give

About a month ago, DH organized a service project with our small group.  We put together care packages for the homeless.  The packages were meant to be kept in our cars so that we could give them out as needed to people we saw as we were driving.  We all helped pitch in and bought different things to add to the packages - reusable shopping bags were filled with non-perishable food items, water bottles, new socks, toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste, bar soaps, rain ponchos, and copies of the New Testament.  We also wrote small notes of encouragement and the kids in our group drew pictures to add to the packages.

The project was a great success!  I gave out my last bag today on my way home from a session in the city.  He was a young guy with an easy smile and was very graceful.  I wish I had asked what his name was so I could pray for him by name, but I know God will know who I am mean :-)  I went to the store today to buy more supplies for more bags and filled them up.  I also had a pretty adorable little helper!

I wanted to share this post because I know I typically post about adoption-related stuff.  And although there are way too many orphans in the world that need to be cared for, there are also people in need right here in our city too.  This is a simple, but needed way to serve and I love having these care packages on hand.  I thought some of you might also like the idea and want to do it too, so I'm passing it on.  And if you think about it, please pray for the man I ran into today the next time you're talking to God :-)

For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.  Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you? Then he will answer the, 'Truly I say to you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'  Matthew 25:43-45

My Savior Lives

Our Resurrection Garden

I cannot take credit for this original idea, but I am so glad we did this!  You can find out about creating your own Resurrection Garden over at Impress Your Kids.  With the Easter Bunny, Easter eggs and candy galore, it's so easy for our kids to get caught up in all of the wrong things at this time of year.  We want our kids to remember what Easter is really about.  Although we talk about celebrating Easter because Jesus died for our sins and then rose from the grave, I wanted to do something tangible that would make it a little easier for the kids to "get" it.

So today we collected goodies from the backyard to create the garden where Jesus' tomb was after he died.  We put it together today and will watch all of the greenery slowly wilt away and die over the next couple days until Easter.  In the morning before the kids wake up, I'll replace all of the "dead" stuff with new, live, pretty flowers to symbolize that Jesus is ALIVE.  I love this idea and I gotta say, the kids (especially Angel) really enjoyed collecting for and creating this.

If you haven't checked out Amanda's blog over at Impress Your Kids, you are MISSING OUT!  Head over there, please!  She has so many wonderful ideas to help share God's love with your children.  My kiddos have always been so receptive to these activities and they all turn into awesome teachable moments for us.  I bet your kids will love them just as much too!

I'm going to MEXICO!

Yup, that's right! Ever since we brought our little love home from China, I have been praying about a Mission Trip. I always kind of thought it would be in China or Africa to love on some orphans but God had different plans. I think He must get a good chuckle out of me up there in Heaven, because He is always changing what I think my plans are. LOL. Truthfully, I'm not really sure why I plan anything at all.

So I leave in June for a 10-day Mission Trip to Southern Mexico with a group from church (there are 11 of us total) - we'll be working with villages to help establish churches. We'll be doing a lot of VBS ... so I get the privilege of lovin' on some kiddos, yay! And we'll be doing some fixing up in church buildings and village communities where needed. I am thrilled to be able to serve this way and ohhhh I cannot wait to document it all through my lens. Yes, I am super-duper excited indeed. And I now wish I had taken Spanish instead of French in high school. LOL. Wonder how much I can learn under 4 months?

I don't have many details yet, but in the meantime will you please keep our travel group in your prayers?

These fun shots were a result of me and Sunshine home alone ... both of us in our pj's. LOL. I couldn't get the remote to work, so I popped the 50mm on the camera and handheld it as far away as I could get. Unfortunately at 50mm, I was still a little too close, and at f/1.8, I missed a lot of focus. I don't know if I got any frameables out of this, but I definitely got a few winners that will always remind us of this atypical night together :-)

If anyone serves me, he must follow me;

and where I am, there will my servant be also.

If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

John 12:26

Resolutions

2012. It's that time of year again, isn't it? A new year. And new resolutions. I have two *basic* resolutions, which I believe will lead to more. But to keep it simple, I resolve to grow in my faith and relationship with my Heavenly Father ... to be more in the Word and to be thankful for all that He's blessed me with. AND, I resolve to be more present with my children and family.


I had thought out several different ways I would elaborate on these resolutions, but I think they pretty much speak for themselves. Plus I'll just find a way to make it complicated by writing about it. LOL. I'll be starting a 90-day New Testament reading with DH shortly (not a study, just a reading) and I am also going to be reading Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts and writing down my "gifts" in this gorgeous journal I picked up at Greetings & Readings. I know the book is controversial in some ways, but I like the overall principle of living in thanks to our Lord for every. single. thing. Makes it pretty difficult to get upset about much of anything ... I'll let you know how that works out for me :-) LOL.

I have a feeling I will be saying "yes" more and "no" less ... in so many ways.
What are your resolutions this year?

Sunday Snapshot {Child of God}

"But Jesus called them to him, saying, 'Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.'"

Luke 18:16-17

Today was a good day.

Thursday's Things to Pray for - Prayer Schedule for China

No pictures today :-) Instead, I wanted to create a prayer schedule for our trip to China. We are just 7 days from flying to Beijing! We would love it if you'd join us in prayer as we embark on this journey to bring our daughter home. It will give us great comfort & peace to know that so many of our family and friend are lifting us up in prayer during this special time.


Day #1, Friday, June 3rd - Flight from the US to Beijing - Please pray for happy, peaceful goodbyes to the kids and to our family. Pray for a safe, uneventful, comfortable and restful flight for us (we will be in the air for 14 hrs!). Please also pray that God gives the pilot skill as he navigates such a long flight.

Day #2, Saturday, June 4th - We land in Beijing at 2:40pm (that's 2:40am here) - Please pray for comfort, protection and courage for Angel, Lovebug and our family while we're gone. Pray for the strength of our parents as they care for the kids and provide them with a loving and fun environment full of distractions! Ask that God provide them with the tools needed to meet Angel's & Lovebug's needs while we are gone. Please also pray for a restful and restorative night for us as well, as we prepare for a full day of sightseeing.

Day, #3, Sunday, June 5th - Sightseeing in Beijing (the Great Wall, Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City and shopping at the Pearl Market) - Please pray for protection and stamina for us as we visit the sights in Beijing. Please also pray that Sunshine may feel God's love as she is prepared for her new life with our family. Please ask God to help prepare Sunshine's foster parents to say goodbye to a child they have loved and cared for over the past year.

Day #4, Monday, June 6th - Flight to Nanchang, Jiangxi - Please pray for a safe and uneventful flight to Nanchang for us; and safe travels for Sunshine as she makes her way to us. Please pray for comfort and healing for Sunshine as she says goodbye to the only parents and family she has ever known. Pray that God surround her with love, peace and courage as she prepares to meet her Mommy and Daddy for the first time. Please again pray for her foster parents - ask God to watch over them and give them comfort as they say goodbye.

Day #5, Tuesday, June 7th - Sunshine will be brought to us at the hotel in Nanchang at 9:30am and paperwork at the Civil Affairs office in the afternoon (Sunshine may actually be brought to us earlier, on Monday night, but we won't know until it happens) - Please pray that Sunshine feels God's love during such a confusing time, and also feels secure and peaceful at our first meeting. Pray that we may feel God's love and grace as we meet Sunshine, and ask God to give us the tools needed to help Sunshine start the attachment process. Please also pray for paperwork to be completed correctly and timely.

Day #6, Wednesday, June 8th - Free day in Nanchang (we are hoping to visit Sunshine's finding spot today) - Please pray that we have the wisdom to understand and meet Sunshine's needs and that we can all begin the process of attaching to each other. If we are visiting Sunshine's finding spot (the front gate of a factory), please give us the strength needed to visit such an emotional place. We also ask that you pray for peace for Sunshine's birth parents - that they have comfort in knowing she is being well-cared for.

Day #7, Thursday, June 9th - City tour in Nanchang - Please pray for love, comfort and protection for Angel & Lovebug, and those caring for them. Please also pray that we are able to get out of the hotel and soak up the culture in Sunshine's province, and that we truly enjoy our time there with her. Pray that we are able to capture as much of her province as we possibly can so that we can one day tell her where she came from.

Day #8, Friday, June 10th - Pick up Sunshine's passport and flight to Guangzhou - Pray for a safe, uneventful and comfortable flight with Sunshine. Please pray that she grows to feel more secure and loved with us and that her heart begins to heal. Please also pray that Angel feels secure and loved as she celebrates her 6th birthday - pray that she has fun and everyone here can give her a special day.

Day #9 - Saturday, June 11th - Sunshine's medical exam, her visa photo and visa paperwork will be completed in Guangzhou - Pray for a smooth and painless medical exam that doesn't cause Sunshine any discomfort. Pray for God's grace on us as we fit into the role of Sunshine's parents. Pray that Sunshine feels more comfortable and secure with us as her parents and that she understands that we will love her and provide for her.

Day #10 - Sunday, June 12th - City tour in Guangzhou - Pray for our comfort, stamina and endurance in the hot weather as we tour the city. Please also pray that we enjoy our time in Guangzhou with Sunshine, as well as with other adoptive families. Pray that we are able to feel God's love surrounding us as we soak up all the sites and culture in Guangzhou. Please also ask God's presence to be felt by the other adoptive families that are there with us.

Day #11 - Monday, June 13th - Consulate appointment in Guangzhou at 8:30am - Pray for our appointment to go smoothly and that Sunshine is comfortable and happy during that time. Please continue to keep Sunshine's foster family and birth family in your prayers - ask for their comfort and peace.

Day #12 - Tuesday, June 14th - Pick up Sunshine's visa in Guangzhou - Thank God for safely shepherding us to this point in the process. Ask Him to continue to shower us in His love and grace as we prepare for the long journey home. Pray for a wonderful, joyful last day in Guangzhou.

Day #13 - Wednesday, June 15th - Flight home, we arrive on US soil at 7:55pm - Pray for a safe, smooth, uneventful flight. Pray that we are able to get some restful sleep (especially for Sunshine!) during the flight. Please also pray for Sunshine's comfort and peace during the long flight. Pray for a cheerful, jubilant reunion with the kids and our family filled with lots of happy tears. Pray that all of us quickly transition into our new family of 5. Pray for God's grace on me and DH as we learn to parent 3 children, that Sunshine can feel our love and is attaching to our family, and that Angel and Lovebug courageously and graciously fit into their new roles as older siblings to Sunshine. Pray that our entire family (ALL of us including our extended family!) can feel and see God's love during this transitional time.

After we are home - Please continue to keep our family in your prayers, we will all be going through quite a transition! Please especially keep Sunshine in your prayers - she will go through a lot and travel a long way to be with us. She will also have to undergo several surgeries to correct her cleft lip & palate - the first will be in August. We can't tell you how excited we are to share this experience with everyone. We have received so much support and prayer from our family and friends over the past year. It's somewhat surreal to realize that what we have been working toward is almost here! We will soon be holding our daughter in our arms - she will no longer be a dream!

Easter Obituary

This is not mine, I borrowed it from a forwarded email.

I do not know it's origins, otherwise I would give credit.

We will serve the Lord

I completely misunderstood the parent invitation to chapel today ... I *thought* Angel's class was just singing a song. I was totally wrong - the Kindergarten class was actually *leading* chapel at school today. Whoops. No camera. Darn it. Really annoying. When in a pickle though, I can always pull out my handy dandy iPhone. It's not terrible considering the lighting in the church is less than desirable.

And at least I was able to video their performances as well ... the iPhone kinda rocks :-) The video below is Angel's favorite song of the ones they sang - "We Will Serve the Lord." Oh how I love this girl - she loves God and it's amazing to watch the Holy Spirit work in her as her faith grows.

Everyone was asked to stand up so you can't really see *anything* ... but it's her favorite and that's what I want to remember. If you squint your eyes, you may be able to see her - she's dressed as a disciple on the right - wearing a white costume with a red shirt. There is a little girl in green to her left. I love that she can pick up the song in just a few practices AND can do all of the hand motions as well. A little sponge, I tell ya!

Children of God

³All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. ⁴Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. ⁵God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. ⁶So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. ⁷He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. ⁸He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

~Ephesians 1: 3-8

This is the official music video by Third Day for this song, "Children of God." I had heard it on the radio but hadn't seen the video. It's really powerful ... illustrating that ALL of us have been adopted into His family ... that none of us are orphans. Although Sunshine may be the only child we are *legally* adopting into our family, we were all adopted into God's family long ago. I urge you to watch the video all the way to the end and then tell me that it didn't at least give you goosebumps!

You're Beautiful

My grandmother left this piano to me in her will almost 20 years ago when I was 11 years old. It sat at my parents' house all through my childhood and was there until a few weeks ago. My parents had it moved to my house this year as a Christmas gift and I am SO thrilled. Doesn't it look like it was just meant to be here? It still needs the bench to complete it but it's so amazing to finally have it here. It's been tuned, the pitch has been raised, a few keys have been fixed and it's squeaky clean ... now I think it's time I learn to play :-)

On a totally different note, I heard this song on the radio today and thought of Sunshine ... here are some of the lyrics:

"Beautiful" by MercyMe

Days will come when you don't have the strength

And all you hear is you're not worth anything

Wondering if you ever could be loved

And if they truly saw your heart

They'd see too much

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are made for so much more than all of this

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His

You're beautiful

Before you ever took a breath

Long before the world began

Of all the wonders He possessed

There was one more precious

Of all the earth and skies above

You're the one He madly loves

Enough to die!

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are made for so much more than all of this

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His

You're beautiful