Lori Florida

It's almost 8 am tomorrow morning in Ethiopia right now.  In her time zone her birthday is over and a new day is beginning.  She's a year older and I wonder who noticed.  The sweet orphanage workers put on a birthday bash for the kids every year...birthdays are celebrated, all at once in a group.  But was there anyone who singled her out...on the day she was born....to celebrate that it happened?   She's a Florida now....at least almost.....and I hope the letters we sent got there in time for her to know that 8 people on the other side of the world are oh-so-glad that she was born 15 years ago today.  I wonder how many of her birthdays have gone by like this....how many years since her first Momma was alive to recount the details of the day she was born and dream with her about the next?  How many years since her first Daddy treated her like she was the birthday gift? I know her Heavenly Father has continued to celebrate and sing over her day af...

After the months of N.O.T.H.I.N.G happening, we now can't keep up with ourselves!!  I can't remember who I've told what and I tend to put off making an official blog update when I'm not sure I've shared all the important details in person with my Mommas.  Since my brain's on overload, things keep happening so quickly, lots of people care and pray......and, because I have such understanding Mommas....I'm just going to go ahead and put it all out here.  Here are the highlights!! My heart's been calm.  The beasts are, at least for now, wrangled.  There's been a sweet peace laced with adventure adrenaline rushes in their place.  I like the new tenants! Our church family is celebrating...and that's so dear to us.  Our Pastor asked us to read our referral announcement blog post  in the Sunday morning service.  This was an important moment, and I'll admit I had a good bit of dry mouth and crazy, last minute "what are we doing????!!!' t...

There are faces, there are names....that are oh so different from the ones my heart thought it was saying "yes" to 2 years ago.  Back then the "yes" was hard, it made my heart wrangle through all the unknowns....but now I'm realizing that it was kinda squishy too, had soft edges... because of some of those unknowns. The wranglings in my heart have begun again now that there are hard edges....a few certainties....real people.  Suddenly, adoption isn't just an idea, something we're going to do....it's something we're doing, and right quick!  The rubber is meeting the road, the pie has left the sky, the buck is stopping here, the road is rising to meet us.....  I'm breathless again, asking myself all the same questions I did 2 years ago.  I'm facing the same fears I thought had been lain to rest.  It feels like a twilight zone version of the spiritual wranglings of the beginning. My sister once gave me a different vantage point on re-wr...

Got 20 minutes???  Grab your lunch and sit down with these gems.... (click over to the full site if you're in a reader or mobile device!) A Christmas Adoption Story via Ordinary Hero (5 minutes) Now click here to watch  I Like Adoption  (6 minutes) And finally... To Ethiopia and Back (9 minutes) You're welcome!!  Hope you had kleenex nearby!

Happy Tuesday everyone!!  It's been one week to the day that I've been carrying around pictures in my purse of two sweet, brown-faced girls and calling them my daughters....that seems like a perfectly good reason for a celebration!! How 'bout celebrating my girls with me while you get ready to celebrate Jesus birth!  I have a suspicion that many of you just clicked over here from some shopping site you were on, trying to take advantage of the last few days that you don't have to pay an arm and a leg to have the friendly UPS man deliver your purchases!  Since you're shopping anyways.....check out our Amazon link!  I've stocked it with some of my favorite reads from over the last year....books that will feed and challenge the souls of your loved ones.   Amazon.com Widgets Using this link, or the one on the upper left hand corner of the blog, to enter the Amazon site will set the Amazon elves in motion on behalf of our girls!  There won't be a...

Ready to have your mind blown?   Have we got a referral story for you!  It's a like a book with a plot that sucks you in right from the start, leaving you gritty-eyed from endless "just-one-more-chapter" nights.  You mean to put the book down and sleep like a normal person...but then the last paragraph of each chapter makes your eyes go wide and steals all willpower except for the "page turning" kind.  One twist in the plot after another that you COULDN'T SEE COMING....twists that are the best satisfaction a plot could offer.  It's better than what you hoped was coming and leaves you amazed at the writer's craft.  Ever read a book like that?? I have.  I LOOOVE them.  The past few weeks have shown me that I SUPER LOOOOVE living that kind of plot! A good story has to start at the beginning.....Once upon a time, God stirred our hearts in an undeniable way and called us to respond to His orphaned children by making a few of them Floridas...

TREAT EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO A FROSTY AT WENDY'S!! * Wendy's will donate $.50 per frosty purchase over the Father's Day weekend to the Dave Thomas Foundation and Wendy's Wonderful Kids! FYI - This is a video from years past so the dates are wrong...it's really June 16 &17, 2012, Father's Day Weekend! WHEN YOU'RE THERE, CHECK IN @ http://treatitforward.wendys.com/ *Wendy's will donate another $.50 per check in... TWEET LIKE CRAZY! *Follow me @lori_florida and retweet #TreatItFwd and Wendy's will donate another $.50 for each RT! BUY A FROSTY KEY FOB! *My local Wendy's is selling these cute Frosty Key Fobs for $1.  $1 supports the Dave Thomas Foundation to help kids in Foster Care and you get a FREE JR FROSTY with every purchase you make from now till Christmas!!  It's a win/win!  Check with your Wendy's to see if they're participating....or just drive to my Wendy's! ...