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Not all of us are called to adopt, but you can always help a family who is.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Flowers for a Family

For those of you who heard the rumors, they are true.  Somewhat.  Yes, we are expecting a boy.  No, I am not pregnant.  We are adopting a not-so-little (6-year-old) boy from Taiwan.  I plan to tell the story on my blog over the next few months because we are only a month into this process and it has already been an amazing journey.  This post is not to tell the story, but to ask for your prayers and love.  This little boy needs a home and family and we would love to welcome him into ours.  To raise funds to cover the many costs associated with his adoption, my daughters and I are making paper flowers like the one below.  We can make these 3" beauties into lapel pins or hair clips and the colors are limitless.  If you can bless us by praying, ordering flowers, or sending this along to your friends, we would be so grateful!  You can place your order at http://curlsandgrins.weebly.com/cards--announcements.html. Thanks so much!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Women of Faith Over the Top

I just found out that I have the priviledge of attending Women of Faith's Over the Top event in Kansas City!  Here's a little preview of what we will experience November 4th and 5th:



Wouldn't you love to join me at the Sprint Center for an amazing weekend full of laughter, tears and everything in between?  We will be seeing Patsy Clairmont, Sandi Patty and Marilyn Meberg, three of my favorite regulars from prior Women of Faith conferences, Lisa Whelchel, one of my favorite TV personalities from my childhood, and Amy Grant, the artist of the first cassette tape I ever owned.  I look forward to hearing from Deborah Joy Winans, Andy Andrews Brenda Warner and Mandisa also.  With a lineup like that, a great time is guaranteed!  Click on the banner below for more information!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Final Summit by Andy Andrews

The Final Summit was my first encounter with David Ponder and Andy Andrews.  The first few pages caught my interest and I was eager to find out more about David Ponder and the lessons he has learned in his travels. Let me interject here that I was expecting a book from a Christian perspective.  It didn’t take long for my first of many letdowns to occur.  David is taken up to heaven (or somewhere between earth and heaven) to meet with his fellow travelers from a prior novel to solve a great mystery. Although they are in a heaven-type atmosphere and every character at this summit resides in heaven except one, they never refer to God except indirectly or irreverently.  They are also more consumed with earthly things than heavenly.  On the positive side, the travelers are an interesting group of people from history whom I enjoyed learning a little more about through their conversations in this narration. As for the plot, this final summit is mankind’s last chance to save themselves according to Gabriel, the archangel.  Their task is to come up with the two words that would remedy this dire situation.  Throughout the story I found myself trying to figure out what the two words would be, again expecting a Christian perspective – have faith, trust Jesus…  The summit continues through several guesses and the final guess of “do something” is mankind’s answer.  Really?! This answer could be construed into many things, but I was ultimately left disappointed.  I agree that we all need to do something, but reading this book was not it.  I would have enjoyed this book so much more if it were sold as historical fiction and simply introduced us to some great personalities rather than how to save mankind.  Jesus already did that for us.


I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogging Program through booksneeze.com. This opinion is my own.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

It's {Not} a Man Thing

I should know the routine by now.  My husband, in the middle of working on our 1970 Chevy Pickup, asks me to go to the parts store.  I strongly dislike making trips to the parts store for a multitude of reasons. I like working on projects with my family and I want to keep working.  I also like fixing and building things.  As a matter of fact, our girls are often there helping or observing too. Oh, and I DO NOT like the blatant disrespect shown towards women at parts stores and home improvement stores.  Here's how it often goes: I walk in, ask for the needed part, and some dumb comment comes out of the mouth of the store employee.  The other day it went something like this:

I walked into a home improvement store looking for an overflow hose for the radiator.  I went there because the part store didn't have it and suggested this home improvement store.  I pulled the hose out of the bag and showed it to the guy at the store and explained that I needed the same length hose for the truck. 

Him: We have a latex hose. (as he pulls out a hose that looked as sturdy as latex gloves)
Me: Will that hold up under the heat?
Him: Don't you have a latex oven mitt? {offense number 1}
Me: No, I don't have an oven mitt.
Him: You should go to the parts store.
Me: I did. They sent me here.
Him: This hose will work, but why don't you call your husband and ask him if what he thinks? {offense number 2}
Me: Because I pulled the hose off and I need to know that I can trust what I put in it's place. {not exactly the truth, but close enough for this guy} 


In a funny coincidence, my husband gave me this power screwdriver and bit set yesterday.