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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

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So I pulled out the old faithful front door wreath that I made like 4 years ago. Yep…she’s still hanging in there. I like to decorate—but more than that…I like to save a buck. SO, as much as I wanted to copy Southern Living’s design for making fresh magnolia wreaths (after all I have 3 Magnolia trees…I put the stinking supplies in my cart online and WHOA…not gonna happen this year:)…instead I pulled out old faithful;). I mean, if you ask me–she still works. And what’s not to love about a wreath that you can stick a letter to Santa in for him to swing by and pick up at his convenience?! If it ain’t broke at the Young household…we don’t fix it;). I actually find pleasure in re-using!!! But I confess–I am always tempted to make new ones. But it’s like cheap jeans—really, no one notices;). I’m just sayin.

And my best find of last years Christmas sale…

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…a large nativity scene made out of wood (aka unBREAKable). This one is sweet, big and Laney LOVES lining up all the figures. And added bonus–I love that Mary is holding baby Jesus. Without fail, every nativity scene we own sweet baby Jesus always goes missing. I have found baby Jesus in pockets while doing the laundry, hidden in sock drawers and in game boxes. I had to smile when I saw Mary protecting Him in this one. It was on sale. It was unbreakable. And baby Jesus couldn’t be lost. I knew it was for us! (Special note to my friend Addie–I found our Little People Baby Jesus last night! I almost called you to tell you the good news;) I was so excited! I wanted to shout from the rooftops WE FOUND JESUS!;)

And talking about looking like Christmas–this picture doesn’t do this tree’s size justice. You can barely get in the door! Yes, THIS is the tree that FELL over during our devotional the other night! This is also the tree that wouldn’t fit in the room we bought it for. SO…it’s stuck in the foyer to welcome our guests…if they can get in;)

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Wanna see my new favorite ornament on that tree??? Our Aunt Nisia (my kiddos godmother) swung by today to wish princess Laney a happy day and brought this momma the sweetest new ornament for our tree! Everyone needs an Aunt Nisia! (Well, you have to find your own of course…she is one thing I am not willing to share;)

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Our Aunt Nisia is the BEST! She even brought Laney a Barbie doll today with some color;). A little trivia–Aunt Nisia was born in Africa and moved to the states as a child…how cool is that for our babies to have a cool connection with their godmother like that?! I love it! And to think Aunt Nisia and Uncle Rusty were our biological children’s spiritual godparents long before adoption was part of the plan! God is so cool like that:)[Just a side note for anyone who wants to know what a spiritual godparent is…it’s a person/couple that you trust to invest into the lives of your children–partnering you in raising them, praying for them and being a spiritual mentor that they can one day run to for advice when mommy and daddy aren’t so cool any more…another pair of arms to hug them, cheer them on and love on them—only they are committed to do this and invest regularly and INTENTIONALLY in their lives.] Thank you Aunt Nisia for another fun gift…you spoil us:) You are right…he does look like he is cheering and saying, “WOOT! I’m finally home!”

And a few more fun trees just because every room needs one at Christmas…

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Our stockings all hung by the chimney with care…(and a picture from Wiphan reminding us of our kids in Zambia)…looks like we need ONE more stocking and stocking holder…I’m PRETTY sure we’ll end up with a boy—but just because I’m NOT quite sure yet…because we are open to special needs and we might end up with a girl if a baby girl gets on the waiting child list before our number dwindles down to 1…I just can’t buy a stocking QUITE yet!
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(Today was Laney’s birthday…so she thought her stocking holder needed to wear her Celebrate hat today!)

So there ya go…we’re decorated (and we did it on a budget using all decorations from the past…well, minus all the turquiose ornaments on our big tree) and now we are ready…now the music is on…hot cocoa is brewing…time to sit back, relax and enjoy my sweet family!!! Although I’m curious what our new number will be this week…I’m letting the number go and just going to prepare for that baby here at home. I’ve pitched my fit, I’m accepting that we are with an agency that likes to honor birth order—and that I can’t swoop up any older child on the wait list that needs a home…and for SOME reason God wants us to WAIT and to wait on a 0-12 month old baby who needs a mommy and daddy. So, on a baby note–I got that really cute crib delivered here yesterday:)

Have a great week…we’ll be getting ready for a fun birthday party on Friday night for Miss Laney Loo!!!

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Jenn - December 2, 2009 - 7:01 am

really beautiful Andrea! wait on God and He will give you the desires of your heart (you just may not know what they are yet). praying and waiting right along side you!!!

Jenn

JonesEthiopia - December 2, 2009 - 9:37 am

The birth order issue. It was a burden for us, too. We had our hearts set on adopting an older child for our 2nd adoption… for a year that is what we thought we'd do. However, the agency didn't want us to go out of birth order either, and our daughter was just 15 months at the time. Ironically, as we were deciding that our hearts were open to an infant, that was about the same time that our sweet girl was born. So, although I feel your frustration, I am going to tell you to have faith in the process… When I saw my girl for the first time, I knew it was worth giving up what we thought we wanted for what we were really supposed to have for our family. (We're currentlky waiting to hear from our case manager to find out if we passed court last night!)

The Young Family - December 2, 2009 - 9:41 am

LOVE my adoption mommas and their encouragement. Seriously, you all are such a part of my heart. Thank you for your words of encouragement. XOXO.

The Siler Family - December 2, 2009 - 12:06 pm

Your pictures are beautiful! Btw – What do you mean by "birth order?

The Young Family - December 2, 2009 - 12:25 pm

Siler FAmily:) Birth order is just the order your kiddos were born and your adopted child's birthday too. So, if you have a 1 and 4 year old, you couldn't adopt a 3 year old or 6 year old with our agency as it breaks birth order. You can only adopt a child younger than your youngest child.

Kristi J - December 2, 2009 - 12:25 pm

so beautiful…love it…my favorite is the pic of the Zambia kids…beautiful!! kj

Angie Walter - December 2, 2009 - 7:56 pm

My sweet cousin just got me the same ornament…don't you love that the baby is chubby and happy! Me and my husband both just said we didn't really have a image in our mind yet of what our boy looks like, but he sees chubbyness and I see big cheeks! 😀 Oh girl please pray we see him soon! I am strugglin with being so close!!!

Today we…

 

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Somebody in our house TURNED “4” today!!!

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Happy Birthday baby girl! I am so thankful to have you as MY sweet love!!! FOUR things I love about you are…

1. I love how you dance EVERY day in the living room…with our WITHOUT music…you twirl in circles…you dance on your toes…my prayer is that you would dance through this life with the same joy you have now.

2. I love how you ask me to sing “your goodnight song” to you EVERY night…and how it is YOUR song…that WE made up…that NO ONE else has. “Goodnight sweetheart, close your eyes—goodnight, my princess, my darling. Lay down your head–in your princess bed…and sleep until the morning. Good night sweetheart…and dream the most glorious dream. Goodnight sweetheart…and sleep until the morning!”

3. I love how you listen to everything I say and how you record even the big words I use in that mind of yours…and how you try to use them yourself. I laugh when I hear your little voice say “eventually, exactly, completely, difficult, frustrating, amazing, incredible”…everything sounds sweeter out of your little voice. And I love the way you say gymnastics–“zhen-nas-tix”. Please, no one correct that one. I love it.

4. I love your mommy, caregiving heart. I love to watch you take care of others. When I ask you what you want to be when you grow up–you instantly say “A mommy”. And I love that already this is your dream and priority in life. You take such good care of your baby brother, Frank…and when Parker will act like a baby, you take such good care of him too;).

Happy Birthday to my big girl! Mommy loves you to pieces and pieces and more pieces!

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Adoption, they say, isn’t for the faint of heart

Someone told me that. I had heard it. But now I’m starting to really get it. And I’m afraid my agency should have had “faint of heart” on my physcial for my doctor to check off during my paper chase…because I think I might have had to check it. But since that wasn’t asked—we slid through…and now we wait. At 28. That rhymes;). Ok…that made me smile—which I needed…today has just been one of those days. And if you are a close family or friends…that is why you haven’t heard from me…today.

I wish I could explain what my heart is feeling today—and what it has been feeling all week. I pulled over today at a McDonald’s to step out of my van to cry so my three kids wouldn’t have to see mommy cry. While “Seeds Family Worship” blasted inside with 2 precious preschoolers and a baby–I sat on the bumper of my mini-van and cried. On the phone with me was my sweet Ethiopian AGCI case worker. She called to check in as she knew some of my heart’s heaviness. Sweetly she listened, agreed and identified.

I can’t really explain what my heart feels without writing a book. What I do know–which doesn’t feel like much–is that Richard and I feel called to bring a child home and my heart has begun to feel desperate for him. While I want to say, “We would like to consider and pray about EVERY child on the waitlist”…due to having a 12 month old baby, all the children ON the list, we do not qualify for. While I stand in line as family 28—I want to leave the line and say, “Hey, where’s the baby no one is waiting in line for? That’s the child I want! And the reason no one is standing in line for him…some may say it’s because of his special needs…but it’s really not…it’s because he is mine!!!” Yet, our agency requires you to maintain birth order. The Lord led us to this agency that requires that. And so…the wait continues. Although my heart LONGS. Is this how YOU felt LORD waiting on ME to accept YOU?! Did you cry in frustration longing for the wait to be over? Did you KNOW I would be YOURS one day—so you longed for me beyond anything anyone could imagine…yet you had to wait…although the wait didn’t make sense…your arms and heart were open…WIDE OPEN…and even with other children…you LONGED for me!!!! Thank you Lord for allowing me to understand Your love a little bit more. I don’t like it. But thank You.

There is more. A lot more. A lot more questions. Concerns. Unknowns. And we are praying for direction, confirmation and whatever the wait is with all of them. I don’t know much…but what I do know is how I feel about my child—so with that—a note to you.

My precious beloved son,

How we love and long for you!!! There isn’t a day, hour or even minute of my day that I don’t think about you and bringing you home. The Lord has done this! He has made me your mommy already—and in my heart I am already carrying you. Your sister Laney pitched a good fit today. And I had the right mind to join her. I wanted to kick and jump and up and down and say, “BRING ME MY SON! He belongs here with me!!! In my arms!!!!” But for YOU—I will WAIT! I will wait because I know one day I will look in your eyes as I hold you and I will say, “I WOULD HAVE WAITED FOREVER FOR YOU.” There were times when I was afraid I would do the wrong thing at the wrong time and might never find you, so daily I trust the Lord for His guidance. Can you believe how much you are loved?! Can you believe this mommy with 3 babies ages 5 years and under is completely and utterly uneasy and unsettled without YOU here!!! Can you believe how much God loves YOU to put YOU on your other mommy’s heart a WORLD away!!! When you meet me for the first time, I don’t expect you to love me right away. But know that I have loved for quite some time before I ever held you. (That will just explain later why I held you so tight when I finally got to hold you for the first time!) We can’t wait to finally have you home. And once you are here-we are family forever. There is nothing—absolutely nothing that could ever, ever, ever change our love for you. Nothing you could do, nothing you could say…no fit you could pitch like your sister today…could ever change our love for you. Before time began, the Lord knew the number of hairs on your head and all your days were numbered…and before we even met…we were utterly, hopelessly—tears running down my cheeks—madly in love with YOU.

And YOU are WORTH the WAIT.

Yes, I’ll even wait forever for you. But I’m hoping it’s much shorter than that:)

Love,
Mommy

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Amy - November 30, 2009 - 8:19 pm

I can really sympathize with how you're feeling. It is so hard to try and think about anything but my baby and it just doesn't seem like anyone in real life gets that! They all think I'm crazy!

Thankfully I have people in blogland who get it! I think the fact that referrals are slooooooow right now is making it worse.

I have felt really desperate with the waiting lately and I just know that after we get our referrals and have to wait for court dates and travel dates it is going to be so much worse. I honestly have no idea how I'm going to make it through this process.

Thank God for blogging friends who understand 🙂

missy - November 30, 2009 - 9:27 pm

i am sorry for the heaviness in your heart. i know this journey is full of joy and pain. it can be really confusing. i remember the longing. the adoption process lives out the truth of proverbs 13:12. hope deferred makes the heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. i look forward to the day when you will be able to say those sweet things to your son, face to face. until then, your love for him, as expressed in your longing, is beautiful albeit painful.

Kristi J - November 30, 2009 - 10:12 pm

great post…Ok, so i so can feel your pain…BUT I thought the worst heart ache..you know the kind like I can't wait one more minute or I might explode, was AFTER referral…knowing she was waiting for me…Oh, the heart ache!! but just like child birth, the pain is gone instantly when you meet your child for the first time…amazing how God does that 🙂 so excited to see WHO it's gonna be..AND keep watching that wait list..cause I saw many babies and children come through while I was waiting 🙂 And, they'd keep your birth order 🙂 hang in there, kj

starrchasers - December 1, 2009 - 9:19 am

Praying for you today… remember that, as you already noted, God knows your son, and He knows just the timing needed to bring your family together. I can't imagine being in your position (although we prayerfully hope to be someday soon!).

Are the referrals slow all around right now? Any reason for the delay other than the age restraints for your family?

Nikki

Beautiful Mess - December 1, 2009 - 11:33 am

This breaks my heart–I don't understand but I "get it" and I know our LORD knows EXACTLY what you are feeling.

Praying for you dear friend! As we are doing our Jesse Tree (thanks to you and another bloggy friend) we KNOW that God has begun this work in you and HE will be faithful to bring forth the ONE! Praising HIM in advance for the miracle of your SON (or daughter)!

Sweetly singing on the plains…GLORIA!

We are loving the most glorious time of the year in the Young household! I can’t wait to share our cute Christmas card, our holiday decorations…still working on our playroom tree:)…and to share Laney’s upcoming birthday. The princess will be 4 on Tuesday! She’s having an Ariel party on Friday night:)

I thought I’d share our most favorite hymn book for those of you who want to add this treasure to your library this season. We LOVE it! I have a traditional church hymnal, but I love this one even better because each hymn is accompanied by the history of the hymn, it’s author and the stories really add meaning and power to each hymn as you understand it in a new way. You can get your copy here or here. We sing several of the same songs each night…EVERY verse…so we can learn them and sing them by heart by the end of Christmas together. Wouldn’t you love to know every sweet verse by heart?!

Without this hymn book of mine, my brain would definitely be stumped for a variety of Christmas hymns to bring to the table. To print these, simply click on the hymn below for your own copy of these Christmas hymns to add to your family devotional time this season:

*easy printables – the others you’ll just need to select and print:)

Before Nana left from the Thanksgiving break, she caught our first Blessed Christmas Jesse Tree devotional together…(Frank is snoozing away in bed during our devotional time!) I am LOVING the older my kids get that they can finally enjoy this time with us!!! This truly is the most glorious time of the year!

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Kristi J - November 29, 2009 - 7:42 pm

that is so sweet..what a great idea, kj

Kim - November 30, 2009 - 1:38 am

Thank you for spreading the Christmas cheer and sharing such great ideas to ensure we too are embracing the most wonderful time of the year and preparing our hearts for our Saviors birth!

Preparing my family to welcome and receive Christ at Christmas…

UPDATE: A quick update because I originally shared this post 9 years ago;)—I *just* got this SWEET book in the mail that was just published in 2015 called “Our Family’s Jesse Tree”. You can purchase it on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Our-Familys-Jesse-Tree-Activities/dp/1535461470 It’s a GREAT price and it comes with templates for all 25 ornaments, an opening activity, scripture reading, an application summary and a family prayer! This is a SWEET book y’all!!! All you would need to do is make your ornaments from the templates!

We’ve got our tree up. We’ve got the decorations everywhere. We have the music on…all day in the background. I find myself through out the day saying under my breath, “It’s the most GLORIOUS time of the year!” I wanted to update my Facebook status with that phrase today and just never got around to it. YET, the thing I love most, most, mostest about this time is sweet time sharing Christ and the preparation of Christ with my children.

Our family tradition is to walk through the Blessed Christmas with the Jesse Tree.  You can buy different Jesse Tree devotionals, we just happen to have been given by Richard’s mother the Blessed Christmas version which is amazing (includes scripture reading, devotional, prayer and ornament/symbol for each day).

jessetree

And this is by far the sweetest part of my day–every day–during the holiday season. The Jesse Tree devotional concepts are taken from the verse Isaiah 11:1 that says, “But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse and from the roots a bud shall blossom.” Jesse was the father of David and from David the royal line would be established…1000 years later leading up to the birth of Jesus. In 28 days—tonight being the first…we will walk through these 1000 years as a family!!! Each night, the story will have an ornament/symbol representing that night’s story. Every year I get so excited to think what God can and will do in my children’s hearts as we walk through the gospel leading up to the birth of Christ! I’m already anticipating tomorrow nights lesson on Creation…the ornament for the tree is leaves:). If you want to do this too–the first ornament will start Sunday night…and if you read this post a few days late–you can easily catch up by doing a devotional in the morning and night! We do ours at night, and it’s such a sweet time bonding as a family. After each lesson and prayer, we sing two hymns that are related to Christmas and Christ’s birth. It is SOOOOO powerful!!!

And get this—tonight as we sang “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” (AFTER we had just sung “Joy to the World”)…our 10 foot decorated foyer Christmas tree fell over! It was HYSTERICAL! I guess even the trees want to praise Him!!! Well, I’ll be! Needless to say, I *highly* recommend every family considering walking through the Jesse Tree with your family or adopting some type of sweet devotional during the holidays. To me, there is no sweeter way to prepare my family to welcome and receive Christ at Christmas…He is the reason for the season after all! And when you come before Him in praise and teaching little ones about Him each night…your heart will be just as changed as you take time to honor and receive more of Him this season!

Wanna make your own? This is different than ours…but looks great too. If you are crafty, check this link out for a guide: http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=1628

Another great site with parent devotionals, heirloom ornaments and even coloring pages that coordinate with each days devotionaals…lots of ideas and resources to start your own Jesse Tree tradition: http://www.jesse-trees.com/

Don’t have time to make your own? Get your own copy of one just like ours here: http://thejessetree.org/   A percentage of proceeds go to FCS Urban Ministry Charis Community Houseing, ADUFRAM and Mission Honduras (http://www.missionhonduras.com/)

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Kim - November 29, 2009 - 4:25 am

Perfect timing! Love this post!
Thank you,
Kim

Beautiful Mess - November 29, 2009 - 5:47 am

That sounds so neat. Will have to look into it.

theheartofachild - November 29, 2009 - 8:17 am

Thanks for the links! I have friends who have made them, but I haven't gotten around to doing it. Buying it all made up sounds much better!
Jenny
AGCI (waiting on Abby in India)
needhamfamily5.blogspot.com

Are These Kids All Yours? - November 29, 2009 - 11:56 am

What a great idea to add to our traditions.

[…] speaking of crafts and Christmas…it reminds me to remind you of my last year’s post on preparing your children for Christ a Christmas post…with the JESSE TREE!!! Ok…off to take a nap while the kids nap!!! (SOMEBODY has decided to stop sleeping at night […]