I love a good ROAD TRIP!!

My blog posting has certainly "lacked" of late (ok, so that is an understatement) but I could not neglect to share what fun I was blessed to have with my friend Stacy this past week/weekend.

I hopped on a plane and headed to the BEAUTIFUL Pacific Northwest.


When I landed in Seattle, Stacy met me and we hopped in a car to begin our 13 hour drive to Billings, Montana. We had planned months ago to meet at the Beth Moore, Living Proof Live conference in Billings...but those plans changed a bit when I realized that I desperately wanted to spend some time with her sweet family, too. Hence the "long way" to Billings.

The conference was just what I had hoped and prayed for...a good word from the Lord, in a fun atmosphere, with a great friend! The passage Beth taught from was Isaiah 32:1-8. I came away with a renewed motivation and desire to be a refuge in the storm for those around me. I want to be INTENTIONAL and WILLING in my efforts to show Christ to my "fellow man." You can check out a video re-cap of the conference here.


Aside from the conference, Stacy and I enjoyed endless hours of uninterrupted talking...as we drove along some absolutely beautiful highways. And I am now convinced that there are not enough highway miles in this great country to exhaust the amount of wisdom and encouragement this girlfriend of mine has to share!! To think, I once had a fleeting thought that we might not have enough things to talk about for such a long trip! I am still amazed that God would love me so much as to "ice our adoption cake" with such a friendship!

We even took a "side trip" (because, you know, 2000 miles just didn't seem like enough!) to see the Bear Tooth Pass. This was a drive that Chad and the kids and I had hoped to make on our vacation this summer, but the pass was closed due to snow.

Imagine my great delight when I saw this:


And the drive did not disappoint! I was once again completely awestruck at God's amazing workmanship and creativity!!





At the end of the "conversation filled" drive back to Stacy's home, we were met by these cuties!!!!


And I finally got to wrap my arms around THIS GIRL!! and let me tell you...as cute as she is in pictures, she is BEAUTIFUL in "real life"!



I missed my family MUCH while I was gone, but Chad was a trooper (like usual) and gave me the privilege of feeling completely guilt-free while I was gone. He had encouraged the trip from the beginning, and never complained once (still hasn't!!) AND AND AND he even met me with 2 dozen roses at the airport when I returned! Blessings upon blessings upon blessings. I am thanking God so much for His pouring on the blessings this past week! And I pray that I will be faithful to put to good use this time of refreshing and refueling!

When I consider your heavens...

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 8:3-4

What am I...that He cares for me?
And yet He does.
And not just cares for...but LOVES me.

Me!
...I am amazed all over again...

We're in the band?!?!

LOOK!! LOOK!! LOOOOOOOOOOK at Carrie and I!
Just hanging out with the band!



You are probably thinking that we are actually IN THIRD DAY now, aren't you?
Oh, how I wish!!!
And just so you know, WE DID OFFER.
Apparently they are still thinking about it, because we haven't heard back yet.

And, before you make fun of our matching T-Shirts...
those absolutely adorable Third Day t-shirts (compliments of Carrie) were a very integral part of us getting this TOTALLY UNPLANNED opportunity to meet our very most favorite band!

I will spare you all the details of HOW we got to meet Third Day.
And I won't bore you with the "line-by-line" details of our conversation with them (did I mention we got to HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THIRD DAY??)
But I WILL share with you these important highlights:

-we made them laugh (they really did..and I think not just AT us, but WITH us!)
-we reassured them that we are both happily married women with families...we just happen to LOVE their music
-Carrie captured some video of this most happy moment!
-it is entirely possible that we got autographs :)
-we did, FOR REAL, offer to do back up singing on their next album/concert

On a more serious note, meeting Third Day in person was an awesome blessing. They were warm, friendly, genuine and funny.

OH...and the concert?
Take a look:

Please pray for Paps!

Chad's dad ("Paps") is having heart surgery today. He is having a 3 vessel bipass.

Please pray for surgery to go well.
And for a speedy recovery!


UPDATE (2:45 pm): Surgery went VERY well. Chad and his mom have been able to see Paps once. Praise God! Thanks for your prayers...please keep him on your list.

For a brief moment I considered "live blogging"...

I would have to check the archives, but I do not think that I have ever "live blogged" before. I am not sure the I have ever really been motivated to write about what I am doing "at this moment"...

Until last night.
I thought about it.
And then decided I would take way too much effort (you know...like getting UP and walking across the room to get my laptop.)

But I SO wanted to share with SOMEONE just how much fun I was having. And I would have called one of you...but that would have taken me getting up to find the phone.

Picture this:
Me.
In bed.
Watching the Olympics (I need to stop here to thank Chad for moving the TV into our bedroom last night. Only for the Olympics. And then it will be removed. I have just never been a fan of a TV in our bedroom.)
Anyway...back to my Utopia:

Me.
In bed.
Watching the Olympics.
Quedoba's chips and pico de gallo!!
Followed by Premium M&M's. (the Raspberry Almond ones)
Leaning back against my new pillow.

Seriously.
I am getting all warm and fuzzy just remembering it now.

I don't know...maybe you just had to be there.
But that would have gotten crowded for sure!!

:) Have a great day.

How do you like your eggs?

We're thinking "FARM FRESH" sounds good!
Look what the girls have been up to.
We aren't sure WHICH girls (I won't tell you how many are out there...you will have to stop in and see for yourself)...but we've had 6 eggs so far!

:)

Sunny side up for me!

Living Sacrifices

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of traveling to Tampa, FL with our high school youth group (clarification: I went as a sponsor....not as someone who wishes to re-live my high school years!!) We knew we would be "doing inner city mission work" but beyond that we had few details.

Our challenge to the youth was this: to be living sacrifices & to honor one another above yourself.

Common Ground Christian Church is a new church plant in the heart of Tampa. They minister to a very diverse community (roughly 1/3 white, 1/3 hispanic and 1/3 african american). We were blessed to call their building "home" for the week (complete with a shower trailer in the parking lot!).

Our mission was 2-fold.
1.) Work project: Home repair for Cheryl (paint house, repair gutters, landscape, etc.) during the days
2.) Community outreach: Vacation Bible School in a low-income apartment complex in the evenings

The week was AWESOME!
Our group of kids worked very hard on the home repair, and it turned out great!!
They stepped right into their roles for the VBS and had a great time ministering to the children (40 some of them on one evening) who came.

As you will see on the video (we put this together to share with our home congregation), we took in some of the local fun, too. A trip to the beach for ice cream, dinner on the "Taco Bus" , and our big outing to a theme park.

This was an especially fun trip for me BECAUSE BROCK WENT, TOO!! I have been on 6 other mission trips. (Chad and I went together on 2 of them) but this was the FIRST one that I had the opportunity to share with one of my own kids!! I am convinced, now more than ever, that we should plan some family mission trips in the future! Any ideas?

Enjoy the video. You may not know the kids in it, but hopefully you will appreciate their heart and their willingness to serve. One quick explanation: As part of our "cultural" experience, the pastor of Common Ground took us to a Sunday evening worship service at CrossOver Community Church ( a hip-hop church nearby). The worship was so fun. And I can honestly say that I have never felt so welcomed into a church that I have visited! Our kids were most fascinated, though, with the spontaneous session of breakdancing after church let out for the evening. You'll see what I mean!

Shocking, I know...

Shocking that you came to visit...and there is a new post to read!
Shocking that I still remember how to log onto Blogger to post!
Shocking that you stop to visit at all anymore, given my complete neglect of this blog!

Shocking that I finally do post...and I am not posting anything worthy of your time.
More of a post to let you know that I am still here...and I do still remember how to log onto this blog.

Coming up soon...
4-H fair update...maybe even with pictures of the goats! (Do I remember how to do that???)
High School Mission Trip update (maybe even a video?? yikes. careful, Michelle, you may pull a blog-muscle!!)

Stay tuned.

Hannah's Hope

I have been working on a video (to share at our church) regarding the situation at Hannah's Hope in Guatemala. I thought I should just share it here as well. If you have any interest in knowing more you can email me, or go to www.allgodschildren.org and click the "UNITE" button.

Because you just can't get enough of the animals...

Apparently we were having "animal withdrawal".
So we headed to the zoo today to see what we could see.

We loved this guy. And I tell you, there is NO sound like the sound of an African lion when he roars. Gave me chills.


And so fun to see this special guest:


Gotta' love the elephants.


And our very favorite of the day was this walrus. For several minutes he was playing with the kids at the window. He would come up and get nose to nose...looking the kids straight in the eye. Micah was captivated! I have never seen a walrus face so up close and personal!


What fun!

Our Vacation "By The Numbers"

4,189 miles traveled!!!
10 different states
8 different places to sleep
7 awesome National or State parks/monuments
5 bears we saw with our own eyes!
530 pictures downloaded onto my computer
0 DVD's watched in the truck
3 GREAT kids who made the trip so much FUN!
1 awesome husband (who, by the way, drove every one of those 4,189 miles!)

We are getting settled back into regular life (unpacked and all) and I am still hoping to post some more of those 530 pictures (but don't worry...not ALL of them!!)

Just a couple of pics....

Mount Rushmore!!!



The Badlands!!


Micah (ready to "ride horsey") picking some boots for mama!!

So much to tell...

...but so little time.
We have had another GREAT day!!
I am saving all the details for later...because I want to get to bed soon.
Tomorrow we will drive through Yellowstone for the last time, and then head east toward the Black Hills, Badlands, and Mount Rushmore.

Here are a few photo highlights of the day:

The work of His hands....

This trip has been absolutely amazing so far.
I don't even know where to start...but I thought I would at least post a few pictures (of the 200 plus that I have taken so far!!)
I will definitely have to post much more later. But for now, here are a few highlights.

God's handiwork is AMAZING!!! I feel like these pictures don't even do it justice, because the landscape is so "expansive" that I can't fit it into a picture. But here are a few:



Our first day in Yellowstone was so fun! We have seen herds and herds of bison (and baby bison), many elk, a moose (with a baby!), and.....check this out....A BALD EAGLE! on the first day!!!


I could go on and on ....and I will later.....but I am heading to bed now. Exhausted. AND VERY BLESSED!

Did I happen to mention...???

Did I happen to mention that we are heading to Yellowstone National Park??
On Friday!?!?!
Yikes.
This vacation has REALLY snuck up on us!

We are hoping to visit some (or all) or these places:
Joplin, MO (to visit our sweet friend, Ashley...her hubby, Aaron...and baby Jude, too!!)
Rocky Mountain National Forest
The Grand Tetons
Yellowstone
Old Faithful
Mount Rushmore
The Badlands and Black Hills

And lots of stuff in between!

I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the thought of packing a family of 5...for 10 days...and 4,000 miles!!
I should get started.

Amazing Love...

This post may seem a bit "random"...and to some degree, I suppose it is.
But I needed to share.

Earlier today I was going through some of the pictures from Micah's adoption. I was doing this with the hope of finally putting together a "life book" for him to grow up with...a book with the story of how he came into our family.

As I was flipping through the pictures, I came upon these two....and they stopped me "in my tracks."




The pictures are of Micah with one of his "special moms" at the orphanage.
I have seen these 2 pictures a hundred (or more) times, but today I cried.

Here are some of the emotions that led to my tears:

--Have I ever told you....REALLY, REALLY told you....how incredible these women are? When I look at these pictures, I am reminded of how much LOVE they poured into Micah during his first 8 months of life. I love the way she is looking at him in the first picture....and when you look at her SMILE in the second picture, I just think "you can't fake a smile like that.....she LOVED him!!!!"

--I have been bothered all day by the fact that I cannot remember this special mom's name. It is driving me NUTS! I want to know it. I NEED to know it. I want Micah to KNOW her name. So...I am working on it. I knew it at one time, and I am sure I have it written down somewhere...in the meantime, I have emailed some other people to see if they can help me.

--Somewhere along the way, I stopped praying consistently for these women. Not on purpose, it just happened. It struck me today that, at this very moment, there are women caring for orphans in Guatemala and Ethiopia at the Hannah's Hope orphanages.
They are feeding, changing diapers, rocking, singing, giving medicine, kissing "ouchies", cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, etc.
And they do it with so much love.
Our family was blessed to SEE them doing it first-hand.
Our family was blessed because they DID IT FOR MICAH when we couldn't.

Chad and I have said SO MANY times that we are grateful for the love these women gave our son!!

Tonight I am grateful that they continue on...and I will be praying for them...and for the orphans whose lives they touch each day!!

Happy Birthday, ERICA!!!

Happy Birthday, sis!!
We love you and we are so very, very, VERY proud of the young woman that you are becoming! Thank you for the many ways you bless our family...especially with your servant heart and your willing hands!!!

We love you!!!!

Happy Birthday +1, girlfriend!!

+1....because I am a day late with this post.

I have decided that birthday posts to you are difficult to write.
Because what I am really doing is just telling you "publicly" what I pray that you already know in your heart.

Last year I wrote this:
"God blessed my life beyond measure when He formed our friendship....a friendship that was born first and foremost out of our mutual desire to grow in our walk with Him. I love you dearly and pray that we celebrate many more birthdays."

The thing I love most about our friendship is Christ.
...praying with you.... talking with you about what God is doing....studying His word with you...praying for you and your family.

God has shown us (several times) that our friendship is dependent upon Him. When we drift, we struggle. I believe that our friendship was a gift from God, and I believe that He will do whatever it takes to be sure we keep Him "center stage"!! I PRAISE HIM FOR THAT!

I love you!
OH....and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

:)

Happy Moms Day!!!!!

Happy Mothers Day everyone!
This song put a huge smile on my face last night. Then this morning, when the puppets performed it at church, I just knew I had to share it with you! Hope you enjoy it!!

A boy and his horse...

Micah's new "hobby" should help to keep the dandelion population down in our yard this summer!
If you know of any children that have had their hand eaten off by a horse...please DO NOT leave them in my comment box!!!