Let it snow. . .

The 4 P's
Phelix playing in snow for the first time!
Phisher was pretty curious about the white fluffy stuff.

The little p's are not huge fans of the snow. The BIG P's sure gave it their best shot with sled rides and all. It snowed about 8" at our house last night, what a beautiful sight! Stay warm!

Heart for Africa Swaziland-our journey. their story

Jamie and I are blessed to call Jeremy and Raelenna friends. This young couple have 4 children of their own and both work more than full-time jobs. Raelenna read the book, "It's not okay with me", by Janine Maxwell, last year and got "wrecked", they haven't been the same since. I read the book at the same time last year but the difference between Raelenna and I, is that she emailed the author after she read the book. She wanted Janine to know it was not okay with her either! Raelenna is now the orphan sponsor coordinator for Heart for Africa. Yes, she went to Atlanta, met with Janine for a weekend and now gives of herself, she volunteers, for this full-time position. She and Jeremy also led a group from our church last summer on a 2 week mission trip to Swaziland. The children they met in Swaziland stole their hearts and the LORD continues to ask them to, "feed HIS children." Raelenna just could not go back to life as normal once she returned home. She could not forget the faces of REAL children, children whom, when she recalled them, reminded her of her very own four children. She really felt that the LORD was asking her to step out boldly! She knew HE was asking her to commit to raise $100,000 to build the first children's home (orphanage) on Project Canaan. Yes, she double and triple checked with HIM to make sure she had indeed heard HIM correctly. She heard the evil one whisper doubts in her ear, " how can you raise $100,000 in just a short period of time?" "Everyone will think you are crazy, plus you'll never be able to do it." If you know Raelenna, then you know she loves kids, especially beautiful brown ones who are considered the least of these. And if you really know Raelenna then you know the one person she loves more than these is, the KING! So here we are, officially a month before CELEBRATE HOPE, the event that I wrote about earlier (go read my previous entry and visit, www.celebratehopecape.com) and we are right on track. Because of the trust and faith of my friend, God has ordained this project. You do not want to miss this awesome evening of fun. You want to be there, I tell you the truth, if you are looking for purpose and meaning in your life, if you are searching for evidence of God here on earth, you WILL find it here. I am so blessed to serve along side a team of dedicated Christians who have all personally accepted Raelenna's vision as their own. I love how God works, He is truly amazing and powerful. My own life has been stretched, and we as a family have stepped out boldly in faith when we adopted the twins. I tell you the truth, it is really crazy sometimes, but all of us feel so full, so focused and purposeful, happier then we have ever been, fully trusting in HIM and HIS plan for our family. I am so thankful we chose to step out in faith and allowed the Lord to lead us. . . we are so very blessed.

Help with the dishes

Phisher loves to help me in the kitchen. He is especially fond of the dishwasher! When Paeton was his age she had the same fascination with our dishwasher. I hope when Phisher is her age he still enjoys helping out with the dishes because Paeton is not interested anymore. A mom can wish can't she : D

Paeton and the rainbow cake

I saw this recipe on another moms blog who adopted from ET. I knew Paeton would want the challenge of making one of her own. I must say, she is quite the "CAKE BOSS!"

What no NAP will get you

Phelix is a twice a day nap taker. He likes his sleep, he needs his sleep. On this day, he decided to try to keep up with Phisher who hardly naps at all. Phisher blesses this exhausted mother occasionally, and gives in to the nap. On this day, nobody napped until dinner time and Phelix fell asleep during his meal. We all laughed hysterically and scrambled for the camera for these fun photos. ENJOY

A Heart for Africa - Swaziland

Jamie and I have the privilege to serve with an AMAZING group of Christians who are dedicated to bring H O P E to the orphans of Swaziland, Africa. We are helping with, Celebrate HOPE; an elegant evening of celebration, awareness and fundraising. Our dream is to raise $100,000 to build a children's home (orphanage) in Swaziland, Africa, immediately saving children from poverty. 100% of the proceeds from Celebrate HOPE will go to Heart for Africa to build an orphanage in Swaziland, Africa. To make this event a success we are seeking generous businesses and/or individuals willing to be an event sponsor and/or donate a service or item for our silent auction.

Please consider being a part of this AWESOME opportunity to educate our community and save these children from poverty. Visit our web site for more information on how to get involved, purchase tickets for the event, partner with us, and pray for our team and the orphans of Africa. We would be honored to have you join us in making this dream come true.

HOPE RISING and HOPE FOUND

I was just so overcome with joy this weekend at church. I wanted to post about how God moved through our church, our AWESOME church, (La Croix United Methodist Church) However, this morning when I finally sat down to blog, I had to read a recent post on my dear friends blog, www.adventuresinbianca.blogspot.com This Awesome family happens to be dear friends of ours and we are lucky to be members of and worship together at our church. When I read Chantelle's entry I thought to my self, I could not have said this better myself. So, I have copied her heartfelt thoughts on how God showed up and moved through everyday people to give hope to those who have nothing else but hope.

Today was just an awesome day! I am still blown away by the info I learned today! As most of you know, we go to an awesome church and over the past year our church started a journey to make a difference for orphans in the world....Of course I am encouraging this big time!
For any local people reading, it is LaCroix Church and I am just so pumped about what God is doing there! (Please also see this as an open invite to join us at LaCroix if you are a local and looking for a church, checking out church as an option, or just thinking this place might be cool)We just finished a great series called Hope Rising, and it was all about serving the poor and standing for those in need. It had such a huge influence on my life. We were challenged in many ways as a church. One of these challenges was to live for 5 days on what millions of people across the globe live like EVERY DAY. We were allowed tap water and 3 meals a day of one cup of rice and beans.
If you know me at all, you know I love food! Too much I have learned. How interesting what we focus our time and thoughts toward...And for me, deciding where to eat or looking forward to my next meal, or snack seemed to be a big part of my life.-The funny thing is, I would have NEVER known this if I had not taken on the food challenge. I pretty much thought doing the challenge would be "good for me". Eric and I both did it as a family. We went to sleep hungry at night and I know we were still eating like kings compared to so so many people who live on so much less than the beans and rice every day.

Here are some of the random things that I learned/pondered during this week:-Frustration....I felt it big time because I could not be in total control
-We spend WAY too much in a week eating out!
-Looking at my girls in there warm cushy beds, belly's full- I cried at the thought of the 147 million children in the world who have no parents and no security, much less little to no food most of the time.
-I cried about almost everything as a matter of a fact...I was constantly overwhelmed by the feeling of being hungry and how over the top we are as a culture with all of our "stuff" while people around the world are LITERALLY STARVING TO DEATH!
-I was in a bad mood on and off all week from the lack of food...and still we had all of the tap water we could drink.
-Two days I went to the gym and did my typical cardio burn, and when I walked out of the gym I thought I might pass out...And it made me think of what women and children go through walking for miles to get water, only to carry the heavy container once filled while their bellies ache for nutrition.
I caught myself looking in the rear view mirror as I drove our over the top SUV, looking at my girls in the back seat thinking...THIS COULD HAVE BEEN THEM...Not a number that is easy to ignore...MY GIRLS, MY BABIES...BIANCA AND SOLIE

-I knew the 5 days would end if I could "just make it to the end" and then life would be back to normal....FOR US, NOT THEM
-I cheated by drinking tea a few days...How weak can a person be?
-I wondered, WHY ME? Why did I get this phenomenal life that I EXPECT, and take for granted, and millions of other people ARE DYING FROM LACK OF FOOD AND LOVE
-I still went to bed EVERY NIGHT, in my plush, warm bed, and had a shower every day, love every day, a family every day....a wonderful life...every day
Eric and I looked at each other and were brought to tears so many times as we ate our one cup meal, realizing that millions of people would be so so thankful for this one cup meal.
Well, the list could go on FOREVER, but this is a taste, if you will.

In addition to the food challenge our church partnered with a great organization called Feed My Starving Children, and we packed and shipped 157,000 meals for people in need.
On Christmas Eve an offering was taken in hopes of raising $37,000 to pay for these meals, and also to support a great organization called S.H.A.D.E, wHere we will help increase a feeding program for people already serving the poorest of the poor.
Today was the day we were to learn how much our church gave for this need.
I went to church so excited I could hardly stand it, and when the amount was revealed, I felt weak in my knees.

PEOPLE, REGULAR PEOPLE, CAME TO THE 4 CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES HELD AT OUR CHURCH AND IN THOSE 4 SERVICES A TOTAL OF $116,0000 WAS GIVEN FOR THE OPE RISING FUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE GOAL WAS TO RAISE THE $37,000 THAT WOULD FEED 500 KIDS FOR A YEAR....
HERE IS WHAT GOD DID!
NOW THE MONEY GIVEN WILL IN FACT FEED 1500 KIDS FOR A YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Literally unbelievable!
GOD IS GIGANTIC!!!!
I am so thankful and humbled and challenged!
Are you? Where do you stand? Maybe you have thought about getting involved, maybe you already are involved....We have so much...We can all do more.
THIS IS WHAT LIFE IS ABOUT!