The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

This weekend ushered in the beginning of my favorite time of year :)  It starts will the fall and the beautiful leaves and the cooler weather... and then Thanksgiving, and the whole Advent season and my most favorite of all: Christmas!!  I love me my baby Jesus!!  Thanksgiving was a blessing, as always.  We are so blessed to not only have most of our immediate family within driving distance, but we also share the uncommon blessing that all sides get along so well that we can host Thanksgiving for both sides together and everyone can celebrate together. There are jokes as to how we all fit together (out laws, in laws, LOL.... all family really).  It was great to have everyone together.  The kids got to go to the parade with Brian's dad and brothers while we prepared the house and food.  The food was YUM...I will always be thankful to the guy in the grocery store a few years back that yelled at me for looking at buying a Butterball LOL  He was like "A Turkey is a Turkey.... go buy some butter and put it in there yourself and save $30!!" and By gosh he was so right!!!  The butter has got nothing on the arrangement Brian can put together though!!  He's quite the artist when it comes to a turkey!!

As Thanksgiving came to a close, the weekend was just beginning :)  I have (after like 3 years of dragging) seemed to reached the understanding with my sister that she will go shopping with me LOL  I'm not a total loon with this stuff, its more out of logistical necessity at this point.  I have 4 kids and a husband in the seminary... there are not many shopping days that I have that I know there will be sales and I wont have to find sitters for the kids.  So we joined the crazy kooks for a while on Thursday AND Friday... but it really wasn't bad :)  No camping out and all friendly conversations with fellow shoppers.   Amongst my shopping I collected myself 7 Christmas trees to pretty up my outdoor nativity... and prompty began lining my kitchen with them when I returned home (I'm a bit of a Christmas crazy!!)LOL It was quite the scene...and I discovered my lil Dominic is quite the hardworking Christmas Elf as he helped me open all the boxes and set them all up!  

Dominic helping me create Christmas city in our Kitchen!!

What? Doesn't everyone's Kitchen look like this???? :)

Phase one complete!  I plan on figuring something out to make this scene "Hello its Christmas" amazing for Jesus's Birthday!! But still trying to dream up how that will be.... hopefully I'll have some creative partner in crime that is good at this stuff help me.  Note: Baby Jesus isn't lost.. He hasn't been born yet! He'll be there on Christmas Day :)

And then we moved indoors....  The decorating has begun... I still have a number of things to get to their places tomorrow, but a lot of things have reached their destinations... and our tree is up.  I lost count of how many nativities and holy families I have LOL But I love them!!!  The hustle and bustle of four kids decorating the tree and opening all the bins amongst Christmas music was quite the scene.  I can almost picture our fifth lil Christmas crazy there as I step back and watched them.  Next year will be another one of those fun "first Christmas" ... so many firsts as a family together and the craziness of yet another little so excited to put up all the decorations!!   

Melanie trying to reason with Jasmine that SHE should be the one to put the star on the tree.

Verdict: They shall do it together! 

A VERY concentrated section of "Melanie" ornaments reside in one section of the lower branches.

Isabel and Dominic prettying up the tree :)

So pretty!! LOVE Christmas!

And of course, the biggest stocking is set aside for the birthday boy :)  The kids will be filling it with "presents" for Him all the way up to His birthday.  Each time they do something for Jesus, ie help another, show love, prayers etc., they will draw a picture of it or write it on a paper and put it in His stocking.  We hope to have this thing TOTALLY filled by His Birthday :)  

Yes, this blog was long.... I am a Christmas girl :)   Perhaps we need to go visit Baby Jesus together soon..... but we'll save that for next time!! God Bless!  And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!

The Grace of the Wait...

Different title, similar theme...eh? I've been going to the chapel for adoration on Monday nights, without fail, for as long as I can remember. Sometimes I do a lot of the talking, sometimes He does a lot of the talking, sometimes I just sit with Him, sometimes I read His word with Him.... but it is always a blessing and always a grace filled experience. And last night He opened my eyes to the grace of the wait, in more ways than one. I have a friend who has become such a dear sister in Christ and sister in the wait that is in Ethiopia right now. I am so incredibly excited for her to be meeting her baby for the first time, and praying for them as they go to court today to finalize the adoption :) In talking with our contact in Ethiopia, it seems that a big pick up in referrals isn't expected till the beginning of the year. This is kind of the feeling I've been getting from our agency as well. We are close enough to the top of the list that we might be one of the lucky few to get one, but its just impossible to tell for sure. So much depends on the order that the children who are ready come in. There are some ways you could work the list that we are the next referral, and then there are some ways you could work the list where 5 referrals come in and we still not have one... so it's really in Gods hands (but for those of you wondering we are still #8... though it sounds like close to moving to #7). While this news isn't the best to hear, as far as our wait goes, in a certain way it relieves that “waiting for the phone to ring” anticipation. And I keep trying to remind myself to not get ahead of God in this thing... cause that is where the grace is. If I go running ahead to places we are not even there yet, all there is is a bunch of “what ifs” and “how longs” and more questions than answers. But in today, there is peace :) So, as I was sitting in adoration last night I was praying for our child, and I really reflected on the root of my urgency of having this child home. Where was it coming from, what was making me most impatient. And while a part of me does want it for “me” reasons... I want to see my lil' ones' face, I want to hold them, I want them to be sleeping in their crib and playing with their brother and sisters... I can't wait for all those things, but in another way I can if that is what God wills. The thing that makes me “get to Ethiopia today” urgent is the thought that my child is out there. They have already lost one family, and are in an orphanage somewhere. They don't have a family and do not even know yet that they will have one. While it brings me peace to hear of how the nannies love the children and I am absolutely sure that God is wrapping His arms around my lil' one through the love of those nannies, my child still doesn't have a mommy or a daddy or even being told that they are coming yet. And then it weighs on my heart, that most likely a birth mother brought them to the orphanage, my “other half to this equation”, the person who started this journey that I have been called to complete... and I can only imagine what it would be like to have to make that choice out of necessity. To bring my child to an orphanage in hopes that they will have a life, and I believe until she knows that is happening a part of her will be missing peace as well... So its all these things that make this yearning, this urgency this impatience get to a place where I need to start giving myself pep talks!! And then as I was praying for my child (and I always see the same face, very curious to see if that will be the face I see in pictures someday soon) I started seeing groups and groups of children, and realized that in the wait not only am I being blessed with the same yearning every pregnant mom has, but I am being graced to be allowed to feel some of the weight that is on the heart of our Lord. That yearning and that urgency for my child to be in the arms of a family is His desire for all of His children. I know we often, myself included, pray that God give us His eyes, and His heart so that we can see the world the way He does and love the way He does...  In that prayer, there is a certain abandon to His will that we need to commit to, otherwise we miss the journey... we miss the opportunities He's giving us to see the world as He does.  If I focus on referral day, then I am missing this moment I am having right now, in learning how He sees because I am getting to live a little snippet of it myself.  I'm not quite sure where He will take me with all these things I learn along this path... but if I've learned anything over time, its that God doesn't so much draw your path with a pencil as much as a huge spray paint can LOL It so often stretches wider than you thought, spatters and touches things that you didn't anticipate, and there is always more remnants left that just the final destination. So, while I want to see my child's face, and cannot wait for that day, I'm eager to walk with Him to make sure I absorb every step of this journey as He intended... I'm quite certain each day of this journey is preparing me for the tapestry of things He is already starting to weave that I am unaware of right now. And while my child will be placed in my arms one day (and really a day not that far away), and one journey will have reached its destination, many others will have already begun along the way.... cause that's how He works :) Love it!!!

And because this man hits on the urgency of God in this even better than me, I shall share this video that can never be watched enough... and even if you've seen it before I suggest you watch it again

Depraved Indifference