One Of My All Time Favs!

On the lighter side, I just wanted to share one of my very favorite scenes ever! We love to do family movie nights and we like to have the kids watch some of the classics. We have watched so many Alfred Hitchcock classics and also a lot of old musicals. Since we are theatre performers, we love to be inspired. My kids love the show "Singin' In The Rain". You have to watch and be amazed by the Tap Dancing talents of Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. Not just tap dancing, but they are triple threats. I haven't seen anything like this since. Unfortunately, I cannot embed the video from youtube, so just click on this link below and you just have to see it! It will make your day!! :) :) :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKlub5vB9z8

Consider Becoming a GAL or CASA in your county!

I hope to continue to post every few months about my volunteer work as a GAL (Guardian Ad Litem, also called a CASA Court appointed Special Advocate) in the foster care system.

I feel it is important to volunteer or do outreach, adopt, speak out or relieve suffering on a global level as well as right in our own community. There are so many ways we can help no matter what walk of life in which we may find ourselves. We always say, "I wish I could do something..." Well then, do something! Anything! Just step out and make a choice and do something. You will personally grow and change so much through your volunteer experiences.

Being a court assigned child advocate is a priceless opportunity. Every child deserves to have a voice. Not from the parents' point of view, not from the caregiver's point of view, not from the case worker's point of view, but from THAT child's point of view. Taking everyone's input consideration of course, but working solely for the best placement of that child who finds themselves in a lonely, vulnerable and fearful situation through no fault of their own.

Proverbs 31:8-9

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

DON'T BUY INTO THE LIE

There has been some buzz being perpetuated by a small percentage of people who believe they have the answer to the complex issues of the world's orphan problem. The lie is that adoption is only the drop in the bucket of a worldwide problem and that if we care so much about orphans we would just send money or mind our own business if it is not in our backyard. It may be a drop, but every drop counts. I actually had someone tell me, "there are too many kids, ONE can't possibly make a difference" and "let those countries with high numbers of orphans take care of their own problem, it's not our problem". I say we should consider adoption in addition to giving of our finances and time and work toward family preservation and national preservation goals first.

- I believe adoption is not only a blessing to both the family and the child, but I will take it one step further and declare that every well functioning family, who has an extra space for a bed and is throwing away food at the end of a meal, should highly consider adoption. Come on, think about your life... In the end wouldn't we want to say that we didn't hoard everything in our "circle", but that we had space in our homes and hearts for one more precious little soul? Wouldn't that be amazing??!!

- There are approx 550,000 children in U.S. foster care. Of these, 127,000 are available for adoption. Since we as "the church" claim to have a responsibility toward the orphan - I read that if ONE family from every ONE church in America would adopt ONE child from foster care, and the rest of that church's congregation would be willing to help that family with support in some way, there would be zero children waiting to be adopted from foster care! Awesome thought!

- Adoption domestically or internationally is valid and valuable! EVERY child deserves a home. YES, I AGREE and I will say it again.. preserving a national and ethnic heritage should be the first goal! But we have to look at the facts and the facts are, there are 147 MILLION orphans in the world. We have to put THEIR human rights first IF national ethnic preservation is NOT possible for that individual child.

- Can we properly parent a child of another ethnicity? Of course we can! It is 2011 and a multi- ethnic family is acceptable and beautiful. What is this, the dark ages? Why would we have to look at skin color in order to love? We are past that and can embrace and help the child learn of their culture and heritage.

- Adoption IS a ministry! We as parents often times would like to be involved in outreach or ministry of some sort. Many of us are average working families and missions may not be possible, yet, but you know what I can do? Be a MOM! I am good at being a mom and if that is the case, one thing I can do is parent another child. This is a sacred job and is beyond valuable.

- Why don't we just send our money to a feeding program or an orphanage? We do. And we will continue to do so! In fact I would venture to say that most families who adopt are also the very same families who give of their time and money on a regular basis to charity. And yes, adoption is expensive, but it is PRICELESS in view of the child's options. The investment is an entire human's life! Building a child who will be a productive part of society and will go out when they are adults and make a difference!

- Hadn't some children been adopted illegally? Sadly yes. This issue is constantly being scrutinized and the process has become extremely stringent now. This has to be considered and highly scrutinized. Corrupt practices must stop. But, we cannot throw out the idea of adoption because there are a percentage of evil-doers. That would be like never sending your child to a Dr because some Dr's were accused of malpractice. Adoption must remain an option. There are many very solid and dependable programs. It be a part of the puzzle.

Don't buy into the lie. Adoption is an option for ministry. A valid, giving, healthy, valuable option.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY XI HUA!

I was not able to get onto the computer yesterday, so first thing this morning I wanted to post:

Happy Birthday to our little Katie Grace Xi Hua! Yesterday was her 3rd Birthday. She has celebrated 3 birthdays without a family. That breaks my heart! The good news is that she will never celebrate a birthday again without us!

I pray that somebody remembered that it was her birthday. I pray that she got a hug. We asked, through our agency, that a cake be ordered for her and her group to share. I hope that happened!

As each week passes, my desire for her to come home intensifies. Every week, we miss out on a milestone. Every week, we are not able to teach her love and affection. Every week, she goes without the bond of a family. Every week, she learns a behavior that we will have to work with.

Everything moves so slowly! It will still be about 4 months until we can travel to get her. I should be able to post photos of her very soon. God keep her safe and prepare her heart.

JUST SOMETHING FUN! JOSHIE OUR SUPER LEARNER

Joshua is in Pre -K. He has always been what I call a "super learner". From the time he could speak, he had all of his letters, shapes, colors, and basic numbers memorized. He would point at them in his books and ask me to repeat them again and again. Sometimes, I would actually have to gently force and redirect playtime so that we didn't just keep looking at those shapes.

My other kids are smart but Josh is unusually advanced. The big kids love it and laugh all the time when he amazes us with a reading or an amazing Lego replica of the Burj Kalifa or the Taipei 101.

I don't sit and push him at all. He WANTS me to read to him A LOT and he asks a lot of questions and then remembers it all.

Jacob and I have this joke line "We're planning to call the institute". We have people i.e. family members, teachers, friends, etc. say to us all the time, "you know, he is very smart." And I will say, "yes, he is." Then they will say it again "no, he is veeery smart", and they will keep staring at me like, what are you going to do about it? So finally Jacob and I started saying just as a joke, "we are planning to call the institute". I have no idea what the institute is, but we are hoping that will please the person asking, LOL!

Anyway, I was reading an article the other night and Joshua was sitting next to me on the couch and started reading it out loud. So we video taped it.

EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE WEEKS? THEN A GREAT MORNING OF INSPIRATION!

I am usually a super positive and energetic person, but we have had a pretty hard week. Our beautiful dog, Ginger, dying was the biggest blow to us. To add to it, I had a couple other things slow me down:

I pulled my hamstring muscle in a show I dance in, at Disney. I pulled it to the point that I can't even lift up my leg to put it into my pants today. (and I have to perform in that show tomorrow, only God knows how).

Then I woke up this morning to get everyone ready for church, and I felt a virus down deep in my chest and cough beginning. (and I have to also sing in that show I do, so I need my throat to be healthy.) Ok, so anyway I thought, no problem, take cough med, go to church.

THEN I get in the car with my daughter to go and pick up her boyfriend to attend church with our family, and the "check engine" light comes on, ugh! Are you kidding me??

Now, I am not one of those "the devil is under every chair" kind of people. I do know there is a devil, and we need to be on our guard. But I don't think everything that goes wrong is the devil. Things just sometimes go wrong or they are meant to go wrong for a better good. But, I had this feeling that I was being overwhelmed so as not to attend church today. So I decided, we are going no matter what!

We arrive at church and guess what, a special guest, A MISSIONARY, is speaking at our church today! It was just the encouragement I needed after I finally shared my "I Have A Secret Dream" post a couple of weeks ago here, and suddenly a missionary comes to speak! Our church is growing, but has not had a Global Missions or Orphan Care ministry as yet. They have a community feeding center and outreach, but I have been praying for a global outlook! This was such an encouraging and heart wrenching presentation today, and I feel that it opened up the hearts of our people to begin considering the SUPER importance of a Mission/Orphan Care program. I was meant to be there today as another step for what God has in store!

WE HAVE I-800A APPROVAL!!

Ok, so things are moving along, a little more slowly than I had hoped, but honestly what else is new, LOL! This whole journey is long and slow. But will be soooo worth it!

We have had our home study and dossier authenticated and ready for about a month. We had our fingerprints done on January 4th and from there have been waiting for this approval. Now that we have it, we need to authenticate it, and then our dossier will be off to China.

Chinese New Year begins in a few days I believe, so that will slow things down for a few weeks. I imagine we will have "Log In" about 2 weeks after dossier arrives in China and then we begin our wait for LOA (Letter Of Approval) which takes up to 60 days. Then following will be a couple other important immigration docs.....

GOODBYE DEAR OLD FRIEND

We lost our beloved family dog, Ginger, last night. We've had her for nearly 15 years, since Christina our oldest was 1 year old. She was so sweet, loving to the kids, and a friend to me through thick and thin. Always right there by my side. She died as we sat around her and pet her. We cried and cried. I will miss her beautiful fluffy golden coat and her gentle brown eyes always looking up at me with kindness.

I don't have any puppy pics of her scanned, but here are some from the past several years.

A-MAZ-ING. THIS VIDEO "SHOUTS" WHAT MY HEART FEELS AND IT REALLY MOVED ME TO THE POINT THAT I MUST SHARE!

Through our conversations, I would venture to say that most of my "blogging friends" that I chat with here are Christian. But I also know that I do have some very dear friends here who are not Christian, and I am so joyful for all of my friends as we live in love and acceptance of each other.

This video has a strong Christian message. If you are Christian, as I am, you will see the biblical responsibility this video charges us with. If you are not, I still feel that the message of this video is raw human kindness and responsibility, and should tug at the heart of anyone, of any faith, to act and bring relief to the hurting people in this world!

I love the passion with which this man, Eric Ludy, speaks.

Just imagine YOUR child.

(you will have to first scroll down to the bottom of this page and pause my blog music! Please watch this!)

I HAVE A SECRET DREAM.

I have a secret dream.

I am an actress. I perform on stage doing theatre, singing, dancing, comedy. I do commercials and hosting. That probably sounds a lot more glamorous than it actually is! LOL! My husband does the same. We have been blessed to work for many years, but we are still basically the old title of "staving artists" when I gets right down to it!

So you might think that my secret dream is to "make it big" in a movie or on Broadway. Be a Star! Earn the big bucks! At times in my life, that has been the dream, but deep inside my heart, my true dream keeps creeping up as something completely different.

I dream of being..... A Missionary. There I said it. I never really say that.

I continually read missionary books, watch missionary videos, and dream of travel to far off lands, starting an orphanage, or a feeding center, getting medical help to the needy and just being there with the people.

When the thought of traveling to Africa or China and working in a orphanage or with a feeding mission is more exciting than an exotic trip to Europe, that's unusual! Does anyone else feel that way?? Please share!!

I know you will say, "How could you be a missionary, Annie?" Impossible! You are married. You have (soon) 4 kids. You have family, a job, a house payment, cars, people, futures to think of. I Know! I TOTALLY agree! I know it is a ridiculous idea for us to be missionaries. It's not even close to what we do!! So WHY do I keep dreaming I could do that??

I have made steps to fulfill (quell?) this desire. Things I can do HERE. I am a Guardian Ad Litem, working with children in the foster care system. My daughter and I spent many Saturdays volunteering at the homeless shelter. We are adopting our precious daughter. I blog. We "give". I love all of these and these are all steps that God has given us to take.

But instead of quelling my desire to travel to far off lands, those things just INCREASE my desire! UGH! So, there must be something more in the future. Something. I really don't know what it is. It may be something I'm not even thinking of. It may be totally different. But I just know there is something.

Jeremiah 20 :9

But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!!! 12 YEARS OLD!!!

Matthew. What a boy. He is such a sensitive, considerate and helpful young man! Matthew is always willing to lend a hand, when my other kids sigh. :-) Matthew is always the one to give hugs and to ask me if he can do anything when I'm not feeling well. Don't get me wrong, ALL of my kids are SO special to me and have their own special traits. They are helpful, and of course all do caring things. I'm just saying that today, I would like to honor Matthew's especially thoughtful, considerate nature. That trait is his gift from God. Happy Birthday Matthew!

WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS, WITH A BITTERSWEET TUG.

We have had such a blessed Christmas! Christmas Eve Service at Church with carols and the Bible reading of our Lord's Birth. Home last night and enjoying presents, cookies, cheese, crackers, eggnog, hot cocoa, music. We awoke this morning to gifts from Santa, yummy breakfast, more gifts, friends stopping by, delicious meal, playing with toys and watching movies.

What a festive time! What a wonderful family time!

But there is a bittersweet tug. You see, we have a daughter. But she is not here. Everyday, I have been able to keep going along and perform our daily responsibilities and enjoy our family, but last night, it really hit home. She is there. We are here. She is SO little and SO far away. What is she doing? Do they have any sort of a Christmas celebration at the orphanage? Is she safe? Warm? Did she get a hug yesterday? Today?

Many families mention how, when they bring their adopted child home and begin to bond, they begin to grieve the loss of that child's young childhood they've missed. I can see how that will be.

Praying for our little girl tonight. Our little Xi Hua. Katie Grace. God, keep her in Your arms. Keep her safe from harm. Keep her healthy. Calm her fears. Dry her tears. Attend to her needs. Put joy in her heart. Let someone be hugging her and giving her positive words. Prepare her heart, in a way that only You can, for us.

Amen

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Some moments of our Holidays thus far. Hope you are blessed with Family, Love and Joy!

Joshua's Moment With Santa

Joshua and his best friend with Santa. Joshua is obviously thinking hard to answer Santa!

Santa also came to Joshua's Pre-K class!

The kids listening to Santa's story.

hmmm... what do I want??

Matthew's middle school Violin Christmas Concert. Here he is with 2 of his best buddies.

Christina dancing in her Christmas Recital - beautiful girl.

Joshua and Matthew with their good friend waiting for the Christmas Parade in our town!

Christina Marched with her HS Marching Band in the Christmas Parade!

Of course Santa at the end of the Parade is who everyone is waiting for!

We love to celebrate Christmas and especially to remember the reason Christmas is celebrated!

Isaiah 9

⁶ For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

A COUPLE OF EXCITING THINGS TO SHARE!

First of all, I want to say that precious "Dalton", of whom I posted earlier, now has a family!! Yes, it is true, the little guy who said "I need a mama too", will now really have a mama! I am going to remove that post with his photos for their privacy, but just wanted to let you all know he will have a family!

Secondly, I have been blessed with new photos of our little girl we are adopting! Last week, another mom/friend from our orphanage's y*hoo group, was in China adopting her daughter. I had given her our little girl's name and asked if they might be able to see her while there. Not only did they see our little girl, but they took 6 beautiful photos of her!!! AND to top that her husband said he also got a video of her that he will send to us once they get home and he has a chance to upload it and email it to us! She is a tiny, precious girl, with a cute little pixie face, and I can't wait to share photos with you all. Once our dossier is in China and is logged in, I will share! Hopefully next month!

MOVING ALONG.....

Our home study is approved, has been sent to the agency and for our I-800A approval. Our agency has had several of our documents authenticated and have sent the rest for authentication. We feel a great deal of relief as we complete the first major hurdle. Home Study and Dossier! One authenticated it will all be sent to China and then the wait for LOA (Letter of Acceptance) begins. It sounds as though that wait time for LOA can range from about 30 - 60 days. In the meantime, we have some other documents to work on.

So... we are happily moving along!