Updates on foster care process

Yesterday Olivia and I went to the doctor. She had her yearly checkup and got her updated shots ( which consisted of one shot). She did great! I on the other hand had to get a TB test for part of my DSS requirement ( it was painful!!!). I also had my eyes examined. I go back to the doctor tomorrow to have the TB spot checked. Once I get the all clear then they'll give me the medical forms to turn in to DSS so we can complete this process. Chris also has to have his eyes checked and a TB test, but his schedule didn't allow him to come yesterday. We are making good progress though and I am thankful and getting excited. Olivia and I went to Hobby Lobby after our doctor visit ( we wanted to buy some prints to hang up in the foster child's room). I can't wait to get everything hung and ready ... then I'll post some pictures. Olivia is so excited. A friend donated a stroller, high chair, bouncy seat and boy clothes this weekend. Olivia has been pushing her dolls around in the stroller; she really hopes we get a baby to foster. We have signed up for birth to 4 so any age is possible; we won't know until we get the call. We received a letter from the fire inspector today that says we passed our fire inspection. This is a long process. I used to ask people why it took so long, but now I know. It's good though, because it gives us time to prepare not only our home, but our hearts. I am so proud of my family and how we are in this together. If your heart has a desire, don't give up ... pray. I have been praying for over 6 years that my family would come to this agreement and we are unified on this. Praise God for answering my cry ( my prayer). Even those who didn't understand WHY we wanted to do this now understand. When you are in God's will you don't have to worry He takes care of everything. What a great place to be!!!

Go be a blessing ... smile at the store clerk, tip a little extra, hold the door for someone, ask a friend if you can pray for them ... you can make a difference right where you are.

Updates ...

Where do I start? Olivia and I finished school and mailed in her grades yesterday!! She earned all A's just as she did at Spartanburg Christian Academy. I think she has gotten two B+'s before, but otherwise all A's. She is super smart and very creative. I tell her all the time that she is going to make a wonderful architect ( she builds the most unique structure's with tape and cardboard :)

Chris left Monday at 5:00 to go to the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando, Florida with a group of men from our church. We picked him up at the church at 7:15 last night (it's good to have him back home). While he was away Olivia and I painted the old office/new foster child room ... we picked a nice, calming green color. It looks great! Chris was so surprised to come home and see all of the hard work we had done. We have a bed set up in the room and will also add a crib. We are going to foster birth to age 4 so we have to be prepared for those ages. I went out to our storage building and brought up some of Olivia's baby clothes and toys ( her Barney doll still talks and play music). I posted on facebook some of the items we'll need like a high chair and stroller and a friend already donated those two items for free ( what a huge blessing). Others are donating items as well. We've started buying toothbrushes and hygiene items and I am collecting shoes (a fellow foster mom told me these kids usually don't come with shoes :( We had to buy all new mini blinds to pass our home inspection so we just took care of that. We passed our fire inspection this week !! Now to complete our medical records and have our home study. I know it will all come together. I realize I don't have to have everything now, but those of you who know me know that I like to be prepared. We feel like the Lord has called us to minister to these children and we feel so very blessed. Pray for us on this journey. It is not going to be easy. I cried when I gave my kittens to new homes. Our goal is to give these children a safe and loving home until their families can get back on their feet and in a position to care for them. When our mothers and a good friend of mine became widows we began then to learn how to care for the widow as the Bible says. Now we are taking the next step to care for the orphans. James 1:27

God be with you ...

Feeling blessed and thankful

It's good when your blessings are overflowing and the Lord gives you so much to do that you don't know which way to go :) That's how I feel lately. I have many plates spinning right now, good plates, but many. We had our DSS home inspection and passed !!! I am very happy to have that part of our process complete. We are almost finished with the paper work and will be sending that in soon ( we have to get our doctor report back to mail with it). We have our 14 hour training coming up and our fire inspection all this month. It looks like we could be licensed to foster/adopt by July. Things seem to be moving right along, however, it takes time. We almost have the "office" room empty ( it's hard to move file cabinets and years of paperwork quickly) but we are making progress. The walls are bare so I am going to putty the holes and give it a fresh coat of paint. I want the foster child(ren) to have an extra special room to come home to :) I am very excited; we all are. Olivia and I still have school to finish (we have about 5 days worth of work left). We also need to find homes for two of our kittens and our guinea pig. Since we have decided to bring a kitten inside Olivia agreed that our guinea pig, Cassie, needs a new home. I can't deal with two indoor pets. I want to focus my time on the foster children, not pets. God is so good and I know he will provide for these animals.

We are excited to be going back to teach in the 5 year old Sunday school starting this Sunday. I am going to meet our co-teachers tonight to work on our room and get everything ready. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful body of believers to fellowship with each week at church. I feel very blessed.

One thing that I have noticed lately is that my exercise time is lacking. Pray that I'll get back on track with that. I miss walking in the evenings, but I've had the kittens to care for and just haven't had much spare time. I did play a game of basketball with Chris and Olivia, but I need to keep walking. While you are praying I want you to pray for a female friend of mine who is having a mammogram today for a suspicious lump (pray it is not cancer). Thank you.

Have a great day and be a blessing to someone ...

We remember, we'll never forget

My dad and my father-in-law
Frank W. Neal III (June 28, 1941 -May 28, 2008)

Ray J. Boiter, Sr. (May 28, 1935 - Nov. 22, 2006)


Today is my dad's 75th birthday, as well as, the two year anniversary of the passing of Chris's dad from this life to Heaven. What a day it was two years ago to sit by Franks side and hold his hand as he took his last breath. I have to admit I whispered in his ear to tell my daddy "Happy Birthday" when he got to Heaven. What a day of rejoicing that will be, when we all see Jesus and sing and shout the VICTORY! Frank was a good father-in-law and an excellent grandpa. He is missed. Say a special prayer for Chris and Olivia and all of the Neal's as we remember Frank. Thank you.

Happy Birthday sweet daddy, oh how you are missed. Say a prayer for my mom and brothers as we reflex on my dad today too. Don't we serve an awesome God that His timing would allow these two events to fall on the same day? Sure, it would be my preference to have dad and Frank this side of heaven right now, but ... I don't get to make that call. Instead a perfect, all knowing, all loving, God decides. I trust Him and love Him and thank Him for this day.

Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Go be a blessing.

Fabulous Friday

Oh how I love Friday :) those of you who know me well know it's our family fun night!! We go out to eat, visit family or friends, find a park, hit the mall or Chuck E. Cheese ... something for family togetherness. Right at the moment I am covered in white specks of paint and need to shower before our fun begins. I have been painting our front porch and let me just say; it is a bear!!! We have these decorative spindles with curves, more curves and then a little straight strip (the easy part). Those curves require patience and diligence. Since I want the porch to look good up next to our new siding I am taking my time and doing the job right. I could go out there and throw on the paint, but that would only make a mess and would require more work to straighten it out. Kind of reminds me of my life. When I get in a hurry and don't take the time to read my Bible and just sit and listen to the Lord my whole day turns into a mess. I need that direction early so I will be able to with stand the "curves" thrown at me during the day. You know it's like Matthew 7: 24 - 25 says "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock."

When my day starts with the rock of my salvation, then no matter what happens it's going to be a good day ... mess free.

I guess I'll go clean up so our family fun can begin ... be a blessing where ever you are.

Busy days ...

Do you ever have those days/weeks where you have so much to do that you can't see straight? I am in the midst of one of those months. It's all good stuff, actually great stuff, but just time consuming. We have gotten the siding and windows taken care of and now I need to paint the front porch ( will start today). Remember though I am a home schooling mom so I have lessons to teach, tests to grade and grades to average and send in to our home school association. I also have 5 kittens to teach how to eat and play and get ready to give away. We are about to start teaching the 5 year olds at church again so I have Sunday school lessons / crafts to prepare. In the midst of all of that the Lord has laid on our hearts to be foster/adoptive parents ... now you know what my last post was all about. We have completed the first large packet of questions and are finishing up packet #2 (very in depth and time consuming questions). We have put up a fire extinguisher and got all new smoke alarms. We now have a fire escape route posted in our home :-) We have been fingerprinted and had a SLED check. Chris is giving up his hunting/ fishing / office room so we can make a bedroom for our future foster children. We plan to foster one child at a time due to the fact that we only have room for one other person in both our vehicles ( I don't have a mini van anymore :-( We are very excited, but lots to do in preparation. Cleaning out this office and moving fish and deer heads will be a job ( who knows which wall they will go on now??) I don't want to think about that :-) All I know is that it will be worth it to help a child in need. I am so thankful that the Lord has laid this on the heart of my entire family. Olivia is so excited and looking forward to having a baby or little one in our home. We are applying to help children birth to 4 years right now, but we'll see what the Lord lays on our hearts for the future. Join us in prayer as we seek His will and not our own.

Back to my busy schedule ... Chris's sister is getting married this Saturday in York, SC so we are looking forward to that. Olivia's piano recital is May 18th ... can't wait. Bible Fellowship appreciation dinner May 19, Chris and I will be married 14 years on May 25th . My niece Kayla graduates high school May 28th ( my dad's birthday). Sunday June 30th will be our last day as secretary/ administrator in adult Bible fellowship because we will start back teaching in the 5's on June 6th. Fun days ahead.

That's our little world. ... Jeremiah 29:11

Go be a blessing ...

Our stray cat and orphans

Have you ever taken in a stray cat? My dad used to say it was good luck when a cat comes to your house. ( He wasn't fond of cats so I don't know why he said that, but he believed it). Back in February a stray cat showed up on our deck. It was dark and had started snowing. I turned on the deck light so we could see the snow and that's when I spotted the skinny cat. I carried her around to our front porch and gave her the only thing I had ( dog food)she ate every bite. She seemed "normal looking" no visible signs of poor health other than needing food. I continued to feed her and we claimed her as our own. Olivia named her Pepper. Fast forward to this morning. I was out sitting on the back steps watching Pepper eat and thinking how she came to be our cat. She needed a home and we provided that for her. There was nothing wrong with her ... she just needed love. Now she is happy and has 5 sweet kittens who we are also caring for. We can't imagine not having Pepper. She has a wonderful personality and it's like she's always been apart of our family. I guess that's the good luck my dad was talking about :) a new part of our family.Switch gears with me and let's talk about orphans for a moment. Do you know that orphans are little children who haven't done anything wrong? They were born and have been harmed either by abuse or neglect by their parents; the very people who are suppose to care for them. Do you know how many orphans there are in South Carolina? thousands of them. Do you know what they look like? They look like my daughter and your child. Do you ever watch the news and hear a reporter say that the child was taken into protective custody. Do you ever think about what that really means? Do you visualize a huge building where all of these kids just stay and wait until their parents get their act together? Do you think about these kids at all??? well you should. Think of your own life and your own children if you have them. Can you imagine them not having you? Can you imagine what it would be like for a child to have their parent one moment then to be without them the next. When these children's parents do wrong and the children have to be taken out of their home they don't get to pack an overnight bag and get their things, they just go. How would you feel if someone came in and took you away from the only life you knew? Put yourself in the place of an orphan. The Bible tells us in James 1:27 (New Living Translation)"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." We are told in the Bible to care for the widows and the orphans. Do we do that? Now is a good time to ask the Lord how he would have you help care for the orphans.I'll share more later ... I have a class to go to. Pray and seek.

Kayla's Art Show

Kayla standing next to her drawing of grandmother Quinn as a toddler
My favorite piece is this one of Kayla and my daddy in the swing.
Jake standing next to the picture she drew of him.

mom and Kayla

Kayla's art teacher and others who came out to support her big night.

Kayla and her pretty mom, Linda :-)

Yesterday was Olivia's 11th birthday and also the opening reception to Kayla's art show. Even though Olivia and I were at the show, neither of us had our picture taken with Kayla :( Chris's mom Sylvia was also there videotaping the event. We all had a good time. Congratulations Kayla for completing your AP Studio Art Portfolio. Her work will be display at the Landrum Public Library through April 25th.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Olivia :) She had a good day, but we plan to celebrate with her friends this weekend (nothing planned yet due to all of the work going on around here), but we will put something together to make her feel special!!! Can't believe how fast she is growing up and that she is taller than me.

Well, she and I have school to finish. We are studying weather right now. God bless you and thanks for reading ( Wanda :)

the LOST

Would you join me in praying for some friends and family members that are lost? By lost I mean they do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Some of them don't seem to care. Others seem to choose to ignore Him on purpose and with a bit of pride and attitude. As much as I love the Lord it is very difficult to see, hear or read about someone belittling Him. At the same time the Lord is working in me not to be critical of these people, but to have compassion on their souls and to reach out to them in love ( not judgement). I have realized that I wasted a perfectly good field of folks to reach out to when in high school. I was so busy judging their actions that I neglected to share the good news. One example: Once on a field trip a group of us were on the bus waiting for the teacher. Someone mentioned going out to clubs and I said I didn't do that sort of thing. Everyone on the bus made fun of me and called me Miss Goody Two Shoes; even one of my "church going" friends who I just knew would be on my side joined in the teasing. I got on the defense of how I didn't drink and I didn't dance so I had no reason to go to a club. I will never forget that day and how I felt. After that I didn't want to talk to those people. I had a strong sense of the Bible and it did say to come out from among them, but still I could have taken the approach of sharing Jesus' love but I didn't.

Well, that was then and this is now. Considering the fact that many of those same people still don't seem to care about their spiritual life has prompted this request. I don't want to neglect them twice. Thanks to face book and all of the communication tools at my finger tips, I can share with many what the Lord has done for me. I just want to be obedient to the Lord's will and not my will. My will always seems to mess things up, but God's will is perfect.

Will you pray for me as I seek to know how to approach several friends and family members about their walk (or lack of a walk ) with the Lord. I love them to much not to warn them about hell ( a place many of them think is make believe).

Thanks for listening and please pray.

catching up

Hello friends it has been awhile. I have to admit since I am home schooling and on face book my blogging time has been cut. I do have two readers that I know of :) so I will write for you both :) since you mentioned missing my blog. Thanks Diane and Karen, love you both :)

Things are super busy around our house as we are in the midst of major repairs. Our home is 20 years old and is in need of new siding, wood repair, windows and a new deck. For the past few weekends we have dug up all of the shrubs around our home. Chris is in the midst of tearing off the deck now. Our goal is to have a clean work area for the men who will do the siding & windows (hopefully next week :) Once they are finished we will build a new deck and plant new shrubs or some type of landscaping. On the inside I have been busy de-cluttering all of the cabinets and closets. Miracle Hill came by and picked up a ton of stuff last week and just today I took a load to my mom's for my nephew to use in his house. Yes, Justin has moved out and into his own home !!! I am very proud of him. It's a tiny place, but he is very happy and I am happy for him. He and Joey and Jeff painted a couple of rooms last week and he's started moving in. Can't believe he's grown up!!

Kayla is a senior and is doing great in school. She is an excellent artist and will have all of her works on display at Landrum Public Library for an Art exhibit April 19th. There will be a reception and all !! So proud of her. Jake is as handsome as ever and he too is doing well. They both have prom this weekend maybe I can post pictures. Sweet kids. Speaking of April 19th that is my baby girls 11th birthday. She is taller than me and so beautiful. I just love homeschooling her. She's a joy and I thank the Lord for her daily. Me and my Livie have a grand time learning and going through life together.

We finally found Daisy, our crazy dog, a new home. My fabulous brother Steven and his precious wife Linda (Jake and Kayla's parents) decided they would take her in. They already have Daisy's sister so now she's with family :) They say she's doing well. I am so glad. We love Daisy, but she had a tendency to bite Olivia's friends and well we can't have that.

Grandma Quinn is doing well in the nursing home. She actually told mom last week she had the best day!! So glad she has adjusted and is doing well. Mom is good. All of us keep her busy and shower her with love. She's the best mom.

Chris is going to be in an all day fishing tournament tomorrow and is excited about that. Olivia and I will just enjoy sleeping in and running errands. We have some exciting days ahead, can't really talk about it right now, but if you'll pray for our unspoken requests I'll fill you in on the details later. God bless and thanks for reading.

The Power of the Cross

Do you really understand the Power of the Cross and all that Jesus did for you? As I sat inside my doctor's exam room this morning I had plenty of time to think. I thought about what the cross means to me and what this Easter weekend means to me. Oh if only I had words to describe the feelings in my heart. Oh, if my hands could type fast enough to tell the thoughts I think. I love Jesus so much and thank Him for dying for all the selfish, sinful things I have chosen to do. He was the only perfect sacrifice. He could have said no, but he didn't ... He went to that cross for me ( and you). Do you really understand what He did? He died a horrible death. He was put in a tomb. He arose from the dead. He is in Heaven right now, praying for you and me. Praise God for His love. Praise Him for His sacrifice. Praise Him for his grace, mercy, forgiveness ... Praise Him, Praise Him Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Happy Easter.