Snip! Snip! Snip!

We finally did it!


We cut her hair...sniff, sniff.

It has been a topic of discussion for several weeks now. Every time we would brush it out of her eyes. Each and every bath. Every morning combing. Every time we pulled it back with a barrette, only to turn around and find said barrette on the floor. Every time a family friend would say, "My, her hair is getting long!" Every time we would have the discussion...

Mommy to Daddy, "So, are you ready for me to cut her hair yet?"

Daddy to Mommy, "It's not that bad!" which progressed to: "Can't we just clip it out of her eyes?" then to "Well, what would it look like?"

So we would continue with the attempts at barrettes and ponytails only to be thwarted by little Miss Lily at every turn.

Finally, yesterday, Daddy said, "It's time."

Now one thing all of my kids sans Emma have is wave to their hair. Wave is always more forgiving to my untrained trimming than I figure straight hair will be. To make it a little more nerve-racking I know my hair-cutting scissors are getting a little dull. Yikes!

But, I had to seize the moment!

Like an Oreo next to a glass of milk, the opportunity was bound to disappear as quickly as it was presented. I just had to get while the gettin' was good...straight hair meets dull scissors and all!

Let's not forget one terribly large strike against this whole thing....

17 pounds of 17 month old...way past her bedtime.



But, seize the moment! Right? Right!

Here are the pictures...
Snip...

Snip...

Snip...

Check the straightness progress.

Missed a spot!

Finishing touches...

Almost straight...totally done.

So...what do you think?



In Him,

Orphan Care: Prayer

Orphan Care...Let's see, where have we been so far? Videos, stats, the need, the resource (you and me). Now...the ways in which the resource can be used. Today...prayer.

I start here, because the Bible says this is where we should always start and where we should always be... Phil 4:6-7 "...in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."

Too often, with a sigh and downcast look believers will say, "The only thing I can do is pray." Like they're in the arctic with only a bikini to keep warm.

Where is the biblical Truth in that?

I challenge you that the truth is that prayer is BEST thing I can do. It reaches across oceans, touches the future, cuts through bureaucracies, ignores physical limitations, passes through galaxies, and instantaneously is heard by the heart of the Father Who would never give His child a stone when they ask for bread.

Most believers in Christ are familiar with the promises of answered prayer in the form of mountains being moved into the heart of the sea. Many of us can quote "if you ask anything according to His will, you know you have what you've asked for."

But how many of us live in the place of praying persistently, knee-jerkedly, expectantly, excitedly, confidently...obediently (which Jesus says in Jn 14:15 is read by Him as 'lovingly')?

If we did...the topic of this post would be the most exciting thing to read. For it would assure us that the most influential aspect of orphan care is not relegated to our perception of our pocketbooks but is available to each of us every second of every day He gives us.

Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work. --Oswald Chambers

In my still growing and learning experience in orphan ministry, I personally have found that having a little face to pray over and for has made my prayers directed, specific, and passionate. When I first became began praying for orphans, I was overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of it all. I asked the Lord to show me how to pray for orphans, to direct my prayers into His will. His answer was to pray for the children I knew of...the little ones we sponsored monthly, the families and their waiting children in orphanages, the waiting children whose faces pierced my heart in a "pray for this one like he or she is yours" way.

What a joy it has been! We have seen everyone of our sponsored children either go home to be with the Lord or to their Forever Families. I have rejoiced as the families I've prayed over have been joined to their little ones...and when the waiting ones, who seemed in danger of never having a family, were found by theirs. I pray not only for them to have families, but first and foremost that they would receive Jesus as their Savior. I pray that they would be placed in families who know and love Him and will teach them about Him. And, He has been gracious on many occasions to show me that this has happened.

I put to you that prayer is the place to start and to stay in orphan ministry (all of life, truly). Only there will true, eternal change be effected...and I'm not just talking in the life of the orphan. Everything else is just a by-product.

There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him. --William Law

***Here is a link to a Waiting Child Advocacy blog...and another...to get you going!***

In Him,

The Brace

Last Friday we returned to Prosthetics and Orthotics for a regular prosthetic check up and to get Lily's new foot brace.

It has been a few weeks since we were there...I'm glad I didn't get lost on the way!

Seriously, it could happen to me. For some reason my brain just dumps info that has been in "reserve" for awhile. How I get from point A to point B has been lost many more times than I would like to admit!

Anyway, Lily's whole outlook on visiting P & O has done a 180. Once again she was quite cooperative...and quiet! Matter of fact, she actually walked (with me holding her under the arms...don't get too excited!) from the waiting room to the hallway that takes her to the exam room! She was even excited to see Miss Mary! Yippee!

First on the docket was SMO fitting (her right foot brace). She found this very fascinating as did all the girls. I had to remind my faithful photographer of her job, she was so taken with the procedure.

Whatcha doing?

Look at my hand in sock trick!


Look at those cute piggies!

Next, Mr. Don & Miss Mary checked out the socket fit. This was actually the main thing on my brain for this visit as I had been noticing for about a week that it seemed as though her left leg has lengthened! The liner doesn't roll up as high as it used to (no, I don't think I shrunk it in the washer!) and the socket seems to be rubbing again on the inside of her leg like it did when the leg needed shortening.

Hmm. What would Mary & Don think?

As soon as I took off her pants, they were amazed! In their minds there was no doubt her leg had grown. The baby tape measure confirmed about 1/4" + of growth. They also feel like she's gotten bigger overall and reassured me that even though she is petite, they don't feel like she's anywhere near too thin.

What does all that mean?

Stop using the additional sock over the liner as it takes up space in the socket. Then wait & see.

We are slated to go back in a month. Honestly, I'm not sure we'll be able to wait that long. Without the sock the socket is a little loose around her leg and is not staying pulled up snug well. They had noticed that when I held her and her leg was hanging that it was loose and not staying on as well as they'd like to see. After that they began discussing a belt manner of holding the leg on. I do think we may be heading in that direction as the socket just seems too loose to me.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

In Him,

Children of God

Yes! Yes! Yes!

This video encapsulates so much of what the Lord has spoken to my heart through our adoption of Lily Rose.

It expresses why I named this blog Adopted and Appointed.

Yes, Lily is adopted. And with everything in me I know that she was appointed by God to be in our family. I believe He has planned, ordained and appointed her life purposefully.

Those were the "first fruits" of a larger and, yet, more personal truth.

So much of what He wanted to teach me through the process of adopting Lily and now living out our lives together has been that I am adopted by my heavenly Father and He has appointed me both to His family through His Son and to good works that He planned out long in advance for me to walk in (Ephesians 1 & 2).

So, the name of this blog has double meaning. It not only reflects my earnestness about Lily's life, but also my gratitude to my Father for adopting me and appointing me...and every other person purchased by the blood of Christ.

Some days I still can't believe it and it makes it all the more precious. Praise God...for it is written!

....He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us...Ephesians 1:6-8a



In Him,

Orphan Care: You and Me

"Mom, Ally fell off her bike and is hurt!!!"

Anna Grace had just run through the door on a save-my-sister mission.

Since Daddy had come home from work minutes earlier and I was in the throes of dinner ala leftover, he played hero. Minutes later a limping, skinned knee Ally sat sniffling at my table.

And it hit me...

How many children are crying tonight with no sister to call for help and no mommy or daddy to kiss their boo-boos and bandage them up? How many? I could quote statistics, but all they would say is "too many."

Ally was tended to and loved on because she had someone to tend to her and love on her.

She had a family to hear her cries for help.

For the orphan, there is often no one to hear or answer their cries. When they are hurt, sad, sick, broken, in need...the ones who could offer the help, protection, and love they so desperately desire are gone.

Who hears their cries? Who helps their hurts? Who loves on the orphan?

For many, the answer is no one.

Some have had their cry heard by orphan relief ministries or agencies. They are brought into orphanages or foster care where their basic needs are met, but their hearts still cry out. And many of these agencies only exist and carry on because the orphan's cry was heard by someone else...someone farther away...who sent support.

I have written and rewritten this post I've entitled "Orphan Care: You and Me" so many times and in so many ways that I've been at the point of frustration with it. The way to approach the topic has evaded me or, alternately, overwhelmed me.

How do I convey that the resource for the orphan is you? It is me.

How do I explain that for the orphaned child the hope of their cries being heard is at its root, at its foundation...individuals like you and me choosing to hear because the ones who should hear are dead or gone?

How do I articulate that if I do nothing, that's precisely what will get done. Nothing?

Tonight as I watched our family come around a simple skinned knee, my heart broke. Again. For the ones who don't have an advocate or a protector or a Mom with a band-aid.

Tonight this was the way to say...the way to get involved in Orphan Care...is to tune our ears to the cries and then act.

I could write it again, but what I really want to say is that Orphan Care is you and me doing something for an orphan. Plain and simple.

In Him,

Sunday Snapshot: Bathtime

Mohawk baby!

Bubbly Beauty

Watered Down
This girl is ready for the pool!
She's my only one who hasn't minded water on her face!

In Him,

Leftie

I had a conversation with a fellow mom of a child with a leg limb difference the other day about our journey with terminology.

How do we refer to the leg with the length difference?

For reasons neither of us really could figure out, we discovered that ours and others initial moniker for the leg was the "bad leg." But as soon as those words were out of a mouth, our hearts screamed...that's wrong! She shared that they, too, quickly, deliberately changed their wording to a more accurate description.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16

Kevin and I have had several discussions about how we talk about Lily's leg. It is not her "bad" leg...as was occasionally said when she first came home. It is just as good as her right leg. It cannot make moral decisions or behave inappropriately simply because it is shorter. My mother is not 'bad' because she is 5'2" and I am 5'9". Compared to me she is shorter...perhaps even little. Depending on where my mom is in relation to me, she may be on my left.

So it is with Lily's leg. It is "leftie," or her "short leg," "small leg," "little leg" but not a bad leg.

I want Lily to grow up celebrating her leg. It is part of her and how God permitted her to be formed. He has a purpose and a plan for her life which happens to include a limb difference. Our prayer is that she will not simply be content with her leg's length and the prosthetics she will use over her lifetime, but that she would rejoice in her limb difference and be thankful for it. We pray that He will work this attitude into her heart and we believe that begins with us and the messages we convey to her.

In Him,

The Burning...Cry Room?

Lily and I have spent virtually every church service in the "cry room" since she came home. Going on 6 months now.

It is reserved for nursing moms and babies or moms and little ones who aren't in the nursery for one reason or another. The service is piped in via speakers and is visible, if you are in the right spot, through a window. And, honestly, I've not really minded a minute of it.

I have wondered from time to time, though, how much I am gleaning (or missing) from the service. Each time these thoughts creep up, the Lord has been exceedingly gracious to show me by His Spirit how privately, intimately, personally He is speaking to me...in the pieces of sermons I do hear and through our times together throughout the week.

Still sometimes I've wondered...what would I get if I sat through a whole service alone?

Sunday I had that opportunity. We had to be there for two services. For the first, I sat in the cry room with Lily & 3 other moms and their kiddos. I was sitting on the floor near the speaker playing with Lily and within minutes of the teaching's start was awed by God's specific dealings with an area of my heart over which He & I have been in intense discussion lately.

It was powerful and personal...and, if I'm being honest, a little difficult to hear.

So, I wondered, what would I hear from Him if I sat through the same teaching "undistracted?"

The last service provided just that opportunity.

And, you know what? He said absolutely nothing new or different. Hearing the "whole thing" made no difference Sunday, for He'd already said what He wanted to say to me...right where I was. Cry room or no cry room. Baby crawling on me or not. He spoke to my heart. And, I praise Him for His grace to this sinner turned saint by His precious blood. I praise Him for the grace He showed me to speak to my desire to hear what He wants to say to me...wherever I am.

Fitting that the passage we were studying was Exodus 3 where God speaks from the most unlikely of places...a burning bush. Love the sense of humor God has!

In Him,