Meeting Special Friends

We are so excited to meet some new friends tomorrow. . . 

For the first time since we have been home (from Liberia), our family will have the opportunity to meet another family who adopted from Liberia.  We don't really know much about them yet except that they are believers and that they also adopted a sibling group from Liberia.  How awesome it will be to see our children together!  We can't wait!

They are home!

Thank you for all of your prayers!  I haven't heard the details yet, but another group of Liberian orphans are home with their adoptive families after God worked some more incredible miracles so that they could leave Liberia.  Check out the Steps Established By Him blog (link on my sidebar) to hear more of the incredible story. 

Also, to learn how you can help Addy's Hope and Greater Love Children's Home to build a new facility that will be able to serve 100 Liberian orphans, click on the "Help Orphans" button on my sidebar and make a small donation towards the effort!

Liberian Adoptions

Please pray for Addy's Hope (the adoption ministry that helped us bring home our children) right now as they are in Liberia and hoping to bring home more children TODAY (if they are allowed out of the country).  There are a lot of "political" issues and games being played right now within the Liberian government and the adoption agencies and ministries are taking quite a beating.  You can read more here.  

However, we serve a GREAT and LOVING God who wants these children to know His love.  We know that He has a purpose and a plan for their lives and trust in His Sovereignty in all situations - be they seemingly awful or wonderfully blessed.  

Please pray for the Lord's favor for these families and children this week.  We pray for them to be allowed to leave Liberia soon and be "carried home" to their adoptive families who are waiting to pour out God's love upon them.  Pray also for the children who are left in Liberia, that they might be provided for. . . 

ask yourself how you might show the Love of God to them . . . 

Home learning plans

I just love the term "home learning" as opposed to "home schooling" since I don't really view our home as a school - but as a home where learning is always taking place.  Sally Clarkson's book "Educating the Whole-hearted Child" and Elizabeth Foss's "Real Learning" helped me in thinking about life in this way!  

But, I digress, this post is supposed to be about my plans for this upcoming "learning year!"  I put plans in italics because I am most certainly NOT a type-A, check-listing, curriculum following type of home schooling mom!  I enjoy taking each day as it comes and have not (at least, to date) ever stuck to any formally laid out lesson plans.  

However, this year I would like to be slightly more intentional in presenting and requiring certain information and response to that information and so I was DELIGHTED to find some wonderful lesson plans that have been laid out by the ladies over at Real Learning.  They just happen to be covering the very time-period we were planning to work on this year and they just happen to be in a list form (as opposed to daily assignments) AND based around good literature.  Just my style!!!  Yeah!!  

So here is the link to what I'm thinking we will be doing this year.

Along the American History Trail (at Serendipity)

Are you crazy?

Well, this isn't *exactly* how it is asked, but I can hear it in the voices of many friends we talk with when we talk about adopting more children in the near future and/or becoming foster parents.  

Are we crazy?  

Well, I suppose if you consider it crazy to do anything besides the normal American thing (2 kids, 2 cars, 2 incomes, public school, nice vacations, etc. . . ) - then, yes, in some ways we are a little crazy.  

If it is crazy to actually take Jesus literally when he says to CARE for orphans and widows in their distress, then yes, we are a little bit crazy. 

 If it is crazy to believe that children are a blessing from the Lord (each and EVERY one of them - no matter how many he gives us), then, yes, we are quite a bit crazy!  

If it is crazy to stay awake at night thinking about the 100,000 children in foster care  in the U.S. and the 143 million orphans worldwide waiting to be adopted and wonder how many of them we can possibly help, then yes, we are most certainly crazy.  

If we are crazy (and believe me there are people a whole lot more "crazy" than us out there - the ones who inspire me to step out in faith even more!). . . If we are crazy, it is because Christ's love compels us:  we are compelled to care about the orphan, compelled to act on the compassion we feel, compelled to do something when so many are doing nothing, compelled to love others in a real and tangible way and not just with words.  

Our prayer is only that God would make us more crazy for His sake, for His glory and that we wouldn't care one little bit how "crazy" it seems to anyone else but Him!

For some more thoughts on this, check out my friend Kim's post in in response to the question "Why?" that she gets now that they are adopting their 9th child.  Thanks Kim!

Parenting Mantras

It is always amazing to me that my children can remember all of the words to their favorite songs, the lines from a funny movie they've only seen once, and exactly what their sibling said that they shouldn't have said for which they should be in trouble. . . but they seem to forget the wise words of their mama in just minutes.  Do you know what I'm talking about here?  LOL!  

Well, there are a few things that my dear husband and I have said so many times that we feel like they have become a part of our normal daily vocabulary - parenting mantras of sorts.  So, I thought I would share a few with you.  You never know when they might come in handy at your house.  

Disclaimer:  if you find yourself thinking we are SO mean, just remember that all of these are said in a very sweet and loving tone (o.k., well, most of the time!).  So, here they are in a somewhat random order. . . 

If you whine, you get nothing 

(What do you get when you whine?)

Ughh!  Does whining bother anyone else out there? In our house we start out with the principle first and then once they know it, all we have to do is ask the question.  It is quite funny to hear a 3 y.o. respond to it with a pouty "nu-ting!"  Whining is my hubby's no.1 pet peeve and it does not go over well in our household.  It is especially annoying to him when children whine and are then gratified with whatever it was they wanted.  This happens in our culture A LOT!!!  Even if it is a valid request, in our house, if you whine, you don't get it:  You may wait and ask in a polite way a few minutes later.

You get what you get 

and you don't throw a fit.

I must give credit to my friend Charity for this one.  I think I first heard it at her house and it is a great one.  I find myself employing this "mantra" many times during meal times and also when the children are getting picky about things they should just be grateful for.  It works really well as a reminder BEFORE serving food or handing out new toothbrushes in different colors, etc. . . 

Crying is not dying

Well, hopefully this doesn't totally offend anyone out there.  I don't enjoy hearing my children cry and, for the most part, I don't think our children cry very often.  However, at some point, every mother of young children has got to get to a place where she can say to herself "crying is not dying" - I think the part she then verbalizes to the child is "if you need to continue crying, you may go and sit on your bed until you are finished."  If you have toddlers and especially if you have more than one toddler at the same time, this one will definitely relieve some of that "mommy guilt!"

Less talking, more eating

This one is fun - almost always said with a bit of a giggle in my heart.  You should hear it when my four get going speaking "Liberian."  They might never finish a meal. . . 

Are you Grumbly Hateful or Humbly Grateful?

So this was actually this song I remembered from a church musical I was in when I was like 5 years old!  I can even remember the tune and sing it to my children (Oh, they LOVE that!).  However, it is quite a good question to think about when someone(s) needing an attitude adjustment.

You seem to have a problem, 

what's your plan?

This one is relatively new and I don't employ it nearly enough yet.  It came from an unlikely source:  We were attending our first "foster parent training" and I was going with a less-than-humble attitude.  I remember thinking something like "Oh, great, I get to go hear some psychobabble about childrearing from people who don't know anything."  (I know - great attitude).  Well, I was pleasantly surprised (and humbled) when the training turned out to be extremely helpful to us; not only as future foster parents, but also in our parenting our current children - both bio. and adopted.  

The main thrust behind this "mantra" is that we are helping our children develop a sense of competency to work out their problems.  This is really important for me to remember and is SO much better than telling them what, why, and how they did something wrong and then fixing it for them.  When employed correctly, this simple (and yet profound) statement allows my children to hear that I am aware they have a problem, think that they are capable of finding a solution, and trust that they are going to be able to work it out and that I am fully behind them supporting them as needed.  Wow!  What an encouragement to them (especially to my boys - it really builds their sense that I respect them).   As my children get older, I am really trying to use this more!

If its not yours. . . don't touch it!

Most people do not live by this rule.  I don't even like making "rules" like this. I have never heard any of my friends say this to one of their children.  It sounds really harsh. . . And then came "Speedy Mo."  If you know him. . . you understand.  nuff said!

I love you!

With the many words we speak to our children each day, this should be said more than anything else.  Said, and shown.  Let us remember to build up our children with love and encouragement and not to slip into the habit of only speaking "at" our children with directions and correction- it is easy to do. . .  "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

Praise the Lord

It appears that Baby Joe has made quite a miraculous and full recovery.  Praise the Lord for his goodness and read all about it over at preschoolers and peace.  His mommy and daddy are definitely giving all of the Glory to God!