The Simple Things

This weekend Brad and I had planned to take a motorcycle trip over to Lake Michigan, but due to weather conditions and the fact that I am a big baby and can't ride on the motorcycle if it is under 70 degrees, we decided not to do that this weekend. Soon though we hope!

We were brainstorming about what we could do that would not involve money or driving (because of gas prices), which limited our possibilities quite a bit! It turned out to be a lovely weekend though. We had dinner with our friends Chad and Rachel and their girls on Friday night, and spent the day on Saturday at a nearby park with Sadie. We packed a picnic lunch, took a very long walk, then sat and enjoyed the sunshine while eating our lunch. The sky was perfectly blue and it was a gorgeous day (although a little chilly). On Sunday we watched the race with Chad and Rachel and then I had a youth event which was really fun. Overall it was a great weekend and I was reminded once again that life is so good!

Here are a few pictures from the park trip:

Here are a couple of pictures that made me laugh out loud when I downloaded the pictures from the camera. At first I was like "What IS that???" and then I remembered that Brad was trying out the supermacro setting on the camera and figured out that it was a mushroom thing on a tree trunk! Looks kind of gross though!

And then I came to this one...thanks, hon! Apparently I should have put on more make-up or fixed my hair so that I could have made it into the picture!

We're Expecting...To Adopt!!!!

I was thinking I was going to wait a while before sharing this, but last week I found myself telling the UPS man about it so I guess I may as well just share!!!

WE'RE ADOPTING FROM SOUTH KOREA!!!!!

Many of you may already know this, because I really am just too excited to keep it to myself! But for those of you who don’t already know, I wanted to tell you a little about the road we are on, where we hope it will take us, and how we got here.

I have been thinking a lot lately about what I would want to say about this, because for us, the decision to adopt came after a couple of very difficult years, during which time we discovered that we may not ever have biological children of our own. I say “may not” because we really don’t know at this point – and because we believe with all our hearts that with God, all things are possible. We don’t know what the future holds, but we have come to the point of acceptance with this, and know that the Lord will be faithful even if our lives take a different road than we thought they would.

It has been such a painful and life-changing struggle (for me especially) to realize that there are things in life that we cannot control, and to learn to trust the Lord and believe in His goodness even when life is hard. This is something so personal and close to my heart that it is sometimes hard to talk about, but at the same time infertility is now a part of our story and I want to be able to share that with people. It is so strange, but when I think back on all that we have been through in the last couple of years, I really can’t do anything but praise God! I am a different person than I was when we started this journey, and through the pain the Lord has ever so gently reached down and shown me that He truly is the “Father of compassion and God of all comfort.” (2 Cor 1:3). He has changed me and humbled me and taught me how to rely on Him first and foremost. I have had some amazing friends and family who have stood by us through this, and yet there have been times when my heart has ached so much that I could not even express it to anyone…except to God. The longing to have children and the inability to see that hope realized has driven me to Him time and time again, and every time that I have cried out to Him, He has been there for me and carried me through. It still hurts sometimes, but not as frequently or as intensely as it used to. God is faithful and loving, and He is leading us on a journey unlike anything we could have imagined. I am excited for the adventure and am thankful for the trial that got us here.

So now for the exciting part. We are planning to adopt from South Korea, and have already begun working with Bethany Christian Services. We are waiting for the program to open this year, and hopefully will be doing our home study soon (a series of interviews – yikes!). It will probably be a long process – potentially 2-3 years, although I’m praying for less! Feel free to pray with me about that! We have said that we are open to adopt a boy or a girl, and we hope to adopt an infant who is around 12 months old or possibly a little younger. Did I mention we’re excited? It has been a long journey and we know it will still be quite a while, but we’re on our way now! People have asked us why South Korea, and the main reason is that the different countries have different requirements, and we fit the South Korea requirements where we didn’t fit many of the others…there were other factors too, like money and the ages of the children available to be adopted, and in the end it was just the country that won our hearts!

One last note…can you tell we’re really excited about adopting?!?!?! To us it is not a second-rate, back-up plan, it is a different, new and wonderful plan! I’ll keep you posted, although it may be a while until I have anything new to share. Sorry for the rambling, but this post has been 2 ½ years in the making! Thanks for reading it all!

Funny Dog!

Would you still sunbathe...if you had FUR????

I'm pretty sure that I would not, but our dog Sadie absolutely loves to lie in the sun for hours at a time! I'm not sure if she thinks she is going to get a tan, or if I should break the bad news to her that she is still the same color as always...

My favorite part is that she picks the dirt spot in the yard to lie in! What a funny dog!

Gobble Gobble BANG!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a big fan of hunting. I don't want to see something alive when I am going to eat it later. But I must admit, I was more than a little proud of Brad yesterday when he called to tell me that he had shot his first turkey! Turkey hunting season opened yesterday, and Brad went out with two of his buddies from work. He called me before 9am to tell me he had got one, and that it was a big one! He has been deer hunting before but I must admit that I was never too thrilled about the thought of eating a deer. They just have such sweet faces! Anyway, he came home empty-handed from those hunting trips. I was more excited to hear he was going turkey hunting, I guess because it is something I am more used to eating. I loved how excited he was about it. I hope this picture isn't too gross for anyone. I figured if I could stomach it, it was probably not too bad!

Way to go, Brad!

Ten Years

It is a crazy thing to realize that ten years has passed since I first left home. Ten years ago this August, I was off on an adventure, heading to Colorado for an exciting year of Bible College. I was scared to death, but also fiercely independent and determined to be out on my own. I had my whole life ahead of me, and the future was a blank canvas – I had no idea where I would end up or who I would become. It was a thrilling and nerve-wracking time in my life.

It is strange to now look back on that time in my life…it feels like an eternity ago. So much has happened since then. In some ways, ten years feels like such a long time…but in other ways, I still feel like life is just beginning. I still look forward with excitement, wondering how the story is going to turn out.

One of my old roommates from Bible College found me on Facebook this week, and this has put me in a very contemplative kind of mood. It has been interesting to reflect back on that time in my life and to see where I have come since then. I’ve realized that there are a few things I have learned since then (with many more to still learn I’m sure):

• Life does not always turn out how you hope or expect…and that is okay. I have learned how to hold more tightly to God than to my dreams.

• I hate camping. That is so random, but I think it is one way that I am learning to be okay with who I am. For years and years, I said (and tried to convince myself) that I was a camper. I really wanted to be a camper…but alas, I am not! I hate camping with a passion and would rather do almost anything else in the world!

• Everybody has fears and insecurities. The older I get, the more I realize that people are just like me, trying to hide these things. I am learning how to be real with people and it is so freeing.

• Family is so important. I didn’t realize just how important they were to me ten years ago. I just couldn’t wait to be out on my own. Since then I have come to see how lost I would be without them. My Mom, Dad, and sisters have been there for me through the good, the bad, and the ugly. They are a part of who I am and I am so thankful for them.

• Marriage is way better but different than I expected. It is so wonderful to get to live with my best friend, and to know someone so deeply and be known by them is…amazing. And it just gets better all the time!

• I have a lot to be thankful for. I have been to some places in the last ten years that have shown me just how much I truly have. I have walked among a garbage dump in Guatemala and seen people who live there every single day trying to survive. I have held little babies in an orphanage in Uganda who are HIV positive and do not have a mom or dad to take care of them. I have had a lot of eye opening experiences that have left me humbled and grateful for everything I have.

• God is good, even when life is not. He has been faithful to me in every moment of the last ten years and has changed me in ways I could not imagine back then. This makes me look forward to the next ten years with anticipation, wondering what He is going to do in my life. It’s still an adventure!

What a Weekend!

Whew! I am back from our youth camp, and after sleeping till noon on Monday I think I am recovered from it! The weekend was fabulous and I am so glad I went. We had over 35 kids and 10 or 11 leaders, and we just had so much fun.

Highlights from the weekend:
-Getting to know the students better
-Our talent competition, where I found out many interesting things about different people in the group (and for anyone that knows Tamara, you may want to ask to see "Goat Face" the next time you see her!!!)
-Playing capture the flag and having no idea where the boundaries were or what I was supposed to do!
-Watching some crazy kids run into the lake (and promptly run back out because it was freezing!) and realizing that I have switched over from BEING one of those crazy to kids to thinking they are crazy!
-Quality time getting to know the other leaders
-Realizing once again how desperately I need God's grace

This weekend's theme was Christian fellowship, and we talked about what it really means to have shared life with other Christians. It was great to see the students building deeper relationships with each other, and to be reminded that we do not have to walk through life alone. I am so blessed to be part of this youth group! And to think I used to be so scared of teenagers!

Heading to Camp

Pray for our youth group this weekend - we are heading to camp and it should be an adventure for sure! Pray that the Lord will be at work in the lives of our teens, and in the lives of us as leaders. I am excited to spend some quality time with the students :)

Balki and Larry!

Okay, I may be a total nerd, but I just love to see the old tv shows I used to watch when I was little. Recently my mom and dad bought seasons one and two of the tv show "Perfect Strangers"... every time I hear the music from that show it takes me right back to when I was a kid. Every Friday night we watched "TGIF" - Thank Goodness it's Friday! This was a block of shows on every Friday night, and my family and I loved to watch them together. Perfect Strangers was on then, as well as Full House (a classic!), and Family Matters (did I really think that was funny???). Anyway, it is fun to see these old shows again and to be transported back in time for a while. I also just got Gummy Bears on DVD and those just crack me up! TV just isn't what it used to be anymore!

State of Chaos; Heart of Peace

I've been thinking a lot lately about what it really means to have peace. I can't by any means claim to be one of those people that exudes it - I am quite tightly wound and often allow circumstances to dictate how I feel or react. I am beginning to learn that peace is not something that I can "will". I can't make myself feel at peace. I can't manufacture it myself or cause myself to feel it in the midst of a stressful situation. The only source of peace is Jesus Christ, and only in turning to Him do I find peace. I am also learning that it is amazing, but I can experience peace no matter what is going on in my life.

Lately, life has been a bit stressful. Not bad, necessarily, just stressful. I work at as a secretary at a church, and we have been under renovation for quite a few weeks. I came in to my office this morning and sighed.


Yes, it seems like everything in the church has been moved in here (ok, that may be a SLIGHT exaggeration!). It is hard to work in the midst of chaos, but as I sat on my desk and reflected on what I have been learning I realized that this, too, was an opportunity for me to choose - am I going to stress and be grouchy, or trust the Lord and experience His peace? When I stop and think about it, the answer is obvious...the trouble is, most of the time, I don't even stop to think about how I am going to react - I just react. Today I am grateful for my messy office and a chance to choose to trust instead of stressing.

Tagged

I've been tagged by http://fiveofgreen.blogspot.com/.

Here are the rules of the game...

1) Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4) Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Facts about me...

1) I know how to do an Eskimo Roll in a kayak (where it flips over and you flip it back up...comes in very handy in everyday life!)

2) I have been white water rafting on the Nile River in Uganda (I thought I was going to die - for real!)

3) I have learned how to play piano, clarinet, recorder, guitar, and violin - but guitar was the only one that stuck.

4) I hate pickles. Hate. With a passion. I think pickles should be banned in America.

5) Someday I hope to learn to fly an airplane.

6) When I was in high school I thought for sure that I was going to be an engineer...I even started attending university enrolled in the aerospace engineer program.

7) I love reading historical fiction books. They're my favorite!

Who am I Tagging?

Megan http://justanothersmith.blogspot.com/ (my very cool and VERY funny college roommate!)

Rollerblading Excursion

Yesterday when I woke up, I saw how blue the sky was and I knew that I wanted to do something outside. I love spring! When I came home, I was sitting in our sunroom reading, when suddenly Brad appeared in the doorway with his rollerblades on! I had to laugh, because rollerblading is not exactly Brad's favorite activity. But in true Bradley style, he was willing to give it a try again (we went once I think before we were married. It didn't go well). I love to rollerblade and used to do it all the time in High School and college. There is this new path that we found that is paved and so we hopped in the truck and headed to the trail. It was so much fun and it was the best place I have ever rollerbladed! We only did about 3 miles but that was good enough for our reintroduction into the world of physical exercise. Brad didn't even fall once (although he scared me a couple of times!)

This is us making our best "I'm going to fall over!" face...except that once we made those faces we started to laugh so by the time the timer on the camera went off...well, those are not exactly the faces we make when we feel like we're going to fall!

I'm so glad to have a husband who does fun things with me and always makes me laugh :)

A Little Piece of History

I am back from my fabulous visit to Canada and I had a very enjoyable weekend with family and friends. While I was there, I got to see some really neat things that my dad had discovered when he was sorting through some of my Grandpa's things...I love history and thought they were pretty cool discoveries! The first thing he found was this old certificate that was given to my great-grandfather around the time of the First World War. That is pretty cool in itself, but what got me really excited was to see that this certificate was signed by WINSTON CHURCHILL!!! I don't know if you can really see it in the pictures I took of the certificate, but I thought that was really cool.

(This is a picture of my Great-Grandfather)

The second interesting discovery came when I was sorting through a bunch of pictures that my grandpa had taken during his lifetime. I came across the picture on the left and just gasped - it is a picture of my dad when he was about two years old, but it looks EXACTLY like my little sister Sarah did when she was that age! I could not believe how alike they looked!

And I must conclude my blog with another little piece of history...an embarassing piece! Here is a picture of me when I was 12 or 13...don't you love the glasses?!?!

There were other pictures taken during the days of braces and a horrific perm, but I don't think I will scare you with those!