I'm Back

I know that I have left for awhile and haven't updated so here goes.

The boys are growing like weeds!!! Owen just turned 2 and Ian is 3 1/2 now. I can't believe how time has flown by! Ian is like an old soul, ever pleasing and always happy go lucky. Owen is a handful. He is energetic and very independent. The boys are night and day from each other but each unique and special in their own ways.

I sat down right after Owen turned 2 and took an account of our lives thus far. Boy have we come a long ways. God has richly blessed us and sometimes we just get caught up on everyday life and forgot to count those blessings. So I have made a packed with myself that from this day forward we are going to count our blessings everyday as well as making sure we are thankful for what we do have. A dear friend of mine showed me a website called A Holy Experience http://www.aholyexperience.com/ As I began to read through Ann Voskamp blog I realized that I am not teaching my children to always be thankful. Yeah sure I make them say thank you after I give them something or say thank you to someone who has just filled their cup or watched them in the nursery. I want to raise thankful children. So starting tonight at the dinner table we are all going to right down/draw something we are thankful for. Then we are going to start posting them on our back door so that we can see just how thankful we are.

I will update on our new little project periodically.

The book that I am now reading is called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I am really loving this book. Here are some highlights from Chapter 1:

1. Stop Praying: Stop talking at God but too HIM. Take a long look at God before we speak. Romans 1:20 says "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." So when Mr. Chan says stop praying he is just that we need to look at who God is before we start praying. We need to make sure that we are not just talking at God but too God (include Him in on the prayer) "The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stand in awe of Him." Francis Chan. Here are five things about God:
1. God is Holy-nothing and no one to compare to Him. "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you." Exodus 3:14

2. God is eternal-He always has been, is, and will be. WE have a beginning and an end. "But you, O Lord, abide forever, and Your name to all generations. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end." Psalm 102: 12, 27

3. God is All Knowing-He knows each of us deeply and specifically. He knows who we are and what we are about. "O Lord, You have searched me an known me." Psalm 139:1 "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Hebrews 4:13

4. God is All Powerful- He does not have to explain Himself to us. "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." Psalm 115:3 "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done:'" Daniel 4:35 Could it be my ignorance that mes me think God owes me an explanation when He says no to something that I have asked for or when He shuts a door, or even when He disciplines me?

5.God is Fair and Just-God is the only being who is good, and the standards are set by Him. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate." Proverbs 8:13

I want to encourage anyone who read this post to stop praying at God and start praying to God. Know who God is before you enter His throne room. You might be surprised by what you find. I know when I start to list the attributes of God I just stand amazed by His glory.

Potty Training / Owen

My how time has flown!!! Ian had his second birthday and we are transitioning into a big boy. We made his crib into a toddler bed, now he sits at the table with us and the biggest transition is we have started potty training. Yesterday was our first day and we had only 5 accidents. Not too bad for the first day. So I have hit this endeavor full force. No pull-ups!!! Ian is loving just running around the house in his big boy undies and a t-shirt. Today we have had only one major accident #2 but no potty accidents. He has gone pee pee 3 times this morning and he is so proud of himself. The one trick I learned was to set a timer and when it goes off we rush off to the potty. After the first day with the timer when he hears it goes off he stops playing and says go potty and runs off to the bathroom. It is so cute. I hope his enthusiasm stays as we continue potty training. So we are taking this task one step at a time and one day at a time. While sitting in my quiet time this morning God reminded me to not rush him. Sometimes it takes us as children of God time in learning something new the same goes with him. It will take time and just as God is patient with me I will be patient with Ian.

Here is an update on Owen. One week from tomorrow(Jan 20) he has a court date to sever his parental rights. As the time approaches the more anxious I become. I know that God all ready knows the outcome and I can have peace with that. No matter what happens next Wednesday God is still on the throne. Please pray for God's will to be done next Wednesday. I also want everyone to pray for Owen's biological mother. She has chosen a lifestyle that is not pleasing to God but if she does loose her rights it still has to be hard on her. I am constantly thinking about her and how I would feel if my children were taken away from but at the same time I can't stop my lifestyle. It is almost like you are being pulled in two different directions. Please pray that God will place the right people into her life so that she can see what God has to offer her. It is easy to be angry with her at the choices that she has made and believe me I have had my moments of anger with her. But as I started praying for her God has changed my heart to one of compassion. I was fortunate to be raised with loving and encouraging parents who helped lead me down a path that was pleasing to God. She was not as blessed. From the beginning she had a rough start. She made bad choices and those choices have now effected her children. I want her to know that both of her boys are going to be loved and taken care of. Rather she realizes it or not she has given us the best gift that anyone could have given us. Our hearts are full and blessed now that Ian and Owen are a part of our lives. They both have joined our family and an instant bond has been formed. It is like they have been a part of our family from birth. The joy they have brought into our life is so overwhelming that at times I feel as though I am dreaming. But this is my life and I am loving every minute of it. God knew exactly what children needed to be in our home and what kind of parents these two little guys needed.

Always remember that God does know what he is doing and that His ways are always better than ours. It has taken me a long time to figure this out but when you finally do the peace that follows is amazing!!!!

Update

Wow I sure have let time slip away from me. I can't believe that it is almost December. November 1, 2009 Owen finally moved in with us. We are still waiting for a court date to terminate parental rights but the paperwork has finally been filed!!!! We are hoping that his termination goes through before Christmas.

Our lives have changed so dramatically in the last 3 months. When God blesses you HE BLESSES you!!!!!!! I am loving being a mom and I know Shawn just loves being a dad. We were able to spend half of November with our families. The boys fell in love with both sets of grandparents!

We have all ready had a couple of firsts in this house. Ian had his second birthday and both boys celebrated Thanksgiving in our home for the first time. We also took them to the aquarium and then to Savannah. The aquarium was a hit, even Owen enjoyed it!! Our Savannah trip was great. Ian did not like the trolley ride. The loud noises scared him! We also took both boys to the beach at Tybee Island. Ian ran straight for the water and wanted to get in. So I think this summer we are going to have to take a family trip to the beach so that both boys can have a swim in the ocean!!

Now we are looking forward to Christmas! Our first Christmas together as a family!!!!! I can't wait to spend that time with family and friends.

I will try and update this more as time goes by!

God is so Good!!!!

Today is a very special day in our family. We official become a family of 3 today. Ian moves in to our home for good!!!! We are so excited and so blessed. We have waited for many years to be blessed with a child. God heard our cry and was waiting to place the perfect child into our home. It is amazing how your love can grow for a child that you did not carry. When I look at Ian I think of him as our own and that he has been a part of our family from the beginning.

Ian has been with his foster family since birth and they have done a wonderful job in raising him. He has been very loved for the past two years and I am so thankful for that. I know that this day is a very sad day for them and my heart goes out to them. When you think about it say a little prayer for them. The next few weeks are going to be difficult.

As for us our good news keeps growing! We are going to be able to foster Ian's brother. There is a 90% chance that we will be able to adopt him. Right now we are waiting for a date for his parental rights to terminated. We do not have the little guy just yet but as soon as the attorney can get on the ball and file paperwork then we can move the little guy in. Right now we are getting to do visitations with him at his foster parent's house. He is so precious and tiny. I am attaching a photo of Ian so everyone can see the cute little guy.

Thank you all for your prayers! This has been a long journey and we still have a ways to go but the light is at the end of the tunnel.

Ian Christopher Moore

Update

So it has been ages since I have updated our blog. Shawn made it through IDMT school!!!!!!! Yeah for that. It looks like we won't be getting orders until April or after. I am glad that he is back. As some of you know Shawn is always entertaining so I certainly did miss my constant entertainment. Do you realize how much help it is when the trash gets taken out and the big trash cans outside get taken to the curb? Well let me tell you the little things that my hubby does like taking out the trash is the biggest help. You don't really realize how much the small things add up until you have to do them on your own.

I know everyone keeps asking about our adoption status and well I am happy to say that it is about to change to happy parents. We are going to be adopting a 20 month old little boy. His birthday is November 28, 2007 and his legal name is Taydon but we are going to name him Ian Taydon. We get to meet the little fellow tomorrow afternoon!!!!! We are sooo excited that I can't stand it!!!!!! We will take pictures tomorrow and I will post them tomorrow night for everyone to see!!!!! Thank you for all your prayers during this process. We will keep everyone posted as we go through our next steps. We will have a series of visitations and then he will be moved into our home. This picture is of my neice and toby. She is getting so big. She is now 2 years old.

Shawn graduating from IDMT school!
Yes that is me with a loaded 22 and it has real bullets in it. So beware I have a good aim. I hit my target every time!!!!! :)This is my target. My first shot was the one on the bottom right.

Food for Thought

I had the pleasure last night of eating dinner with a very Godly family and some of their neighbors. What a refreshing night it was. We started talking about children and how they are being brought up with disrespect for their elders among many other things. The one thing that stood out was that the kids now days have not been brought up in Christian homes or homes that do the religious thing on major holidays but still claim that they are Christians. Parents have failed to teach their children that they need to seek the Lord at all times. We need to be servants and respect those around us. But how do these kids learn these things if we as parents are not teaching them. In fact we as parents and adults must not be seeking God, because if we are seeking God then wouldn't we instill these things into our children? As I was beginning to leave last night a little girl, age 9 who has an abundant amount of faith, stopped me and asked me if I knew what grade she was going into. I guessed that she was about to start the 3rd grade and I was right. I asked her if she was nervous about going into the 3rd grade and here is her answer. Way be afraid when God is with me. His grace is sufficient enough for me. I will do great because I have a God that will prepare the way before me. WOW!!!!!!! Why can't I have that faith. A child-like faith! I was truly blessed by Abigail last night. How did she know this? She has been taught by her parents, not only that but her parents walk out their faith in their daily lives.

One thing I know is to have a child-like faith we must seek the face of God. Amazing how God works.... As I was sitting here checking emails I started my song play list and this song came up by Kari Jobe called The More I seek Him


The more i seek you,
the more i find you
The more i find you, the more I love you

C:I wanna sit at your feet
drink from the cup in your hand.
Lay back against you and breath, here your heart beat
This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand.
I melt in your peace, it's overwhelming
(From Top)

So then I was compelled to look up a few verses
1 Chronicles 28:9 (towards the end) "If you seek him, he will be found by you; if you forsake him, he will reject you forever."
2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Psalm 105:4 "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always."
Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

So as I sit hear thinking about these verses I wonder, if we are not seeking God then how do we know what He is telling us to do, or how do we know how we are suppose to raise our children? No wonder I world is self destructing. We are turning our faces from the one that has created us. How dare us spit in the face of the Lord our God. We should be ashamed and fall on our knees before him and ask him to hear our cries and heal our land. The world will not turn around until the people of this land start to cry out for God again! We must start seeking the face of God!

Adoption Update

So here is all of the updates....

On April 8th the two boys that we have had everyone praying for went to court for termination of parental rights. The judge denied the termination. There is a dad that has stepped up and wants the boys. We were worried about the grandmother and she did not show up to court. Now we have to worry about the dad. Our Caseworker said that they are going to go back to court in 2-3 months to try for termination again. There is enough evidence against the dad to have the tpr done. So we are in limbo.

That was as of April 8th. Today is May 5 almost one month later and no court date set. I received an email from our caseworker this after noon saying this

"I have an update regarding available children. We have an 18 month old male who just became free for adoption.

Please let me know if you are interested. Please be aware that this would be in lieu of the other two boys since we they are not legally free for adoption at this time."

So of course everyone knows what our answer was..... YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!!!!!! The little boys name is Taydom (not for sure we are going to use that as his first name) He is healthy and happy!!!!! We are waiting on some minor paperwork to be completed and then we can start the process of getting him into our home. We are soooooooooooooooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!

The other piece of news is that the little boys mother is expecting again in July. CPS is not for sure if they are going to allow her to keep the baby as of right now. If for some reason that do not let her keep the baby we will be first in line for the little one. So that could be exciting but first things first being getting Taydom into our home!!!!

So please keep praying for us. We are a little apprehensive because of what happened last time but still excited at the same time!!!!