Wheat Harvest

 

Today we are cutting our first wheat crop!

 

DJ getting some wheat of his own

 

 

Andy unloading wheat into the grain cart

 

Eating lunch at the edge of the field

 

For the LORD your God

will bless you in all your harvest

and in all the work of your hands,

and your joy will be complete.

Deuteronomy 16:15

Hoping in Him

~Our Family, June 2013~

 

For about the past year, I have written several times of the great need for families for children waiting to be adopted from foster care.  And that is very true, there is a need, but we are beginning to see that maybe there isn't a great need for a family like ours. 

 

We are at the point now where we are inquiring about various kids we see on the photolistings, and almost every time, the child we ask about has some big need that prevents them from being a good match for our family.  Things like, "cannot be contained in a classroom", "s*xually provocative behavior", "chronic suicidal ideation" or "history of false accusations of s*xual abuse" are some of the descriptions we've seen.  Some are on as many as 6 prescription medications for mental health issues.  Does your heart not just break for them?  They have been through so much suffering to be at the point they're at now.  Placing them in with our boys would just not be wise.  These kids largely need families with no other children, or older children.  If that describes you, maybe you're up for a challenge?  (:

 

Of the few kids that are available that have more mild needs, there is an abundance of willing families ready to adopt them.  One of the children we submitted our homestudy for had 20 families interested.  Girls under age 10 are apparently in high demand.

 

So where does that leave us?  This week we sent our paperwork in to the local adoption attorney that helped us with the adoption of AJ, to be presented to birthmoms who are looking for a family for their child, probably a newborn.  So we have to be prepared for any girl age newborn through 13!  We don't know what God's plans are for us, but we are hoping in Him.  I posted this verse last time, but it just keeps running through my head-

 

Then you will know that I am the LORD;

those who hope in me

will not be disappointed.

Isaiah 49:23

Summer's Day Tea

 

On a beautiful summer's day, sitting on the porch swing

sipping tea and reading a magazine sounds pretty inviting,

doesn't it?  Of course, you might need some iced tea in your tea cup!

 

This pretty rose tea cup is made by Homer Laughlin.

 

A Teatime Victoria magazine always has lots of inspiration!

 

Aren't these miniature pink roses so cute?

 

The quilt blocks were pieced by me in high school, and my Grandma

quilted it for me.  I used scraps of material from the dresses and clothes

my Mom had made for me when I was little.  I had a shirt out of

this Holly Hobby print- isn't it so sweet? 

 

And here is an encouraging verse I found to share with you as well~

 

Shout for joy, O heavens;

rejoice, O earth;

burst into song, O mountains!

For the LORD comforts his people

and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

 

Then you will know that I am the LORD;

those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

 

Isaiah 49:13,23

 

~I am joining Sandi for Tea Time Tuesday again today~

Looking Up When Life is Looking Down

 

I've been reading this little book by Beth Moore,

Looking Up When Life is Looking Down

again lately and it has been very encouraging.

Beth Moore says things so well!

 

This morning I read this section on waiting, and it

was so applicable to my life now.  So just in case

any of the rest of you are waiting, here's some encouragement.

 



"And you must never fear that God is not at work while you wait.  He's doing what no one else can.  Get a load of Isaiah 64:4:

 

Since the beginning of the world

Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,

Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,

Who acts for the one who waits for Him.

 

If your eyes could only see how God is moving all those chess pieces around the board for maximum impact, it would blow your mind.  He's up to something big that doesn't only affect you.  He's also after those around you.  Furthermore, He's not just interested in impacting the present.  He is the One 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty' (Revelation 1:8).  Within every 'is', God is mindful of what 'was' and what 'is to come,' and He intends to show Himself mighty in all of the above.  One thing is certain: you can't accuse God of being shortsighted.

 

 

While you wait for God to work and to manifest your sure deliverance, wrap yourself around Him as tightly as you possibly can.  Ask Him to make you more God-aware than you have ever been in your life.  Bind yourself to Him with everything you've got so that you will ultimately--inevitably--go anywhere He does.  Hang on for dear life and never let go.  No matter how long it takes, He'll never run out of breath or stop to soak His aching feet.  Pin yourself so close to Him that you can almost hear Him whisper.  His words will live in you and you will live in Him.  God does not make His home in a pit.  Bound to His holy robe, neither will you."

 

But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Knocking

We are moving along with our adoption, one little bitty step at a time.  You know this verse?

"So I say to you:

Ask and it will be given to you;

seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives;

he who seeks finds;

and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

Luke 11:9-10

 

We've been doing a lot of knocking lately, since it seems like there aren't many kids from the state that would fit our family.  I am so glad that even when it seems like we are in the dark, feeling our way around, God knows exactly what the outcome will be- He is so good!  We are looking forward to seeing what door He opens.

A Winner and 60 Years

By a very scientific method (where DJ picked a number) Aunt Agnes was the winner of my give away!  Thank you for all your comments, both on the blog and on facebook.  I will be getting the necklace to you, Aunt Agnes!

 

My Grandparents are celebrating their 60th Wedding Anniversary this week, so we had a celebration for them yesterday.  I hope Andy and I will get to 60 years one day.  (Can you tell our kids were thrilled to get another family picture taken???)

 

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100:5

Prayers?

PD and a soft shell turtle Andy found by the side of the road

 

Would you pray for us about our adoption?  We are looking through profiles of more kids, and would appreciate your prayers for us, that we would have wisdom, perseverance, and complete trust in God as we go through the process.  A lot of the kids we're looking at have been through so much, and therefore have many needs.  Sometimes our hearts are bigger than our heads, but we don't want to say no just because it looks hard either.  Please pray we would be sensitive to where God is leading.  Thank you!

~My First Giveaway~

Welcome to my first blog giveaway!

 

A few months ago I started making necklaces from

vintage postcards, and it has been so much fun!

I opened up an etsy shop, but haven't had many sales yet.

 

So, just in case you haven't seen them,

here is a link to my shop, Under the Rose Arbor.

 

 

In order to be entered in the drawing for this pretty pink rose necklace,

please leave a comment telling me which item you like best in my shop,

and we will randomly choose one to receive the necklace.

It is 18 inches long, and the rose pendant is 1 inch across.

 

Sorry, only US and Canada addresses, please!

 

I will announce the winner on Monday, June 17.

Good luck! (:

 

I'm joining Sandi for her Home party.

Growing

One thing that Andy really enjoys is being able to do a little farming.  He started renting some ground from my Grandpa this year and today he finished planting soybeans.  It was a good feeling to get them in the ground and then tonight we got a little rain to get them growing!  Hopefully it won't be as dry this year as the last couple years have been.

 

Remember the raised garden we built last winter?  It's doing pretty good!  We've enjoyed some lettuce, sugar snap peas, cilantro and onions out of it so far.  I really like having it just outside the door- as I'm cooking I can run out there and get whatever I need.  Gardening is fun!  I want to try and get some roses to grow over the arbor yet.

 

This is such a nice time of year, everything is so nice and fresh and green and growing- have I mentioned I love country living?? (:

A Little Lost

 

That's how I'm feeling today, a little lost.  You see, back last summer, I saw a little 2 year old blond haired, sweet, little, special needs girl on an adoption photolisting and couldn't get her out of my mind.  She had to walk with a walker and she couldn't speak, but somehow I distinctly felt God pushing me to open up my heart to adopting a child that needed us.  One that nobody else wanted.  Every excuse I could come up with, God would bring to mind a verse, a song, something I'd said in the past, to contradict my excuses.

Andy agreed that God wanted us to be doing more for Him than we were doing.  So back last August we signed up for the 10 weeks of classes you have to take to do foster care or adopt through the state.  We got those done in November and started getting our house ready to be licensed for foster care.  Although as we began that process, we felt that adoption was more our thing than foster care was, so we decided to adopt a waiting child instead of doing foster care.

 

After all, there are more than 800 children waiting to be adopted in our state alone- such a big need!  I spent lots of time pouring over the photolistings, deciding which child might fit best in our family.  We chose a state agency to do our homestudy, and they finally finished it up in May.  Now we were ready!

We found several options of children that might work in our family, but one by one they were put aside as our social worker recommended which ones she felt would work out best.  Finally, we submitted our homestudy for 2 situations, one was 2 sisters and one was an 8 year old girl.  Now yesterday, we found out that the 8 year old girl had an aunt show up all of a sudden who might want her, and the 2 sisters had 20 homestudies submitted for them, and their social workers decided that our family would not be the best for them.  Twenty homestudies?  Something is not adding up.

I guess these kids are wanted.  Which is a great thing- don't get me wrong- but I feel a little lost, like what do we do now?  Do we need to change something, shift our focus, just wait, submit our homestudy for someone else?  We don't know. 

BUT- thankfully God does know!  We can be completely at rest knowing that he will lead and guide us to the right child- he has done it before!  One step at a time- I just need to relax and watch him work.  And maybe get another cup of coffee...

Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope in the LORD.

Psalm 31:24

Let down

 

At some point, people will generally let us down. 

Whether it is your parents, your husband or wife, or your close friend,

people just don't always live up to our expectations.

And we don't always live up to all their expectations either!

That's why forgiveness is so important-

we all fail, but forgiveness gives us permission to move on.

 

Bear with each other and forgive whatever

grievances you may have against one another.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Colossians 3:13

 

 

"Where is your faith?"

~A picture of this week~

 

Adopting is rarely straightforward, and this time around is no exception.  We heard this week that the adoption situation we put in our homestudy for with the 2 sisters is on hold for a while since our state is switching around which agencies have charge of different areas.  The agency the girls are with is no longer able to do adoptions or foster care, so the girls will be transferred to another agency in July.  The other little girl we submitted our homestudy for has had a lot families interested in her so it will be awhile before they sort through them all and choose one.  So all that to say, it will probably be months before we hear anything.  Sigh.

 

I've been reading through the book of Luke lately, and as I read the story of Jesus calming the storm, I was reminded again of the importance of complete faith in God.  There were Jesus and his disciples, crossing the lake, and Jesus was taking a nap while they sailed.  A storm came up and it was so bad that the disciples, who were used to being in boats since they were fishermen, were very worried.  The boat was swamped and they were in great danger.  But Jesus was still sleeping. 

 

How could he still be sleeping?  Because he knew who was in charge of the storm.

 

You will keep in perfect peace

him whose mind is steadfast,

because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 26:3

 

The disciples came and woke him saying they were going to drown, and Jesus got up, rebuked the storm, and it became completely calm.  Then he asked them,

 

"Where is your faith?"

Luke 8:25

 

If we have perfect faith in God, we will have perfect peace, no matter the storm.  Our Creator and Redeemer is worthy of our faith!  Oh to be like Jesus, and be able to rest in God no matter what news we hear.