Art Therapy

Arts are serious therapy for me. Dude...great therapy. I have been wanting to make scripture signs to put above the doorways in the house for some time now. With all that has been going on....I finally caved to some crafting-therapy and just dove in. Here is the result of the first one. A touch of Craftsman font - Nate loves it! 

While I was praying and making the sign, I "got" the great idea that others might want something like this also. How cool would it be to make these for others...even YOU!! Think Christmas gifts (only a few months away), showers, just because, etc. 

So, $20 a sign with your choice of the verse/quote, font style, and paint color. The best part is ALL proceeds go to bring home 2 cutie pie kiddos :). 

Up and Coming Travel!!

October is right around the corner and my medical missions trip to our kiddos orphanage is only 6 weeks away. 

6 weeks away!! Oh my goodness!

I am still working to fund that oh so expensive precious plane ticket, gathering medical supplies, and most of all preparing my heart for the great work of ministering to the broken both of spirit and body. Will you pray with me that I can bring the Father's healing light to them? That they would come to see Him as the giver of LIFE.  

Thats it folks! No long drawn out writing today :) (aren't you glad?!) 

Maybe I'll try a little video update next time...hehe. 

Blessings my friends. 

Remember Him who Redeems you at the most expensive price - 

His very life because of His love for you!

Hi Friends!

Scary News:

We are another week closer to a dream trip to see and meet my kiddos AND another week closer to bringing them home. I was confirmed again how important this trip is as I got an email regarding my sweet Baby F - they are concerned she has pneumonia and now maybe a heart problem.  They took her to a larger city hospital and are considering taking her to a heart specialist.

Would you please pray with us?!

Better News:

I feel a peace that it may be nothing....and I'm super grateful I get to go see her soon WITH a team of doctors who may be able to help me sort things out. Really though, we know and trust Jesus is bigger than all of this and will take care of my sweet girl and handsome boy (this is all the BEST news).

Paperwork News:

We hit a small bump in the road with our home-study paperwork. Our agency is becoming Hague certified (a long and crazy process that is way too much to put in here save to say it is a good thing but painful process) and we now have to get background checks from everywhere Nate and I have lived since we turned 18. For us, this is several more places to do paperwork and pay fees (ouch!). New goal is to get that paperwork to the US FBI by the end of September.

So here is your "To-Do" list this week:

~ Pray fervently for the health and lives of our kids
~ buy all your Amazon things through the link to the right (we get a portion to help support our adoption)
~ Send Nate chocolate encouragement as he has been super patient with my random cries and maternal hormone flips
~ if you have random medical supplies you'd like to send with me or money to purchase supplies to help set up the clinic let me know

Happy Pics: (can't wait to update them in October!!)

(Scroll to the bottom --#2--if you wanna see the great news!!!)

These are the days that are the most difficult. The waiting.... my heart is bursting with lots of things - fear, anxiousness, longing, excitement, discouragement.... you name it and we have felt it recently. I praise God for the people He is surrounding us with who are encouraging us and reminding us that He has a lot to say about:  
--> fear 

                   "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; 

You are Mine." Isaiah 43:1

--> anxiousness 

                                     "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Phil 4:6

--> longing 

                                                                          "All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you." Psalm 38:9

--> excitement and joy 

"Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy." Psalm 126:5

--> discouragement 

                                 "do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Papa God and I have been having a lot of conversations lately...I chatter on and on while He reminds me to just chill out and listen (yea...I'm working on that).  As an activator personality I like to get things going and done. Recently (Saturday) I used that tendency to go visit a friend's home worship group and used the time to listen to what God has to say to a burdened heart. Here is what he reminded me. 

#1. He likes to take care of the simple things:
          On Saturday Nate and I attended our agency's annual picnic. It was SOO awesome. We got to reconnect with a few friends, hear some wonderful stories, see how the adopted kids had all adjusted well, encourage a couple who is just beginning the process....AND... meet a woman who has been sponsoring our Baby girl F  :). I was ecstatic to meet a woman who is a part of our village to love and support our little girl. Meet Sonia, a lovely lady!

#2. He comforts my heart needs no matter what: 
You all know how hard it has been to hear of my babies getting sick and not being able to attend to them, not hearing the details I really want to know, and the slowness of our paperwork. Well on Saturday, I also heard about the crazy opportunity to serve as an RN on a medical mission trip to Africa. Not just anywhere in Africa....but

to OUR orphanage...to see MY BABIES!!

I'm not kidding when I say I went from sowing in tears on Saturday to reaping in joy on Wednesday. That is how GREAT our God is. I said I would never get to see them till next year when we picked them up and HE SAID go now and be reassured. Will it be hard leaving them and coming back at the end of the trip...oh yeah. But to get to invest and build long term into the place my kiddos are at is just awesome. As a social worker and a nurse this is just way too cool. :)

I look forward to bringing back and sharing updated pictures and videos of our little loves. YAY!!


#3. The paperwork does get completed :) 
           Our home study is complete, we have reviewed it and it is now waiting on notarization and a final send off. This week has been just full of successes and movements.

So who wants to celebrate with us...huh!?!?! How awesome is all this HUGE movement?! We are starting the fun stuff now :)

Thank you for praying for us - we have felt it! and THANK you to everyone who has joined us on this journey. Keep sharing our story and sending those prayers up. Blessings friends - remember God is Great for you too!

So!!! Long time no see. I was recently challenged by some friends to start sharing our story...no matter how boring, repetitive, or well ...even if it lacks progress. Many, many of you have reached out to see how our progress is going (thank you! Thank you for praying for our hearts during this horribly long process...seriously...it matters!!). 

We are in the wait and see part - the RED tape of death part. We are continuing to submit the numerous pieces of paper to our agency. Next step is sending it to US Immigration - I think ;) . 

In the meantime, I wanted to share where we HAVE been. Nate and I took 2 weeks this summer to head to a far away place and help lead a kids camp. 70 kids, 11 adults, countless laughter, and a few tears. It was AMAZING!! and we can't wait to go back.

look at all this stuff we brought...but it made for a lot of fun

movie time

play time

swings are my favorite

The happiest we have been in years

Our awesome team!!

Then when we arrived home, my parents came for a fun and exciting visit. They live in a different land far far away and it was so good to welcome them to our home. PS - 1.5yrs is too long to be separated. Maybe the site of grandchildren will bring them closer ;)

Family pic before church on Sunday

How we spend most of our evenings - snacking, dominoes, and tea....lots of tea.

Nate has also gotten a chance to go an adventure to...COLUMBIA!

This is his second year participating in a literacy training there. Yea - my husband is awesome teaching people how to read in Spanish...while speaking only in Spanish...in a prison...in a foreign country. Oh and leading them to love Jesus too. God is crazy awesome!

The time since returning and my parents heading out can be summed up as a time for patience. Waiting for news of of our children...waiting for OUR CHILDREN...waiting for my husband to return home...waiting for news of a a new job...waiting for the A/C to be fixed (which it is now)...waiting ...waiting... waiting. 

The Lord reminds me that he too had a time of waiting - in a garden - with a cup he thought was too much to bear also. But he did...with grace. Wow, what a lesson of obedience. 

Would you pray with us?

• that the H.S. will give us more of his spirit to accept this time of waiting as part of His process
• that the paperwork will go through with no more glitches
• that we would be filled with joy as we anticipate growing our family
• the our kiddos would be covered with peace and health...and a happy childhood as they grow up without us. 

Thank you for joining us on this ride - feel free to share with your friends! The more the merrier!

The time has come...and I'm as nervous as heck. We are adopting. Not just talking about adopting but actually doing the paperwork. Nate and I were told we should start blogging in hopes to record all that is happening. My lovely hubby always said I have a gold-fish brain so lets get this stuff in words so I don't forget in the years to come. :)

A few things: 

we won't be publicizing the country's name other than its African

we won't publish any photos until they are home with us (feel free to ask us in person though and we will be more than willing to show you our kiddos!)

Lets get started!

~2014~

Feb 25th - Nate and I met with Jill to talk. We brought up how we were ready to start the process to adopt an infant under the age of 1. She wanted us to think about two kids that were available Baby F 4mths and Kiddo E 2 years. I remember my shock as Nate said, "We will take them both." :o! 

March...State foster/adopt classes...making friends with some wonderful God fearing couples who have been super encouraging. 

April...complete foster classes.

Sunday April 27, 2014 @ 6pm - we saw our children for the first time. We were awestruck. They ...are...beautiful! Baby "F" (for short and privacy) is a little girl who is less than 1year old and has the most beautiful smile that just lights up; Kiddo "E" is the CUTEST little boy who has piercing eyes and the plumpest lips ever. Boy do we wish we could bring them home now! 

April 30-May 11, 2014 - we shared the news with our family, co-workers, and our church family :)

May 12, 2014 - Time to make the blog public!

In the coming months we look forward to hearing your comments, encouragement, and sharing our joy and frustrations with you. Thank you so much for all the support already!

~Nate and Kate

Dirt...our common ground

Our gardening experiencing is becoming more and more exciting each week. Today we put corn, onions and green beans into the ground. Oh how things are shaping up! Beautiful two-leaved zucchini happily growing in mounds, brilliant magenta beets sprouting in rows, and bright green clusters of snap peas anxiously waiting to vine! ::sighs:: But more than the joy of participating in creation.... I am feeling so fulfilled in how our friendships too are finding deeper roots and jewel tone colors. It is over mounds of dirt, compost, and mulch that we seem to more easily get into the dirt of life. Over our common dirt, we find the situations and dirt in our life is more in common that we realized. Different families, different friends, same dirt. I love the organic nature of relationships in an organic church. Here HE does his Great work... perfecting us in our relationships. Working us to respond as HE would respond and see as HE sees. Gardening takes patience and so do relationships, intentionally tending and being, watering and plucking out weeds....ha, and maybe a little bit of talking there too.

Nate and I are marveling at how this 'project' and hobby is really helping us to focus and (ironically) be more grounded. I enjoy knowing I get to come home and go play outside, dig into the dirt and rest. No more sitting mindlessly in front of the brain killer or wasting away the evening. The evenings are more for enjoyment and rest with my honey than just me alone trying to recoup. The pace of farming fits me better too. I enjoy the slowness in place of my microwave mindset. HA! We'll see how long that mentality can hold up.

Another ironic piece of life....we are participating in the 30-hr famine this weekend yet here I am raving about growing food. That reminds me of another one of our family goals - to have our priorities and what matters most to us match where our money and time go. We are working hard for continuity.


Cheers to living real life with real people.... happy growing.

the small and simple things of life

I tend towards the small and simple things of life. It never fails that I will be drawn, as if by a force within, towards the small brown papered notebooks at book stores or to the itsy-bitsy hand made cards. The more hand made it looks, the more my hands reach to hold and touch. The organic in life (how ironic) draws me in. My soul itself seems to desire to reconnect with what life should be...the natural...the unprocessed. Fresh food appears more appetizing, a clay mug that fits the hand makes tea more soothing, and a throw made from cushy yarn is more relaxing.

My hands have been desiring the dirt lately. I almost called this blog 'sunshine, dirt and rain' for the simple reason that I long to garden! Recently I told a friend that I so want to have a green thumb but currently it is a more pale shade of yellow. Gardening helps me feel like I am participating in the creation process. It is also where I am able to reflect in a free way on my humanity. Simply put... I am dirt. When I am exposed to the warming light of Him and showered with His refreshing presence...then....only then...does true life burst forth. Coming from the depths of my misery and depravity comes greeness ...growth which is only sustained by the Divine.

It is the simplicity of being among the created and allowing myself to be creative without criticism which brings me energy. Here ... usually on my Wednesdays ... I let go of all that is around me and become a child again. Using my imagination to guide me into new areas of growth. Aside from gardening, I have also plunged my hands into making various breads and also sewing projects. All of this really has my mind wondering what He wants to do with me next. Why such a need for creativity and play? Is this only to refresh or does this have a deeper purpose? oh thoughts for another Wednesday.

I could continue on for months digging into the wonders of gardening/creativity and its spiritual implications. However, it only makes me want to go plant and play. This happens frequently, in that when I think about Him, I want to go play in what he has made. That is how I am refreshed.


(now if only this weather would warm up for good!)