Category Archives: Inspirational I love this band…but I have to say I just adore the families who make it up. They are authentic. They have hearts that beat to the Savior’s. And their song “Children of God” reminds me why families called to adoption jump through the hoops they do, why they wait for years for one, and […]  At the Created for Care retreat I opened up the weekend sharing what I believe I see the Lord doing…on behalf of orphans and widows throughout the world. I see God raising up men and women to follow Jesus into the unknown–to bring hope and healing to orphans and widows THROUGH OUT THE WORLD. Not […] Amazingly God inspired words,Andrea. Just today in my bible study we are i John 16 and we all talked about verse 33 ~ and here you are writing exactly what my past week has been meditating about…God winks at us …to me He through you has let me know He is with me as I cast my troubles and heart to Him. Thank you for inspiring all of us to be obedient and open to God’s blessings He has planned for us. Hope your little ones are as excited about the hope of Spring as my family. Thank you for this post…for many reasons!!! Trying to cast my cares upon the Lord and trust in his sovereign plan……. Andrea, Lovely as always. I am feeling so at peace after I tried to struggle with this alone and finally cast my nets to the Lord and now… I’ve never felt more at peace. strange..nope you and I know..Only God:) Love, Racelle Your words are like a soothing oil to my heart, my friend~ as I read your post before laying my head upon my pillow to pray, pray and PRAY some more for not only our future little one(s), but all of the children awaiting families in ET. I LOVE how God brings others alongside us to help endure the rocky road that the enemy creates, in effort to thwart God’s plan of adoption. YOU are one of those He has provided me along this blessed journey to our child or children, Andrea! THANK YOU for your heart! THANK YOU for sharing it’s beauty and love with us! May God bless you as you continue to walk in obedience to Him………. Beautiful and full of wisdom, Andrea. I enjoy the clarity I get when I read the words God has laid on your heart each day. I just wish I could find clarity in knowing when God is closing a door to open another one and HOW do you know that’s what he is doing and not testing your trust in Him? So well put as always, Andrea. My prayer is that even if we never are able to adopt, I will always be ready to be an encourager for anyone who is. You and others have shown me even more what a sweet blessing is found in following Jesus. Stay strong, my friend! 🙂 I think that whether you follow the lord or not, you will be met with nay-sayers. That is unfortunately life. But you always must be confident in what is best for you, and it sounds like you definitely were. Beautiful post Andrea- Kim Thank you. Just thank you. For being honest, but hope-filled in everything you say here on your blog. Thank you for telling your son’s story, for your obedience to God’s call, for your heart for widows, for orphans, for moms, for children in general…just thank you. I needed to hear this today. And probably will again tomorrow. And maybe the day after that… So thank you.  These past few weeks have been tough at our house–and one day I will share more…but right now–I’ll just say that the roller coaster ride of adoption doesn’t end when you bring your baby home. It just begins. But in a beautiful way…because that is when healing begins too. Healing though–is hard…especially for little ones […] Andrea, my heart ached for you as I read this post. Rejection by a child that you would lay down your life for is so painful. I am so glad that you let the Lord minister to your heart today. I know that you know this, but rejection is part of the bonding journey. Isaac pushes you away because he’s a baby and he can’t tell yo what’s going on. Grace is 4 and she can and does tell me. She tells me that she wants to go back. She tells me that she misses her Ethiopian mommy. She screams at night. And yet, as she pushes me away, I know that her little broken heart is just scared to trust, to love again. And so I keep loving her, as unconditionally as I can. And 14 months later, it’s better, so much better, and yet we still have our days. I’ll be praying that you will continue to lean on your Savior, to trust His timing. It will come….. Andrea, I am inspired by you as you hold on to God’s word and promise in these heart hurting moments. Even as we educate ourselves with books and seminars and know in our heads it is not “us”, it can beat you down. Rest in Him. (I don’t always take that advice). Thinking of you today. praying for you today, andrea. thank you for sharing this beautiful story…and your thoughts and struggles. Thank God for his hope. and his love. The way your little boys look at each other is so, so sweet. I am praying for you and Isaac. God has already done so much healing in your sweet boy’s life and I know He will continue the good work He is doing in Isaac’s life. I’m so glad you are able to truly experience God’s grace in your life right now. I pray things will get easier soon. I have often thought of Hosea during our adoption journey. A beautiful, frightening, painful, and redemptive image all in one. i was actually up in the night last night praying over hosea for you after reading your post on the listserv. your love is beautiful because it is HIS love. Andrea, you have always been such an encouragement to me. I learned to know you through “It’s a girl thing”. I have kept up with you and your little family. Your heart’s desire comes through loud and clear as I have read things about you. You’re a very “special Mommy” that God has placed in Isaac’s life AND God choose lil Isaac for you and your husband. No other one but YOU! God knows it would be difficult but He knew you would stick close to Him so He could carry you through each step. Your lil Frank must be such a sweetheart!!! Our children can teach us so much by the way they can be!!! God is good! I’ll be praying for you. Love this post! Mine are really close in age as well and close in their bond. I know what you mean about them teaching you how to love unconditionally, its pretty amazing. Love what the Lord is teaching you through Hosea. I needed to hear that today! I think I will always read that book of the Bible differently now. Thanks for the perspective. Andrea – I’ve been greatly encouraged by your posts this week. I’ve been making more of an effort to “get my silly” on and it has blessed our days. Silliness may be my daughter’s love language! Loved this post on Hosea. If God has shown many anything this year about parenting in the hard places, it has been to just simply love. Love and keep loving. I memorized 1 Corinthians 13 (the love adjectives part) and try to remind myself to love R that way everyday. It is impossible apart from Him, but He can enable me (and you) to love that way. Also, have you had a chance to listen to “Hope for the Hard Days” by Susan Hillis from the conference MP3’s? I attended that session and it blessed me greatly! Thanks again for taking the time to share. Love the book of Hosea and the picture of God’s love for us, and it so perfectly relates to what ya’ll are going through right now. Praying for ya’ll, Andrea! So very true. God’s Unfailing love doesn’t make sense to a world that does not get it. But to those that serve HIM we see it. We see it when we push God away and then cry out minutes later to be comforted….and God comes. We see it in our children that don’t want our love, but sooo desperately need it. We see it in everything around us…..love your thoughts Andrea…praying for you my dear friend….. I want to thank you for your openness. I have been praying for the many families who are adopting in our area right now because many are unaware of attachment parenting, sensory issues, & the emotional issues that they will need to be well versed in. I just found out about API Attachment Parenting International that has local groups perfect for adopting parents throughout the US. Here in the south the typical discipline style is just not right for adopted kiddos. Some families don’t understand & are going to be shocked when RAD surfaces between ages 7-9 in their children. It is so important for families to be prepared to use attachment parenting & occupational therapy from day 1 home. God is speaking through your transparency! Stay strong! Joshua 1:7-9 Love the way God speaks just what we need at just the right time! I was thinking of you today as I went to Hobby Lobby for the 1st time! I can see why you love that store. We are at an out of town BB Tourney and I had to stop quick to check it out!:)  As I’m working with an amazing team of adoption moms…WAY AHEAD of me–so full of experience and wisdom…on a VERY special pre-Summit event, I have been praying WHAT Lord do you have for these moms…WHAT do you want them to hear? I was praying today–and being ONE OF THOSE MOMS in the middle of it […] It is so funny that I got up at 4:30 this morning to get ready and decided I had a little time to get online. I open up your blog and see that verse and it sends chills down my spine. I got home from youth last night and was thinking as I was in the bed that we need to read the bible more at youth service, I do to. It’s been awhile since I read the bible. I get mine out just let it fall open and read the first verse I see, guess what it was? YEP, Matthew 11: 15-30. I think someone is trying to tell me something. And no recipe? 🙂 I’ve gotta learn how to make these with my kiddos. Sounded like similiar kind of days yesterday, except we made chocolate banana pops to freeze since we had lots of bananas and some chocolate to use up! 🙂 Fun times. Praying for you as you juggle all that you will today, Andrea! Thanks for the reminder to rest. I needed this reminder in the craziest of ways. Thank you for allowing God to speak through you! I need this today. I am feeling the weariness…. And example to follow. Celebrate and give thanks … even on the hard days. I was just about to send you an email and nag you about that info packet and thougt I’d stop by your blog first. So glad I did–no need for me to add demands to your busy life!! Just get around to it when you are able (but don’t forget about me–I’m still interested and my Hus-B is on board!) Great post, Andrea–words from Jesus that every busy mom needs to read and take to heart. And please do share the whoopie pie recipe! They look so yummy! xoxo Water to my soul. Thank you, Andrea – you minister to so many of us. I will be praying for you. Wow Andrea lately what you are posting feels directed at me. I am trying to fight the good fight to often alone. Today I am trying to get through what feels like a test of my faith. Thanks for taking the time to post this. Sincerely, Rachelle thanks for this today andrea! i need REST in the worst way. so much going on, sick kids, adoption that’s a hurry up, then wait… then more paperwork… then fingerprints again. so many things uncertain except for the love of my Savior. thanks for reminding me to rest in Him, because I’m a complete spaz without Him. Praying for you Andrea……..God knows…  If you are reading this–you are probably one of those moms that peaks at my blog because in some form you identify with our craziness. It’s a good crazy, right? You probably don’t really have “time” to sit down and read–but rather need a quick fix of encouragement…not necessarily from the words I write but […] What a great post – and you are right about knowing I can come here and am not alone in my crazy days! 🙂 I know I’ve mentioned this book before, but it’s all about really living and being thankful through everything, and this week Angie Smith did this blog post on writing down things that could be stressful moments, and choosing ahead of time what your reaction will be, complete with Bible verses. SO cool! You can check it out here – http://www.incourage.me/2011/02/chapter-7-of-one-thousand-gifts.html And I so get the hubby thing too with those thoughts. If only we could make our husband share every time we want to share – it would be so much easier to connect too! ha! 🙂 oh, and I’m SO going to get these ornaments ready for next year. I haven’t been able to find very many and have not had a chance to make them on my own – but it’s my project for this year so it’s ready for next year! 🙂 The “rectangles” Amy spoke of really impacted me as well. I like how you pointed out that the rectangles take us away from real living. It’s so true. I started praying about how God wants me to reposition my compass to focus on Him this lent. Love the “rectangles” analogy. We are good about limiting TV … but I blogging and books are a major distraction for me. |
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by admin
I love that song so much, but I hadn’t seen the video yet. Precious! Erica squealed to see her sweet friend Lucy on the screen at the end.
Thank you Andrea!!! I am FULL of cares today as we wait for what seems like forever for our Embassy appt. We LOVE Third Day!! Balm for my soul today…thanks
~Angie
OH man, when everyone started uncovering their “adopted” shirts I really lost it. So glad I’ve been adopted and redeemed by my Heavenly Father! Thanks for the beautiful reminder Andrea!
Mark Lee and his family go to our church! Love Third Day! Thanks for sharing!
Love this post! On my knees in prayer for Ethiopian adoptions!