Jacob and Lydia: The Beginnings

There was a certain night that I knew was going to be special. It wasn't really very different than other nights we had gone out for dinner... but this time. Well, the day before had been a hell of an emotional roller coaster and this night was bringing the clearest sense of peace and belongingness that I hadn't felt... ever.

Untangling Knots and Tying Strings

I woke with a start.  I scooched to the edge of my bed and squinted my eyes as I tried to make out the numbers on the clock.  The digits glowed a dim orange but it was still a few seconds before my tired eyes adjusted to the light.  Still, it wasn’t time.  I continued to stare at the clock and tried not to fall asleep. 

I don’t believe it was every night but in my memories it seems like it was.  I was about nine years old.  I would stay up and wait for my favorite radio program to come on.  It probably started somewhere around ten o’clock.

After what seemed like ages it was finally time.  I readjusted my pillows, my blankets, and tried to shove our big dog away from me.  I turned the volume down low so that my sister wouldn’t wake and laid perfectly still so as not to make the tiniest noise.  Out of the speakers came the eeriest of sounds.  Outer space music.  It made me feel small and made my young mind ask questions.  What is out there? How big is God? Where is Heaven? Are aliens real? The surreal sounds would take me to an entirely different world; Sometimes it was frightening, sometimes I would get lost, and sometimes it was breathtaking – Always, it was filled with wonderment. 

Starry Night has always been my favorite Vincent van Gogh piece. This painting expresses exactly the way the outer space music made me feel.

Being an Older Adoptive Sibling

Hello friends, it has been a while since I've posted on here.

Today I have something important to talk about. Although I can't share everything here online I must make you aware of the fact that we are no longer adopting the boys. Many things have contributed to this decision on my parents part and it is not my place to explain everything. Even so, everything I said before about loving being a big sister, about how I could see God leading us to these boys, all of that still applies. The time we had with them was hard but still a blessing. Maybe more for them than us, but I don't regret that time at all.

Having read different blogs and forums, I've noticed that people are always saying that nobody really talks about adoption that much. I wouldn't have known since all of these places were talking about it, but maybe I just stumbled upon the few rare gems. Since there is a need for more discussion on the subject I would like to share with y'all my story as an older sister in a local American adoption. I hope some of you other adoptive older siblings will find this story and get some encouragement out of it.

Easter 2015
We're just missing our older brother Zachary!

We're Adopting!

Today was the beginning of a totally new part of our lives. We're adopting four little boys! I know I haven't said anything on my Facebook account, or in person, or on the phone, but yes it's happening. Three months ago we started the adoption process - home study, meetings, Mom and Dad had to go through adoption classes, phone calls, paper work. Before we knew it, all the preparations were made and we just sat back and waited. Before we knew it, we were matched with these boys.

        Today the paperwork was signed and we were matched to the boys officially and today we met them for the first time. They came straight from daycare to our house. I was so worried before this that they wouldn't like us. I was afraid they wouldn't like me because I was so much older than them. They pulled in a mini van with the case workers and Mom, Dad, and Savannah went out to meet them. I realized Jubal wasn't with them so I looked and found him with his face buried in his pillow and his eyes squeezed tight. He has been so wild with excitement today about meeting his new brothers, he has been singing songs lately about getting more brothers. "Today my new brothers come!" he says. Well, now of course he was shy. I took him out to the back yard where everyone was. He clung to me and kept his face mashed against my shoulder with his eyes closed. It wasn't long though till he got brave and started to play with the boys.

We're Moving!

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The majority of this post is a copy of my facebook status today]

Well, I was going to make a blog post about this, but I'm just not up to the task of creating something well written and trying to explain everything. Simply put, our family is moving to Belize. If you've kept up with my blog and my own and my family's facebook status's or know us intimately you might have an idea why. If not, well I don't have time or know how to explain all the details.

Help is Needed, A Great 4-H Project Idea, Dogs!

        As many of you know our family has been planning on taking a road trip to visit family this winter, mainly in the west. We were planning on leaving this week anyways but this morning Dad got a call and was told his father had died. (I will try to get a post solely on that later) We need to get down there quickly and these dogs are holding us up. You could keep them temporarily or permanently.

        Kids could take on the challenge of caring for and/or training a dog. You could use it as a practise run to see if your children are responsible enough for a dog yet.

The Ideal World Clinic

        

     Okay so I know I've been real quiet around here I've got a lot on my plate right now! Among other things tomorrow mine and Savannah's Girl Scout troop is having an event. It's called the Ideal World Clinic. Now it's the "Take Action Project" that goes with the book we were going through "GirlTopia" I really didn't like the book because of all the things they had in it. Buddha, Wicca, femenistic propaganda, things like that. (Our girl scout troop did a lot of "tweaking" and filtering, we're all Christians.) So anyways at the end we're supposed to take action and make an impact in the community, so this is what we came up with.

Preparing our Sons and Daughters for Marriage

Our church is sponsoring a marriage and family reformation conference. This year it is titled "Preparing our Sons and Daughters for Marriage" We held one last year, and Pisgah Baptist Church let us use their building. I had a fun time last time and even got to play on a big grand piano! We had the first day just the teaching and food and the second day we met in the morning and finished off the previous days topic had lunch then headed over to the Van Till Farm and Winery for the rest of the evening. There were games and dinner cooked right in the wood fired oven outside on the patio, we had a bonfire in the evening and smores. It was a lot of fun. Pastor James McDonald (read his blog here)and his wife  Stacy were the speakers for last year and are coming for this event also.  This year it will be much the same. For a better idea of what is really happening click here to read the article on our church website 

~I am sorry this is so sloppily written, it is not composed well at all.~