Lori Florida

 There's a curious phenomenon I'm noticing...something like a magnetic force between the hearts of people who share a common cause.  Like iron shavings that come to life and are irresistibly drawn to a magnet, I'm discovering a band of people with a bewitching charm I can't resist.  I find myself wondering if I'm suddenly sensitized in a new way to people who care about adoption in my world who were surrounding me all along.  Probably....but there has also been a steady troupe of people showing up in my life that only God could have sent. Early on, soon after we made ourselves officially "paper pregnant" and chose Bethany as the place to make it happen, I was unconsciously yearning for a specific new friend.  I don't know anyone closely who has walked the path we're on.  I've read a lot of encouraging blogs chronicling Ethiopian adoption processes of great people from hither and yon.  And I rub shoulders with a bunch of amazing people who...

The mailbox contained another check today!  It was a computer-generated bill-pay printed check, so I couldn't figure it out at first.  "Why's somebody sending me $200?"  I asked Scott when I got the perforated strips off and could read the inside...  Then I noticed the memo line - "ADOPTION."  Once again, I'm surprised by my friends and in awe of God.  Another day to praise Jesus as the giver of all good gifts and the One who works to accomplish His great purpose beyond our means or imagination!

Well, it's been a busy summer around the Florida house....actually we haven't been around the Florida house much at all this summer...hence the busy-ness.  The blog's been sitting silent, the dust is thick and the weeds are high...I'm feeling like my list of things to do around here is growing faster than my 15 year old son's feet! My projects may be languishing, but God's got His all under control and has been making some noteworthy progress.  Apparently the Holy Spirit has been busy speaking and you all have been busy listening...because things are happening and we're hearing a steady clink, clink, clink as the coins drop from God's Floodgates.  It's gotten to the point that I think it deserves a special ledger page on the blog to keep track of all these deposits and praise God out loud for them. If you've been following us at all, you couldn't have missed the Ordinary Hero grant contest we participated in during the end of August.  I ...

Well, things are happening....although sometimes it feels like the wheels grind slowly.  Waiting is weird.  I'm riding the teeter-totter between the ants in my pants and an extreme desire to take a nap.  This process is rush, rush, rush when there are things for us to do....and wait, wait, wait when there are things for the 'powers that be' to do.  My goal is to float through the process with such calm serenity that I'll fly to Ethiopia with  Oil of Olay model skin, instead of adding a crop of new worry wrinkles between now and then.  I have a sneaking suspicion thAT sprinkled among my smooth-browed Olay moments will be a few "SERENITY NOW!!' moments too...OK, maybe more than a few.... The news is this:  One of the pieces of our homestudy is official clearance from every state we've lived in since the age of 18 stating that we're not child abusers.  Apparently Michigan and Florida have a much smoother system than Pennsylvania.  I ...

That feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you know there's no way out of doing something you really, really don't want to do... you know that feeling?  I hate that feeling.  I mean hate that feeling.  I spend a lot of energy avoiding that feeling.  They say that more people have a profound fear of public speaking than of dying.  Public speaking doesn't bother me too much, I much prefer it to dying.  But.... make me a salesman, put me in a commission based job with pressure attached???  Much prefer dying to that one. I sold baseball cards once, over the phone.  I didn't really choose the job, it just kinda happened.  My senior year of college and first year of married life.  I was busy doing student teaching, finishing up my undergrad classes and playing house with a cute new hubby but I needed to earn a bit of cash to keep the fairy tale going.  The job was part-time, fit my schedule and let me go to work with my so...

I've been reading a lot of adoption blogs lately....hearing other people's stories does so much for giving courage to my own heart.  Clicking from one link to another led me to another great organization that has a heart for orphans, Ethiopia & adoptive families - Ordinary Hero. They do local outreaches, advocate for children waiting to be adopted and lead missions trips to Africa. You can read can read more about what they do at their blog HERE They offer a similar fundraising service to adoptive families as Just Love Coffee.  So, for those of you who don't like coffee, the Ordinary Hero Store sells all kinds of cool t-shirts, hat,s bags and travel mugs.  The cool thing is that  40% of all purchases that come through our referral goes toward our adoption expenses! Plus - they've got a special adoption grant offer just this week.  They are offering an additional  $500 grant to the top 3 sales affiliates.  The grant offer is...