Snow Day

It looks like about 6 inches. That's a lot for southern Virginia. It was like Christmas for the kids. Unfortunately, it was too much snow to risk going out to the OBX for church today. The kids were so excited yesterday, that the boys were up and dressed at about 7:00 ready to go. I held them off until 8:00 so as not to wake up any neighbors. It was dry and powdery, so the kids couldn't put a snowman together. Of course, since we've become southerners, we don't have adequate winter wear that helps them to stay out all day; so they're only out for about an hour at a time.

We've taught the kids not to go in and out the house constantly. When Z came and rang the door, I thought she needed me to get something for her or to ask permission to go to a friend's house or something. Instead I got a earnest plea to come inside "to stay, 'cause I'm too cold."

Echo a prayer for Haiti

In the wake of the devestation in Haiti, sometimes I can only cry in agony and say, "Lord PLEASE, do something!!" There are so many people, with so many needs, for so long. I want to echo this prayer I saw from a friend...

Lord, I just want to say THANK YOU...
Because this morning I woke up and knew where my children were.
Because this morning my home was still standing,
because this morning I am not crying because my husband/wife, my child, my brother or sister needs to be buried out from underneath a pile of concrete,
because this morning I was able to drink a glass of water,
because this morning I was able to turn on the light,
because this morning I was able to take a shower,
because this morning I was not planning a funeral,
but most of all I thank You this morning because I still have life and a voice to cry out for the people of Haiti.

Lord I cry out to You, the one that makes the impossible, possible,
the one that turns darkness into light,

I cry out that You give those mothers strength,
that You give them peace that surpasses all understanding,
that You may open the streets so that help can come,
that You may provide doctors, nurses, food, water, and all that they need in a blink of an eye.

For all those that have lost family members...
give them peace,
give them hope,
give them courage to continue to go on!

Protect the children and shield them with Your power.

I pray all this in the Name of Jesus!!!

To all my email/blog friends please continue to forward this so that we can pray together for the people in Haiti .

Will It Snow??

Well, If it doesn't storm on Sunday, we are headed out to the Outer Banks to visit our old church and LOTS of friends! Now, this is a surprise so, please do not tell anyone that we are coming!!!!

It will be lots of fun to see everyone. ;)

We are ALL hoping that it does not storm! I need to walk on the beach again. Very calming.

Sharing! I try to share everything!!!

Sharing!
Well, I came home from my MOST marvelous weekend-( one of the best that I've had in a long time) sicker than a dog. The drive home, the sicker I got. So, I did the right thing, I shared this horrible sickness (flu) with my beloved- today he is sicker than a dog. And you know what, I actually believe him, having been there.....

My time with "L" and family was wonderful. We had great meals, and I had a great time with the grandkids. Went to my favorate brunch place. I really like the area that my daughtor lives in. The day spa was to die for! It was so nice it must have been sinful! ALL in ALL we had wonderful birthdays! (hers and mine)

One of "L" passions is scrapbooking. I had a great time looking at the scrapbooks of the boys. Going to a scrapbook store and seeing how to do it right! She is so good at it! I was looking forward to starting on my project on Monday, first thing- Monday first thing, I was flat on my back!! oh well- I'll get it. Wed., today and I am now at least up out of bed!

Blessings, Pamela Dawn

Off to "little Birthday gift!!"

Well, I am off to my gal "L" house. We are having a "girl;'s weekend- or mother-daughter weekend-- whatever we call it, I am so happy to be part of it!! Tomorrow, we will be treated like "princesses" at a day spa. And going to have brunch out at one of my most favorite places to eat. And BEST of all, I am going to get to spend some time tomorrow night with my little grandsons. (Just us!!! yea- we are sending mommy and daddy out for the night-- my little birthday gift to BOTH of us!!- me time with my favorite little guys and "L" with a night out--:)

Having the big bunch of kids that I do- it really took some planning to be able to leave!!- So, 2 meals in the refrig- and there is always pizza!-- The kids were so cute this AM before school- "are you really going?" yea, I'll be back on Sunday night-- "no- you can't go---- sure I can honey-- daddy will be here- ohhhh"--- I am glad that we are becoming a real family- ;)

Kind of a long drive, in a short amount of time- BUT well worth every minute-
Blessings, Pam

Romans

Two weeks ago, our pastor started a sermon series on Romans. I don't know how long it will take but, he said he was going to do the whole book and at the pace we're going, it's going to be several months. That doesn't bother me at all because Romans is my favorite book in the Bible.

I think I like Romans, because Paul sounds so human and down earth in this letter as compared to his other letters. He sounds like a man writing to his little brother. It's sounds like he's talking directly to me or about me most of the time. Though Hebrews is considered the Faith book, I like the way Paul teaches about faith in Romans. I like that Romans is kind of like Christianity For Dummies, and sometimes Paul's version of Chicken Soup for the Soul. If a "pre-Christian" is really looking to start somewhere, I like Romans. Whenever I try to share the gospel with anyone, I always tell them to read Mark (the shortest gospel, and it grabs your attention in a hurry), and then read Romans.

We've even begun reading Romans aloud at the dinner table (a chapter at a time) and having small discussions afterward. I can't think of a better book of the Bible to read to children...can you?

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Honey Babe's birthday!

Please join in with me to bless her.

Pam may the Lord bless you with a joyous year. May He bless your hands and all that they do - and they do so, so much. May He bless you with good health and strength. May the Lord bless you with more new friends to share with. And may He bless you with more smiles and less tears.

I love you with an endless, fathomless love.

Your husband and friend
Juan

What would Jesus do?

Juan and I receive emails about adoption and thinking about adoption from readers.
We feel honored to be able to be used even in just a small way and to let others know, "Hey, we've been there."

Because of the books out there about "birth order" we sometimes are asked how we feel about this. Lots of couples are very scared of what it might do to their family, how it will affect their current kids, and what kind of short- and long-term implications it might have. How did your oldest feel about no longer being the oldest? Maybe afraid that changing the birth order will be taking away from the child somehow in some way. How will this effect the child's emotions, self-worth, and their security.

We have changed the birth order of different kids in our family several times. I think that that change always creates some upheaval, but that is not always a bad thing. We have had Joey the longest and he has changed order several times. He would like to be the oldest boy, sometimes, but he likes having older and younger brothers more.

I think that the benefits really out weigh the negative thoughts of "birth order"
You are NOT taking anything AWAY from your children. Instead, what you are doing is imparting to them something eternal: You are expanding their capacity to love. Think about that for a minute before you read anything else. How do you plan to teach your child to love others unconditionally and in total compassion without giving them the opportunity to do so?

Our children have a greater capacity of love in their hearts than I could ever impart to them by just giving them a safe Christianity, by maintaining their status quo, by simply modeling "godliness" as parents (as if that's the end-all be-all for a Christian family). My kids...all of them...have lived out self-sacrifice and understand (because they live it!) that laying down one's life does not steal anything from us. That is the lie of the devil, who would have us believe that sacrifice is not worth it; that there is nothing for us in return; that God doesn't really mean what He says when He said to His followers that "anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. [Because] Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:38-39).

Do you really believe that? That whoever LOSES his life for Jesus's sake, for Jesus the Orphan's sake, will actually FIND it? Ask yourself honestly. Because you might answer YES prematurely. I have no doubt that you might believe it for yourself, but do you really believe it for your children, too? That if they "lose" their "place" in the family that Jesus will instead impart to them LIFE? REAL life???

Consider the older orphan. Consider the sibling groups. Consider the ones who are not often considered.

And whatever you do on your adoption journey, PLEASE I beg you, do NOT steal from your children the opportunity for their love capacity to be expanded. Do not deny them the true gift of learning early in life that "My life is not my own."

When your first adopted child, who is now the middle child,after being knocked down from oldest to very middle prays for the orphans and asks to adopt again because children are hungry- your heart will beat out of your chest, not just because you can envision another child saved, but because you know that your child will NEVER EVER live a limited, safe Christian life. He won't even know what that means. In fact, he won't even have the capacity do so.

And all because you didn't limit your child. You didn't limit God.

Give your children the gift of the greater capacity to love. Let it ripple out into the future.

Let it change the world.
Blessings, Pamela Dawn

Back to school....

After our Christmas break, the kids are now back to school. And love it!!! OK, all of them but one just love going to school. One of ours is just bored in school, is still doing review (he says) from last year. As he is making straight A's- I am not sure what to think, about this review thing I mean. I think the kid is very bright. So, what do we do- I talked to the school again yesterday- and they are finally going to test him for the gifted program. This decision is after 5 visits to the school and lots of talking to see what to do. As this child is not a problem in class at all- they basically just want to leave it alone- meanwhile, I get every morning, I have a headache, my stomach hurts, I hate school, can I stay home???? Hopefully, we have an answer with this program. (I am at this point seriously thinking of homeschooling at least him)

Now, the rest of the kids, just love their classes, school even the bus! With the 3 newest members home now from Ethiopia we have started their shots. Yesterday, was shot day. They are all doing fine.

Justin is needing the most help with his English. The littler ones are really doing well. I am not sure what to do to help him more. I think sometimes our Father in Heaven looks at us (or maybe just me...) and says, I can help you- just let me. I have everything you need, just ask me. I want to help, be your father/mother-just let me. this year I am letting God my father help me more.

We continue to pray daily for each of our kids. Thank you for your prayers, love and concern for us.

Blessings, Pamela Dawn

Yea!! Another family that LOOKS like OURS!!!

We had the BEST time yesterday! The Kids loved every minute and I think that our new friends' kids did too!!

So, they have a multicultural home, and have the same issues that we do-- It did just a world of good to be able to sit and talk all afternoon about "the kids" and what they do, what we do, what works, what doesn't work.... It was all good.

We shared lunch and dinner with them, and just had a ball in the middle. The kids played games, played ping pong (until it got too cold) played guns...and did hair--new braids for some!! and ate and ate!! All great- ;) The nest plan is to make Ethiopian food!

As they live just under an hour away from us now, we plan on doing this ALOT-- Being in the adoption world, it just does so good for the Ethiopian kids to be around acting and reacting with other Ethiopian kids.

Having fun

A Blessed New Year

Happy New Year!!
2009 - What a year! And we ended it with a bang.

Tuesday, Pam took 4 of the kids to meet my sister "T" halfway between our place and hers. "T" wanted to spend some Auntie time with the kids. Mine got to spend some quality time with her and her children for a couple of days. They really enjoyed it. Pam then went yesterday to pick them up - about 2 and a half hours each way. "T" sent them home with a ton of boy's clothes for our boys. "T" has 4 boys and we have 4 boys, thankfully ours are younger than hers.

Thanks "T"!

Then last night we went out as a family to join in with a bunch of families to one home for a night of fun and mystery solving. "The mystery Of The Stolen Menorah". Everybody had parts to play in trying to solve the mystery. Everyone had fun. We didn't hang around to ring in the New Year, so we left for home about 10:30 or so.

On the way home we talked together as a family and one of the things we said was this will be a blessed year. And our goal is to make it a calm year. No moving, no job changes, no new kids, no fighting, no biting (That's an inside laugh with the youngest kids about that because I tell them that as they leave for school). We want 2010 to be a "normal" year.

I do plan a goal of running in the Outer Banks Marathon this year. We'll see how that goes.

Pam was exhausted from her drive, so when we got home she went right to bed. I let all of the kids stay up and we watched the New Year's Eve celebration on TV. The youngest ones went to bed about 10min after the Big Ball Drop in NYC. "L", "A", and I stayed up watching more celebration until 1:30. "A" got a call from one friend wishing her a Happy New Year at midnight. She tried calling her brother "C" but he didn't answer.

Then one of "L's" friends called to say hi, etc. And get this...asked her to come walk down to see her (she lives in the neighborhood). This girl and some friends were hanging out outside somewhere. At 12 o'clock at night!! "L" knew better than to even ask me if she could. She thought it was funny that the girl would ask her.

I'm sorry, but my kids got saddled with having Old School dad. I see no reason for a kid of any minor age hanging out outside past bed time. Unfortunately for mine, their dad still remembers the announcements on TV that said, "It's 9:00. Do you know where your children are?" So help me God...as long as I'm alive and they're minors, I will always be able to answer that question, without a doubt. And Lord help them if ever I can't.

Well, I've got to put in some pictures one of these days.