The View From Here

Vanilla

As posted on FB :)

Want some Vanilla? REAL vanilla? I'm getting ready to make homemade vanilla - vanilla that does NOT contain sugar, HFCS or water. I was thinking, maybe other people want some of this? It will be ready just before Christmas and will be packaged in an 8oz. amber glass bottle. If you want some let me know! $5/8oz., I can ship too (pay only actual shipping). Leave a comment if you're interested! This would make a great Christmas gift!

C

The view from here: Fun at the Beach

The View From Here: Turning 3

The little man turns 3 today!!! Jaron brings so much joy and energy to our lives (he has energy and we are left with little :)!!! He truly is as his name means: Cry of Rejoicing and Strength of God. We are so blessed to parent this child!

The View From Here

Bees!!!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend bee escapades! We picked up 3 pounds of live bees on Friday and installed them in our hive that afternoon. It was a perfect day and all went as planned! As you can see in the bottom left picture I am standing there with our Beekeeping for Dummies book making sure we didn't forget anything. Bees really are fascinating creatures!!! I thought that I would be scared out of my wits with an open package of 10,000 bees but it was actually just really fun and I found myself more concerned for their welfare than fearing for my life :). It was definitely a bit of an adrenaline rush!

En Español

Me: Jaron, What do you want for breakfast?

Jaron: Cereal

Me: No

Jaron: Porque no?

Me: Excuse me?

Jaron: Porque no?

Me: . . .

I suppose I should have just given him a choice initially but since he wants yogurt and honey virtually every single morning I didn't expect him to ask for cereal. I also didn't expect him to question me properly in Spanish! In then end, we landed on pancakes :)

The View from Here . . .

Let's see . . . a little strider biking in the house, a few car pile-ups, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Green, a fun morning at the zoo with Mommy and Daddy, painting bee hives . . . you know, the usual!

"I know there is poor and hideous suffering, and I've seen the hungry and the guns that go to war. I have lived pain, and my life can tell: I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on humid nights and the rivers that run and the stars that rise and the rain that falls and all the good things that a good God gives. Why would the world need more anger, more outrage? How does it save the world to reject unabashed joy when it is joy that saves us? Rejecting joy to stand in solidarity with the suffering doesn't rescue the suffering. The converse does.”

- Ann Voskamp in One Thousand Gifts

emphasis added

Needy

"Who would make good helpers, do you think? Clever ones? Rich ones? Strong, important ones? Some people might think so, but I'm sure by now you don't need me to tell you they'd be wrong. Because the people God uses don't have to know a lot of things, or have a lot of things - they just have to need him a lot."
- The Jesus Storybook Bible - Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4-6

We thoroughly enjoy this book at our house. Parents and child alike :).

Fun Times

We've been enjoying the new dogger. Flo's a big lump of love with big jowls and paws and and unending need to have her ears scratched. We went to our friend's farm yesterday and let her run a muck in the pasture with their dog. Run a muck she did in the mud and the cow pies. There's really nothing like rolling around in fresh cow poop right? From that experience we learned that she loves water. When we hosed her off she hopped right into a trough full of water and laid right down! Fun times around here :)

A few truths

I read a blog post in my Google Reader a few weeks ago - the author was talking about how when keep our eyes focused on Jesus through the adoption process we see everything differently. I printed a list that she provided and have been reading through it from time to time. I have no idea what blog I found it on, or who the author of the post was (they were a guest writer) - so at the risk of plagiarism, I'll list a few of the truths:

• Focus on Jesus keeps us from setting our own expectations, romanticizing the journey. He keeps us balanced and grounded - able to live in both the present life at home and still mindful of the child that is not yet home. (II Corinthians 10:5)
• Focus on Jesus reminds us to pray for more than a quick process. Jesus wants us to pray for the heart of the orphan, for the hope of the nation of his/her birth, for the redemption of the governments involved, for the process of other people's journeys, for our children at home as they face the changes to come, for our spouse to stay focused on Jesus. He wants us to pray against the principalities at war against our children's homecoming, against sickness and starvation, against darkness. There is so much prayer to be done on this journey, but focusing on the orphan will not produce such prayer. Focus on the orphan narrows our vision and causes us to pray for what's on our left rather that what is coming our way on the right. (Romans 8:26-27)
• God's desire is to carry our burdens for us. We feel the weight of the journey because he created the desire in us to care for the orphan, so our hearts will certainly break along the way. But God does not intend for us to be crushed by it. He rather desires the weight to remind us constantly to look to him rather than the difficult circumstances at hand. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. (Matthew 11:30)
• God's business is to set the lonely in families, meaning HE does the work. HE alone is Redeemer. (Psalm 68:6)
• God is the Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5). His love for the orphans we pursue/care for is far greater than our own.

Probably my biggest struggle through this whole process is to continue to live in the present, to allow my mind and heart to be available in the here and now for my family. A hard thing to do when your heart longs for something more. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to go crazy just sitting on the floor playing trucks or demolition derby - because my heart constantly feels so torn. I'm learning to live in the present, to take on His yoke. I'm learning to trust His great love for my children - for He is their Father . . . my Father. And as I pray I am very aware that there is so much more going on than the adoption of two children.

Peace to all who struggle to walk down this road.

Introducing . . .

the newest loaf in our pack: *Flo*

We had to put our 10 year old Rosie-dog down last fall because she had advanced Osteosarcoma. We had a great run with her and we loved her very much!

This past weekend we picked up this not-so-little gal through Saint Rescue - an organization that takes abandoned or surrendered Saint Bernards and finds good homes for them. We're having fun getting to know her! She is super sweet and loves a good ear scratch. She has a giant noggin. She's doing pretty well learning the rules of the house but still attempts to get up on the couch. I think we'll all be good buddies :)

These are pictures of her at her foster home:

The View From Here

Starting off the New Year . . . without a lot of clothes on :)

The View From Here: December Edition

A little bit of December fun

what DO you do on Christmas morning when all the gifts are for Him?

Good question. Here's a few suggestions from Ann Voskamp who writes over at A Holy Experience.

Ten Things to Do on Christmas Morning: When all the Gifts are for Him

The video at the bottom of the post is worth your time for sure.