Please Pray

Would you all please pray for some friends of ours, Jill and Steve, who lost their 5 year old daughter, Grace, on Friday very, very unexpectedly? Tomorrow is her funeral, and I just can't even imagine what it must be like to go to bed the night before you have to bury your child. Or how you get up the next morning.

It was a conversation with Steve and Jill that was the turning point for Scot in our decision to adopt (they brought Grace home from China in 2005), so they are close to our hearts. It meant so much to us that they would take the time to share their story so honestly with us. Who knew the way the story would turn just two short years later?

I always wish in situations like these that there was more I could do. However, I know asking God to draw near to them and to help them draw near to Him is the BEST thing we can do for them right now. I'm thankful they have the hope of heaven and the knowledge that they will see their daughter again someday, but until then, will you join me in praying for them and for their two older children as they grieve their loss and try to find their new "normal"?

Thank you!

Buy Books for Christmas-Help Orphans in China

It's been almost a year since I first heard about New Day Foster Home in China.

It has been 7 months now that I have been reading their blog daily and getting to know the kids whose lives they save.

Its been 5 months since we started doing what we could to support them.

And, during that time we have become consumed with one thought: what more can we do to help?

I believe so whole-heartedly in what New Day does that I knew I had to do whatever I could to support them above and beyond just sponsoring a child or participating in a Christmas gift drive. But, I honestly didn't know what to do.

Then, one idea came to me. I LOVE children's books. I LOVE children's books with beautiful artwork. And, beautifully illustrated children's books that help kids explore other countries, understand other cultures, and develop an awareness of the diversity of humanity.....well, these are among my favorites as I wait for my son or daughter to come home from China.

I discovered Barefoot Books awhile ago through a friend, and immediately I LOVED what they are about: engaging stories, gorgeous artwork, promoting diversity, and sharing the love of books with children in Africa. They have an enormous collection of books about other countries and cultures that would be INVALUABLE to any adoptive parent hoping to use books to connect his/her child to their birth country in some small way.

What does Barefoot Books have to do with supporting New Day???

OH, I am SO glad you asked!!!!

Between today and December 20th, I am hosting a fundraiser through Barefoot Books to raise money for New Day! 20% of every purchase will be donated to New Day Foster Home. Here is how it works:

* Use any of the the blog buttons in this post or in my side bar to link to Barefoot Books' web site (this is the KEY....linking through the blog buttons in this post or in my side bar is what attaches your purchase to this particular fundraiser).

*Buy books for your children, your family, and/or your friends for Christmas. 20% will automatically be donated to New Day.

It's THAT simple!!

OH, and did I mention there is also little GIVEAWAY involved???

If you would like a chance to win $30 in *FREE* Barefoot books, you can help spread the word about this little fundraiser designed to make a big difference! If you would like to post the blog button on your blog, e-mail me and I will send you the code (scjchardy@yahoo.com). You will earn one entry for posting the button on your blog! If you also write a blog post about this fundraiser with the blog button in the post, you will earn two entires! If you do BOTH, you will earn 4 total entries into the giveaway!!! Just leave a comment letting me know what you did, and you will be entered for the appropriate number of times. I will choose a winner on December 6th!!!

I hope you will help to spread the word. However, I also hope that you will buy books for your the kids in your life this year that will not only give to them for years to come, but that will give back to the children of New Day who need our support so much!

OH- if you are an adoptive parent, when you go to Barefoot Books you MUST check out Motherbridge of Love. This book is a MUST have for any parent of a child adopted from China!

One last thing.....did I mention that you get FREE SHIPPING with any order of $35 or more right now????

So....head on over there and finish your Christmas shopping!!!! :)

PS- I didn't link any text in this post because in order for the credit to go to New Day, you MUST link to Barefoot Books through any of the the blog buttons in this post or in the sidebar and NOT any other way!! It was hard not to link up all sorts of things... I just love linking!! :)

Adoption Update

This will be short, because there really is no big update. The update is essentially this: we did put our names on the Waiting Child list back in July. We are believing God for a referral in the next 6 months.

And, once we have that referral, we trust we will have quite a story to share.

Hopefully you weren't hoping for more. I sincerely wish we had more to say. Well, I do have more to say, but that will have to wait till after we have some news.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween....it isn't my favorite holiday of the year in many ways, but I do love that it celebrates what is for me one of the best things about being a kid: playing dress up.

Sawyer had two costumes this year. First, he decided to dress like a cowboy for a friend's party. He put this together entirely himself with dress up clothes we had here, and he was very pleased with the results.

Sleeping Beauty. She's been waiting for this day for months, and she told us of her love for trick-or-treating all night long!!!

Sawyer's "real" costume: Wolverine. He takes this whole dress-up thing VERY seriously.

All in all, it was a FUN night.

Long Time, No Post

Life.

It gets in the way of blogging sometimes. :)

And life for the last......hmmmmm.....I don't know, couple of months has been kind of personally intense for me. VERY growing, but not, you know, comfortable and easy. I've been emotionally exhausted, confused, and just trying to find what is true, and right, and good in all of this. I have learned a tremendous amount about myself: who I am, why I'm that way, what I can do about it, what needs to be changed, and what is just how God made me to be. I've also learned about disappointment- in myself and in others. I don't know that I've figured out how to deal with that disappointment exactly.

But, as I've said in the past, music often speaks to me just where I am and speaks to me just when I need it most. These last few weeks, I've been listening to the song "Savior, Please" by Josh Wilson. I had the pleasure of meeting him last week at his concert and letting him know just how much his song speaks to me and reminds me of how the work Christ is doing in me is not over by far, and how while my salvation is secure, I still daily need a Savior who saves me from myself and my ways (which are OH so often not His ways).

If you don't know this song, go buy the CD or download this song. It will be worth it, I promise!!!

Savior, please take my hand
I work so hard, I live so fast
This life begins, and then it ends
And I do the best that I can, but I don't know how long I'll last

I try to be so tough
But I'm just not strong enough
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me
I try to be good enough
But I'm nothing without Your love
Savior, please keep saving me

Savior, please help me stand
I fall so hard, I fade so fast
Will You begin right where I end
And be the God of all I am because You're all that I have

I try to be so tough
But I'm just not strong enough
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me
I try to be good enough
But I'm nothing without Your love
Savior, please keep saving me

Hallelujah
Everything You are to me
Is everything I'll ever need
And I am learning to believe
That I don't have to prove a thing
'Cause You're the one who's saving me

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PS- adoption update coming. Yes, I have something to say. No, we don't have a referral! :)

A Week and a Half in Review

I expected that Sawyer starting school would bring a good sense of calm, routine, and just quietness around here. But, as it turns out, that's not what happened.


Last Wednesday, Sawyer started school. He did GREAT, and so did I- just a few tears as I watched him enter the building. He doesn't seem wiped out by the full day at all which really surprised me. He did say, "You know it seems like they [the school] don't care about our other life."

Me: "What 'other life'?"

Sawyer: "You know. Being at home. Playing."

Yeah....they don't really seem to care much about that, do they?

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On Friday morning, Scot's Grandpa Duke passed away. While we had known it was coming and it was a blessing to know he was no longer suffering, it hit us harder than we expected. We've lost Grandpa Duke little by little over the last 6 years or so, so in some ways it feels like he's been gone for awhile, but as you can see in the picture above which was taken this year at Easter, he was still a part of our lives and he still enjoyed having the kids up to visit.

We sent Sawyer off to school Friday morning, and headed up to be with Scot's mom at the Veteran's Home where Grandpa lived (and where my mother-in-law worked so that she could be with her dad). What we didn't know is that we were going to be there for his "departure ceremony". When a resident at the VA Hospital dies, the resident veterans pay their own respects as the resident's body is removed from the building. The security guards draped Duke in the American flag, and then rolled him down through the halls of the VA with the family following behind.

It was one of the most moving things I had ever seen, and it took me by surprise. As we followed Duke's body through the VA, everyone stood along the hallways to pay quiet respect. As it turned out our congressman was at the VA on this morning to host a "Town Meeting" on health care reform. So, when our processional reached the sort of common gathering area/dining room where the elevator was, there was a large crowd of people- many veterans, nurses, the head of the VA Hospital, and the congressman (whose arrival and/or speech had been interrupted by this ceremony)- all gathered to say goodbye because that's what they do at the VA, and congressman's visit or not, it was time for Duke to leave. Duke would have loved this because he was a lifelong, very passionate republican. So, to know his departure interrupted the congressman's visit would have given him great joy. Afterward, it made us all smile. (More about the congressman tomorrow.....)

So, once we arrived in the commons area, the security guards stopped at the elevator, and one of the veterans said a little something (I have no idea what, because by this time I was really crying). When he was finished, he called all the veterans to stand and salute. I watched as men and women who could barely lift themselves up out of their wheelchairs struggled to their feet to salute their brother who was now gone. I truly have never seen anything so moving. I wanted to hug every person in that room for reminding us so powerfully of who Duke was and how much his service to our country meant.

Anyway, Grandpa Duke LOVED all things trains, and so quite fittingly, my mother-in-law arranged for his funeral to be held at a local train station. It was beautiful, and so appropriate for him. He would have loved it. Afterwards, he was interned with his wife of 58 years at the Veteran's cemetery. Sawyer was disappointed that they didn't have the 21 gun salute as originally planned, but it was a very private, simple ceremony that was also very moving with it's military traditions.

We'll miss Grandpa Duke very much, but are glad to know that he is not suffering and he is with his wife and his Creator.

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Between all that we've also had two sick kids and we managed to clean out our basement (which was a HUGE project). So....today we literally did NOTHING, and it felt GREAT. When we were cleaning out our basement, I wondered aloud if we were nesting.....a girl can wish, can't she?

Next up, the garage. UGH.

Beautiful Butterfly