CHURCH

My Father's way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache,
But in my soul I'm glad I know,
He maketh no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But still I'll trust my Lord to lead
For He doth know the way.

Though night be dark and it may seem
That day will never break;
I'll pin my faith, my all in Him,
He maketh no mistake.

There is so much now I cannot see
My eyesight is far too dim;
But come what may, I'll simply trust
And leave it all to Him.

For by and by the mist will lift
and plain it all He'll make
Through all the way, though dark to me,
He made not one mistake.

http://3littlecowboys.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2014-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2015-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=2&m=0


What a beautiful poem.  I don't know the author but I remember reciting it when I was young.  The blog writer above used it in one of her blogs.  I've been reading this blog today and my heart is just torn for this young woman who has fought cancer for many years.  She is a friend of one of Jon's cousins.....  She has an amazing outlook on life and my prayers are with her. 

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Today is Sunday which is a busy day for us, even busier than usual since my husband didn't wake me up when he left for the prison......  so I woke at 9:40.....By the way Sunday School starts at 9:45......LOL  AND I had to mop the laundry room.  WHY?   Because our dearly loved old dog spent the night in there and she has an incontinence problem along with the fact she has bit her tail so bloody looking pee....Nice way to start a Sunday morning!   (she got a bath today)   Somehow we all got ready and made it to church in time for me to type a few songs and find out I was singing  (and my son complimented me for once!  Usually he keeps my mike down low.....really low!) Oh and in my husband's sermon, he just somehow HAD to tell the congregation that my C-section scar was bothering me.....Really????   HOW the HECK did THAT come up???  (well it came up when he was preaching about the coming of the Lord and how the earth has labor pains.....it just went from there- it won't happen again tho!) 

Our church was close to full.  It's just amazing to see what God has done here.  We had 6 people join the church today and that encouraged another family to ask to join next week! 

Many people don't want to join churches anymore....many say they don't need to go to church to be a Christian.  I agree, you can be a Christian without joining or even going to church.  BUT there is just something about becoming part of a fellowship.  The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10 24-25  "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

I know some folks will say they can meet together for lunch and that is all they need to do BUT Paul was writing to Christians who had continued in the Jewish tradition of meeting weekly in a formal setting.  Formal in the sense of the same type of setting. 

I've always believed in the importance of church attendance.  Sure there are hypercritics in church, they are hypocrites at your job, at the local bar, where ever you go, there will be people will issues.  But there will be good folks there too!   As a pastor's wife I REALLY don't focus on the negative people.  Thankfully we don't have any negative people in our church, now.  I'm not saying that people are faking positive in some weird way, just that folks love God and want to get closer to Him & each other.   It is so good to be in a healthy growing church.  It took awhile....for this church to be healthy OR growing!  But it is now and we are so grateful that God helped us to preserve through some tough times. 

We had SIX people join our church today

 

 

Jon preached on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

 



¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

What an encouragement....the King James Version says to comfort one another....what a comfort....what a hope!

There are days I lose sight of that Hope....days when the future looks uncertain and quite scary!  It encouraged my heart to hear these familiar scripture read again. 

I'm looking forward to THAT day whether I am dead or whether I am still alive....Jesus is coming back again

If that thought scares you (and there have been plenty of times in my life it terrified me, you have NO idea how good some "old timey preachers" were at making that verse NOT a comforting verse!)  turn to Jesus.

Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and then walk with Him.  I'm not one to believe in a "sinner's prayer"  I think God would much rather hear what you have to say from your heart than by repeating lines after some preacher.....(ok my husband still uses the "sinner's prayer" and it annoys me to death!)  But God wants to hear from you, ask Him to forgive your sin and to walk with you.  You won't regret that decision in this life OR in the life to come. 

Eight years ago Shad's story

Shad on the day he came to the orphanage

 

this is the first picture we saw of Shad.  this is taken in his room, I got to see the room.

 

 

Eight years ago I was in China adopting Shad!

Last Thursday the 9th is the day we officially met.  I remember driving up in the van with another family.  The orphanage has a brick fence around it and a guard.  I was so nervous.  Then we walked in to the new building.  It was pretty but it was very cold inside, I could see my breath. 

 

Pretty building, but no heat.

 

We walked in a conference room and in just a couple of minutes, two nannies walked in with Shad and the other little boy who was being adopted.  Shad was unfazed but the other boy screamed a lot.

 

Here's a picture of me just seconds after I was handed Shad who looks a bit bewildered:)

 

 

 

 

we got back to the hotel and I took him out of about 8 layers of clothes, gave him a bath and a bottle filled with pediltye   He was so tiny and thin, rashes and bug bites all over him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the next day was officially adoption day.  We signed the papers in a smoke filled office  with the taxi driver getting very involved in the signing.  I think he was a witness or either we got married LOL!

 

 

 

then as we had time to kill waiting for all the official Chinese paperwork to be done, we went to the Chengdu panda reserve

 

 

After that trip we went by the hospital where the other child adopted with Shad was found.  that was emotional.  But then we stopped on the street where Shad was found, I totally lost it as I imagined how it was.....I took lots of pictures of the area, I don't know if his family was from that section or not.

 

Then in a day or so we had all the Chinese paperwork and passport in hand and we flew to Guangzho China where all adoptive families go to do their American embassy paperwork.  we stayed in a gorgeous 5 star hotel outside the city. 

 

Here is Shad with all the other babies from our group.  He is the 4th from the left.

 

Here we are eating at the famous Lucy's

 

on our balcony

 

 

then after going through the medical check, and getting the visa ....it was time to fly home to our family.

 

Here is Shad meeting Jon for the first time at Tampa Airport

he was so happy

 

 

 

 Our family and friends who were there to greet us

(yes I look terrible, I'd been traveling for 48hours with delays and issues)

Steve is in the green and blue shirt and Sam is sucking down a bottle in the stroller.  He was not quite 2 years old. 

 

 

this next picture is CLASSIC, look at Shad's expression.  He is NOT happy to see me with other children LOL!!!!  

 

Look at Sam's curly hair!!!!

 

 

First Sunday at church, Shad is wearing his Chinese outfit and ate so much he fell asleep at the table. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a few weeks later we took him down to Miami to see if we could have surgery on his bad eye.  It was not fixable.  This is Shad at the marina

 

 

 

So it's only been 8 years, seems like Shad has been with us all his life.  Wasn't he an adorable baby??  Makes me want to go adopt again looking at these pictures.

Adoption is a blessing for the child, it takes them out of a bad place and gives them a family BUT Adoption is a wonderful blessing for the FAMILY!  People tell us all the time that the kids are so lucky...blah blah blah......but it was US who were lucky to have the opportunity to add to our family by means of adoption.    It's hard to explain, you know you didn't "birth " the child but they are so your child, it doesn't matter!   

How I look at it is that they were destined for our family and we were destined for them.  It just took a little longer to get them. 

God has blessed us with all our children, adopted or biological and each have such a special & unique story.   They all are the biggest blessing in my life.  I'm so thankful to have these kids to be their mom and to take care of them.  I love see their achievements, I love the whole experience!

When I was young, I had no idea that I'd have children from China and Ukraine...I could have never imagined what God had in store for me!  How blessed I've been!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Reading

Reading is one of my favorite things to do.  I just don't understand people who don't like to read, I can't help but feel sorry for them.  I started reading before kindergarten and can hardly remember a time when I didn't read.   When I was very young, I was already reading the newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat, we got it delivered but our delivery person was awful about making sure she delivered the paper.  By the time I was 10 years old, I remember calling her to complain that the paper hadn't come LOL

Reading has probably helped me understand my world and be much smarter than I would have if I didn't read.  I know it helped me in college to get through some boring books and understand most of it.  Because I read so much, I read at a really high rate of speed.  It is my one "trick" And that probably was the thing that got me through college!

Now I read for pleasure and to still learn.  I love reading about World War II, it is so interesting to me.  Recently I've read "Dancing with the Enemy" by Paul Glaser, a story about his family & his aunt who lived through Auschwitz.  It's interesting and really tells of all the various interpersonal relationships affected by the war.  I also read "The Secret Rescue" by Cate Lineberry about the rescue of  American medics & nurses who survived a plane crash behind enemy lines in Albania during the war.  That book was fascinating!

When I was at the library, I picked up a few books by an author I don't know.  I was disappointed in those books.  Personally I am not in to vampires, the undead or crazy people with multiple personalities!   I read one of  the books, but that's it.

I really like Rhys Bowen, an author I just started reading.  She has three different main characters and all three are interesting.  I like mysteries with some light humor in them.  I can't stand anything too serious if it is fiction!  I can handle serious books about real life but if it's fiction, give me some humor with it!


Today Sam had a speech evaluation by a "new speech evaluator, not the "grumpy" one who did Sarah's (life is too short)  I was thrilled with the evaluation and the possibility for communication for Sam.  They worked with him on a system of cards that they can adapt for his vision.  He seemed to "get it".    For a long time I'd hoped that Sam would be able to speak but as he is almost 10 years old, that is becoming less of a possibility.  He has a lot of receptive language meaning he understands what we tell him to do.  If I tell him "let's go take a bath" he walks to the bathroom and tries to take his clothes off.  If we say "let's go outside" he goes to the door and sometimes will even give me his shoes to put on him.  I'm so glad that he understands quite a bit and can follow some commands. But it would be a real blessing if he could communicate more with us.  We anticipate what he wants, and I think we do a good job but this new plan may really open up things for him!    The evaluator doesn't work on this side of the county except for just doing evaluations.  I'd love for her to be his teacher, both of the ladies who came today were really excited about Sam and what he was doing.  They had seen him years before so they could see his advancement.

They also checked in with Selah and have some great ideas for her.  I wish these ladies could have done Sarah's evaluation.  When they went in to see Selah, one of the first thing they brought up was the fact that she had only heard Russian for over 7 years of her life and only was hearing English for a few months before the accident happened.  That is exactly what I pointed out to the first evaluator and she 'poo-pooed" it and argued that point with me over and over again.  Anyhow I love when I meet people who have an interest in the kids above anything else.  It is so refreshing!  they are recommending some things for Selah also. YEAH!


Thought you'd like another kitten picture.  they are adorable and love to lay on my bed....all the time:) 

 

Self Control

Good day here, for lunch Steve drove officially by himself to pick up some pizzas!  He did drive around some the day Shad went missing but only on some back roads, this time he drove to town.  I was thinking I should go write it in his baby book LOL! 

I recently read a blog that I thought was really good
http://thedomesticfringe.com/no-fuss-parenting-teach-kids-to-sit-still/
it's all about teaching kids to sit still in church, which means the child will learn self control wherever he is out in public or even at home.  There is nothing that gets on my last nerve MORE than a child that is out of control and a parent that does nothing!   All of my children can sit through church (for the most part, every now and then Sarah will have to go out but it's been weeks since that has happened)   We are not overly strict parents.  We certainly don't spank our little ones but we keep a high bar raised for all of them.  We've learned from our first child on, that a child will rise to the level of expectation that a parent has for the child. 

I've seen some out of control kids NON special needs, just badly behaved children and I swore my kids would not be like that and they aren't.  Yes it took time to work with them, but the time was rewarded.  I can take my kids anywhere and they will behave.  remember Sam and Sarah both are very delayed yet they are very well behaved.  They go out to eat with us, they go to movies, church, we wait in doctor's offices etc....  It took some work but we worked with them. 

There is a time and place for everything, I believe in kids playing hard and being loud OUTSIDE ! 

People in today's world seem to think children should be allowed to have free rein everywhere and they think that shows how much the parents love the child.  Well......it probably shows how few friends the parents have because no one wants to be around their brats!  LOL    Children are much more happier with boundaries than without boundaries. 

I really believe the bible in all things, I believe it teaches us in every area, including child rearing.  As much as I read, I've never read any book on parenting, never felt the need to do so.  But I believe the principles of the bible which teach us to have self control.

Proverbs 25:28 " Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. "   What happens when the walls of your life are broken down?  Anything can come in and destroy you.  Self Control is a great thing to learn young, it can be used in every single area in your life, not just sitting still in church!  

Nothing is sadder than to see a person who has no self control in his or her life.  It shows in every area whether it is eating, addictions, relationship problems, work problems,  you name it....if a person doesn't posses some self control, they will be lacking in so many areas. 

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I read of another child passing away before she could be adopted.  Her family was in the process and had already met her in Bulgaria and were just waiting for their paperwork/court to be done so that they could go pick her up.  Please read their story and pray for this precious family!
 http://winslowsix.blogspot.com/2014/01/we-love-you-our-precious-zvezdelina.html
I am sadden for this family and for this child not having the chance to live in her family but now she is in heaven & she did get to meet and know the love of a family. 

After reading this blog, I just went to Sarah and picked her up and held her in my lap.  I was so afraid that she would not make it till we could get to her.  I'm so thankful for the time we've had with her, I don't take it for granted.  This is why I'm so passionate about adoption.... it is truly saving lives and giving life to children. 

I'm still asked WHY go overseas when we have "orphans" here in the US.  If you ever go into an orphanage, in a country that is poor and doesn't even have the infer structure to maintain roads then you will see why we are passionate about international adoption.  When your eyes are opened to the need, you can't go back.  And you will look at what we do in the US, as flawed as it may be, and be grateful that we are able to take care of our vulnerable children. 

So if you wonder why, take a look at this child's pictures, she was  7 years old, just two days younger than my Sarah.  Go back and take a look at Sarah when we got her, and it is so much more than just fattening up a child, it's building a relationship with that child.

Today during Sarah's physical Therapy time, Sam came in.  Sarah did not like that he was on the ball with her.  She got off, crying and crawled over to me and sat in my lap and cried.  We are trying to teach them two to share.  It's not been easy.  But I LOVED that she came straight to mama for comfort.  Somehow Sarah escaped emotionally all she went through and is quite normal emotionally for a child who is delayed.  I LOVE when she comes to me for comfort.  The first year we had her, she rarely cried.  She cries more now BECAUSE she knows her cries will be answered.   It's beautiful to watch her go through normal emotional developmental stages.  We think she is about a 2 year old right now LOL   I actually read that the orphanages in Russia tell the caregivers not to respond to children's cries,  I'm sure it is the same in Ukraine.  Well Miss Sarah cries now, until she gets her way and then she gives an immediate smile:)   We are working with her just like you would with a toddler.  Today we didn't give in to her cries but I gave her comfort when she didn't get her way.  And she calmed down.  She was learning self control.  Just because a child has a lower IQ, they can still be taught.  It's really important for them as they get older, just like it is for a "normal" child. 

 

 

 

 

these pictures were taken right before the meltdown!

Notice Sarah is as big or a little bigger than Sam?  She is wearing size 6 and he can still wear size 4 but I buy his new stuff in size 6

 

 

Here are some more pictures of the nicest kittens we have ever had.  they are so sweet & no trouble at all.

 

 

 

Hope you have a great day!

Please pray for Selah.  she has been having great days with perfect numbers on her machines.  She is over the issue she was having thanks to the prescriptions.  Today when I was taking my walk, I prayed for Selah in my mind, remembering her from before the accident, praying that she'd be restored to us. 

 

 

Pet pictures

 

Henry and Fraidy Cat

 

 

 

this is Vermont on our welcome mat

 

 

 

 

Princess is above, being adorable:) 

And Daisy is below sleeping'

what great easy kittens they are!

 

 

Brownie sleeping in "her" spot as you can tell

and Vermont sleeping near her.  Brownie always has a "cat friend" she curls up with.

 

 

So another cool day in Florida, nice enough for the kids to go back outside some. 

 

 

 

We had some issues with one of the new teachers, I really don't know how to share it but she said she had been accused of something  that could affect my kids so we asked for another teacher.  I feel bad for her but as always my kids must come first as they are defenseless and non verbal.   There is a part of me that feels bad for not being supportive BUT I have to think of my children first.    I'm so tired of strange situations.  Please pray that we can get the right teachers in to work with our kids. I'm discouraged. 

 

Miss Selah was really lifting her head and holding it this morning.  We love when she does that.   She hadn't done it so much since the last time I posted those pictures. IT was great to see her moving like that again! 

 

Please keep our girl in your prayers!  Thank you!

Exciting Day

Exciting day for me, I got to go to lunch with one of my BFFs:)   AND then after I picked up Shad I went to the library!  WOOHOO!  I LOVE libraries and I love books.  We then had to go get cat & dog food at Walmart (boo)  So a big exciting day for me.  It's funny, my life just isn't as interesting when the kids aren't involved!


This morning our outside thermometer  read only 28 degrees....it was cold!  I took a picture but I guess it was too cold to load it on the blog, it won't load up LOL   But it is cold for Florida....however it won't last, by the weekend it's back to the high 70's:) 


Well we found season three of "Hogan Hero's" and we are enjoying watching this old favorite of ours.  Over the years, we've collected a lot of old tv series and movies.  We have the complete collection  of Andy Griffin, Gomer Pyle, Gilligan's Island, Brady Bunch, the Lucy Show,  Waltons, Commish (from the 80s) just to name a few.  They just do NOT make tv shows like they used to.  Recently we watched the Lucy show (the one with just her and the teenaged kids-it didn't like the older "I love Lucy")  they were funny, all the actors/actresses had talent, not just in carrying off good lines, but they could sing & dance and everything was funny without being dirty at all.  Now there are some good tv shows but even the best ones (talent wise like the Office) has to be filled with sexual jokes.  I don't get it at all, why does anyone feel they have to do that.  things can be so funny without that! 

Well everyone stay safe & warm!   Please keep Selah in your prayers.  Today I had just been praying in my head and then checked my email and there was an email from a reader who shared a beautiful dream of Selah being healed.  This is the email...

On Friday night 1/3/14 I had a joyful dream, Selah had been healed. I came to visit you and your family can’t really recall the places we went. All of the children were there Selah was WALKING, RUNNING,SMILING INTERACTING with everyone. She didn’t talk and she still had the trachea. She expressed herself with noise. I could not believe I had this dream and I was in AWE the next morning as I sat and thought wow I got to meet her. I couldn’t wait to share with you. I can tell you everyone was happy.  Also your hair was a little lighter maybe some blonde through the red!! I read daily so I’m still in touch!! Take Care.

Isn't that a wonderful dream???   It just amazed me that I had JUST been praying for Selah's healing and got this sweet message.  I don't know what all it means but we'll never stop praying and we'll never stop looking into medical things for her!  thanks for all your prayers for her! 

 

New Directions for Steve

This parenting thing is never easy......

As parents of a high school senior, we've been discussing options with our son for awhile.  For years he wanted to be a correctional officer and we were all for that, knowing how professional the Florida Department of Corrections is and what a good career he could have with them.  Then a few months ago Steve began worrying that he might be missing out by not going to college.  ( I think I wrote a blog about it)  With the Department, he could go up the rank with or without a degree.  So we thought about things and talked about things and then he sort of dropped the subject. 

His main ideas were either
1. go work for DOC
2. go to a community college
3. go to St Leo's (Catholic college with a good criminal justice major)
4. go to our alma mater Southeastern


So we worried since Steve had chosen not to do the college track in high school, that that would be a problem.  Well that wasn't the case for any of the colleges we looked at since he has a high GPA. 

Now that it's January, we are getting to the crunch time for paperwork to get in and scholarships to be applied for.

Last night we had a long serious talk and he decided he really wanted to look into the schools, specifically SEU.  Today he filled out his application for Southeastern:)  He should have no issues getting accepted, he met all the criteria.  I also filled out financial aid forms and he is eligible for a large federal grant.  We will be applying for more stuff too.  I basically spent the morning on the computer.  I have to admit this was MUCH easier than when I filled out paperwork years ago  and it took weeks to hear back from the college and from financial aid!  Basically we had a lot of answers within hours!  WOW! 

We are going to a student's day on campus soon.  We actually have a baby sitter scheduled so Jon & I both can go with him.  We are looking forward to doing that with him. 

To be honest, Jon and I both have our BAs but I'm not one to really push college anymore.  Just from the practical side, he could easily make more than his dad within a few years as an officer with overtime, pay raises and promotions.  So financially, it would really make more sense just to jump into a career that he has an interest for without going in to debt to go to college.  I used to think college was the only way to go.....UNTIL  I grew up and saw many people who made more money than us (just speaking from the financial side of things)  that either had trades, their own business or worked for a company. 

I think education is important.  And one thing is true, once you have a degree, no one can take that from you.  But I totally respect people who chose not to go to college. 

And I have to admit, SEU is a very different school than the school I graduated from over 25 years ago.  I've not been happy with the direction it's been going in for a long time although I have wonderful fond memories of being a student there.  So I've not at all encouraged Steve to go there but I do think it's better than the alternatives he has in this area. 

One thing that is very interesting to me is that when he starts in August, it will be 30 years since I started there.....isn't that sweet and a bit crazy to think about?  

I went there with no family support, I was basically an orphan by that time.  I was so scared but so excited to be there.  Who would have dreamed how those first steps to a new life, set things into motion....and now I have a son who is planning on attending there......   It was neat to list on the application that Jon, myself and Steve's uncle Jim were all graduates of SEC:)  Family tradition!

We've always wanted to support our kids in their decisions.  So if he chose to go to work full time, I was all for it and I am all for him going to college if that is what he wants.  We want Steve to feel like he has explored what he wants to do with his life.   I was such a goal setter, I KNEW what I wanted for a couple of years before I went to college. I LOVED every second of college and dorm life Jon was the opposite, he was more like Steve, he didn't really want to go to college.  Then he decided after a long hot summer of working a crappy job that college might be a good thing.  He went to a community college where he didn't really make friends  ( I on the other hand was quite the social butterfly)  then he became a Christian and came to SEC but he never lived on campus or really got into the social life of the campus.  I do believe being part of the social life is good for a young adult.  When I was at SEC, there were a lot of rules.....and I broke many of them LOL but it was a good place to be.  Now I don't believe there is as many rules....but hopefully there is a good atmosphere.

He is thinking about the different majors, he was leaning towards Criminal Justice BUT since that is not a big program at SEU, we are encouraging towards computer/media type majors since that is a big interest of his too.  In my opinion, having a criminal justice degree is not necessary even if you are in the criminal justice field.  If you are going for a BA of any type, it will work in the CJ field. 
.
I also got an appointment for Selah with the new neurologist that one of our nurses really likes.  She feels he will be very open to work with Selah with some of the drugs that are being used to bring adults out of comas.  When asked why we were making a switch, I told the nurse on the phone what we were hoping for and she was encouraging to me!  So Selah can't get in as a new patient until March but I'm excited that we have an appointment and hopefully someone who will explore with us all the research that is going on for people like Selah!!!!!!!!!!!!


So it's been a big day at the Clanton household.  Sorry I didn't post last night, I was busy and the day/evening just got away from me.  Then we got into a long discussion with Steve...... and I was worried about how he was feeling/thinking about things.  I'm so glad it was so easy today to get a lot of answers quickly about admission and financial aid!  What a blessing, and what a difference from when we were in college.  It seems like I applied for financial aid in like February and didn't' hear until JULY !  Now after you fill it out on line, you get an estimate right then! It really helps calm worries that is for sure!!!!  

So it's never quiet around here for long!