Cherished Outreach - November

Tonight was short, but very sweet.

Andi came with me again, and this month our gift to each girl was an individual pie-in-a-jar. They turned out pretty cute, and we wrapped them in ribbon and glued scrapbook paper to the lid with a note that said: "A(n) Cherry/Pumpkin/Apple Pie especially for you. We love you. Happy Thanksgiving".

I have to say I had a wonderful time making the pies with our associate pastor's wife, DeeAnn Miller. We baked together and then prayed over the women who would be receiving these gifts, and it was wonderful. I can't wait for next month's prep night to get together with more women to prepare and pray over gifts.

We walked in and chatted with the dj for a few minutes. I pushed him about all his promises to come to church sometime. I told him about going to three services, and he said a 12 service would be perfect for them. We'll see - keep praying for him. As I was talking to him, I spotted "C" who was in the hospital last month. I ran over and talked to her - she was a little stand-offish. She was perfectly friendly, but she's been warmer than that before. She said she's feeling much better. Apparently she had a heart attack, and heart disease runs in her family. She's feeling better but has to go back to the hospital weekly for tests to make sure she's ok. It hasn't affected her custody issues, which I was really praying for. I'm still praying for something to happen in her life that wrecks it and brings her to Jesus. While we were talking to her, 3 girls I didn't recognize came in, but when we went to the dressing room they weren't in there. I heard a few months ago that there were "new girls" that were having serious friction and physical fights with the "old girls" and that the "new girls" get dressed in the bathroom. But I didn't feel like we should chase them down. We chatted with a bartender in the dressing room for a few minutes about her Thanksgiving plans and then headed out. She's a sweetheart, and mentioned that she doesn't like the holidays but didn't elaborate or seem to want to go into it.

It was a good visit. Nothing monumental, but a sweet visit. Jesus, move in that place.

Upcoming Cherished Visit

I'm so excited about the gifts for this month's Cherished visit. We're doing individual pie-in-a-jar's!

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/09/single-serving-pie-in-a-jar/

Psalm 18:19

This past weekend TJ and I went on a movie date - so much fun to get away together! - and we decided to see Real Steel. (J. Edgar wasn't at our theater for some reason, but I still really want to see that one.) It totally surprised me, I loved it. I laughed, I cried, I hated Hugh Jackman, I loved Hugh Jackman. In fact, the only thing that made me feel better during the first 1/3 of the movie was knowing that he seems to be a good dad in real life. Basically, the movie follows a deadbeat dad who sells his son to the kid's aunt, but has to watch him for 2 months while she goes on a vacation. He's into robot fighting, and the kid (who loves robot fights) forces his dad to take him along. Obviously it's a heart-wrenching, heart-warming tale of a father and son reconnecting. I really liked the ending, because it would be asking a lot to assume that there is an obvious answer to a complicated family dynamic like this. Well, actually it is simple, but not what I immediately dreaded the answer was going to be.

Anyway.

What really got to me was during a fight when the dad is telling his son that the best thing for him is to go live with his aunt and her husband, and he asks, "What do you want from me?" And the kid says, "I want you to fight for me!"

And my first thought was, I'm sure that's how all abandoned and abused kids feel. And I can't wait to have a child someday, even knowing that I can never explain why their biological parents didn't/couldn't fight for them, and that I can't fill that void. But I know what I'll say: God did, and he can. He fought for you, and I fought for you. And he will keep fighting for you, and so will I.

And then I thought, me too. I want someone to fight for me. There is a chapter in my bible that I wrote "God and Me" on a long time ago. I recently rediscovered it, and a verse I underlined in that chapter says, "he rescued me because he delighted in me". And I love that, because I know that I needed rescuing. Rescuing from sin, from myself, from the life that I thought was best for me. Thank God he knew when to step in and save me from myself. And I'm thankful he continues to do it when I start to make plans all my own. I don't know that we'll adopt. Right now it's a dream of mine, but it's in the future, and I don't know what God has planned between now and then. But if it's his will, we'll do the best we can to show someone that we will always fight for them, and that there is a God who loves them and fought with everything he had just for them.

Just... no.

What a crappy day.

It honestly wasn't a crappy day, just a crappy evening. Josiah decided to bring a bad attitude to the table, some plans I had been depending on fell through, and I didn't get as much of my list done as I planned because I had to deal with Stella's social security card.

Sidebar story: Last week we realized that we have no idea where Stella's social security card is. I can't find it ANYWHERE, and was very worried that I lost it, or someone stole it and is out there buying houses and boats and great shoes with Stella's number. How horrible to steal a 5-month-old's identity. I found a form from the hospital (signed by a nurse and everything) that stated the hospital would be applying for the card and it should be at our house in 5-6 weeks. My child is now 5 months old, and I have no recollection of such a card. I would blame this on my pretty faulty memory, but my husband, whose memory is excellent, does not remember seeing it either. And if he doesn't remember seeing it, it didn't come. So after calling the hospital, who directed me to Frankfort, who put me through the most obnoxious voice-activated menu system EVER, I finally connected with the SS office here in Richmond. That's social security, not secret nazi police. What did the second S stand for? It must have been in German. Anyway. They were very nice and told me to bring her birth certificate and a record of her shots or her bracelet from the hospital. I brought every form the hospital sent me home with, her bracelets and mine. After taking the kids all the way down there, corralling Josiah and keeping him from getting run over in the parking lot, I get a number, make small talk with people in the waiting room (who inform me that I need to make sure he does not hold his toy dinosaur while we're driving, as he could get hurt if I brake too fast - thank you, self-appointed traffic police) I get to the glass partition, start explaining my reason for being here and realize that I forgot her birth certificate. The lady very nicely looks at all my other information to get the ball rolling anyway, and then tells me they need her most current shot records. Luckily, our doctor's office is right across the road from the SS (that's social security) office. So I wrangle the infant carrier and 3-year-old back into the car, drive across the road, haul them in, wait in line, and find out that I can't get the records until tomorrow. I am actually happy to hear that. I now have no reason to go home, get the birth certificate, and do this all over again. Thank you for your help, I'm getting myself some yogurt from McDonald's.

BUT. My husband will be home from work early tonight, so we can hang out together at a decent hour. My kids are finally both in bed asleep, and Josiah hasn't tried to make up excuses to get up. (Some frequent ones include: need to go potty, need juice, need baby Stellabella, need a hug, need a kiss, and need to go potty again.) I'm going to make myself a cup of hot tea and relax now. Deep breath.

My To-Do List:

1. Finish laundry (for the day... like that's ever going to be finished!)
2. Second coat of paint on edges in kitchen (white over gray requires 2 coats)
3. Clean kitchen
4. Clean bathroom
5. Dust
6. Sweep/mop main floor
7. Make a couple of calls, respond to emails, etc.
8. Set out food for dinner

*Sigh. This is doable. And both kids went down for their nap 20 minutes ago, so I'd better quit wasting time on the internet and get after it. Somehow though, after putting out there for others to see, I'm more motivated than just looking at the paper list I made on my planner. :-)

Matt Hammitt - All Of Me (Single) w/ Lyrics

For National Adoption Month - I hope that if we are blessed to adopt a child, I never lose sight of the message of this song during the process.

Who's that girl..... It's Jess!

Well, we had a wonderful first Halloween in our first house. I wanted to take both of the kids trick or treating, but it ended up being in the middle of Stella's nap, and she's pretty fussy lately. I think her gums are sore, and when it ended up being chilly I was glad I didn't bring her.

I had the sweetest trick-or-treater though. After about 3 houses he stopped being shy, and was asking to go to "that house!". He's usually not scared of anything, but he wasn't crazy about the scary music several houses played. As soon as we would get close, he would start telling me there was scary music, but he still wanted to go. He was dedicated to the candy. :-) He got really good at "twick or tweat" after which he would say "thank you" and "Happy Ha-ween". He also got pretty excited when we saw a kid dressed up like Spiderman. We passed him at one house, and Siah kept saying, "Hey Spiderman! Spiderman! Hey! Wait for me!" He is so cute. My personal favorite was the house that had a parrot and a parakeet. The owners dressed up like pirates, and each had a bird on their shoulder. It took some time to convince Siah they were real birds. The creepiest house by far was the one that the funeral director lives at. He opened up the back of his hearse, and had a super-scary grim reaper outfit on, scary music, AND a vulture statue sitting beside him. But I tried not to judge and he seemed nice. I got to meet 3 of our neighbors for the first time and on the whole, grew to love our neighborhood even more.

I am also super-excited that there are new episodes of New Girl. I really want to make the theme song my ringtone. Or maybe everyone I call should make it the ringtone for when I call them. "Who's that girl? Who's that girl? It's Jess!" And it will be!