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!