I know it's Wednesday...

but, come on. I'm almost NEVER wordless! ;-) For this picture, I really have to ask... aren't some things just obvious?

Moving on.

I still need to declare a winner for last week's photo contest! Thank you to EVERYONE who participated.

A honorable mention goes out to Jon for his take on picture #2 -

"Insert hand, remove arm."

I must say, however, that my darling Goldie would NEVER, ever eat someone's hand...

she might lick it off, though! ;-)


I loved all the different takes on facebook and email for picture #1! I was going that direction myself, although every one was much more clever than I.

And that leaves, my favorite, the winner... Jill with "Workin' on my dog blog!" Very nice, Jill. Very nice. :-) I do have a little something I would love to send you. Catch up with me at this email address, and I'll get it right out!

Well, that's probably enough words for right now. Happy New Year to all, and I will post more tomorrow!

Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...

Answers I need ahem... WANT to know

One of the reasons I love a new year so much is that it means my daily Bible reading goes back to the beginning. I really enjoy the early books of the Bible ~ Genesis - Leviticus - Deuteronomy ~ mostly because God has spoken to me more through those books than some of the others.

Before D.T. and I moved almost 6 years ago, I was drawn to this particular passage when Abram receives his call from God to go to a new place.

Genesis 12:1-9
(verse 1) The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

Notice that God doesn't give Abram very many details. At least not about where he is going. God only tells Abram that he is supposed to go and what to leave behind.

Hmm. That's just not quite enough information for me. I'm the kind of person who likes to know ~

• Who will our birth mother be?
• What will she and the baby be like?
• When will we be chosen?
• Where will she be from?
• How in the world are we going to pay for this?
• And most importantly WHY did God choose to build our family this way???

Abram didn't get that. Just... GO. LEAVE. Period.

(verse 4a) So Abram left, as the LORD had told him;

Such faith and obedience. I'm sure Abram could not have imagined the journey ahead or the blessing that lay before him and his descendants.

The words of the following hymn and the new chorus which was added at our church is still ringing in my ears from yesterday's service...

Be Thou My Vision
Be Thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Will You guide me
when I can't see?
LORD, please lead me.
You're all that I need.

Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son
Thou in my dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Will You guide me
when I can't see?
LORD, please lead me.
You're all that I need.

Riches I need not, nor man’s empty praise
Thou mine inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.

Will You guide me
when I can't see?
LORD, please lead me.
You're all that I need.

High King of heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Will You guide me
when I can't see?
LORD, please lead me.
You're all that I need.

Moving forward in faith...

Not Me Monday!

Welcome back to this weekly pursuit of honesty we all like to call "Not me" Monday!


No matter what the word on the street is, this week you definitely could not have spied me doing ANY of the following:

Beginning with LAST Monday, I was not TOTALLY excited to be #3 on MckMama's fun little game. In order to achieve that little honor, I did not set up my laptop on the makeshift night stand next to my bed and spontaneously wake up every hour or two to roll over and hit refresh on my browser. I was not somewhat disappointed to see nothing on her site in the morning which only delayed my task! Nope. Not me! I am never, ever obsessed with any type of race or contest.

Preparations for the Christmas holiday were totally uneventful, especially considering that I did not drop the Crystal Light container into the pitcher of tea I was trying to make. I am not that clumsy. I also did not have to postpone my Christmas morning french toast casserole because I neglected to read the recipe to find out that it needed to be prepared the night before in order to be refrigerated for 8 hours or overnight. :-(

D.T. and I absolutely did not clean off the treadmill this week in hopes of losing a few pounds. We did not do this because the treadmill would NEVER need to be cleaned off. After all, we use it every day for its intended purpose and not for extra closet space. But, if we had cleaned off the treadmill, I would definitely not have watched my husband use it and then say that I was too tired... 3 days in a row. Nope. Absolutely not me!!!

And finally, this might take the cake! Yesterday, while getting ready for church, I did not hear my husband (in a somewhat panicked tone of voice) say "NOOOOO! Leave it!!! only to find out that the dogs were wearing... er... fighting over and eating the night guard for his TMJ!

So, what have YOU not done this week? Join the fun, and don't forget to pay a visit to MckMama!

Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...

Wordless Wednesday... Name these photos contest!

In the spirit of MckMama contest tradition, I thought I'd see if anybody could come up with some names for these two photos. Together or separately ~ see what you think! I have my own ideas, but I'm sure ya'll might be a little more creative than me. ;-)

Prizes, you say? Hmmm.... who knows what I might find to give away as I work to "Make Room for Baby!"

So, hop to it! What would YOU name these photos?


Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...

Here it is...

Ok, so I must have some time on my hands since we no longer have an album to work on, but at least it is keeping my mind off things and giving me a little motivation to deal with the real issue at hand.

I'll admit it.

My name is C.C. and I have a problem with clutter.

Don't believe me? Need a closer look...


Umm... yeah. THAT is supposed to be the closet in the guest room / nursery.

Riiiiiiight. I'm totally seeing room for diapers and clothes in there.

I know... I know... like all of you, I would MUCH rather be doing something like this...

or this...

but I really DO need to get started because pretty much every closet, bookshelf, flat surface, nook and cranny of this 1000 square foot castle I love looks just about like the picture at the top... including the attic!

So, off we go to find the nerve to throw away lovingly find a better home for those things we just don't need anymore, to shred all those boxed up receipts from, ahem, 1996, and to creatively make room in the space we do have.

Watch for pictures in the coming weeks and months... I've got some interesting ideas floating around this brain of mine. Let's see if I can make them reality!

How about all you creative space-saving connoisseurs out there? Any great ideas I can steal borrow???

Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...

Not Me Monday!

Welcome back to my weekly dose of pure and utter honesty. When you're done here, don't forget to check out what MckMama and our other virtual friends have to confess!


This week, no matter what you might hear to the contrary, I most certainly did not engage in any of the following activities...

The other morning, when leaving the house with my husband, I did not stop to plug in our outdoor Christmas tree, only to have him point out to me that it was daylight and nobody would be able to see the lights. Had I actually done this, it would not have been because I have totally lost my mind and can't keep anything straight anymore! Nope, not me!

On Saturday, Double T and I did not go out for breakfast and take the laptop along so that we could fill out the applications for adoption grants and loans. We did not then realize that we were lacking a good bit of necessary information and end up getting next to nothing done. I did not then save what we had finished only to lose it all when my computer shut down. This was definitely not because I plugged the cord into the wall, but forgot to check if the other end was plugged into the back of the computer. Duh! What is wrong with me?!?!!! I also do not work for an IT department. If I did, that would just make my faux pas totally ridiculous!

Today (Sunday...) is not our 12th anniversary! I do not find this absolutely amazing, I am not so grateful for my wonderful husband, and I cannot wait to grow old together!

One last thing - as we were wrapping presents for my parents together this evening, I did not ball up perfectly good pieces of wrapping paper and give them to the dogs just to keep them occupied and out of our hair! Me? Allow them to create a big mess by shredding paper only for our convenience? Nope... not me!

Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...

My Promised Land

Oh my goodness, I am SO excited about the graphic I designed for this series! Not bad for an amateur photoshop girl, huh Hansel? I guess ya'll can probably tell that it doesn't take much to excite me... lol!

Like I said in my last post, I have been thinking about a lot of things and will be posting on a pretty regular basis on the two topics mentioned there (promise and preparation.) In the midst of this busy season, I have wanted to get started, and I've gone back and forth a few times trying to put things together. But, now that the graphic is done and there is no more reason for procrastination :-) here goes... caution! Throughout this series, I may be sharing some excerpts from the journal (the written one) I kept several years ago. If you're not comfortable getting personal here, you might want to stop. If you are, then read on!

*****

It all started back in 2003... no, I guess it REALLY started a long, long time before that.

Ladies, do you remember that game from childhood? the one with the folded paper where we would write down things like who we would marry, what colors our bridesmaid's dresses would be, and how many children we would have? We would hold the paper in our fingers, opening and closing the puzzle as we said the little rhyme, and whatever selection we "landed" on was sure to be the answer fate had for us. Of course, we always made sure that ALL the choices were ones we would be happy with!

Back then, we all had definite ideas of what our perfect lives would look like. Too bad life doesn't work that way. Don't misunderstand me. God has blessed my life in more ways than I could ever recount. He is good, and He is faithful. It's just that sometimes life is not what I imagined it would be. Sometimes, life is hard. Sometimes, life is broken. And we can't fix it.

Back in 2002, after the loss of my dear Gram, God began to prepare me through my quiet time for our upcoming move. I had been working my way through the book of Deuteronomy, and God had been speaking to me for weeks through the example of the Israelite's journey through the wilderness. I could definitely relate.

About the wilderness, that is. Let's just say that MS and infertility weren't on my list. Just like broken marriages, babies gone home to heaven, or cancer weren't on yours... whoever you are.

Let's just say that I was READY for my promised land.

I still am. And, I'm still trying to figure out just what that means in life today.

I DO know that back then (2002/2003, not middle school) I thought my promised land would happen **here** in this place we were preparing to move to. Now? Not so much. Or maybe it is. I just don't know and I'm struggling with that right now.

Yes, we have made it so much farther on the journey than I ever thought we would. But, somehow, that journey still isn't what I would have chosen in the beginning. Sometimes, I think it's just not the way it's supposed to be. Maybe my vision is just a little clouded at the moment, and I can't see the end of the road.

I could go on, but I'm sure it would only make sense to me at the moment. For now, let me end with the passage of scripture that inspired these thoughts:

Deuteronomy 8:6-10
Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

More to come...

Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...

Wordless Wednesday...

Thoughts...

If you are stopping by to see my "Not Me, Monday" musings, never fear... they were posted at midnight this AM and are just a short scroll down...

With that said, I just have to tell you... I have so much I am thinking about right now... things I need to work out in my mind about what I believe as well as things I actually need to DO to prepare.

To that end, I will be posting some different things in the coming days, weeks, months... and I would greatly appreciate if ya'll (how's that Southern for ya?) would both pray for me AND hold me accountable to do what I say.

So.................. here it is! Two new "series" I am preparing:

"My promised land"

~AND~

Operation "Make room for baby"

Come on... I've got to have SOMETHING to DO to get through this waiting period :-)

Oh, you wanna know what these are all about? Well, I guess you'll just have to stop back to find out! ;-)

Hope to see you soon!!!

Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...

Not Me Monday!

It's that time... see all the things I didn't do this week, and then hop on over to MckMama's blog for more of the fun!


This week, no matter what anyone tells you, I most certainly did not do any of the following:

On Tuesday, we did not turn in our album to our agency, and this did not officially put us in the waiting pool. I am so sure how I feel about this right now.

Later that same day, DoubleT did not leave on a plane for Boston for tax training, which I totally think sounds like a blast. Before he left, we did not drop the dogs off to be boarded so that I wouldn't have to handle them both by myself the rest of the week. All of this did not mean that I had the house 100% to myself for 3 whole nights, which I most certainly did not take advantage of to sit around and play computer games rather than clean up like I should have. Nope, not me! I could never be accused of doing nothing or procrastinating! ;-)

Before arriving home on Tuesday, I did not make a quick stop at the grocery store to get the ingredients I needed for veggie pizza... AGAIN. THEN, on Wednesday, I did not sit around messing with the new side bar on my blog when I should have been making the veggie pizza. I did not procrastinate until 8 p.m. to finally start my task, only to discover that I had forgotten to buy the crescent rolls! Yikes... two weeks in a row?!?! I did not quickly go to the store, come back, make the pizza, and finally get to bed at midnight! Nope, not me!

On Thursday, I did not go to our Sunday School class's Girls' Night Out, which was not REALLY a surprise baby shower for our friend! I most definitely did not ride with another friend because I am directionally challenged :-) AND because it was dark and raining so badly I thought I might kill us both if I drove!!! We did not get there and back safely (Whew... only by the grace of God!) and we did not have a great time! :-)

On Friday, I did not attend our agency's Christmas party alone, :-( and I did not end up sitting with 6 birth mothers because I was the only one at my table when they came in. Even though they were very nice young ladies, and even though I have come soooo far in my view of adoption, I did not find this situation very um... awkward? How's THAT for honesty?

After the party, I did not go directly to the airport to pick up D.T. I always appreciate D.T. when he is home, therefore I had no reason to be SO excited to have him back! AND, I definitely knew what to do with myself when he was gone!

This has not been a tough week for me emotionally. I am not trying to muddle through all my thoughts, and I would not greatly appreciate your prayers for me to have the faith to keep moving forward...

Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...