And now for Something Ridiculous...
I have been meaning to do this post for a while now, wanting to update you on the cookie dough sale and the other adoption-related stuff - I even sat down once and tried to write - but I've been completely uninspired. Then we came home yesterday to a letter in the mail addressed to "Bawrence Shelton (A really bad misspelling of Steve's actual first name, Lawrence) (seriously, is that even a name), and I was amused. That was followed by an evening of mishaps as a neighbor kicked a ball into our yard, and Tyler, in trying to toss it back over the fence into their yard managed to get it stuck twenty-five feet up in their tree, after which he walked off sheepishly leaving them to fend for themselves. It was, after all, their ball, their yard, and their tree, so that made it their problem, right? Five minutes later, if that, Trevor wiped out on the kitchen floor and collided with the table. When I asked what caused the fall, he said he slipped in pickle juice. For real? How often does that happen? How did it even get there?
And don't think for even a moment that Trenton was left out of the action! I can't even begin to enumerate all of the chaos he causes in a given day! For today, we'll forget about the counter climbing, putting anything and everything into the mixer, or the tossing of objects from upstairs to the living room, and only tell you that he managed to heap a serving of cottage cheese into the same jar of pickles that caused his brother's demise, thus enacting his revenge on them for their pesky exploits, and sentencing them to death by trash can!
But wait, there's more! The moment that brought me to tears, literally, was when Steve reached into his coat pocket to retrieve his keys after church only to find that he had a packet of butter in there leftover from Easter sunrise breakfast, which had split open and coated his hand and keys in a greasy surprise. Again, how often does that happen? Who leaves butter in their pocket?
I think the moral of tonight's story is that our condiments are out to get us. But I'm not worried, between Tyler and Trenton, we'll put them in their place, or leave them for someone else to clean up, but at least they won't be our problem for long!
(Note here, that in my last post I openly said that I prefer chaos and messes to quiet, controlled order. If irony can be considered a condiment, we've been given a healthy serving of it here! LOL at myself!)
And now, for the news you've all been waiting for...
Here are the cookie dough results.
I set a goal of raising $500.00 in cookie dough/popcorn sales. That would require us to sell roughly 100 tubs. As the weeks went by and the orders came in, I knew we weren't quite going to make it. By the end of the last day's sales, we had sold seventy-seven tubs, including a last-minute surprise order from my brother in North Carolina, whose wife had reminded him to order while in Uganda on a mission of her own. Through that, we had raised $385.70.
The story doesn't end there, however. Two people from my office didn't want cookie dough, but wanted to help, so they wrote checks. One of those women, I can't even say I know well at all. I have met her twice, once by the bathroom sink, and once by the coffee machine. But she's been watching me when I was unaware, and she likes the way I live my life, so she wanted to help. (Little moments like that have to be memorialized in adoption stories. They're among the hundreds of tiny miracles that come together to encourage a family and to bring the dream to reality. I treasure them all.) So with the extra two checks, we had another $50.00.
That night we found another surprise in the mailbox - a $104.00 refund check that we didn't know was coming from when we refinanced our house last fall. Straight into the adoption account it went! I considered it God's contribution to the cookie dough order, a little affirmation from Heaven that we're on the right track, an encouragement to keep moving forward, and a guarantee that we wouldn't just meet our goal, but would surpass it. Thank you, Jesus!
All in all, we raised over $540.00, and I am very pleased with that. Sweet success!
So what's next? Lots of things! Preparations are well under way for our next event, which is going to be bigger, better, and way more exciting! I'm not ready to talk about it just yet on-line, we'll save that for another day, but I will tell you that people are stepping up and pitching in, and I am looking forward to great, great things in June!
It is particularly important that I write this post for one other reason, and that is that not everything has been light and easy around here lately. I am still (yes still) struggling to recover from the surgery four months ago. If you've seen me in the last month, especially at church where I am the most vulnerable,
chances are you've seen me cry. The inability to sing praises with my mouth (as opposed to with my heart) remains, although we're working on it. That has been the realization of one of my worst fears and it has been very, very hard to swallow. Additionally, my emotions continue to be all over the map, so days when the only tears I cry come from laughter are especially priceless right now.I have been reading Acts 16 over and over, thinking of how Paul and Silas rejoiced in the midst of their suffering. They praised God in a prison cell, at midnight, after having been beaten for bestowing an act of kindness and healing on a poor, exploited slave girl, and yet, in the midst of their persecution, they raised their voices in praise to God. And they weren't quiet about it. Scripture says that the other prisoners were listening to them. Now, Paul and Silas couldn't have known what was going to happen next, but God had big plans for them in that moment. An earthquake shook the foundations of the prison, flinging the doors wide open and snapping their chains right off! He was aware of their cry and their suffering, and He responded to their continued faith in a way only He could. As a result, the jailer and his entire household were saved that night, and Paul and Silas were released the next morning, escorted out by the magistrates themselves, to go about their business and continue their mission of spreading the gospel to the Gentiles. Wow!
My circumstance is certainly not as dramatic as what Paul and Silas were up against, but it is a blow thrown directly at the core of my being, right where it hurts, and it's been a struggle.
My faith, however, remains unshaken. I continue to trust that God is bigger than the troubles with my body, bigger than all the money we need to raise, bigger than the circumstances that are going to cause a child to need an adoptive family with a sense of humor, and bigger than my little mind can comprehend. Three days removed from Easter I am compelled to say, "He is risen!" And the heavens reply, "He is risen indeed!"
Rather than a scripture verse, I am going to wrap up with the song that has been my anthem over the last several days. But before I do that, I want to say another thank you to everyone who bought cookie dough, wrote a check, or has stepped up in any other way. We're all on this journey together and your prayers and support are keeping us moving forward. We really do appreciate you so very much!
"And harkening back to the Jehoshaphat post:
"Give thanks to the Lord. His love endures forever!"
And don't think for even a moment that Trenton was left out of the action! I can't even begin to enumerate all of the chaos he causes in a given day! For today, we'll forget about the counter climbing, putting anything and everything into the mixer, or the tossing of objects from upstairs to the living room, and only tell you that he managed to heap a serving of cottage cheese into the same jar of pickles that caused his brother's demise, thus enacting his revenge on them for their pesky exploits, and sentencing them to death by trash can!
But wait, there's more! The moment that brought me to tears, literally, was when Steve reached into his coat pocket to retrieve his keys after church only to find that he had a packet of butter in there leftover from Easter sunrise breakfast, which had split open and coated his hand and keys in a greasy surprise. Again, how often does that happen? Who leaves butter in their pocket?
I think the moral of tonight's story is that our condiments are out to get us. But I'm not worried, between Tyler and Trenton, we'll put them in their place, or leave them for someone else to clean up, but at least they won't be our problem for long!
(Note here, that in my last post I openly said that I prefer chaos and messes to quiet, controlled order. If irony can be considered a condiment, we've been given a healthy serving of it here! LOL at myself!)
And now, for the news you've all been waiting for...
Here are the cookie dough results.
I set a goal of raising $500.00 in cookie dough/popcorn sales. That would require us to sell roughly 100 tubs. As the weeks went by and the orders came in, I knew we weren't quite going to make it. By the end of the last day's sales, we had sold seventy-seven tubs, including a last-minute surprise order from my brother in North Carolina, whose wife had reminded him to order while in Uganda on a mission of her own. Through that, we had raised $385.70.
The story doesn't end there, however. Two people from my office didn't want cookie dough, but wanted to help, so they wrote checks. One of those women, I can't even say I know well at all. I have met her twice, once by the bathroom sink, and once by the coffee machine. But she's been watching me when I was unaware, and she likes the way I live my life, so she wanted to help. (Little moments like that have to be memorialized in adoption stories. They're among the hundreds of tiny miracles that come together to encourage a family and to bring the dream to reality. I treasure them all.) So with the extra two checks, we had another $50.00.
That night we found another surprise in the mailbox - a $104.00 refund check that we didn't know was coming from when we refinanced our house last fall. Straight into the adoption account it went! I considered it God's contribution to the cookie dough order, a little affirmation from Heaven that we're on the right track, an encouragement to keep moving forward, and a guarantee that we wouldn't just meet our goal, but would surpass it. Thank you, Jesus!
All in all, we raised over $540.00, and I am very pleased with that. Sweet success!
So what's next? Lots of things! Preparations are well under way for our next event, which is going to be bigger, better, and way more exciting! I'm not ready to talk about it just yet on-line, we'll save that for another day, but I will tell you that people are stepping up and pitching in, and I am looking forward to great, great things in June!
It is particularly important that I write this post for one other reason, and that is that not everything has been light and easy around here lately. I am still (yes still) struggling to recover from the surgery four months ago. If you've seen me in the last month, especially at church where I am the most vulnerable,
chances are you've seen me cry. The inability to sing praises with my mouth (as opposed to with my heart) remains, although we're working on it. That has been the realization of one of my worst fears and it has been very, very hard to swallow. Additionally, my emotions continue to be all over the map, so days when the only tears I cry come from laughter are especially priceless right now.I have been reading Acts 16 over and over, thinking of how Paul and Silas rejoiced in the midst of their suffering. They praised God in a prison cell, at midnight, after having been beaten for bestowing an act of kindness and healing on a poor, exploited slave girl, and yet, in the midst of their persecution, they raised their voices in praise to God. And they weren't quiet about it. Scripture says that the other prisoners were listening to them. Now, Paul and Silas couldn't have known what was going to happen next, but God had big plans for them in that moment. An earthquake shook the foundations of the prison, flinging the doors wide open and snapping their chains right off! He was aware of their cry and their suffering, and He responded to their continued faith in a way only He could. As a result, the jailer and his entire household were saved that night, and Paul and Silas were released the next morning, escorted out by the magistrates themselves, to go about their business and continue their mission of spreading the gospel to the Gentiles. Wow!
My circumstance is certainly not as dramatic as what Paul and Silas were up against, but it is a blow thrown directly at the core of my being, right where it hurts, and it's been a struggle.
My faith, however, remains unshaken. I continue to trust that God is bigger than the troubles with my body, bigger than all the money we need to raise, bigger than the circumstances that are going to cause a child to need an adoptive family with a sense of humor, and bigger than my little mind can comprehend. Three days removed from Easter I am compelled to say, "He is risen!" And the heavens reply, "He is risen indeed!"
Rather than a scripture verse, I am going to wrap up with the song that has been my anthem over the last several days. But before I do that, I want to say another thank you to everyone who bought cookie dough, wrote a check, or has stepped up in any other way. We're all on this journey together and your prayers and support are keeping us moving forward. We really do appreciate you so very much!
Praise the Lord, done by the Imperials when Russ Taff was their lead.
Lyrics:
When you're up against a struggle
That shatters all your dreams
And your hope has been cruelly crushed
By Satan's manifesting scheme
And you feel the urge within you
To submit to earthly fears
Don't let the faith you're standing in, seem to disappear
That shatters all your dreams
And your hope has been cruelly crushed
By Satan's manifesting scheme
And you feel the urge within you
To submit to earthly fears
Don't let the faith you're standing in, seem to disappear
(Chorus)
Praise the Lord
He can work with those who praise Him ,
Praise the Lord
For our God inhabits praise,
Praise the Lord
For the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise him
He can work with those who praise Him ,
Praise the Lord
For our God inhabits praise,
Praise the Lord
For the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise him
Now Satan is a liar
And he wants to make us think
That we are paupers
When he knows himself
We're children of the King
So lift up the might shield of faith
For the battle has been won
We know that Jesus Christ has risen
So the work's already done
And he wants to make us think
That we are paupers
When he knows himself
We're children of the King
So lift up the might shield of faith
For the battle has been won
We know that Jesus Christ has risen
So the work's already done
"And harkening back to the Jehoshaphat post:
"Give thanks to the Lord. His love endures forever!"
Ahhhhhh, so that's why you wanted me to look up those lyrics.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as far as the boys' misadventures, I think I'm glad that the most exciting thing this week was Small Fry trying to smuggle home a school friend this afternoon.
Our kitchen floor, however, is incredibly slippery at the pantry end, due to the detangling spray that inevitably gets on the floor when we brush the girls' hair in the mornings. One day, one of us is going to dramatically wipe out as a result. It will probably be me. The children will laugh.
It's not bad that I giggled uncontrollably while reading the first part of this, right?