A Restless Heart

It's funny, every time I think of something I want to post it seems I get quickly distracted with other things in life and many times put them aside. Well not today, I have been wanting to share this for some time.. my heart has been restless. I just feel God has something brewing. Of course, I'm slowly beginning to see what that may look like.

When we returned from Ethiopia as you have heard me say before "a piece of my heart was left there" you feel helpless and not sure what else you can do to help I start asking myself, how am I really going to make a difference? Then you read these books that pull on your heartstrings feeling like you want to drop everything and move over there. Then reality hits and that's not an option right now. Your mind starts racing thinking of possibilities/dreaming of how you can help. It's opened my eyes so big I feel it's all I think about some days .

When I see an expensive car I think "the money for that car could have helped cared for a starving village, or that 35.00 dress could feed one child for a month, or the cost of that $20 necklace could buy a few pairs of shoes for children". I play these mind game with myself thinking we are all sleeping under the same sky and living on the same planet as God watches all this happens before him. Some of it just has to make him sick .. it makes me sick how consumed we are in our America culture. We all have blinders on and our priorities are all out of whack! We don't need that fancy dress or one more necklace in the jewelry box. I know you have heard the statistic before and it's hard for them to impact you if you have never seen it with your own eyes. They are just numbers .. until you invite them into your heart and want to change them.

MORE than 26 THOUSAND children TODAY will breathe their last breath due to starvation or a preventable disease. read that again .. let it sink in.. then again until you get that ..

How can we turn our blinders on to that? We live in a RICH country that has an abundance of everything ..so much we forget the difference of our wants and needs. We complain about what we have all the time and we are NEVER satisfied.. We are working our way towards more and more wants..the higher paying job, the bigger house, the better car, the next highest position at work, the bigger retirement fund.... then somehow the majority of everyone I know including myself, every month wonder "where did all the money go?" It's a rat race and it's exhausting. I will confess I have driven around my neighborhood A LOT thinking "wow that bigger house would be awesome .. I can't wait until we can afford to live in something like that." I hate it and I don't want to think that way. I want to break the cycle and re-train my mind to think while driving around the neighborhood "I'm so thankful we stayed in the same house all these years and were able to GIVE MORE to those who are starving and dieing everyday!" I have had a blind eye to the world around me until God has opened my mind to know what's really important.

My heart is full and I want to give so much .. I want to spend a lifetime giving to those around me that have nothing. I want people to remember me as thoughtful and generous.. I want it to be contagious to those around me.. I want to get out of this "American Dream" endless cycle and make a difference to those in need. Let's get out of our selfish ways and look at our neighbors that are hurting. Are you up for the challenge? There are going to be some ways you can do that. I don't know about you but my heart is restless for it! To be continued..

Happy 1st Birthday Jonas!

It was a fun day to celebrate our little blessing! We have a few family traditions that we have started .. one is first thing in the morning we walk into their room with the video camera and sing happy birthday to start their special day. Well today that didn't happen as the monitor was turned off in our room (the one we use to hear when Jonas wakes up) probably by some little munchkin, so we wound up sleeping until 8am (WOW, that never happens). The twins came in our room saying "Jonas is crying" :( ahh poor guy, not exactly how I wanted him to start his day. Another tradition is we go to our favorite breakfast restaurant and the kids get chocolate chip pancakes and whip cream .. they love it. Here's a picture on our way to breakfast...Jonas is in his new car seat (Parker's old one) facing forward .. he can now see the world around him and he loves all the action. Also the twins got new boaster seats and are very proud .. they have told everyone!

Yummy chocolate chip pancakes

Look at his cute shirt his Mimi made him! On the way back from church Jonas passed out in the car ride home while drinking his bottle.. He was worn out from going to later church with no morning nap.. poor guy.

Brooke and I made some banana monkey cupcakes.. she just loves to cook with me.

It's time to open a few gifts .. he liked to ripe off the tags and eat the paper:)

Time to eat dinner, I made Shepards pie as he loves it. We only had a few family members... Scott's parents & grandmother and my mom. He still gets overwhelmed with big crowds so we just kept it small.

We sang happy birthday to our big boy.. he's not so sure but Brooke is right there to comfort him.

Saying Mmmmm.. I think he likes it

He wants to share with Lucky dog

After dinner we went on a nice walk as a family and enjoyed the nice breeze...it truly was a gorgeous night. As, I put Jonas to bed tonight .. I said to God "thank you for this precious little boy, thank you for bringing him into this world to be a part of our family!" Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! Corinthians 9:15

Happy birthday Sweet Boy! We love you so much!

Our Special MIMI

I don't know about you but we have one special MIMI! Today is Scott mom's birthday and I wanted to take the time to do a little photo tribute for her. She has been there through every moment. I really don't know another person on this earth as devoted to her family. There is nothing she wouldn't do for you, she would drop anything she was doing to help you out. Her generous heart has given us so much! We are very blessed to have her live so close to us. I don't know if I could have done it without her willingness to always be here for me. She is very dear to me and all my children.. she goes out of her way to always show us endless amount of love. Thank you MIMI for who you are .. you're an amazing women and am so glad I have you as a mother. Here are some great things we love about her....

She cherishes special moments- Dancing with her son at our wedding .. ahhh

Holding Brooke for the 1st time .. she has her maiden name as her middle name

She adores all her beautiful children

She loves her 1st grandson- Parker

She gets us to laugh and always willing to take the kids

She is a Proud Grandma

She always makes it to every special moment

She is the best gift giver

She is always excited and supportive- The night we told them we are adopting

Her Grandchildren bring her so much JOY!

She shares in tears of happiness- 1st time meeting Jonas

She loves us unconditionally and we love her

You are a part of the foundation to this family. With 5 almost 6 grandchildren, so many little ears and eyes watching and looking up to you! They cherish their special moments with you. They get so excited when the door bell rings and they go running screaming " MIMI"!

I hope we have many more great years together with you on this journey through life. I thank you personally for being there for me during all the difficult and joyful times! There is no one on this earth I can count on more than you on being here... oh no..... starting to get choked up. Truly you are such a gift and a blessing to our lives.

Happy Birthday, So thankful the Lord brought you into this world:)

You are truly so special to us!

Another Great Adoption Video

Another friend through the blogging world has this GREAT video about their journey to Elijah. We started the process around the same time .... ENJOY

I hope it inspires many of you to take that leap of faith!

Our Journey to Elijah Mihretu - Ethiopia Adoption from Amy @ Filled With Praise on Vimeo.

The most random comment yet

I'm sure some of you may wonder what kind of comments I get, having our precious little Ethiopian guy with us. The questions really don't bother me and most of the time I just use my answers to educate the public on what Ethiopian adoption is all about. One of the first comments I remember was when we were coming home from Ethiopia in the Atlanta airport. We were riding up the escalator and these two African America women were riding down right next to us. One of them said to the other "What is that white girl doing with that black baby?" I laughed and said are they talking about me? It was my first comment and really didn't know what to say, I was shocked but I thought it was pretty funny. Many times I walk around stores thinking people are staring at me and think "why are they staring at me?" I completely forget Jonas is with me and that must be why. It's crazy how his skin color means nothing to me... it's the same as people who have blonde vs brown hair, or blue or brown eyes. To tell you the truth, I would LOVE to have brown skin... then I wouldn't have to like lying in the sun so much:)

It is funny that when i do figure out that someone is staring at us, I know their judgement might be running across their thoughts... but within seconds Jonas will give them his huge smile and say "Hi" perfectly. He melts every one's heart in a minute! I often wonder how many strangers we come across in a day that might think differently about adoption or that they too could adopt because of this precious boy. I have a lot of strangers wanting to hold him which I think is a little strange but we can't leave from a store without someone saying how stinkin' cute he is. When you have twins you get the same kind of treatment when they are babies... everyone asks you questions, so we were used to it. So are you ready for the most random comment yet? Let me warn you, I was not offended, I offer grace for those that may not understand.

I really didn't have much of a chance to explain either.

I'm walking out to my car from Target and Jonas is in the shopping cart. I get to my car and this lady says "Is that your baby?"in her thick southern accent. I said "Yes" She says "Don't take this the wrong way but I just love mixed babies, he's so cute" I just said thank you and didn't feel the need to correct her as I was loading stuff into the car. She turns around as her mom is walking up to her and says "Hey mom, he is hers... he's just so f**ing cute" I was shocked at what she just said and I started laughing thinking that is a new one .. he's F**ing cute... I got in the car and said wow that was random.

I know Jonas is going to change many people's perspective...especially when it comes to passing judgement. I read something really good from my daily devotion .. message from GOD.. Give your mind a break from it's habitual judging. You form judgments about this situation, that situation, this person, that person, yourself, even the weather- as if judging were your main function in life. I created you to be rich in communication with me. When you become preoccupied with passing judgement you usurp MY role.

I'm going to be truthful, one of my biggest pet peeves is when a friend is judging another person... it's just like nails on a chalk board for me! We have no right to act as we know how someone is thinking or why they are the way they are.. that's between God and his child .. not us. Don't get me wrong I'm sure I have done it my fair share, we are all sinners, but it really bugs me as I hate it when I have done it. It really makes me feel awful as God loves each and every one of us just as we are. Whether it be about someone's looks, or their attitude... it all just drives me crazy to pass judgement on another human being. God has definitely broken my heart for this area in my life.. I hope he does the same for you.

The Begining Chapter of Our Love ...

So today is our anniversary. Seven years ago today we said our vows to spend the rest of our lives together. It was honestly the best day of my life! I don't think I can ever feel that much love and joy on the same day again. I thought it would be fun on this special day to take you back to how we met and fell in love. Yes, it's nice for you all to read this but mainly I want to do this for our children someday to see how much their parents loved one another.

I'm really going to have to stretch my memory and hope I can capture the highlights. It was the fall after graduating from college. My best friend was working for a marketing company and she shared with me about an awesome opportunity .. they are sending 2 guys and 2 girls to travel around the USA setting up promotional tents at all the PGA and Senior PGA tournaments and the job would be signing people up for PGA Tour MasterCards. I said quickly I wanted to do it! Within three months I had sold all my stuff, packed my bags and we were off. Do you remember the show called road rules on MTV?.. it was just like it. We had a Tahoe pulling a big trailer, two BFF girls, two boys, crazy fun cities and yes all the drama you can imagine. The first state was Florida for almost 2 months, then we actually got to fly out to Valencia California (our only flight of the year)

I had never been to California..we flew into LA where we had a mutual friend that lived there. My friend (Chad) wanted to introduce me to a friend of his (Scott) that traveled to the senior tournaments doing television. Our first night meeting was at Outback Steakhouse. I will never forget what I had on..it's funny the details you remember, you don't want me to describe it... I would be embarrassed because what was cool then is not today. I also remember how we were sitting at the table. My first impression was this guy is cute, so nice, a little quiet, a funny sense of humor and oh yes his beautiful blue blue eyes. We met on Wednesday night March 7, 2001 and we (the traveling group) all hung out with each other just about every night until we left on Monday. Throughout that time feelings were starting to blossom even though I didn't want a relationship... something was fluttering my heart about this kid. We exchanged phone numbers and knew we would see each other soon in a couple of weeks at The Players Championship in Jacksonville, Fl. (where Scott lived) On the Sunday night of the event we were driving and my cell started ringing and it's him. My heart sinks.. why i think? ..my traveling buddies could tell something was up .. I talked to him and he figures out plans to meet up with us. Inside I was excited to see him but didn't want anyone to know at this point. We had a fun night out in Jacksonville Beach, and things starting clicking. The sad part though was that our team had to drive up to Atlanta the next day in order to set up for the next tournament (Atlanta is also where my family lives). Scott came up with an idea that the boys could go ahead and he would drive my friend and I back to Atlanta the following day. Wow I thought, he really wanted us to stay! Me and my girlfriend decided to stay.. it was so fun and I think it was starting to look like he liked me ... a lot, enough to drive me back to Atlanta 5 hours away... crazy boy. But it was worth it, we did have a fun time and at the end of the night we were talking outside the hotel for hours and hours keeping my girlfriends awake.... at one point one of them yelled "will you guys just kiss already!".. I was so embarrassed .. we didn't think of each other like that or did we? We were up until 5 am laughing and sharing story after story... there was an endless amount of stuff to talk about! I think I could have talked to him for days. He drove us back to Atlanta the next day where he met my family, spend the night in a guest room, and headed out the next morning to get back to work. He was crazy but I liked it:) I didn't want a boyfriend but my heart was changing for this guy. We didn't see each other for a while but we talked on the phone ... a lot!

Our next time seeing each other was in Hilton Head, SC. Things were different between us... our relationship was stronger, but I still didn't want a serious relationship right now I kept telling myself. I kept pushing the feelings away and trying to talk myself out of liking him. I had thought this was my year to enjoy traveling without commitments that tie me down. The 1st night we arrived we hung out at a restaurant called Wild Wing Cafe. There was a big group of us at dinner and a band that played that night until late. I needed to walk back to the hotel and he wanted to walk me back to make sure I was ok. At this point I had convinced myself I needed to tell him .. I just didn't want a relationship. We arrived at the door of my hotel room and I was trying to explain my feelings to him but was really not making any sense... .. I was in mid sentence when all of a sudden he kissed me ... "What?" I thought? Then he kissed me again and I was hooked, I couldn't deny the feelings anymore.. it was like fireworks were going off .. I LIKED THIS BOY A LOT!

The next day we went on our first date, we sat on a bench overlooking the lighthouse in the marina eating peel and eat shrimp together. Our conversations flowed like a river.. we were so giddy and yes every time I was around him I felt like I had a 8th grade crush and couldn't stop smiling.

Our dates over the next couple of months were really cool for a couple just starting to date. Who else gets to go on dates in Nashville, Birmingham, Boston, Cape Cod, NY city, Chicago, Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, Park City UT, San Antonio.. just to name a few .. let's just say after the year of traveling our relationship had developed into something we knew we couldn't live without. We knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. It was an adventure that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. Love happened to me when I least expected it, I'm just so thankful Scott didn't listen to me that night and trusted his instincts to lean in and kiss me..it was the 1st step of many ways to keep pursuing me.

Scott is one awesome man and I feel so blessed to have him as my husband!

I thank you so much for sticking by my side all these years through all the ups and downs. I cherish our relationship above all others here on this earth. I love you Scott with all my heart..looking forward to the many many years ahead .. until death do us part.

If God lined up all the men in the world, every single one of them (including George Clooney and Brad Pitt) I would still pick you every time!

Happy Anniversary Scooter!!!

I'M BACK

After a couple of crazy weeks of life.. I'm back. An unexpected turn of events has happen, it's been a roller coaster lately and finally it has come to an end. I am left with hope and excitement for what God has in store for us next .. as I walk forward renewed I trust in the Lord even more! Hopefully one day I will be able to share this experience with you just another chapter in our book but for now I want to share a little about our precious twins...

At their school they were given a little survey of questions to answers.. we were a little surprised to hear some of the answers.