Gifts from the Giver....

I have SO enjoyed reading a blog by Ann called Holy Experience (holyexperience.blogspot.com) and have been encouraged to start my own list of 1,000 gifts I'm thankful for.

I'm not going back...I am starting in the present and will try jotting them down every fews days and maybe figuring out how to keep them in their own little file so I can go back frequently and be reminded of each simple blessing.

I love what Ann says: My list is different than another's for a reason: God has made me uniquely me. The Gift List is about gratitude... but it is more. It is about what defines me and my own personal identity. I am thankful for the things on it, yes, but I am also thankful that He has given the gift of me; that God made me who I am and I am one who sees and experiences the world in a way uniquely her own. The Thousand Gifts list is about the gifts Abba gives this child every day... and, ultimately, about the very gift of self, life as I know it.

I am seeing things I have never seen before, atuned and aware of this constant, endless stream of gifts from His hand. I am one waking from slumber....from the stupor of indifference and ignorance. I have sight, fresh and keen---the world is new and full of His gifts.

Too often I miss Him, oblivious, blind. I don't see all the good things that He is giving me, gracing me with, brushing my life with. True, He is everywhere, always. But maybe, before The Gift List, I thought of Him as further off, not so close. When I started to see all the things that I love bestowed upon me, I started to see Him as near, present, everywhere, showering me with good things. Seeing the things I love all around me gives me eyes to see that I am loved, that He loves me.


George MacDonald wrote, "No gift unrecognized as coming from God is at its own best...when in all gifts we find Him, then in Him we shall find all things."

It is the season of lists. Care to begin a list of a Thousand Gifts? You'll find Him in all things---the very best gift of all.

Father, You are the Giver of all Good Gifts. They are everywhere. I can hardly jot them down fast enough. How You love!

(doesn't she have such a way with words???)
Not my gift :)

So.......here's to the beginning.

1. an amazing golden sunset--My favorite part of the day is just before dusk.
I always want to call up my dear friends John and Jody and share the beauty of it with them. They are an amazing couple...a story for another time (which leads to..)

2. John and Jody-they show love, love, love like no one but Jesus himself!

3. my hardworking farmer/husband who has spent the afternoon cutting wood up to keep us warm this winter

4. freshly baked brownies from the oven...and a little 3 yr old who messes with the timer telling me "they're done!" before they are ready :) It's ok, I like gooey brownies!

5. watching the girls ride or work with our ponies Joe-Joe and Lucy (I love the way horses smell!)

Another One Down....

So another week has gone by...another month gone by. I think in the "adoption waiting world" Fridays with no news are called Black Fridays.

We were told the kids would be in the October finalization group. Obviously, it didn't happen. So we're into November. And I'll keep checking e-mails and waiting for a phone call.

When it does finally happen I'll probably say "Rachel WHO?" (she and her husband are the new AOH people in charge of all the adoption "stuff" in the U.S.) They are newly adoptive parents as well (VERY newly) so I know they know what all this waiting feels like.

I just read on someone's blog that adoption is much harder than pregnancy. I think I'm with them. There's no "due date"...no Dr appt to check how things are going...no movement...nothing but this thread of hope that maybe sometime we'll be actually flying to Liberia.

So again I just say...Lord I know it's not the right time. Your ways are perfect. You don't have to explaing anything to me...I can rest that you are in control of every little detail even across the Ocean (but please check to make sure our paperwork is not getting over looked?? :)

Strong Tower

 

Strong Tower....

I love this picture of Chloe (6ys and FEARLSS!) She's at our neighbor's Harvest Party climbing the infamous rock tower. It's really not that tall...but in the picture it looks like she's hanging off Mt Everest!

It reminds me WHO our strongtower is. I don't have to cling to life, hopes and dreams with a fearful grip...that I will fall if I don't do something right.
God is my shelter and He covers me under His wings.

Here are a few verses from Cutless' Strong Tower song:

When I wander through the desert
And I'm longing for my home
All my dreams have gone astray
When I'm stranded in the valley
And I'm tired and all alone
It seems like I've lost my way

I go running to Your moutain
Where your mercy sets me free

[chorus]
You are my strong tower
Shelter over me
Beautiful and mighty
Everlasting King
You are my strong tower
Fortress when I'm weak
Your name is true and holy
And Your face is all I seek

In the middle of my darkness
In the midst of all my fear
You're my refuge and my hope
When the storm of life is raging
And the thunder's all I hear
You speak softly to my soul

Our friends with our kids--how cool!!

 

Silly Girls! (Marie on right)

 

More Pictures....Just Because.....

Here are a few more pictures of the kids....My daugther set it up so they constantly scroll through on our computer....but you blogger fans can't see them so I'll post them here.

I'm trying to quit thinking of all the ways that this isn't going to work out...that one (or more of these precious kids won't be coming home with us)

I know God has a plan and I'm trying to just focus on that and that He knows the big picture.

So when I get anxious here's what I do:

1. I've cleaned the top of our entertainment center (that never gets seen...let alone dusted!)

2. cleaned our stove...taking apart the silly grill that does nothing but catch pancake batter on it...even cleaned out that drip tray that catches everything I boil over!

3. cleaned the fish tank...that alone makes me feel very productive and together :)

4. ate one Hershey bar (I didn't even wait for it to thaw out) and a Dilly Bar from DQ

5. I'm baking oatmeal bread but I know it flopped

6. Cleaned our shower...even the big rust spot! (mostly because we have company!)

7. Stuck my hand into all the cracks of the sofas and chairs (nasty!) That's because we lost a library book. (not there!....but found lots of other interesting things...like what my kids eat when they're not to be eating in the living room)

8. I think I'm going to color my hair again...... :)

***I better add that this didn't happen all in one day. I'm not THAT obsessive!!

Wouldn't it be so much easier if I could just get out shopping!!!!