Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas...we sure did. For the first time in our marriage (and my life), we stayed at our home for Christmas day this year. While I definitely missed being with our extended family, I must say this was a great thing for our little family. Our plan is to start a rotation...every other year, switching Thanksgiving and Christmas day. We will head to my parent's home tomorrow to celebrate Eden's 5th birthday, and then to Huntsville to see my brother, sister-in-law and niece and nephew.

It was wonderful to have a lazy, slow day with just us. Nowhere to be at any certain time...and plenty of time for Eden to play with her gifts. We stayed in our PJ's most of the day, ate 3 hot meals around the table together, had homemade hot cocoa, and relaxed by a roaring fire and watched movies...including the Nativity Story. My favorite part is when the wise men bring their gifts at the end..."Gold, for the King of kings...frankincense, for the Priest of priests...myrrh, to honor your sacrifice." I love that movie.

Eden and I decided to whip up a from-scratch birthday cake to celebrate the reason for the day. It was seriously the best cake and icing I have tasted in a LONG time. We lit our Christ candle in our advent wreath and then sang Happy Birthday and had cake...it was a sweet way to end the day (no pun intended).

Okay, so the quote of Christmas came from Eden on Christmas Eve. The 3 of us were snuggled up reading the Christmas story and then we had this deep conversation and prayer time about how it's ok to enjoy gifts, but we can't let that become the most important thing. So a few minutes later Eden asks, "Why is there a light still on in the living room?" Gene responds, "Well, we might should leave a light on so Santa can see." Eden then says, "Daddy, I'm not thinking about Santa, I'm thinking about Jesus." We laughed for 5 minutes. Nothing like your 4-year-old reminding you of what you just taught her!

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas season. We celebrated Eden's birthday with her friends last weekend and Santa came...there are a few pictures of that, too. I cannot believe she will be 5 tomorrow!

Also, I wanted to thank all of you who supported our adoption fundraiser by purchasing ornaments. Your love and generosity overwhelmed us. Thank you so very much! We love you!

One of our Christmas card photo shoot pictures...love these 2 girls!

Eden with Santa at her party. We don't do big gifts from Santa so when he asked her what she wanted she said, a Wii game and remote control car. What? First we'd heard of that. She didn't get either...and didn't seem to mind :0)

He read "The Night Before Christmas" to them...and shared what the most important part of Christmas is...Jesus.

Group shot.

Eden with her GIANT dollhouse that daddy got the deal of the century on (thanks e-bay!)

Gene with his new Blue Ray player...that mommy got a great black Friday deal on (thanks Target!)

Couldn't leave Maggie out...unfortunately the bone wasn't on sale.

Lighting the last advent candle of this season.

Birthday cake for Jesus.

Okay...yum...just yum!

Happy, happy day with my favorite people!

Merry Christmas Eve

Hello friends...I have posted a video below that I hope you will take the time to watch if you haven't seen it. I saw it on another blog and wanted to post it here, too. I too suffer from depraved indifference...and I pray the Lord will continue to change my heart and break my heart for what breaks His. I love you all. Don't forget to scroll down and pause my music player before you watch.

Eric Ludy - Depraved Indifference

Orphans

I have had this post swimming in my head for a couple of days now and just now have time to sit and write. This past week, Eden and I were watching a cartoon together. I don't remember which show it was, but they were talking about an orphan and explaining what an orphan is..."an orphan is a child with no mommy or daddy" they said.

Eden perked up and turned around and looked at me with wide eyes. Then she said something that literally knocked the breath out of me. "I used to be an orphan!"

I felt nauseated as I processed what she had just said. She used to be an orphan. Obviously, this is not news to me. In fact, I am asked at least weekly about her adoption. Maybe it's the lady in Wal-Mart, or a waitress...people are always curious. In fact just today the cashier in Michael's said, "Is she yours or did you adopt her?" "Both," I answered with a grin (it went over her head). "Was she born with one of those clefts?" she continued. "Yes maam, isn't she beautiful?" I patiently answered. "Is she self-conscious about it?" (Eden is following this conversation). "Not yet," I replied. These conversations are common for all of us moms who have adopted transracially.

So why was I so moved by Eden's statement? I think it's because she said it. I don't think I've heard those words out of her sweet lips before..."I used to be an orphan." It was such a heart-check for me. It's so easy to disconnect the word "orphan" from all that it means. It means a precious child just like my Eden, that could have been my Eden, has no family. No mommy to scoop them up and comfort them, rock them to sleep, sing to them, pray for them, reassure them, encourage them, correct them, kiss boo boos, tickle, tuck in bed, bathe, comb their hair, push on the swing, read a book to, work a puzzle, fight for them, tell them about Jesus. They have no family. They are orphans...and my child used to be.

This is why our family is so committed to adoption and orphan care. We know we cannot eradicate the orphan problem in the world...that is not our job. But we can love. We can sacrifice to adopt as many as the Lord wills. We can open our hearts and home. We can help others to adopt. We can budget, sacrifice, and fund raise, trusting that God will provide for that which He has called us to do.

Eden reminded me of that...she reminded me that she used to be an orphan.

Christmas Ornament Site Is Up and Running!

Our Christmas ornaments site to raise money for adoption is up and running!  Click below to visit online and purchase a handmade ornament (or two)...

A New Path

Hello everyone. I've had some adoption news to share for a few weeks but was waiting until I was sure before I posted it. As many of you know, we set out about this time last year to begin raising money and pursuing an adoption from Uganda. Throughout the year, God seems to have stopped us at every turn. Without going into too much detail, a few months ago, Gene and I began to sense that the time was right to continue our home study process. As we began to pray and seek the Lord about His plan and timing, a strange thing happened. Both of us, separately, were feeling pulled to China rather than Uganda.

At first I dismissed these feelings because my heart was set on Africa. But as I continued to pray, my desire for China grew and grew. One day I mentioned it to Gene casually and his response was instant and sure...he, too, had China on his mind and heart. We agreed to wait and pray and make sure this was indeed God's voice.

Long story short, through the past couple of months we have prayed and talked and discussed with Eden as well...and we have officially decided to switch our application with our agency to pursue another special needs adoption from China. Our hearts are full with the hope and joy of returning to China, with Eden this time, to bring another precious child into our family. Our hope and prayer is that if God sees fit, we will go to Uganda one day to adopt...in God's way and in His timing. We still have such a heart for that country.

So, in light of this great news, I have the ornament preview I promised in my last post. Gene should have the website up and running for orders by Thanksgiving...but, I thought I would at least post pictures of what I've been busy making to raise funds. All of these pictured are made from light bulbs. We will have a few that were left over from last year that aren't pictured. Here you go!

Snowman

Rudolph

Jolly Old Saint Nick

Penguin (his little orange feet are SO cute!)

Doggie

Each ornament is $10 plus shipping. They make great teacher gifts, too. Please keep us in mind this year for those small gifts you need to buy. Each ornament will come with an insert with our family's story so those you give to will know that their gift will give hope to a child across the globe who has never known Christmas with a family. I hope you all have a GREAT Thanksgiving week!

Trick or Treat

Hello everyone...I promised I would do a better job of keeping the blog updated. So, I thought I would take a few minutes to post some pictures of our Halloween. We are careful in how we celebrate this "holiday." For us, it's really more of a fall celebration...with candy. We don't do any scary decorations or costumes. We do, however, enjoy dressing up and trick or treating.

This year was by far our favorite so far. Have I mentioned lately how much we love our neighborhood and neighbors. There are kids right on our street for Eden to play with...and, the kids here actually play outside! I love sitting talking with the moms as our kids play. It's so nice. This year we went to a fall festival at a local church on Oct. 30th with one of Eden's favorite friends, Abigail, from ballet. Then, on Halloween night, we loaded up in the back of our neighbor's truck and rode around the neighborhood trick-or-treating. Eden had a blast...and so did mommy. Daddy stayed home and handed out candy.

Here are some pictures:

Eden's costume. We gave her the Native American name "Little Happy Nut"...happy nut is how she was described in our referral paperwork by her Chinese caregivers :0)

Eden and Abigail at the Fall Festival.

And again...

Pure joy in the "jumpy fing"

All loaded up and ready to go. Notice Julia, the little girl in pink, dressed up as an Asian Princess, which thrilled Eden..."Mommy, Julia is Asian like me!" So sweet...

And off they go...

Have a great week everyone. Check back soon...sample ornaments are ready for our fundraiser. Gene doesn't have the website quite ready to process orders, but I am going to give you a sneak peak of what we have this year in the next day or so.

Traditions

Happy Thursday to everyone. Hope it's been a great week for you all. I am still trying to get adjusted to a much earlier and busier day now that I am caring for twin 1-year-olds Monday-Friday. They are sweet little girls and I enjoy the "noise" of their coos and babble filling our home. Eden loves to make them laugh and it's sweet to watch her with them. I can tell she will be a great big sister one day. Eden and I are also enjoying our school time each morning during the twins nap time.

I have to share an Eden funny. Yesterday we were getting ready to leave to go to my morning Bible study I lead and I went to her room to tell her it was time to go. She said, "But mommy, I have to make a phone call." I told her to do it quickly and come on. So I'm loading babies and diaper bags in the car and I hear her chatting on her "cell phone" to her make-believe friend. It's the normal, "Oh hey, how are you? Really? Me, too!" Then I hear her say, "Oh, I had to walk in another room because I didn't have signal in there." I CRACKED UP! She hears me say that all the time because our signal is weak in our house. Don't you love it when your kids make you belly laugh out of the blue? It's one of my favorite parts of being a mom.

On another note, our family gets so busy sometimes we forget to spend time making memories and traditions together. Or, when we do, we don't even think about getting pictures to document. When my friend died unexpectedly last week, it caused me to really think about how I spend my time and where I put my energy. I have been making sure to tell my husband I love him before we go to sleep each night and taking the time to stop and listen to Eden even when I'm busy. Anyway, last night we decided to make fall cookies and decorate them. I grew up decorating homemade sugar cookies for Christmas each year and it's a tradition I want to continue in our home. My homemade sugar cookie dough, however, is always so sticky it takes all the joy out of the experience because it's so irritating trying to cut the cookies out. SO, I used the Betty Crocker bagged mix, rolled it out, and cut them out...it was a lot easier and the cookies are good...not as good as my mom's...but they will do.

Eden wanted to use icing so I went to Publix and asked them if I could buy some of the bakery's butter cream icing. They sold me a container of it for $2.85 and I used icing dye I had to make 5-6 different colors. Daddy joined in for the decorating and we had a great time. We missed bedtime and loaded up on sugar right before bed...but we made a great memory...and I have pictures to prove it. Enjoy!

Eden hard at work

Of course we must lick our fingers during the process...100 times!

Eden's pumpkin

Finished product

Enjoying the "fruits" of our labor

One happy girl

Please Pray

Hello to you all. I just wanted to hop on really quickly to ask you to please pray for my friend, Kim Smith, and her 6-year-old daughter, Hannah. Kim's husband Michael passed away unexpectedly in his sleep early Friday morning. My heart is so heavy for her and the days ahead.

Michael was my boss when I worked at Hunter Street Baptist Church in the student ministry from 2001-2004. He was one of the funniest people I have ever known. He loved students and invested his life to further the Gospel in the next generation. He worked as a youth minister from the time he was 18 until his death at age 40. I know He is with the Lord and there is hope in that for Kim and Hannah...but my heart just hurts to the core for their loss.

This weekend I was able to take a trip with the ladies I lead in Bible study at our church to Chattanooga, TN to the Precept Ministries Women's Conference. The theme for the weekend was, "Having Hope in a World With No Hope." Continually throughout the weekend as I silently lifted up prayers for Kim, I was reminded by God's Word that He is our hope...He is Kim's hope and Hannah's hope...and Michael's faith has become sight because his hope was in Christ. I prayed throughout the weekend that the Lord would remind his family of these truths in the coming days, weeks and months.

Please join so many of us who are praying for Kim and Hannah as they face what I'm sure is the darkest days they've ever known. So many of you who read have faced devastating losses so I know you will pray...and know how to pray for them.

Life is fleeting, and short, and unpredictable. I cannot end this post without asking you if you are at peace with your Creator? The Bible says in John 14:6 that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; and no one comes to God except through Him. Please know that this is what God says, not me. All men have rebelled against God and so our relationship with God is broken. But God the Father has not left us as orphans. Because God is holy (set apart and different) sin had to be judged...His anger towards man's disobedience had to be poured out. He is just and He cannot ignore sin. Instead of pouring it out on us, the sinners, He poured it out on the perfect sacrifice, His sinless Son, Jesus. Christ was born into the fallen world and was tempted in every way we are, yet never sinned. Therefore, He could be the blameless sacrifice and bear God's anger and punishment for the sins of the world. He willingly gave up His life on the cross, was dead for 3 days, and was raised back to life. The penalty for sin is death (see Romans 1-3), and Christ tasted death and defeated death. Now, through faith in Christ, you can be saved from the penalty of sin...and you can live the life God created you to have here on earth.

If you do not have a personal relationship with Christ, I beg you to read the book of John in the Bible. Message me or find someone you know who does have a relationship with Christ and talk to them.

I know that Michael would want his life to be remembered as being a passionate follower of Christ. Nothing would bring him more joy than for his death to result in others trusting in Christ.

Please pray for Kim and Hannah. And cherish your loved ones...love them well...none of us are promised to wake up. Each day is a gift. Make them count!

Love you all...

Long Time, No Post

I'm baaaack! Okay, I know it's been forever. I'm not even sure if anyone reads this anymore...but I'm going to crank it back up anyway. I've missed yall! It has been so long there is no way to completely update what's been going on around here, so I'm going to hit the high points.

Probably the biggest change is that I began home schooling Eden in K-5 in August. It's not something I set out to do when I became a mom, but I just know it's what I want and need to be doing in this season. We will continue to seek the Lord's direction each year and take it one step at a time. She is still 4, but already knew all letters so we went ahead with a kindergarten curriculum. I love what we're using. It's called My Father's World and it's very hands-on. It is a unit approach and it has 26 units (one for each letter of the alphabet). The science, language arts and Bible are all connected. We spent the first 10 days learning about creation. To give an example, our first unit we studied the letter "S" in language arts, studied the sun in science (we made raisins out of grapes and a sun dial to tell time), and learned that Jesus is the light of the world, memorizing John 8:12.

We are both enjoying this time so much. It only takes about 1.5 hours each day, and we take Fridays off. We stuck a 4-ft. table and 2 chairs up in our bonus room (it's also the playroom and guest room) and put a big bulletin board up and we were ready for school! Here is a picture of Eden doing her handwriting work:

I have also just started a job...at home. I am the proud nanny of 11-month-old twin girls, Madison and Ava. They are adorable and such good babies. They are VERY scheduled so that makes it even better. We are able to do school during their morning nap, and then mommy can rest during their afternoon nap. Their mom is a teacher so holidays and summers are free. I am so thankful that the Lord provided this opportunity to earn money and still be at home to care for my family.

We had an unusually busy summer, but were able to take a much-needed vacation to Panama City beach in September. Here's a couple of pictures:


Eden and I were also able to fly to Oklahoma to spend time with our family there at Grand Lake. It was so relaxing and refreshing. The weather was cool and we went on boat rides to see the white penguins migrating to south TX, played games, made smores, and went to the OK State Fair. Eden even learned how to make homemade biscuits from her great-aunt Ginger. Eden also had lots of time with her cousin, Camp.

Lastly, there's nothing to report at the moment on our adoption. However, we are so excited and hopeful about what we see the Lord doing to provide for us financially so we can pursue the child we know He has for us somewhere. We are in a time right now of seeking the Lord about our plans versus His plans. We want to be sure we are in line with His plan for our family. We will be fund raising again over the holidays with Ornaments for Orphans and are hopeful about resuming our home study in January if all goes well.

I cannot wait to show you the ornaments we are making. I hope to have them online for orders by the beginning of November. The ornaments will be $10 (plus shipping) again this year with the proceeds going to our adoption fund. So if you need teacher gifts, secret pal, stocking stuffers, etc., please consider shopping here to give those gifts and help bring a little one home. We are humbled by the way the Lord uses others to accomplish His plan.

That's all the news I have for now. I will leave you with a picture of Eden that pretty much sums up her personality these days...she is hilarious.

My next post won't be so long because I'm not gonna wait 6 months next time...I promise! Comment to let me know you still read! Love yall...

Meant to Be

Keri recently spoke about our adoption at a church Bible study and I made this video at her request to show at the event.  Hard to believe it's been 3 years since we stepped off the plane from China with now-not-so-little Eden Hope.  Enjoying every minute of it!

Mother's Day

I rarely post here these days, but I wanted to take the opportunity to thank my wife, Keri, for being such a wonderful mother and wife.  I think back to July 23, 2007 standing in that hot room on the second floor of the social services building in Wuhan.  We saw the back of Eden's head over the shoulder of her caregiver for the first time and all that waiting finally became real. Frankly I was just out of it--excited, but thinking too much to be feeling anything.

Keri, on the other hand, was full of emotion that ran the gamut. She laughed, she cried. Eden cried mostly.  I think any parent has doubts about whether they are up to the task. I certainly did walking out of that room and back to the bus, our adopted daughter in hand for the first time.  I never had any doubt of Keri, though. She has been a wonderful wife, and that day she added "mom" to her title and I have never ceased to be amazed the skill, talent and love she brings to that role.

So to moms on Mother's Day, thank you.  To my wife on Mother's Day, thank you, I love you, and I can't wait for the Uganda side of our family expansion in the coming months.  And I promise to pick my stuff up off the floor more often.

Uganda is a GO!!

Hello all...I bring wonderful adoption news today for literally millions of orphans in Uganda, East Africa...God is making a way, sweet babies. The US Department of State issued an official statement on their website yesterday saying the issues with travel visas for adopted children in Uganda has been resolved. I won't go into all the details, but let's just say this is very, very good news. I am humbled by our Lord's defense of the fatherless...overwhelmed really.

In the light of the awful news about Russian adoptions, the timing of this act of God couldn't be more perfect. I know He will move on behalf of those Russian little ones, too...He doesn't play favorites.

So what does this mean for our family? It means we will continue our home study for Uganda next month, Lord willing. We had some unexpected expenses over the past few months that caused us to slow down, then the paperwork issues arose, so we have just been waiting. The Lord has provided for our every need, and then some. And my husband gently reminded me last night that he is confident God will provide for this adoption, too...we will proceed on His timing.

Please pray for us as we walk this journey. I want to be transparent...and I have been learning some tough lessons over the past weeks about sacrifice and choices. If we are going to adopt, where we are financially, choices will have to be made and some comforts will have to be given up. Because we are choosing not to go into any more debt to adopt, this means cutting back on a lot of little extras (eating out, movies, Starbucks, those little house purchases at Target, etc.). I don't know why this is so hard for me, but it is. I'm not naturally bent towards being thrifty, so the small daily things are hard for me to give up. But there is no room for excuses for us who profess to follow Christ...there are 147 million orphans in the world...30,000 children die daily from hunger and curable diseases. I desire to live on behalf of these. This sounds great to say...but in reality I don't do this most of the time. And I can't do it in and of myself.

I don't know how all of this will look yet. I don't want to hastily make a list and start slashing all of my expenses...because that's just me trying to sanctify myself...and the focus then will be me...and what I'm "giving up." Self-discipline is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5) and I have a feeling that will be my personal journey in this adoption process. With Eden's adoption, I learned so much about God's love and His character...this time my journey seems to be so different. I know the Lord desires to do a great work in us as we walk this faith road of adoption...and I want to learn...I desire to know Him more...my Spirit is willing but my flesh is weak...but my God is sufficient...and He is such a good Shepherd.

So what's my plan? To simply draw near to the heart of my Maker...and let Him lead me and teach me. Combined with the TOUGH work of actually obeying what He shows me. This is where I am.

My heart is full today...can you tell? I am excited about the journey ahead. Even this early, my heart is beginning to yearn for a child (or children) that the Lord may have created already for our family. I will pray the same prayer I prayed 4 years ago for a then-unknown little angel in China...Lord, give us this child (or children), and do it in such a way that only You get the glory...Amen.

Mason Family Update

Hello everyone! I don't have any news to report on the adoption front. Even though the high court issued the favorable ruling regarding guardianship and adoption, the US Embassy still hasn't started issuing travel visas...so it's still at a stand-still. We are trusting in the Lord as we wait on His timing and direction in regards to Uganda. We have decided to continue with the Georgia portion of our home study next month, after we get our taxes paid. This part of the home study will be the same, even if we end up having to change countries (which we don't anticipate at this time). Please continue to pray for the precious orphans in Uganda...and all around the world, for that matter. God CAN and DOES trump beurocracy!

So, it's been a while since I just did a family update...so here it goes! A lot has been going on in our little family. The winter was LONG and COLD! We have been super-busy since the weather warmed up and Spring has sprung. Below is a picture/update.

We got a really good snow in February. It was so beautiful. Both of my girls, Eden and the dog Maggie, had a blast playing.

Eden walked up to me and said, "Look mommy, I spelled horse." After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I seriously began thinking/praying about home schooling starting in the fall. I'm looking forward to the home school conference and expo at the end of this month in Atlanta where I can get more info and look at curriculum. More on this later...

Guess who turned 40 in March? I surprised my hubby with an overnight stay at Chateau Elan, followed by friends over for ice cream cake the next night. When we got home from our night away, Eden and my mom had made him a cake, decorated the house, and placed signs and black balloons in the yard. Eden was SO EXCITED!

Eden and I have really been making new friends lately at our church...especially with the sweet ladies in mine and Gene's new small group (Gene teaches it). We attended a big Easter party and egg hunt a couple of weeks before Easter. Here is Eden with her loot! Somebody please make her stop growing!!!

We had a wonderful couple of days with my sister and nephew playing at our house when they were in town the week of Easter. Camp LOVED Eden's pink barbie car...we won't tell his dad...LOL!

Look daddy...hee, hee, hee...Matt would DIE!

Eden with her Easter basket. I decided against candy since she had already gotten some at the other egg hunt. She is so into soccer right now so she got soccer gear & new PJ's. We always give her a basket the night before Easter (she knows it's from us)...we "play" the Easter bunny...so that when she wakes up on Easter morning, her basket isn't the focus.

Easter morning on our front porch before we left for church. The other day Eden opened one of her plastic eggs and said, "Look daddy, it's empty...just like the tomb!" I then asked her, "Eden, where is Jesus now if He isn't in the tomb?" She answered, "He's in heaven sitting by His daddy praying for us." My prayer is that this knowledge she is learning will go from her head to her heart...I can plant and water these seeds of truth, but only the Lord can cause them to grow!

Hunting eggs in our yard on Easter.

Then it was time for soccer. "This is how you have to stand when you are the goalie, Mommy," Eden said as she demonstrated. Notice the socks she found and put on.

Then out came the sprinkler and bathing suit...with goggles.

Of course Eden had to bring our 11-year-old lab into the fun...this child needs a sibling!

But until then, sweet Julia from across the street is Eden's favorite playmate. Julia is 6 and they love to play together. She came over and joined in the fun!

This cracked me up...they laid their towels out and chatted. Then they ran inside and got books to "read" while they laid in the sun...like big girls.

So that's what we've been up to lately. Eden is growing up so fast and I feel so humbled to be her mom and have the opportunity to be home with her so I don't miss a thing. The Lord has been teaching me a lot lately...and I hope to have time to share some of that in another post soon. Until then, have a great week.