Running for Clean Water

I just ran another 9 miles today for my marathon training. I sometimes really enjoy running by myself. The other day I was weak and needed our training group to encourage me and get me through but today was an 'all the stars were properly aligned' run and I felt great! Sunshine, cool breeze, I was singing out loud to great tunes, I sped up my last mile and felt like I could run more. Now, talk to me after my 20 miler next week but I'm going to revel in this feeling for a while. I run with a bottle of water in my hand. A cold, clean bottle of refreshing water. I can clearly picture myself walking with a bucket of water on my head for about a 1/4 mile from a well to the nearest village. This was when we visited Tanzania and rejoiced with the women that only had to walk that far to bring clean water to their families. What about all the women that have to walk farther and for disease-ridden water at that? Its the saddest thing. Something as easy as turning on a tap is taken for granted until you are met face to face with a woman with the same dreams for her children as myself. I'm running the Chicago Marathon Oct. 7 with World Vision and supposed to raise money to put in new wells in Kenya. I haven't even begun my fundraising and shame on me. I'm terrible at asking for people to raise money but if we didn't buy 5 bottles of water or 5 cups of coffee this week and gave $10 to this cause it would add up quickly. So, I will be starting up a webpage this week and I will shamelessly ask for donations. I have the privilege of going to Ethiopia in 10 days. I will be visiting a friend and have a chance to meet my daughter for the first time. I hope to run there too. I want to breathe in the African air and let it soak in that at this point in my life I'm capable of running and making a difference. I will cry and laugh and rejoice that God has given my family this blessing to make a difference in a little girl's life. Just one step at a time, just one dollar at a time, one well, one life. The race is 40 days away. Will you support this great cause?

Surrender

Usually that word conjures up feelings of weakness or giving up. Waving the white flag of surrender can mean,'I can't handle this anymore, I'm done - you win, I lose.' I guess it matters who you are waving the white flag to. I'm currently reading a book called Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren. I know, I started this book a while ago and referenced it before in my blogs but I'm reading it with a friend and soaking up all the goodness. "Prayers of surrender have the power to radically alter the course of our lives" I remember when we first said YES to adoption. It hit me so strongly that I fought it for a few days. But when I let go of what I thought my future would hold I had a great sense of peace. Then it was this fun announcement that we were going to have a little one around again that involved toys, Sesame Street,cute tiny clothing and everyone was excited for us. Then I remember someone at our agency telling us that adoption isn't cute! Well, we are at the 10 month mark of waiting for a court date since we first got matched with our little girl. Her 3rd birthday is on Sunday and I can't lie, it's been difficult to wait. In the third chapter of the same book, I read about being 'Gloriously Ruined'. Its what happens to you when you step out of your comfort zone. When you embrace an uncomfortable act like volunteer in your city's homeless shelter or care for the sick. I guess I've been Gloriously Ruined when we said yes to God's plan. Scott's aunt wrote us after our latest adoption update and it touched me so much. She said,'I'm praying that the Lord will become dearer in such a way that looking back you would be unwilling to give up these difficult experiences if it meant not knowing the Lord in the ways you have learned of Him through them.' What thing in your life are you afraid of embracing, saying yes to, surrendering to? Having even a little faith in a big God is enough to get you through. Who knows what you're missing out on. 2 Corinthians 12:9 - The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." P.S. Thanks to everyone who asks about our daughter and our case and to those who are praying. We're still waiting on paperwork to be approved on the adoption home front through a new Ethiopian procedure. Great things are happening though, and our daughter will have a birthday party today with cake with my friend who lives there.

Why I Run

I began this blog when I thought it would be good for me to write about our adoption experience. It's still alive but just not moving. I know God has not forgotten about us and with each monthly update and pictures of our precious daughter I long for her more. My newest update on Friday just made me break down and cry because I'm missing out on all the new learning experiences. But today I'm reminded of Psalm 115:1 "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." So, I continue on with life. Blaire is entering her high school years and Jacob is entering his senior year! We are planning some summer fun and of course, training for the Chicago Marathon this Fall. I run with a group from our church , all running for World Vision and raising money for clean water in Kenya! So, when we meet each Saturday for our group run we listen to a team member to tell us 'why I run' and this Saturday was my turn. I was running the 6 mile loop one gorgeous, sunny, calm morning when I noticed I was running with a grin from ear to ear. I started to think about why I run and three words came to me. They all conveniently start with the letter 'M'. So here they are; MOTIVATION: I have loved running since I was a kid. I ran track and cross-country but didn't begin running races in my adult life until about 7 years ago. I started out with 5K's and 10K's then a few duathalons but a marathon was never on my radar. Scott came to me two years ago and announced he wanted to run the Chicago marathon and did in 2010. I followed him around the city and spotted him four times and at the end he saw the look on my face (it must have been that ear-to-ear silly grin) and said,'you are so running this next year'. He signed me up and motivated me to train all summer. After my marathon a friend told me that I motivated her to run her first marathon and she did this past February. Jacob is also running his first in Chicago this year and I'd like to think we had something to do with that decision. I get motivated every Saturday morning running with our church group and listening to their fabulous stories. You never know who you are motivating so keep sharing your running stories. MUSIC: I love listening to my music! If I'm not running and talking to someone I have my earphones in. I remember mile 24 in Chicago and I was ready to quit. Pressing On by Reliant K came on and got me moving again. The song Running Down A Dream by Tom Petty is great any time throughout a run. Sometimes certain songs remind me of certain people so I find myself praying for them. I listed my favorite 10 songs to run to on Saturday so here they are; Discotheque - U2, Black and Gold - Sam Sparro, The Veil - David Crowder Band, Everybody Wants You - Billy Squier, The War Inside - Switchfoot, Rebel Yell - Billy Idol, Whyyawannabringmedown - Kelly Clarkson, Pressing On - Reliant K, Runnin' Down A Dream - Tom Petty, Feel So Close - Calvin Harris MONEY: Last year I ran for ME but this year I have a better cause. Clean water for Africa. I have had the priviledge of seeing a water well go in in Tanzania and see the faces of the people who are delighting in it. A healthy convenience we take for granted. This past week in our city we had a water main pipe break. We were told our water could be contaminated. So, it didn't really change my life. I grabbed a few water bottles from my garage cupboard and was fine for a few days. At mile 4 in Chicago I remember the sea of orange World Vision shirts and grabbed a bottle of water they were handing out. I carried it throughout the whole race and now I run with a bottle of clean water to remind myself why I'm training, remind myself why I'm running, remind myself why I'm fundraising. What a great cause! My three M's: I run to motivate, I run to listen to my music, and I run to raise money for clean water in Africa!

a little thing we call Post-Its

I can't believe I'm admitting this but I need all the help I can get to remember things. I 'share a brain' by putting everything in my phone calendar so an alarm goes off to remind me to call someone, or order something and my kids use it to add to my on going grocery list. But nothing can compare to the ultimate invention of Post-Its or as I affectionately call them - Sticky Notes. My desk is swimming in them at the moment. Everything from phone numbers to websites, school reminders to 'buy a birthday card for so and so'. They are the best invention! Scott got carried away when two Christmas' ago he took my daughter last minute shopping to the Office Depot. You wouldn't think you could fill a woman's stocking with stuff from Office Depot, but he did. I got sticky notes with dogs on them, cute sayings and every color of the rainbow! Thanks...honey. But we actually ran out! My favorite use for Sticky Notes is to write verses from the Bible on them and stick them on my mirror (or car steering wheel). There's something about waking up and reading a quote from Psalms or a quote from a great author to cheer you up and start you on the right path. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. My son actually has that verse hanging on his door (among others) and my daughter has also adopted the sticky note method. What's on my mirror at the moment? Micah 6:8 But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don't take yourself too seriously— take God seriously. (I really got all that to fit on one normal size sticky note.) Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. And A quote from Steven Furtick - We cannot expect God to move if we are not willing to do it His way. So, as I look down at my messy desk I'm reminded I have to get to a few other things today but before I go just a piece of advice. Change up your sticky notes. They can become too familiar and therefore less effective. Also, color it up!

Gold Seals

I love getting gold seals. In third grade I got the most gold stars in a math quiz competition and won. Funny now, since math is not my strong suit. Getting gold means winning and I equate that with the red ribbon (which means first place in Canada) and I earned many in track and other competitions throughout my life. Well, today gold seal means my work is complete in the world of adoption. We are given a list of documents we have to dig up from birth certificates to financial statements. Friends write their recommendations for us, we have pictures taken of our family and we write a letter to Ethiopia telling them why we want to adopt. Then we get them notarized. There are special requirements for the notary and we finalized them last week. Today I sat in the DMV for 60 minutes and had a man approve my notaries and made my paperwork all official. Then, I copied every page four times. You'd think I would be a pro at all this since this is our second time around. We originally had to collect these documents two years ago when we initially sent off our request for a child. Paperwork is daunting for me but after my initial shock of having come through two years and find out it's all going to expire in two months, I got right to it.
I've been praying for my daughter all day. I've had a smile on my face and feel like I would do anything for her now that we have a face and name to this girl. Our updates are encouraging in the fact that things are still moving forward. Still no court date though. I would never tell anyone not to adopt because of time and paperwork.
The hard does not minimize His goodness but allows us to experience His goodness in a whole new way. - Katie Davis
God has got this and I'm so glad because I'm sure I would mess it up if it were up to me. I love when people ask about the process and love when others are anxious and even upset. It gives me a chance to give God the glory. It's ok and we will have our daughter soon enough. As for now, we have filled her room with a friend of Jacob's who needed a place to stay and I am volunteering one day of the week in a kindergarten class and I'm studying Nehemiah with a great group of ladies and training for a half marathon and full later in the year. So, I'm awarding God a gold seal for constantly reminding me of His love and His control and His goodness.
Jeremiah 32:17 - Lord and King, you have reached out your great and powerful arm. You have made the heavens and the earth. Nothing is too hard for you.

A Family Challenge

Week after week we are challenged at church to live our lives more fully to bring God glory but throughout this Hole in our Gospel series we were rocked by how little we care. We have been in the process of our adoption for two years. We already said Yes to God in this area but I know God wants more.
Winter Break was three weeks ago and Scott was taking Jacob to Utah with some dads and sons so Blaire and I wanted to do a Mother/Daughter trip. We decided on San Francisco and tack on a visit with a lifelong friend of mine. Scott sat us down around the kitchen table to have a family meeting before we left. He handed each of us some money and said we can spend it however we wanted except 10% had to go to someone in need. I have to tell you that this totally put a new spin on vacation. It wasn't just for ourselves but we prayed to be open-handed with our money and looked for a need.
We found the airport wasn't full of people in need. Mostly business men who were too into their cell phones. On the plane we didn't sit by anyone who looked needy. (mind you it's hard to talk to someone when you have earphones in your ears most of the trip watching a movie on the ipad). Oops! But once downtown and walking around the streets of San Francisco we definitely saw people sleeping outside and carrying their possessions on their backs. Blaire decided we should buy them some food...and decided to give half her money! I don't know if she saw the need was so great but I couldn't complain. We went to Subway and bought 10 subs and started our mission to hand them out. Our first stop was an elderly lady that we soon found out was named Barb and when Blaire handed her a sandwich her face lit up. We decided to chat with her and ask her where she was from and where she would spend the night. Blaire handed her some money as well. It was great to see her be so giving. We stopped at another woman named, Dawn,who maybe was a little younger than me. She was crouched down on the street corner where everyone gathers at the street light. I bent down to chat with her and she couldn't really look me in the eyes. When she received the sandwich she immediately started to feed her two dogs. They are the reason she can't sleep in a shelter at night but they were her 'babies'. I gave her some money and told her I hoped she would keep warm that night. The smiles were what Blaire noticed that night. We continued down the street with our sandwiches and they were all very appreciative. I remember these individuals like it was yesterday. What makes them different from me? They all have a story, they all matter! Why can't I go down to my very own city and get involved with people more often? Life gets in the way? Why is that?
I know this challenge brought me back to when I was young and headed down to Toronto to do projects like that. Except I don't want this to be 'a project'. It must be apart of my everyday life. Even more importantly I need to begin each day asking who will God place before me today? I'll leave you with the words of a great Brandon Heath Song
Give Me Your Eyes

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

Finding a blog for your needs

Do I take my blogging seriously? Not at all. That's why I want to refer you to another blog. It reminds me of Miracle on 34th Street when Kris Kringle refers the Macy's customers to shop at Gimbels for their shopping needs. I came across this blog one day while I was jumping into another conversation between two bible school friends of mine. They were talking about one's recent trip to Africa and then I found out one of them is adopting. The person they were sharing information about is Katie Davis and I immediately found a youtube interview of her. After inviting my husband to watch and later my son, I couldn't get enough information about this 22 year old who is affecting so many lives in Uganda. I know her faith, obedience and compassion will move you. She has a book called Kisses From Katie and her blog is kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com. I found her book in our local grocery store and read it in a couple of weeks. I cried, I rejoiced and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with it. She is very candid about her feelings of leaving her loved ones in the U.S. however, when she returned home for a short while she found her heart and life was in Uganda where she has now adopted 14 girls. Now do I have your attention? The way she writes about each of her girls and everyone she meets is inspiring and makes me want to know people more deeply.
We have finished a month long challenge at our church reading the last book I recommended by the president of World Vision. The Hole in Our Gospel. I have seen friends sponsor children, sign up for a mission trip, commit a day a week to serve in our community, volunteer for community outreaches, teens go dirty and hungry for a week to raise money for Haiti. All getting out of their comfort zone. Hopefully people will be moved to commit to adoption too. I'm amazed at what God is doing.
Matt 25:31-40
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’