Can We End the Orphan Crisis?

The answer is YES! I just returned from the Summit VIII and I would love to share with you the answer to ending the orphan crisis. I have blogged about it on our Altar84 blog, and you can read it by clicking on the link below.
http://altar84.org/can-we-end-the-orphan-crisis/

Me and my partners in crime (a.k.a some of my favorite girlies on earth) had the best time. We left husbands and kiddos behind and spent four days together in "not-so-sunny California", having a blast. We learned, laughed, cried and worshipped together.

Blogging elsewhere...

Believe it or not, I have been blogging, just not HERE! My Altar84 sidekick, Jodie and I are blogging weekly on our website as we prepare for the kNOw More Orphans Conference next month. We can not believe it is only a few short weeks until the big day. She and I seriously feel like this ministry is our baby and we are nursing it to life. Actually, we are certain the Lord is nursing it to life, we're just cheering on the side lines. Yes, we are a bit weird ..... you don't have to tell us ;)

Anyway, I do hope to be back here soon. As always, there has been lots going on around "our lives" and we are busy, but everyone is good!

We would appreciate you following our Altar84 Blog HERE! Also, we have extended our early bird rate for the conference through the end of February. If you don't already have a ticket, you can purchase them today, HERE!

Be back soon friends!

Join us and kNOw More!

Friends, I could not be happier to share our new website and video for the kNOw More Orphans Conference, being hosted by Altar 84 in Birmingham on March 10.

Our amazing team has been hard at work for the past several months and here is a glimpse of what is in store at the kNOw More Orphans Conference!!!!

REGISTER TODAY for the early bird special!

Make sure you turn down the music at the bottom of the blog page before watching the video :)

kNOw More Orphans Conference Promo from Jason Wood on Vimeo.

Fun times and a Fundraiser!

So far, 2012 has been full and fun, I guess that means it's been full of fun! Well, fun for the most part. We are gearing up for our home study update and I must confess, I'm not turning back flips from excitement like I was the first time around. But, it must be done!

Over the weekend, I got the big pink binder labeled "Esther" out of the safe. Yes, i keep it in the safe! If you've been through the adoption process before, that makes perfect sense to you. In case of a fire or natural disaster, I'm afraid I wouldn't make it out alive by the time I tried to rescue 7 children and "the binder" (of course the binder would be last ;). Anyhow, it has now made it's resting place back on the kitchen counter.

Our social worker comes tomorrow for our update and I'm guessing he's going to give us some assignments. Just what I need..... something else to do. Yes, I'm griping but it's all good. We are thankful to still be on this journey to our sweet Esther. We wish she were here but we will continue pursuing her at all cost until she's at home where she belongs. We are also asking our sweet social worker for a favor (or two ;), so please pray that he has favor on us. :)

Anyhow, we kicked this update off by heading down to the USCIS office to get our fingerprints re-done. I realized that our appointment notice had this statement at the bottom:

"only persons who are necessary to assist with transportation or completing the biometrics worksheet should accompany you".

Oops.... sorry!

Oh well, at least I took 3 of the "well behaved" kids. Thankfully, everyone was super nice and even bragged about how quiet and polite these babies were. It's amazing what kids will do when bribed with the right treats. :)

We celebrated the launch of our "update adventure" by baking some really fun cookies. Sugar makes everything better, right?!!!

Last week-end was actually like a vacation for me and my man. We were asked to go to Tennessee as chaperones with our youth group from church. This was the first time that our oldest two, Lexie and Dallas, were able to go on a retreat together. I think we may have had more fun than the kids. A full week-end with almost 30 kids that could completely take care of themselves, and I must say these are some of the most amazing kids I know. Not to mention, we got to spend the whole time with 4 other couples that are some of our very favorite people. I missed my little ones back at home, but this time was priceless. So nice to have a weekend with just a couple of our big kids......

I love how close these two are... they may aggravate the mess out of each other, but they have so much fun together!

These are just a few of the sweet kids we enjoyed worshiping and having fun with!

We almost felt like we were on a honey-moon.... I hope that statement doesn't keep us from being invited back next year :)

Well, there's a little bit of the fun we've been having so far this year! Now, please jump over to my friend Malerie's blog and check out their upcoming fundraiser. They are working hard to get their sweet baby girl Gia home soon! Valentines is a great time to get pictures made and NOW you can get some awesome new pictures AND bless this family at the same time. That is if you are in Birmingham or close enough to come visit....

Learn more HERE!!!

Are you looking for a reason to GO?!!!

So, I just couldn't wait.... here's the video!

Last night I teased everyone by saying that I had a "favorite" video I wanted to share.... well, I just couldn't wait any longer. (And I have a busier than normal schedule for the next few days, so it's probably now or way later).

Y'all know when I read a book that I just love, I can't shut up about it. Well, guess what.... I've got about three that y'all are going to be hearing about soon because I've finished some really good ones lately. But, you probably remember that a couple months ago, I could not stop harping about Katie Davis's book, Kisses from Katie.

We have been Katie fans for a while so of course her book was a huge inspiration to me. I then passed it on to Lexie (my oldest daughter) who was equally inspired; but also very moved to really begin to ask the Lord to move in her heart and give her a desire to seek HIS plans for her life, rather than her own plans.

In homeschool, we do have a guidance counselor just like in "real" school. His name is Jesus!!! So, she's been meeting with her "guidance counselor" lately, (did I mention, He's always available?) and I like what He's been saying to her. She's still a junior in high school but I can't wait to see what kind of plans He has for her.

Anyhow, lately Lexie has been sharing Kisses from Katie with some of her friends. I love watching God wreck their hearts and give them desires that are aligned with HIS.

A few months ago, while Katie was doing her book tour, we were able to hear her speak at the Church of Brook Hills here in town. While we were there, we saw a video of her journey. She said something in that video that I thought was profound. Plain, SIMPLE, and PROFOUND!

Turn off my music at the bottom of the page and watch THIS video. Listen to Katie's response to people who say to her, "Wow, you are so lucky that you found what God wants you to do with your life..."

A very cool video!

I know videos are the wimpy way to blog, but I do have several that I have been wanting to share. I had one in mind that I've been meaning to post..... It is the truth spoken just plain and simple. That's what I love..... plain and simple!

BUT, I'm not going to share that one TONIGHT! Sorry, you'll have to check back in a few days. It will be worth it, I promise.

Today, my oldest daughter shared a really cool (and very true) video with me that I wanted to pass on to you guys tonight.

Enjoy!!!!

Christmas: Part 2 (and happy new year!!!)

Well, 2011 has come and gone and the new year is upon us. Our family rang in the New Year with wonderful friends and family. Here's a clue as to how we ring in a new year around here.....

There are several benefits to being married to a country boy.... for one, he is not afraid to blow something up!!!!

We are slowly but surely preparing to start school in a couple days. Since this is our last few days of the holiday break, my sweet man treated me to a special date night last night. We spent the evening reflecting on the awesome things God did in our family last year and thanking Him for the dear friends and new relationships that He brought into our lives. We also shared our goals and dreams for our family for 2012. I am so excited to see what God has in store for this year and I hope to share some of what He has been teaching me lately.

For now, I want to share just a couple more very special blessings that were all part of Christmas in our lives this year.

Just a couple nights before Christmas, we had a Birthday Party for Jesus at our house. This was Maggie's idea..... and oh, so much fun! No doubt.... we will do this every year from now on. Maggie and I, along with some of our friends, spent the week preparing an agenda for the night, a menu and stations to rotate through. We had about 45 kids and a bunch of adults.

We ate and then played games. Next, we moved into our dinning room and playroom to make crafts. Our children's minister, Mrs. Phyliss came and shared a very special story about the "Birthday Boy" and then we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. At the end of the night we ate cake and then went through an assembly line filling stockings that we would later deliver to an apartment complex filled with under privileged children.

This was probably the most special night of the entire Christmas season for our family. At the end of the night, we had been blessed more than anyone.

Yummy dinner with sweet friends.....

Fun and games......

These sweet girls had so much fun!!!

Christmas crafts.....

A very special story time about our Savior.....

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!!

We had ONE LAST wish before Christmas day..... the kids wanted a night to make gingerbread houses. I had determined that it would not happen this year. We had checked most things off of our "wish list", but I had forgotten the gingerbread houses. UNTIL, the night before Christmas Eve...... the kids reminded me. When I explained that we didn't have any of the stuff to make them; they were so quick to remind me that the grocery store would have it ALL!

So, off to the store we went at 8:00 and by 9ish..... you guessed it, we were architects!

We had a blast.... and momma had a mess! :) But these smiles, made it ALL worth it!!!

The one thing missing from our wish list this year...... Esther! Her stocking was hanging on the mantle, her rocking chair was in our Christmas card picture, and she was in our prayers every night. She was in our hearts, but she wasn't in our home..... and we missed her. We talked about her a lot and were reminded by a few new gifts, that she IS coming!

Lexie's sweet friend, Stefanie, painted this canvas for me. How beautiful is that! And, it looks perfect in my den.

Kelsie, my amazing and always by-my-side soul sister, gave me this ornament. It quickly became the focal point of our Christmas tree.

Then, on Christmas morning, my dear friend Jennifer, gave me this very special necklace. The verse she had engraved on it is, Isaiah 41:9-10.

9 "I took you from the ends of the earth, from it's farthest corners I called you.

I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

I am praising God for HIS help and strength. My own strength fails me daily, especially as we long for our child, but in HIM, we find HOPE!

Happy New 2012 Friends!!!

This Christmas: Part 1

Well it's so hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone.... But I must say, this Christmas was the BEST!!!!! It was filled with joy, worship and thanksgiving. There was only ONE thing missing...... our sweet Esther. She wasn't home this year but I did receive a few very sweet gifts that were visible reminders that she is coming home. I will share more about those gifts in the next post.

Earlier in the month I posted about our family's hopes and dreams for this Christmas; and we were blessed to see many of those dreams come true. One of the best things I checked off my list was my plan to spend less time shopping than ever before. CHECK!!! My gift receivers may not have been overjoyed by what they unwrapped but I did not waste one minute running all over town to find the "perfect gift" for anyone. You may be thinking that sounds pretty rude but we had a family discussion about gift buying right after Thanksgiving and we decided that our priorities had to be shifted this year. Everyone was on board, so it was really very simple.

We started the month out by being part of our church's quarterly Kid Jam. We always love this event and this time it was the largest one we've had so far. Several of us drove around picking up van loads of kids and brought them to a local community center where we do ministry every week. The kids played games, danced, sang, and then heard the beautiful message of our Savior. Several children and at least one adult received Christ.

It was barely December and we were already full of joy. We had brand new brothers and sisters in Christ!!!! I can't think of a better gift for Christmas! Below is a few pictures of this joyous day.

I was still on a van route when the games began, so I missed this. I was so excited when someone sent me this sweet picture of my (sometimes shy) Levi getting his game on!

These kids make up the praise team for our children's church and they did a great job of leading worship for the kids.

Below, our pastor is sharing the "TRUE" meaning of Christmas.... that the baby in the manger, is our KING! Our pastor and his wife are dear friends of ours and I am always amazed by their love for others. They are such an inspiration to our church family and many others. We are so thankful that when God gave them a vision for our city, they were obedient!

As David told the story of the birth of Jesus, our very special friends, Kenneth and Rochelle (above) joined us to play the role of Mary and Joseph.

What an honor to get to hold these babies while they heard the NEWS..... that Jesus came to bring us HOPE and SALVATION!

Another very special night, was our Christmas party for Expecting a Blessing! We usually take our girls out for dinner on special occasions; But this time, we decided to have them come over to my dear friend and ministry partner, Lisa's house. Lisa's husband grilled steaks, we baked potatoes and fixed a nice salad and rolls. Of course, we had yummy deserts too. :)

We played dirty Santa, showered them with gifts and spent hours just fellowshipping. These girls and their babies honestly bring some of the greatest joy to mine and Lisa's lives. We call them "our girls" and we actually try to devise plans to move them all in with us. You just can't help but fall in love with them.

We let Lisa's sweet hubby, Eddie join us for dinner since he was so kind to grill the steaks for us. At the end of the night, he had come to realize why we are so crazy about "our girls"..... he was hooked too!

Can you tell we've got lots of babies coming soon?!!! One sweet baby girl was born 2 days after our party!

Since we did very little school work during December (ok basically NONE), we had lots of time for fun things like Christmas crafts......

and baking yummy goodies.....

and reading some of our favorite Christmas books.....

We also spent several nights having dinner with friends, looking at Christmas lights (that might be a southern thang) and watching Christmas movies. Oh those of you who know me well, know that last one was a hard one for me. I am not a movie or TV kind of gal!

It's been a wonderful Christmas season and this was only a little bit of what happened in Our Lives. Stay tuned for post 2! More to come...... but not tonight. My oldest "baby girl" had her wisdom teeth removed today. It's been a long day and this momma is worn out!

Is Christmas a Burden?

I'm sure most of us would answer that question by saying, "of course not,.... it's the most wonderful time of the year". Really?? If you have felt a bit of stress over Christmas then I'd say, that equals a burden. I confess.... I awoke early this morning to worries swirling in my head of how I have not ordered Christmas cards, I have barely bought any gifts and I still have empty Christmas decoration boxes sitting scattered through out the house. For a few moments, I felt stressed. I then heard the Lord remind me that several weeks ago, I resolved to let this Christmas be about Him and not about "others" or my shopping list.

Yes, I do plan to do some shopping. I'm certainly not trying to make it sound as if we just plan to sit around the house singing Christmas carols and retelling the story of Jesus' birth for the next month. That sounds wonderful but probably not real practical for our family.

I have made a Christmas list for the people that I "hope" to buy a gift for but I've also made a list of the things that are more important to me than shopping and stressing. That list does include Christmas carols, digging deep into the story of Jesus' birth and it also includes lots of dinners with friends and family, several ministry opportunities in our city, a special dinner and fellowship with our girls at Expecting a Blessing, baking with my kids, making crafts with my little guys, relaxing and enjoying our time off from school, looking at Christmas lights and truly just worshiping our Savior.

Now all of that may not happen but I'm hopeful that most of it will. I guess this post can also serve as a disclaimer to those of you on my Christmas list..... if you don't get a gift, I'm sorry, I do love you but I'm determined to make sure this month is filled with joy; and joy and stress just don't go together.

Last week I read a quote by Ann Voskamp that puts it all into perspective. "Whenever Christmas begins to burden, its a sign that I've taken on something of the world and not of Christ. Any weight in Christmas has to be of this world."

This video also helps us keep our eyes on Jesus this Christmas season. Please pause my music at the bottom of the page and, worship the King!!!!

Thankful....

Thankful to say the least. This has been a year of blessings for our family, and as I've spent the last few days reflecting on all that I'm thankful for, I'm overwhelmed. I actually attempted to journal about all the blessings in my life this year, but realized a few minutes into it, it would take a really long time and a ton of journal paper.

God has blessed us this year with new family members, restored relationships, and new friendships, healthy children and renewed health for our parents, amazing ministry opportunities and wonderful brothers and sisters to do ministry alongside. We've had a year full of good times with our sweet kids and I have had another year of being married to the most amazing man that I've ever met. It has been a year of blessings, and to the Lord I am so thankful. Some blessings this year came in the form of a trial, but as a result, I have experienced growth that could not have happened any other way. Even for these trials, I am thankful.

We've been blessed to watch friends and family bring home sweet babies, including our dear friends Mark and Heather, who brought home their new son last week.

Baby Cruz had a huge fan club awaiting his arrival!

These three babies have all come home in the past couple of months, including my sweet niece, Daria.

Speaking of Daria and being thankful. Im thankful that right after this airport homecoming, Sonia decided to wash Daria's car seat cover, then realized she had to go to school to pick up her big boys. Guess what that meant??!!!

Aunt Polly got to babysit! Another thing I'm thankful for..... living next door to this sweet girl baby :)

It's been a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend at our house so far. We've spent time with all of our family, decorated for Christmas, my boys have been in the woods hunting, and we are spending tomorrow with friends watching some silly football game. We might be wearing some red and white, and that's all I'm saying ;)

Jesus, I am so thankful for the life you've given me. To YOU alone be all the glory!

Hope you've all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

Fundraisers and the Big Reveal

We have spent the past two week-ends doing something we absolutely love doing. Raising funds to help bring babies home. Last week, we had our final fundraiser for Esther. God is so good and faithful. We are set to bring her home, unless she has brothers or sisters ;)

Several months ago, my friend Andrea, who is an amazing artist, offered to help us raise money by doing a canvas painting party and donating all the proceeds to us. What a fun idea!!! My sweet friend Carol, offered to have the party at her church so we would be inviting girls who have not been invited to the other dozen or so fundraisers we've had. What a brilliant idea :) You may remember, this is the fundraiser that we postponed back in April due to the devastating tornados. A few families from Carol's church were left homeless as a result of the storms and we felt like their primary focus should be on those families.

We decided to wait until a better time and last Friday night proved to be the perfect night for our fellowship. I was able to share with the ladies about our adoption testimony, which I had planned to do the first time. But, now I was also able to share with them about the launch of our non-profit called, Altar 84. In addition to sharing our vision as a ministry, I was also able to encourage them to attend our Know More Orphans Conference in March. It was such a blessing to see the excitement in these girls eyes and be able to share our desire to see "the church" link arms for the sake of the orphan.

Had we had this fundraiser back in April...... I would not have been prepared to share any of that. Just reminds me how God's timing is ALWAYS perfect. BTW, to find out more about Altar 84 and the conference keep reading!

Here's a few pics from our painting party.....

Me, my sweet momma, and Maggie had so much fun, painting these Christmas wreaths.

The painting party came and went, and we were on to the next fundraiser. Only this time, it was not for Esther. It was for her little Asian friend, Gia!

Our friends, Kevin and Malerie are in the process of adopting a little girl from South Korea. A month or so ago, Maggie told me she wanted to do a bake sale to raise money for them. We've never done this before, so I called a local church that was having a craft show and then called all my friends to help. My idea of baking is making those cookies in the box with a snowman already stamped on them. Baking is not my specialty. Fortunately, many of my friends are culinary pros. Maggie and I baked some cupcakes and cookies to add to the yummy goodies and here's what we had.....

We had more stuff delivered to the bake sale including 3 cakes, a couple dozen brownies and lots of cookies. Maggie has started a ministry called, Children of God, and here she is at her very first fundraiser.

This sweet girl worked her booth for 12 hours Friday and 5 hours today. If a person even slowed down at her table, she was quick to tell them that if they purchased any of her goodies, they would be helping our friends get their baby girl home. All while directing their attention to this picture on my ipad.

Who in the world could say "no" to that?!!!..... Kevin and Malerie, holding a picture of their beautiful daughter. Maggie sold lots of stuff and she can not wait to hand the money to them in the morning at church.

To all of my amazing friends that helped make this happen for Maggie (and ultimately for Gia :), thank you so much. As I said to a couple of my friends earlier today, by "linking arms" we can bring these babies home.

What a blessing it is to get to be a part of Gia's story. Lot's of friends are waiting for you, sweet girl!

Last of all, it's time for the Big REVEAL!!!! We are so excited about the launch of our website for Altar 84 and the Know More Orphans Conference. Keep in mind, it's brand new and we've got more details to be added, but please take a look at both sites and feel free to email me if you have questions or you are interested in learning more about our ministry or conference. This has been like our baby that we, along with our friends, Jodie and Eric, have been preparing to birth for months. We feel like we are sorta in labor now. Literally, some days.... but God has been so faithful to provide a team of people who love orphans and are way more intelligent than us. We could have never gotten this far with out so many wonderful people coming alongside us in this effort. God has brought us to tears many times with His gracious provisions. Thank you Jesus for this journey!

http://www.altar84.org/

http://www.knowmoreorphans.org/

Baby Showers, Birthday Parties and Orphan Sunday

Last week was our quarterly baby shower for Expecting a Blessing. This never gets old. When God calls you into a place of ministry, it just gets better all the time. That's certainly the way I feel about these girls. With every group of girls, I sorta dread them delivering their babies and possibly being gone from my life, but God replaces ever single group of mammas with another special bunch of friends and we get to do it all over again. God has been so sweet to allow us to build long term friendships with so many moms that we met through this ministry. Here we are with our moms-to-be enjoying a very special day of celebration.

We have the MOST fun making these adorable baskets full of goodies. We are so grateful to the many people that donate all the items to fill these baskets up. It always makes me so happy to see how excited our moms are when they start digging into their goodies. Lexie, Maggie and Christen joined in the fun. Are these three girls beautiful or what?!

Lilly helped my friend Paula, from Grace's Kitchen serve punch.

Have you ever in all your life seen such an adorable baby girl? Baby K had all of us drooling over her cuteness :)

Thanks to our partners at Christ City Church, Hunter Street Baptist Church, and Grace's Kitchen for caring for these sweet babies and their mommas by making this a super special day!

We went from baby showers to birthday parties......

Guess who turned TWO!!!!!

We can not believe our baby Cash is two years old! What is wrong with me y'all? I have never let a baby have a paci for more than a few months and here Cashy is 2 and still loving his gaggy (yes that's what he calls it). Daddy and the kids give me a very hard time about this but its funny how the more kids I have, the more I want them to stay little. I also never let one of my boys have long hair until Cross.... it just fits his personality. He is long on rebellion..... and the older sweet Cashy gets, the more he learns from his partner in crime, Crossy. Cross + Cash = Crash! Lord, help me :)

I hope all of you are gearing up at your church for Orphan Sunday this week. I just heard about a great opportunity this morning and wanted to share it for those of you who are interested. You can go to Orphan Sunday's official website HERE and register to attend an online webcast this Sunday night at 6 p.m. central. This webcast will be LIVE and will include worship and guided prayer for the fatherless. Registration is simple and quick.

Last of all, if you are in Birmingham you should consider joining us at Lifeline Adoptions annual fundraiser banquet next Tuesday night, November 8th. This event will include a silent auction, followed by dinner and featured speakers David Platt as well as my pastor, David Nasser. With these two guys leading, I'm certain we will be challenged and encouraged to care for the orphans in our city and around the world. You can find more information and register HERE.