Preparations for the Tourney

We are busy getting all of the preparations made for our upcoming softball tournament. I need you to pray for something though. We have an odd number of teams registered. So here is where you come in...will you pray for one more team to enter? And on top of that will you ask the Lord to begin preparing the hearts of those coming to this. I know it is "just a softball tournament", but our prayer is that the Lord will touch some lives. Maybe they will answer the call to care for the orphans. It is a unique opportunity where we will have the ears of the men available. So often it is the women who hear about adoption and orphans...they come home wanting to do something and the men don't have the same message resonating within them. Please pray for the Lord to work mightily!

Girls just wanna have fun!!!!

(Saturday night sunset)

--I am very sorry that this is long and hard to read...it's good story. :) I have been fighting with this over and over, but when I post it the paragraphs all run together. Ugh! I hope you have fun reading it though.--

This past weekend we packed up and headed to Family Camp. We had decided not to go due to our FL trip looming. But on Thursday we got a phone call from a dear friend who was asking us to pleeeeeeaaaaase come. So considering the fact that we are a spontaneous family and it doesn't take much to get us to go do fun things...we decided to go where the fun was going to be for the weekend. It was so wonderful to spend time with all of our old friends. It was uplifting and encouraging.

Saturday afternoon one of my friends asked if I wanted to go tubing with her. I, of course, wasn't about to miss out on something fun, so we lined up on the dock with all of the little kids who wanted to go tubing too. We're pathetic, deprived moms...does that help explain? Ok, so we climb in the boat while two little boys get on the tube. We watched with enthusiasm as they got dumped off the tube. Finally after the third spill for them, we told them it was our turn. We climbed out onto the tube...yes, both of us. We tightly gripped the handles, all the while explaining to the boy driving the boat that we represented 8 children and they really needed their mothers. He was not permitted to do anything that may cause bodily harm to either of us. Off we went...it was grand! We hit the waves and swung in and out of the wake. We screamed. we laughed...I ate a bug. Gross, I know...keep your mouth shut while going a gazillion miles an hour across a lake. The ride ended with no spills, dumps or injuries.

The afternoon continued on with lots of visiting, sun, sand, and pure enjoyment. I was busy visiting with another friend about photography when my friend Sheila comes back over and asks if I want to go again. Let's see here...I had a blast last time so "SURE!" Count me in. Sheila goes and stands on the dock with the kiddos again. The boat pulled up to the dock and she yells for me. I end my conversation and run quickly through the sand to get on that boat. I am cinching my life jacket nice and tight as I run. We climb out onto that tube, once again going over the fact that we represent numerous children, and the lives of our children depend upon us being able to function...blah, blah, blah. He agrees to treat us kindly, however our other friend is now riding in the front of the boat...co-captaining of sorts. He starts us out slowly, but then the friend in the front tells him that he has to dump us. Things begin to get blurry as we are whirling around that dumb lake. I am not sure what the moments were before this but all I remember was bouncing across the top of the lake like a skipping rock. Kah-pow Pow-pow! Splash! Our friend in the boat is laughing so hard she has a stomach ache. The driver apologizes and explains that she told him to. Enough water went up my nose to clear me out for the next 7 months. Shelia and I look up at each other, blow our noses into the water so we could breathe again, and climb back onto that dumb tube. Seriously!?!? I guess we are desperate. Ok, so there we go again...he starts us out slowly and within a nano-second we were going a thousand miles per hour. Being the punk driver that he was he saw the waves that the other boat was leaving behind, at this point I believe all of our talking about our children needing their mothers went out of his head. He headed full speed at those waves. We flew so high into the air that we hit some birds...ok, no just kidding we didn't. (that sure would have added to the story though, right!?!?) We did fly up and down like we were a bunch of rag dolls. It just kept coming...the waves, the water splashing into our eyes, the slamming of our bodies back down onto the tube. The smartest thing to do in these moments is to let go...but no, something inside you takes over and we were gripping the handles with white knuckles. Finally the boat stops...the punk actually stopped the boat to make sure we were ok. I looked at Shelia and her entire face was bright red...she had slammed it against the tube. His compassion returned to him, because he was very concerned about the well-being of the mothers he had just launched into the air. We said we were ok, but I think it was just because we've gone through child birth and didn't want to admit defeat upon an inflatable device. The motor starts up again with a whirl and we were off yet again. As we were getting going, I reassured Shelia that I had a bottle of Ibuprofen in my diaper bag and I would disperse it generously once we got off the ginormous inflatable thing. That was just about when he swung the boat around in a circle and I went flying off. Yes, I again skipped across the water. I get back on the tube to see both of our daughters cheering from the other boat. Our daughters were on the back of that boat riding the tube like they were Sunday afternoon grandmas. We laughed at how ridiculous it was that we were being thrown around like rag dolls and our young, resilient children were riding their tube like a lazy river. The punk kid brought us back into the dock...apologizing for dumping us. I can forgive him because he is going to go be a missionary in Africa. His heart was tender and passionate about the people of Cameroon...so I actually thought he was pretty flippin' cool!

My arms are now like rubber. I can not comb my hair or lift my son. The coffee mug being brought to my lips takes extreme effort. Was it worth it? Satisfying the kid that stills resides within me...YES! I will get dumped any day from a tube and live for the next week in extreme weakness for a few moments of exhilarating bliss! YES, siree I will!

I must go ice my arms now due to the over exurtion it took to document this for your reading pleasure.

My Photography Journey---

You guys have all been such a blessing! Thank you for all of your kind words about my photos. Here is the deal...Destiny, this is to answer your question. I am just getting into photography. It started this past winter. I did a post awhile back about how I've always wanted to do it, and I don't want to grow old always wishing that I would have. So that began my voracious quest to become a more knowledgeable photographer. I have been searching websites, listening to pod casts, reading books...anything that I can do to educate myself more on the art of photography...I am on it. I have been incredibly overwhelmed, incredibly insecure, and at times incredibly discouraged about this new found hobby of mine. But alas, I actually took some time to take some photos like I see them in my head, and you guys give me an amazing boost of confidence and support. So to each of you that left me a comment, I say "thank you so very much". You have no idea how much it has meant to me.

How did this all begin? I spent the winter/spring researching, researching and doing more research about what kind of camera I should begin with. I couldn't get my mind around spending a huge chunk of change on something I didn't even know if I would be any good at. One day as I was visiting with my dear friend Steffany...she told me they had some old DSLRs from their business and she could send me one to use. I thought I was going to cry. God knew my heart's desire to learn this and He was using Stef to bless me. Stef sent me the camera and lens and there I was. I had no clue how to use the thing. I started snapping shots and realizing how very much I did enjoy this creative outlet. Stef, thank you from the bottom of my heart for blessing me!

With that camera I taught myself how to shoot in complete manual mode, which I didn't think I would ever understand. I knew that I wanted to continue down the road of photography, so I started researching cameras. I had a very wise photographer recommend one to me. He has been published in Newsweek, Time, etc. and has been doing this for over 30 years. He has owned every brand of camera on the market. He hands down recommended I go with the Olympus e-510 DSLR. I didn't know what to think, because every time I went into a camera store the gentlemen helping me would praise the Canon or the Nikon that they were fond of. So I would go home and research some more. I didn't want to buy the inferior camera to start out my investment. I kept coming back to the fact that this man has owned every camera out there. One morning he sent me a private message telling me that he may have something I was interested in and would I please give him a phone call. In extreme nervousness, I called him. (He is the head a well-known home school curriculum so I was intimidated) He wanted to let me know that if I was interested in purchasing the e-510 he had two lens that he would like to give me. Oh MY! I was humbled! So I continued praying and researching. My birthday came around and I received money...with that I was able to purchase the body of an e-510. It was a huge investment, that is why it took me months and months to get to the place of being able to do it. I am one who can drop money at the thrift store or on clearance, but buying something expensive...well, it just always makes me sick. I couldn't believe how the Lord provided these lens for me. I was incredibly grateful and blessed! For editing software...I am primarily using Picasa (it is free to download and very user-friendly). My friend gave me the Creative Memories software as a baby gift for Hudson, and it is really cool. I don't fully understand it yet, but with time I hope to. There are some great editing features with that, ones that Picasa simply can't perform. She does wonderfully beautiful things with it...check her out. I have heard that the best Photoshop program to start with is Lightroom...maybe someday I will get to that point. (I hope that answer your question, Lindsay.)

This is the first time in my life that I am desperate to learn something. Each day I am reading new things. I am challenged and growing. This is the beginning of a new found love. I have a lot...I mean, a whole lot to learn...but I am striving towards it. I am so happy that I am making myself learn this even though I get discouraged. I am loving learning...and there is something profound about being in that place. I thank God for giving me this desire and for providing what I need. He is so Majestic! His beauty surrounds me with each breath that I take, and I want to revel in it.

(These were taken yesterday as we were driving home. Once again the lighting was right and I spotted a field off of an off ramp. I pulled off and told the kids to get out. I took about 5 minutes to snap these shots, then we had to be done. The mosquitoes were swarming us...it was bad, really bad. But a fun memory!)

More of my girl...

One of my girls...

So we were on our way to Walmart this afternoon when I took a bit of a detour. The day was over cast, the lighting was just about right. I couldn't resist. :) There is a spot that I have been wanting to head to for some photos all summer. I only had my one daugther with me so the distractions were few. We had so much fun together, and here is the outcome of our little time together. Who knew a trip to WallyWorld could turn into such a wonderful time!?!?

To be in control

What's summer without the fun of a water hose?

Privileged.

Yesterday we had the privilege of going to the airport to see our friends off to Ukraine. You may remember me introducing you to Karen a few months back. They are on their way to adopt two very precious children from Ukraine. It was so wonderful to be at the airport with them. (I had just as much nervous energy as Karen did.) :) I can't not tell you how amazing it is to see the glory of God in their adoption. Please follow their journey and see what God does in their family over the next 5 weeks. And please pray that the Lord will reveal Himself to them in overwhelming ways as they are settling in right now.

Tic -Toes

Yesterday I was in a store with my youngest daughter. She pointed at a man and said, "Mom, look at all of the tic-toes on him." I turned her around so he wouldn't see her pointing at him. The man was covered in tatoos.

Disappointed

The disappointment of yesterday's "no go" is settling in. I am so incredibly bummed that it didn't work out. I was so hopeful. I know FL is nice, it is beautiful, it is wonderful...I know. But I just really wanted this part of our journey to be done. Today I have checked with numerous airlines, Amtrack, renting an RV, renting a van and looked into driving our van. The girls so very badly want to come with and we really would like to go together as a family. I am trying my hardest to come up with a way for us to stay together for this part of the journey. But I am giving it all to the Lord and asking Him to give us wisdom about going. This is a factor of having a larger than average family...you have to buy 4 tickets rather than the average two children family. It's ok and we can accept it as a choice in life that we have made. We would much rather have a larger family and stick to camping vacations, than miss out on the joy of being blessed with these children. We are richly blessed and we thank the Lord for it! I know the Lord will give us wisdom about going. I am just sad today that it didn't work out. Bummed. Disappointed. Frustrated. Discouraged. Yet Grateful for the fact that Hudson is our son. He is a blessing beyond what we ever imagined. This is just part of our journey and we thank the Lord for guiding us each step of the way.

"NO GO"

Well, it was a "no go". We tried. We went into this hearing fully trusting in God's Divine Control. We fully believe in His Sovereignty and rest in that. The judge came into the court room and talked with us. He explained why he could not proceed. Basically rather than filing a formal objection to our case the state just didn't send a document that he needed in order to move forward with the hearing. We even called the clerk of court yesterday to make sure that everything was in order, but I guess this was just over looked until the judge reviewed our case right before the hearing. Our family came and supported us...which was such a wonderful encouragement to us. We are really blessed with friends and family that are so incredibly supportive of our adoption. We appreciate you all so very much!!!!

So now we plan a rendevous to Florida! We don't know what date we'll be assigned for our hearing there, but we'll find out soon.

At least we tried! And like I said, we walked out of there with nothing lost. We even went and celebrated the fact that we will be finalizing his adoption! We all went to Dairy Queen and it was great! Thank you so much for praying...now you can pray that all of the details and provisions come together for us to get to FL.

Can you believe it?

Hudson spent the day yesterday crying and crying. I knew something was wrong because this is not at all him. He hardly ever cries. I called the Dr. and they said I could bring him in late afternoon. He has his first bad ear infection. Can you believe this timing? I am praying that he will be feeling better and not be crying for our hearing.

Have I told you guys that I'm nervous about this hearing...because I am!

First Annual Encompass Softball Tournament

Matt and I feel like little kids who can't wait for the mail to come in case there is something in there for us. Earlier this summer we started a ministry to have adoption grants out of. Our first fundraising event is coming in August, and the registration deadline is this week!! We are holding the First Annual Encompass Adoption Awareness Softball Tournament.

We were so incredibly blessed by all of the donations that we received for Hudson's adoption. Without all of the donations we would not have been able to adopt him. It was humbling and a true miracle. We wanted to do something to give back and to thank everyone who so generously helped us. Well, what better to do than to pay it forward and help place more children in God-fearing forever families!?!?

Matt loves softball and church teams are often in a different division where tournaments aren't available. It only seemed fitting to put a tournament together. We want to use the time to increase the attendees awareness of orphans and the need for Godly families to adopt. We already have people who are willing to volunteer for the event. We have registrations that have come in. We have the company working on the T-shirt design. In the next couple of days we will know how many teams are coming and a little more of what to expect. Then we begin moving forward on ordering the shirts, planning the concessions, getting the adoption awareness packets together, etc., etc. We are just so excited to see what the Lord is going to do with this. He gave us the idea and within less than a week everything was coming together so we moved forward with Him. We just need the men to show up now!

Please pray that we will receive enough team registrations for this to be a successful tournament. And pray for the Lord to work mightily in the hearts of everyone that comes. Our prayer is that He will move in people's hearts to care for the orphans of the world and step out in faith towards adoption.

(It's a big week for us...I kind of just want it to sail by. Actually, I just really want our finalization hearing to come and go, and everything to work out.)

finalization...again.

Ok...so we are going to do something that makes me nervous to even think about. Remember how I had already filed our adoption finalization papers when we found out the next day that it wasn't going to work? Well, we had been assigned the court date of July 16th. I was going to go in and cancel it, but I didn't. It just didn't seem right to do. In talking with the attorney's we found out it was going to be hard to finalize here, so we thought our best option (and cheapest) was to go to FL. But all along this court date has remained. So now we are less than a week away, I called the clerk of court and no formal objections have been filed against our case. We have been waiting for our state to file a formal objection. Once the formal objection came, we were going to withdraw our case. Since we had the court date appointed, that is how they were going to have to stop us from finalizing here. I guess there are still a few days left that they possibly could, but we are going to try to show up and see what the judge determines. Ugh...that makes me nervous. I am not knowledgeable about legal matters in the least. So if he has any questions...we will have no idea how to respond appropriately. Our girls will be there in their matching dresses...do you think that will help our case?!?!?!? ;) Somehow I don't think cuteness affects judges decisions... If he denies it, well at least we tried. At least, the girls will know how it works and what the court proceedings are like. We will leave the courthouse with nothing lost, and will move forward with plans to go to FL. So I am asking you to please pray that this goes smoothly and according to the Lord's will. I am nervous about it, because to be honest...all of this legal stuff intimidates me. Please pray for peaceful hearts and that we can get this done.

sorry, sorry, sorry

How pathetic to leave you all with the same post for over a week. Sheesh. SORRY! I've been out of town...it was only suppose to be for the 4th, but I am pretty unpredictable. I ended up staying with the kids for an extra four days. Last weekend we all marched in a huge parade with our governor's float. It was great! The girls were having a hard time remembering he was the g-o-v-e-r-n-o-r...one kept calling him the mayor, the other was stuck with him being the president. (umm, maybe I should do a political unit with the kids this year...) We had fun getting them all decked out with red, white and blue...we did their nails, put bows in their hair, put beads on them, etc. It was so much fun. Hudson slept the entire time. He was in the backpack on Matt's back.

At the end of the weekend Heather and I had connived a way for us to spend some extra time together. Our hubby's both had things going on that kept them busy this week, so we enjoyed some time together. We had a trip to the zoo, 17 trips to Starbucks, a wee bit of shopping, playing outside, lots and lots of food, plus staying up late talking and laughing...oh it was so splendid! I have photos, but I have to load them up before I can post them.

Sorry to leave you all for so long. On my drive home, I was thinking of all the things I wanted to write about on my blog. Hopefully, I'll get some time to post soon.

Rocks in the Sun by Troy Livesay

I want to encourage you all to go and buy Troy Livesay's new book. He has been given an amazing talent with photography. The Livesay family are missionaries to Haiti. While they have been serving in Haiti for the past couple of years, he has been snapping shots of the beautiful people there. Proceeds from this book will help them begin their new ministry in Haiti where they will continue to be the Light of Jesus to a very dark part of our world. Check out Rocks in the Sun and order a copy. Please support this family...they are an inspiration!