This first journey is winding down

Wow, what a journey. This time last year foster care was not in my radar and now it has become my daily life. The Lord sure has a way of changing us. After having one child, who I love very much, I still desired to have more. When I realized I wouldn't birth any more babies, of my own, the thought of adopting came to mind. I have to admit as my friends were birthing their second and third babies; I was a little mad at God for not letting me birth anymore. I would pray and ask the Lord why 'so n so' was blessed with all those children and why He didn't trust me with more? I hated it when people would comment "oh you are lucky you only have one child to deal with". I've never thought of children as something to "deal with". I wanted more to raise, love and cherish. It wasn't until April of 2010 on a Turkey hunting trip to Waterloo, SC that the Lord revealed fostering to my sweet husband Chris. Donna, a long time foster parent to over 130 foster children enlightened Chris on what foster care was all about. Sure we had been to David & Donna's home before and we had met many of their foster children ( 2 that they had adopted and raised as their own), but this time something was different. This time we fell in love with "Bobbie" a little boy in their care. I told Donna I would love to raise him and she told us about foster care. We had many conversations and emails on the subject. Chris and I felt the call to begin the paper work to be foster parents like David and Donna. For the first time I finally had an answer to that "Why" question I had asked the Lord. Why didn't He bless me with more children? I think so I would open my heart to foster. We saw the need first hand and couldn't wait to begin the journey. So ... a year later here we are. Our first foster child, a 5 year old little girl came to our home back on August 30, 2010. Since that time we have experienced signing her up for K-5, taking her to the zoo, throwing her a Tinker Bell birthday party, buying her first Halloween outfit and taking her on her first trick or treat adventure. We enjoyed having her with our family for Thanksgiving, playing Santa at Christmas, we have taken her to our 5 year old Sunday school class each Sunday, school events, and we just took her on her first trip to the beach WHERE she prayed to ask Jesus into her heart !!!! Words cannot describe the joy that she has brought our family. I love her as my own. Now don't get me wrong it's not all fun and games. She is a normal child who tests me, yells at her sister, talks back, gets mad and all the normal things any child does. But when the Lord calls you to a task, He will give you the love, strength and patience to handle that task. As I type this I don't really know how much longer she will be with us. It is possible she could go home any day or be with us through April. I can't really talk about the details of the case. I will tell you that I love her mom and I know her mom loves her. I don't have a problem with her going home and I can't thank the Lord enough for that, because I am hoping it will make this separation easier on me :( I'll let you know when I get there. For now I am still her "mom", Olivia still has a little sister and Chris is spoiling two little girls. Prayerfully consider what you can do to help foster children. You may not want to foster ... that is okay. Donate to foster care or your local children's shelter. They are always in need of socks, underwear, tooth brushes, tooth paste, hair brushes, combs ... your basic hygiene items. They need the little things that we all use daily and don't think about until we are out. You can make a difference.

Go be a blessing ....

A couple of Christmas pictures and my birthday :)

Fun in the snow :)

Happy 2011

I absolutely do not know where to begin. My blogging time is so short these days that when I do have a few moments to type I don't know where to start. Christmas was wonderful. We loved sharing it with T. Olivia and I had a ball playing Santa. T got lots of gifts and her words on Christmas morning were, "I won, I won!!" Many of her gifts were donated by the DSS office which was a huge blessing to us. Back in October I was asked to turn in a wish list for her. I was amazed at the generosity of donors who shopped for her. A great big thank you to the Spartanburg County Department of Social Services for how well this program works. It really makes it easy on foster families. T and I made a nativity together and that was so much fun. When I told her the story of Jesus' birth she asked, "how do you know that?" I told her I read it in the Bible and then I shared it with her. What joy!!!

Speaking of fostering we are loving it. A great calling and a blessing to us. Please prayerfully consider it if you have a heart for helping others. Little T is growing in leaps and bounds (literally). She is so happy about how tall she is getting. We expect to have her until March. I am shifting gears and talking about her home more often to help prepare her. She is excited about going home and enjoys the visits we currently have with her mom. I am so thankful that this is a case where I am "ok" with her going home. I truly feel like she will be fine. I have been praying for her mom for months and will continue.

Olivia and I took two weeks off from home school while little T was out on Christmas break. We started back this week and I can't praise her enough for working so hard. Olivia is an excellent student!!! She makes straight A's and is super smart. Yesterday we talked about her science fair project ( I think she is going to do two:). She won a blue ribbon in 4th grade for her Science Fair project. She loves science.

Chris didn't have the best hunting season ... He gave it his all, but no deer were to be found. I don't know where all the deer have gone. Maybe next year he can find better property to hunt on. He is such a good man. He and I will be married 15 years this May. We are already talking about where to go to celebrate. We usually don't do anything big, but we are ready. 15 years is a big deal !!! I love Chris and thank the Lord for him and his sweet heart.

We are still teaching 5 year old Sunday school so between preparing those lessons, home school lessons, taking care of the house, kids, pets and extended family I am pretty busy. My main trips away are to Ingles, church, school for T, DSS visits for T, nursing home and to see my mom (and that is rare). If you never get a phone call from me, I'm sorry. I never pick it, but if you call me I'll talk :) If I am busy with home school or helping T with homework I'll let my machine answer the phone for me, but I'll call you back. I am now on a texting plan so I do text... never thought I would, but I do and I am pretty good at it ( if I say so myself:). You have to text when you have a preteen :) Yes, Olivia will be 12 in April. The years are flying. She keeps me young.

Well, that's all the time I have now. Teaching is my job and school is important. Take care and maybe I'll get to post again soon. Oh, Happy New Year!!!


Go be a blessing ...

This and that updates

Where do I begin???? So many things to talk about. Our little one got sick with a sinus infection and missed 3 days of school ... that meant Olivia and I missed 3 days of school. Chris also got sick with sinus stuff, but thank the Lord he and T were well by Thanksgiving and we were able to share a fun meal at the Neal's. My brother Jeff had surgery on his neck/spine C-4 and C-6 the day before Thanksgiving so we celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday with my family. He was having difficulty using his hands for daily tasks and after seeing a specialist was told he had a pinched nerve. He came through the surgery fine and came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving. He is doing really good. Mom is still in pain and hasn't had any relief. She goes back to the doctor tomorrow. She was told surgery could help if she has the bad part of her colon removed... I think she is starting to steer toward that. I wish she would go ahead and have the surgery and begin her recovery and healing. I can't stand to see her in pain and not be able to help her. Everyone else in our family is doing well. I took grandma Quinn some sweet potato pie (Dad's recipe) and she paid me the best compliment by saying it tastes just like his :) Grandma is doing really great at the nursing home and that makes us all happy.

Life with little one is an adventure!! She and Olivia sound like "real" sisters. They are good for each other. We have the house all decorated for Christmas and both girls have trees in their rooms. I bought them each an ornament that says "sisters". This will be a Christmas like no other for all of us. Little one asks me questions all the time about God and I love that. I am able to teach her so much. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, but I sing to her every night. Her favorite song is Jesus loves the little children. We had the joy of having the Kuckel family over for dinner Saturday night. It's so rare that we have a free Saturday to entertain so I was very thankful it worked out for our family and theirs. The Kuckels have 5 children; an 11 yr. old daughter like Olivia and a 6 year old like our little one. And then they have 3 precious boys, the twins who are 9 ( I think) and baby Dew who is 4 months. I enjoyed their company. The girl talk was great, holding the baby was sweet and me and Hope trying to get a good picture by the tree was hilarious. It was a fun time. So thankful for the blessing of good friends.

Life is busy right now as you can see, but it's all good. We have a foster parent meeting tonight, an appt. on Thursday, Christmas party on Saturday, Christmas program at church on Sunday AND this is my birthday week. :)

Please keep all the folks above in your prayers. Oh and I think I am coming down with a sinus infection (the headache and drainage came in the wee hours of Sunday morning and the sore throat is upon me right now) Pray I don't get sick this week :) Thanks.

Go be a blessing.

My personal trainer - Gilad :)

Yes, I finally have my very own personal trainer ;) His name is Gilad and we work out together everyday from 10:00 to 11:00. He comes to my house every morning via Fit TV :) He is in Hawaii and I am in what we call the Green Room. I lift weights, do cardio and lots of work on my abs. Hopefully over the next several weeks I will see a new me. I am tired of the fat face pictures. I am tired of two little girls poking my jelly roll around my belly. I want to be slim and trim again. I grew up being underweight or average most of my life. It wasn't until I married Chris that I actually started putting on weight. When I found out I was pregnant with Olivia I weighed 107 pounds after I delivered her I was 117. Today my drivers license says I am 120 ... Let's just say if I had a car accident and was unrecognizable and my driver's license were lying in the road the person at the scene would say this can't be her because the woman here is more than a 120 pounds :) I want to make my license true. lol I like Gilad's easy warm up, cardio blast, ab trimmer, and weight lifting. Once the workout is over there is an easy cool down and I am done. When he does an exercise that I don't like or has a commercial break, that is when I will simply run in place or do more sit ups. The thing I like about him is that he is free and I can exercise in the privacy of my home. Now don't get me wrong IF I could afford it I would love to go to the gym and have a real personal trainer. It would be nice to use all of that fancy equipment, but you don't need either to lose weight. ALL you need is a determination and that is what I have right now ( I might not have it in a week, but right now I do :) I started this two weeks ago and we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck. I haven't stepped on the scales since I started I am going to wait and be surprised ( hopefully a good surprise :).

Okay so this was all about ME today ... go figure???

I can't help but put in a word from the Lord from one of my favorite passages; Proverbs 31:17 "She girds herself with strength. And strengthens her arms." It is not a vanity that I care for my body, but rather a help to my family; to be strong to care for them and our household. Nice huh? God cares about every detail of our lives.

Be a blessing in word or deed.

God is good

Praise the Lord, since my last update there has been a pleasant change at our house. I've seen more sweet faces and less attitude. God is so faithful to help us if we'll only ask for guidance. Yesterday mom actually met me out and we shopped in two stores ( not much walking just pull up to a store and walk in) it was great!! I loved having her with me and getting her opinion. I was in need of some new shirts and took 6 in the dressing room ... she helped me choose 3 out of 6 that looked "good". I love her honesty of the ones that fit and her laughing with me about the ones that didn't fit :=)

So I am praising God for His goodness. Yes there are days of valleys, but I love those mountain top days :)

Off to worship. I love Sunday services.

Go be a blessing ...

Come to Jesus

Today I want to share the lyrics to a song that really gave me comfort when I heard it last night. It's an older song that you may have heard on Christian radio. It's called Come to Jesus. I do not know who wrote it, but it says performed by Chris Rice.

Weak and wounded sinner

Lost and left to die

O, raise your head, for love is passing by

Come to Jesus

Come to Jesus

Come to Jesus and live!

Now your burden's lifted

And carried far away

And precious blood has washed away

the stain, so

Sing to Jesus

Sing to Jesus

Sing to Jesus and live!

And like a newborn baby

Don't be afraid to crawl

And remember when you walk

Sometimes we fall...so

Fall on Jesus

Fall on Jesus

Fall on Jesus and live!

Sometimes the way is lonely

And steep and filled with pain

So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then

Cry to Jesus

Cry to Jesus

Cry to Jesus and live!

O, and when the love spills over

And music fills the night

And when you can't contain your joy inside, then

Dance for Jesus

Dance for Jesus

Dance for Jesus and live!

And with your final heartbeat

Kiss the world goodbye

Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and

Fly to Jesus

Fly to Jesus

Fly to Jesus and live!

I've had a really stressful week with some new challenges (Satan is attacking). Pray a hedge of protection for my family and me. My mom is in terrible pain and the doctor's don't seem to be doing enough for her. She has another test in 2 weeks. My foster child has begun showing a side that is new to me. When she gets upset because she is being corrected she puts on a very "straight/stiff" face and doesn't say a word to me. She can hold that very unpleasant expression for 30 minutes. The first time this happened we talked through the issue and her pretty smile came back quickly. It happened once and then a week passed before I saw that "look" again .... now I am seeing that face 2 and 3 times a day. I would rather she yell or cry or show some type of emotion, but no this is what I am dealing with. Totally new territory for me. BUT my God is a BIG God and He will help me as I daily draw from His word for guidance. Being a foster parent is tough!!! Don't get me wrong I am not complaining; I am being REAL and honest. I love T and I am glad she is here and that we can help her. I am planning her birthday party and working on her Christmas list. I treat her just like my own daughter ( other than the fact that we can't spank foster kids) for obvious reasons. She is who she is and I can sense alot of growth since she's come to live with us. She enjoys church and her friends. She loves to help me in the yard with weeding and watering flowers. She loves to play anything with Olivia. She doesn't see Chris much since he works late, but she calls him daddy and always tells him to have sweet dreams. She is working hard in school and just won a Terrific Kid award. She is a terrific kid who needs a few more hugs and a lot of love.

Olivia has adjusted well and seems to enjoy having a little sister. One night I went to the nursing home to take my grandmother some clean clothes and sweets. It was T's bath time and Olivia called to let me know she had fixed a bubble bath for her and was helping me out. I was so happy. I am very proud of Olivia and how well she is sharing her toys, books and us. She and I are getting our home school done, but it it tough with many interruptions. Our DSS caseworker was here 3 hours the other day. The guardian ad litum is coming this week, more appointments next week. Being a foster parent means your already busy schedule just got busier. Chris and I still leave each other love notes and hang out on the sofa for a bit at night. Life is full. Life is good. Pray for my mom please and pray for my family. Satan is attacking, but praise God I am on the winning team.

Go be a blessing.

Choose Joy :)

Where do I begin? Our week has been filled from start to finish. Monday Olivia and I got groceries and squeezed in a little school. Our foster child's caseworker visited our home Tuesday then we went to DSS for a visit Wed., We had a school picnic last night, Chris's mom had a colonoscopy and a light ran down her throat this morning ( he went to be with her and praise the Lord all looked good). We were invited to a birthday party tonight, but can't go due to other plans (which we've now had to cancel due to a sick child) ... we are suppose to go to a birthday party in the morning, but considering how things are going I don't know if we'll make it or not. Life is sure busy these days. I count it all JOY and feel very blessed. I wish Joy helped with my tired body :) I don't seem to have a moments peace :) I got up extra early this morning and just sat in the presence of the Lord. I said a few words then told Him I was going to be quiet and listen. Oh how hard it is for me to be quiet. I prayed for family and friends this morning. I prayed for myself that I would do what the Lord would have me to do today and not my own agenda. I have to-do lists to remind me of my to-do lists :))) But the Lords list is so much more important than mine. His ways I want to be my ways, His thoughts I want for my own thoughts. No matter what life brings God is my help, my strength, my encourager, my father, my king, my greatest love ... He gives me Joy.

As we continue down this foster parenting road pray for us and the little girl we have in our care. We have all adjusted to each other and she a part of our family now. I will always cherish this time we have with her. I don't know how much of me she will remember, but I will never forget her. She could be with us 3 months or 6 months ... we don't know. Regardless, we know what our mission is and that is to care for her while she is here and send her back with the knowledge of the Lord. Pray that we are all good examples for her to see and hear. Proverbs 3 has been such an encouragement to me this week. If you need encouragement read it.

Deer season and Shrimp season are in full bloom :) Chris will be trying to harvest both soon. I'll let ya know if he gets a big one. Olivia loves our kittens. By the way our cat had 7 kittens. 2 have already gone to a new home together, 2 more will go to a new home together next week, 1 hopefully will go to a new home this weekend and that will leave 2 who need a home. Don't you want a kitten? They will be 6 weeks old on Sunday :) They are eating and ready to meet you :)
Let me know if you are interested.

I have to wrap this up because the girls are finishing their projects. They are making examples of the craft we'll be doing in Sunday school this week. I let them help when I can :)

Go be a blessing.

Life is good :)

Ok so it has been several days since I have written. I have had my hands full with a sweet little 5 year old. She is a lively little girl. We just love her. I have to admit that I am tired!!! Yes I said it. Getting up early is something that I am used to, but getting dressed to go out and see the world is not something I am used to :) I've had to take my new little one to register for school, DSS appointments and a doctor check up ( most have been early in the morning). I had to do a lot of extra shopping for clothes since I did not have any in her size and most of what she brought didn't fit. To say I have been on the go non-stop would be very accurate. Not to mention our nightly routine starting at 7:30 with bath, brushing teeth, reading 3 or more books, singing and bed. Whew ... She likes me to pack her lunch so I get up extra early to do that. So I've not had the time or energy to blog or play my face book games or exercise. Homeschooling has suffered because we are on the go so much that we've hardly had any full days at home. Olivia is adjusting to everything and I make sure I give her plenty of attention as usual. She and I have a bedtime routine as well so by the time both girls are in bed I am pooped. I am trusting that I am doing what the Lord has called me to do and I know He will work it all out, so ... I am not concerned at all about anything. I will do His will and He will take care of me :)

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts. I don't know how long we will have our little girl, but she is a joy and all is going well. We took her to church Sunday and she really enjoyed herself. She said they had some good ideas :) Chris took all of us to the zoo on Monday and we had a great labor day. We fed the animals and had snacks and took silly pictures. It's all good.

Take care and have a blessed day.

We pick up our first foster child tomorrow !!!!

So we got the call we have been waiting on this past Thursday ... we are now licensed foster parents !!!! We will pick up our first foster child in the morning. I can tell you that she is 5 years old and they say she's 'cute as a button'. By now you are probably thinking back to where I said I was only going to foster children from birth to 4. You know I home school and I didn't want to have to get up and take a child out to school. Well, I did say that but I have had a change of heart and will be registering this child for school and getting up to take her :) Oh well ... so much for sleeping in, lol. I get up around 6:30 anyway so it's not going to be a problem for me; we'll see how my Livie does :) She'll be fine. She is thrilled and can't wait to meet this little girl. We found out about her on Thursday, then had a DSS person here Friday morning, then spent Friday afternoon shopping for clothes and a booster seat. I was completely prepared with clothing to fit birth, 2T, 3T and 4T, but no size 5 clothing. We had so much fun shopping for her and hope the clothes we picked out will fit. We feel so blessed to be able to help her. I know everyone always wants to know why children come into care, but please understand when I say that I can't tell you. I have signed a confidentiality form to protect her or any other foster child's privacy. Think about your own child and if something bad happened to them or if they weren't properly cared for, would you want others knowing their business? Probably not. We will treat these children as our own and respect their privacy. Thank you in advance for understanding.

So now that I have addressed the news, the excitement, and the privacy I will ask that you pray for our new addition. Pray for her as she adjusts to us and a new school. Pray for Olivia and her to have a special friendship. Pray for wisdom for us in being foster parents ... this child is our first so we are learning as we step out on faith. Pray for the Lords will to be done.

Thanks friends. Now I have to see if I can sleep so I won't go pick her up with bags under my eyes :) We'll keep you posted. It's late and I am tired so forgive the grammar errors as I am sure they are all over this. :)

Go be a blessing ...