Wonder Woman

Some things will just have to wait. After all, I really am just one person. Since I couldn't figure out how to schedule two physicals, one eye appoinment, two overnights stays in the hospital with my niece, two trips to the mortage company regarding our house loan, one birthday party, creating a schedule for the FMA booth at Onething, writing a Christmas newsletter, updating my website, getting my laundry done, feeding my children, teaching them something this week........ AND filing out the remainder of my homestudy paper work, getting fingerprinted for FBI clearances, running to Jefferson CIty for the state clearances, and well, just being a nice person. I decided to forego the trip to Jefferson City until a later date, call a snow day for tomorrow even though we are homeschooled, and take a little more time with that pile of paperwork. The stuff on the first half of the list is not negotiable, so I'll pull my Wonderwoman cape out of the closet and tomorrow will be another day!

Meanwhile, I'm needing to lean on my Beloved and not forget that He cares about my heart and is interceding on my behalf.
And I'm so glad he doesn't expect me to be Wonderwoman.

Today, on the way to visit her daughter in the hospital in the midst of an ice storm, my sister-in-law Renee had a car accident with three of her five daughters in the van with her. They are alright, although Renee is hurting quite badly from hitting the steering wheel and from the seat belt impact. When the van came to a stop, Michaela, my 6 year old neice said "Are we dead yet?" - Even in the midst of extreme pain and the trauma of the accident Renee couldn't help but laugh!

So, I was wondering, how many times when the stuff of live "impacts" us in painful ways, do we think "God am I dead yet?" And how many times does he chuckle even in the midst of it knowing that he is using even our struggles to allow us to become more like him.

No Words Needed

What's in a Name?

God has given us our daughter’s name, and we will call her “Elia Jane”. Elia is the feminine form of “Elijah” which means The Lord is My God, and Jane is the feminine form of “John” which means God is Gracious. Jane is also the middle name of my maternal grandmother. When God gave us this name, we began praying that he would confirm that it was really from him. As I was praying in the prayer room over the abortion issue, and as I began to pray for Elia’s life to be spared, God led me to Malachi 4:5,6.

“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

The scripture is cross referenced in Luke 1:17 where the angel Gabriel speaks to Zechariah saying,

“... and you are to give him the name John [fem. Jane], He will be a great joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord… and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah [fem. Elia], to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

So would you join us in prayer as we eagerly await the arrival of Elia Jane! We believe that truly her life will be a great joy and delight , and that we will all rejoice because of her birth! We believe that in this day God is longing to turn the “hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers”! This is the time that God wants to stir up the spirit of adoption within the Body of Christ.

So what's in a name? Elia Jane, we prophesy destiny over you, daughter! Life is in a name! He calls us by name, and so we call our daughter, yet unknown, by name! We love you Elia Jane, we speak life over you and declare to your spirit that you are wanted and loved!

Grace Please

Not "Would you please say the grace?", but rather "GOD PLEASE GIVE ME GRACE!"
I have been surrounded by mounds of paperwork this afternoon, in preparation for our home study/adoption.
They basically need to know everything! Absolutely everything. They not only need to know everything, then need copies of everything! The problem lies wherein you lose things that are important, like the middle child's birth certificate. The good new is that if you're willing to pay lots of extra fees, you can get a birthcertificate in like 3-5 days.
Now I just have to grab my husband and head to the police dept this week to get our finger prints for FBI clearances. Fun date huh? And then I need to schedule physicals for all members of the family, the boys are super excited about that fun time! I need to take a road trip to the state capital to get the clearances expedited. And I need to write my life story. Oh, and how could I forget I need to make copies of our entire financial history!
So this is what it's like to "birth a baby!"

Oh, and additional good news, God has miraculously provided a new home for us. We sign the contract for the house tomorrow evening! We feel so blessed to be able to move into a bigger home before baby arrives! But guess what, along with a new house comes another fat stack of PAPERWORK!

You know how at some point in pregnancy, you're just done being pregnant and all you want is to hold that baby! Well, I think when all this paperwork is done, I'm going to feel about that same way!

Morning

I love quiet mornings. They don't seem to happen very often, but when they do, I soak it right in.

John is out the door for worship rehearsal this morning; the FMA team is leading worship today. (by the way, check out Forerunner Music Academy at www.ihop.org). I'm excited because it's the first time they've played with the newly formed orchestra and the student choir!

The kids are all still sleeping after a late night at the Plaza seeing Christmas lights and drinking rather horrid drinks from Starbucks. Let's just put it this way... when the line at Starbucks reaches the door, I just wouldn't get in that line. What you get at the end of the long wait, is a really lukewarm, weak, somewhat tasteless beverage, and it's really downright disappointing. However, the most redeeming factor in the whole waiting in line for really bad coffee scenario is that it can be chalked up as quality time with good friends! And that is always good, even if your coffee ends up in the trash!

I also had the privilege of conducting story hour at Barnes and Noble last night. Now granted, no one asked me to conduct story hour, but when you are cheered on by six rather awesome children, and three, well, three larger children disguised in grown up bodies, what's a girl to do. So I whipped out my teacher voice and pulled up a chair for the reading of "Walter the Farting Dog". I'm not sure what the other happy shoppers at B&N's thought of us, but I'm pretty sure none of us cared! We had a grand time! And if you are intrigued by the title, be advised, there is an entire series about Walter, and yes, he does actual FART in each happy tale. Farting is kind of like his "super power".

Anyway, I'm totally off the subject of my quiet morning! I'm now in the company of one fine young man and a kitty.

Oh, and just for fun, I bought baby clothes last night for our soon coming little one! My first baby purchase! Yippee!
And I mailed out a huge stack of pink envelopes yesterday announcing our adoption plans. Pray for us, and we trust God for all the necessary finances to come in for the adoption!

Thankful

Today I am thankful for God's unconditional Love, for His grace and mercy that continually follows me, and for the tenderness of His discipline and instruction in my life.

I am thankful for an amazing family and for dear friends.
I am thankful for the warmth of the sun shining into my kitchen, and the coolness of the breeze.

I'm thankful for the loud drumming that is coming up from my basement, reminding me of my amazing son.
I'm thankful for the curly, blonde headed boy sitting at my side, who's heart is pure gold!
I'm thankful for the wild, little girl who whipped up a "Thanksgiving Play" to make us all laugh.

I'm thankful for my husband who is opening many cans of green beans and mushroom soup in the kitchen. I am thankful for his amazing heart, his constant endeavor to keep before the throne of God, and his willingness to cry out for help when the walk gets rough. I'm thankful for his sense of humor, his willingness to listen to my heart, and his kindness with our children.

I'm thankful for the soon coming little one who will change our lives forever, and I ask God today to overshadow her and protect her in everyway. I am so thankful that favor has shined upon this adoption process so beautifully! We eagerly await the day we will hold her forever!

BIG NEWS

We'll I'm in the process of sending out a letter to all our family and friends to make a great BIG announcement. WE ARE EXPECTING A BABY GIRL! Now, those of you who know us, before you pass out, let's clarify. We are adopting! We have taken the first baby steps in the adoption process. It's time to start blogging about it!
God is amazing. We've wanted to adopt for nearly three years now, and have been waiting on the timing of the Lord, and more recently waiting to get settled here in Kansas City! Then we meet these awesome friend, The Bohlender's, who have just adopted, and we got to walk through the tail end of baby Zoe's adoption with them! The minute we mentioned our desire to adopt, they were eager and waiting to help us walk out the process!
So, we have felt like we are to adopt a baby girl here in the states, and we are in the process of filling out mounds and mounds of paper work to get our homestudy completed! In addition we'll be working with an adoption consultant who will help find the baby God has already chosen for us! Before time began, He knew her, and knew she would be our daughter!

I'm sitting here amidst a stack of pink envelopes that are waiting to go out in the mail announcing the coming of our daughter! I feel pregnant in many ways. I am full of expectation for our daughter's arrival.

We know God's heart is in this, He so loves "the widow and the orphan", His heart is truely for the "fatherless", He is their defender! Would you please join us in prayer as we await our daughter's arrival. Pray for her safety. And pray that she would know she is loved and wanted. The Holy Spirit moved on John the Baptist in the womb, and I'm asking God to move in our daughter's heart even now so that she will feel the great love that the Father has for her, and the longing we have in our hearts to know and love her!

Stay tuned for many updates to come!

The Things My Kids Do

So, maybe it's just me, but I think I have three of the most amazing kids on the planet. They are really cool, way cooler than their dad and I. So instead of doing stereotypical kid things, they decide to break the mold and are completely unique and amazingly individual.
These are some of the ways they spend their time. And really, they choose to spend their time this way, no one forces it on them:
1. They paint and draw.
2. They play drums, guitar, and sing.
3. They write songs and stories.
4. They read.
5. They write sermons and lead Bible studies.
6. They take photos and make movies.
7. They make up plays, including scripts, and act them out.
8. They Pray, and spend about 8 hours a week in the Prayer Room
9. Two of them blog (taylorloux.blogspot.com and nickloux.blogspot.com)
10. They create comics, do claymation, and other cool artistic stuff.
11. They dance- ballet and hip-hop (exception, Nick)
12. They are good friends with others, and with each other believe it or not!
13. They like their parents... imagine that!

And occasionally they do some really off the wall stuff like:
1. Dye their hair RED, temporarily thank goodness
2. Film movies on the roof (deep sigh)
3. Use my decorative bamboo to sword fight with (come on guys, it's like $10 a bunch)
4. Play hide and seek in the DRYER and break it's door

I don't know... I think they're really great! Just thought I'd tell the world, or anyone out there who cares to listen!

Blame it on My Age I Guess

So we're at a family event today, my niece's 9th birthday, and the discussion of anniversaries comes up. And my Sis-In-Law says "How long have you been married?", and I say "17 years". She says, "I thought you were married 2 yrs before us, we've been married 14'.... anyway, I'll spare you the details!
Basically, both my husband and I have been saying for the past month or so that we just celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary, when in fact July 8th was our SIXTEENTH anniversary. Was it that the past year just seemed like two, or that I am nearly 40 and things just seem to slip around in my brain a bit more?

Anyway, my apologies for my blog boasting our 17 years of marriage! So Randy and Kelsey although our anniversaries are only one day apart, we did not get married the same year!

EASY LISTENING- The Whole Story

So for those of you tuning in who have no idea that there was a story. Please check out the blog of our dear friend Randy Bohlender (randybohlender.blogspot.com), you will find several references to JOHN LOUX! Problem is I'm not quite as technically savy as Master Bohlender, so I have no clue how to make his little name light up so you can click on it.

Anyway, my husband blows me away with his knowledge of all things musical! We were away recently on our "second honeymoon" and of course had to visit a used CD store. After entering the Jazz/blues room, I picked up a CD that looked kinda cool, slightly unusual- a female saxaphonist, Candy Dolfer. Now you must understand I never, never ever know anything about music that he doesn't already know. And if I think that I find something, he may not have heard of, NOPE!! You guessed it, not possible! So of course, He knows of Candy Dolfer, can tell me about a hit she had in the 80's. So, basically he says to me, "Go ahead pick another one, I'm sure you can find something I haven't heard of. So I pick up another CD, and he rambles on about it, (have it on video if the Master will show me how to post it!), and basically tells me all this stuff about the album, about everyone who played on it, and then I find out he MADE IT ALL UP!! Can you believe it! Really he made the whole thing up and I believed it. So Folks, the famous "EASY LISTENING MUG SHOT" is my artistic statement about being lied to by a musical genius, when in fact I did actually manage to pull a CD he had never heard of!!!!

And for those of you just waiting for a chance to here the thoughts of JOHN LOUX, he too is now blogging johnloux.blogspot.com

THE WIFE

History of Coffee 101

Check out this history of coffee:

First lets thank the Ethiopians for the discovery in 600AD, although they took the coffee bean a bit too seriously and worshipped it.

Fastforward to 1650 and thank Baba Budan, who snuck seeds out of Arabia into India.

But let's not forget to thank Pope Clement VIII, of 17th cent. Europe. He had been advised that coffee would be a threat to Christianity; but after having a pot, he blessed the drink and called it "a Christian beverage". Bless you, Pope Clement!

But I really want to thank the great Dorothy Jones for obtaining the first license to sell coffee in the colonies. It was in coffeehouses, where the Boston Tea Party was planned, where the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time, and where the first Continental Congress was born. Brilliant woman, Dorthy Jones!

For those of you wanting a more complete historical account:
http://www.italiancook.ca/coffee.htm#item1

Coffee

I think I'll research the history of coffee. In the westerns, it was a pot of coffee around the campfire that seemed to draw a crowd and bring out good conversation. Even with a stranger, coffee seems to give a common ground, a place to start! I cannot tell you, how many new friendships here at IHOP have been forged around the proverbial "cup of coffee".

"Hey why don't go out for a cup of coffee". "Let's meet up at the coffee shop". "Wanna grab a cup of coffee with me".

What would we do without it? What would we say? How would we get the friendship ball rolling? I seriously wonder if I could even be friends with someone who didn't enjoy a good cup of coffee (or tea at the very least). Really, I mean it! What would you do for fun? Hey, "Let's go for sushi?", "bowling?", "wanna go for a jog?", "tennis anyone?"- not this girl! Sorry, give me great coffee and good chat, and you've got me hooked!

So, having just returned from a wonderful coffee date with a fabulous new friend, I am grateful to whomever decided it might be fun to grind up a coffee bean and pour hot water over it! See the thing is, it's really not the coffee, it's the slow me down time, the curl up in a fun, comfy chair and breathe time. It's finding out that if you take a moment to chat, you just might find someone absolutely amazing on the other side of the coffee cup.

So, if you haven't invited someone out for coffee lately, do it! Highly recommended! Thanks KB! You Rock!

The Holy Spirits Ways

Today I overheard Taylor talking to "Poppy" (John's Dad) about his baptism. I am assuming that Poppy asked him why he decided to get baptized or something along those lines. Anyway, all I heard was Taylor say, "Whenever my stomach feels strange, I know I should do it."
So it made me think about how many times I fail to obey the Holy Spirit's stirrings (whether it be a funny feeling tummy or however He chooses to speak), and how really great it is to know that my children are learning to obey the Holy Spirit quickly! So today, Holy Spirit, help me be ready to listen and quick to obey.

Baptized!!!

CELEBRATING!!!

Tonight I had the JOY of attending a baptism service at our FSM (our church). I originally attended to see my two neices, Telma and Sophie, get baptized and to take photos of the FSM/FMA students that were getting baptized. There were 150 to be baptized this evening. I have never attended a more amazing baptism in my life. There was just such a sense of worship and rejoicing that was so awesome!
About two hours into the baptism, Taylor, my son came up to me and said, "If Daddy were here I'd get baptized" (Allen Hood, had made a call earlier for others who weren't scheduled that wanted to be baptized and my neice Michaela had just gotten baptized) Anyway, Nick got on the phone and called John who was just getting done with his Prayer Room set.

So, tonight was amazing. My two beautiful ones, Taylor and Isabelle got baptized! God is so good! Now when I can figure out how to post pictures on this thing, we'll be doing good! HELP Bohlender Crew!!!!!!!!!

17 Years and Counting

John and I just returned from a weekend away after renewing our wedding vows at a tiny family ceremony at the home of Randy and Kelsey Bohlender. First, the Bohlender's rock, new baby and all, they insisted on hosting our little renewal ceremony (I wanted to say "suare" or "swaure" or whatever that word is but I can't seem to find the spelling anywhere on this supposedly smart computer!) Even Grayson's detour to the ER didn't halt their desire to host our day, though they had ever right to bail with that event in the mix!
So the ceremony was as perfect as either John or I could have hoped! Seventeen years may seem like a random number of years to be celebrating, and November 10th, even more random since our anniversary is July 8th, but it was exactly what we wanted, and exactly when we wanted it to be, for many reasons, none of them random at all! Celebrating what we've walked through, rejoicing in God's grace and His grace alone for the journey we still walk, and marking the ground here in Kansas City with a statement about our commitment to walk it out even more deeply and with more gratitude in our hearts for God's love that overshadows it all.
So the day was perfect, the food fantastic, and we walked away with full hearts!

We spent the weekend at the Plaza in Kansas City. Stayed at the Marriot, ate amazing food, enjoyed several great coffee shops, two art museums, on second hand music store, a "could have done without it" movie (but in comfy seats and a great hand to hold)... lots of walking, beautful weather, naps.... PERFECT!

Recommended KC cuisine "ReVerse" on Ward Pkwy on the Plaza! Amazing!
Recommended coffee "Scooters" on the Plaza (sorry don't know the street)
Recommended lodging "Marriot" on Main (great pillows and blankets; and good, reallly good steak at the Main Street Grill)

And even more HIGHLY recommended: time away with your spouse to celebrate the goodness of God in your lives, and to just enjoy the gift of each other! We should all do it more often.

Isabelle and Me and God

Is there really anything better to talk about? I took Isabelle on a date yesterday to get our "nails done". Now she wouldn't up and admit that she likes "girly" things, but she did indeed have a ball! She got to sit up in the big massage chair and got the royal treatment! Her grin was way worth the $12.00 treat! What is it in every little girl that longs to be treated like a princess! Even the less than "girly girls" like Isabelle. (She actually prides her self on not being one of those frilly, froofy girls! ) But she, along with the rest of us female creations, love to feel beautiful, to feel adored- to feel like a princess!

So on Friday, John and I are going to renew our wedding vows, and all I can think about is how fun it will be to play the "princess"! Now the meaning of the ceremony, of course, is super important to me. I'm actually up late tonight working on writing my vows, but for days my focus has been getting myself ready to look beautiful, to look the princess for John! Ya know, the routine, the dress, the shoes, etc....

No really, so tonight I'm asking myself, if it's the hearts desire to love and to be loved, why is it that I struggle so with getting the fact that God actually likes me, maybe even enjoys me? He created me, right? And he said it was "good", all the stuff he says, "He delights in me", "He rejoices over me with singing", "His jealousy for me is BURNING?" what is that? I'm praying that this year that I could just "get to know God"! Cause reallly I don't think I even have a clue who He really is! I am my beloveds and He is mine, his banner over me is love. God would you show me what that looks like?

Fall Lingers On

I love fall. And here from my living room, I see the few, lingering, gold leaves from the maple tree that blesses my front yard. I really wondered about fall here in Kansas City. Wondering if it would ever satisfy my love for Fall, born many years ago in the hills of Pennsylvania. No hills magically appeared here in Kansas City this fall, but I am very grateful for the dark red, the burnt orange, and the golden yellow that surround my home this fall. I doubt that anyone ever makes the decision to rent or buy a house, after asking, "What color do these leaves turn in the fall"? Although I have now decided that might actually be a wonderful question to ask when house hunting! Nevertheless, God saw fit to bless me with the colors that I love this fall, and to Him I am so grateful this crisp, fall morning. And I love that it is still fall in Kansas City!

Date Night with Taylor

Tonight I had the honor of enjoying some much needed one on one time with my son Taylor. The plan was to go get some dinner and do a little mall shopping. What I still have not gotten into my head, is that although in little ole Mansfield, PA it is not a big deal to head out for a date on a Friday night at 5PM, here is Kansas City being on 435W at 5PM, does not entail a fun time at all!

So what should have been a 20 minute drive to Overland Park, took an unprecidented HOUR! Partly due to my bad driving and missed turns, but mostly due to bumper to bumper rush hour traffic! But then how can being in a car with a really cool kid for an hour really be considered a bad thing? It just can't!

So we split some Chinese food and did a little shopping, which wore us both out!
That was all cured however by a quick trip to the bookstore. Gotta love a kid whose idea of a great night is some quality time in a bookstore with his mom! What a great one he is! (he's reading over my shoulder now, and just hugged me and said "what a great mommy you are") OK, so life is good and I have the best three kids in the whole world!

John left at 4:30PM for a ministry trip to St. Louis with Derek and the gang!

My Place in the Prayer Room

Well, we've been here for a little over 4 months now. I've gone from walking into the prayer room and not even feeling saved, to feeling like God really does see my heart and hear my prayers! I've gone from feeling like these people are so committed and so strong and so focused, and when I'm bearly able to hold on for a hour of prayer, to feeling that my heart is at home in this place with these precious people that I now consider family!
There's something really wonderful here! Something that stirs the heart to want more, to long for deeper fellowship with the Father! There's something rare and beautiful about being surround by normal people, who are lovers of God, walking with a limp just like me.

So today, I feel like I really do belong here! This is my place and this is my family. My heart is stirred to dig deeper, to press in more fully, and to love more unselfishly!

Techo Night at the Bohlenders

Here I am sitting a midst a sea of MACS trying to understand this strange new world!
I'll be back when I have a few brain cells working.