A New Day...

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

I love this verse.

Each sentence is declarative.  It leaves no doubt to the author's intent.

May we each be confident in the realization that every day begins anew and every day we can rejoice in the knowledge that our Lord will help us through.

God bless you today dear friend!

9/11 - Ten Years Later

Ten years have passed and my love of my country, my God and my family is stronger than ever!

I love America.  May God bless her and protect her.

Perfect Parenting isn't Just for Perfectionists (Praise God!)

We live in a small town.

We stand out in the crowd. Mark is Irish, I'm Cherokee/Scotch/Irish, our boys are Marshallese, our daughter is from Guatemala, our 2 little foster loves don't look anything like us either. LoL

You can imagine that we get alot of questions!  Why did you adopt? Why are you fostering? and the list could go on and on...  We also get comments that can be embarrassing, such as how we are saints for adopting and fostering.

If they only knew...

So anyway, I thought I would answer one of those questions today - Why did we adopt and talk about the 'real' side of adoption for us.

Let me start by saying, that I've read quite a few blogs lately, and these precious women like to 'keep it real'.  So in the spirit of that, let me tell you 'really' why we adopted...

We adopted, not because we are saints or extraordinary people, we adopted because very simply we wanted a child.

Months before we got married, the love of my life was diagnosed with cancer. His surgery, radiation and falling on our faces before God helped him fight that awful disease and those things also opened our pathway to fulfill our dream of having a family through adoption.

Just to 'keep it real', all those years of watching our children grow and change, there was always the question in the back of my mind, that this would be 'perfect' if they were with their bio families...You see, in a 'perfect' world, there would be no adoption but in our world it is a 'perfect' solution...

At least that's how I always saw it, until last year.

Our oldest son was stricken with an ugly and vile virus that overtook his little body.

He was in the hospital for weeks and at home for several months with a port in his arm - no one thought he would make it and most likely he wouldn't have if he hadn't been our son, living here with us.  You see, where we live we are surrounded by some of the finest minds of science and all these people from various states and areas worked together to find a solution to help our son survive.

Those endless days and nights in the hospital not leaving his side, begging God to heal him, sobbing over the thought of losing him (but only after he fell asleep) left me with a peace.

It was truly a peace that passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

You see, this change in my heart came after one word that my very sick little boy said to me...

That word was "MaMa".

In that moment it didn't matter if we had the perfect house, car or what-have-you.

We had each other - that was perfect.

God's perfect plan for our lives maybe isn't what someone else would think is 'perfect' for theirs, and their 'perfect' plan is not what is perfect for mine.  :)  Everyone has a different journey to take and that's a GOOD and PERFECT thing! (James 1:17)

You see, my hubby and I believe that our children's birth parents were perfect for bringing these little lives into the world, and we are the perfect choice to be their parents to help them travel through life.

There is no shame nor guilt in the knowledge that they and us have teamed up to help these children be all they can be, that is what God wants from us - our perfect best.

It is simply the way it is...

As the seasons have changed and the years have moved past, our house no longer looks like a Pottery Barn Magazine like it did before we had children. Our furniture is worn, our sofa cushions have been jumped on, made into endless forts, the floor needs mopping, the clothes need to be transferred from the washer to the dryer, my window's need cleaning (just keepin' it real y'all!), and this is the perfect life God has granted us!

I'm so thankful to know I don't have to be a perfectionist to be the perfect wife to Mark.

I'm so thankful to know I don't have to be a perfectionist to be the perfect mother to our children.

I'm so thankful to know I don't have to be a perfectionist to be the perfect foster mother to our foster loves.

I'm so thankful to know I don't have to be a perfectionist to be the perfect daughter of my Savior!  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

My friend, my prayer for you is that you can let go of whatever may be holding you back - enjoy today!

God created you in His image! I'd say that is pretty perfect! =-)  If you want to change something, do it, but never lose sight of who God created you to be for His glory!

And remember, being a perfectionist isn't going to make you a perfect parent.  Love, compassion, and the decision to make this day the 'perfect' day for others is just a few ways to achieve that...

Let's encourage each other dear one, to pray that God will help us love our spouse, our children, our family and our friends the way *they* need to be loved and not just the way we want to love them.

Show them the kind of love that has no expiration, no restraints, no conditions... That is the perfect way - God's way - loving one another in the way He loves us. (John 15:12)

So, to end (and in the spirit of keepin' it real y'all), as nice as it is to hear such kind words of praise, I am not perfect in the 'perfectionist' sense of the word, I am simply, Anna Banana.

A woman who loves my God, hubby, kiddo's, family and country passionately and deeply, a girl at heart who loves to talk to my Mama everyday, a friend who'll ply you with food and coffee and will talk about what's going on with so and so (see I told you I wasn't perfect), a Mama to fabulous, 'perfect' children (just ask me!) and most importantly a daughter of the King of Kings! (Romans 8:15)

God's blessings on you today dear friend! Remember you are perfect in God's sight! (Psalm 139:14)