REFERALAVERSARY!!!!!

Exactly one year ago today, we received the call that we had a boy waiting for us.

                                                            The Call

On a Monday we were watching our friends daughter Karis. Karis was about 8 months old and the kids were so excited to have a baby in the house that they all got up early just so they could play with her. My hubby had off that day and we spent the whole day loving on this sweet girl. As the day went on our hearts started hurting for our boy. We all were so ready to have a little one in our home. Hubby thought we should just pray since we all were feeling this longing. We sat in a circle with Karis on my lap and one by one we all cried out to the Lord. It was beautiful and I had a wonderful peace come over me.

On Tuesday we were watching baby Karis again and hubby was also off again so we decided to run some errands.

I dropped my hubby off to get his hair cut and I took the kids to Target. As I walked in the store my phone rang. I looked at it with disbelief seeing that the number was from my agency in St. Louis. I answered the phone with a Heeelllllooooooo?? ( Picture me talking as if you know someone is going to tell you something and they are just not getting it out) " Hi, Melissa it's Angie (acting like its just a random call) How are you guys doing?" Me- " I'm ggggoooooodddddd." (still anticipating) Then she screams " We have a referral for you!!!!" Me- Screaming and crying hysterically. My kids look at me and ask if it was the call and I said yes and they start screaming. Karis is screaming but hers is more of a " I have no idea whats going on and these crazy people are scaring me" kind of cry.  I was shaking so bad I could barely stand and people in Target were concerned. I reassured them that it was all good news as I'm running out the door crying and shoving all the kids back in the car. I called hubby to get out of the hair cutting place. Let me back up.... So in my mind I calmly call my hubby and tell him we got a referral and  that he needs to leave now so we can go home and see his picture. Apparently that's not what happened because He keeps saying " What?? What happened?? Who got hurt??? Then I screamed at the top of my lungs in a not so nice voice to get his butt outside NOW!!!!  (later he told me that I was so hysterical that he had no idea what I was saying)

Moving on!

We all went home and recorded ourselves looking at our sweet boys face for the first time.

Here are the pictures that we saw.

 Sorry they are turned. For some reason it won't let me fix it.

Awwwww look at those precious eyes <3

For those that don't know. In your referral packet you get a picture and all the information or lack of that they have on the child and then you can say yes or no. No was never an option for us and we knew whomever the Lord gave us was suppose to be a Maser.

Here is the video:

One thing that I wish I would have done differently was to just enjoy this moment. But shortly after all the excitement I started to worry about the money that we needed to even say Yes to him. I should have known that God had it all under control. Through all of you He brought our referral money in 4 days. 4 looonnngggg days ;) but He did it! And I should have known that He would. For those of you in the wait and still need to raise money. GOD WILL PROVIDE!!! I have countless stories of how God provided at each and every need. I really didn't want to be that person that didn't have it ready when needed and I was, every time. Believe it or not, I was thankful. I got to see God move in the hearts of people in such a mighty way.


Thank you Jesus for our sweet Caleb! We could not imagine our lives with out him.


Also, today is exactly 6 months since he has been home. I will write a blog tomorrow about all the ups and downs and ups :) with lots of pictures!


To God be the Glory,

Walk for Life GIVEAWAY!!!!

CLICK TO DONATE!!

Last year my family and I participated in the Walk for Life 2 mile walk.  This year when we registered my kids wanted to know "Why we were not going to try and raise fund to help the babies?" So after talking with them they decided they wanted to try and help raise $100 each.  $500 total. 

The Kimberly Home and The Pregnancy center are special to me. They are PROLIFE. We have several very close friends that either work with them or volunteer there time with them. We donate baby food and anything we may have lying around to help them in anyway. 

All money that is raised goes directly to helping mommas and babies stay healthy and together. They provide counseling, food, clothes, shelter if needed, and they also will help with adoption if that is the route the mother wants to go.

This past week (April 19th) my sister in law went into early labor and gave birth to my nephew Kevin Jr. at 21 weeks and 4 days. He was so precious and perfect, but unfortunately he was to small to breathe on his own and he is now with Jesus. I am thankful for the very short time that we had with him and we  want to dedicate these funds in his honor.


ALL money that is raised goes directly to them. Even if we don't get to $500 it doesn't matter. Every little bit helps the Kimberly Home help others. Though we would LOVE to be able to bless them with the $500.

We only have less then 14 days to raise the funds. So my dear friend Rachel has so graciously given me a MudLove band that reads "Love with Abandon" ( how perfect is that!?!) to give away.  For every $5 you donate you will be entered to win a MudLove band. 

I will also be giving away Jen Hatmaker's book Seven.  I have not read this book yet, but I love Jen's blog and I have heard nothing but great things about the book.

So...... for every $5 you donate you will be entered into BOTH drawings.  The more you donate, the better your chances. :)

This giveaway will end Tuesday May 8th at noon.  Your donation goes directly to the Kimberly Home and you will also get a tax deduction.Just click on the link at the top to learn more about the Kimberly home and to donate!!!

Thank you so much for helping us raise funds for a great cause!

Last year of single digits!

This Easter was my eldest, the boy that  made me a mother, 9th birthday. I can't believe this will be his last year of single digits.

All I ever wanted to be was a mother. When he was born, I would not let anyone else touch him. I wanted this child so bad that I wanted to be the one to do everything.  I didn't want to miss anything. I had to protect him. Just as my "mine" mentality grew. God was starting to break my heart and show me that this child was His first.

My little blue eyed boy

Elijah is a momma's boy and  I have always said that God made him to be a big brother. He loves it! and asks me all the time when he can have another sibling. ( I like to remind him that he hates when any of them touch his legos and yet, he wants more in this house) He loves to fish all the time and He goes hunting every year with his dad. He shot his first gun at 4.

Elijah looks and acts exactly like his daddy. Which is probably why we have a close relationship. I get him and his quirks. It also means he will make a great hubby one day :)

On his actual birthday I attempted to make a Lego cake. It seemed so easy. I ended up being rushed and not only did it fall apart it also started to melt. Elijah put his arm on me and says " Don't worry mom, I am sure it will taste better then it looks."

It's a good thing my kids expectations are not high :)

As each birthday passes with my kiddos, I am even more thankful to the Lord that He has called us to home school. I would miss so many precious times with my kids and as we always say "it goes by to fast."  The conversations that we have, the relationships that are growing stronger, the foundation that Christ is building... I would not change it for anything. 

Elijah gave his life over to the Lord when he was 7 and was baptized shortly after.  His tender heart, his gift of patience, his love for people. I am excited to see what God has planned for his life.  Praying daily that the word of Christ will dwell richly in his life. That he will have a firm foundation to draw from to overcome all that this world will throw at him.

                                              Thank you Jesus for allowing me to be his mother.

Beyond Thankful

My heart is hurting and yet rejoicing at the same time.

I lack the words to express what today means to me.

I was once that girl who cut herself. Who had no hope and turned to drugs. Who thought that this life was all there was. Who thought "This is as good as it gets."

But God had other plans. He saw me, His precious daughter refusing to look up and see Truth.

"Melissa, I created you! I formed you! 

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; 

I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you go through rivers, fires, I am with you. 

They will not overwhelm you or burn you. 

For I am the Lord; Your Savior.

You are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you."

                    Isaiah 43:1-4

The wrath that was poured out on my Savior was meant for me. I will never have to know or feel what even a tiny part of that would feel like. There are no words. Me, a broken vessel where nothing good dwells. who every time will choose my own way first.

Thankfully He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him, as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. (Pslam103:10-12)

"It was the will of the Father to crush Him;

He bore the sins of many; and makes intercession for the transgressors."

Shout for joy!! Proclaim it!!! Send it to the ends of the Earth!!! For the Lord has redeemed His children!


For His glory,

Budgeting at any age.

When I worked at Block Buster many,  many, many, many years ago we had a power outage. When the lights came back on the registers were not working. So we had to add all the movies and candy, Add the tax and then give them change all without using a calculator. Mind you, this is when Block Buster was crazy busy, so it needed to be done efficiently.  Sounds easy right? Actually for most of the employees including the manager on duty, it was tough. They were having a hard time figuring it out. I loved it and was having fun. Not because I am so smart, but because that is how I was taught. To not use the calculator. I loved Chemistry and Algebra as a kid. It was so fun to have to write everything out and figure out the answer.

I am well aware that my kids are young and would not use a calculator anyway, but I want them to really get the basics down. It's easier to move forward when you all ready know what you are doing without having to think about it.

So my point to all this is when I do math with my kids we play a game called "Shop". I know.... it's a very clever name.


What we do is we lay out toys and I randomly put price tags on them.

One person is the shopper. I will give them a set amount of money. They have to go through the "store" and buy what they can and get as close to their budget without going over.

Brianna adding up what she wants to buy to see if she has enough.

Once they figure out what they are able to buy. The shopper then takes their purchases to the owner and he must add up the total and figure out the change that needs to come back.

Adding up what the customer owes.

Giving back change.

This works both ways. The person playing the customer needs to also know what they will be getting back. So they too must calculate their total, how much they owe, and what change they should get back.

We do this several times and then switch.

They are learning to budget, add, and subtract. And also the value of money. My oldest is in third grade so I do make it more challenging for him.

As they get older I will start to add tax and sale prices. Meaning using percentages off and coupons.

They always have fun playing this game. 

My youngest will either play in their rooms or join their siblings with writing things down.

What learning games do you do with your kids? I would love to steal ideas :) No really, I would. As you can see "shop" is not that clever. The easy fun ideas usually escape me, So comment please!!

I'm still here!

Whew! This month has flown by and the way that it has been going I am glad that it is almost over.

I thought I would recap our crazy month :).... just some of it.

In no particular order:

1. Remember how I kept saying our sweet Caleb was suffering with hives and not so other nice things (i.e. nasty poop) Well we finally found out why. I would have put money on it that he had parasites. It is very common for the kids from orphanages to have them, but when all his blood work  and samples came back great, I was kind of shocked. Then I realized that he didn't have any issues until he came home. As soon as he came home we took him off formula and put him on cows milk. That is when everything started. So we immediately put him on soy and then took him right back off of it. (I didn't realize how bad soy was) then we put him on almond milk and goats milk and cut all cheeses and yogurt and he has been perfect! No more waking up at night ( I wonder if it was hurting his tummy :(...) His poop is normal! and we have not seen any hives. I am thankful!!

2. Hubby and I went to the Police Banquet and stayed over night. Let me repeat that, we had a whole night to ourselves with NO children. It was nice :) and before you judge me, well okay go ahead, Caleb was great. My mom stayed at our house and he was fine and knows grandma. Also he does know that we are his parents. We dressed up and danced the night away. I heart dancing!!!!!

love him!!

3. Speaking of my amazing hubby. We have been doing a lot of this lately.

Well, not always with wine. but it's not just a bible study. Last night was incredible. We stayed up all night talking about how we can learn from some things that have been thrown at us, how we can better serve the King with our marriage and family, how we can truly hold each other accountable by putting Jesus above each others happiness. (Meaning, if I am sinning, he will not take my side just to make me happy, he will let me know.) We cried a lot... okay I cried a lot.. It was a very intense, beautiful, spirit led, sweet precious time that we spent together last night. I do feel bad that he only had about 3 hours of sleep, but it was just amazing. I say it all the time, but I mean it. I am truly blessed to have a man that Loves Jesus more then me.

4. Do you ever have those moments where God just  moves you to tears with His goodness?? I had one today. As I was driving around running errands. I saw in my mirror my 3 year old daughter lifting up her hands every time the verse " I will lift my hands in worship" came on and she was singing at the top of her lungs. It really moved me in such a huge way that I quickly snapped a pic.

5. My new obsession!!!!!!! No really, it's super duper yummy!

My friend had posted this link to another friends wall last week. She tried it and said it was the best. Then all of a sudden I have been seeing tons of recipes for spinach smoothies. I knew I had to try it and I am hooked. So are the kids. No really, you can not taste the spinach at all.  I was not convinced that I would be full from it, but I actually am. I had this for lunch and I don't want anything else. You seriously MUST TRY IT... do it now... now, like right this second. And then let me know what you thought :)
Here is where I found this recipe, but there are tons out there.  http://iowagirleats.com/2012/01/04/my-top-secret-diet-weapon/      Also check out my friends blog HERE


Thanks for sticking with me friends. I promise to blog more. There has been so much that the Lord has put on my heart I am praying for time to sit down and write.

Hope you are having a blessed day!!!

Jumping in!

It's that time again! It's time to start getting back on schedule and jumping in to our school work. Don't get me wrong, pretty much since we have been back from Ethiopia my kids still did math and reading. ( I told you I was not going to take a break on math) , but now it is time to get off my lazy behind and get back on our schedule.

The last couple of weeks have been rough, this week being the worse. Our sweet Caleb has been having nightmares, (trauma/adoption related nightmares) almost every night, which means instead of sleeping he screams and has panic attacks. The only thing that seems to calm him is being in my arms... sounds so sweet doesn't it?? Not when you are exhausted! We have been praying over him and the Lord has been gracious to give me sleep just when it seems like I can't go on anymore.

On top of all that fun we have been from doctor, to doctor, to doctor, to... your getting my point. I don't think people tell you how much you will need to go to the docs. It has been nuts! He has hives and we can't seem to figure out the source. We FINALLY were able to get his blood drawn today. I will spare you the details on how many times we have tried and we finally were able to turn everything in that we needed. Whew!

As my days seem to slip away and my weariness grows, I have been spending a lot of time in prayer. In all honesty it's the only thing that has gotten me through this crazy life of mine. As I have been seeking the Lord on how to really serve Him in my home schooling, He keeps gently whispering the verse that He clearly spoke to me in the beginning of our home school journey. " You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as front lets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Duet. 11:18-19
I can teach the most amazing things, I can be organized to a T , I can be the coolest mom around and my kids could speak many different languages and take apart computers and put them back together,  but if I am not teaching them about the Lord all day everyday, then nothing else matters. If I am not using those teachable moments to draw their hearts to Him, then nothing matters. If I am not showing them by my actions that starting our days off praising the Lord for His goodness, then nothing else matters..... I fall so short in this area. I always seem to make everything about me, even teaching my babies.


One thing I am ALWAYS saying when they whine about doing school work ( oh, you mean your kids never do that? Mine don't either)  Is Colossians 3:23. Reminding them that their not working for me or for them selves but for the Lord. In obedience to Him, this is what He is asking you to do.... Yes, even school work and you are to work hard, with all your heart for the Lord. He never said perfect, He just said honor Him in your heart even when working..... I need to take my own advice.

Another thing I am always repeating to my kiddos is " You can't be obedient, no matter how hard you try , you can not obey , because we are sinful, BUT you can pray and ask Jesus to help you and He will. "..... I need to take my own advice.

I can be crafty.....:)

I made this plaque to hang above the kids school work as not only a reminder to them, but for me as well.
Praying that we will walk in obedience to our King, even in the small things and that we would set our minds on things above and not here on this earth. That we would work, serve, breathe whole Heartily knowing that we are serving Jesus and not man. Knowing that our value, our treasure, our existence lies in Him. Praying for wisdom and patience in dealing with all that lies ahead. Praying that the words I use (especially when I am at my breaking point) would be words for building up and not tearing down. Praying that the Lord will use even my mess ups to draw theirs hearts (and mine) to Him.