A Mother's Heart

By contributing writer Dee Burdick

November is National Adoption Awareness month. Our family was greatly blessed by adoption. We have five (2 sibling groups) beautiful, healthy, loving children that came to us through adoption. While life is never dull, we are completely blown away by God's work in our lives and the lives of our children.

In 1992, my husband and I first felt a desire to be foster parents. We took a leap of faith. I quit my job and we waited for a call. It came, and with it, a brother and sister ages 2 and 3. They were precious, but a handful. After raising two daughters, then teenagers, I wondered what I was getting into. Amanda & Nathan had been in several foster homes and had health and emotional issues.

We grew to love them so much that we couldn't imagine them leaving our home. In 1995 we adopted them. It is not always easy, but we know we are doing exactly what God called us to do.

When Amanda and Nathan were 13 and 14, we felt the call again. We went through the state, but we all felt we would not foster this time, just adopt. There is a long and wonderful story that followed, but I'll just say that God has a sense of humor. Exactly nine months after starting the adoption process, our precious David, Derek and Jasmyn came home. Our family and friends thought we were out of our minds, and so did we. Our family proves that God is bigger than we can hope or imagine.

Many people tell me they could never adopt or have seven children. It was never in my plan either, but it was in God's. I'm so glad I listened when he called. My five younger kids did not grow in my womb, but they grew in my heart. I am so blessed!

Could God be calling you to adopt? Someone you know?

There are over 3,000 children just in the state of Texas waiting for their forever family.
http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Adoption_and_Foster_Care/Child_Search/default.asp

Our kids where adopted here in the US, but there are over 60 million orphans in the world.
http://www.precious.org/results.php?from=waiting
http://www.howtoadopt.org/

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11


International adoptions can be expensive and so if you are not being called to adopt, could you help someone else on their journey?
http://members.shaohannahshope.org/site/PageServer

Could you help children who are living in orphanages, that may never be adopted? http://www.precious.org/help.php
http://heartlineministries.org/heartlinestore.aspx

I would love to talk to anyone who has questions or wants more info. Contact me at ddto4@yahoo.com.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

Blessings,
Dee Burdick

Remembering Seth

We were so blessed to be a part of a beautiful life. Marci wrote a tribute to the Sturman's on her blog. It is uplifting and insightful. Click here to read it.

The Bra

The Cross Timbers scrapbooking group joined together for a good cause. The local scrapbooking store hosted a bra decorating contest to raise money for Breast Cancer Research. The scrapbookers pooled their creativity to make this AWESOME brassiere:

Along with raising "support", the bra was a tribute to many women and one man (they can get it too) who had breast cancer. Here are the names of the loved ones included on the bra:

Alma Latiolais Robin
Sondra Stone
Michael Barnes
Rhonda Harrison
Janice Moseley
Sharon Spohn
Donna Adler
Mildred Zunker
Jackie Fisher
Aunt Dean
Karen Brown
Vicky Leighton
Effie Jennings
Cheryl Mayes
Cherie
Aunt Bitsy
Mary Ramsey
Joan Seymour
Becky Barnett

Reading the names gives me a lump in my throat.

Tracy Machado, scrapbooking group coordinator wrote:

There are 19 total names on our hot pink bra... the sad thing here is that every single one of us knows at least one person who has suffered this disease. On a brighter note, 84% of our loved ones were able to overcome & survive. Those other 16% live on in our hearts & prayers.

The mini-bra that you see in the photo reads:

"This bra was decorated with much prayer & thanksgiving by the members of the scrapbooking group at Cross Timbers Church - Argyle: Tracy Machado, Barbara Johnson, Denise Burns, Sarah McMinn, Ambera Keton, Heidi Garrett and Coeli Wagner. "

Blessings everyone! What fun this project was! Tell your friends to say a little prayer for all of our loved ones....especially those still in the midst of battle.

Tracy Machado

If you are interested in joining the scrapbookers please see the icon on the right for meeting details.

Ripple Effects

Today I made our second grocery store trip of the pay period. Its the trip I detest because we are already out of everything, but can only buy the essentials without busting up our budget. I felt Dave Ramsey perched on my shoulder like Blackbeard's parrot eyeing my every selection. "Cubed cheese?," he chided. "CUBED CHEESE? Buy the 8 oz chunk and hack it up yourself, you lazy over-spender!" He carried on like this the whole time... it was terribly exhausting.

At the register I loaded up our stuff on the conveyor belt, keeping an item or two aside for emergency re-shelving in case I underestimated the total. A friend of mine got in line behind me and we chatted for a minute while we waited, though I was distracted by the increasing total on the register. When the checker finished I went for the scanner with my trusty debit card. Suddenly, I heard a "Wait, Don't run that!" from my friend. I looked up thinking I was mistakenly overcharged or something, but instead she gave the checker her card.

Girls, she bought my groceries. All of them.

"You don't have to do that!" I said, but I could see by her smile that it was a pleasure. I couldn't help it. I started crying right there in line at Super Target. THEN, the cashier started crying. I mean really, who goes to Super Target to be nice? I thanked my friend profusely and got all of our stuff in the car.

I was so stinkin' blessed, I had to call a few friends and tell them. Since I am usually complaining after I go to Super Target, it was a refreshing break for them. I dialed and talked all the way home. Here is the cool part: Everyone I told was inspired to do the same thing for someone else. I am getting chills just writing about it.

So, today, because of the overflow of love in one woman's heart, the ripple effects of blessing are as follows*:
Me
My boys
Cashier
Greg
My mom
My Sister
4 different friends (so far)
Unknown number of people who will soon be similarly blessed by those named above

And of course... you.

That is a huge return for a simple act of generosity. So, what could you do with $93.86?

*I had to add a few new people to the list since the original posting on Tales From the Running Mama. I can't keep it in. Whoop whoop!

Focus

Do you ever feel like your life is unraveling around you and there is no where to go for a bit of sanity? Sometimes I wake up grouchy, kids already whining, dog barking to go out, t.v. blaring Sportscenter or Thomas and Friends or some other irritatingly noisy show that is completely irrelevant to me and I just want to run out of my house and SCREAM.

Maybe I just want to open my eyes slowly and yawn and stretch and listen to the birds chatter away in the glow of morning promise and not be thinking about the white poo they are leaving behind on my patio for the kids to smear around with their shoes.

I think my eyes are squinty and fuzzy and practically blinded by chaos accumulation.

Today I ran across a video on Sheri's blog (click on those pink words to see it) that tweaked my vision into crystal clarity. Maybe it will do the same for you. En-Joy.

Oh, and you might want to grab a tissue, it's a little on the snotty side of "joyful tears".