Moved...

Looking for Momfessions? Try momfessions.net! 

I Found a Booger just now

 Both my boys are pretty snotty with allergy gunk, so there's no telling who this boogy came from...

Isn't motherhood a glamorous gig?

Snort

Adoption Momfession

Our home study is tomorrow and I have bitten all the white off my finger nails.

Anxious (and gross) much?!

It's like I'm fully expecting him to say, "You people do not deserve another precious baby-- you aren't even good parents to the three you have!" 'Cause I know the truth-- this is a tough job, and I'm not a perfect parent. By a long stretch.

Sometimes (more than I would like to admit) I yell at my kids. And I set bad behavior examples for them all the time (being selfish, being proud, gossiping, judging, being jealous...) And I feed them more peanut butter and jelly and hot dogs than any human should consume. And sometimes I let them skip taking a bath (I do make them change their underwear though.) And I don't make them wear matching clothes out of the house. And some days I play on Facebook instead of playing with them. And I let them eat ice cream more than they should because then I can eat ice cream without having to share mine.

I guess my deepest fear is that our social worker will call out my junk and say we aren't worthy of adoption. I know I don't deserve the honor of raising another kid-- heck, I don't deserve the honor of raising the three I have now!

So, here we go. We're jumping into the great deep unknown of home studies and dossiers and international mail. And I don't even have any fingernails to claw my way out.

He Will surely Do It!

A few weeks ago I was tucking my three-year-old son into bed. After brushing my lips against his baby soft forehead and turning toward the door, I heard his sweet voice, “Mommy, when is Baby Sister coming?” My heart skipped a beat at the precious question—there is not a baby in my belly as one might assume from his question. He was asking about Baby Sister who we’ve been talking about for over a year now. Baby Sister won’t have my husband’s eye color or my same skin tone. She won’t be mistaken for a “twin” like our three biological back-to-back, look-alike kids are... Continue reading

*This is an excerpt from a guest post I wrote at Prayer of Hannah.

::Link Love::

{The Secret Sterlization of Women in Uzbekistan} http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17612550

          Absolutely heart-wrenching. It's so easy if you live in the West to pretend the whole world is OK and atrocities against humans don't happen anymore... not true. Eye opening article. 

{Marriage is for Losers} http://drkellyflanagan.com/2012/03/02/marriage-is-for-losers/

          Love this. Want to seek to be more of a "loser" in my marriage.

{50 Ways to Inspire your Husband} http://www.momlifetoday.com/2011/03/50-ways-to-inspire-your-husband/

          Yes. Need to work on this...

{31 Days of Praying for your Husband} http://www.raisinggodlychildren.org/2011/11/31-days-of-praying-for-your-husband.html?mid=5275409

          Again, yes. I need to work on this...

{Why the World will never See Me as a good Parent} http://wearethatfamily.com/2012/03/why-the-world-will-never-see-me-as-a-good-parent/

          Most days it feels like an uphill battle to disengage my parenting from "culture" and try to be biblical in the way I teach and relate to my children. It's good to remember my goal is not for the world to think I am a good parent (whatever that means to them!) but to point my children to Christ.

{Confessions of a Routine-Loving Mother} http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/04/09/mom-doesnt-like-play_n_1396669.html?icid=hp_parents_art_more

          This.is.so.me. Just letting go and playing with my children (not directing their play or encouraging their independent play) is SO hard for me.

{The Littleness of Motherhood} http://www.feminagirls.com/2012/04/10/the-littleness-of-motherhood/

          Such a good reminder why the "little things" are actually big things that matter very much!

{Contentment} http://www.feminagirls.com/2012/03/02/contentment/

          If you live overseas, this is a great read! Ten years from now when I look at my life now, I will probably not remember all the little things that got under my skin and irritated me about living overseas-- I will remember the good things, the fun things, the memorable things.


{Why the City is a wonderful Place to Raise Children} http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/02/15/why-the-city-is-a-wonderful-place-to-raise-children/
          Such encouragement for those of us seeking to raise kids in big cities!

The Ransom is Paid!

I've had so many thoughts stirring in my head as Easter has approached this year. In light of our earthly adoption process, I've been thinking about my adoption by God.

Let's be honest for a minute-- international adoption is expensive. Like really, really expensive. No agency can tell you up front exactly how much you will pay during an international adoption. If adopting, you sign (many!) forms agreeing to the amount you will pay for each part of the adoption process, and saying you understand that there will be "extra expenses" and they are solely your responsibility. At my bare minimum projections we will spend over $20,000 when it's all said and done and Lovebug is at home with our family.

That's a crazy lot of money. It's a great debt we will gladly pay to ransom our daughter from a life void of hope. Without paying this money, Lovebug would remain in her current state-- family-less-- indefinitely. We have to pay the debt required in order to be able to bring her home and call her ours.

At Easter, we remember a similar ransom that was paid a long time ago. You see, I was lost in sin and utter darkness. I was an enemy of God. I was an orphan in the world- without hope, without love. But Someone came and gave even more than $20,000 as a ransom for me. He gave His life.


As His blood-- His pure, precious blood spilled down over rough wood and pooled at the foot of a Roman cross, my adoption fee was paid in full.

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Without payment, there is no adoption into God's family. Without great cost, there is no salvation for the lost. Without the debt being erased, there is no redemption from the old life. Without Jesus, there is no hope for the future.

The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend
The agonies of Calvary
You the perfect Holy One, crushed Your Son
Who drank the bitter cup reserved for me 

Your blood has washed away my sin
Jesus, thank You
The Father’s wrath completely satisfied
Jesus, thank You
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table
Jesus, thank You

By Your perfect sacrifice I’ve been brought near
Your enemy You’ve made Your friend
Pouring out the riches of Your glorious grace
Your mercy and Your kindness know no end

(Jesus, Thank You by Pat Sczebel) 

He paid the price to redeem my soul and then He conquered death! He died to bring us life! That is the sobering, awesome, gruesome, blessed hope of Easter. Praise the Lord.

Waiting...

And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.

 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’  Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”  Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.”  So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

{Quotations taken from the ESV version of the Bible from Luke 23, Matthew 27, Mark 15}