15 Miles From Nowhere

Mommy wars - What a dumb term.   Seriously, so dumb.   But the worst part is that this warring between women actually exists.   Sure, you can deny its’ existence, because it’s not always apparent – it usually doesn't even involve heated conversations.   Mommy wars exist in the form of judgmental looks, gossip behind closed doors, and breaking ourselves off into cliques.   It is a much subtler way of warring against each other, but the effect is the same – shattered self esteem, doubt over our every step, fear of judgment if we shake up the status quo.   These wars exist.   They exist between homeschoolers and public schoolers, big families and small families, SAHMs and working moms, single moms and married moms, and any other dividing line.   These lines exist and crossing them is tantamount to treason.   Once you cross a line, there’s a good chance your social circle will be altered.   Maybe our good friends will stay the same, but most likely you will lose a few, or face their j

Wanted to take a minute and update you on how the adoption is going and what are prayer needs are. First of all, we are SO BLESSED by the outpouring of love that we have received.  I honestly expected at least a little bit of negativity, simply because we are doing something so out of the ordinary.  Something this big and crazy tends to welcome criticism. I have also been so HUMBLED by the outpouring of help.  I hate asking for help, I really do.  I knew from the beginning that by asking us to do this, God was asking us to put ourselves out there and ask for help.  We are in the early stages and haven't needed a ton of help yet, but I'm already BLOWN AWAY by the love that has been showered on us.  Our cinnamon roll fundraiser was the perfect example.  We set up to sell at a local consignment sale.  We had no idea what to expect, so we baked a bunch.  We had people buy like crazy and got a few cash donations.  We had friends spreading the word on Facebook and stepping up to

This is a hot button topic that I would like to delve into.  Often adoptive parents are asked questions like this:  Why not adopt from the U.S. ?  How can you go outside of the country to adopt when there are plenty of kids in U.S. foster care that need families?  This is a very complex and personal issue, and I cannot answer for anyone else.  But I will share how and why we came to our decision.  First, you should know that we believe in orphan care for ALL orphans.  All of them.  That means those in the U.S. and those abroad.  And really, not just orphans – children in abusive situations, in poverty, in foster care, kids who just need adult attention, and on and on.  We need to find the needs and meet them.  Children are our future, and we need to take care of them!  It is my personal belief that it is far better to reach out and care for children than it is to attempt to reform them later on in life when they are in trouble.  Yes, there is absolutely a need for more foster hom

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7 I’m pretty sure I’ve recited that verse at least a million times a day for the last few weeks.  Right now we’re walking in the dark.  It’s pitch black out and we’re following a pin prick of light ahead of us.  We know where we’re going, but have no idea how we’re going to get there.  It’s seriously scary. The weird thing is, for the most part I feel calm.  This is not our journey – it’s God’s journey.  Since it’s His journey I know that there’s nothing I can do through my own power to get to the end – He has to guide me.  That’s the weird thing about walking completely blindly – you can’t help but rely on the One that is guiding you.  You can’t second guess where you’re going, because you don’t know.  You can’t try to change the path or take a shortcut, because you don’t know where the path is going next.  All you can do is take the hand of your guide and take one step at a time.  So that’s what we’re doing. We’ve comm

Why Adoption? Why on earth are they adopting? Don’t they have enough kids? I’m sure these are the top questions on most people’s minds right now.  So I’m going to go ahead and put them out there and answer them. YES, we have enough kids!  We have 5 beautiful, vibrant, wonderful kids.  Two are mine from a previous marriage but 100% loved by my husband as his own.  One joined our family through a temporary guardianship and we later had the joy of adopting him.  Two are ours together.  The 7 of us are close.  As tight knit as any biological family, and I would venture to say more tight knit than many.  We are strong.  We've weathered challenges.  We've seen God’s glory.  We've cried, praised, worshiped, and conquered together.  We've learned that blood and genetics do not define family – love does.  YES, we have enough kids!  Our house is full, and our bank accounts not nearly as full.  We work hard to keep up with the physical, financial, and emotiona

You’re doing what!?!? We’re adopting. Yes, that’s right, we’re adopting. (again) Yes, we know, that this might make us *officially* crazy, but, well, we don’t mind crazy.  We like to think of it as radical.  And not just any radical – radical for Christ.  Weird for God.  A follower, not a fan.  All in.  Jesus Freaks.  Whatever the terminology you prefer, that’s us.  Or at least, that’s what we’re trying to become.  Disciples.  That’s what we strive to be, but I don’t feel even close to adequate to compare ourselves to the disciples.  The disciples in the bible left behind their families, their professions, and their homes.  They were mocked, persecuted, and martyred.  All we’re doing is bringing a little girl home.  Well, first we’ll have to do a million pages of paperwork, raise $25,000, go across the world twice, and then we’ll bring her home.  But bringing home a little girl hardly seems to qualify us as disciples. Okay, she’s not just any little girl.  We stumbled