Lori Florida

"Bring the whole tithe to the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it...Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land." Malachi 3:10 & 12 It's time to start publicly praising God for opening up His floodgates for this adoption.  Thursday, after the school pick-up rounds were made, we made our usual stop at the mailbox as we drove into the neighborhood.  I always flip through the stack and open anything interesting while I'm sitting there.  That day a card caught my attention.  I opened it, jumped, felt my breath leave me and started crying all at once as a check fell into my lap.  The kids instantly got quiet and Trev leaned over to ask what was wrong.  "Nothing's wrong, everything's right!"  I said as I held up the check.  $2,0...

Here's where we are right now.  Scott & I have met our social worker, Kim, at her office 3 times to spend 1 1/2 hours talking about ourselves.    She asked the questions and we rambled, probably giving her more answers than she really needed.  The questions ranged from, "Who was the first one to bring up adoption?" to "What are the strengths and weaknesses of your marriage?" to "Describe your home growing up..." to What does your usual weekly schedule look like?"  That last one took a while to answer...which schedule is our usual one?  Soccer, beginning of school, kick-off of ministries fall schedule?  End of school field trips & programs, track & rugby, get-ready-for-a-missions trip spring schedule?  Or the school's out, sleep in, camping and summer camp schedule?  This past Monday was the BIG homestudy meeting, the one where Kim came to us, at our house, to meet the kids and interview them.  Which meant having a clea...

If you know us, you know that we love Brazil and Thailand.  We take missions trips there, our friends are missionaries there, our hearts are there.  As adoption has been hanging around the corners of our minds, we usually thought it would lead us to Asia. I spent some pretty serious effort trying to figure out a way to adopt through our missionary friends' ministry to orphan Akha tribal children in Thailand a few years ago.  We've grown to really love those people.  Found a closed door there (for now!) and kinda put the adoption thing on the shelf again hoping something would change with the Akha situation. Last November, God started putting adoption on the front page of both Scott & my minds again...this time it seemed to be in bold print.  The "Why A Family of 8 is Adopting" is another big story that will need to be a separate post.... "Ethiopia,"  that was a word and a place I hadn't even considered until a social worker calle...

Our Spring Break family adventure this year involved a moment of humor for my boys, at my expense.  It's one of the services I provide for my children....an occasional, up-close-and-and-personal view of Mom in a ridiculous situation, and then the freedom to laugh and point with impunity.  Here's the short story:  It was our second horseback ride of the week.  The day before the entire family had enjoyed a leisurely walking ride through the Michigan woods.  This time, it seemed like a good idea to sign up for the Walk & Trot ride to look for a few more thrills.  The girls were too young for the trotting, so they were gonna head one way while the boys headed another, each group of kids with a parent.  Through a series of unplanned events, I ended up with the boys and Scott with the girls.  I think he was secretly disappointed, hoping for some action with the fellas.  I was excited, I always like a chance to keep up with the boys with some...

Know the feeling of jumping into really cold water?  You go in feet first and feel it clamp around your chest and then try to yank that last desperate breath from behind clenched lips?  And then....the heart-pumping exhilarating feeling of being alive and desperate to move that comes when you break through, back to the surface?  We had our first home study appointment last Wednesday....we held hands, counted to three and jumped into water that took our breath away.  The meeting was full of details, questions asked, questions answered, timelines and requirements rolled out before us.  About an hour in, we got to THE question.  Our social worker, Kim, looked up from her notes and very casually asked, "So, how are you planning to pay for this?"  That's when we looked at each other, joined hands and said the icy cold water words, "We don't know how it's going to happen, but we're  sure God's calling us to it, and we're sure God's calli...

I've had a pile of stones in my heart for a long time, and from time to time, in various places I set stones in a pile that I can see and touch.  I've got lots of other piles in my life, ugly ones that have slowly built over time, piles that I don't like, didn't ask for, that suck the energy out of me.  Piles of laundry, piles of things to do, piles of papers to file, and more piles of laundry.  This pile is different.  This pile is mine on purpose, I've built it.  This pile puts a spotlight on Jesus that breathes life into me as it grows, makes me feel solid and settled and lifts my foot up for the next step of faith.  The stones remind me of moments, moments that have built my faith.  Just like the children of Israel, I've erected a monument in my soul to point my heart, and the hearts of future generations to the powerful God who is working in my life.  Looking at these rocks reminds me of the things I know, the ...