This is a repost--and I do not have the author's name...but I think this is beautiful and wanted to share....

Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38 

when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.

Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air. 

 They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

They were filled with such joy; they didn't know what to say. 

 They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.

"Where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse. 

 "This is heaven" declared a small boy. "We're spending Christmas at God's house".

When what to their wondering eyes did appear, 

but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same. 

 Then He opened His arms and He called them by name.

And in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring.

Those children all flew into the arms of their King 

and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace, 

one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.

And as if He could read all the questions she had, 

He gently whispered to her "I'll take care of mom and dad".

Then He looked down on earth, the world far below

He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow and woe.

Then He closed His eyes and he outstretched His hand, 

"Let my power and presence re-enter this land!"

"May this country be delivered from the hands of fools. 

 I'm taking back my nation, I'm taking back my schools!"

Then He and the children stood up without a sound. 

 "Come now my children let me show you around."

Excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran. 

 All displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

And I hear Him proclaim as He walked out of sight, 

"In the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

Was I Thankful...?

I was so excited about doing the Thankfulness Challenge in November.  I thought that it would be so easy to come up with something every day that I was grateful for.  

Instead, I bailed.

There is a reason for this, but it's not a good excuse.  You see, we were approved foster/adoptive parents with a private agency until this past September.  On September 5th, we were contacted by my husband's cousin because she wanted us to foster her son.  She does not have housing and was being told by CYS that she would have to surrender her son to care.  We agreed, and were contacted the next day by CYS to take part in a "safety plan" that would allow us to take him in without legal rights.  We turned down the safety plan, but told the social worker that we would take the child if he entered into care.

We found out days later through family that the child had entered into care.  We began calling CYS, but it was over a week before we spoke to anyone.  Nearly 2 weeks later, we were told that we must sever ties with our current agency and be approved with Chester County to provide kinship foster care.  We have spent the past 2 months going through the approval process.

We feel that he have been up against resistance from the start.  We were granted weekly visitation, but no one has been able to schedule more than an hour at a time—approximately every other week.  We have no idea when (or if) we will be able to become his kinship Caregivers.  On top of that, we haven't been able to take any other children into our home...

However, I realized today that I'm doing it wrong.  I've been looking for reasons to be grateful in spite of what we are going through.  

No. I need to be grateful for the experience.  There is nothing that we face in life without reason.  God may or may not choose to let us in on the reason, but he has the best planned for us.  And I can keep the promise of Psalm 18:6 in my heart:

In my distress I called upon the LORD, 

And cried to my God for help ; 

He heard my voice out of His temple, 

And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

Today I choose to be grateful for my trials.  I choose to be thankful the no matter what I am going through  He hears me when I am crying out.  I have no idea when and how this trial will end, but I can be sure that no matter what, God is listening to me and carrying me throughout.

Some Time Away

Day 9--I am so thankful for my mother and sister!

This morning, Little Miss and I hopped into the car and drove the 5+ hours to Colonial Williamsburg.  We met up with my mother and sister for our annual (ish) girl's weekend.  This year, we are initiating Little Miss to what has become a tradition of laughter, chocolate and relaxation--with plenty of shopping and stops for Punch Royale (not for Little Miss...).

I am so thankful for this weekend with my family. Already, we have spent the night laughing though a delicious dinner and buying dozens of books.  Tomorrow is supposed to be in the high 60s and sunny.  I can't wait to introduce my daughter to my favorite place!!

Where do you go to recharge?  Who do you like to take with you?

Midnight Phone Call

Day 8 of 30 Days of Thankfulness...

I am thankful for the knowledge that if I had a problem in the middle of the night, I could pick up the phone and call someone (more than just one!).  Not only do I know that those friends would drop everything to help me, they would take the time if all I needed was a shoulder to cry on.  I have seen these friends spring into action, whether it is to aid me or another.

Life is hard enough without having someone like that. Someone that you know will answer the phone even though they have things of their own to worry about, someone who stops by your house just to see you, someone who makes you feel like you are the most important person in the world to them. Friends like this are few and far between.  We live in a society that is overly concerned about what life is doing to them, not to others.  The only way to have a Phone-Call  friend like this is to be one yourself!

Who is your Phone-Call friend?  Take the time today to let that person know that you are thankful for them.  That you are there for them.  That you appreciate they blessing they are to you.

30 Days...Late.

It took me a while to catch on.  Doesn't it always?  But my friends on Facebook were all telling me how thankful they were for this thing or that thing.  So today, I decided to look it u.p.  It's part of the "Thirty Days of Thanks".  Basically, every day in November, you are supposed to give thanks for something in your life.
30 Days of Thanks

Right.  I thought, Well, I'm always thankful.  I mean, just today, I gave thanks for ....and...

oh.

So, better late than never, right?  I am going to try (because we all know how good I am at catching up on posts ..) to blog every day about what I am thankful for.


Thus....

Day 7

Today I am thankful for my husband.  When I was worked up and upset over the negativity on my Facebook wall in the aftermath of the election (combined with several more stresses and strains that are working on our family and lives right now...), he sat with me and talked me through my feelings, listened thoughtfully, and gave some excellent suggestions.  Thanks to him, I was able to settle down and get some things accomplished today!

What special thing did someone do for you today?  Be thankful!

I Have A Cold.

Probably one of the worst phrases ever uttered by a human.  Colds are miserable things, aren't they?  You have no idea how long you’ll feel like crap, but people expect you to return to your normal activity level 12 hours after you begin.

One of my least favorite parts of a cold is the mouth breathing.  You know what I’m talking about, the my-nose-is-so-stuffed-up-that-the-only-way-to-get-oxygen-to-my-lungs-is-to-suck-air-in-through-my-mouth look.  There’s something about mouth breathing that gives a person the aura of lower intelligence.  Pair that with the dazed look brought on by the combination of Sudafed and Mucinex, and you look like a total genius. 

That’s sarcasm, folks.

The worst part is, really, the common cold is nothing big.  So I feel like I should be keeping up my normal schedule (except for the exercise.  I can give up the exercise) and cook, clean, shop, work, and blog like I do every day.  Problem is, I don’t stinking feel like it. My head hurts, and my throat hurts, and I have a runny nose. I don't want to work. I want to lie on the couch, wrapped in a cozy blanket, and sleep all day.

But life goes on, so I will too.  With tissues.  And chocolate.

What makes you feel better when you're sick?

Aaaannnndddd…we’re back!

.I have to apologize to the people who have read my blog (I know there are some out there…Hi, Mom) for dropping off the face of the earth.    I have no excuse except that I was feeling incredibly down and the posts that I was writing were well, depressing.   I didn't even realize that I was so down until saw the things I was writing.  Sooooo…I just didn't post for a bit.

Its tough when you are really down to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and give yourself a stern talking-to, but I have been blessed with some friends that did just that for me.  They don’t even realize what they did for me, whether it was to attend my outdoor choir concert in the face of an impending storm, message me from 4 states away just to make sure I know that they are praying for me, or just being there to let me pour it all out. 

Well…friends and a ton of chocolate.

Now, I’m back…with a vengeance. Some of the posts that I have written over the summer will probably find their way here, but I’m glad to say that the old me is back, complete with OCD, sarcasm, and a healthy dose of Wonder Woman. J

How do you get yourself out of that low place?  Who has been there for you?

Epiphiny

I am not Wonder Woman.

Well, duh, right?

Though, what girl didn’t want to be Wonder Woman growing up?  I mean, first, she’s gorgeous. Second, she can bend metal and throw dynamite.  And C, she beats up all the bad guys and still looks…gorgeous.

But I digress.

No, I figured out this week that I most certainly did not grow up to be Wonder Woman.  Damn.

See, I didn’t think.  That is usually the root of most of my problems.  I say “Yes” and neglect to think about the ramifications of my agreement.  Raise your hand if you do that.

You really did just raise your hand, didn’t you?

OK.  So months ago, I took on the responsibility of the Community Yard Sale.  I figured I do all of the prep and advertising for just one, so the same amount of work goes in to the Community, right?  And I planned it to piggyback on the Borough-wide Yard Sale, since we are just outside of the Borough.  A couple of signs, and we’re set, right?

Yep.  Tonight I found myself lettering a bunch of big posterboards, transforming saved Yard Sale signs (I’m so OCD) to read “Community”, and oh, yeah, sorting and pricing the bazillions of junk we have to sell you’re the yard sale. My sale has kinda gone into the background because I’m feeling responsible for the other houses if no one shows up.  And they will, but…

Tomorrow Little Miss and I will venture forth to the neighborhood stores to post signs.  This will happen before I drive 25 minutes to get allergy shots. 

Then, I have to race home to clean my downstairs because I thought the Wednesday before my yard sale would be a great time to hold a drop in party for my friend who makes her own jewelry.  I’m actually really excited for this party and want it to go well.  I mean, her jewelry is amazing.  But the closer I get to a drop-in party with an unknown amount of attendees, the more the OCD-ness kicks in. 

So Little Miss and I headed to my favorite scratch –and –dent grocery store to get food and supplies for Wednesday.  And to get sodas and drinks to sell at the yard sale.  And, yes, purchase food to prepare meals for my family when I’m not in the corner banging my head against the wall.

We walk out of the store in the pouring rain, so I usher Little Miss into the car and unload the bags of soda, veggie tray makings, and yummy things to dip into the chocolate fountain (which I just realized needs to come up from the basement and be tested before tomorrow…).  Drenched, I start driving home when Little Miss asks me when we are going out in the afternoon and could she invite a friend?  I start to repeat the “I am not your cruise director” speech when I realize that I promised to take her to the potato chip factory for the tour (and yummy fresh chips right off the line!). 

So we race home, unload the groceries from the car in the pouring rain (I won’t tell you what my kitchen floor looks like right now!), load the outside fridge with a million ounces of liquid (true), toss the rest of the food where it belongs.  I prepare a healthy meal of microwave mac and cheese for Little Miss, and we head back out the door.  Did I mention it was pouring?

We actually enjoyed the tour, and I was able to keep my mind off of the 43 items on my to-do list.  Of course, the tour goes from building to building and we got wet because it was still pouring.  BUT, I grabbed some chips for the party, and we head home again.

Little Miss’s next question is, “What’s for dinner?”  Oh Man.  Run to the freezer, grab the meat that I was supposed to defrost and breathe a sigh of relief when the recipe says 1 hour.  Perfect timing!  Unfortunately, that meant 1 hour of cooking time.  So I dash around trying to make things happen as quickly as possible, dumping green pepper seeds and onion bits on the floor (did I mention my kitchen floor?). 

Dinner is finished, cleaned up, and I have poured myself a cup of coffee and am heading to price some yard sale stuff when Little Miss asks, “Can we play a game tonight?”  Since she’s been out playing in the fantastic weather and we’ve missed family game night and she can’t go outside because it’s POURING…I became the banker for the Game of Life.

I lost the game, by the way.

As I’m putting Little Miss to bed, thinking about how glad I am that the Folks from London have been procrastinating with my latest writing job, Little Miss looks at me and says, “Mama, I had a really good day today.  I Love You.”

Well, Wonder Woman I ain’t.  And I’m still going to rush around for the next 4 days to get everything accomplished.  But what I do know is that my little girl loves me, and no matter what I take on, she thinks I’m wonderful.

What else do I need?

By the way, check out my friend Jacqui’s beautiful work on her website: JoyfulJac Jewelry

Quiet House, Crazy House

I know some crazy people.

Our friends have 7 children.  If they had the chance, they’d have more.  They range in age from 10 to 4 months, 4 adopted.  The house is noisy, colorful, and in constant motion.

I call it bedlam. 

When we walk in, loud music is playing in the kitchen.  Papa is cooking something wonderful (that Little Miss won’t eat).  One to three children throw themselves at my ankles, and call my name with varying clarity.  Books, CDs and DVDs are in piles, and sometimes clean laundry.  Someone is climbing on or jumping off something.  The TV is on.  You can’t find the remote.  Someone else is on the iPad.  Someone is yelling, usually an adult.

I love it.

My house is neat and orderly.  I constantly declutter.  I make a meal schedule and shop according to that (Little Miss still won’t eat it).  I schedule workout time, writing time, cleaning time.  Books are put away.  Toys live in the playroom.  The surfaces are shiny.

I hate it.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am really proud of my house and the way it looks.  I work hard to keep it that way.  And I’m very happy to leave the noise and the brightness and go home to my quiet home.  But sometimes, I look at the crazy-ness of their home and secretly wonder if I could live like that.

Somewhere between bedlam and OCD-world, there is the happy medium I am hoping for.  I want to yell at my kids for running in the house, or slamming the door (OK, Little Miss does that constantly).  I love my home, and I want to fill it with love like they have.

Is that too much to ask?

Simply…

I love it when craft projects use the word “simple”.  And every time I read it, I’m sucked in!  So as I was perusing my new Family Fun (April 2012), I saw a wonderful organize-your-kids-collections idea using glass and plastic food jars.  Since Little Miss loves to pick up stones and shells, I thought this would be a great solution. 

So I went to my collection of clean pickle jars (you never know when there will be a pickle jar emergency!) and collected a few to make them.  The first problem I ran into was the labels.  See, you can soak them off, but the glue won’t come off!!  I thought, well, Downy takes off wallpaper, so let’s try pickle jar labels.

I soaked my jars overnight and end up with two that were clean enough to use.  I did some scrubbing with an abrasive sponge and ended up with 4.   

Now we are 27 hours into this project.

Shew!  Now to attach the “specimens” to the lids.  Well, I don’t have the Amazing Goop they suggest, and my superglue has dried up.  So I pull out my trusty hot glue gun and get to work.  The rock is just fine, and glues nice and snug.  But the nautilus shell that Little Miss chose isn’t sticking too well.  So I decide to paint the rock lid, and grab the tempera.  Again, the suggestion is to use spray-paint, but I’m a little too smart to allow a 7-year-old to use spray paint.  So, she paints the lid for the rock jar while I glue the shell and it looks great.  On to the shell, but as she’s painting it, the shell drops off and rolls away, leaving a pink trail across the kitchen floor.   

Oops.   

OK, fine.  Paint the lid, paint the shell, we’ll glue them in the morning.  In the meantime, we paint the other two plain lids for the yet-to-be-discovered treasures.

Now we’re 40 hours into the “simple” project. 

I’m holding the glue gun again, saying words in my head that my 7-year-old doesn’t need to hear yet as I use a generous amount of glue to attach the %*(*^T%$@ shell to the $$^()^$@ lid.  Once that is done, I forbid Little Miss to touch it while the glue cools, and I go off to nurse my burnt finger. 

45 hours: Repainting the shell and lid.  Thank goodness, the shell seems to be staying put this time.  Little Miss wanders in to the kitchen and says, “I don’t like that color pink.  Can we paint it again?”   

(*^(%#^%$@.

47 hours: Lid is repainted again, and drying.  We have placed the “special” rocks in one jar and the 4 million silly bands she doesn’t wear in another jar. 

49 hours, 23 minutes: Shells in the jar, lids are all placed.  Grudgingly I say that they look pretty good. 

Two lessons learned here. 

1) “Simple” is a very objective word.  What is simple for people who spend their days crafting might not be for the rest of us. 

2) Take the time to shop for the correct ingredients.  Trying to substitute may bring about those words that a 7-year-old shouldn’t hear.

Happy Mother's Day to All!!

When I was trying to have Little Miss, there were three things I hated:
1. People who asked when we were going to start a family
2. Baby Showers
3. Mother's Day


I hated Mother's Day.  I was happy to celebrate it with my Mom, but it was a day that reminded me that I was childless...even with an incredible amount of effort.  I'll admit it, I was jealous. I was yearning to fill my home with children that are out of my reach...that's what Mother's day was, a day that was simply a reminder of unfulfilled longings.


It got to the point where I had to be dragged out the door on Mother's Day.  So, Hubby did one year, to a church that we had only recently started attending.  About halfway through the service, Pastor Tom stood up to talk about Mother's Day.  I started to grab my purse so I could escape to the bathroom.


Suddenly, all of the women in the congregation were asked to stand up.  Pastor Tom started to commend us all as mothers...not merely to children, but to everyone in the church and in our lives.  


You see, whether or not you have a child, you are made with the ability to care for people unselfishly, giving up time and energy to those around you.  You mother the children (and adults!) in your family, your church, your life.  Basically, you don't have to give birth to a child to be a Mother!


So this Mother's Day while the world is celebrating motherhood, remember the "childless" too.  We all know the Proverbs 31 woman needs to be appreciated, but the 1 Samuel 1 woman does too.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing women in my life!!!

"Supermoon"

I was so excited!  I was going to go outside tonight and see the "Supermoon".  


For a space geek (who has lost shuttle missions...)  this is about as good as it gets.  You see,the moon officially became full on Saturday (May 5) at 11:35 p.m. EDT...And because this month's full moon coincides with the moon's perigee — its closest approach to Earth — it will also be the year's biggest.


The moon will swing in 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from our planet.  Basically, this is as close as it gets:) I wanted to see the really big moon.  


But alas...it is a cloudy night.


What cracks me up, though is to read about how people are actually frightened about the Supermoon.  


There are so many theories...but my favorite is still--Supermoon Sank the Titanic.  See, the theory is that an abnormally high tide caused movement in the icebergs, sending them right into the Titanic's path.


But it gets better.  People believe all sorts of odd things about a full moon, not just when it coincides with a Supermoon.  There are theories about increased seizures and increased pet injuries.  However, scientists have found no true links to these behaviors.  Sleep deprivation may be the only logical link to a Supermoon, because the increased light would keep people awake.  


But if you want to blame your devient behavior on the full moon or the supermoon, keep in mind that a 2010 study using police, astronomical, and weather data from San Antonio, Texas, found no link to support popular lore that has suggested lunar phase influences the volume of crime reported to the police. The study was published in the Journal of Criminal Justice.

In case you do have a clear sky out there, those crazy folks at NASA have whipped up this tutorial on the Supermoon:

http://school.failblog.org/2012/03/16/homework-class-test-lunar-theory-prepare-yourselves-for-the-super-moon/

Let me know what you think!!  Is it a Supermoon,or a flop?

They're Here!

Just a quick post to welcome my nieces, Adley Sue and Harper Anne!!  Welcome to the family, precious angels!  We are blessed to have you!

To My Child...

I looked for you again today.  Sometimes I feel like I am “shopping” when I look at all of the children who are waiting for a family.  I know your picture isn’t there, because I will know you when I see you. 

I wonder if people can understand the longing to be a mother when it isn’t possible.  I wonder if they can fathom the fact that every time Little Miss has a tantrum, I wish for more children throwing themselves on the floor, not less.  It is so difficult knowing that your family is not complete and not knowing where you are. 

I have to be honest, I am a little more hopeful lately with a case worker who knows how to return an email and is looking out for our family.  Suddenly, I feel like someone else is rooting for us.  And this someone can make things happen.

I wonder if you know what you will be joining when you come home.  You will have a sister, 4 cousins (all girls, sorry), two sets of grandparents who are ready to adore you, 4 Aunts and 3 Uncles who can’t wait to include you.  I picture Christmas with all 6 children playing in the wrapping paper and “feeding the reindeer”.  I can see us cuddling at story time. 

A friend told me the other day that we had a “lot of love to give”.  That is true.  I can’t wait for you to experience the love in our family. 

My child, I can’t wait for you to join us.  We are waiting for you.

Kitten Hunters

I think I’m crazy.  Or adoption happy, one of the two.  Last week, we decided that Little Miss should have a kitten of her own.  Violet is 14 years old and has never forgiven me for bringing Little Miss home.  She is quite happy to sleep in a sunbeam and be left alone.

For a seven-year-old girl, this is not fun.  So we are constantly telling her to “Put down the cat!” or “Stop torturing the cat!” or “Please let the cat out of your closet!!” True Story.  So, our solution was to bring in a cat that would be all hers. Brilliant plan, right?

We wanted to adopt a younger cat, hopefully a kitten, from a shelter.  So one Saturday we set off armed with vet records and seventeen forms of ID.  6 hours later, we returned home having seen one kitten and faced with pages of paperwork to fill out. 

Side note: I do believe it is easier to be approved for foster care than it is to adopt a cat. 

Hubby and I spend the next 4 days scouring shelters, Craigslist, and Petfinder online.  We made phone call after phone call to places so far away that we had to look them up on a map.  I applied to two different shelters that said they had cats.  We emailed people who said they had cats.  And we ended up…nowhere.

I should mention that we live near Lancaster County, so there are plenty of farms with plenty of barns that should have plenty of cats to choose from.  Finally, we decided to “just drive” and hope we saw a sign for “Free Kittens.”  I mean, we see them every time we drive around Lancaster, so it won’t be that tough, right? 

Not one sign.

Thank goodness a friend had mentioned that her neighbor had a sign out.  So we headed there first.  We knocked and….no one home. <Sigh.> So I left a business card with my number and crossed my fingers.  Next we drive to another pet store.  The Humane League didn’t show up until 3.  We checked our watches…1:15.  OK, so we decided to drive to the actual Humane League.  Surprise, they didn’t open until 3.  Go Figure.  Just as we were deciding to throw in the towel, my cell phone rang.  The man with the Free Kittens sign was on the other end and was home for lunch.  If we could get there in the next 20 minutes or so, he’d be there.  A quick check of GPS told us we could be there in 25 minutes.  Gulp.

Of course, every slow moving car and farm truck pulled out in front of us as we raced across Lancaster County.  We pulled into the driveway in 27 minutes.  Thank goodness he was still home! 

He had caught 3 of the kittens and had them in a crate.  While he tried to pull 2 out, a little orange kitty peeked out and came out of the crate all by herself.  All three of us said, “We’ll take her!”

So all’s well that ends well.  We have an adorable orange kitty who narrowly escaped being called “Rosie.”  But the lessons learned from our mishap:

1)   Never tell a seven-year-old she’s getting something when you aren’t sure where it’s coming from.

2)   Kittens are everywhere, unless you want one.