Category Archives: Day in the Life If you have been reading my blog for awhile–then you know I have a “second mama” who I call Mama Judy. Mama Judy and I met years ago…she called me to take pictures for her sweet family…and I had the honor of documenting her last days with her precious husband before He went home to […]  Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to Richard… Happy birthday to YOU!Happy birthday to my love!!! Hope you have an AMAZING day!!! Your FIRST birthday as a daddy of 4! Here Rico is with baby #4…who he adores–and insists on getting up with almost EVERY night!!! Here’s to another year of […] Today is Cade’s b-day too. A great day 🙂 Love the PS and your heart. I believe that our ideas of finances and “running the numbers” do NOT count. Jesus fed 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Love your fire Andrea…truly amazing. I also love that you so eloquently capture issues that we are all thinking about. I just finished reading Radical and I am in the middle of Adopted for Life…and I am probably feeling more convicted than I ever have been about adoption. Interesting, because I’ve had this discussion many times with other adoptive moms – about how to respond to this issue, etc. Really, it boils down to the story of God’s adopted of us…there are so many parallels. And…families are always better than institutions…little souls cannot be loved, cherished and shepherded in institutions. Can’t wait to hear more from you on this topic… Amen, amen. I did not realize this issue was even out there, it is hard for me to believe some even feel that way. A wonderful answer to a sensitive subject, an answer based on Scripture, which is never wrong or outdated. Preach it girlfriend! I’m 100% on board with you! We have so much “family” that is against our adoption. After hearing negative for the past year I need to be reminded that I need to just Love them. God is not just calling me to just Love the orphans but the anti-adoption people also. I am looking forward to hearing what you have to say! Thank you for your words! I always appreciate them! Blessings~ YES!! Keep sharing, Andrea! Love your heart, your voice, your knowledge and truth. Hugs to a beautiful day to celebrate your best friend. Amen. I think you may have just written one of your talks for the conference (assuming you will be presenting 🙂 Oh my goodness, my brother said those exact words to me recently when I asked him if he’d consider being the guardian for our adoption. He told me, “It is great that you feel sorry for those people, but deep in my heart I feel that you would be doing yourself and that child a disserve by taking him away from his culture and country. In the long run, I don’t think either of you would be happy.” Really? Are you kidding me? It would be better for a child to grow up alone in an institution without the love of a family? Breaks my heart that this person I grew up with, in the same home, going to church, feels this way. Blessings, Amen, Andrea! I have been thinking about this a lot lately too. Thank you for putting my muddled thoughts into encouraging words… again! love it!!! Cannot wait to give you a huge hug! Love your heart, my friend Love this post! I agree 100%… and I think you are right on, it really is about what the WORD says not what we think is most acceptable. Besides the fact that it is pretty clear in Scripture that God is all about adoption, have these people ever simply asked a child in the instituion…”would you rather stay in your own country, have your needs met, but no one to call mom and dad, and no one to call you “son/daughter”??? or would you rather move to another place and have a Daddy and a Mommy… a family and a place to call home. I wonder what those children would say… I bet I know. Seems to me your heart has changed. Somehow when you are the adoptive mother…God works in a way to allow you to see first hand the healing that takes place in a family. I believe that ADOPTION is GOD’s idea and HIS heart. I am grateful to be part of HIS family because of it. Oh Andrea. All day long I have been singing these lyrics, “EMPTY my hands, FILL UP my heart, CAPTURE my mind with You.” (10th Avenue North, Empty My Hands). That’s where I want to be on this and ALL issues… AMEN!!! Sweet Sister!!!! Love your words!!!! i loved reading this tonight andrea b/c i just heard about my grandmother in law not understanding why we want to adopt internationally from Uganda for our second child instead of domestic again and the things she said…well urked me…so it was great to read your post! love ya! Amen!! Looking forward to reading more!!! amen , sister friend….wow….if i could write that well…i’d never stop…amazing and so TRUTHFUL…I dare someone to say that LL deserved to live in an orphanage the rest of her life…Shame on them…and well…i REALLY don’t DARE them…i just want scary, mean people like that, that have been deceived, to stay away!! 🙂 Don’t even come near my blog…cause we love children at my spot…all children!! 🙂 great post, kj I agree. ‘Culture’ does not trump the Gospel. I’m anxious for your rant. :o) I’ve felt this undercurrent for the last several years, and it needs to be addressed. It’s being fueled and pushed by UNICEF, and I see it popping up here and there in the blogosphere even more frequently. There’s a fine line between adoption & rescue that needs to be tread softly–in my opinion. I think we should be very careful not to project or intend to be RESCUERS, as our motivation to adopt. We’re mommies, first and foremost–we adopt because we want to grow our families. That we happen to be following a mandate of “pure religion and undefiled” is important, but I see so much trouble in the future for our children if “rescue” is our focus. I hope I’m not making a complete mish-mash of what is in my heart. I’ve been reading spatterings of growing resistance toward evangelical families adopting, by those who seem to really resent the Church’s rather open push toward adoption. I think we must be very careful to not give them fodder. To be circumspect. To be well-read on post-institutional issues. To keep it real. But on the other hand, we must not be cowed into accepting their worldview, simply because it’s more strident. I’ll be praying for you as you formulate your storm. We NEED to see it addressed and hit head-on. <3 (about Sparkles…our goldfish) me: (realizing the murky water REALLY needed to be clean) “What are we going to do with that thing? Rich: “We could clean it. OR we could flush him down the toilet.” me: “Oh Rich! That’s awful. He would die!!! I mean…he would die–he would—wouldn’t he?” Rich: “Oh—no! He wouldn’t. He’d go […] UM, a little disturbing but funny. We recently flushed a fish that wasn’t quite dead, yet. It was dying though. Now my 2 year old tells everyone that our fish went to be with God by going down the toliet. Oh this makes me giggle! I’m right there with you! We had a thriving tank with 3 little fish in it for a while and then, one by one, they started to die. Only 1 (nameless) fish remained and the filter broke. That was 3-4 months ago and this thing just keeps on living! No one notices him, my husband feeds him and tops off the water when needed and the little fish just keeps on swimming! Even after a week of vacation and no food? He’s a robofish! I’ve wanted to put that tank away for a while now…perhaps you’ve inspired us!? Oh this post just makes me laugh! We could have had that conversation word for word in our house. We’ve been thorough a few fish now. Life’s too busy and we really aren’t pet people. I tried to keep from smiling when I said to my husband the other day that I wanted to get a bird, just to see the reaction he’d give. Smiles. We’ve gone the fish route for my son too and I must say that watching them die a slow, ugly death isn’t good for the little ones either. =) Too funny! Love it. We had a newt once. Yep… and I had three boys under four. I so wish I could remember his name. Perhaps a newt could be your next pet. 🙂 Call me before you make that purchase. I’ll talk you down. Adventure of a lifetime – definately! =) love it!!!! Definitely with Nemo”:) haha that was too cute! :0) Nope. He’s dead. Either stuck in your septic system or in the towns sewer and waste treatment. For future reference the ‘humane’ way to euthanize a fish is to put him in a bowl of water and freeze it. A dear friend gave our son Nathan a goldfish for his 6th birthday! She laughed and we groaned. We thought “Buddy” (as he was affectionately named) would die within weeks but alas after almost 2 years – he lives on! Many, many times when I look at the cloudy bowl that needs to be cleaned (again!) I am tempted to flush away but my little boys would notice all too soon and be very sad. Hope your kiddos don’t notice the fishy is gone! You crack me up. We were lucky as my husband had access to fish drugs that you can just put in the water to kill it. Our daughter just though it died naturally. Ha, ha!! Too cute! We have no pets…there is no way I could take care of a little animal right now! I am sure Sparkles is just fine! 🙂 So funny! We have two fish aquariums right now, one in each of two of our boys’ bedrooms! Reminds me of one of our last fish… I went to clean out the tank so I poured the water into the toilet… except Mr. Fishy ( actually I think his name was Nemo, as most of our fish are named Nemo! ) fell into the water too! I tried to “fish” him out and he swam down the drain, so i just decided to flush him! (: And here I am TRYING my hardest to keep my kid’s fish alive and they all die. It is now tradition to just go buy new fish every birthday. Wish I had your fish luck! TOO FUNNY!  Oh…my favorite season!!! I can hardly stand it!!! SO…on my last trip to Walmart–I snatched up 4 long sleeved t-shirts in Fall colors (just $3.50 each!) + a packet of “Heat-n-bond”. Seriously–if you have never played with “heat-n-bond” you have to pick a packet of it up on your next trip to Walmart (and Hobby […] im still up…oh, too cute…my nausia won’t let me sleep 🙂 but it didn’t stop me from going to teh pumpkin patch today….i’ll post pics of that tomorrow 🙂 love me some pumpkins…and i need you to live next door for the zig zag thing on the shirts, kj Too cute!! =) Gotta love Walmart shirts 😉 wow! you are good to get all of your kiddos smiling at one time, beautiful pictures as always!! 🙂 SERIOUSLY…look at that belly!!! He and Frankie-baby wear the same shirt b/c of that round thing! I’m lovin’ your daughter’s boots! Where did you find them? I love me some heat and bond!! I call the zigzag over an applique “poor woman’s embroidery.” Ha! Your pictures are gorgeous. Love the fall colored leaves on the ground (not something we get here in AZ) Girl, give us your secrets…how do you do all that you do? I guess God has truly blessed you with great time management and a lot of energy! 🙂 I can barely get mine all dressed and out the door…much less whip up some cute matching appliqued pumpkin shirts! So cute!!! I am just amazed…Oh, and CG loves her boots! 🙂 Adding Heat and Bond to my Walmart list right now! So cute!!!  I’m always amazed at how our God provides…how He always works out the details… really…you won’t believe how HE has been the one planning the adoption momma retreat (Created to Care Women’s Retreat)…call me crazy–but I truly believe that He is the one who called the 200 women to join us…each one He has orchestrated […] I am so excited about the Created to Care Retreat! I keep asking February to hurry up!!! And your pictures are adorable, I love that Parker is holding Isaac’s popsicle, what a precious big brother! Aw, what a happy post. Made me all warm and fuzzy. Is the song really on here? I’d love to hear. 🙂 Excited about the retreat. Asher—it should be! Turn the volume up on your computer and see if you still can’t hear it…it is working on both of my computers…so it should be working:) Yeah, did last time and it wasn’t working-but came back a few hours later and now its working! 🙂 too cute…love the shirts, kj Love the song! Hearing how God is orchestrating all the details gets me even more pumped up to come! Jenny […] is trying to teach me…that the broken need healing…and each of us matter deeply to Him (remember the little bird outside OfficeMax?) OR do you remember the bird that was waiting for us out side the pulmonologist that […] […] a bird cage, nursing him back to health and then letting him go when he was healed. IT was AMAZING. You can read about it and see the pictures here ]. Thanks to Princess Tiger (our last rescue bird) we had everything we needed. But…it […] |
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how sweet of your momma judy to do that…she is very creative and crafty! how thoughtful of her and LOVE the matching aprons! love how you guys took that opportunity to sale cupcakes for orphans..precious!
Oh what FUN!!! You are so creative… you should write a book. You know, in your spare time! 😉
You ROCK!! Love this idea!! We have a dear friend who has had diabetes since 18 mo old, and we support and walk for a cure every year for JDRF for Kyle. Thumbs up to Parker for thinking of that. =) But YAY too for Wiphan kids. So cool either way.