We have a date!

 

We have some exciting news today!

 

The meeting where the social workers choose the family

for Mimi has been set for October 4th at 11:00.

 

As of now we are the only family being considered.

 

We would really appreciate your prayers-

both for us and for Mimi, she has a lot more to adjust to than we do.

 

If God wants her here, she will come!

 

Thank you for praying!

Goodness

He loves righteousness and justice;

The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

Psalm 33:5

 

 

On this last day of summer that feels more like fall,

take time to enjoy all God's goodness!

 

Cool mornings, wildflowers, children laughing,

warm coffee, pumpkin cake, a full moon,

and good news about our adoption

are some things I'm thankful for today.

 

How about you?



The Rest of the Story

 

I have written several times about the folks who built our stone house, and the type of people they were.  Starting a farm from nothing, true pioneers!  The husband a Civil War veteran, the wife a faithful church member.  Their daughter, Alice, was known in the community as a quiet, kind and faithful wife, ever ready to do her part.  Her husband, Clarence, on the other hand, unfortunately does not have a similar reputation.  Here is the story of the end of his life, pieced together from newspaper articles and neighbors.

Clarence and Alice had been married for 30 years when Alice finally died after a long two year illness.  They were both 56 years old.  Clarence then moved to Peabody where he began working at the Beer Parlor, which was located in the hotel.  Over the next year or two he was able to secure the farm in his name, since it had still been deeded to Alice.  He did not return to the farm, however. 

Apparently he had a weakness for gambling, and lost the farm in a card game one night.  After that devastating loss, he went to pay for his dollar's worth of beer with a check.  The waitress realized that the check would be no good, since he had just lost everything by gambling, so she went and told the hotel proprietor about it.  He refused to take the check, and told Clarence he must pay cash.  Clarence was apparently so upset that he pulled a revolver on the proprietor.  In the scuffle which followed, the hotel proprietor was shot, but was able to wrestle the gun away from Clarence and carry it in to the restaurant.  In the mean time, Clarence left through the lobby. 

An ambulance was called, and the hotel proprietor rushed to the hospital.  Meanwhile, Clarence walked down the street to the drug store, where he bought some rat poison, broke open the package, and swallowed some of the contents.  He then walked across the street to his car.  After the ambulance returned from taking the hotel proprietor to the hospital, they took Clarence in.  The hotel proprietor died from his wounds the next day.  Clarence was placed under arrest in the hospital, but died from the rat poison three days later.

So now you know, the rest of the story.

Been Camping

 

Sorry for my lack of posts lately, but we've been busy-

you know when you go camping with 5 kids it takes at

least 3 days to get ready to go, and 3 days to clean up

when you get home, which is probably why we don't

do it very often!  But here's a look at our fun weekend-

 

 

Lots of good camp food

 

Free kayak rentals

 

 

Beautiful lake scenery

 

 

Lots of good visits with extended family

 

 

Pelican entertainment

 

 

And last but definitely not least, a sweet, sweet,

great-niece to hold!

 

We had a great time, until a storm came and almost blew our tent away,

and most of our stuff got soaking wet.  But that worked out too because

Andy's folks had a cabin we could hunker down in for the night!

 

 

 

 

Not So Easy

~ PD and AJ playing some mini golf ~

 

Sometimes God sends some hard things our kids' way.  It's not easy to watch, and not easy when there's not a whole lot you can do to make it better.  This summer we had a food allergy test done for PD, and we learned that he is allergic to 39 different foods!  No wonder he had not been feeling well.  So, that knowledge has led us to quite the food adventure the past few weeks.  Not being able to use things like onions, milk, eggs, wheat, rice, cheese, or pepper on your food can make things somewhat difficult when it comes to cooking.  Thankfully he can still have steak and potatoes!  (just hold the butter).

 

So yesterday Paul was really hungry for pizza.  But, with not being able to have a crust on the bottom or cheese on the top, it wasn't really possible.  So here was what I came up with to hopefully taste somewhat like pizza.  The ingredients- salted hamburger, corn-based macaroni, pepperoni, homemade tomato sauce (the canned sauce has onions), goat cheese, expensive garlic powder (without additives), and home grown basil.  I threw it all together and baked it awhile.  I think he's been watching too much Master Chef though, because he told me it was pretty good, although the noodles were a little too mushy.  Sorry.

 

He basically can't have any desserts, since he can't have chocolate or milk or flour.  So we let him drink a can of pop a little more often.  (only sprite or root beer though- can't have cola or oranges).  He eats a lot of plain potato chips and fruit (but no bananas or cantaloupe).  When we have chicken, he eats turkey, because he's also allergic to chicken. 

 

The good news is that he only has to be totally off these foods for a set period of time, then we can start introducing them back in.  The hope is that in a year he will be able to be back on everything.  I don't totally understand the science behind it all, but we're trying to kill off the cells that attack these foods.

 

It's been a hard thing for him, eating isn't very fun anymore, as I'm sure you can imagine.  I know he'd appreciate your prayers for strength for him and that he would remember not to eat things people offer him unless it has passed Mom's examination!  We can be thankful that there are doctors who have the ability to figure these things out- and that he will feel better eventually!

 

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13

Love Passed Down

~my grandpa and his sister having lunch on the farm, 1916~

 

Today was the funeral for my great-uncle.  He was my grandpa's (who's pictured above) little brother.  He and his wife did so much good work for the Lord, loving others no matter the cost.  When they were first married they worked at a children's home for a few years, and adopted two sons from there.  There was another boy there at the home who they mentioned to my grandparents, and my grandparents decided to adopt him.  He was seven at the time, and became their youngest son, just a year younger than my dad.  My great-uncle and aunt kept on in their desire to love the fatherless after they moved back to the farm, and welcomed many foster children over the years.  It was so clear at the funeral how much he and his wife impacted people for the Lord, just by loving them, no matter what they did. 

 

I was thinking on the way home, that if they hadn't told my grandparents about the little boy who they ended up adopting, and my dad hadn't grown up with him and his cousins, learning compassion for those who come from hard places, he wouldn't have imparted that to me, and we might not have adopted at all.  It's amazing to think how God was influencing us, almost 60 years ago, before we were even born. 

 

"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."

 

~ from Beth Moore, in Looking Up When Life is Looking Down ~

Reminded

We are now at the end of August.

 

We were supposed to know if they chose us to be

Mimi's family or not by now.

 

But, they haven't done anything on her case,

and we still don't know when they will get it done.

 

We got tired of it this week,

and wrote our social worker asking if we needed

to try and talk to a supervisor or something,

because really, it is getting ridiculous.

 

But, she said that although we could do that,

it might make them label us as "hard to work with",

and that wouldn't be good.

 

I guess it's typical for this process to take forever.

 

So, I was reminded yet again of this truth-

 

 

On a more positive note, the sunflowers are sure pretty this year!