Devotion, News, Blessings and Eliana's Eyes

Update: We got another blessing just about an hour ago. We got updated pictures of Eliana from our agency. She looks really good and is smiling! She is so beautiful, but you can tell that from her eyes. We are so blessed, we really don't have anything to complain about. The Lord is holding our daughter in His hands and there is NO better place for her to be. I think the Lord is asking us to give her completely to Him...she is yours Lord, may we have the privilege and responsibility to raise her for You?

Have you entered the storehouses ... which I reserve for times of trouble? Job 38:22-23

Our trials are great opportunities, but all too often we simply see them as great obstacles. If only we would recognize every difficult situation as something God has chosen to prove His love to us, each obstacle would then become a place of shelter and rest , and a demonstration to others of His inexpressible power. If we would look for signs of His glorious handiwork, then every cloud would indeed become a rainbow, and every difficult mountain path would become one of ascension, transformation, and glorification.

If we will look back at our past, most of us would realize that the times we endured the greatest stress and felt the that every path was blocked were the very times our Heavenly Father chose to do the kindest things for us and bestow His richest blessings.

God's most beautiful jewels are often delivered in rough packages by very difficult people (Chinese Government), but within the package we will find the very treasures (Eliana) of the King's palace and the Bridegroom's love. A.B. Simpson

We must trust the Lord through the darkness, and honor Him with unwavering confidence even in the midst of difficult situations. The reward of this kind of faith will be like that of an eagle shedding its feathers is said to receive -- a renewed sense of youth and strength.--- J. R. Macduff.

"If we could see beyond today,
As God can see;
If all the clouds should roll away,
The shadows flee;
O'er presents griefs we would not fret.
Each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are waiting yet,
For you and me.

If we could know beyond today,
As God doth know,
Why dearest treasures pass away,
And tears must flow;
And why the darkness leads to light,
Why dreary paths will soon grow bright;
Some day life's wrong will be made right,

If we could see, if we could know;
We often say,
But God in love a veil doth throw,
Across our way;
We cannot see what lies before,
And so we cling to Him the more,
He leads us till this life is o'er; Trust and obey."
Devotion taken from "Streams In the Desert" by: L.B. Cowman

This devotion hit home for me. We got news last week that was not to our liking. As time as gone on we have realized we would not be traveling this month to bring Eliana home and so we knew it would be late August or beginning of September, but after our travel call last week there have been new developments. It seems as though travel in September would take a miracle and October doesn't look promising. As quoted above: "We must trust the Lord through the darkness, and honor Him with unwavering confidence even in the midst of difficult situations." This is hard to do when your child is sitting in an orphanage needing surgery and growing up without her mom and dad.

I don't mean to down play all the wonderful blessings that we have gotten over the last week. I guess I should have started with the blessings, but I want to end with happy. I have been able to fill orders for 11 lovies, I have sold an outfit on the new blog, I got an order for two special dresses (I know,I don't take orders...lol :-) and we had applied for a grant and hoped to get $1,000 or so and we were blessed with $1750. The Lord is so good to us and gives us so many blessings day in and day out and I am truly thankful and blessed. I am not trying to be glum and act as though nothing good it happening...I am just struggling with the process right now and having a hard time seeing why all our children get so caught in a political nightmare.

We need our LOA more than ever if we have a hope of September travel. The Consulate Appointments are filling up fast and we have to have that to travel. Come on LOA...come before the Olympics!

Miao's Cottage

The big announcement is finally here. Please click on the graphic above to be taken to what I hope will be a wonderful place to help bring Eliana home and provide a super distraction from the wait. Are you curious? Well, curiosity got the cat so fulfill that curiosity...it is only a click away. See you there.

Raffle.

Click here for more about the raffle...or here for the update.

Wow the days are really flying by. It is getting close to the big raffle drawing for the 3 blog make overs or the new car seat. If you haven't entered yet and you would like to you can click on the 'chip in'. It is $10 per ticket. Also, if you know of anyone who would be interested in entering the raffle please spread the word.

This is to help bring our daughter home from China.

There has been $200 worth of raffle tickets purchased so far and that will almost cover our visas for the trip. Thank you so much to each of you who have given. We have been blessed by your support of our adoption.

PS. The 'lovies' have been doing really well. In light of that I have been working on something else and will hopefully be able to announce it tomorrow. We have our travel call tomorrow for the trip, but still no LOA and have not heard anything that might say it is soon.

Meadow Song for your little Meadow Lark!

Guess what I woke up to this morning? Daleea has finished her first outfit for her boutique. It is so cute...can't you just see your little Meadow Lark in this creation. Please go to Lady Peep Boutique and leaver her some love or better yet send her an email stating you would love to purchase this outfit.(Size 3T) The first email she receives will be able to buy this outfit. jewelsofmyheart@yahoo.com

Praise and Friends!

First, I would love to thank all of you for all your love and support. My husband and I have been blessed greatly by your encouragement and the donations we have received. After reading this afternoon, I wanted to share with you what I came across. I have been giving thanks for all that the Lord is doing in our lives, so I wanted to stop and read a Psalm. When I opened to Psalm 34, I didn't make it past verse 4 and stopped dead in my tracks as the verses hit me. I am constantly amazed by God's presence is our lives...

Psalm 34:1-4

1I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2My soul will make its boast in the LORD;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.

3O magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

4I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.

For those who don't know...Eliana is Hebrew and means "God has answered me". As I began to read this psalm, it struck me that I had just stumbled across "Eliana's" verse!


I have two friends I would like you to visit. Proverbs 31: 18b fits both of these beautiful women so well - "...Her lamp does not go out at night."



The first friend, who many already know, is Daleea, but click on this new widget to be taken somewhere very special. Oh this is going to be a great place of beauty for our little ones. Daleea is getting Lady Peep Boutique up and going. I am so proud of her. She has been working on this for at least a year that I have know of. She creates some of the most beautiful outfits I have ever seen. I am so excited to see her striving to be the Proverbs 31 woman we all strive to be. Proverbs 31: 24a "She makes linen garments and sells them..." and vs. 25 "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future." Please join me in supporting Daleea in her new boutique that will help bring Isabella home from China, Lord willing. If you would like the widget for you side bar just write me or Daleea and one of us will get it to you. baymoose@comcast.net (me) or jewelsofmyheart@yahoo.com (Daleea).



The second friend, who you also may know is Robin, but If you don't I would like to introduce you to her at Red Thread Stitches. If you know Robin, you can email her in the middle of the night and she will be sewing to bring home her little Mia Hope from China. Please check out Robins beautiful creations on her S.O.S. The Lord is providing and blessing her household. She is not taking orders, but she will email you when she posts a new outfit for sale. I know you will love her outfits...they are so beautiful!

This is Mia Hope...the Lord is bringing her home!

Thank you Daleea and Robin for your hearts for the Lord and your families. Thank you for believing in me and encouraging me day in and day out. I love you both and wanted to tell you what a blessing you are to me.

Raffle Update!

Update: I know who the other friend is...drum roll please...Steffie of 'Never too Many'. Thank you Steffie.

Due to limited interest in the new car seat the grand prize has changed. You now have the chance to win 3 blog makeovers by Verna 'The Blog Fairy' & Friends (I just found out one of the friends is Lady In Waiting Blog Design. Thank you so much. If I find out who the other friend is I will spill the beans.) OR you still may choose the new car seat. The blog makeovers can be used for yourself or you can divide them up as you wish. Go check out Verna's new designs...she has been using a new program and she is making such wonderful pages with it. You will not be disappointed with the grand prize no matter what you choose. Don't forget about the second place prize ... the wonderful no slip bows. I received a few as a gift and they are wonderful! Raffle tickets are still $10 per entry. Thanks for helping us bring Eliana home!

Also, I am selling 'Lovies or Taggie'. Daleea called them 'Lovies' yesterday and I really like that better than taggies. So 'Lovies' it is! Anyway, I am selling them for $18 (shipping is included) to help bring Eliana home. See my side bar for more info if you are interested.

Ella and Katie!

Okay everyone, Kelly is getting to the point she might start begging for quilt squares. I really don't want her to have to beg to get them so she can have the quilts made for the girls. They grow up so fast, so can you please oh please send a square or two for her daughters. Thank you for those who have already sent them and thank you for those of you who will send them.

Click HERE for my previous post about the shower or you can visit my sidebar for more information.

Look at these girls...Ella left & Kaite right....How could you say no?

New appointment.

Well, I have a new plasma appointment. I have been trying to sell stuff but I'm not having any success so back to the "easy" money. HaHa I have a beautiful road bike that we thought was sold last week only to find out they changed their mind. That would have brought in $1200. It is on Craig's List so hopefully by the end of the weekend someone will want it.

And they say it is no big deal! I guess if you can handle allergy testing it is...but do you see the size of that needle?

I guess I will be taking a picture just like this come Monday.

Doctor, Vet and Allergies

My family has been quite a mess the last few weeks. Well, finally after thinking Patrick had a cold and he never got well he went to the doctor. She sent him to the allergy specialist. Yesterday was the big day and after the test,we know why ever since we moved here Patrick seems to get really sick a lot. Our backyard is woods and he is highly allergic to trees: Birch (Paper/River/White), Cedar(Mountain), Common Cotton, Willow (Black), Maple, Boxelder and a Tree Mix, not to mention Timothy grass and a grass mix. Oh my poor husband. No wonder he is so "sick". He is going on another antibiotic (sinus infection due to all of this the first one didn't help a couple weeks ago) and now he has an inhaler and nose spray. This seems to be a really bad place for Patrick to live. Oh well, I'm starting to get my two year itch already. Seems I LOVE change and can't stay still for too long. We really should be a military family.

Oh doesn't this look painful. They didn't even leave the stuff on for the full 15 min. The very top bump is Cat Standardized...I don't think Eliana will ever be allowed to have a kitty. :-(

On to Sierra, she started getting blisters, her lip would get red a swollen, started digging at her right ear and eating her feet non-stop. I finally got her to the vet today and poor thing is a mess. She had a plugged ear and the beginning of an ear infection, she has a secondary yeast infection on her feet which could cause the problem with her lip and they are not sure if we are going to have to change her food once again. This time to Kangaroo meat. Oh my...my poor dog with all her allergies and problems. We are not sure if this is environmental or food allergies this time. I do know that her vet seems to think her rabies shot has brought on this whole thing again. The rabies shot and her other vaccines are what caused the issues in the first place and then for the adoption we had to get her another rabies shot. I guess if we want more children we have to hurry up and get our paperwork submitted again before her shot expires. We have until 3/2010. I will be bathing Sierra in special anti-fungal stuff for the next few weeks, giving her antibiotic ear drops and these pads that we have to clean her feet before bed with. If she is not better in three weeks we get to change to even more expensive food. This little one is quite expensive. Just for today it was $122.

Oh yeah, I wanted to share that they lady at church I told you all about (Marie) called Monday morning and invited me over that afternoon. It was a lot of fun, but as usual I felt liked I talked WAY too much. Look at the gifts she and her daughter gave us. The pink heart is a poncho she made. I think it is going to look so cute on Eliana. Thank you Marie and Adrienne if you read this.

Waiting for LOA ~

I found out yesterday that three families with our same PA got their LOA within the last week. One of the couples is with our agency and also adopting from Eliana's CWI and they got theirs yesterday...could it be this week?

Gifts and Sunday musings!

Gifts from Kimberley 'The Seventh Diamond' and the host of the wonderful shower for Eliana. I am so excited about this dress. I can see Eliana in cute little dress with white tights and some cute little shoes. Also, don't you just love this tee shirt, 'everyone loves a brown eyed girl'? Below, you will see Daleea sent me one too. The most exciting thing is Eliana will get lots of time to wear the tees, because one is 12 month and the other is 18 month. Plan on seeing lots and lots of pictures of Eliana in these so-cute tees. Thank you Kimberley for the adorable dress and tee shirt.

Notice the little thumb toy for Eliana. I have been looking at these for months now and couldn't find the right one and Daleea did it...a ladybug. Thank you so much Daleea for the gifts.

This weekend's recap. I started painting Eliana's bookshelf on Friday only to have to stop, because it wasn't going right and then had to hurry it into the garage, because it started to rain. Barbecued hamburgers (beef) against my better judgment only ate half of it, but still tore me apart. I woke up Saturday morning in enough time to catch about 7 min. of the Saturday morning chat at the Seventh Diamond, but no one was there...just as well though, because I was sick. Spent all of yesterday on the couch or in the bathroom losing anything I ate or drank. Goes to prove that I have an intolerance to beef. Not a fun day, but I do love how doting Patrick is when I'm sick. He is the best husband in the world. He went to the store to get me something other than water to drink, not to mention he came running each and every time I was throwing up and placed a cool rag on the back of my neck. The house looks wonderful after all the fussing he was doing while I was asleep on the couch. This morning I woke up feeling much better even though I was sore from everything yesterday. After being sick all day yesterday, I gained weight! I have never met anyone other than me who can be sick for one day or many days and gain weight.

We did make it to church this morning, which I am so thankful for and worried about yesterday. I have to say I love our new church. We have lived here for 18 months and have been trying to find a church home. Our church has such wonderful teaching and everyone is very friendly. If that was not enough to make it such a great church, this is how it came down this morning. The assistant pastor came up to introduce himself because we looked new. Well, when we said we are Patrick and April he got so excited. I have been wanting to meet you we have very similar stories. They tried for 11 years also to have children and they just adopted their second baby. So if that was not exciting enough, we met the couple in front of us and they have a little girl from Korea...and the people behind us (we didn't get to meet them, but will) have a little girl from China. She is 8 or 9 years old and they have only been home about a year with her. The mom of the little girl from Korea proceeded to tell us our new church is the adoption church. She listed off so many families who have adopted domestically and internationally. So if we had any doubt that this is the church the Lord wanted us in there is no doubt now. This church also does not have children's church, which I love the fact they see teaching children as the parents' primary role, not the church's. Their view states the church is to equip and encourage the parents in a mature walk with Christ that overflows in the discipleship of their own sons and daughters. Growing up, I always begged to sit in service with my parents. I am excited that our children will be with us and not forced into children's church by rules about children being in service. By far, this church is the most quiet church with little-to-no distractions ever. You don't see people constantly getting up and leaving and coming back in...the children are quiet and sit there through the whole service, which is about an hour and a half long, and the teaching is about 1 hr. 10 min. or so.

One more thing. Patrick started reading "What a Difference a Daddy Makes" by Dr. Kevin Leman. Patrick has been reading parts of the book to me and telling me about it. From what I have heard so far, and Patrick's opinion, this book is a MUST read for every dad who has a little girl.

Hope you all had a safe and enjoyable long weekend.

Happy 4th of July!

Three Months and Counting

It has been exactly three months to the day since we first saw her beautiful face! Hang on my sweet baby, we are coming as fast as we can!

I ran across this on a different blog and have read it before but have to post it here.

Top Ten Ways You Know You Are Adopting Internationally:

10. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.

9. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

8.You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.

7. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

6. You have no idea how you will afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you, He will provide.

5. You are prepared to take an airplane ride half-way around the world and return with a child you just met.

4. You know what the word "Dossier" means, and you can actually pronounce it!

3. It drives you crazy when people ask you about your adopted child's "real" parents.

2. You realize DNA has little to do with love and family and that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.

1. You shudder when people say your child is so blessed/lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed/lucky one to have him or her in your life.-Author Unknown

36 Days 8 Hrs. 41 Min. until the Olympics Start

The Starfish Book Drive...

I took this straight from Kimberley's blog The Seventh Diamond.

The Starfish Book Drive...

Amanda at Starfish spends a lot of time in hospitals. When she was with Breanna for her heart surgery, she was required to stay in the hospital without leaving for many days. They did not provide her with a room or a place to bathe. She stayed on a couch in the hallway. This is a big part of her life as she travels all over China bringing the babies to different doctors who specialize in whatever their ailment is. While she was with Breanna I asked her what she did to pass the time and she told me someone had given her an old magazine. I asked her if she had any good books to read and she said she didn't. She spends her money on supplies for the babies and surgeries. She is very practical and very driven. She told me that she did not have access to a library, there weren't any in her area.
So, you know me....my mind started working. Actually, this one has been in the works for several weeks now. Thank you to my partner Verna for the wonderful header!

This is the project, if you would like to participate, please leave a comment and I will get you Amanda's address in China.

I would like to encourage anyone who would like to help to send Amanda a paperback book. It doesn't need to be a new book. It can be one that you have enjoyed in the past. Keep it paperback because shipping to China can be expensive, so the lighter the better. Please also send a card. I know that Amanda doesn't have a strong support group of ladies to help her face the challenges in her life. She is a strong Christian woman, so she relies on God. But I think that a kind word of encouragement would go a long way. She also spends nothing on herself, so if you would like to send something small and personal, like a bookmark or something..I think that would be wonderful. I did get out of her that she likes Robert Ludlum and books about Chinese adoption, that's all I could get without revealing what I was up to.

I asked her the other day if there were any small items that the children needed...I was thinking we could slide one in with our books.

This is the list she gave me:

Infant teething tablets
Shaklee infant vitamin powder
Probotics for infants
Butterfly closures for wounds, small and large
Infant stool softener

If you would like to include any of these small items with your book, that would be wonderful!

Now, I want to prepare you that shipping to China is not cheap. The most cost-effective route is the US Postal Service, but the package will be handed over to the Chinese Postal Service where packages magically disappear on a regular basis. The best route is to use a major shipping company that tracks like UPS or FedEx. It's more expensive, but you know your package will get there. If you know someone with a discount at one of these places...ask them if you can use it. I know that Northwest Airline employees get a great discount.

Thank you.