A Great Gift

Today is Ryan's birthday. What a gift he is to me and to the kids! Outside of my relationship with God, there is nothing more precious to me than this man. When God gave me Ryan, He didn't give me what I asked for - He gave me beyond what I could have imagined. Happy Birthday, Rhine! Every day with you is a great gift to me!

Diligent

I haven't written much about our adoption lately. Honestly, since we receive little to no information, there isn't much to report. Also, since life goes on while we are waiting, I haven't been as focused on it all. After we got back from vacation, and school was done for summer, I realized that I haven't been praying as much about it, and I haven't worked on some of my adoption projects (like the scrapbook). I've just been kind of in neutral gear. It's never far from my mind, but I'm not as emotionally engaged in it all right now.

So, last week I was seeking the Lord's encouragement, and as always, I found He had much to say, and that it spoke straight to my heart.

I asked the Holy Spirit last week to speak to me about our adoption, and I felt the Lord tell me, "Commit your way to the Lord", which to me, is encouragement to pray. I was reading scripture and in Psalm 13:3 I read the phrase, "Give light to my eyes..." I felt that I should pray and ask God to continue to bring light to my eyes concerning our adoption, since we can't SEE anything happening. He then led me to Proverbs, a book I seldom read, and in chapter 13, verse 4, I read: "The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." Needless to say, I felt convicted to keep praying.

If that wasn't enough, I went to flip my perpetual calendar, and here was the quote for the day: "A delayed answer to a persistent prayer teaches us all that God's timing is perfect and we must be faithful to continue in prayer and not grow weary in waiting." Okay, Lord, message received!

According to Webster's, DILIGENT means "characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic application and effort; painstaking." So, this is the type of prayer I am pursuing, in hopes that the "desires of the diligent will be fully satisfied." Please make it so, Lord!

My New Favorite Sport

Okay, I had heard about rock, paper, scissor (RPS) tournaments, but this was my first time actually viewing it. I must say, the announcers make it all worth it. I laughed out loud! So, here for your viewing pleasure is the final match of the 2007 RPS Tournament. Enjoy!

31 Things About Me

My friend Susan sent me this survey in an email, and I decided to post it here. It was actually 50 things, but for the sake of space and boring people to death, I cut it down to 31. I'm sure you needed more pointless information about me.

1. Do you like bleu cheese? If the word cheese is involved, count me in!

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No, like it's your business!

3. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic's? I haven't been there, but rumor has it one is coming to my side of town. Cha-ching!

4. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Only if I was smoking heroin beforehand, I MEAN, not usually.

5. What do you think of hot dogs? They are best eaten at a baseball game.

6. Can you do push ups? When I read this, I thought it was refering to popsicles, so that tells you about how many push ups I can do.

7. Do you have A.D.D.? I'm sorry, I wasn't listening...

8. Middle name? Irene

9. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. I hate my middle name. It was my grandma's middle name, though. At least I didn't get her first name: Mildred.

10. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. Coke, coke, and coke.

11. Current worry right now? Do I drink too much coke?

12. Current hate right now? Guilt over drinking too much coke.

13. Favorite place to be? On vacation anywhere with Ryan and the kids, and I'm drinking a coke.

14. How did you bring in the New Year? With a group of friends at our house have a hilarious night of playing games.

15. Like to go camping? ABSOLUTELY

16. Do you own slippers? Yes, and I think everyone should and that they should replace shoes as socially acceptable footwear.

17. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No. I have a great story that involves me, an overweight invalid woman, and satin sheets, so if you're ever bored I can share it with you.

18. Would you be a pirate? Is that option available? I'm not so much for long boat trips.

19. What songs do you sing in the shower? Worship songs, and man, do I sound good!

20. Last thing that made you laugh? Madison asked for a piece of gum, and within 2 minutes she had accidentally swallowed it because she forgot it was gum and not food.

21. Best bed sheets as a kid? ? Charlie Brown and Peanuts

22. Who is your loudest friend? Let me point out that when my friend Susan sent this to me, her answer here was "Dawn". I'm assuming she meant a different Dawn.

23. What is your favorite book? To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hiding Place

24. What is your favorite candy? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

25. Favorite Sports Team? Chicago Cubs - I'll say no more to avoid any curses on how well they are doing

26. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? Surfing the internet to find a place for Ryan and I to go for a couple of days while his parents keep our kids.

27. Worst habit? Late night snacking

28. Do you play an instrument? "Are you kidding, I've played bassinet for years!" That's for all of you Spongebob fans!

29. How long does it take you to get to work? I instantaneously arrive there when I open my eyes in the morning.

30. Plans for the weekend? Helping out my dad, going to play games with some friends, church, and lunch with my father-in-law

31. If you could eat anything in the world right this second? A Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, thanks alot Number 24!

Random Thoughts Vol. 12

Hi everyone! I have a plethora of random thoughts in my head, so here we go!

One of my favorite parts of our vacation was that in the car I would read aloud to Ryan from a book called The Final Quest by Rick Joyner. Since it wasn't very long, we were able to complete the whole book. It's about a prophetic dream that Rick Joyner had over a period of time, and it's a truly fascinating book. I was glad to have read it, and glad that Ryan and I were able to experience it together. I recommend it to anyone who likes things of prophetic interest. It was amazing!

Last Saturday, since we missed it due to vacation, I watched the season finale of Lost online. I watched it not only once, but twice. I could hardly wait to watch it, so I watched it in the afternoon alone, and again that night with Ryan. My personal opinion - I LOVED IT. It was a very satisfying end to the season, and set up for next year. I will greatly miss the show, but Heroes will be back in the fall, so that will make things better. Since I don't want to be a spoiler, I will cryptically say to those of you who watch Lost, I DID NOT until I saw for myself, know who was in that coffin. Yeehaw!!!

On Sunday, my nephew, Josh, graduated from high school. For those who know my family, Josh is my brother John's son. So, I made my second trip back to Jimtown High since I graduated from there myself 18 years ago. We were all so proud of Josh, and glad to share this day with him. Here's our family with Josh after the ceremony. (Mom Deak, Josh, John, John's girlfriend Michelle, Amy, Mark, Ryan, and Brenda in back; Chris and I are in front).

Madison's spring piano recital was last night. She's doing a great job, and it's fun to see her perform. It amazes me that she doesn't get nervous. Beforehand, she was just so excited to go. Here's a picture of her playing a piece with another student, and her teacher.

Finally, today I had my dad over for coffee since he's birthday was last week while we were gone. My sister Chris came as well, and when she did, she brought me this huge bouquet of peonies from their farm. They have huge peony bushes at their house, and they are so gorgeous. I love the color of the ones she brought me, and they have such a sweet and wonderful smell. I have such great sisters!

Back From Vacation

Well, we made it back from vacation. We had a wonderful time! We got back last Friday afternoon, but I'm just now making time to post some pictures. On Memorial Day, we headed to Cincinatti, ans spent the evening hanging out at the hotel. Since the weather was rainy the next day, we went to The Creation Museum just over the border in Kentucky. It was a fascinating place, and we all really enjoyed it. The kids liked it even more than I expected. Everything there was really well done, and we all learned a lot. They have beautiful gardens outside, and I was able to purchase some curriculum to use for home school next year.

The next day the weather was perfect and we headed to King's Island. It had been 14 years since I had been to this amusement park, and I'm sure the last time I never even entered the kid's area. Michael was so excited to see the one third replica of the Eiffel Tower, and he couldn't stop talking about it. The kid's area is has Nickolodean characters, and we were all excited about the various Spongebob characters. It was fun to see the older kids, especially Michael, try riding the bigger roller coasters and rides. The park wasn't very busy, so it was just a great day.

We drove that night to Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Indiana. This was a great state park because there was so much to do. We visited a pioneer settlement, took a boat tour of a cave, hiked down to another cave, and visited a memorial to Gus Grissom. It was nice to be in this environment after the day at the amusement park. The weather was beautiful, and we had just a wonderful time as a family. I'm so grateful for opportunities for the 5 of us to be away together and enjoy each other. God has been so good to us!

The kids in front of the Scooby Doo ride at King's Island.

The kids ready to go on the boat ride into the cave.

Hanging out in the hotel.

In the gardens at the Creation Museum.

More Creation Museum.

Creation Museum

our family in front of the King's Island sign with the tower in the background.