This week’s verse: Phil 4:6-7 – “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
I keep this verse on my refrigerator to remind me not to worry but instead pray about my concerns and anxieties especially as we continue along our journey with adoption. It is definitely not a process or journey that you can control as there are so many unknowns. For someone like me (a “worry wart”), I have come to realize that there is no way I can control everything, but instead I have to just pray and have faith it will all turn out as designed.
I would like to ask you all for thoughts and prayers for a baby to be born in February 2009. Please pray for the health and protection of this little one. As I have mentioned before, we are notified of situations from time to time and always feel that each one needs thoughts and prayers even if they are not supposed to be our child. This past week has been encouraging for us and we hope to be able to share positive news with everyone soon. Please just keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we make decisions and interact with the people involved in our life story.
On another note, tomorrow is another long run and we need your positive thoughts as it is supposed to be cold and rainy. Yuck! I am already letting the running “gremlins” (as referred to by one of our coaches – code name for negative thoughts) enter my head. I am trying to stay positive and look forward to the run, but the only thing that seems to be helping is the burger and fries I plan to eat afterwards. (Five Guys – Here we come!! I love that place - you have to try one if you haven't yet! The burgers are out of this world. Can you believe I used to be a pseudo-vegetarian? Black beans are no longer a staple in my cupboard.)
We hope everyone has a great weekend!! Recipes to come – I promise!
As always, thank you for your endless support!!
Love,
Christy and Malcolm
lovingparents@live.com
Friday, October 24, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
October 17th - Happy Birthday to My Dad and Brothers!
1 Cor 2:9: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."
This verse has been my refuge this week. When I start to doubt or get tired of the daily disappointments and/or struggles, I focus on this verse. ("Try: is the key word here. I am definitely a work in-progress. :) ).
This week is a special week because it is my Dad's and two of my younger brothers' birthdays. (Happy Birthday Guys!!). I so wish we were closer and could celebrate all together. Growing up and still to this day if you are home for your birthday, my Mom would make it a special day. When you woke up, you got your favorite breakfast (well, maybe favorite cereal. :) We loved cereal at my house. When I go home even today, there are still about 10 to 20 boxes in the cupboard at any given time. It is just my Mom and Dad at home too. :) ). Anyway, the night of your birthday, my Mom would make your favorite dinner (your pick) and she would always serve it on the "You Are Special Today" plate. I loved that plate. We also got the plate when we made the honor roll. Then, we would have cake and ice-cream (or whatever dessert you chose - I always chose my Mom's famous brownie torte - yum!!) and open up gifts with the family. My Mom always made the day special. Malcolm bought me a "You Are Special Today" plate for my birthday one year. We can't wait to carry on the tradition with our child(ren) some day. Thanks Mom for this tradition and always making our birthdays so special!
Here is a picture of the famed plate! You can order it online. The funny thing is that every year for my birthday dinner I would pick take-out pizza. I love pizza and still do to this day. It was always humorous to see the pizza boxes and special plate with the take-out pizza on it . I think my Mom loved my birthday dinners! The clean up was the best!
We hope everyone is having a great week and enjoying the Fall so far. We are hoping to go apple picking this weekend. I have been wanting to do that for some time. It is events like picking apples that I cannot wait to share with a child some day. I can just imagine the look on their faces and excitement they would get from such outings.
Thank you all for your love and support!
Love, Christy and Malcolm
lovingparents@live.com
This verse has been my refuge this week. When I start to doubt or get tired of the daily disappointments and/or struggles, I focus on this verse. ("Try: is the key word here. I am definitely a work in-progress. :) ).
This week is a special week because it is my Dad's and two of my younger brothers' birthdays. (Happy Birthday Guys!!). I so wish we were closer and could celebrate all together. Growing up and still to this day if you are home for your birthday, my Mom would make it a special day. When you woke up, you got your favorite breakfast (well, maybe favorite cereal. :) We loved cereal at my house. When I go home even today, there are still about 10 to 20 boxes in the cupboard at any given time. It is just my Mom and Dad at home too. :) ). Anyway, the night of your birthday, my Mom would make your favorite dinner (your pick) and she would always serve it on the "You Are Special Today" plate. I loved that plate. We also got the plate when we made the honor roll. Then, we would have cake and ice-cream (or whatever dessert you chose - I always chose my Mom's famous brownie torte - yum!!) and open up gifts with the family. My Mom always made the day special. Malcolm bought me a "You Are Special Today" plate for my birthday one year. We can't wait to carry on the tradition with our child(ren) some day. Thanks Mom for this tradition and always making our birthdays so special!
Here is a picture of the famed plate! You can order it online. The funny thing is that every year for my birthday dinner I would pick take-out pizza. I love pizza and still do to this day. It was always humorous to see the pizza boxes and special plate with the take-out pizza on it . I think my Mom loved my birthday dinners! The clean up was the best!
We hope everyone is having a great week and enjoying the Fall so far. We are hoping to go apple picking this weekend. I have been wanting to do that for some time. It is events like picking apples that I cannot wait to share with a child some day. I can just imagine the look on their faces and excitement they would get from such outings.
Thank you all for your love and support!
Love, Christy and Malcolm
lovingparents@live.com
Monday, October 13, 2008
October 13th - THE JOURNEY
Quote for the week: “It is good to have an end to the journey, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” - Ursula K. L Guin.
I came across the above quote in some reading over the weekend and will make it my mantra for the week. We have to remind ourselves when we can not see how things will all work out that while the end result will be wonderful and spectacular, but what matters just as much is the journey that got us there. The journey is where we truly grow as people - develop character as you say. I remember always here that this trial or difficulty will you build character, but never fully understood the magnitude of this phrase until experiencing a long journey without knowing when the end will come. It is so easy for me to get wrapped up in wanting to know the end date and how it will turn out, but I am trying hard to just focus on the journey - experiences and people we meet along the way. We have very dear friends in Pennsylvania that used to lived a couple houses down from us and coincidentally (or not) was the Senior Pastor at the church we were attending at that time. (Quick story: A few years, we were going to the first neighborhood social (first for us and the newly developed neighborhood) in Pennsylvania and our neighbor (Senior Pastor) said to his wife prior to walking over to the gathering that he was going to really “downplay” or not mention that he was Pastor and just get to know his neighbors as a fellow neighbor rather than getting dubbed as the “Pastor” right off. No sooner had we a group of us started off across the street introducing ourselves did Malcolm turn to our friend and say “Your voice sounds so familiar”. Now, this church was very large so, it was not strange that we did not recognize him right off. Our friend just replied “really” or something of this nature. Malcolm persisted, “I know that voice”. Well, within in seconds, Malcolm had blown his “cover”. We still laugh about that to this day.). Back to my point, our good friend always said to us that we need to make sure that we do not miss the life lessons along the way - our journey. I try to really focus on this piece of advice when I get frustrated with what might seem like slow progress. (Speaking of slow progress, we had another long run in preparation for the Richmond Marathon in November this past weekend. All I can say is that slow progress up the long hills was the name of the game. At times, I felt like I was running place and wondering if I can even moved an inch. Luckily, I have an awesome coach at the top of the hill cheering me on and telling me not to let the people coming up behind me to beat me up the hill. - Thanks Nutty L!).
I wanted to update everyone on the little girl that I asked for prayers for during my last blog posting. The agency sent out an update last Friday and said that someone from the birthmother’s family decided to keep her. This change in events is a blessing and all in God’s plan. The medical outcome at this point is inconclusive. The potential damage to her brain will not be fully known until years from now most likely. I still continue to pray for complete healing for this precious girl.
In closing for now, we want to be able to pray and keep each of you - our friends and family- in our thoughts throughout our journey and beyond. Therefore, we would love for you to email us with any prayer requests you may have. We would be honored to put you on our prayer list. We feel so blessed to have each of you involved and supporting us in our journey and want to be able to be involved in your journeys, as well. Eventually, I will learn how you can post confidential comments on the blog, but for now, please email us at lovingparents@live.com with your requests.
We hope everyone has a wonderful week! Thank your for your continued support and friendship!
Love,
Christy and Malcolm
I came across the above quote in some reading over the weekend and will make it my mantra for the week. We have to remind ourselves when we can not see how things will all work out that while the end result will be wonderful and spectacular, but what matters just as much is the journey that got us there. The journey is where we truly grow as people - develop character as you say. I remember always here that this trial or difficulty will you build character, but never fully understood the magnitude of this phrase until experiencing a long journey without knowing when the end will come. It is so easy for me to get wrapped up in wanting to know the end date and how it will turn out, but I am trying hard to just focus on the journey - experiences and people we meet along the way. We have very dear friends in Pennsylvania that used to lived a couple houses down from us and coincidentally (or not) was the Senior Pastor at the church we were attending at that time. (Quick story: A few years, we were going to the first neighborhood social (first for us and the newly developed neighborhood) in Pennsylvania and our neighbor (Senior Pastor) said to his wife prior to walking over to the gathering that he was going to really “downplay” or not mention that he was Pastor and just get to know his neighbors as a fellow neighbor rather than getting dubbed as the “Pastor” right off. No sooner had we a group of us started off across the street introducing ourselves did Malcolm turn to our friend and say “Your voice sounds so familiar”. Now, this church was very large so, it was not strange that we did not recognize him right off. Our friend just replied “really” or something of this nature. Malcolm persisted, “I know that voice”. Well, within in seconds, Malcolm had blown his “cover”. We still laugh about that to this day.). Back to my point, our good friend always said to us that we need to make sure that we do not miss the life lessons along the way - our journey. I try to really focus on this piece of advice when I get frustrated with what might seem like slow progress. (Speaking of slow progress, we had another long run in preparation for the Richmond Marathon in November this past weekend. All I can say is that slow progress up the long hills was the name of the game. At times, I felt like I was running place and wondering if I can even moved an inch. Luckily, I have an awesome coach at the top of the hill cheering me on and telling me not to let the people coming up behind me to beat me up the hill. - Thanks Nutty L!).
I wanted to update everyone on the little girl that I asked for prayers for during my last blog posting. The agency sent out an update last Friday and said that someone from the birthmother’s family decided to keep her. This change in events is a blessing and all in God’s plan. The medical outcome at this point is inconclusive. The potential damage to her brain will not be fully known until years from now most likely. I still continue to pray for complete healing for this precious girl.
In closing for now, we want to be able to pray and keep each of you - our friends and family- in our thoughts throughout our journey and beyond. Therefore, we would love for you to email us with any prayer requests you may have. We would be honored to put you on our prayer list. We feel so blessed to have each of you involved and supporting us in our journey and want to be able to be involved in your journeys, as well. Eventually, I will learn how you can post confidential comments on the blog, but for now, please email us at lovingparents@live.com with your requests.
We hope everyone has a wonderful week! Thank your for your continued support and friendship!
Love,
Christy and Malcolm
Sunday, October 5, 2008
October 5th - Prayer Request
I hope this post finds everyone well. To start, I am so thankful for a beautiful weekend! We encountered a new experience this weekend. Where have I been? Did you know that there are urgent cares or more appropriately called “Redi Clinics” inside of Wal-Marts? Am I the only person that did not know of this creative invention? Malcolm had heard of them and recommended that I go to one to get some antibiotics for a sinus infection I have been battling for weeks now. Anyway, this clinic visit was an experience in itself. I have to say that the nurse practitioner on duty was a saint. Amidst a full waiting area of disgruntled sick patients, she remained calm and collected the whole time I was there. However, she did state that she had only started her shift 30 minutes earlier. I wonder if her calm and collected state lasted for the entire shift. If so, she should receive a medal or something. Anyway, I thought I would share with you all a new experience for me. Hopefully, I will be back to my old self in a few days.
On to the topic of this posting, I wanted to write to ask for prayers for a little baby girl born 3 weeks ago. We got a call from an agency we are working with about a precious girl who was born weighing only 2 pounds. The birth mother drank throughout her pregnancy. I am assuming quite heavily, but do not know for a fact. The baby now weighs 3 pounds, but a scan has revealed some lobe impairment. She did not have a lot of details at time we spoke. The baby was undergoing further tests this week. The adoptive parents that were lined up to adopt/parent this little girl backed out when the scan revealed some potential abnormalities. Now, in writing this post, I am not saying that we are going to adopt this little girl. We told the agency we would be willing to get more information as well as other potential couples. I just feel like no matter who adopts her or what lies ahead for her, she needs prayer right now that her biological mother’s choices do not affect the rest of her life. I just pray that God will protect her and heal her if there are in fact some abnormalities. Aside from the results from the scan, she appears to be progressing normally or as normal as you can at a birth weight of 2 pounds. It just breaks our heart that a mother could make such choices even if she does not plan on keeping the child. However, we realize that a lot of birth mothers who choose an adoption plan for their child are in a state of crisis. Thus, many times they are not making the best choices for their well-being let alone their unborn child. With that said, we wanted to reach out to each of you to keep this little one in your prayers and ask for protection and healing.
We thank you all for your continued support!
Love,
Christy and Malcolm
lovingparents@live.com
On to the topic of this posting, I wanted to write to ask for prayers for a little baby girl born 3 weeks ago. We got a call from an agency we are working with about a precious girl who was born weighing only 2 pounds. The birth mother drank throughout her pregnancy. I am assuming quite heavily, but do not know for a fact. The baby now weighs 3 pounds, but a scan has revealed some lobe impairment. She did not have a lot of details at time we spoke. The baby was undergoing further tests this week. The adoptive parents that were lined up to adopt/parent this little girl backed out when the scan revealed some potential abnormalities. Now, in writing this post, I am not saying that we are going to adopt this little girl. We told the agency we would be willing to get more information as well as other potential couples. I just feel like no matter who adopts her or what lies ahead for her, she needs prayer right now that her biological mother’s choices do not affect the rest of her life. I just pray that God will protect her and heal her if there are in fact some abnormalities. Aside from the results from the scan, she appears to be progressing normally or as normal as you can at a birth weight of 2 pounds. It just breaks our heart that a mother could make such choices even if she does not plan on keeping the child. However, we realize that a lot of birth mothers who choose an adoption plan for their child are in a state of crisis. Thus, many times they are not making the best choices for their well-being let alone their unborn child. With that said, we wanted to reach out to each of you to keep this little one in your prayers and ask for protection and healing.
We thank you all for your continued support!
Love,
Christy and Malcolm
lovingparents@live.com
Friday, October 3, 2008
October 3rd - Nothing is Impossible!
Luke 1:37: “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.”
This week has been somewhat discouraging on the adoption front. It is not that any one particular event happened to result in my feelings of discouragement, but probably lack of progress or what seems like progress. Therefore, I (we) are focusing on the fact that NOTHING is impossible with God. Also, at times like today, when the well seems dry, I always reflect on what my good friend who is an awesome spin instructor always tells me – “move a muscle, change of thought” (or some variation of this saying). I think she just says this phrase to me so, I will sign up for her grueling spin classes. I digress for a minute here – I do have to admit that I think spinning for an hour is harder than running 16 miles. Malcolm has taken a few of her classes and he even admits that they are hard however, I do not know if he would admit that to her (his secret is out now.J).
One of the agencies we are working with sent a communication piece out this week stating that it has been slow …….. there are not many birthmothers/parents seeking an adoption plan at this time. I know this has been a trend for some time given the availability of alternatives to birthmothers/parents such as abortions and the morning after pill. It just breaks my heart that women (and men) that make this choice probably do not know just how many couples are out there that would do anything to adopt their unborn child. I am well aware of the various circumstances that could lead to such choices and not judging anyone for making that choice. However, my prayer and plea is that women (and men) that are considering this choice would have the opportunity to learn of the many couples and families wanting to adopt a child(ren). I feel like the politicians and lobbyists do not vocalize this downside of abortion. Adoption is another way to show the abounding grace of our Father. He blesses one mother/couple by providing an avenue to bless another couple who can’t have biological children or simply want to adopt a child. From the start, it might not seem like a blessing for the birth mothers/parents that are in a crisis situation and have to make the difficult choice to choose adoption for their child, but in the end his grace prevails and the peace and healing resulting from adoption certainly trumps the other alternative. I certainly hope this does not come across as judgmental, but I just want to get the word out that there are many waiting adoptive families!!
On another note, it is a beautiful day in Virginia and weekend to come is supposed to be just as spectacular! I absolutely love the Fall in Virginia with the changing leaves! I will have to take some pictures and share them with you all. Also, I am going to add a section for recipes – one of my stress relievers – baking! I love the fall recipes – banana and pumpkin breads, apple pies, etc. ….. I have to be careful though, because we both have a raging sweet tooth and they can get out of control. J
Thank you all for your continued support along our journey!
With much love,
Christy (and Malcolm)
lovingparents@live.com
This week has been somewhat discouraging on the adoption front. It is not that any one particular event happened to result in my feelings of discouragement, but probably lack of progress or what seems like progress. Therefore, I (we) are focusing on the fact that NOTHING is impossible with God. Also, at times like today, when the well seems dry, I always reflect on what my good friend who is an awesome spin instructor always tells me – “move a muscle, change of thought” (or some variation of this saying). I think she just says this phrase to me so, I will sign up for her grueling spin classes. I digress for a minute here – I do have to admit that I think spinning for an hour is harder than running 16 miles. Malcolm has taken a few of her classes and he even admits that they are hard however, I do not know if he would admit that to her (his secret is out now.J).
One of the agencies we are working with sent a communication piece out this week stating that it has been slow …….. there are not many birthmothers/parents seeking an adoption plan at this time. I know this has been a trend for some time given the availability of alternatives to birthmothers/parents such as abortions and the morning after pill. It just breaks my heart that women (and men) that make this choice probably do not know just how many couples are out there that would do anything to adopt their unborn child. I am well aware of the various circumstances that could lead to such choices and not judging anyone for making that choice. However, my prayer and plea is that women (and men) that are considering this choice would have the opportunity to learn of the many couples and families wanting to adopt a child(ren). I feel like the politicians and lobbyists do not vocalize this downside of abortion. Adoption is another way to show the abounding grace of our Father. He blesses one mother/couple by providing an avenue to bless another couple who can’t have biological children or simply want to adopt a child. From the start, it might not seem like a blessing for the birth mothers/parents that are in a crisis situation and have to make the difficult choice to choose adoption for their child, but in the end his grace prevails and the peace and healing resulting from adoption certainly trumps the other alternative. I certainly hope this does not come across as judgmental, but I just want to get the word out that there are many waiting adoptive families!!
On another note, it is a beautiful day in Virginia and weekend to come is supposed to be just as spectacular! I absolutely love the Fall in Virginia with the changing leaves! I will have to take some pictures and share them with you all. Also, I am going to add a section for recipes – one of my stress relievers – baking! I love the fall recipes – banana and pumpkin breads, apple pies, etc. ….. I have to be careful though, because we both have a raging sweet tooth and they can get out of control. J
Thank you all for your continued support along our journey!
With much love,
Christy (and Malcolm)
lovingparents@live.com
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