Sunday, May 17, 2015

On Christ The Solid Rock I'll Stand!

My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name!

On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand...
All other ground is sinking sand.

Did we tell you that we're building a house?!

It's a dream come true!

 When Joey and I first started dreaming of building a house for our family, I knew I wanted it to be covered in His Word. I wanted its' walls to scream His name... the floors to echo His Word... and our rooms to be surrounded in His promises.

Friday night is a night I will never forget! As I walked through each room, writing scripture on the walls of our home, I prayed over each room, each precious baby that will sleep or play or eat or bathe in those rooms, for every argument and for every moment that will define our marriage and our family, for every friend who will walk through our doors.... I asked Jesus to protect them, keep them healthy, bring our babies to Him when they are young, and guide us as we love them through so many hard things... And so many exciting things. 



Our walls will be nailed in place tomorrow and as they are, Hannah's Daddy's writing will echo in her new room that 'The Lord is with her, and she will not fail (psalm 46:5)', that 'She is more precious than jewels (proverbs 3:15)'...My prayer will be on our boys' walls that 'Our sons will walk beside the Lord, on a straight path in which they will not stumble (Jer 31;96)'... God's promise will be seen on our master bedroom walls that 'What God has joined together, no man will separate (Matthew 19:6)'... Hannah's precious handwriting will echo the long-cried prayer of our hearts, 'For this child, I have prayed! (1 Samuel 1:27)'... Visitors will walk under Hebrews 13:2 and will feel our love and hospitality because one never knows when they are entertaining Angels.... And those who walk through our front door will enter into the covenant we made when we said 'I do' almost 10 years ago.... 'As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! (Joshua 24:14)' I can't wait to walk through those doors in a couple months, knowing that our home and our family will be surrounded by His promises!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As we walked away from our home... only hours before crews would arrive to dry wall over the verses that will surround us for the next 20+ years, I posted the above on our Facebook page...

the response to that short post has been overwhelming and SO many of you have asked for a list of the verses we chose for our new home...

And I am more than happy to share :-)

Each person received a sharpie and a printout of all of the verses we wanted in our home (even Hannah!).... some of the verses are written over and over again on the framing of the house, in various handwriting!


On the pillar to our front porch;

Joshua 24:14




'But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!'

In our main living spaces, we wrote;

2 Corinthians 5:1




'For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in Heaven, not build by human hands.'

Micah 6:8


'Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.'

Proverbs 24: 3-4

'By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it's established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with precious and pleasant riches!'

1 Samuel 25:6

'Say to him, "Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!"

1 Kings 8:13

'I have indeed built a magnificent home for you, a place for you to dwell forever!'

Deuteronomy 28:6




'You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.'

In our entry way;

Hebrews 13:2




'Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it!'

In our master bedroom;

Matthew 19:6




'What God has joined together, let no man separate.'

1 Thessalonians 5:11




'Encourage one another and build each other up.'

1 Peter 4:8


'Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.'


In Hannah's room;

Proverbs 31:25




'She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future!'

Psalm 46:5


'The Lord is with her, she will not fail!'

Proverbs 3:15


'She is more precious than jewels!'

In the boys' rooms;

Jeremiah 31:96





'May our sons walk beside the Lord, on a straight path in which they will not stumble.'

Psalm 127:3


'Sons are a heritage of the Lord.'


In all of the kids' rooms and bathroom;

John 1:12




'I am a child of God!'

1 Samuel 1:27


'For this child I have prayed!'



1 Timothy 4:12


'Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.'








Thursday, May 7, 2015

Mother's Day is for First Mom's, too!

Mother's Day is just around the corner and if you're like me....

you've done nothing to prepare :-/

If your family has grown through adoption, I am begging you not to forget the First Mom's in your life.... not only does she deserve to be recognized on one of the most profoundly difficult days of the year for her... but your child NEEDS to see you acknowledge and love his/her First Mama, too!

Every year I try to find a few gift ideas the I think any First Mom would LOVE! Here are 2 super simple, inexpensive, and more than meaningful gift ideas for the First Mama in your life.... pick one and do it... you will never regret doing it, but one day you might regret it if you don't.

And please, if your precious gift is late, it's ok! Do it anyway.

(**I am not a representative for any of the companies below... I do not get anything from them for posting these links... I love their products and think they make amazing First Mom gifts**)

Canvas photo and easel (this is what our First Moms will get from Hannah and Hunter this year (sorry ladies, I ruined the surprise ;-))... and me.... cause I ordered extras ;-));

$11.96





Bangle Charm Bracelets; these are so beautiful and the charms represent so many different moments in your First Mom and child's life!

$5.95


Don't like my ideas? Fine. :-) Send some flowers... who doesn't love flowers?!


Which one did you order?! She's going to love it!



Wednesday, May 6, 2015

First.


First.

(dictionary.com) coming before all others in time or order; earliest; 1st

The most coveted position one can hold... in a job or a contest.

It's what happens 'before'... the beginning.

What has to happen... in order for anything else to happen.

First.

My babies have First Moms.

Women who's position I will never be able to fill.

Women who came before me.

Women who had to be first... so I could be next.

They were First.

I have referred to my babies' 'birth moms' as their 'First Moms' since the birth of this blog....

I am not, and will never be, a 'birth mom', but that term has always hurt my heart for those who hold it's title...

but it didn't occur to me until recently that maybe 'First Mom' hurts them, too?

Because at the end of the day, who wants their name to have a qualifier?!

But this one.... 'First Mom'... it's so special to me. It comes from a place in my heart that uses the term *almost* reverently...

because my babies First Moms?!

They did not just give birth.

The first people on the face of the Earth who knew about our precious babies' existence...

the first one's who loved them...

the first one's who cared for them and sacrificed for them...

they were first.

They chose life... they sustained life... they changed their life for those precious lives... 

they were our babies' Moms... First.

In today's society, 'First' is something we desire in our daily lives... being the first one in line, the first to be promoted, the first to the finish line, the first to order...

Please hear me...

I didn't carry 2 of my precious babies... I didn't see those 2 pink lines.... I didn't hear their heartbeats.... I didn't feel them move inside of me... I didn't struggle to bring them into the world or hear their first cry... I didn't witness their first breath and I wasn't the first to hold them....

but I will never spend one minute wishing that I had been first.

There are 2 women in this world who came first.... and they deserve to be first. 

Those memories? Theirs. The feelings? Theirs. The moments? Theirs.

And I can't imagine any 2 women who are more deserving of those memories and feelings and moments....

My babies have First Moms, not birth moms...

Because they came first.