Remembering

I thank my God every time I remember you. Philippians 1:3

We are truly a blessed nation.
We are grateful and thankful to God for each man, woman, and family who has sacrificed so that we may have freedom.

Today on this Memorial Day as our family hung outside and took a few things off our to do list, I thought of not only the men and the women, who had gave of themselves so that we might be free, but also of their families.

As I vacuumed and washed our minivan, Josh and Grace mowed and cleaned the yard. I thought to myself what it would be like to take care of our home and three children with my husband gone overseas. How much harder would the daily chores be. How much would I long for my husband and they for their father, to sit at the dinner table with us. How they would miss the nightly kisses and their daddy carrying them to bed. And then what if then unimaginable happened and while defending our freedom he never returned to embrace his girls.

The sacrifice is great and the days are hard I am sure.

To be away and to be without.

Remembering each one, who has given a moment, a day, a year, or a lifetime.

~ANDREA

*This was meant for posting yesterday, blogger wouldn't allow. Glad it posted today!

My Week in Review

This week I am linking up to a fellow adoptive moms blog and doing my week in review! I have loved each week when she has done this! But this is the first week I have found the time to compile my highs and lows and still have time to post them! Thanks Amy for the fun idea!!!

***Blogger wouldn't let me upload photos until today, so I am 2 days behind on this post!

{HIGH}

So many great things this week!!!

The high for my week though, was definitely the quick getaway we took this weekend to Dolan's Lake. Dolan's is a state park only about 15 minutes away from our house.

We set out on Saturday after the girls' opening day ceremonies for summer rec league. We thought we would camp in the tent, but the constant mist of rain kept that from happening. So, we got a cute little cabin right off the lake.

The cabin had a full side bed in one room, two sets of bunks in the other, a small frig, and a little two seater table. It was wonderful. (all except the walk to the bathrooms in the rain)

We built a fire, roasted hot dogs, made s'mores, played checkers, had church, and goofed around all right there at our tiny cabin. We also hiked and skipped rocks down around the lake!

We all loved it!

{LOW}

My low for the week was on Friday. Josh and I had an appointment, that we could not reschedule. So we missed Grace's award ceremony. I have missed very few of my children's activities and such, so today was hard. She understood and we were at her school yesterday to watch her read an essay. But as a momma, I still feel like I failed her today.

{Lesson Learned}

My lesson learned this week is that it is okay that I don't have everything mapped out and well planned in my life. That I need to truly allow God to hold the map and reveal things in His timing. ***Side note:I am still in the process of learning this (I think I always will be!) ****

I hope you have all had a great week!!!

~ANDREA

The Dress that Revealed More

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Getting ready to pack for the Orphan Summit. Trying on clothes that I haven't worn since last spring. I tried on a dress just for the fun of it, a cute floral maxi dress. ( No I am not planning on wearing it!) I put it on and I instantly felt that feeling when you are a little girl twirling around in the new dress your momma just bought or made you. Aaaah! I felt girly, super feminine and pretty. None of which I feel too often anymore. I usually feel like a frantically dressed, half wrinkled, food stained, hair always out of place, in a hurry mother. But at this moment in my bedroom all that had been pushed aside and here I was standing feeling a bit renewed and almost overwhelmed by the way this dress made me feel. Now mind you, once I took a look in the mirror, I caught a glimpse of my hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail, the hint of day-long-makeup left on my face, and the bags from an already-long-week hanging below my eyes.
Uugh!!!! I cringed for a moment and asked..."Why is it that a pretty dress can make feel the way I often long to feel. When I have access to the one who can fill me so full and refresh even my darkest of days."

I know He is there waiting and whispering daily to me that I am his.

I know that He gives a peace that can surpass anything a dress or anyone on this Earth can provide for me.

I have felt his restoration and heard Him tell me even in my long, hard, not getting anywhere, full of mistakes kind of days that he has created me in His image AND for a purpose.

So WHY??? is it that some days I let little things dictate how I feel about who I am???????

Just want to say that I am thankful that my Savior never gives up on me!

~ANDREA

We Celebrate

Because He made a way, we celebrate!

Because He is alive, we celebrate!

Because He is our King, we celebrate!

May each of you know the power of the living Saviour.

HAPPY EASTER!

~ANDREA

A Storm and Some Purses

What began as a typical day changed so quickly.
Tuesday night our community and surrounding area was hit by a line of storms including high winds and a tornado. The result was lots of damage and loss.

Here are a few pics from our local newspaper

The house above belongs to some friends of ours.
The damage was enough that their home was deemed uninhabitable, until repairs are made.


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The ray of sunshine that came from within this line of storms was that despite all the damage, there have been no reported injuries according to area news stations. What a blessing that is!!! Neighbors have been helping neighbors and many have rallied to help clear the debris.
Our community is still in need of prayer, as the efforts continue. More storms are expected here in the next few days.


On another note........
I wanted to share our current fundraiser with you all!

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We have been blessed with the opportunity to have a My Miche Purse Party. All the profits from the party will go towards our adoption. ***That's right, not only will we get money from the party instead of purse credit. The consultant is also donating all of her profits!!!!
What could be better???? Supporting our adoption and getting a great purse!!!!

I know what your thinking..... how can you get one of these great purses and help support our adoption? Well go to this site find the purse, shell, and/or bundle you like then e-mail us
( jabigg_98@hotmail.com ) and we will process your order. Once we e-mail you back payments can be made right here on our blog through Paypal and the purse will ship directly to your address!

~ANDREA

Up and Down and All Around.... Oh the Journey!

So, why the number 6??? Well.................

For SIX MONTHS we have be officially waiting for our new family member!!! We were placed on the waitlist October 18th, 2010.

And the wait, has already felt a little like this

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We have had our very "high" moments when we are thrilled to be waiting and excited for the future. We have had our "low dips" when it feels as all we are doing is waiting for the lowering of a number. We have had many "upside down turns" when it feels as though we are being swept away by the journey and don't know what to expect. But through each new element and ever spot, we have felt the One, who led us on this path, gripping tightly to us.

We have been stretched and have been shown areas of our lives that God still needed to mold. We are learning what letting go truly means. We have been given an even greater passion to share the hope of the Lord.

Oh, what a journey!!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

~ANDREA

Someone Else's Reality

This past weekend the youth at our church got the chance to experience a little bit of what it's like to be hungry. They participated in 30 hour famine for World Vision. From 8am Saturday morning until noon Sunday, they didn't eat a thing. They spent the night at the church listening and learning about others in need and how they can help. They completed some service work and had fun as well.

(Part of the crew! Grace is in the middle. She had 2 friends that took part in the famine as guest. How awesome to have friends that would choose to go hungry with you for the weekend!)

Josh and I were privileged to spend some time Saturday with the youth and to lead one of the devotions.

On Sunday, after the 30 hours were up, the youth and the rest of the church got the chance to taste a World Vision meal. These meals are normally served to those receiving aide. The kids decided that while the food was not their favorite, if it was the only thing available they would enjoy it, regardless of taste. I was hoping to share some pics but left the house that day without the camera. The picture above was taken with my cell. *Cameras are great.... when you remember them!

The weekend was a wonderful experience for the youth. Their small group (only about 5 fundraising) raised over $3,000 for World Vision. That's enough to feed 100 children for an entire month!

I LOVE to see youth get inspired to help others!

Here are some hunger facts from World Vision:

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  Hunger kills a child every 10 seconds.


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  Everyday 8,000 children under 5 die from hunger.


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  More than 1 billion people go hungry everyday.


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  1 in 6 will go hungry tonight.


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  1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day

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~ANDREA