Crazy Eights...tagged

We interrupt the waiting for a game of ....

It's true; I've been tagged by the dear Maria in a game of Crazy Eights.

8 Things I'm looking forward to...
1. Bringing home Hannah

2. Meeting Jesus face to face
3. Asking Him lots of questions - like what's up with this wait? (in a most respectful way!)

4. Maternity Leave which leads me to my next dream...

5. No more travel for work :-)

6. Leading worship in Breckenridge this Fall with my band peeps.

7. Watching Syd and Hannah get to know each other

8. Watching Hannah get to know Lucy and Cleo - now that should be a hoot!

8 Things I did Yesterday
1. Presented all day long at a user group meeting for my sales job

2. Watched the Nuggets lose - it was a great series though.

3. Updated my blog with great news of answered prayer!
4. Got the scoop from Ann about the day in DC by phone :-)
5. Enjoyed a Drumstick (of the ice cream variety)

6. Got up way too early, in my opinion! (6am)
7. Caught up with an old friend, Marcy (she was at the user group meeting). She was one of the first to convince me that, of course, I could figure out how to pay for an international adoption! She's a single AP of two adorable girls from Guatemala.

8. Went to bed way too late (Midnight)

8 Things I wish I could do

1. Be a stay at home Mom
2. Bring my mom back.

3. Adopt at least one more child internationally

4. Speak Spanish Fluently

5. Learn Russian

6. Spend a month in Europe - especially Italy

7. Keep Cleo and Lucy alive forever!

8. Sing in a Broadway Musical

8 Shows I watch (sadly, I probably can fill this list!)

1. Lost

2. The Closer

3. Ugly Betty

4. Barefoot Contessa (LOVE her!)

5. Will & Grace

6. Giada at Home

7. Anything with Ice Skating

8. Battlestar Galactica (I'm a scifi geek!)

8 Fellow Bloggers tagged:

1. Ann at My Adoption Geography

2. Lisa at Ladybug Baby

3. Shannon at Bringing Home Our Angel

4. Pamela at Pamela's Adoption Journey

5. Jes at An Incredible Journey Home

6. Laura at TomAndLaura's Journey

7. Jackie at Me Plus One

8. Suzanne at Steeper Than Expected

God Is On the Move!

I'm too exhausted to write much, but I must share that God is moving hearts. One of my prayers requests was that God would break the hearts of the officials for the children! This morning at about 11am MDT I received a text from dear Ann that simply stated "not a dry eye in the room".

Keep praying people! :-)

A Call to Pray!

This evening I sat down to compose an email prayer request to friends and family. I decided to send that same prayer request out to the blogosphere! Oh, and a big shout out to JCICS and the US DoS - Office of Children's Issues for all their hard work in making this meeting a reality! I appreciate them so very much!

Dear Friends and Family –

I know I've been sending lots of email requests and I truly don’t want to overload you - so feel free to delete this if you’re getting tired of hearing about all of the adoption drama – I know I’m sick to death of the whole mess! But I won’t stop praying and I cannot stop trying advocate in whatever way I can to bring my girl home! She needs to be here, in a family, out of the orphanage! And so do the 64 other waiting children! Hannah turns 3 on July 30th – a third birthday in an orphanage - it just about breaks my heart!

I’m writing to ask you to be praying this Friday. Five waiting families and one family who completed their adoption will be meeting with Kyrgyz officials in Washington DC. These officials were invited by the US Dept of State as a part of their International Visitor’s Program. One small part of their time in DC will be this 90 minute meeting with these families and adoption officials.
Please be praying that
· God will break their hearts for the children.
· The truth about why Americans adopt will be made crystal CLEAR to each of these officials – there is such a negative impression about why we adopt (some believe we adopt for body parts) The Kyrgyz seem to have no cultural frame of reference for International Adoption or domestic adoption for that matter. I think this leads to some fear about why people would adopt.
· Pray for Ann, Lisa, Pamela, Suzanne, Shannon and Cyndi that they will be able to communicate clearly with the officials all that is on their heart – this is such an emotional time for all of us that I know it won’t be easy for them.
· Pray for Cyndi’s son Kenny who was adopted from Kyrgyzstan and is now 11 years old – he wants to address the officials and tell them how wonderful it is to be adopted and what life has been like since leaving the orphanage a few years ago. A quote from Cyndi’s blog “Kenny and I are both pretty scared. Kenny said "I want to help those babies come home, Mommy...but what if I say the wrong thing?". I reassured him there was nothing he could say that would be wrong, that he simply needed to share his story.” If you’d like to read more about this family check out their blog: http://lajoyfamily.blogspot.com/
· Pray that these officials will leave this meeting with changed hearts and minds about allowing their children to be adopted by foreigners.
· Pray that the officials will return to Kyrgyzstan and be bold in sharing what they heard and learned and most especially their changed beliefs about international adoption!
I could go on and on – so pray as the Holy Spirit leads!
Thank you so much for all the ways you are each supporting me on this roller coaster journey! It’s not a journey I would have picked, but I will tell you this, my relationship with Jesus is deeper than it’s ever been and that’s something I wouldn't trade for anything!
Love to each of you!
Kimberly

Go Nuggets!

I just love me some Basketball - it's really the only sport I enjoy watching. And I need a break from the "WAIT"!

It's hard not to catch the Nuggets Fever here in Denver! And, even though I grew up in LA cheering for the Lakers, ya just gotta love the underdog! There's no way anyone would have believed the Nuggets would have made it this far! I'm just sayin'

So here's a shout out to the local heroes of the hour! Go Nuggets! Woot!

Image found here.

A Big Decision

About a week ago I made the decision to pursue a concurrent adoption. I am in no way giving up on bringing Hannah home - I will wait as LONG as it takes! I believe that God has called me to be her mama. I also have always wanted to have two children and the longer this wait becomes the more I feel I should begin the process of daughter number two. It's been a really hard process. I have been thinking and praying about this for months. I haven 't acted until now, because I didn't feel I had clear direction and couldn't get any peace about it. The peace finally settled on me about a week ago and I decided to "go until I get a NO!" (gotta love that Erwin McManus - see a great video about this topic here.) Everything feels so out of control and part of me is just so ANGRY that this path has become so rocky! Even angry at God - thankfully, He is big enough to handle it and I believe, wants me to be honest about my feelings - don't believe me? Just read some of the Psalms of David - there's a man after God's own heart who also failed miserably (remember Bathsheba?) and vented his anger at God a time or two.
Anywho, I digress, I met with my agency, collected all of the necessary paperwork and left feeling pretty excited about going forward with adopting a waiting child from the foster care system. These feelings of excitement quickly faded as I began filling out the paperwork....ugh! This is round three of the arduous task of applying to adopt! (Guatemala - closed, Kyrgyzstan - on seemingly interminable delay and now domestic) Seriously, I must be a lunatic! Nobody signs up for this much punishment! Sigh....
But, I will move forward - feelings change all of the time and I don't feel lack of excitement about the paperwork is the "No" that would lead me to stop. And overall I am still excited about the other side of the paperwork...a sister for Hannah!

A Very Long Week

Never a dull moment in the world of International Adoption - a conference call with my agency on Tuesday this week left me completely shaken and totally discouraged. Somehow I had to pull myself together enough to see clients and finish the work week. By last night I was exhausted and on the verge of tears. Somehow I made it through a church meeting and then my dear friend Lesa sat down next to me to ask how I was doing - well the dam burst and the tears started flowing - she led me down the hall to her youngest daughter's room where she barricaded the door with the toy box, propped me up on some pillows on the twin bed and let me ball my eyes out, blow my nose into the piglet towel (no tissues and there would be no getting back into the room sans children if she left to retrieve some), and then prayed for me. About 40 minutes later we emerged and I fumbled my way home and into bed.
We had lunch plans today and when I picked her up, Lesa asked if I was available for the rest of the afternoon - well? why not? Surely work can wait! So we had lunch, went to see a great flick - Angels & Demons - have you read the book? Loved it! After the movie we went to Sprouts and bought some yummy fruit and produce. When we got back to her place she invited me in to sit in the hot tub. She made me a pomegranate vodka concoction (YUM!), a fabulous dinner and we hung out with the kids, played some cards (Canasta! I know, I'm an old lady at heart!) and forgot all about all the things that really stink in my world right now!
Thank you Lesa! I feel so loved and you are such a blessing! Special thanks also go out to my equally dear friend, and Lesa's husband Mike for getting the kiddos to bed last night and then watching the kids all afternoon today so that Lesa could love on me!

Queen.....Of This Post

The marvelous Queen Shannon has given me the great honor of being Queen of All Things Awe...summm! And since I am dying for a distraction from the depressing adoption news of late, I've decided to take on the challenge of this post.

I am to list 7 awe-summm things about myself! It's funny I work with my clients on making lists like this all the time, but this is gonna be hard. Perhaps the best reason for doing this! If I'm gonna make my clients do this, surely, I should be able to!

1. I am loyal to the core! Friends, family, co-workers - I always try to assume the best about people.

2. I am a darn good public speaker. Whether it's teaching class, leading a Bible study, leading worship, presenting the software I sell, or my favorite, sharing at church (notice I didn't say preaching - that's too scary a word!) - I think I do an fantabulous job.

3. I am an excellent listener - I guess it goes along with the being a therapist thing!

4. I am an encourager. I love giving people positive feedback and noticing the good in others.

5. In most areas of my life, I am determined! I don't give up, hence the two year wait, thus far, to bring home my girl!

6. I am great with kids - I hope this translates to great mom! We shall see...

7. I strive to focus on the positive - I'm not always successful, but it is always a goal I am pursuing! I have so much to be grateful for!

Speaking of things I'm grateful for...I am to tag 7 fellow bloggers as Queen! And I am so grateful for each of them:

Beulah, Ann, Lisa, Laura, Pamela

Happy Mother's Day

It would be so easy to spend the day thinking of the sadness that is in my heart without sweet Moonbeam home, and believe me I've already had a good cry, BUT instead I would like to focus on the many women who have had an impact on my life.
My beautiful mom who was such an amazing woman. She was selfless, patient, kind, strong and a whole bunch of fun! I miss her and pray that I can be half the mom to Moonbeam that she was to me.
My sister, Kristi, is an amazing mom - she is patient and kind with Syd. Being a single mom is a ton of work, but Kristi handles it with grace and an incredible amount of strength!
My mom's twin sister, Auntie Jan. I have so many wonderful memories of time spent with her and I can't wait for her to meet sweet Hannah - I know she will be the grandma that Mom won't get to be. I always feel so loved and accepted by her! She is full of life and fun and lots of ways to make you feel special!
Oh, the list could go on and on - I have been blessed by so many women. And I feel grateful for their presence and influence on my life. I am hopeful that I will be able to follow in their footsteps as a mom!
Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there! May you enjoy your families and feel loved and appreciated!

Two Years Later....

Two years ago today I made the decision to pursue adoption. I cannot believe that two years have gone by! I also cannot believe that my sweet Hannah is not home! ARGHH! I can't help but wonder, would I have signed up for this if I'd known it would take more than two years? Yes, I believe my answer is a resounding yes!

It's been quite the journey. I know it will be worth every moment of waiting. I believe with all of my heart that she will come home.

A good friend gave me an article once that was titled "Don't Waste Your Cancer" - bottom line the message was that no matter what the trial, there can be infinite value in living through whatever the "cancer". I'm truly trying not to "waste this wait". I'm listening Lord - whatever you need to say to me I want to hear, whatever you need to teach me Lord, I'm open to learn, however you'd like to use me Lord, I'm willing. But Lord if I could hear, learn and be used quickly so Hannah could come home that would be
GREAT! :-) Note: Just to clarify, I am not in any way saying that I believe that God is causing Hannah to wait and live longer in an orphanage because He has things to say, teach or do with me. I don't believe that for a minute. However, I do believe that if I let Him, He has much to say, teach and do in and through me while I wait. Make sense?

Not my will, but Yours Lord.

He Knows My Tangled Ways

My dear friend and fellow Adoptive Mom, Loretta, recently gave me a devotional book - Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman - find it here. I have really been enjoying the entries. I discovered this poem and it brings me great comfort to know that He knows my tangled ways! What a tangled mess they are lately!

Be quiet! Why this anxious heed
About your tangled ways?
God knows them all.
He gives you speed
And He allows delays.
It's good for you to walk by faith
And not by sight.
Take it on trust a little while.
Soon will you read the mystery aright
In the full sunshine of His smile.

(L.B. Cowman. Streams in the Desert. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 1997. p. 162.)

What a good reminder of His sovereignty! And while I have no idea why He would allow these delays, there is comfort in knowing He is still in control!

Happy May Day!

In honor of the first day of one of my favorite months, I thought I'd post some photos taken by the delightful Miss Syd! This photo shoot occurred on a very snowy day a couple of weeks ago and she had such a blast taking all of these. I know she'll be thrilled to see them on my blog :-)

Yeah, Lucy's not a very big fan of the snow. Considering her belly is only about 2 inches off the ground and there's more than 6 inches of snow on our deck who can blame her?

The marvelous Cleo.

Lucy is happiest on some one's lap!

OK, so they're both happiest on my lap.

The only trouble is where will there be room for my two furry girls when Hannah gets home?

Now, there's a problem I'd like to have a need to solve!