Adopted: Rescued by Love - Austin Stone Community Church

One of the organizations that helped us with our adoption of Lucy, Abba Fund, posted on Facebook a three part sermon series called Adopted delivered from a church in Austin, Texas. I was intrigued and listened to the first two sermons. I believe it is worth sharing here because the pastor nails the truth of our spiritual adoption into God's family in the first sermon. This first video that I am posting is about 30 mins. long, so if you have time watch it, it is worth the 30 mins. of your time. : )

I will save the second sermon to post here for Sunday. I think it is a message for Orphan Sunday which is this Sunday, November 4th. However, since I have linked the church's website here, you can go ahead and listen to the second sermon. : ) It is more powerful than the first message.

Our adoption agency has sent out an email inviting us to be a part of a committee of types called, Be the Voice. The idea is to be the voice for the orphans around the world by talking about our experiences to whomever will listen. : ) This is one way I am "being the voice" for the orphans around the world. I am not a public speaker, so I will be like Moses and this pastor is my Aaron being the public speaker he is so that we can be the voice for the orphans. : )

The Race

"Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!"     -Hebrews 12:1-3 (The Message)

There are not too many things I do without a specific purpose. Since my 30th birthday (ahem, yes, I am over 30 now!), I realized that I needed to be more intentional and living life with purpose. I read non fiction books. I have not been a big fan of reading, I know, I know, not a good thing, but when I do read, it must have a purpose. I watch movies for entertainment. I spend my time with a purpose. If I am going to be away from my kids in the care of someone else it must be for a purpose. You get the idea....purposeful.

Now, on the eve of what has become an annual event for me - The Mankato 1/2 Marathon - I have been thinking about this idea of purpose. I was running this past week for one of my last training runs before this race and a thought came to my mind: What purpose do I have in running this race? When I signed up for this race I had the idea to raise money for an organization like Show Hope or World Vision. I did a couple nights worth of researching how to raise money while running a race, but I didn't seem to get anywhere. Probably just because of either laziness or who knows what, that idea became a fleeting thought. So, I was running and thinking and these Hebrews verses came to me. I started thinking of the idea of persevering in this race of life. I started thinking of people I know that are having to persevere through this race of life with harder situations than I can even imagine. What can I do for them while I am running my 13 miles? I will pray. I will bring these people to the throne of God. My legs will become tired and weary, but my race will end at mile 13.1. These people do not know when their race will end. I will pray for Justin and Elise, my cousin and his wife, as they deal daily with the horrible reality of a young child with cancer. I will pray for  Joel and Christina Hoffman, two of my high school classmates, who have had to deal with a daughter fighting cancer and then once things were looking good, they lose a son in a horrible car accident. I will pray for my brother and sister-in-law as they deal with the reality of having a child with special needs, uncertain of what their future holds. I will pray for the 1.47 million orphans still in need of a forever family, like our Lucy was. These are just the people that were brought to my mind during my run. I know there are so many more. These people know what persevering through a race really looks like. Yes, my physical body will become tired. I will ache afteward, but this is nothing compared to the race these people are facing each and every day. Keep running your race and your eyes fixed on Jesus and do not quit! There is hope!

The Big 4

Today we celebrated our little Izzy's 4th birthday. When I woke her up this morning and said Happy Birthday, she started to whimper. I asked her what was wrong and she said she didn't feel like she was 4. She didn't feel bigger. : ) I don't know if she thought she was just going to grow overnight and suddenly feel 4 (whatever that feels like) or what. She was a little disappointed but quickly got over it.


First Birthday

We started the day going to church where she announced to anyone that stopped to say hi that it was her birthday. She took pink cupcakes to her Sunday School friends. We came home from church and had a birthday meal of Izzy's choice: hamburgers, french fries, and mac 'n cheese with Grandma and Grandpa Penner and Uncle Mark.


Second Birthday



3rd Birthday

Izzy is one special little girl. She has brought so much fun and pink girly things to this house. When I am having a rough day she will ask, "Mommy are you happy?" Such a sweet girl! She does so much pretend play. More than I remember my boys doing. I will hear her talking, stop what I am doing, and just listen in on the conversations she has with her "friends." It cracks me up! I hear words that I say to her coming from her mouth. Eeeek! I need to watch what I am saying. It is fun watch her grow and learn new things. Right now she wants to read so bad. First we need to get letter recognition and sounds mastered. In time sweet one, you will be reading!

 We love you so much Izzy Busy Belle and cannot imagine life without you! Happy 4th Birthday!

enjoying her 3D chalk set

Playing some soccer with her big brothers

A little birthday fun outside

Playing with some new birthday gifts

 

To Great Grandmother's House We Go.....

We spent a little time with Jason's 93 year old grandmother this evening. Highlights of our visits at Great Grandma's are: 1. the toy closet - our kids play with some of the same toys that their Grandpa Penner played with as a child. 2. ICE CREAM!!! It seems that every visit at Great Grandma's includes a bowl or cone filled with ice cream. I think her freezer has a never ending supply of ice cream. This made Lucy's day. She LOVES ice cream! We all enjoyed having dessert BEFORE supper tonight. : ) 3. playing games with Great Grandma. It usually includes a game of Uno, but tonight the kids drew pictures for Grandmother instead.

On another note.....I am just ecstatic tonight as I think of some dear friends that share in the China adoption experience. Tonight (U.S. Central Time) they will be holding their daughter in their arms for the first time. This is their second journey to adopting a little girl from China and they were a HUGE help to us before we left to get Lucy. I am thrilled that there is yet another child who was an orphan and will be in the arms of her mommy and daddy in a few short hours. Oh, it brings tears to my eyes thinking back to those first moments with Lucy. I will be praying for this family as their daughter will be taken from everything she knows as normal and healing for her little heart. In fact Jason got the video camera out tonight and was replaying those first moments with Lucy while Lucy looked on. Oh, that cry......I will never forget that cry. She is such a different person now. Yes, we still have work to do, but she has come so far from that first day.

Growing

Lucy standing on my "Adoption Paperwork" box.

It seems that each day/week/month is flying by. My kids are growing before my eyes. Isabelle is saying some pretty funny things these days and will be starting a little dance class on Tuesday. I am pretty sure she will be in her element at this class. She has already asked what to wear for her first class. That's my girl! Ian and Aiden started 4-H. (Insert big sigh). I think it will be a good thing for them, I just hear how much time and work it takes and thus begins running the kids around to events. This group only meets one Sunday afternoon a month, however, Ian has decided to be in the Robotics/Lego group of 4H so he will be busy building a robot on Monday evenings. (Insert another big sigh). We will see how this year goes. Lucy keeps changing and growing also. I hear new words it seems daily, that I can understand. I don't know if anyone else can understand them. One very clear word she says is "mombine" for combine. She can spot a combine in every field we pass. I think she has enjoyed her first harvest season on the farm. : ) Yee Haw!! I am still a little concerned about her speech and question if we are doing everything we need to be doing for her. I have decided to take her to the U of M International Adoption Clinic in Minneapolis for my own peace of mind. I hope they can answer some questions I have about her speech and other concerns. We go on Wednesday. So it will be another long drive for Lucy to another doctor's appointment and it may be unnecessary, but I am new at this adoption thing. I just want to make sure we are doing everything we are supposed to be doing with and for Lucy. Did I mention I am a bit of a worrier? Again, this appoinment will put my mind at ease, hopefully!

Look at that bed head



Apples!



Lucy and Izzy helped me peel apples to make apple pie filling. Lucy did such a great job with putting all the peels in a bucket for me. She follows instructions well....when she wants to....... so I know she understands what we are saying to her.  



The end product for the birthday boy!

We celebrated Jason's birthday on Saturday! Jason took enough time to come home for a birthday meal and then back out to work. Thankfully harvest is coming to an end and it is only the 1st of October. That is crazy! It will be nice to have an extra set of hands for bedtime again. Oh, and it will be nice to be able to spend some time with my man again too. : ) Happy birthday, Jason! We love you!

Back to Our Routine......Flexibly

We are back into a full swing of school routine. Hip Hip Hooray! I used to think I was a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of girl and maybe it is my age or maturity, but now I like routine. I like to know what I am going to be doing next. I like to plan ahead. This is one reason I like the fact that school is back in session. We are in a routine. Then enter harvest time and routine has to become a bit more "flexible" as my dear husband reminds me.

Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks.

Lucy had ear tubes placed at the end of August. She wasn't too sure about the scrubs they made her wear. The nurses were great and brought a wagon for me to pull her around and around and around the circle of their pre-op area. I was able to go back into surgery with her while she fell asleep which was beneficial to all parties involved (including myself. : )) After her surgery she was crying in the PACU so they brought her to me and she stopped once she saw me (insert extremely large smile on my face!). They gave her some juice and a big blueberry muffin that she literally shoved into her mouth (I was afraid she was going to choke so I slowed her down a bit). She was one happy camper....food, juice, Mommy....that is all this girl wanted....maybe in that order too. After some discharge instructions we picked up her ear drops at the pharmacy and away we went. I had to stop at a McD's for a coffee before I drove home from Sioux Falls though. She slept most of the way home and I didn't notice any difference in her behavior or demeanor the rest of the day. She did great!

 We have been enjoying the weather here. The girls went around the Butterfield Trail while the boys of the house ventured out on their bikes around town. Isabelle thinks she is big stuff since she can ride a "big" bike with training wheels. Here she is telling Lucy, "You have to walk because you aren't old enough to ride this bike." Izzy likes to remind EVERYONE in the family that she is older than Lucy. I think she likes being a big sister.

It's baking time! Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

As I mentioned before I like the school day routine. It allows me time to connect with friends over coffee while the boys are at school. A dear sweet friend and fellow adoptive parent (times two for her) came over with their newly adopted son. I have to tell you a little story about this dear friend and our connection. When Jason and I were first discussing adoption seriously, like the phase where you are ready to turn in the application, we talked to a handful of adoptive parents first to tell about our intentions. This dear friend was one that I talked to often and we went through the waiting, the disappointments, and the agony of wanting to be with our child who is miles and miles away. Here is the amazing thing.....we ended up traveling and receiving our child on the exact same days. Neither one of us suspected that to happen. Amazing. So while she was in Ethiopia holding her precious son, I was holding Lucy across the ocean in China. Amazing! Even when we both returned home we both had to adapt to children that were not very fond of us at first and the bonding between us continued. I am so incredibly thankful for this dear friend and for her heart for adoption. Her son brightens up a room as soon as he smiles. When she came to my door, both Lucy and her son became extremely clingy to each respective parent. She laughed and said, well this is much different than a few months ago for both of us. Now these two children are with their forever families and a bond between our family and their family has been created. You are a dear, dear friend and I love your heart to follow after Jesus. I feel like we have even more in common than just adoption the more we talk. Unfortunately.....well unfortunate for me.......they are going where God is calling them to go and you cannot argue with that, but it means their family is moving away (insert sad face). So I need to have as many coffee dates with her as I can get before she leaves. : )

Sweetness!

Best picture I could get of these two kiddos together.

 And now begins busy season in our house.....It starts with harvest which is early this year, yippee! Then, hopefully a little break before Jason starts busy season with job number 2..... or is it job number 3? (however you want to look at it). That man is one hard working dude! I just try to be flexible this time of year. : )

The girls take a spin in the combine

Beginning of a New School Year

Today was the first day of school for the boys and a busy day for two thirds of the family. We sent the boys off on the bus at about 7:20 a.m. Lucy was awake and had a chance to say goodbye to the boys. Isabelle was not and I had a sad little girl when she woke up. The first thing she asked me, in a panic I might add: "Did the boys already go to school?" I told her yes, but she will have plenty of other mornings to watch the boys get on the bus.

The second grader and the third grader ready for school

Lucy getting a good bye hug before big brother went to school

Where has the time gone? I remember when he could not open a door by himself (sniff, sniff)

So, once we did all the traditional pick-your-breakfast-of-choice for the first day of school (Ian's choice - breakfast burrito with egg and cheese. Aiden's choice - pancakes with peanut butter and syrup) and morning devotions and prayer, the boys were off. It was just me and girls and I could now get back into a "normal" routine. Well, today was not a normal routine day. It was the dreaded dentist day for the rest of us. I dread the dentist. All that poking and prodding on my teeth and them reminding me to floss my back teeth and oh, the bad news is I have to get a crown on one of my teeth because the filling in that tooth has caused it to fracture. I didn't know teeth could fracture. Well now I know and I get to experience having a crown on my tooth. Ugh! Isabelle was a trooper and has been told to stop the thumb sucking. : ) We may be visiting the orthodontist when she is older because of her habit. Hey, did I mention children cost a lot of money! ha, ha! Oh, but they are worth it. Our dentist took a quick look at Lucy's teeth and referred us onto a pediatric dentist in Mankato. She has some issues with her teeth that he thinks needs to be seen by a specialist so more trips to doctors is in our near future.

After our dentist appointments the girls and I stopped at the county courthouse to straighten out a mix up in some adoption paperwork and then we headed home. I had about an hour of quiet until the boys came home so I cleaned up the house because our social worker came for another post adoption visit. This time she had to visit because of Minnesota state requirements. She just has to make sure everything is going well and we do not have any concerns. It was a quick visit. No issues to report and we are set to see her back at our house in November for China's post adoption requirements. I am glad she is keeping this all straight because I don't think I could.

After school special treat.....Root Beer Floats : )

Tomorrow Lucy and I will go to Sioux Falls to spend the night for her early morning procedure on Wednesday. I am glad we decided to spend the night. We have to be at the hospital at 6:15 a.m. I didn't think the "nothing to eat or drink after midnight" would go over so well if I had to wake her up at 3 a.m. and drive a couple hours away. This is such a quick and minor procedure (getting tubes put in), but working in surgery and knowing all the "what could go wrong in pediatric surgery" things, I get a little anxious. So, if you are reading this and think of it, pray for Lucy Wednesday morning. I am thankful to God for his provision in her life this far. She could be having a much bigger surgery, as some in our China travel group will or already have dealt with, but she has been through those surgeries already and His hand was over her during those surgeries. I know He will be with her on Wednesday too.


Soli Deo Gloria!