Foster2Forever

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COMING HOME – IN HIS PLAN

Within the last 2 weeks, 2 of my dear friends lost close family members. It is by God’s grace & guiding hand that He has shown me that by coming home, I was able to share in their grief. Coming home was in His plan all along!

When I left for college in 1988, I really didn’t think I would ever return. After graduating from college, I moved to a big city of 4 million. I fell in love with all the excitement & activities that the big city had to offer. I became a bonefide “CITY GIRL” and loved my life there for over 15 years.

After a whirlwind long-distance courtship, I eloped & married a wonderful godly man that I had been close friends with during my youth. Soon afterward, I left a city of 4 million to move to a town of 1400 so that my new husband could remain an integral part of his 12-year-old son’s life.

In this small town, I missed the big city and my friends I left behind. Because I was a little over an hour from where I grew up, I was able to reconnect with old friends, albiet on a limited scale.

After a year of small town life, both my husband and I longed for the convenience of a city. We began to plan for our return “HOME”. I had been gone from Central Texas nearly 19 years and, although my husband did not grow up in the area, he had lived in Central Texas for nearly 20 years, so it had become “home” for him as well.

Since our move nearly 3 years ago, I have personally lost 4 family members and have watched as close friends have tragically lost family members as well. By coming home, I have been able to personally share condolences and hopefully give comfort to my friends and family. I wouldn’t have been able to do this living away in the big city.

Looking back, I can see God’s guiding hand in my life to bring me home. Proverbs 16:9 says “a man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.” As a single girl in the big city, I never thought I would ever leave big city life; however, the husband God chose for me determined the steps to bring me back home to my roots.

Thank you, Lord, for having plans to give me hope and a future that I NEVER expected! (Jeremiah 29:11) I love the fabulous life you have given me!!!!

Hugs to you!
~penny
http://txpenelope.blogspot.com/

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New Year’s Resolutions/Goals for 2010

Resolutions seem to go away the first week, but here are some goals I’d like to accomplish in 2010. Wish me luck & lots of prayer!

Spiritual
*Read the Old Testament – all of it – in chronological order. I found this really great One Year Chronological Bible at Mardel’s for $15. It is organized chronologically, which is really helping me with putting all the great Bible stories together how they happened. It’s like reading a great novel!

Family
*Provide a safe, loving Christian home to all my sons. My stepson graduates in May. Stinkpot, my very strong-willed toddler is a disciplinary challenge. We hope to adopt our foster baby boy sometime in 2010. (If you’d like information on fostering or adopting children in Texas – attend an informational meeting in your area.)

Homelife
*Get organized (somehow!) with cleaning, cooking & raising preschoolers while working full-time. I’m going to have to try this FlyLady thing again. To help with meal planning, I purchased this computer program –Dinner is Ready: 30 Meals in One Day – that I like alot. It puts together your menus & shopping lists by clicking on the recipes you like – you can even add your own recipes. Now to find the time to do the grocery shopping & cooking…(p.s. so far I have only been able to get this program to work on our PC with Microsoft xp, but not with Vista)

Personal
*Run the 5k in the Komen Central Texas Race for the Cure on April 24th. I have already begun training on the treadmill at work, but yesterday, I threw out my back…ug! Have any of you participated before?

Community
*Fight cancer in Central Texas by raising $15,000 for the Community Cancer Association at our first Quarters for Cancer event on Saturday, March 27th at Richland Mall. Anyone want to help or volunteer?

What are your goals/resolutions for 2010? Am I being too ambitious?

Hugs to you all!

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Christmas Lights….Continued

Last night, we began a tradition of taking the kids to look at Christmas lights. We had a difficult time finding the “Nature in Lights” park on Fort Hood. In our journey, we came upon this house where they decked the halls, doors, windows, roof, trees & the rest of the yard with boughs of Christmas lights. When our teenager said that he wanted his Dad to decorate our house like this, my husband’s response was, “I’ll pay somebody!”
{We still don’t have our lights out}
The park only cost $5 for the vehicle. Our 2-year-old was so excited!
He was looking out the window waving to all the other cars.

Stinkpot really enjoyed driving us through the park!


We saw Frosty the Snowman.


A cute winter village.


And even a patriotic display.


However, after a while, as it got late, Stinkpot got cranky!
With displays for about 5 miles,
it was after 10 pm when we finally left the park!

As we left the park, we had to drive through this crazy tunnel of flashing lights.

Next year, we will leave early & try to arrive around dusk. We left our house at 7pm & finally found the park around 8pm. It took around 30 minutes plus to wait in line to pay admission. After we actually got into the park, the drive was very smooth with only a small delay as we left the park.

This was such a fun family Christmas outing, we’ll look forward to it next year.

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Our Happy Halloween!

My little Mickey Mouse.

We had such a great time as Mickey & Minnie!

My little Mickey Mouse was so excited that he was exclaiming to everyone,
“I got CANDY! I got CANDY!”

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REWARDS!!!

This week I purchased a Reward Chart for my 2-year-olds. I especially wanted to use it in potty training, but was hopeful that getting a sticker for “picking up toys” would be an fun incentive for both of them. (They are so competitive!)

It was both a success & a failure. At 2 years, my little ones just can’t see the reward in chart form; however, the good news is that they LOVE to get a sticker on their hand. A reward that they can feel & touch & show!

Stickers are GREAT! So far, Stinkpot has #2 in the potty TWICE! Both of them will now eat almost ANYTHING for a sticker! Later, I may find these stickers all over the place – but who cares? – they are currently model children. No more “terrible twos” hopefully!!!

Wouldn’t it be great if as mothers, we got stickers everytime we had a great “mommy moment”? Wow! I caught the vomit in my bare hands before it hit the sofa! “STICKER!” Boy, I did a great job in cleaning up that diarrhea all over the bed! STICKER!

But, honestly, the reward stickers we get as moms last a lot longer than a sticker. The hugs, the kiss good-night, the smiles & giggles will be in my memory forever!

As with motherhood, the rewards of following Christ can come with some sacrifices. As Christians, our labors & sacrifices will be rewarded. “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (Ephesians 3:20, The Message) So God promises us rewards more than we can imagine! The best of these is eternal life through Him. We may have suffering in this life, but the blessings will outweigh our difficulties 100 to 1! (see Matthew 19:29 & Mark 10:30) Have a BLESSED week!

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Frustrations of a Working Mom

Today Walgreen’s had a WONDERFUL special to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation. They were offering photo DVDs for only $1 and donating that to the cure. I put together a DVD of 80 pictures of my foster girl to give to her mother this week. My hope is that it will give her the motivation to get her life on track, if not for herself, but for her little girl.

Lately, I’ve been struggling with trying to juggle it all! I have responsibilities at my job, at home, at church & even by being part of a local cancer non-profit. I want to be the best mother to my 2 toddlers & don’t want to short-change them. Sometimes I feel as if I’m spread too thin & feel insufficient in every aspect of my life.

I found this handy little chart that I’m going to print & start using these verses to turn around those negative thoughts & lift my spirits when I am feeling insufficient. My hope is that God blesses you this week!

HANDY LITTLE CHART – GOD HAS A POSITIVE ANSWER:

YOU SAY

GOD SAYS

BIBLE VERSES

You say: ‘It’s impossible’

God says: All things are possible

(Luke 18:27)

You say: ‘I’m too tired’

God says: I will give you rest

(Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: ‘Nobody really loves me’

God says: I love you

(John 3:1 6 & John 3:34 )

You say: ‘I can’t go on’

God says: My grace is sufficient

(II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: ‘I can’t figure things out’

God says: I will direct your steps

(Proverbs 3:5- 6)

You say: ‘I can’t do it’

God says: You can do all things

( Phil ippians 4:13)

You say: ‘I’m not able’

God says: I am able

(II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: ‘It’s not worth it’

God says: It will be worth it

(Roman 8:28 )

You say: ‘I can’t forgive my self’

God says: I Forgive you

(I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: ‘I can’t manage’

God says: I will supply all your needs

( Phil ippians 4:19)

You say: ‘I’m afraid’

God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear

(II Timothy 1:7)

You say: ‘I’m always worried and frustrated’

God says: Cast all your cares on ME

(I Peter 5:7)

You say: ‘I’m not smart enough’

God says: I give you wisdom

(I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: ‘I feel all alone’

God says: I will never leave you or forsake you

(Hebrews 13:5)

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On Being a Christian Working Mom

24! It’s the same for everyone. 24 hours is what each of us have in each day. But to us mothers that work outside the home – it just isn’t enough!

At one time I was a stay at home mom (SAHM) & even homeschooled my teenage stepson. Although we struggled financially, our home life was very satisfying. Homeschooling did keep me quite busy, but I could multi-task my home duties at the same time. Dinner was ready when my wonderful husband came home on most days. It was a peaceful homelife.

However, my struggles with infertility & an incredible career opportunity, made me realize that God wanted to change my focus for a while. The move and the new job were exhilarating, but the desire to have a child still left an emptiness.

Eight months later, an 8-month-old foster baby was delivered to us one evening. Stinkpot’s arrival was a blessing that totally overwhelmed my life. It took a solid 6 weeks before I didn’t feel incredibly frazzled. It was then that I began to think about leaving a career I enjoyed to stay home again, however, because he was a foster child, we didn’t know how long he would be with us. We delayed any decisions until we knew he was ours.

We adopted Stinkpot in August 2009. Our life with a 2-year-old, although hectic, was managable. However, a week & a half before the adoption, we were brought a 2-year-old foster girl. We only had thought our life was hectic before then!!!

Since then, I struggle each day as I try to get 2 two-year-olds off to daycare, prepare dinner, keep the household together, get everyone (including myself) ready for bed & the next day. All the while, wondering, “Lord, am I a good parent? My time with my children is so short – Am I short-changing them?”

I know that there are other Christian working moms struggling as I do & I plan to use this blog as an outlet to possibly reach other Christian working moms that struggle with the same issues. Hopefully, we can support & encourage one another.

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TAKING OUT & GETTING AWAY

I’ll start today’s blog with a quote. I love this quote by Jay Leno:

‘With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?’

As a country, we’ve become so intent on taking God out of everything – which right now would be the worst thing to do. We now need God more than ever.

I have been blessed this week reading the devotions of Proverbs 31 Ministries. So down to earth & so relevent! Lysa’s blog today was the best!

I haven’t had a chance to do much scrapbooking lately – being the working mom of 2 two-year-olds – but was so thrilled that Shutterfly has announced a quicker way to create a photobook with a program called Simple Path. The best thing of all is that the photobooks are on sale for 20% off until October 14th! YEAH!

This weekend, our family is going camping for the first time since spring. We are renting a cabin on the lake (easier to “camp” when you are in a bed). I’m hoping to take advantage of getting away from it all, but with the “dueling toddlers” – we’ll just have to see how the relaxation thing will work out.

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Here’s my first post!

I’m hoping to figure this site out so that I can post pictures, links and general comments about what’s going on in our life.

My wonderful husband & I have been married nearly 5 years. We have a beautiful foster child that will become part of our family forever on August 12th!

My favorite hobby is digital scrapbooking & I enjoy putting together pages that document my wonderful life with my family.  I have the honor of creating scrapbook pages for Scrapmuss Designs. She lives in Russia so it has been a great experience for me to chat with her online. She has a new kit coming out soon that is her best yet!

I’m Clever

Sway