Adoption Fundraising

Doug and I have had the honor to witness several friends adopt children both locally and internationally. It is a joy to take part in their journeys, even if we haven't experienced adopting children ourselves.
A humbling part of adoption is asking people to help with the cost. It is hard for people to ask others to help them bring a child into their family. However, I see it as a beautiful thing. As friends, we have the priviledge of being part of the process. When I was pregnant, only Doug and I were part of the process :) Adoption is awesome because it takes a community of friends and family.
So, I would like to help some friends, the McKim family, raise money to pay for their adoption. They are adopting a child from Uganda. He is a teacher and she is a stay-at-home mom of 3.
You can help them by purchasing a very cool t-shirt and/or purchasing some delicious free trade coffee. They have been forced to get creative because they don't qualify for the tax credit (he is a teacher and doesn't pay enough taxes..something like that).
So, I'm taking orders for t-shirts ($20) and coffee ($10). You can go to Jen's Journey for Truth blog to contact her if you'd like to know more :)

Bounty of Patience

My biggest fear of motherhood came when I was pregnant with Maegan. I kept seeing a Bounty commercial of a kid racing through the kitchen, grabbing a huge carton of juice, and then spilling it all over the floor. The mom, looking a little amused, tufts the kid's hair, grabs her Bounty, and wipes it up with a smile. What?!! I'm supposed to respond like that! Where is the lecture, what about a little look of frustration! Can I really be that mom?
For the last two days I've been trying to catch up on laundry and ironing (because I leave it too long in the dryer). Plus, as you know, when you're home with two kids you are constantly picking up. At 7:00pm last night, Maegan and Spencer were playing so nicely while I cleaned up from dinner. Low and behold Maegan had drug half her wardrobe, some of mine, my cell phone, all the pillows in the house, and etc, and stuffed it all behind the big chair, the area where I never clean. She also took piles of clean laundry off my bed and tossed them to the floor, in pursuit of my bedding. Oooooooo, I was so mad. I wanted her to know I was mad, but I couldn't figure that best 'good mother' way to do that. So I grabbed my head and said with as much calm, laced with fury, that I could. "I'm on fire, my head is going to explode, I'm sooooo mad!" I tried to explain all the work I'd done to clean, nicely fold, and put all this stuff away. Now, dear child, all my work is lopping around in a big pile of dust. I went on to say that this was the highest disrespect for all my hard work.
I think the explanation at least made me feel better. So, the rest of the evening entailed me following Maegan around making her put it all away.
Maybe next time I can ruffle her hair and smile at her creativity.

carol the security risk

Well, I had a really embarassing thing happen today. I was embarassed to be escorted out of University Hotel at IUPUI by two security officers. But it got way more embarrassing.....I cried when they told me to leave. This is when crying is a curse. When I get embarrassed I cry, which leaves me naked to the fact that I'm embarrased, and makes me look weak. Instead I wish I could just be strong and have something bold to say in the face of embarrassment.
So, I had registerd to attend the Chinese Ambassador's speech at IUPUI. I was encouraged to do a little protest beforehand. My protest involved wearing my Save Darfur shirt, bringing some flyers to hand out, and a few signs to prop up. I wasn't planning on yelling or being forceful at all. I had a friendly message that encouraged China to do the right thing.
So I went in to register and my name wasn't on the list. So, I tracked down the guy whom I asked if I could bring a petition. He said the session was full and that I would have to take my petition outside. So, judging by all the well dressed dignitaries who were there, I decided not to do anything petition signing/protesting. I felt very out of place in my t-shirt. So, I just decided to wait for my friend who was planning on meeting me. Well, I won't go into the whole story but I was told by security that I must leave and wasn't welcome to stay. So, I started to leave and was followed out by another security guard who looked like I was a terrorist threat and he was making sure I left for good.
This was all very embarassing. I'm supposed to meet with our senators on behalf of Amnesty International. I have to get over this crying thing before then!

Powerful Sermon

About 5 years ago I was sitting in a church during a wedding rehearsal. I needed something to read, so I picked up the church literagy book from the pew. I came across something that described where Jesus went for those 3 days before He was resurrected from the dead. I had never thought about those 3 days for some reason. I had to hold back the tears that sprung to my eyes. This text describe Jesus going to the depths of hell and his aweful separation from God. When Doug was done practicing his standing, I pulled him aside and said "did you know what happened to Jesus those 3 days in the grave!?" He was a little surprised at my new revelation. He said that Jesus was separated from God's presence (which is what Hell is) in order to really experience the penalty of our sins. This was a lot for me to take. I was grief striken in a whole new way.
In Sunday's sermon I had another new realization. Jeff described the way Jesus disarmed the power of sin. He took away the power of sin in our lives. But I've sort of always wondered why that sin still has such a hold on us. Jeff suggested that we give the sin back it's power by turning to it as our god. The Spirit of God that lives in us gives us power to overcome that sin, time and time again. One day, when God's plan is complete, sin will be completely destroyed and the struggle will be over. In the meantime, the Power of the resurrection can be witnessed time and time again when have victory over sin in our daily lives.

Leader of the Pack

My parents don't have pets, but they love the show "The Dog Whisperer." So, I was visiting on Monday and we sat down to watch Cesar work his magic on some pretty wild dogs. This magical whisperer taught pet owners that they had to indeed act like owners or the dog would think he is in charge of the household. The owners had to show dominance, as if they were a much larger dog. Just after a few tricks (of showing domination) the owners were back in charge and the dogs knew their place. The dogs just wanted to know that someone was in charge and to know the rules. Hmmm, this was sounding a lot like stuff I read in Parenting Magazine. My dear magazines that give me all sorts of great advice on handling my own wild dogs.
So, I've been repeating to myself..."I'm leader of the pack....I'm leader of the pack." I need to show these critters of mine just exactly who is in charge. Well, some of Cesar's rules kind of relate to kids, but my tightening the leash and standing over their food bowls just isn't doing the trick. It was worth a shot....and I'm still calling myself leader of the pack!

Why the Butterfly?

Ok, posting the butterfuly picture was a little random. I just stuck it on there. Doug and I have a new camera and I've become a poser. I'm posing as a wanna be artistic photographer. My very talented friend Loree is a photographer, a great photographer. She said that she learned just by experimenting. I say that she is gifted and has an eye for the sport. So, I'm hoping that I will just pick up this art form by taking lots of random pictures of things I like and by looking at other people's pictures. For example, you must check out the blog Mayfly. This blogger posts beautiful pictures almost daily and she has links to many other talented ladies. I've discovered many beautiful photographs, recipes, and sewing projects. I don't even sew! I leave that to my mom. But, these blogs are so beautiful that they make me want to take up sewing, bake a bunch of pies, and then take pictures of it all!