Best of Facebook: March 2016

3/2/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

You guys are truly the best! We went back to the hospital today for our weekly check-up and were greeted by very excited nurses and staff who told us mail has poured in for Brittney! We left with 30+ letters and packages from CA, FL, GA, IL, KY, MD, MO, NC, NY, PA, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WV and Germany!

We have been so busy playing catch-up with laundry and on the farm, gearing up for our springtime garden and petting zoos booked every weekend! Brittney is home with us for 2-3 more weeks until her external PICC line is replaced with a new internal Chest Port. These thoughtful presents and stickers will keep her occupied while we continue our catch-up work. :) Thank you!!! Seriously, you people are awesome!

3/16/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

Visited the hospital today for Britt's weekly PICC line dressing change and we recieved more sticker mail from Australia (x2), Canada, FL, NC, OH, OR, and VA. Thank you so much! With Brittney's severe vision impairment she loves feeling the stickers on her fingers then on the paper! You have greatly blessed our girlie! Thank you!

3/18/2016: Click here to see shared blog post:

We may not all be called to adoption but we are all called to sacrifice. A favorite post from a year ago!

"We definitely don’t feel we were audibly “called” by God to adopt children. We were called to follow God and sacrifice all for Him. As we surrendered we followed God where His heart is. His heart is with the poor, the needy and the orphaned, therefore that is where we followed Him. Are we “called?” Yes, called to love others as ourselves. We don’t want to be poor, hungry or without parents so why would we leave others in that condition? Did we always want to adopt? Absolutely not." Read more on the blog:

3/19/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

I know I haven't posted a lot of just day to day stuff lately but here is Britt helping big sister weed a garden box today. When Britt came to us she wasn't fond of the outdoors, was terrified of dogs and didn't want anything to do with the farm animals. We can't blame her, she spent most of her life in hospital rooms and sterile medical foster homes being cared for by nurses.

But now she adores our dog, Fez, rides ponies and look at her finally being a kid and getting her hands dirty!!! Makes my heart happy!

3/23/2016: Click here to see post on FB:

Memory from 4 years ago:
"As I sit here, filling out our foster care re-license packet for 2012 I am listening to Mulan playing in the background coupled with random bursts of laughter, crunching popcorn and the occasional "mom, did you hear that!?! that was so funny!" I take comfort that I could walk down the hallway and in either room gaze upon a precious sleeping baby. I rejoice at new-found memories today of playing 5 person softball in an empty field across from our house, running like my life depended on it and cheering until I was hoarse. How did I ever live without this!?! Looking at this packet makes tears well as I remember how last year I was so grieved with a deep longing and the pain of emptiness. God how good and sovereign You are, how you make us wait for Your perfect plan. This was worth waiting for!"

Is there a longing in you to be a mommy? Are you in the waiting/paperwork time of your adoption? Trust in the Lord and He will give more freely and abundantly than you could have ever imagined!!!

3/31/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

"Mom there is a woman at our gate taking pictures!"
I was a mess and busy inside making a dozen costumes for the upcoming parade but I stopped and went out to greet this woman. She was having a big party and wanted us to bring our menagerie of animals, so she just stopped by due to our petting zoo sign out front. Just as I was finishing up a short tour of our farm one of the the kids ran outside to greet this stranger, now client....
"Um....who is that?"
I looked at my fully costumed child, "oh, that is just one of the Oompah-Loompahs that run our farm...."

If you ever feel like a crazy person, don't worry, we have somehow out-crazied you for sure!!! :D

Posted by Shannon

Best of Facebook: October 2015

10/1/15: Click here to see post on FB:

Click here to read blog post: "What Does the Bible Say About Reactive Attachment Disorder or RAD?"

Two years ago I was desperate and finally beginning to open up about our biggest and hardest struggles with our children. It seemed like every time I became bold enough to share the most recent tantrum or incident we had in our home I was told by fellow moms, "Oh, they are just being a kid. This is just a stage they are going through. All kids do that." Finally our youth pastor and his wife sat down and listened to us and the desperateness in our tone. A few weeks later he presented us with this book, he had found it, read it and believed it would be very helpful to us.

Now I had already read book after book, The Connected Child, The Whole-Brained Child, etc and read blog after blog. We had done years of counseling and therapy (including EDMR for a couple months which I do not hold a high opinion of). I was tired of bad news and hopelessness. I was skeptical that another book, another author could help me. BUT, this book was different and as I read it it didn't just give me more head knowledge and parenting tools but it fed my soul. It gave me a renewed view of my children. Not through my worn and weary, struggling to show love eyes but helped me view them through the eyes of Jesus who loves them unconditionally and sacrificially!

This book did change our lives. So much so just months after reading this book God called us to adopt our Sam from an adoption disruption who was diagnosed with RAD. God had shown us so much of His healing power in so little time that we extended trust in Him once again as we pursued another. The healing in Sam was very evident very quickly. He is a walking testimony of the goodness of God and such a blessing to us!

Just less than a year ago one of our children had an isolated incident that led to us having all of our children interviewed and and evaluated by two licensed therapists. I told them our past diagnoses of RAD, PTSD, ODD, ADHD and chronic enuresis. I told them briefly of the horrifying history of their lives before coming into our care. After hours in the office while they saw and spoke with each individual child they called me in the room. What they said to me had me in tears, "Ma'am, we have never met such smart, happy, focused, well-mannered and ATTACHED children as we have seen today. They have only been with you a short 3 years and they don't fit any of their previous diagnoses and whatever you are doing is amazing!"

"But it isn't me, they are healing despite my failures, it is Jesus!"

10/2/15: Click here to see article on FB:

Click here to view article at Church for Every Child

We often hear, "it takes a special person to raise someone else's children!" or "I could never do what you are doing." Well, I am not super-human for sure, most of the time I look around and wish I was as patient or loving or kind as so-and-so. So to be honest, if I can adopt and parent these kids ANYBODY can do it.

When people ask how do you do it, I say "I am not, it's Jesus." Our human love will never be enough to heal these kids, our human therapies will never be enough to heal these kids but these things coupled with the love of Jesus is what HAS healed my kids! That is why it has to be the followers of Christ that step up to the plate and sacrifically lay down their lives to give these kids one! We, the church, and our church congregations have got to step up and love these kids, our neighbors.

But love is not enough for the days after adoption. We must also be willing to become equipped in attachment parenting. Far too many adoptions are being disrupted (FL has a current disruption rate of 42%). We get emails and calls non-stop from some of these desperate families hanging on by a thread. Why? Because adoption is HARD. It is born in pain, grief, loss and sin. Adoption is a beautiful blessing but it is like a rose that takes time to grow from the ashes. What got us through isn't the skills we had to learn, the trainings we attended, the books we read or the therapies we sat through. What got us through and is getting us through is the unwavering commitment to love these kids regardless of their behavior. A commitment to pursue them as they push away from us with a supernatural love. Did we not run away from God, withhold our affections from Him, live our lives in a way that didn't please Him? But while we were in our sin He loved us so much He laid down His life for us. What pulls us through the hardest days is a deep desire, not to adopt or love, but a to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus by loving sinners the same way He did, with His very life.

10/5/15: Click here to see photo album on FB:

Every year Brittney's school takes their special kids and their families to camp for 4 days. Brian wasn't able to come so me and these 7 kiddos attended and had lots of fun. Brittney's school bussed us to the FL Elks Youth camp where they put us up in air-conditioned cabins, fed us like kings and had tons of fun activities ready for us! The kids had lots of time in the pool, got to tie-dye shirts, participate in a ropes course, practice archery, ate lots of icecream and desserts, danced the night away and made smores at a bonfire! Here are some pics of our time.

10/5/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

Three hours and some sore fingers but I am feeling pretty accomplished tonight! She kept looking in the mirror and saying "so pretty, so pretty!" She likes it so it was worth it! :)

10/13/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

Click here to see blog post with link to this interview

We enjoyed having France 2 TV out today for our interview. They were very kind and patient with us and the kids felt like little stars for sure being followed around by a huge camera. I could tell that the kids were also intrigued by their beautiful language and accents, maybe after Spanish class we will take up French. :)

My favorite moment was due to English being their second language one asked, "Do you breed your animals?"
To which I said, "yes, we have bred some at times."
"Ah, so can we film you breeding the animals?"
"Um, well, if that is what you think would make good tv then I suppose...."
"Oh! I meant to say feed! Can we film you feeding the animals!"
"LOL, Yes! We feed all the animals everyday. We can film that." :)
We all got a good laugh at that one.

10/17/15: Click here to see post on FB:

I came across a journal from 2012 that I had kept at the request of our counselor. Everyday it had a very short entry of what behaviors we dealt with that day. As I read through them I had forgotten some of the huge daily struggles we have worked through. I showed the journal to our big kids, "See this is why I was such a crazy mom when you first came, I didn't know how to deal with this kind of stuff."
Mirabel read it over, "Geez, I can't believe I did this stuff to you. We really were awful!"
"Yea, but you know what I was doing at the same time I was writing these daily journal entries?"
Mirabel smirked, "Crying and eating chocolate?"
"I suppose. At the same time that you were running away, hitting me, cussing me out and doing everything in your power to push me away I was getting fingerprinted and background checked and filling out mountains of paperwork to make you mine."

Adoption is the living gospel. For it was me who was that little orphan girl running from the love of a Father. Yet even in my fighting and running He gave up everything, His only perfect Son, for a chance to adopt me as His own. I now love Him, because He first loved me (1 John 4:19). Our kids love us now because we chose to show them a glimpse of our Father's love.

Adopt because you were adopted! Even when you don't "feel" it, love your kids because your Father loves you! Even though they push and push you away, pursue your kids because your Father pursued you! Even when it feels too hard to keep going, don't give up because your Father didn't give up on you! Even now, in this trial, in this struggle remember that He promises, if we love Him, He will work all things together for our good! (Rom. 8:28)

10/21/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

A young stranger was walking up our long driveway, something small and white let out soft cries in his arms. I walked halfway out to greet him, "Is everything okay?"

"Ma'am we had a goat and she just gave birth to this baby but she died right after. You have goats and we know you will take good care of her."

As I held this tiny little life now entrusted in our care I was reminded of the verse in Prov 12:10 that says, "a righteous man has regard for the life of his animal..." I am so thankful for the reputation that God has granted us in our community. A reputation that no matter the species, breed or color, if they are in need of a family they can find one with open arms here.

Welcome home baby Abba. I hope your place on our farm continually reminds us that God is "Abba, Father" to the orphan.

10/24/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

This is our baby girl, Abba goat. Yes she is dressed as a pumpkin! .... Why? You ask? Because it is freaking adorable!!!

10/25/15: Click here to see post on FB:

"So you guys are in charge of all these kids?" asked a woman who greeted us as we visited a new church today.

"I suppose we are in charge of them...we are a family, these are our children."

We saw the pastor's eyes widen with curiosity as we came to the door to exit. The woman who greeted us earlier turned to the pastor, "They adopted ALL these kids! Seven!"

The pastor shook our hands, "Well, you certainly have your hands full!"

"Sir, we simply took the Bible quite literally when God said, 'pure and undefiled religion is to care for the orphan.'"

10/27/15: Click here to see photo album on FB:

We took part in a local homeschool geography fair tonight. We studied China and the kids were able to present what they learned. It was so neat, there were at least 20 other tables to visit and each child got a little passport to fill up with stickers and facts from each Country or State. Lots of tables even had food from their location to taste. We brought freshly cut bamboo from our own bamboo forest on our farm to give away!

Since I have it all together we started this project at 11pm the night before it was due!!! Good thing the kids had been reading lots of library books on China for weeks and quickly cranked out some facts on a poster board! Anthony took charge of the board and table and the this morning I was quite surprised with how well they did all on their own so I spent 4 hours today creating and sewing costumes to bring our China table to life! God poured out His grace as always, we pulled it together and the kids had a blast!:)



Posted by Shannon

Our Family in the News

There were two stories that were published and aired today.

1.
The first was an article about Brittney and her amazing Guardian-ad-litem (GAL) who helped push for her to come home! The article, by Nancy Kinnally with the FL Bar Foundation, is well-written and sheds light on the deeper pieces of her story and eventually finding a forever family:

"Brittney, 11, smiles broadly and extends her hand in greeting to welcome a visitor to her family’s Tallahassee farm, where she and her six siblings help care for a menagerie that includes dogs, cats, ponies, goats, chickens, rabbits, a donkey and a cow named Buttercream.

Born prematurely and with a panoply of medical disorders that could shorten her lifespan, Brittney spent years in and out of Orlando hospitals and medical foster homes until Brian and Shannon got a phone call from a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter asking if they would consider adopting her. 

“We told her, ‘Yes, we would absolutely be interested in taking this little girl,’ because we believe that all life is valuable and that all children deserve a loving family, whether they are going to pass away, whether they have special needs, no matter what the issues are,” Shannon said. “We made a commitment to God a long time ago that if we were ever called to take a child we would consider that a call from Him.”.....

Here is the link to read the entire article:
A long legal road leads to a permanent home for Brittney

2.
The second was a 4 minute news segment, that aired on France2 TV. They inquired with us about their interest in covering a segment on American adoption disruptions since disrupting an adoption is not allowed in France. They traveled to us in FL from Washington D.C. to spend the afternoon filming our lives and interviewing Sam on his experience being adopted twice. We can't express what a sweet crew they were to work with, so natural and patient. 

"One of the more charming segments I've produced at France 2 Washington DC in a while. This one tells the story of Sam, a child from China who was adopted but then given up by his adoptive parents. Thank god he wasn't sent back to the orphanage in China, but taken in by Brian and Shannon in Florida, the 5 Kids 6 Months family. What you see here is love for children by other families who believe in third chances." - Sabrina Buckwalter, producer at France2

Here is link to watch the video news story:
États-Unis : des petites annonces pour réadopter un enfant déjà adopté une première fois

Since it is in French, it was made for France2 TV after all, below is the English translation of the video:
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
"The little boy is only 10 years old and yet he already has a past saddled with pain and separation.
A birthmark deforms his face but that is a mere detail in comparison to all the suffering he's been through.

Sam has been through an orphanage in China and 2 adoptive families in the US.
18 months ago, his first adoptive parents decided to cede him to another couple. 

Sam precisely recalls the shock he felt at the time:
SOT (Sam, readopted child): "2 days before I was taken they announced it to me, that I was going to have a new house, a new home.

SOT (Valerie Astruc, Reporter) - How did you react?

SOT (Sam, readopted child) - I was scared. They did not think that I was a nice child, but I still was attached to them."

With his new parents, Sam often watches the home videos his previous family had left for him.
Images of apparent bliss, but the child had reactive attachments disorders at that times.
His first adoptive parents therefore decided to give Sam to another family.

SOT (Shannon, Sam's 2nd adoptive mother): "It wasn't that they were neglectful by any means. But it was Sam's behavior, he behaved himself in a way that created a rift, there was a bond that was very hindered."

The little boy has had to learn live with his new brothers and sisters, 6 in total, all adopted by Brian and Shannon, a devout couple who did in the name of Jesus.

Sam's first months in his new family were very testing:
SOT (Sam) : "When I first arrived, I'd get very angry. When I wouldn't get what I wouldn't get my way, I would shut down, and wouldn't talk.

SOT (Shannon, Sam's 2nd adoptive mother) : - Yeah. Sometimes it'd be for hours, yeah. And then we in the family would start thinking, 'Well, what did we do, why are you so mad at us?'. But we understood that he had lost a lot."

Adopted children that change parents, there exists hundreds in the United States. No specific number can be posited as the phenomenon is fairly recent.

SOT (Valerie Astruc, Reporter) : "No federal law prohibits the transfer of an adopted children into a new family. A handful of states require that they go before a tribunal but in the majority of cases, the procedure is rather simple."

On the internet, specialized agencies publish little blurbs drafted by adoptive parents that wish to separate themselves from their adoptive children. Beneath Landon's picture, 8 years old, this is what it reads:
"The arrival of this hyperactive child is not what we expected."

Another face, another story, and another comment:
"Abby needs a house with parents that are calm and patient to help her."

All these posts are perfectly legal and regulated.
This lawyer explains that a home study and backgrounds checks suffices to carry out the transfer of a child between 2 adoptive families, with no intervention from public authorities.

SOT (Christine Thurman, Lawyer specialized in Family Affairs) : "What we're seeing is a trend for 2nd chance families. Apparently they'll want to take on someone with a level of confidentiality, they do not want people to know that there is a new child. After the first child [in the case of a first adoption] there's often a lot of celebration, and then the child just disappears."

Once a child has changed homes, an agency that has been certified by social services comes to make sure that everything is in order.

This couple has re-adopted this 8 year old girl.
Marian is the one who had linked the 2 families up, took care of the transfer procedures and now routinely makes sure the child is doing ok.

SOT (Marian Huet, Director, Love & Hope, Adoptive Services) : "It's very safe."
This disruption from adoption practice remains fairly marginal . And apparently nobody seems to blame families for going back on their decision to adopt a given child.

SOT (Vanessa Smith, 2nd adoptive mother) : "They get a child who is really "damaged" or "hurt", often from abroad and they don't know much about the child or the environment he grew up in."

SOT (Marian Huet, Director, Love & Hope, Adoptive Services) : "It's better to have a re-adoption than staying in a home where it is not working. It's like being in a very bad marriage where people stay together for the wrong reasons."

In the US, the number of readoptions is not limited. In other words, a child can change adoptive families several times, before he reaches the age of 18."



Posted by Shannon

Best of Facebook: September 2015

9/1/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

I have been admiring all the cute "back to school" photos on my news feed so when we had the opportunity I had to take our own! Our homeschool co-op started back up today. Yay!!!

Once a week 11 families (46 students) meet up at a church 2 blocks from our home. The kids get to divide up into age groups and enjoy their friends (and practice patience to those who are not yet friends) while the moms each teach a 30 min class in History, Geography, Literature, Science, Latin, Bible, Art and Music. Us home bound mamas also get some socializing in which is one key mommy-sanity-saver in my book :)

The kids kept expressing how much they wanted everyone to meet Brittney at least once so I made the decision to keep her home today to attend our co-op with us and meet all our new and old friends. It was a little overwhelming for her as new places always are so I am sure she will be glad to be back at her school tomorrow in her small class of seven.

9/4/15: Click here to see photo of FB:

As the mama of a little boy that melts my heart and causes it to overflow I have been watching all the racial wars in disgust. What if a white man pulls a gun on my son simply because the color of his skin not knowing that my son doesn't see color and loves both his white sister and brown sister fiercely! My son's life matters! What if a black man pulls a gun on me simply because of the color of my skin not knowing that I don't see color and love both my white kids and my brown kids as if they came from my body! My life matters! Fighting on either side of the race war is fighting with the very same weapons you are trying to fight against! Using hate to fight hate crimes is only going to cause more pain and more hate to spread. Try to fight with the only weapon that will conquer, LOVE, because love never fails!

If a white officer treats a person, who happens to be black, wrongly then go to their police station and serve them, pray for them, pray with them, love them. Next time they see a black person your kindness will be what they see, love will conquer hate. If a black person treats a person, who happens to be a white officer, wrongly then go to their black community and serve them, pray for them, pray with them, love them. Next time they see an officer your kindness will be what they see. Love will conquer hate.

We could also all use a lesson in obedience to authority. Citizens need to obey men and women put in uniform for our protection and justice. And people in uniform need to obey God, who is the ultimate authority and will be their judge. God commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves! Both black and white men and women are our American neighbors so love them and treat them how you would like to be treated!

‪#‎ALLlivesmatter‬ ‪#‎blacklivesmatter‬ ‪#‎whitelivesmatter‬ ‪#‎policelivesmatter‬‪#‎supportblue‬ ‪#‎backtheblue‬

9/7/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

Let me tell you a story, a story of a simple birthday and how we so simply take them for granted. 

About three months ago Brian and I were out on our weekly
Wednesday date night. We ate at Firehouse and were talking and just plain enjoying each other when we overheard a young man who worked there talking to his co-workers. Some of the details in what he was saying sounded strikingly similar to the lives of our children. My interest was pricked but I wasn't going to mosy up the counter and be like, "Hey, I am a stranger, a stranger really good at eavesdropping, can you tell me your life story?" We continued our dinner until this same young man came to our table to take our trays. I gently nudged, "I couldn't help but overhear you talking, did you say 'when you lived at the group home'?"

This young man, let's call him Swag, he very eagerly sat down at our table with us and told us his whole story. He was so open and not ashamed of his past. He told us about life growing up in a boy's group home then aging out of the fostercare system when he was 18 because he was never adopted. In his group home years he struggled with anger and depression but a very faithful counselor helped bring out his God-given potential and helped him look on the bright side of life, showed him what his life could look like. That counselor also served this young man, with no parents, after aging out occurred. She helped him get his first job, took him shopping and celebrated his birthday with him.

Sadness covered his face as he told us she had moved away this year and he missed her greatly, she was like the family he didn't have. He quickly gained his enthusiasm back and continued sharing about his life with us. God very clearly pricked my heart to give this young man our phone number and told him to call whenever he needed some "family time" like at Christmas or Thanksgiving or even a card on his birthday.

We left the restaurant inspired by all this young man had overcome yet still had joy on his face. I turned to Brian, "I wish I had asked him his birthday." To which my husband, with the memory of an elephant, responded, "Babe, he said it when he told us his age, it is coming up on September 7th." I quickly saved the date in my phone calendar because with the memory of Dory the fish I knew it would slide off my radar by the time we got buckled into the car.

Well, today was Swag's birthday, my handy little smart phone reminded me. Because I don't have my mommy act together most of the time I didn't bake him homemade cupcakes but a cake from Publix with "Happy Birthday Swag" sufficed. A balloon bouquet and a card from the Dollar Tree completed our little, simple birthday surprise. The kids were so excited as he lit up with surprise and hugged us over and over and over!

It is surprising the love Jesus can grow in our hearts for a complete stranger so quickly. As our kids grow up and we age we hope to never retire from loving all of God's children. In our future we hope to become family for many young men and women at risk of aging out, no one should have to face this life alone! We love you Swag and wish you the best of birthdays!

9/9/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

Enjoying a late night swim! We are in Orlando attending the DCF Child Protective Summit Conference. We were so blessed to be offered a free scholarship to stay and attend and boy are these country kids cute walking around the Ritz Carlton with their mouths gaping open, "Gee mom, this is sure fancy!" LOL

And we are super looking forward to this Friday when we stand before a judge and make Brittney ours forever!

9/11/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

<3 Introducing Anna Brittney Carroll!!! <3

Severe medical neglect brought her into fostercare 8 years ago but today ADOPTION changed her future forever!!! Adoption isn't second best. Adoption isn't plan B. Adoption is the very heart of God! We adopt because we were adopted!!!

"In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:5-6

9/14/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

This morning a neighbor, who I didn't remember meeting, stopped by and dropped off a bag of sheets and a card signed by several members of our tiny community. The giftcard was overwhelmingly thoughtful and such a blessing of provision for us! They said it was "a thank you for what we bring to the neighborhood" but our neighbors bless us far more than we could ever return! Thank you ladies!

9/16/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

A special treat for six of our kiddos (our Britt is at her school) because this morning they all sat quietly and contentedly by themselves in a busy waiting room while I accompanied Brian during his doctor's appt.

Three weeks ago we found a mass that was very concerning. After two weeks of monitoring by our doctor he wanted to rule out the possibility of cancer so he referred Brian to a specialist. Even though the possibility of cancer has been buzzing in our heads God had given us a sweet peace during that two week wait. Only last night did my anxiety break through causing me to worry what would I do if I lost my rock of a husband. God answered, "you'd have to continue to trust and rely on your rock of a Savior."

Well, the specialist today gave us the news we had been praying to desperately for, the mass is absolutely nothing to worry about! Praise God! This experience has made us all think of our time together much more dear, reminded us to cherish every moment of our short time here and renewed us to live and serve Christ to the fullest with all our being!

9/19/15: Click here to see photo album on FB:

Today was National #TalkLikeAPirateDay so yesterday we spent about 4 hours whipping up some piratey costumes for my seven scallywags, I even made a parrot from old socks, felt and glue. We picked up Pirate Nanny and looted Krispy Kreme of their donut booty. Then we made a few stops and shared the wealth with some heros in our community, the fire department, the police department and, the unsung hero of this family, daddy!

9/24/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

In the never ending drama saga that is our life we recently had a mama cat and three kitties dropped off on our farm. Today we brought them all to our vet for their spay/neuter surgeries before we find them homes or they live out their lives on our 7 acre homestead. Since the big kids are at band class and Britt is at school it was just me and my little helpers picking them up. Maggie and Ty were so excited to not be overshadowed by the big kids, they have their opportunity to show off what big helpers they could be. "Can we carry Cheddar, please mom?" I gave in, went over the importance of walking slow and not dropping the kitty then stepped back to put some trust in my little ones.

We made it halfway through the vet office before an older customer grabbed the cat carrier out of their hands, "I'll help you to the car! At this rate it will take you forever and you don't want them to drop it." I looked down at two defeated little faces. "Yes, you are right, if I allow them to help it will take longer than if I did it myself and there is a small chance that they will drop it." I backed up and grabbed two lollipops off the jar at the front counter, "But my little ones here are such great helpers and they want to show me how big they are! I don't mind it taking longer, we aren't in a rush and they will do a great job, thank you for your offer, but I trust my little helpers to carry the kitty out to the car." Confused she put t he carrier back down and we slowly but surely made it safely out to the car. Two very proud smiles happily ate lollipops on the car ride home.

As I watch these babies grow into big kids before my eyes I have learned I must not keep them from an opportunity to succeed and be praised due to a risk of failure. Time and time again they are ready and able to do far more than what I think they are capable of. They are growing up way too fast! :'(

9/27/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

A memory from one year ago today! "We love our adopted kids best when we choose to love their parents!"

Today we attended a wedding. We sought counsel and over and over were advised not to attend. We were told it wasn't safe. People believed that it would be confusing. Brian and I prayed, as we usually do, that we would be open to God's direction even if it went against all human wisdom (there was a time we received the same negative counsel by well meaning Christians about accepting a 4th, 5th and 6th child into our family).

After seeing the tears stream down her face and the joy she expressed at the sight of the blond 3 year old she gave birth to, God confirmed we had listened well. I am so thankful God grabbed ahold of my heart and led me courageously to attend Maggie's birthmom's wedding. I wasn't condoning her life choices but choosing to show her love and grace regardless of her behavior. God gave an overwhelming peace to my heart that no fear of man could shake. He had also orchestrated perfectly that in Maggie's "too big clothes bin" sat a beautiful flower girl dress that had been given to us when she was only an infant. It was too pretty to pass along before she could use it and when we dug it out it fit perfectly as if it was waiting there just for this moment!

Adoption is a unique journey and at times confusing. This little girl that I have raised and adore was not grown in my body. I will forever share her with another mother. While that thought could consume some with sadness it reminds me that it isn't love being shared as in separated but shared as in combined. My baby girl is loved twice! And when I adopted this little girl, I was not just given a daughter to love, but her mother to love also! We love our adopted kids best when we choose to love their parents!

9/27/15: Click here to see photo on FB:

The mooing outside my window was unrelenting. The cow would not be quiet. Although I have strep and am on quarantine and bedrest I snuck outside, "What Buttercream?" I asked as I pet the top of her head. "MOO!" She bellowed. I went into to fence and began massaging her head, neck and back. I had missed being outside at all yesterday due to my sickness and somebody wasn't happy about a missed massage. Then a nudge came from behind where three beautiful ponies were letting me know they were there and waiting for their turn. As I continued massaging each pony our herd of goats, Dolly the donkey, our two Pyrenees, 3 cats, our pigs and Bruce the goose were at my feet pushing ahead in line for their turn to be held, pet and loved on.

It was beginning to rain as I finished up loving on each animal. "Mom, get inside you are going to get more sick!" Since I now smelled worse than a wet goat and my pajamas were covered dirt I took a long hot shower. Now I am snuggled up with an awesome book and some hot tea. As for the Buttercream, she is content and quiet.

Thankful for a hubby that can take over when I am sick, but the cow says farmers don't get a day off. ;)

Posted by Shannon

Feels Like A Mansion! Before and After Home Photos Part One

We are home! At least we know this is where God has us for hopefully a LONG while because moving just plain stinks! We have been on an up and down financial roller coaster for years. It feels like we are nearing the end of this ride with debt freedom in sight! We are SO close and finally relaxing from a month of very intense labor!

To recap, in June 2013 we put our big, beautiful $260,000 mortgaged house up for sale and purchased a raw 7 acre property. Then in Dec. 2013 our house sold more quickly than planned and God orchestrated details that resulted in us moving into a 600sqft trailer on 4 acres. Click here for more about that story: Debt Free Here We Come! Surprisingly we fell in love with that tiny home and were quite content our year there (although we are putting it up for sale shortly). Now we have just finished moving again!

To recap on our most recent move, we found and bought a foreclosure/repo 1904sqft doublewide mobile home for $11,500. We had it moved to our paid off 7 acre property for $6000. Permiting ended up costing $2000 and septic installation was $4000. Thankfully we our electric and water were hooked up by the county for free! We moved in Christmas Eve and shortly after Brian's awesome brother flew in to help us with the load of repairs. Click here for more details on our move: Move in Progress. This move has held blessing after blessing as we see God care for our every need and desire!

After tons of work moving our family and farm, now we are all settled in and loving it!

  

Now for the first half of before and after photos of our new home!


This is from the front door. This floor was horribly stained and this room smelled heavily of cat pee, yuck! After lots of cleaning, sanding and sealing we were able to install this beautiful new floor which was donated to our family from Flooring USA!

You can really see just how bad the floor was from this angle. This 400sqft dining/living room is HUGE compared to our previous tiny 600sqft house! How how I have missed having a couch and a living room. I still cannot believe it is mine!

Our dining/school room, the table and hutch were given to us by Nanny Diane and the hutch is full of homeschool and craft supplies. The bulletin board and cork board-turned felt board were from thrift stores.

Our living/tv room, all the stuff in here was from four local thrift stores in town. The huge reclining, sleeper sofa sectional was $150, the tv stand was $25, the coffee table was $15, the awesome picture was $10 and dresser to hide all our kids books, cds and dvds was free on the side of the road! That is $200 for everything!

From the living/dining room you enter the kitchen. We ripped up the peeling sheet laminate and were able to replace it with peel and stick laminate tile that we carefully pulled up from the master bedroom. 

Is this seriously my kitchen!?! I mean really, did you see the blog post showing our tiny house's kitchen? I am in love!

I just love the kitchen island! I can move around without stepping on all the little people that surround me! That black dishwasher in the before picture had a mouse nest bigger than a watermelon inside and smelled awful. I wasn't even going to try to clean it! The very moment we opened it up and saw the nasty surprise inside my phone dinged with a text message. It was from a friend saying their neighbor was needing to get rid of a working dishwasher since they were upgrading to stainless steel applicances and she asked if we needed it. God knows our needs before we do!

Another amazing "God provides" story right here. We needed a fridge. Brian had the perfect fridge picked out, a double door, freezer drawer, stainless steel fridge, but there was no way it was going to happen with the $2000 price tag. I convinced him to settle temporarily for a cheap, used one until we saved the money. We went by our favorite thrift store for appliances and lo and behold the EXACT make and model fridge he wanted was there for only $600. It was as if God picked it up and dropped it there the moment we walked in. Just amazing!

I just love this tile counter top. Maggie and Ty can almost always be found at those barstools while I am cooking in the kitchen.

Okay now if you didn't hear me the first time, I have SO missed having a living room and now I have, not one but, two! This is what the kid's call the "adult living room." I call it the fireplace room. :)

We are pretty excited about the fireplace! It is a working wood burning fireplace and we have never had one before.

So you know you want to hear more about God's amazing provision! Every piece of furniture in this room, the piano, the sleeper loveseat, the papasan chair, the four swivel rockers, and the five barstools, were FREE! Some from local thrift stores that know and love our family, some from friends and others from the side of the road. The rug Nanny gave us and the picture was from my parents ages ago. Oh, and here is a close up of our colorful schedule there on the wall next to our bedroom door. I got the idea from this book Managers of Their Homes and a trashed dry erase board.

Last room I have to share today is our laundry/mud room. There is also an enterance door here and this is where we mainly enter, kick off our farm boots, hang up our rain coats and throw dirty clothes straight into the washer. This is also were we store our animal feed and outdoor equipment in bins since we don't have an outdoor shed. It is nice having a real laundry room opposed to the washer and dryer next to the fridge.

Part two is coming soon and will include bedroom and bathroom photos!

In other news

Since we are settled in and loving our new home, we thought it was a good time to get our adoption homestudy updated (as it expired just before our move in Dec. 2014). Let me remind you we committed long ago as new Christians that we would put family planning in God's hands. We committed to do nothing to prevent or promote pregnancy and the same goes for adoption. While we don't prevent adoption by not renewing our homestudy and not being available, we don't promote it either. We do not actively seek children to adopt.  

As soon as we scheduled our adoption social worker to come our for a home visit we received a call from a case worker in Orlando with Wendy's Wonderful Kids. She wanted to match us with a little girl, Brittany, that has spent 8 years in foster care with developmental delays and asked if we would be interested. We committed long ago at the beginning of the journey that we would say yes to any call we received about a child. We would consider the call not from a man but from God.

Picture from Brittany's online profile at adoptuskids.org, click here for her full profile.

Well, of course, we said yes. Honestly, with much fear at first. But God is quickly turning that fear into great excitement! We are just about done with all the checklist items for our adoption homestudy to be complete, 23 page application filled out - check! And signiture page Notarized - check! Four character reference forms handed out to friends - check! Dr. physicals for Brian and I - check! Home visit completed- check! Fingerprints done- check! Kid's physicals scheduled - check! This coming Sunday and Monday we will be driving to Orlando, FL to meet Brittany for the first time and attend a staffing with all her fostercare, adoption, medical and therapy professionals present so we can better grasp what her needs are and learn how to best care for her. The same way we have made a commitment to love our kids, before they came, and regardless of their abilities, health, race or behavior, so have we already committed our hearts to love Brittany regardless of the challenges! But that is a blog post for later :) 

Posted by Shannon

Soli Deo gloria - Glory to God alone

Has It Been Two Years Already!?! Happy Adoption Day Anthony, Mirabel and Risa!!!

Two years ago we adopted three siblings that would change our lives forever!

(Photo Commentary: May 2012 taken at the school they grew up in after their adoption)

Happy Adoption Day Anthony, Mirabel and Risa!

These three siblings joined us on June 11th, 2011 in foster care, almost three years ago!

(Photo Commentary: June 2011 taken the first day in our home)

It was a hard road of training, teaching and choosing to show love in the difficult and trying times. It has been a road of earning and learning to trust. A road of loving and being loved. A road paved with tears, prayer and laughter. A road that I would travel again 10,000 times to make them mine!

(Photo Commentary: December 2012 taken in Gatlinburg, TN)

We have learned many lessons along the way. Grown in our knowledge of disorders, behaviors, grief, loss and needs. We made it our goal to point them to the one true Counselor and Physician for ALL their healing. To show them their great need of a Savior. To show them the lovingkindness of Jesus in our words and deeds!

(Photo Commentary: March 2013 taken in Gatlinburg, TN first time seeing snow)

 

We have all been down a road of so much healing that our mended hearts are closely knitted. These children have taught me so much about kids, about love and about myself! They have pushed me closer to my Jesus and given me a joy unspeakable!

(Photo Commentary: April 2013 taken on the Wizard of Oz parade float)

These kids have shown me God's amazing healing power! He has made Himself so much more real to me as He faithfully renews my children's hearts to trust again, to love again, to live again! I post a lot about my very real struggles as an adoptive mama. (Click here for Healing in the Hurt)

There is always hope! Here is my proof! My kids and my struggles were healed over time through the grace and love of Jesus Christ!

(Photo Commentary: November 2013 taken while making homemade applesauce)

On May 30th, 2012 moments before we walked into the courtroom to adopt our first sibling group of three I wept. Not tears of joy. Tears of sorrow. I had so much worry. Worried that I would never be able to help these three children with all their labels and behaviors. Worried that they would never be able to heal. Worried that they would never know the Lord. Worried that they would never be able to give or receive love. I cried tears of fear, not of hope. I was right, I couldn't heal my kids, only Jesus could. My kids labeled with RAD, PTSD, ADHD, and ODD, that failed and got suspended and were delinquent in school and at home, have become NEW. No amount of medications, counseling, therapies or treatment centers can heal them. Although we have used all of those tools at different points in our journey. Only Jesus can take away their hurt heart of stone and give them a new, healed heart made of flesh.

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26

They are healing despite our parenting mistakes and ignorance as we try to be the committed family, with unwavering structure, with consistent guidance and with the endless love that they desperately need. I remember feeling so ill-equipped for so long. Asking "why me?" over and over. I know now why God chose me, not for me to help them but for Jesus to help me. Jesus wanted to teach me more about Himself and the joy of joining in another's suffering. If we don't see the suffering, how can we see the transforming healing?

(Photo Commentary: May 2014 taken in honor of their 2nd Adoption Anniversary)

We are by no means perfect, and neither are our children. We are just a normal, crazy family. We are just parents raising children with childish hearts that still need love, direction and guidance. But we strive to seek the Lord in all things and live to glorify and honor Him alone! We praise God for these children that have strengthened and grown our faith as we walked obediently trusting the Lord. Although we had no idea what was in store, we adopted them and learned what unconditional and unshakable love truly meant! Nothing can separate our hearts from theirs! Adoption is FOREVER!

 

Posted by Shannon
Soli Deo gloria - Glory to God alone