Wait, Wait, Wait and Find Out

that I have to wait some more. I went to the doctor today for my post-op visit and to find out when I have an appointment with the specialist. It's been a long week—pain and fever wear on a body after a while.

But, it's going to be a LONGER month because that's how long it is before I can get in to see the specialist—August 30. The Lord really must be working on me to "be still" because that's about all I can do.

I am enjoying many of my friends' blogs but I have to do it through bloglines. For some reason when I try to access blogs directly my browsers (all of them) are freezing up. I can read okay through bloglines but I can't comment. I just wanted my friends to know I was reading and being blessed.

A lesson in patience

My life verse is Psalm 27:14 "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."

This is one of the life lessons I want my children and my grandchildren to learn. Right now, God is working on me to pound it into my heard head. Wait. Wait. Wait.

The family tragedy I mentioned was a child tragedy. One of our daughters decided to abort God's timing and take things into her own hand. She ran off with her boyfriend and eloped. Our hearts were broken. We love them both and pray that God blesses and teaches and trains them in the coming days and that they choose to learn the lessons the easy way and not the hard way.

Now, we are needing to wait on God in the area of my health. My surgical procedure yesterday was unsuccessful. Due to years of endometriosis, by organs aren't where they are supposed to be. My doctor has done hundreds of these procedures and never had the problems he had with me. I am unique. The next step is to move on the the University hospital and see if the doctors there can find an answer. In the meantime, the health problems I am having are limiting my functioning. Ughhh!!
"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." I really need to work on this.

Where Have I Been?

MIA! That's where I've been. We had a family tragedy last week. The stress of which caused my husband to collapse and neccessitated being taken to the hospital by ambulance. He spent 6 hours in the ER where they were able to stabilize him and he was able to come home. He's fine now. A little worse for the wear but fine.

Then—tomorrow, I go in the hospital for an outpatient procedure. I've had some health issues for more than a year and they've tried all kinds of tests to determine the exact problem and the solution but to no avail. So, as a final resort, they are going to view my insides with a camera. This should work.

I don't know how drugged I'll be so I don't know how long until I'm back on the blog but if we can ever get me situated, I'll blog your eyeballs out!

I have 5 more introductions to make

My other 5 children were all adopted when they were older. They ranged in age from 9 to 13.5 the day they walked through our door as our children. I don't have cute baby pictures. In fact, my children don't have baby pictures of themselves. I've seen them cry because they sometimes feel like they've lost their past.

Adopting older children is nothing like having birth children and is even vastly different that adopting a child at birth. There are years of their lives we know not of. There are things that we, as their parents, are blamed for when we didn't even know them yet.

I've thought about it a lot and there is a strong spiritual lesson here. We, the saved, are all adopted into the family of God. As adoptive parents, the number one character quality we have had to display is tenacity. We've had to stick by our kids when the last thing they wanted was for us to exist, let alone be part of thier lives. We do that to God. We get mad and blame Him for messes that were made before we became His children and then we want Him to go away. But He doesn't, does He? He's right there, being patient, working to bring us to a place of understanding or even just acceptance.

I have a whole new respect for how hard that is.


Galatians 4:4-5 "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

I took Elisha to the playground today

He pushed me on the merry-go-round. It is really funny because, suffice it to say I'm a padded Nana and he's only 2 1/2. But he pushed his Nana on the merry-go-round. He also dug in the dirt, went down the big slide many, many times, and talked to the "baby bug."

There was a little bity bug in the dirt and he took me by the hand to show me. He squatted down and said, "Hi, baby bug! You wanna get in my hand?" I told him the bug was probably afraid. So he said to the bug, "Don't be scared, baby bug, I be soft!"

I love moments like that. That makes life worth it.

Got out a little bit today

With the new antibiotic I'm on, I'm feeling a little better each day. This morning I went with Wendy & Elisha to Toys R Us and to the Mall. Elisha was so excited in the Thomas section of the toy store! I loved watching him.

At the mall, Wendy bought me the next three Lemony Snicket books. I'm trying to read all 12 before the 13th and final book comes out in October. She said she bought them because I take care of Elisha while she works. Should I tell her that having my grandson with me is my all-time favorite thing, or should I let her continue to think I'm doing her a favor?

I was tired after my outing but I did enjoy getting out of the house.

5 Extraordinary Blessings

Thanks to Tami from Time with Tami for this idea.

1. My unbelievably patient and caring husband. He spent 3 hours last night catching up on the laundry for me since I haven't felt well.

2. The sweet spirit of my 2-year-old grandson. This has been the "Terrific Twos" and not the "Terrible Twos" at all. Out of the blue, he will run up and throw his arms around me and say, "Hi, Nana! Love you!"

3. My minivan. It is such a blessing to me to have a vehicle that I can get in and count on when I turn the key.

4. My daughter who fixed wonderful pork chops and sauteed vegetables last night so I wouldn't have to cook.

5. Insurance! My medicine would have cost me twice as much if we didn't have insurance.

Our first child: Wendy

This is Wendy at one day old.

I am infertile. I cannot carry a baby to term. When we were married, I was using birth control but three months into the marriage, we decided to go ahead and have children. I conceived almost immediately and miscarried six weeks later. Within a year, we discovered that I had endometriosis. After fertility drugs and several surgeries we looked into adoption. The cost was staggering. We knew that we wanted a baby more than anything but we also knew that only God could bring that about.

On August 1, 1985, we moved into a two-bedroom apartment and set up a nursery. Every evening, as a couple we would enter the nursery and pray that God would fill that crib. On Sunday, September 1, 1985, a friend approached me at church. She had just adopted a baby boy and she asked me if we had ever considered adoption. I told her that we had, but the cost was prohibitive. She said, “No, I know a woman who is going to have a baby in October and if I ask her, I think she will let you adopt the baby.” I was stunned. I asked Mark and we asked our friend to go ahead and talk to the birthmother. On September 3, my friend called and told me that the birthmother would be thrilled if we would adopt the child.

I was excited and terrified simultaneously. We scrambled to make arrangements. The first thing we looked for was an attorney to represent us. Did you know that there are many foul-mouthed lawyers out there who will charge you $25 for 15 minutes and then call you a baby-stealer? So back into that little nursery we went. We cried out to God and asked him to lead us to an attorney.

The next service at church, a dear sweet saint of God approached Mark and asked if we had found an attorney and slipped him the card of attorney she knew. This attorney not only understood adoption law, but he had worked for an adoption agency and was a devout Christian. (In fact, shortly after our adoption, he left his legal practice and went to the mission field.) We contacted him and he told us that the retainer was $300. Back to the nursery we went.
Mark was a student in our church’s Bible Institute at the time. The following Wednesday evening, a fellow student invited himself over for a home-cooked meal. There was nothing unusual about that and we enjoyed the fellowship. During the meal, the young man asked if we had gotten a lawyer. He was in business with his dad and began to talk about lawyers. Finally, he asked what the retainer fee on an adoption was. We told him and he pulled a check out of his pocket for $300 and said God had laid the amount on his heart.

There were so many miracles; I have to think hard to remember them all. A church pastored by a friend took up a love offering to help with our expenses and the amount was to the dollar the midwife fee we had to pay.

Now we just had to wait on the baby—and she made us wait. She was almost 2 weeks late. Finally, on October 23, the phone call came. A girl! And she had tons of hair!

Early the next morning, we left to drive the 300 miles to meet our baby. The memory of the emotions as I entered the room and saw that tiny (5 lb. 12 oz.) bundle lying in the cradle is still intense today. I gingerly reached down and picked up the 17-hour-old little girl who would grow up to call me Mom.


Wendy was our only child for 10 years. She and I share a special bond that is inexplicable. In some ways, she is just like her Dad. In other ways, she is just like me. Yet, in so many ways she will always be a mystery because much of who she is was determined before I met her.

I am still awed by the acts of God that led to Wendy’s adoption and the intense love of a woman who knew she could never give this baby the best and in love, gave her to me.

Wendy is in nursing school now. She is almost finished with her prerequisites. She was married young and her husband has left. She also has the most beautiful little boy in the world—my grandson, Elisha.

(The picture on the right, is Wendy at nine months; the day her adoption was finalized.)

I took a quiz and this is what it said

You Are a Seeker Soul

You are on a quest for knowledge and life challenges. You love to be curious and ask a ton of questions. Since you know so much, you make for an interesting conversationalist. Mentally alert, you can outwit almost anyone (and have fun doing it!). Very introspective, you can be silently critical of others. And your quiet nature makes it difficult for people to get to know you. You see yourself as a philosopher, and you take everything philosophically. Your main talent is expressing and communicating ideas. Souls you are most compatible with: Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

I've Been Tagged!

Wow! I'm it! Whoo Hooo!!! Tori @ A Home Far From Home tagged me so here goes:


5 Things in my Refrigerator:
A 12-pack of Tab
A 12-pack of Mountain Dew
A 12-pack of Coke
A 12-pack of Coke with Lime
A 12-pack of Netea with Lemon
(My girls went crazy at the grocery store where 12-packs were 5 for $10)

5 Things in My Closet:
An empty suitcase
My vaccuum cleaner
My wedding dress
Everyone's winter coats
My new C.J. Banks outfit

5 Things in My Purse:
My checkbook
A picture of Amanda & Marcy's graduation
My PDA
My empty wallet
6 pens

5 Things in My Car:
Stroller
Antifreeze
Jumper Cables
Mark's toolbox
An empty Arby's cup

5 People I am Tagging:
Carolyn over @ at home with Carolyn
Susan @ By Grace
Stephanie @ In Mom's Eyes
Coleen @ Deaf Chicks Shouldn't Sing and Other Sound Advice
Bernice @ Frazledmom's

Introduction: Mark, my best friend and husband

My hero is my spouse, my friend, my lover, my co-worker, and my pastor. Mark is the meekest man I know. He is controlled strength embodied. I don’t know anyone who works harder and loves deeper than he does.

He was born the youngest child of three and only son to a hard-working, middle-class family in Dallas, TX in December of 1959. His grandfather was the pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church and his father the associate pastor. We have a reel-to-reel tape of the service on January 6, 1960 where Mark is introduced and you can hear him exercising his lungs in the background.

When he was five, Mark walked the aisle for salvation and a man prayed with him. This man never dealt with Mark about his sinful condition and Mark never prayed. He rode on that false profession for many years.

When he was a young teenager, due to his grandfather’s failing health and the decline of the inner-city neighborhood, Bellevue Baptist Church closed its doors. Mark began attending another independent Baptist church close to his home. He became very involved singing in the choir, singing special music and as a bus captain on one of the church’s bus routes. The entire time, he was lost and on his way to Hell.

On January 6, 1980, (twenty years to the day after that first service) Mark felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit and accepted Christ as his personal Savior. Two weeks later, Mark surrendered to preach. Two weeks later, we met.

We were friends for six months and then Mark asked me out. We went soulwinning and then went to Red Lobster for dinner. Nineteen days and nineteen dates later, we were engaged. Nine months later, on June 5, 1981 we became husband and wife.

When he was saved, Mark was finishing up his second year of college on a music scholarship. He transferred to a Bible college that fall, and prepared himself for the ministry.

Mark has pastored three churches: Temple Baptist Church in Lufkin, TX; Trinity Independent Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO; and All Seasons Baptist Church in Bettendorf, IA.