Blog is Going Private

I realize I haven't posted in awhile. It's just that we've been busy, but I plan to keep up with this blog. I have decided to go private with the blog as our adoption is over and we really don't need to keep everyone in the loop including strangers we don't know of our day to day lives.

If you wish to keep reading, please email me: terps1026@gmail.com and I will be happy to add you as a reader. ;-)

Goings on...

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted more words than pictures. Since the last time I blogged, my due date for baby #5 came and went with no baby, Greg and I celebrated 7 years of marriage, Gabriel turned 3 and we celebrated one more Mother's Day. Phew, that's a lot going on in the first week of May for our family! Then May 9th was Gabriel's referral date -- 3 years ago on that day, we learned that we would be the proud parents of a little, Guatemalan boy.

There are those that wonder how we've made it through five losses and a bunch of other things that are too private to share, but this is where we learn about grace, forgiveness and what "love" really means. Matthew 6: 14 - 15 says "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins; your Father will not forgive your sins." That is how Greg and I have chosen to live our lives following Christ and how we are raising Gabriel.

So that's really all that's been going on in our household. Enjoying the spring weather here in FL and looking forward to the summer.....fall. I'm not a big fan of hot, stifling weather, which probably makes you wonder why we moved to FL....but I'll take a couple months of humidity over shoveling snow, anyday!

Have a great weekend! :-)

He did WHAT?

So last weekend Greg went and bought some doughnuts from Dunk's. Gabriel absolutely loves them, but he hates having dirty hands. So as you can see, he found something to wipe them with -- the white arches in our house. Ah yes, the joys of having an almost three year old!

Guat Fun!

Two weeks ago we had some close friends over that adopted a little girl from Guatemala named Meliza. We got to meet her for the first time and she's an absolute doll. They also have another girl, Kasenia, which they adopted from Russia. It was great watching Gabriel interact with another little child from his own country.

Israel

Below is a beautiful, intricate model of Israel. It was incredible to see the workmanship that went in to creating this model.

Holy Land Experience

Greg and I recently took a trip to Orlando to visit the Holy Land Experience where they reenact the Passion of Jesus Christ. It was incredibly moving.

A Little Further

"It ain't how hard you can hit; its about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward"
---Rocky Balboa

The more I try to follow Christ and allow Him to be the leader of my life, the more I find the above quote from Sylvester Stallone's character is relevant to my walk. The more steps I take on faith, the more punches I take. In Romans 7, Paul writes "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh)nothing good dwells, for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice."

I have gone through some dark nights of the soul, searching for God, finding Him, and then letting Him slip through my fingers. Even still, when I fall, when I lose heart, faith, and courage to move on, when I lose sight of Him, there is always something that pulls me back to Him. He is there. He is faithful even in my wretchedness. Always pushing me to go just a little further.

I have been hit hard, I have been shaken, but I am standing. Beaten and bloodied, but still standing, still moving forward.

--Greg

Disney 2010 in pictures...

Toddler Bed...

Well the time came for Gabriel to get a toddler bed so we just got this in a couple weeks ago. He loves to sit in it and watch his cartoons, if only he'd sleep the whole night in it....we'd be pretty happy. :-)

Forgiveness/Restoration

There are few things that matter beyond forgiveness, forgiveness of other’s as well as forgiveness of oneself. If you are a Christian, that is the example that you are given by Christ, and that is a command you must be willing to accept if you are to expect Christ to forgive you. If you are seeking mercy, you must show mercy. If you are seeking love, you must show love. If we desire to be forgiven by Christ, we must show forgiveness to those who have wronged us.There are times of pain, times in which you may not think you can forgive, where even the thought of forgiveness seems so far removed from your circumstance that you may feel forgiveness is impossible. It is at those times we must turn toward Christ and the finished work of the cross.

The spirit of forgiveness is one of the few things that truly free us to totally surrender and submit to God. And it is here where we can experience what is unexplainable to those who do not believe in the power of Jesus Christ to change lives...it is here we are free to experience restoration.

For years Maria and I went through a sort of spiritual darkness, covered by attempts to follow Christ and outwardly, I'm sure it looked like we were doing a good job. We weren't, and it has been the forgiveness and mercy of a loving God that has brought us to a place where we can drink the restoring waters of the spirit.

For us, though we've been married for six and a half years, 2010 marks the first year that we are truly broken and surrendered to God...take us Lord and make us what you want us to be....

The lyrics to the song below are for my wife...whom I love and adore...you can hear the song itself by clicking on it on the playlist at the bottom of the page....


Call My Name

It's been so long since you felt like you were loved
So what went wrong?
But do you know there's a place where you belong
Here in My arms?

When you feel like you're alone in your sadness
And it seems like no one else in this whole world cares
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call My name and I'll be there
You just call My name and I'll be there

The pain inside has erased your hope for love
But soon you will find
That I'll give you all that your heart could ever want
And so much more

When you feel like you're alone in your sadness
And it seems like no one else in this whole world cares
And you want to get away from the madness
You just call My name and I'll be there
You just call My name and I'll be there

Oh, you just call My name
If you just call My name
Call My name, say it now
I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive
Call My name, say it now
I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive

You just call My name
You just call My name
You just call My name

The love I have for you is so alive
The love I have for you is so aliveYou just call My name
You just call My name
You just call My name

-GREG

Pain

Pain is all relative and sometimes it takes tragedy to occur to realize this all the more. It is no secret that 2009 was a difficult year for our family. 2010 will be our year of hope, restoration and renewal. As I have gone about the last couple days with all that I have going on lately, I stopped to think of how much I have to be thankful for. I have a husband that loves me, a gorgeous son that I adore, my parents, a job, a home, our health. I have so much and yet, there are days I have taken all of that for granted. We all have.


When I read the prayer below this morning, it was another reminder that I have everything I could ever want and need to open my eyes more often and realize that I must not take anything for granted anymore because it could be gone in an instant. An instant.


Lord, I just want to say thank you, because this morning I woke up and knew where my children were. Because this morning my home was still standing, because this morning I am not crying because my husband, my child, my brother and sister needs to be buried out from underneath a pile of concrete, because this morning I was able to drink a glass of water, because this morning I was able to turn on the light, because this morning I was able to take a shower, because this morning I was not planning a funeral, but most of all, I thank you this morning because I still have a life and a voice to cry out for the people of Haiti.

Lord, I cry out to you, the ones that makes the impossible, possible, the one that turns darkness into light, I cry out that you give those mothers strength, that you give them peace that surpasses all understanding, that you may open the streets so that help can come, that you may provide doctors, nurses, food, water, and all that they need in a blink of an eye. For all those that have lost family members, give them peace, give them hope, give them courage to continue on. Protect the children and shield them with your power. I pray all this in the name of Jesus.

In an instant.

2009.....2010

Well as this year draws to a close, I could not be happier to bid 2009 goodbye. It's been a trying year in our household to say the least. No need to recap all that happened. I look forward to what 2010 has in store for our family. I have a feeling 2010 is going to be a very good year.

Happy Almost 2010.

Christmas...

I hope you all had a nice Christmas. We enjoyed ours in Miami this year and Gabriel loved all his gifts as usual. Although we all agreed that we should have just bought him action figures and he would have been just as content.

Two years ago, WHAT?

Yes, two years ago today we landed in Ft Lauderdale with Gabriel -- our forever family. Our adoption process that had taken soooo long, had come to an end -- right there in the airport. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that it has been two years already.

During our adoption process I remember reading other people's stories. Their stories all talked about how time had flown by once they brought their children home, but I never really thought too much about it being us because we were going through so much paperwork and more paperwork to make all this happen. These stories all belonged to other people, not us. And then one day, December 6, 2007, our story began.

I have realized that there are moments that you will never forget. Some you wish to forget them while they are happening and others you hope they never end. Picking up our son in Guatemala will forever be one long moment in my mind. But two years ago, during our Embassy trip, I experienced a moment that I relive quite often because it is a daily reminder for me of how incredibly blessed Greg and I are.

We were sitting in the waiting area of the US Embassy with Gabriel and Colleen, our adoption facilitator in Guatemala, waiting to be called for our appointment. Colleen turned and said to me, "...you are one of the fortunate families...do you have any idea how blessed you are to be bringing Gabriel home for the holidays? Any family here would give anything to be in your place" at which point, I was left breathless and started to cry. I couldn't even say a word but I could tell she knew that I completely understood. I felt all the emotions of the last year and half come crashing down in one moment and I was so overwhelmed with emotion that all I could do was take that moment in.

Shiny gifts are nice for Christmas, but two years ago today, I got the best gift of all -- our son.

Halloween 2009 ~ Spidey Style