Up date on our travel.

I will be traveling on November 13 and will be returning home on Thanksgiving day.
I'm sad I will miss the day with my family but we have so much we will be thankful for.
Waiting a week was not an option.:)

I have witnessed God's perfect timing in all of this. My dad and I have got to spend some great times together. The Lord gave me an incrediable gift when he gave me time with my father.
I'm not sure how much time he has left because it looks like he is not going to have the surgery. They told him 6-8 months. But do any of us know how much time we have.
I'm enjoying taking pictures and hearing his laugh. I'm falling in Love with a man
that I should of fell in love with years ago..

Robin

So you may wonder what is going on.

Friday morning came with a buzz of excitement around our house.
I talked to Ares Of Hope and they said everything must of went great
with Joseph's visa or they would of heard. "So go ahead and book your travel for the
4Th of November" I called and got our travel agent on finding us a flight out and
I called all my friends and the Dr's. office for Jo's Dr appts. I couldn't believe
that I was so close to going and getting our little boy...
I called the office again because of a question I had and that is when they informed
me that Joseph's visa apt got cancelled. He has not even had his visa appt yet.
I was shocked and alittle bit discouraged. I had been praying all week for his visa
appt and thought that it was happening. They told me to cancel all travel plans and make them for the next week. I had to call and cancel his Dr appts and call everyone back to tell them.
Please pray for Joseph and his health.

My sweet Taylor brought this article to me last night and said "mom you have to read this"
On Contentment
We are all guilty of thinking that we cannot possibly do the next thing until this or that takes place. We have a displaced feeling. Our heavenly Father knows how to place us where we may learn lessons we could not learn in any other place. To be aware of his divine plan, you must have faith that all is well'. There is not one circumstance the Lord's hand hasn't touched. There is not one disaster that surprises Him. 2Chronicles 16:9 " For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.." My Brother has asked me in times of turmoil, "Is this something you cannot trust God with?"
Today , let's do the next thing trusting that His control is over the very circumstance that may be "too big" for Him to handle. Get to your next task. Must you do laundry? Do the children need to be read to? Has dinner been planned? IS there sewing to be done? Be JOYFUL as you work today. Proverbs 15:13 How can you be joyful with 'that' burden still looming? I love to recall this verse in times of fierce heat: Daniel 3:17 " If it be so, our God whom we serve is ABLE to deliver us from the fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O King." Let us meditate on contentment. Proverbs 15:15 "All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart doth good like medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Ecclesiastes 2:24 " There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink. and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God."
-Article from "Seasons at Home" magazine

So tonight and every night until we can bring Joseph home I pray that I rest in the
truth that my God is in control and he knows all things and I can trust Him with this adoption and with my very life..

love ya,
Robin

We got our I600 approval..

Our Senators office called this afternoon and said that INS had just
called her and said that our I600 had been approved and mailed out.
I started crying. She was just saying how happy she was for us..
It was such a surprise because we had been told that it would be next week.
Now we are waiting on Acres Of Hope to call us and let us know how his
visa apt went today. I'm sure it will be tomorrow before we find out anything.
I pray it went well.
I'm very close to leaving on an airplane and I can't wait to go to Africa and
see my little boy.....

Robin

Today is the Day...

Today is the day we have been waiting for. Joseph's birth- parents have
to meet with the visa lady. This is it!!
I was talking to a friend last night and she was laughing at me because
I keep saying if I go to Liberia. I keep holding my breath and protecting
my heart from the possible disappointment that Joseph wont come home.
I keep thinking all of this is just leading up to someone telling me
we can't adopt him.. Is that crazy or just myself not believing in one HUGE God who
knew long before I did that Joseph was meant and is meant to be part of our family.
I just can't allow myself to believe he is really coming here until I hold him
in my arms.

I know we have along rode ahead of us when we get him home with his surgery and all
but I face those unknowns with certainty that God has it all under his watchful eyes.
So today I pray that half way across the world God has his eyes on Joseph...

Robin

Do you really Listen?

I have been thinking alot about the way I listen to people.
Have you ever been talking to someone and just notice they seem
to be hurrying you up just by their very posture?
The way their eyes never really engage you.You can tell their not
the least bit interested in what your saying.
I wonder what it would feel like to talk to my Lord face to face.
I wonder if he would give me that nod of ok are you through yet?
I wonder if he would turn his eyes from me.
Of course we all know the answer to those questions.
If we're supposed to be imitators of our Lord than I think
we need to slow down and really listen to others.
I try to teach the kids that your body posture says more than your words.
If we are to really die to ourselves than we have to master listening to
others. It's not always fun or enjoyable but it's something our Lord does
well and so we should also.

So how do we teach this in our home:
1- teach our older children to stop and get down on the younger ones level and make eye contact.
2-I teach our boys that when their listening or talking with an adult to stand at attention and put their hands behind their back.This just reminds them that who their
talking to demands their respect and undivided attention.Not because of who they are but because of the position they hold.
3-I practice with the younger boys to always look adults in the eyes when their talking to them.We set up sessions in our home where they pretend they are talking to
someone from our church or their grandma ete..You have to practice this for it to become a habit. This is part of our school. I will get the boys to be playing ball and Taylor will pretend to be Mrs. Brown who walks by and talks to Cooper and I will walk him through how he is supposed to stop stand with his hands behind his back and look her in the eyes and how he is even supposed to respond to her questions.
For example: Hello Cooper how are you?
I'm fine Mrs. Brown how are you?

So Cooper what have you been doing?
Please teach your kids not to say "nothing"

I have been playing with my brothers and learning to read.


Ok Cooper have a great day.
You have a great day too Mrs.Brown


This will become second nature to your children if you start teaching it early.
We make a game of it and it's fun and we love when they put into practice what
we have been teaching them..

Kids that have manners are not an accident, they have been taught and they have
practiced using their manners over and over...


So as I go about my day today I'm going to try and Really listen to the people I come in contact with today.

Robin

A weekend in Mississippi

We went to Mississippi this weekend. It's been ALONG time since we visited with
family there. Most of them had never met Cullen or Channie and only a few had seen Coop. So it was a great time to catch up and it was a huge diversion from the adoption scene.Most everyone there was supportive of our adoption and I'm so glad to feel like they will love Joseph..

On the way home we stopped and saw my dad. Expecting him to be like he was Friday you can imagine my surprise when he was able to get in my van and go eat an icecream and ride around for an hour.
He was in a great mood and although he still acts alittle goofy he is starting to be able to take care of himself..That is such an answer to prayer.


I would ask that you keep Jo in your prayers this week. This is a BIG week for us all.
He has his pre-visa interview tomorrow and the real one on Thursday.
We are expecting to hear from our paper work any-day and in fact heard from the
lady who is working on it today. So that is a great way to start our Monday..
If all goes well we should be traveling next Friday..
Please Pray Hard..

Rob

Ok I know they cut his curls.......

We got new pictures of baby Jo tonight. What a surprise.
The neat thing about this picture is all of the kids found him
one small toy to send over a few weeks ago and guess what those
are the toys he is playing with..Cullen said "my turtle" they were
just thrilled and so was mama and papa..This makes it soo hard not to
want to get on the first plane over and go bring him home....

Please continue to pray for our paper work and for Joesph as he fights
from being sick..Look at those floors spotless........

love,
Robin

Stop and consider God's wonders. Job 37:14

If God gave me nothing else he has given me already so much. My kids are such a joy to me. I love homeschooling them and being around them all day. When I stop and consider God's wonders in my life these little souls take my breath away. I would trade nothing for my days. Getting up to the sound of laughter and going to sleep with the sound of "your my best mama". Who deserves that? Not I.
I was getting clothes out of the dryer and Cullen and Channie got in the dryer...Can you imagine being so small.. After I took their picture I told them the danger of doing that but I thought how much longer would they as brother and sister be able to fit in my dryer...

Everyday the boys bring me flowers. They come from my garden or the pasture but I have little flowers laying all over my house on a daily bases. The other day Coop walks in and says "mom I have a flower for you" I busted out laughing(see picture below) I could not believe how loved I felt.

This rainbow was the view from our front porch last weekend. Cullen was blown away by this sight..I was too..

I love my life and I love my Lord and I praise his name for these little beings that I get to call my children,my blessings, my friends.

So today, I have considered God's wonders and I praise his name for his perfect will for my life...

Robin

Take a good look at God's wonders-they'll take your breath away. Psalm 66:5