Finally! (reposted one year later)

remembering R's Officially Ours Day one year ago today!!!

God is good and we are remembering that joy! Blessings and stay cool today! Kaye

Yesterday came and went quickly.

Up at 5:30, up north by 9:45.

Into the courtroom at 10:30, out of the courtroom by 10:34.

Quick as that.

But still a huge, exciting, tear filled, love filled day for our family.

Because R is finally ours for good and forever!

#353-369

finally standing in front of the courthouse

remembering my camera

our house busy at 5:30 am with excitement to leave

the church in front of the courthouse

how cool it is that the name of the church, in front of the courthouse where our family was made complete, was Bethlehem.

walking up the stairs to the court area

the robin that followed us all the way from the parking lot, down the sidewalk, on the sign, to the entrance

getting smiles from the people in the court area

the beautiful corsages that Miss Ellen surprised us with! One for each of us. This is a photo of what us girls’ corsage looked like.

FOUR MINUTES in the courtroom, paper signed, and walking out just stunned...

the happy tears on the way home

chocolate milk- the treat R wanted to celebrate

subs at Jimmy Johns

phone calls of joy and celebration throughout the day from praying family and friends

 

God is SO GOOD to us and we are just thrilled that our adoption of R is final and complete! Yeah!!

(kaye ann)

blessings... in the summer?

90 degrees.
That’s what they are predicting for today.

And all I can say after a long MN winter is YES!

Counting blessings with Ann as the sun climbs higher…

(no pictures today, just a bunch of links in the list to check out...)

#367-408

classes over
planning a senior year
1st week at new job
 building my library
C.S. Lewis quotes- "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else".
trucks talking on my desk
a clean floor
willow tree angles
R in that sideways Twins hat
"from this one place..."
Colossians 2: 6-7
that He's in charge

watching L and M skip rocks across the pond with their slingshots
new slingshots
bald eagle soaring over house
piano back in the living room
R and Kira, or Henry and Mudge
ice cream cones on the front lawn
scrapbook supplies
the lady at my new job who talked to me about going to the symphony
the "Basket Test" :)

her smile
her dress and at-ti-tude
claritin for these allergies of mine
warm oatmeal cookies
:) on emails from friends
patient friends teaching me
invites to grad parties on the fridge

learning new things at the new job
knowing God wants me there
frogs
L looking at the stars with me
running inside from watching stars after hearing a coyote...
water in glasses always on the counter
FAITH

Kelsey's patience with my questions and willingness to answer them all... thank you!
deep breaths
Keens
muddy feet
my smiley dog- the Tick Taxi
talking to R while new bandaids are going on... and the trust that has grown between him and our family
Bob and Gob- R's owls


Blessings to you this wednesday!
Kaye

I just have to say…

that she is beautiful.

And I love her already.

(doesn’t her hand on the hip just make you smile? :) )

Would you join me in sponsoring another child through Compassion International?

Help lift a child out of poverty in Christ’s name?

click here…

or below…

Eric Ludy Video- Powerful

WOW.

Powerful.

Made me cry.

Watch with tissues and prepare to be prodded  by the Holy Spirit.

WOW.

Third Day Video

Found this video on Third Day’s new song, Children of God, through a blog I follow called Unto Him We Live.

Like my family, God called them to adopt and it has radically and powerfully changed them.

This video captures exactly what adoption is- and how all who are in Christ have been adopted as well. Made me smile at all that God has done.

Quick note- If you are getting this post through email and can’t see the video, click here.

From one of His adopted children to all my brothers and sisters,

Kaye

The Ordinary

Dear Friends…

I apologize for my silence web-wise the last week or so. Been doing a lot of thinking and praying… wondering and pondering… getting into the swing of a new year, new semester with school, figuring out house stuff…

And, to tell you the truth, the reason I didn’t post anything new was… well… I couldn’t find anything to photograph.

I like to do pictures with my posts… and just couldn’t find anything interesting to take pictures of.

So friends, here comes the ordinary… and each actually, now that I think of it, has a story.

God has truly blessed and provided for me and my family beyond what I could have imagined. He provided us with a cute rambler to live in for 17 years, and now we move out into a beautiful two-story in… wait… 40 days!

So I took a walk around the house, clicked a few pictures of the ordinary for me, but maybe interesting for you?

(and counted each as a blessing for this week…)

546. The Shelves…

one of the things about this little cottage I’m really going to miss… Papa built these for my mom a few years back- floor to ceiling shelves for the kitchen, meant to hold cookbooks, school books, legos…

547. the myriad of packing supplies lying around the house… phew! Tape, scissors, boxes, oh my! But soon… oh so soon… to be replaced by UNpacking supplies!

548. R’s trains all over the house… on the couch, on the bookshelves, down the stairs, and their sweet reminder of what God gave us a little over a year ago…

549. Mom’s plants scattered across the house… something green!

550. Mom’s crock in the living room…

551. books of mine scattered all across the room

552. the caterpillar pot… a gift from Aunt Shannon to L on her last birthday… makes me smile each time I see it!

553. Grandpa E’s window boxes… another one of the things that we are really going to miss at the new house… He made these for my mom a few years back, and she loves them so much! But a few months ago he sent us a flag pole that he had made too… maybe that will go up in the front lawn of the new house…

554. Oh, the quirky things about the house… sticky light switches,

555. the notes to each of us from mom written in the closets,

556. the great big wood fireplace in the basement,

557.  the neighborhood, the friendships built up over 17 years,

558.  the stories of our family written all over each and every inch of the house…

these things I will miss.

But I know that God,  in his great merciful love an favor has blessed and granted us this new house for such a time as this. He has bigger plans than we do for that new house, for our new neighborhood, our new land and pond…

And I can hardly wait to see what He does with it all.

 

Kaye

thinking back

I took this picture a little over a year ago.

He had just come to stay- forever ours.

I remember joy and happiness and hard moments and love for this little boy broken already by the darkness in the world.

How he waits now for Daddy and jumps up at the sight of the door opening.

How he sits warm in my lap playing legos, looks up at us all in unexpected moments, runs up, grabs legs,

“I love you.”

And I think of how this little boy now snoozes happy in a house full of love. Of him reciting the Lord’s prayer, saying,

“For thine is da kingdom, and da power, and da glory glory glory glory!! Forever and ever, Amen!”

hands waving glory to the one who place him here, with us.

Thank you Lord! Yes! To You be all glory glory glory for putting together our family! Thank you for this wonder- this little beautiful stinker of a boy.

In your name- and all for your glory,

Amen.

Haiti...6 months later

Hello there...

without a doubt you have heard about the earthquake in Haiti.

Sadly, after only 6 months, the problems down there have slipped from my mind.

I forgot.

Yesterday my Dad started talking about GLA, an orphanage in Haiti. Then I recieved an email from World Vision talking about Haiti.

I realize now that it was because I have forgotten to pray.

The Lord reminded me to pray, and I am so grateful.

World Vision has a few notes to share with people about the amazing progress that is being made down in Haiti, and how we can continue to pray and support them as they recover from this and prepare for the hurricane season.

Click here to read the article.

and praise God for the work still being done in Haiti!

(kaye ann silver)

Finally

Yesterday came and went quickly.

Up at 5:30, up north by 9:45.

Into the courtroom at 10:30, out of the courtroom by 10:34.

Quick as that.

But still a huge, exciting, tear filled, love filled day for our family.

Because R is finally ours for good and forever! And so ends our adoption journey.

#353-369

finally standing in front of the courthouse

remembering my camera

our house busy at 5:30 am with excitement to leave

the church in front of the courthouse

how cool it is that the name of the church, in front of the courthouse where our family was made complete, was Bethlehem.

walking up the stairs to the court area

getting smiles from the people in the court area

                                      

the beautiful corsages that Miss Ellen surprised us with! One for each of us. This is a photo of what us girl's corsage looked like.

the happy tears on the way home

subs and chocolate milk for a special treat on the way home

phone calls of joy and celebration throughout the day

running into Aunt Shannon at Starbucks today

surviving driving for the first time in heavy rain :)

(kaye ann silver)

Christian Alliance for Orphans

This week me and my mom were blessed to be able to go to the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit VI in Minneapolis.
What an amazing couple of days!

Thursday night, Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, spoke about their story of adoption and life, then Steven led a worship service that had us all in tears. We met so many fun people who get adoption and our crazy family!

Last night, Pastor John Piper spoke an amazing message to us all, calling us to live our lives by faith. It was another one of those that had you in tears at the end. I loved watching him preach. He is so excited by the gospel, and it is so good to see!

Something I learned:
Did you know:
There are 143,000,000 orphans in the world.
Many of them are looking for adoption and a forever family.
Others need our prayers and support more than anything.

There was a family there that my mom and I met that are trying to adopt three kids out of Russia. They had two kids of their own and have since adopted 7 kids- 6 from Russia and 1 right here in the US. They are asking for prayer that their adoption papers would go through so that they can get this one girl who is 15 out of Russia before she is 16. Why? Because in Russian orphanages, when you turn 16, they literally take you and dump you in the big city, where it is virtually impossible to get out of the country from.

Please pray for them.

One of the things that I love about Steven Curtis Chapman is his music videos. He showed this one at the conference and made us all cry. This video was the one that stirred my parents to look into adopting and I know has encouraged so many others too.  Every time I see this video I think of my brother, my sister's best friend who's adopted from Korea, and my best friend who's adopted from Russia. Makes me cry!

To see the amazing Steven Curtis Chapman video about adoption that will make you cry- guaranteed-  click here.

God Bless!
Kaye Ann

Ask Me About Sponsorship

Quite a few years ago, my family decided to choose a child through Christian Childrens fund to sponsor. She is just a year younger than me, and she is from Bolivia. I loved that I could write to her in spanish and she would write back. Now, she is almost 16 and has many siblings. She sends pictures of her where she is smiling so big and holding a new pair of shoes or clothes, or whatever she was able to buy that month.

On our fridge, there are pictures of her from when we first chose her to now, and I am amazed at how she has grown!

When my dad turned 37 years old, my mom and sisters and I wanted to do something new and special that would mean a lot to him. We thought about it and prayed, then my mom told us that we could sponsor another child for him.

I was excited! We jumped online to World Vision and chose a child. Since we were all girls and we already sponsored the young girl in Bolivia, we chose a boy from Kenya. His little picture popped up and we all instantly fell in love with his. He is a Hope Child who lives in an area of Kenya that is severely affected by AIDS. His small smile and little overalls stole our hearts, and we chose to sponsor him.

When my dad opened his gift and saw that little face, I believe it made his day. The little boy was only 4 at the time, and just slightly younger than my sister M.

For six years now, we have recieved letters and pictures of this little boy who is now almost 11 and much taller than he was when we first started to sponsor him.

It makes our day to recieve letters and hand-drawn pictures of him all the way from Kenya. His picture are right next to the girl from Bolivia's on our fridge, and every time we walk in the door, they are one of the first things we see.

After reading A Hole in Our Gospel by the president of World Vision, I was again reminded of the many children in the world who are without food, water, clothing and resources to get them out of the life of poverty. The $35 a month that you could give them through sponsoship would literally help lift them and their families out of poverty.

I was convicted lately about how many 'loaves' I have been given. Jesus asked his disciples when He fed the 4,000, "How many loaves do you have?" They gave Him what they had, and He multiplied it to feed 4,000 men (that's not including women and children!)

I have been given much. I have many 'loaves'. I have been homeschooled and raised in a Christian home. I have a lot of time to spare during my day, and the resources to make a difference. So why wasn't I making a difference?
I went online, back to World Vision, and searched their site for something- anything- that I could do.

Lord, just show me something.

I came to page where it describes hosting a party to raise awareness of the great need that children have, and to ask people to seriously consider sponsoring a child. God poked me.

Got it.

I sent the link to my mom and dad. My mom read my mind! I was standing by the door just about to ask when she looked over and said, "You'd like to host a party, wouldn't you?" I started to cry because yes, I really did.

My mom knows me well.

So we are planning a party to help the kids who are hurting. To help more little smiling boys in Africa and laughing girls in Bolivia.

Look for an invitation to the party coming in June/July!

Lord Jesus, I pray right now that you would take and use the loaves that I have. Use me to spread your good news of salvation from sin. Give me Your courage to do what You've asked.
In Your Name and to YOU be the glory!
Amen

K.A.S.

World Vision

I am reading a book- The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision U.S. It is a call for American Christians to stop just going to church, giving a little money, and moving on. Stearns calls everyone to start walking out our faith by helping the desperate needs of our time.

"What does God expect of us? Is our faith just about going to church, studying the Bible and avoiding the most serious sins- or does God expect more? Have we embraced the whole gospel, or a gospel with a hole in it?

Ten years ago, Rich Stearns came face-to-face with that question as he sat in a mud hut in Rakai, Uganda, listening to the heartbreaking story of an orphaned child. Stearns' journey there took much more than a long flight to Africa. It took answering God's call on his life, a call that tore him out of his corner office (Kaye here... he was the CEO of Lennox) at one of America's most prestigous corporations- to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world. (Kaye again... he is now the president of World Vision).

The Hole in Our Gospel is the compelling trure story of a corporate CEO who set aside worldly success for something far more significant, and discovered the full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to change his own life. He uses his journey to demonstrate how the gospel- the whole gospel- was always meant to be a world-changing social revolution, a revolution that begins in us."

-back cover, A Hole in Our Gospel

It is a desperate call from a man who has seen the work of the Lord do great things in countries around the world who are desperate for aid and how he is determined that if we all gave of ourselves, we could change the whole world.

One thing that struck me while reading this is the ammount of water that I use all day. I turn on a faucet, rinse out my toothbrush, wash my hands, drink, and cook with water all the time.

There is some statistics I'd like to share that shook me:

"As many as five million people die every year of water-related illnesses...Thousands of hours are lost seeking and hauling water, especially by women. These are hours that could be spent earning an income or contributing to the well-being of the family and community. This same task affects children too: millions are unable to attend school because of the hours they spend fetching water.           -Richard Stearns, Hole in Our Gospel

Water has many affects on a community. The need of it can cause more hardships and work to be made, or the benefit of having a clean water well can benefit the entire community.

Think of it! If water were readily available to those who had to travel distances to get it, women could help at home more, aiding their production of food. More children could go to school, decreasing the illiteracy in the world. Men wouldn't have to run back and forth for water all day and start farming or helping out in the local industries.

Think of it!!

Why am I just sitting on my hands, pointing fingers and not up and out helping in any way I can?

After praying about it a few nights, I asked the Lord to show me something-anything- I could do to help those who are desperately in need around the world today. I felt the Lord leading me to give to World Vision.

I wasn't totally certain that this was the place to donate, so I prayed and waited some more.

Yesterday, the World Vision Catalog showed up.

I shook my head. Message recieved, Lord.

"Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it."

"Well, why don't you?"
"Because I'm afraid He would aske me the same thing." -Anonymous

The catalog has things that you can purchase for families aroundt the world- cows, chickens, goats, sewing machines for single moms, water wells!, emergency food, clothing, school supplies, farming supplies, seeds, plows, fishing kits, medicines, and more.

You could even give money to build and stock a health center, school, or home for orphans!

I am still deciding and saving up some more money before I choose what to donate.

If you would like to help out a family in need anywhere in the world, even the U.S., click here to go to the World Vision site.
To see a copy of their catalog, click here!
To find out more about The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, click here!

My family has bought chickens and ducks in the past, and it is such fun!

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. -Deuteronomy 15:11

 Kaye