I am STILL Lord

I felt God tell me this as I cried this morning at church - "I am STILL Lord, regardless of your feelings, your circumstances. I am the same yesterday, today and forever." It has been a weekend full of emotions for me, and one where I just haven't felt like myself. I'm not as strong as it may seem, I realized, but where I am weak, He is strong.

On Friday, we found out that Leila's adoption has been put on hold. The relationship between The LINK and Good Samaritan Orphanage is incredibly fragile, and until this is resolved, they will only focus on one adoption at a time so as not to ruin the chances of any of the children being adopted. I am grateful that at this point one adoption will move forward, and especially grateful because the family are friends of ours. But I'd be  lying if I said this situations didn't infuriate us - that someone could be so selfish to take power that is not his to take and make decisions that are life-altering and not at all Christ-like. I don't know if this orphanage director knows Jesus, and I'm not one to judge that, but I do pray God grabs a hold of his heart and changes it. At this point, that is literally all we can rely on - God changing him. I've seen God do it - cure people from addiction, bring Atheists to Him, reconcile relationships that seemed impossible to reconcile. So, I'm believing. And we need you to pray and believe, too. We will not be discouraged. We will not give up hope. He is STILL Lord of all.

Snow Days

I was so pleased with myself for coming up with multiple things for the kids to do while it was frigid outside and Geoff was working very long days. But God made sure that self-pride didn't last too long as today we resorted to tagging along with Geoff to work and a Red Box movie. I can only be creative for so long!

But we did have fun with painting, making bird feeders, playing games with pom poms (such a great, cheap thing to have on hand!), making puzzles, building a fort, making fudge (bad idea for a momma fasting sweets) and of course, going outside (though that was short-lived). 

Soul Farms Highlights

Highlights

• We recently lost 3 baby goats (kids) to stillbirth, but we are hopeful that our second doe (Sophia, named after the Disney princess, Sophia the First) is pregnant for the first time.
• We will get a second buck in about a month from a farm in Staunton that has a great reputation for producing strong milkers.
• We recently purchased 30 more chickens called Australorps. They are great foraging chickens, so we are venturing into that world and the piles of leaf compost behind the house are evidence of that.
• We still have about 15 older chickens that give us 10-12 eggs a day. We have 4 dozen eggs accounted for each week by paying customers, so that helps with their costs.
• We sent our first steer to the butcher about a week and a half ago. He was 100% grass-fed, so we are excited! Getting this cow in the trailer to get to the butcher was quite a process and a funny one at that!
• We have our seeds ordered for 2014, the seedlings shelf and lights set up, so that hopefully, we don't have to buy any plants this year, and part of the compost on the ground will be used for this garden venture.
• And we're trying bees again. Since I've been grinding wheat and making most of our bread products, we are going through some honey. My dad and Beth have been generous to share some of their own, but I'm afraid we're going to clean them out!

Building the new chicken coop/greenhouse.

The kids peeking at the cow in the middle of their bath. The steer broke through the fence, escaped into the woods and finally made his way into our backyard for his last supper. Please keep in mind this was our first steer we've ever taken to the butcher - we learned a few lessons...

Lollygagging in the yard.

I could not get the video to come up, but after calling 3 friends to come over and assist (one who was on a conference call for work the whole time), the guys managed to get him in the trailer. There was a lot of running, waving of arms, yelling and laughing from inside the house (from me). It was quite a morning!

Leila Update - Please Pray

Pouhin (former orphanage director who still has a lot of say, sadly) is back in Niamey and Dankarami (our contact for adoptions in Niger) will be meeting with him next week to discuss Leila's adoption.  Please cover the week and sweet Leila in your prayers. I don't know what they're discussing exactly, but I pray it is a "yes" that comes out of it, and a "let's move forward!" because...

I go to Niger in less than a month. This trip was not planned and was a God thing. It's completely paid for, and I didn't even fundraise or ask anyone. And honestly, it's not really going to be a mission trip, but a retreat for the LINK staff! I'll be going to W National Park - a park governed by Niger, Burkina Faso and Benin. Take a look at the web link - it's pretty cool - and it's known for it's large mammals - African elephants, cheetahs, lions, aardvarks, buffalo, baboons, etc. It won't be all pleasure as I'll be co-leading a Team Building session for the retreat, which is definitely God stretching me because I dislike speaking in front of people more than most anything. That's how we grow though - our weakness, His strength!

Anyway, my point to all of this, is that I pray I'll get to see Leila in the 24 hours we're in Niamey AND that I'll be able to sign the paperwork that her birthmother also signs relinquishing her parental rights. It's a longshot, but God is in the business of doing things we can't! So, please, please, please pray. We appreciate it!

Frazier's 2 Year Check Up

Well, little man, you are short, stocky and top-heavy (we knew that already!).

Height - 2'10" (36%)
Weight - 28 lbs. 10 oz. (56%)
BMI - 72%
Head Circumference - 52.1 cm (99%)

Daddy took you to your 2 year check-up, and you're doing great. We are excited, too, that you are interested in using the potty. Frequently you say, "Me go peepee on potty." You are a stud for sure.

Christmas 2013

Well, I did a poor job of taking pictures of our adventures around Christmas, but I can say that we had a very special year celebrating with family, friends and the one that gives us reason to celebrate - Jesus! It can be hard to keep the focus on the reason Christmas exists in the first place. You know, with all the food, presents, get togethers and such, but we tried each day to be intentional about HIM. And I tried with God's grace to not get stressed. I think I did a pretty good job, and I THINK Geoff would agree. 

You always feel like there's one more person you should have made cookies for or in our case, I start to feel bad that I sent zero Christmas cards out when I get all these lovely ones in the mail from people like you. But what I have realized is that while all that stuff is good, it's not what it's all about, so I should do what I can without it feeling stressful. And this year, Christmas cards was going to feel stressful, so they didn't happen. And let's be honest, a stressful life is not the life God wants for us! And with no work (that I get paid for at least), what I really got to do this season was S.L.O.W. D.O.W.N. with my children and enjoy it. Man, I am thankful for that. 

The kids, especially Mary-Michael, really got Christmas this year and helped to keep me focused. M&M has such a generous heart. She took an offering envelope from church a few days before Christmas and asked if she could put all her money in it to give to people who didn't have any. All on her own. I was proud and surprised! So she filled it up with every coin and bill she had, and I drove her to church to deliver it the next day. It was a moment when I felt like, "we're doing something right!" Now before you give me a "mom of the year" award or think she's a little angel all the time, she also still asked, "are there more presents?" after opening up more presents than I could keep up with from all those generous grandparents and family members. I mean, she is only 3, right?!

Here are a few pictures from the Lawrence Christmas (the only family gathering where I actually took pictures) where Eddie (the newest family member) stole the show. We had a lot of fun (and noise) with 14 of us opening presents in one room, and then we had the pleasure of hosting 8 of the Lawrence's at our home for the weekend after Christmas. 4-Wheelers, guns (shot safely) and cards (Hand & Foot) filled the agenda, and I think everyone had a good time!

And I can't leave out a picture from a mid-December gathering of all the "Desperate Petites" - aka the children and grandchildren of my momma's dear group of friends, called The Desperates. We have had bath times together, camped together and grown up alongside each other. They are a very special group of people!

Oh, and a few pictures from our Christmas tea party at the library (they also dressed up while there). Very fun!