Zoo Fun

I think as a mom with young kids you always try to wake up with a fresh perspective on the day. You wake up and think that today my kids will have fun going to the zoo- They won't misbehave and embarrass me and we all will make memories that will last a lifetime.
That is just what I thought last Friday as we met up with Amanda (my cousins wife) and her two cuties, Jill and Caroline. I was really excited to hang out with them and thought Amanda and I could catch up and the kids would have a blast together and maybe get some education from the experience and on top of it all I could get some exercise.
Well the day did make lasting memories but I have to say it was very trying for me and Amanda. Poor Amanda was frazzled because Jill was sick and fussy and Caroline wanted to walk most of the way and go at her own pace (or run away). I was frazzled because Lilly was acting at the peak of her terrible twos fussing and screaming about everything she did not get to do her own way. On top of that she OBSESSED over a hair barrette that she threw away and then expected me to dig down through the half eaten pizza and hot dogs with bees covering it all in the trash and get it out for her. She COULD NOT let the subject go. Greyson was an angel through all of this.
So needless to say both of us moms were worn out mentally by the end of it all and our kids were overtired. By golly we gave it the old college try and maybe we got out two full thoughts in conversation the whole day.
Life is never dull right????

Letting Go...

I heard this song on my ipod the other day while I was running and I literally just started bawling. I think I try to control so much in my life at times and especially when it comes to protecting my kids. I think when I heard this it just reminded me how out of control I ultimately am and how at peace I should be just letting God take control of EVERYTHING, even my sweet babies.

In My Arms-Plumb

your baby blues so full of wonder

your curly q's, your contagious smile

and as i watch you start to grow up

all I can do is hold you tight

knowing clouds will raise up

storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

rains will pour down

waves will crash all around

but you will be safe in my arms

story books full of fairy tales

kings and queens and the bluest skies

My heart is torn

Just in knowing you'll someday

see the truth from lies

knowing clouds will raise up

storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

rains will pour down

waves will crash all around

but you will be safe in my arms

Castles they might crumble

dreams may not come true

but you are never all alone

because I will always always love you

clouds will raise up

storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

rains will pour down

waves will crash all around

but you will be safe in my arms

1000 Words Of Hope

Yet again God spoke to me through one of His faithful. Last night I was blessed to have a three hour conversation with Elizabeth Vaughn at Starbucks (the conversation would have gone longer but we closed Starbucks down and our husbands called worried about us thinking we had been abducted)

Elizabeth and her husband Matt are Adventure Christian members like us and are embarking on an amazing adventure to start a non profit called 1000 Words of Hope. The premise of this amazing outreach is to give orphaned children and future orphaned children in Africa hope by simply giving them a family picture.

As most already know, 8 million children in Africa have already lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS and most don't have a picture to remember their parents by.

Steve and I witnessed this firsthand as we looked in Greyson's mom's home and saw she had one tattered picture of his father. We were lucky enough to take a great digital picture of that photo, but most of those kids aren't so lucky, and may even forget what the face of their loved ones looked like.

Steve and I think it is an amazing idea and such a great use of the gifts Elizabeth and Matt have. Elizabeth is an artist- and she simply wants to use her life and her talents to make a true difference and show Christ to these children.

They leave Saturday for their trip to Ghana and are leaving their 18 month old for the first time. I know how painful that experience is and I am truly praying for peace for Elizabeth imparticular as a mother as I see her pained everytime she even thinks about leaving her.

If you are reading this post please take a minute and pray for the Vaughns-
1. Pray for their safety
2. Pray for peace as they leave their child
3. Pray that the enemy does not get in their way or discourage them
4. Pray that others see Christ in them as they offer hope and love to the people of Ghana

I am continually amazed and blessed to meet people who have said yes to carrying the cross.

So Blessed

I got to meet some wonderful people today and left feeling so incredibly blessed. Sirgute was the hostess for this gathering. She is from Ethiopia and is married to an American and has lived here for many years. She is good friends with Harper, a wonderful lady who I had heard ALOT about, who had adopted two Ethiopian children. Harper was the first person I had heard of in this area who had adopted from Ethiopia and we actually had spoken on the phone nearly a year go when we began the whole process. It seems everyone has heard of Harper or knows her and all have wonderful things to say about her.

Susan was another guest at Sirgutes house. I had also heard about Susan's impending travel to pick up her two kids from Ethiopia and so it was great to meet her.
It is really cool, because Harper, Sirgute and Susan all leave for Ethiopia on Saturday. Sirgute is staying for several weeks to spend time with family and Susan and Harper will be there for a little over a week.
We are hoping to get all the kids together when everyone gets home and settled and I am so excited that Greyson will have such a large Ethiopian community to be with here in Louisville because I always want him to have an understanding of what a wonderful place he came from.
My goal is to get a package together for Harper to take to Greyson's mom via Wide Horizons. I desperately need to get pictures of his first birthday and some small gifts for her.
One other lady I met at Sirgute's house was Connie. Connie is a beautiful lady with a sweet smile from Rwanda. She and her family are refugees and she shared some of the atrocities that took place in her country. Many people she knew and loved were killed during this time. She has such a sweet spirit and I would love to spend more time talking with her when I don't have kids running around about to break things!
I left Sirgute's house thinking what a great God has brought me in fellowship with these beautiful women and their children. We all share a common bond and I just feel so blessed to have connected to their lives in some small way.

Goodbye Summer, Goodbye Kentucky Chingdom

From the first day of summer, Lilly has woken up and asked me if we were going to "Kentucky Chingdom". It is her favorite place in the whole entire world and I have never seen her have more fun than she has had there. We have had a fun summer riding rides at the Chingdom, swimming at the pool in happening Shelbyville (I will not miss seeing that pool until next summer), being able to hang with Nicole and her kiddos, Melanie and Shannon and the kids, and all of our Strathmoor friends. Summer is definitely the best time of the year for me because #1 its hot and #2 it is so laid back.

We had some fun with Nana and Papa yesterday on Labor day to say goodbye to summer. Now I think we are ready to say hello to alot of new friends from church and school, new schedules and routines, and STRUCTURE again.

For some reason at the beginning of each new season I get really excited and hopeful and I feel that way again. We are starting in a couples small group at our church and just starting to get involved there so I am really pumped. Maddie is having her difficult moments with her new school but all in all is adjusting great. Steve's job is going well too- he is becoming quite the roast beef sandwich afficianado.

Now if I could just lose those last 20 pounds...

New Friends from Old Familiar Places

Yesterday we got to meet Jonas, a beautiful 5 year old adopted by another family here in Louisville who also used Wide Horizon for Children. Jonas was actually at Horizon House when we went to get Greyson and I am sure we met him while we were there. He has been home for only a few weeks and is doing incredibly well. Communication is still an issue since he speaks mainly Amharic but it is amazing to see him flourish in his new environment.

His new mom Tera is wonderful. We share the same passion for orphans in Africa. I think the difficult part for both of us is trying to figure out how God can best use us to deal with such a major problem. It becomes overwhelming because you feel like you are making such a small dent in such a HUGE HUGE issue. It almost seems unsurmountable. I shared with her my dream of ultimately being able to start a foundation to fund a christian based orphanage/school in some part of Africa.

Its cool to meet others who have been given the same burden- especially when they live right down the road and you never even met them until they came back from traveling across the world. Pretty wild how God works...