Things I learned this week...

If you pray for someone you hate, you can't hate them anymore.

Sometimes "Oh my God." is the only prayer you can manage to utter.

My 9-year-old daughter is AMAZING in an emergency situation.

Even if the only time you can carve out to read a novel is 11pm-2am, it's worth it.

My sister is an awesome person (I actually already knew this ;) )

Reading the classics with my kids in the evening is a treasure for all of us (really never pictured this!)

I am IN LOVE with this song:

I needed a pep talk today, so here it is...

Have you ever noticed that as Christians we tend to assume God only calls us to things we enjoy? So many times I hear people say that God hasn’t called them to _____________, and I want to ask them, “Are you basing this on the fact that it doesn’t appeal to YOU because it would suck?” The thing is, God calls us to hard stuff. It’s not about us. It’s about HIM. If God only called us to the things we like, no Christian would ever:

Become paralyzed

Love someone with a mental illness

Become unexpectedly pregnant when they feel their family is complete

Adopt a child with RAD

Be infertile

Have cancer

Struggle in their marriage

Lose a loved one

Have a child born with scary medical issues

Face financial difficulty

Or experience any other emotional or physical pain. God uses these things to show us His love, to grow us, and for His own glory. Of course you don’t want the bad stuff. But with the bad stuff comes some really really good stuff-- if you’re living in obedience to God. I know it’s scary, we're supposed to step out in faith to follow Him. It helps to remember: it’s not about YOU! He has a purpose, and what greater purpose could you have than to be part of whatever God is doing? Even if it hurts. And it’s gonna hurt. Life hurts. Change hurts. But hurt can be good. Without that pain we become stagnant.

I am not a freaking saint. I don’t enjoy the hard stuff. But I know that it comes from Him. He uses it to shape me, and those around me. Most amazingly, He uses it to bring about His own glory, and I get to be a part of that.

You are no different than I am. Don’t act like I’m some sort of Mother Theresa who’s more equipped to deal with the hard stuff than you are. I am incredibly selfish. I’m demanding. I like things MY way. My tongue can (and sadly has) cut others down in an instant. I am impatient. I HATE noise. I like to be the boss of everything. Things I cannot control make me incredibly anxious and often furious. I am utterly and completely ill equipped for the jobs God has given me. He has called me to them anyway. They point me ever more to Him, because I wouldn’t be fit for anything without Him.

Instead of trying to tell God what you’re called to, why don’t you listen to Him? You’ll probably be REALLY surprised to find out what He’s called you to, and that He will make up for all your inadequacies along the way.

Living the life of a movie star...

Yesterday (after I'd spent much of the day cleaning up LOADS of vomit from one very sick dog)my hubby told me that in the next couple months, he'll need to travel to NYC and Las Vegas for work. This morning, I realized my job today entails three tasks that I cannot put off any longer:

1. Grocery shopping at Wal-Mart

2. Cleaning toilets

3. Cleaning the Rabbit's cage

Yup, it doesn't get anymore glamorous than that!

Good thing there are blogs like Missy's around to at least make me chuckle when I'm knee deep in all this glamour: Confessions of a rookie communion server

T4A

http://www.togetherforadoption.org/?page_id=11

Anyone else planning to go? We're hoping to, but it depends on a couple financial issues (like selling our other house...or at least the IRS finally giving us our refund!)

Anyway, it looks like it's going to be great (with plenty of opportunities for networking)

I think what I'm looking forward to most is the pre conference for adoptive (or pre-adoptive) Mamas. Check it out!

Meet the Robinsons...I kinda wish we hadn't

I've wanted to see Meet the Robinsons since it came out. For one reason or another, I never got to. A few months ago, I brought up to hubby the possibility of buying it and watching as a family. Once I told him the plot, he shut me down in a hurry. He was afraid a plot line involving a child desperate to meet his birthmom--the only person who ever really loved him--would be detrimental to our kids healing and attachment. I probably should have listened to him about these minor details, but I didn't want to raise my kids in a bubble (despite their traumatic past) blah, blah, blah. Sigh.

Our library offers a free movie on Thursday afternoons. They have a projector, the kids bring pillows and blankets, and everyone settles in to watch a movie. We'd never been before, and I saw that they were playing Meet the Robinsons today. I asked the kids what they thought. I mentioned the part of the movie that might bring up sad feelings for them. They both told me they had seen the movie before, that it wouldn't bother them...oh, and hubby wasn't here to run it by. So, feeling ÜBER confident in my amazingly thoughtful parenting skills, I blithely packed up both kiddos and head out to Meet the Robinsons.

First of all, I loved the movie. It was fantastic. The kids enjoyed it immensely...except for the very last scene, when he is in a car headed to his new home with his new family. My daughter lost it. Huge wracking sobs. She threw herself at me and just sobbed. Everyone in the room (100 or so people) turned to look at us, so I led her out of the room to the hall. In the hall, she continued gasping and sobbing and telling me how the end of the movie reminded her of one of her more traumatic moves (she moved to a number of different homes before joining our family, but this particular one is the one she always seems most disturbed by) and it filled her with sadness. Motherhood fail.

In that moment, my heart felt crushed. The sadness that enveloped me made it difficult to breathe. Then like a baseball between the eyes, it hit me that the proverb "A mother is only as happy as her saddest child." is so incredibly true. My happiness is completely tied into that of my children's. Your life is so incredibly altered when you enter into parenthood. Not that that's bad. Romans 12:15 reminds us to "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." --in parenthood you have many opportunities to live this out.

When my son is struggling with depression, and that cloud of depression envelopes me, or when my children are in pain from past trauma, and my heart breaks, this emotional tie parents have with their children may seem like it has a lot of pitfalls, but there are rewards too--because their happiness is that much sweeter to me. When their hearts sing, mine soars. I just have to remember that in hard times when my heart shatters from their pain.

Bad Blogger!

I know, I haven't been blogging. Things have been really rough around here. My life is sucking like a Dyson. If you're reading this, could you pray for us? We're having some financial struggles, a contractor pulling a bait and switch, issues with our home we're trying to sell, and some military stuff that could have big scary reprecussions. The tension in our house is palpable. Please, if you're reading this, could you pray right now that God will provide for our needs, and ease the stress in our household? Thank you.