What a drive!

If you know me, there is one thing you should know about me.  I hate to drive. Loathe it.  I was never fascinated with driving like some people are and then when I was 12ish my sister who was 16ish had three pretty serious wrecks, 2 of which I was in the passenger seat for.  Not anything to send anyone to the hospital for (although the one without me involved rolling the vehicle), but enough for me to be like Ugh! I don't like cars.  I also don't like speed.  I ride my brakes when I bike, I was terrified of going downhill skiing etc and while I normally am able to separate that from driving, if I let it, it can get to me..  I have said repeatedly that if we ever win the lotto one thing I truly want is a driver so that I never have to drive again.  While I am not a city person and could never be a city person I do envy their mass transit.  If I lived in the city I would never need to drive and that would be alright by me.  Do you get that I cannot stand driving?  It's a fact of life in the country so I do it and I wouldn't say I'm a menace to the roads or anything it's just something I wish wasn't part of my daily life.

All that said, I willingly drove 6 hours today for my kids.  I had hoped by scheduling on a Saturday my Josh would not have to work but trying to save money for adoption means saying yes to overtime.  Josh got home at about 7:30 this morning, ate his dinner, took his shower, and got back in the car at 8:45.  But when he got in the car it was to sleep because he had to leave for work tonight at 6.  So I took my coffee, my Sanctus Real, David Crowder Band, Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band cds and off we went.  One of the things that I think does make driving tolerable is being able to chat.  I like getting into deep conversations with the person sitting beside me or if I'm alone talking on the phone.  But if the person next to you is trying to sleep in the comfy-for-riding-not-for-sleeping seat next to you, you can't do either.  You keep your music low, your eyes on the road and just drive.  So drive I did.

All the way to Leo, Indiana.  It's up north of Fort Wayne.  There we had our first interview with Gateway Woods for our home-study.  It was pretty basic, signing paperwork, discussing adoption basics and paying our down payment.  We got a giant list of questions to answer individually and email back before we have our home visit.  All in all it was a good meeting, I learned a few things, feel even more secure in the choice of GW, and after about an hour drove another 3 hours home while Josh snored beside me.  After all of that driving, I can still firmly say I hate driving but I will also say that I would drive by myself without even the radio for company across the world if it meant I could bring my kids home sooner or safer.  I am so glad that we are making progress!  I know waiting will be difficult but at least I'll be waiting, currently I'm waiting to wait!

Life is full of trials such as going to work on sleep in the passenger seat of the car or buckling up in the driver's seat even though it's the last place you want to be, but with God directing our ways, I know someday soon I will be unable to imagine a time before my children came home.  May God drive away all of your troubles today and may you feel His mighty strength.  God bless!

2 Corinthians 4:8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 

Movement

We applied to our home study group, Gateway Woods.  When looking at different groups I kept coming back to them even though they are pretty far from home.  It will be good to have a Christian perspective as we go through this process.  So next Saturday we have our first meeting with them.  If anyone out there in bloggerland has any words of advice leave them in the comments.  I would also ask anyone who is saying a little prayer for us to pray for travel mercies as we will be going farther north than Fort Wayne.

Also I has an interview for a different job this week.  It seems like it could be a really great opportunity.  If anything pans out I'll tell you some more.  It would be nice if the job situation that has to change would change before the home study was due so I don't have to do an addendum on it.

God has plans for each of us and I am really trying daily to follow His plans and not my own.  I pray each of you will feel God's presence in your life too.  God has big plans for you!

Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;go into his courts with praise.Give thanks to him and praise his name. 

Ending January

So we are almost done with January and have our home study choice narrowed down to two agencies but I have a few more phone calls to make before the decision is final.  In other news Josh switched to 3rd shift this week and I am really hoping that the first week is the hardest.  He finished his apprenticeship last week, so the switch also has allowed him more hours as a journeyman.  More hours is great on the raising money for the adoption front but I am definitely feeling his absence.  Even though I thought it was hard to find time together when he worked on 2nd shift, this week it has seemed impossible.  I was refreshed last night during my small group Bible study though.  It really does wonders to take your mind off of yourself and focus your thoughts on our Lord.  God is good all the time even when you are feeling a little lonely.

Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. 

My one word

I heard about the "My one word" movement on Klove.  I participated last year.  Instead of having New Years resolutions, you pick one word that you want to focus on throughout the year in order to have a better life.  Last year's word was "abundant".  When I chose that word I was hoping for an abundant blessing from God, that my job situation would go from dismal to abundant, that our house would go from mostly empty to abundant, that my time with Josh would go from not so much to abundant.  Throughout the course of the year I am pretty sure I wouldn't have told you I was feeling abundant but as I look back now I know I am abundantly blessed.  In 2010 Josh and I had 5 months on the same shift.  Unless you have a spouse on an off-shift you can't understand what a blessing it was to have normal, regular time together.  To get up around the same time, eat meals together, and go to bed at the same time was an awesome blessing and it was an abundant gift from God.  I know that God blessed me abundantly in leading us toward the decision to adopt and helping us make that leap of faith.  I know that God has blessed me abundantly by giving me the love of many people and the opportunity to know and love Him.  2010 was a year of many disappointments but having a focus word to take the focus off of myself is good.


2011 is a new year and it requires a new word.  Please forgive me if you think this is cheezy but my one word is ADOPT.  I know, I know you all know that I'm adopting children from Ethiopia and in reality the process probably won't end this year but I looked up the definition on dictionary.com and I found that there are several other ways that this word is relevant to my hopes for 2011. 

World English Dictionary

adopt 

— vb 

1.  law  to bring (a person) into a specific relationship, esp to take (another's child) as one's own child Yes, we are adopting 2 children that God has already chosen for us, I don't know them yet but one day I will see their beautiful faces.

2.  to choose and follow (a plan, technique, etc) I am also adopting a healthier lifestyle.  I'm doing pretty good at this so far and hope that this is like the one above a lifetime commitment.

3.  to take over (an idea, etc) as if it were one's own I am going to try to have Jesus' attitudes in life instead of worrying or fretting.

4.  to take on; assume: to adopt a title Hmmm... not certain on this one but I might just be adopting a new title when I get a new job which will happen at some point this year.

5.  to accept (a report, etc) I am accepting what life gives me, the blessings and the temptations and living for my God.

[C16: from Latin adoptāre  to choose for oneself, I think it's kind of beautiful to think adoption of children is choosing for myself to build a family from optāre  to choose

So hopefully you don't think that's too dumb.  What's your one word?


Romans 8:23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, [ Greek wait anxiously for sonship.] including the new bodies he has promised us.

Angry at blogger

so I've typed a super cool and long post twice now and both times when I went to publish or save now it deleted it and now I have to go to bed so sorry to my readers and annoyed at blogger!

Melkam Genna

Friday was Epiphany.  It's when we celebrate the three kings coming to visit and bring gifts to Christ.  Those 3 kings came because Jesus came not only for the Jews but for the whole world.  Our world was lost and had no way of having a relationship with God because we had turned our backs on Him.  God sent us Jesus to bridge that gap, He sent Jesus not only to His Chosen People but also to the whole world and these kings represent how God isn't just for one people but for all. 

Friday in Ethiopia they celebrated Christmas.  I have to think it's a little more Christ-centered than here in the States.  No excessive gifts, no jolly old man getting all the attention, just celebrating Jesus' birth and the ultimate gift of His deliverance from our sin.  I could use a little more of that myself.  As Josh and I make "family traditions" each holiday, deciding what we want to keep from the past and what to add and what to leave, I continually try to make sure that I am bringing the glory back to Jesus. I hope that I am able to honor Jesus each and everyday of my life but especially with the way I parent my children.  I hope that when I celebrate Christmas no matter if it is in December or January, Christ is at the center.

I pray for all the orphans the world over that they will one day know the love of Jesus and be able to celebrate His gift to us.

Matthew 2:9-11 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!  They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

New Year

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011...  As I look forward to this year I don't know what I to say that I'm looking forward to. 
*I would really really like to get a referral in 2011 but the timeline that CHI has given us doesn't make it seem that that is truly likely so I don't want to get my hopes high only to have them dashed.  Starting things right before Christmas has made it difficult to get ahold of Home Study Agencies which is our next step.  Even though I have a tendency to procrastinate I am going to do everything that I can in order to make sure I don't delay the process.  I guess maybe for this I look forward to depending on God and feeling His Peace as we're going forward in the process.

*I am really looking forward to a permanent teaching position.  2010 was a year of a lot of disappointment in the job arena and I'm praying that 2011 will finally be the time and place for me to teach.  I have felt a calling to the teaching profession and pray that I will follow God's Will in this and not my own.

*I am looking forward to another year with Josh.  Each day I am so very thankful that God made Josh just for me and that we are continuing to grow up together and one day old together.

*I am looking forward to more time with my family because I have been blessed tremendously by them and hope that I can be a blessing to them.

So I guess those are the things I am looking forward to in 2011, What are you looking forward to?

^"No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." Philippians 3:13-14