Best of Facebook: November 2016

11/8/2016: Click here to see photo slideshow on FB:

With all the stress I am seeing during this election let's lighten it up with some adorable pictures of our mama hen and her new babies!

We were walking inside and a chicken was laying under our porch. I looked, shook my head, and yelled to one of the kids, "hey, come catch this chicken and put her back in the fence!" Just as I am setting down my keys ready to sit for a short moment I hear what sounds like a thousand feet come trampling in. I can feel myself beginning to boil over because they were disturbing my very momentary peace with their elephant stampede and obviously not catching a chicken like I asked. I took a deep breath and just as I was about to let out my tirade they interrupted, "MOM! MOM! MOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!! You have to come SEE!!! Don't ask, just COME!"

This better be good.

And it was. That chicken I was disgruntled with was also trying to get some peace away. But for different reasons than I. She wasn't wanting a selfish escape like me. No, under her puffed up feathers she was keeping, not one, not two but, eight tiny babies warm. While I was ready to scatter all my kids hearts in the cold by yelling in my selfish frustrations this hen was keeping all her babies warm and so close that all their little hearts and hers beat as one.

I grabbed my camera and the kids and I all laid flat on our bellies in the dirt gathering close to capture in our memories the beauty of new life.

11/9/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

Let's spend more time being light in the darkness and less time pointing out the fact that it is dark...

We were all up far too late last night watching as polls come in. We woke up in a new day in the same world. We woke up with the same call to love our neighbor in a very immoral world run by immoral leaders.

Our new president isn't going to personally free the oppressed, help the suffering and feed the hungry but we can. Sharing love, helping others and spreading the gospel of Jesus is our command. Let's focus more on being the light in darkness and less on pointing out the darkness.

"If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."
Isaiah 58:10-11

11/10/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

We had the opportunity to teach friends how to process a sheep their family raised. We spent hours skinning, cutting and grinding meat. We were able to pray over the preciousness of life, learn about the intricate anatomy God created and express great thankfulness for the meat He provided.

It was a process that makes you express a multitude of emotions and one in which many of us are very disconnected with. Everytime it is a somber reminder that we are all created for a purpose. A purpose, not to live the "American dream" (focused on our own prosperity and what president will give us the most of it) but, to give up ourselves up to serve others.

We all know the verse:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

And God in flesh being our example we are to be imitators of God: "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." Ephesians 5:1-2

So our reminder: "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." 1 John 3:16

11/13/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

"Forgiveness looks wrong in the eye, it names wrong for what it is and feels the sting. Then it consciously acts "unfairly" in return. Anger is all about fairness. But forgiveness is mercifully unfair. You choose not to give back what seems fair, just or reasonable.

Forgiveness does not ignore what's wrong. It does not excuse it. It does not pretend the person didn't really mean it. Instead, it recognizes that a debt is owed and it forgives the debt.

Forgiveness means you don't get what you deserve. Because God is "unfair," we have hope. Instead of fairness, you get someone who is deadly serious about wrong but acts on your behalf in ways that are inconceivably unfair."
- Good and Angry by David Powlison, pg. 80, 81

"The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;" Dan. 9:9

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace" Eph. 1:7

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8

11/21/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

Goodness, look at this little lady! Some days I just can't believe that my youngest baby is five. This morning I was going thru and donating lots of clothes when Maggie liked one of my knee-length skirts. So we quickly added a little elastic waist band to fit her and it turned out adorable!

11/25/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

So proud of our sweet AnnaBritt girl! When we first put her on Cherrio, our mini horse, she yelled, "off...off...OFF!" She was afraid, had no balance and would slip off from side to side as the horse walked. I would have to walk with her and hold her on to reassure her she could do it.

Now she uses her feet in the stirrups to balance herself as the horse's natural sway tilts her body gently from side to side and she uses her hands to clasp the saddle horn and hold on as she rides. But best of all she loves it! Smiling, laughing and cheering all the way   She don't let her Cerebral Palsy get her down!

11/27/2016: Click to see post on FB:

Amen! Posted by my super friend with 15 kiddos (12 adopted)!

11/28/2016: Click here to see photo on FB:

The last post we shared caused a little rift so let me see if I can clarify. Christians like to throw around the word "calling" like Jesus will audibly express His great call for your life one day. This misconception leaves many young Christians I talk to confused and often thinking they aren't "called to ministry" or the "missed their calling." When the Bible uses the word "called" it is almost always referring to God calling His people to Himself through salvation.

Once we are saved we are no longer called but commanded to minister to fellow believers, to share the gospel and to love (in an active way by doing) all the people God created. Some Christians are not called to minister and share and love....we are ALL commanded to. How each of us uses the gifting God endowed us with will look different. Different not non-existent. For if our service to others is non-existent we are called, excuse me, commanded to examine ourselves! See 2 Peter 1:1-15

The most unloving thing to do is to sit by and let our churches continue to flow at lukewarm temperatures. God says, "you were neither hot nor cold so I spit you out of my mouth." If there were no homeless people to be found on the streets, if every sick and lonely patient in the hospital or nursing home had a visitor, if hunger and thirst was not something people knew deeply, if babies and children were no longer languishing in overcrowded institutions and orphanages then this post would have no ground. Where are our churches?

I will speak up. I see these little ones without mommies and daddies. Too many. I see these little ones growing up knowing more about hurt, pain and loss than about love, joy and gain. Too many. I see these little ones wondering why has God not loved me enough to send me a family. Too many.

But many more are the Christians I see. Churches full with many mommies and daddies. Many who have a little joy to share, a little more love to share and an eternity of gain to share. Many I see could be a family for a little one....but many say they are not called.

This is not a judgment declared. This is an observation proclaimed. We adopt, not because we were called, but because we were adopted. In other words, we actively love because we were actively loved.

Posted by Shannon

Best of Facebook: December 2015

12/1/2015: Click here to see post on FB:

Did you know Kid president was adopted? Shared an article: Kid President's Path to Awesome!


12/4/2015: Click here to see photo on FB:

I am DONE! 40+ hours of a novice sewing with no pattern, just winging it with some flannel fabric, thread and a machine and I do believe they turned out pretty good! Now just to sew big yellow elf shoe covers....so correction, I guess I am super close to done....

About a week ago my old boss asked if me and the kids could be on their float in the City's Winter Festival Parade held downtown tomorrow. Of course! Dressed as elves and reindeers? Absolutely! Could you make the costumes if we covered material? Sure, I said quickly sentencing myself to a week chained to my sewing machine, eating far too much chocolate icecream and beating my head against the wall.

Well, it wasn't that bad....and they are pretty cute! ;)

12/5/2015: Click here to see photo on FB:

We have been selling at a craft fair all day. The kids worked hard for weeks on making things to sell. Ty made one necklace out of big plastic multi-colored beads and asked if he could sell it for $5. "Sure, buddy, you can try!" I said secretly skeptical. After he got his nerve up to ask a passerby, "I made this myself, would you buy it for $5?" he endured his first rejection. His very tender heart was broken almost to the point of tears. I was getting up to suggest he lower his asking price to $1 or 50 cents. But as I was getting up he calmed down and asked the next stranger who passed by. She kneeled down, "just because you made it all by yourself I would love to buy it from you for $5." Tyman was beaming, "Thank you! I am going to buy a Christmas gift for my mom!" Melt. My. Mama. Heart!

12/5/2015: Click here to see photo album on FB:

Our kids were asked if they could attend our city's annual winter festival parade dressed as elves and reindeers on the parks and rec parade float. Of course! For a week (like 50+ hours) I sewed elf and reindeer costumes! These memories will last forever!!!

12/6/2015: Click here to see photo on FB:

During this busy shopping season don't forget to stop and hug someone!!! My tiny man with a huge heart asked if he could hug people. He wrote the sign himself and let me tell you the ladies are loving it! ;)

12/6/2015: Click here to see photo on FB: 

Brittney is enjoying herself while the parade is going!

This is my favorite photo from the parade on Saturday night! I was almost in tears walking behind the float, hearing the cheers from the crowd, and watching this little girl light up and rock to the music.

This little girl who was once cooped up in a hospital room but now she gets to experience life and live it to its fullest! This little girl who was once kept away from fun events due to her illnesses but now she is rocking out, not watching a parade but IN one! This little girl who was once hidden away in a medical foster home but now she is celebrated for her uniqueness and tremendous JOY she brings to everyone! Love you, my Britt Britt girl!

12/8/2015: Click here to see photo on FB:

My hubby really, really, really LOVES me! Merry early Christmas to me!!!
Now my 2 teens are fighting over who gets my old Sony Cybershot camera....hmmm... :)

12/9/2015: Click here to see photo on FB: 

We get a lot of hate. Yep, us, I know! ;) Called "fundie" and "crazy" and some things worse. That is okay. One of the biggest thing we read on the sites that bad-mouth us is that they can't get over our creepy age gap to see any good in us. Because my hubby is just plain awesome and the greatly unsung hero of our family I am going to tell you the story of our age gap here.

My hubby did meet me when I was 14 but for three years I dated other young boys. The older college guys at work called me "jail bait" and often joked that I was only good for one thing. I had a pretty face but I was shy (I did go to public school, but my friends nicknamed me "mom" because I was always trying to keep people out of trouble). It was Brian that would bring me a lemon pie when I was crying in a booth after being made fun of again and encourage me that they don't know what they are saying. I don't believe it was to win any affections of mine, he was also dating 20-something year olds closer to his age. It wasn't creepy because he would do the same for a 80 year old woman or a 15 year old boy if he say them hurting. His goal in life is to see you smile. He has never been anything to anyone but the goofy, nice guy that purposes to make your day great. He was everyone's best friend. It wasn't just me. Brian eventually moved away and life went on. My new manager cared about only one person, himself, work wasn't fun anymore and the guys were still being guys. After getting out of a terrible relationship it was me who instigated a renewed friendship with Brian. I told him, "I need to find someone like you. Someone who is just plain kind." In my mind, though, I wanted Brian in the younger, hotter form. We both knew with me being 17 and him 28 that we were not compatible. Being long distance we purposed to ask each other 3 questions every day on AIM. Like where did your father work? or what is your favorite ice cream flavor? After a month we were running out of questions, we had asked almost 200 by that time. The more we found out about each other the more we looked forward to the next chat time. I remember distinctly standing in my kitchen doing the dishes when a thought the size of a brick hit me, "I don't need to find a guy like Brian. I need to allow myself to love Brian."

We chose to overlook the age gap then and I am so thankful now. This man is still the same. He is a people-pleaser (yet I have made him say "no" more often) and he has made me friendlier. He is my laugh at the end of a hard day and teddy bear arms always waiting for any moment I need an embrace. And I wouldn't trade his big, comfy warmth for rock hard abs anyday! I haven't ever heard a co-worker say anything but he is an awesome guy to work with, he can make anything fun. And if you are a customer at his store Brian is the guy that you love yet you don't know his name, but he knows yours. Oh, and Brian doesn't get frustrated, like ever. Which is a breath of fresh air for me who has a pretty short fuse (God is slowly making it longer). He is the man that EVERYDAY, yes EVERYDAY, calls from work just to say, "I love you," see how I am doing, and tell me he misses me. He is the man who every day 7 kids rush to the door with ear-blistering squeals, "DADDY IS HOME!"

God has helped us overcome so many other things, bigger than our age gap, in our life that are outside the boundaries of "societal norm" like adopting 5 kids at once, adopting kids that were outside our comfort zone, living with infertility, giving up our luxuries in life so we could flee from debt, live within our means and spend more time with our kids and now learning how to farm and raise our own produce and meat. One thing is for sure, I couldn't have been on this crazy ride, called life, without my bestie and partner in crime, even if he is ancient! ;)lol

My Brian, babe, you will always be young and spry to me! :D

12/15/2015: Click here to see post on FB:

Memory from 4 years ago today:

"I put some of the kid's gifts under the tree today and Yukehily (Mirabel age 8), wide-eyed, said "how do you wrap a gift?" I didn't have a quick response and paused, then little LulI put some of the kid's gifts under the tree today and Yukehily, wide-eyed, said "how do you wrap a gift?" I didn't have a quick response and paused, then little Lulu (Risa age 5) said "this is the first time we had wrapped presents!" There is so much I take for granted like giving or receiving a wrapped gift."

"As I reflect on the past month it was a blur, I rushed through it, the prep, the work, the sickness, to get past the trials it held. I missed all the great moments sprinkled in the trials. I RESOLVE that I will be content in my trials so that the joy intertwined can shine through! I looked at our children's gleaming faces as they decorated our tree. This wasn't just a Christmas tree this was their 1st Christmas tree."

Ah, I love FB memories! We had been parenting 4 hurting children for about 6 months. Another infant, Titus who is number 5, will arrive in a few days. The trials continued and still continue but I am so thankful God gave me the resolve to hold close to my heart the joy in the trials!

Christmas is a heard season for kids from hard places. It is not you, mama. Keep loving, keep being firm, keep your heart open to the joy intertwined in the hard and snatch it out, hold it close and tuck it away!!! As the joy increases the hard has to shrink to make room for it so purpose to be joyful this season since in Christ your joy is complete!

12/17/2015: Click here to see photo on FB:

On our way to a dress-up birthday party!!! Happy 5th birthday to our friend Jubileeah Joy!

12/18/2015: Click here to see photo on FB:

That time that you don't have enough gas to get home but you are also in a princess costume....LOL

Life is short, keep your tank full and feel pretty! :D

12/19/2015: Click here to see photo on FB:

Yesterday we had such a sweet surprise. Brittney's Covenant Care team worked with another agency to adopt our family for Christmas and yesterday a van load of Christmas presents were lavished on our children. I have a ton of pictures of happy children going through their unexpected treasures but one moment topped it all. Risa's one request for Christmas was a saddle for her pony, Cherrio. I walked everyone into the room with their eyes closed and put them in front of the chair that held their unwrapped presents. Risa was so sweet and thankful for her new shoes and clothes and a teddy bear but as everyone settled they announced they had one more present, as Risa walked over we lifted a sheet covering a large stuffed horse with the most perfect saddle seated on it. "Oh! I might cry!" Risa gasped.

Today she got to ride her pony for the first time like a real cowgirl with a saddle and reins! Then she gave pony rides to her siblings and some friends. Too sweet!

12/27/2015: Click here to see photo on FB:

This girl brings us so much joy! At church today she was prancing around giddy laughing hugging everybody. You may get a little drool on your shirt but no one can turn down a Brittney hug when she flashes this smile!!! :)

Thank the Lord we said YES to this little girl! (PS, her dress is #LulaRoe dress we got her for Christmas! Isn't it just gorgeous on her!?!)

12/29/2015: Click here to see photo album on FB:

We love making pens and animal houses from old recycled materials! Here are some of our creations.

Happy repurposing!!!

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