love expanded our family

today was an AWESOME day! my life experiences came full circle with the yearnings of my heart.

some of you know I've had a burden on my heart for African children for some time. my heart breaks each and every time I see the living conditions, the wars, the poverty, and the faces of these children. until today I had not found the right way to help.

partner my desire to help African children with the desires of all three of my "boy's" hearts for another family member...mark has thought about adopting for awhile; spencer has always desired a baby sister; and yesterday when connor wrote out his first Christmas list of the season, he said, "I want a nuthr bruthr" and then clarified "or sister."

my full circle moment came at the end of a church service, where we were blessed to see the African Children's Choir at my sister's church. I cried from the moment they burst onto the stage with their huge smiles, exhuberant dancing and most precious voices.

as each child introduced themself and their dream, I jotted down names and careers. jennifer- a doctor; gideon- an engineer; ben- a pilot; rebecca- a dentist; rachel- a social worker...twenty five children, twenty five different names, twenty five individual dreams. while bringing these children home with us in a physical sense wasn't possible (it was made clear they were not up for adoption), we were offered the opportunity to bring these children home. some in the choir still needed to be fully supported financially. for they have dreams of being educated and staying in Africa to change their country.

this is where my full circle moment happened. after I received information about sponsorship, mark asked if "rita" was shown in the sponsorship binder. I looked down my list and couldn't find a child named rita. maybe he meant freda. as I looked through the binder, there she was... Fridah, a 10 year old girl from Uganda, East Africa. as soon as I told mark she needed help, she was ours.

looking into connor and spencer's faces with tears in my eyes, I said "Christmas is coming early this year. you're going to get your sister!" my advent conspiracy moment had come. as one of the volunteer workers went backstage to get Fridah for us, I was almost jumping out of my shoes with excitement! she's absolutely beautiful! and we're so excited to be able to support her!

love expanded our family today.

one stitch at a time

the February Lady has captured my attention. I continue to stitch four rows at a time. one lace repeat at a time, it begins to resemble an actual sweater. all the items I've knit up until now were just the practice I needed to feel confident enough to start this project, which was way out of my comfort zone.

today I stepped out of that zone again when I had my first crochet lesson. It was uncomfortable, scary, confusing...just like it was when I started knitting. the speed and fluidity kathy was crocheting made my attempts seem somewhat childlike. but with her encouragement, I have a few rows of single crochet to show you.

this post was meant for me today. many of jodi's feelings about her grandmother are my own. Thanksgiving day will be the one year anniversary of my grandmother's death. she was such an inspiration to me. she did it all-needlepoint, knitting, crochet, sewing, and quilting. and now many of her tools are mine- knitting needles, crochet hooks, and her quilt frame. although she didn't teach me one of her crafts, she inspired me to try. I hope you have someone inspiring you today!

words for wednesday

...He intentionally cultivated those relationships.

He paid attention.

He listened.

He noticed.

He did everything that people in a hurry forget to do.

-Advent Conspiracy

advent conspiracy

mark and I have been traveling long distances, in cars, to spend time with family for eighteen years. driving is what we do, and we do it...a lot. there have been smooth trips and bumpy trips, fun trips and not so fun trips, but the one thing that remains the same is we continue to learn a lot about each other mile by mile together.

mark likes the music loud; I prefer it softer. mark likes to drive, and I do too :). mark packs the car, and I pack the suitcases. we both prefer to drive during the night and will drive further than our stomachs would want us to to eat at Chick-fil-a. but the most important thing we've learned along the highway is we have different expectations of the passenger...mark likes to talk while driving, and when I drive, I don't mind the silence.

when I'm driving, I try to encourage my passengers to do as they like. the boys read, play electronic games, watch videos, or sleep; mark will read, dose, but is mostly restless. and when mark's driving...he likes to talk...a lot!! and guess what? I'm not much of a talker! I'm happy to read magazines or knit as the passenger, so you can understand how this difference has caused many disagreements along the way.

last weekend as we started our long trip home from new york, I decided to step out and try something new. mark had just purchased the Advent Conspiracy the night before, so I suggested we read it on the way home. and boy am I thankful I did!I highly recommend this book! If you've ever thought "there's got to be more to Christmas than just shopping, shopping, and more shopping"...you're right! and this book proves it!

the focus of this book is spend less, give more, love all, worship fully.
Spend Less: "...as we choose to go against the cultural flow, it is important to remember that spending less on Christmas presents doesn't mean we love our friends and family any less. In fact, we will often find that those to whom we give creative, personal gifts will see our love- and perhaps God's-more clearly than ever before." p. 51

Give More: "If we can resist the trap of giving easy gifts, and if we can reject the assumption that giving expensive gifts or many gifts is the best way to express love, something else might begin to happen. We might experience moments of relational giving that our friends and family will care about and remember." p. 78

Love All: "The good news of the gospel is for all people, including us. We are all poor and blind and imprisoned. We are the ones who have been given this lavish gift of life with God, and now we are called to enter this broken world and love differently. When we do, Christmas can still change the world." p. 92

Worship Fully: "Like Joseph, when we act in obedience to God's invitation-despite even the social cost-we help God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven." p. 41

This concept really resonates with mark and I. we've been trying to practice this for a few years. from homemade caramel corn mix for special people in our lives (postman, bus drivers, and close friends) to the homemade personal ornaments mark makes each year, to a completely handmade Christmas a few years ago, we both fully value relational giving. and we not only give this way, but have been the recipients of so many wonderfully personal gifts! our goal now is to make this so consistent that the lesson is transferred to our boys.

family...a comfortable spot

just a week ago we were in new york state visiting mark's grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousin. it was a wonderful weekend full family moments. we send out a BIG THANK YOU to our hosts. the wonderful meals, the creating time, the excursions, and the quiet moments will all be cherished memories.

{ connor and great grandma color together }

{spencer assembles a mr. potato head pumpkin}

I love the smile on her sweet face.

{aunt linda-these hands create for the youngest among us}

{we spent saturday in cooperstown at The Baseball Hall of Fame.}

{I knew there a reason I loved baseball...it uses the same tools as knitting!}

{this was one of my favorite shots of the day...capturing mark's reflection.}

this was one great family filled weekend. can you tell we love family?

words for wednesday

courage is not the absence of fear,

but rather the judgement

that something else is more important than fear.

-Ambrose Redmoon

words for wednesday

you know you knit too much when...

...your child announces that he would like

to be a ghost for Halloween

and you immediately decide that you will knit the thing.

after all, if you sew the eyeholes shut afterward,

a knitted ghost costume could totally be a white afghan.

-Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

the best days are family days

"these were the best two days of my life."
"really? why do you say that?"
"because I was able to be at home the whole time."

as a mom, your heart just has to warm with conversations like this one. even though he missed the halloween party, missed trick-or-treat with his best friend, missed wearing his costume, and took a trip to stat care (all because of a fever and flu symptoms), he was still able to think the past two days were the best yet.

I'm with spencer. the past two days were really great family days! our moments were spent at home together...

{reading}

{listening to music}

{taking time outs for knitting}

{finishing projects}

{carving pumpkins}

and {decorating for a new season}

have a safe and happy halloween!

one fall day

we had the most perfect fall weather today! you know the kind...a cool air temperature, a shining sun, and the smell of fall all around you. after lunch with mark, I enjoy these wonderful sights on this one fall day.