tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154332522015-05-05T16:03:38.181-06:00Jesus. Marriage. Family. Parenting. Adoption. Ministry. Life... Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.comBlogger283125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-60589386767854414372015-01-18T23:33:00.000-07:002015-01-19T10:50:01.128-07:00

Balance seems to be the ever-changing goal I'm striving for in our home and family. The holidays were a challenge, and not just from the bout with the flu. We have 3 little girls who have had memories since they were babies or toddlers of our Christmas traditions with us and we cherish them and look forward to them each year. Yet, Christmas was extremely difficult for Angie. Christmas was hard

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-81222391784813097742014-12-14T23:19:00.000-07:002014-12-14T23:23:35.295-07:00

Our first court validation appointment was scheduled for National Adoption Day - which apparently is very fun day at court - they have balloons and face painting and it's a big ol' party with families scheduled back to back throughout the day. That date happened to be the same date as the girls' dance rehearsal and performance. So...we rescheduled.  There wasn't a party waiting for us -

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-56200094805914633702014-12-03T12:51:00.001-07:002014-12-03T18:42:27.031-07:00

We've always loved December. It's filled with beauty, traditions, family, delicious flavors and aromas. We have 23 years (and many more before marriage) of memories. Yet, holidays can be challenging for many adopted kids with histories of trauma. We have some daughters who can use a month filled with Hope! Fresh reminders each day of Jesus - our Healer, Redeemer, Savior...our Hope. 

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-26531604280975133832014-11-30T01:15:00.000-07:002014-11-30T01:24:55.523-07:00

We are so thankful for God's faithfulness in our lives. He supplies us with strength when we are weary, wisdom when we are unsure which way to turn and... joy when hopelessness begins knocking. We are thankful for laughter - can't imagine life without it!  As we continue to work through a lot of trauma and grieving, going to various types of therapy and doctor's appointments and finding

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-10842565778081575252014-11-26T00:52:00.000-07:002014-11-26T01:19:20.355-07:00

We've been packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child off and on for years. It was a fun tradition with our boys and now our girls are all about it! As we continue to work through trauma - hope is a major component. First and foremost we have hope in Jesus. He is the Healer, Redeemer, Savior, Defender and Protector. As we focus on the truths and promises in scripture - our girl has also

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-87379161175853989212014-10-27T11:54:00.000-06:002014-10-27T11:54:44.692-06:00

The girls have been begging to go somewhere to play in the leaves since our yard has smaller trees with not enough leaves to pile up and jump in.   And that's what it's really all about - right?  So, we loaded them up with a rake and headed to the park.    Helps to have a variety of HLF t-shirts in their wardrobe. Fall colors - check. I honestly have a hard time

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-66831888543019549892014-10-01T00:54:00.000-06:002014-10-01T00:54:09.001-06:00

Had the gift of a day away in the mountains. Time to see the sun rise on my way out of town. To enjoy the brilliant shades of autumn color. I love so many things about every season. In the fall I love crisp air, crunchy leaves, pumpkins, baking, scarves and all of that good stuff. But, I also can't get enough of the rich, deep blue sky.  The way the sun shines on the changing leaves from more

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-51930952492203724992014-09-19T01:05:00.001-06:002014-09-19T01:05:24.605-06:00

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2 Look to

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-38903743484292800832014-09-18T21:52:00.001-06:002014-09-18T21:52:48.445-06:00

The girls were all very excited to start a new year at our little school.  (Church - homeschool tutoring service) We love so many things about it...the school feels like a combination of homeschooling and amazing discipleship time. The days are short 8:45-1:00. We have a month off in the summer, a longer break at Christmas and a few other short breaks. And we can pull them out for family

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-39751908478293044082014-09-18T21:25:00.001-06:002014-09-18T21:25:33.687-06:00

Can not believe that our baby girl is already 3 years old! It just can't be that long ago that she looked like this... But...time marches on.  While Viv can be completely defiant and ornery at times... ...during this challenging season she has been such a needed ray of sunshine and laughter. I wish (pray!) for her...to understand how much Jesus loves her. To know the

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-84174440169335226362014-08-02T23:25:00.002-06:002014-08-02T23:25:53.554-06:00

Anyone who has followed my blog or ever met Ren & her bear knows our pre-adoption Build-A-Bear tradition. The boys made one for us to send to Loe in her care package in China. We recorded our voices and placed that sound button inside her bear's paw. We also had her name stitched onto a t-shirt for the bear. It sits on her bed with all of her other favorites. Loe & the boys made one for Ren,

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-10802747483534294572014-07-22T01:02:00.004-06:002014-07-22T01:05:03.555-06:00

We were blessed with a baby shower or 'welcome home' party for each of our kids. So, we were excited about the idea of having a party for Angie, yet wanted to be sure she was not only ready to handle that without feeling completely overwhelmed, but be sure she actually wanted a party. We gave her a few months to settle in and learn more English and when we brought the idea up - she was

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-32543116454105816302014-07-12T02:17:00.001-06:002014-07-12T10:34:14.501-06:00

I take a ton of snapshots of these girls with my phone every week. And my camera sits unused much of the time just because it's big and bulky and not usually nearby when I 'need' it. We have multiple pictures on our walls in almost every room of Angie - all were taken when she stayed with us through the hosting program in December of 2012. I was about to schedule a photo shoot with a sweet

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-66349670471904283582014-07-10T00:26:00.000-06:002014-07-10T00:59:21.548-06:00

I made up a quick list for our summer break. Things to do, places to visit, stuff to make. Visiting the Cozy Cow was on the list. My motive - to allow the girls to see exactly where milk comes from before it goes to the grocery store.  Though they were more excited about the ice cream that the is made at the dairy. They knew we were going to enjoy some of that at the end of our visit! 

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-8245637459730790302014-07-06T23:22:00.004-06:002014-07-06T23:22:47.127-06:00

I am so grateful for the opportunity to live in America.  A place where people have fought and died to gain and preserve our freedom.   Freedom to celebrate.  Freedom to have this large, crazy family! To welcome these precious girls in as American citizens! Thankful for the opportunities they'll have here.  Thankful that they are blessed with this guy for their

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-69485855704107726932014-07-01T00:27:00.000-06:002014-07-01T15:05:37.954-06:00

We kicked off our summer break with a family trip to the drive-in last night! The girls have one month off for summer - a bit of time off in the fall and spring and a longer Christmas break. At first I wasn't sure I would like that - but as it turns out it's been great. In part because the 'school' (homeschool tutoring service) is very flexible - so we can take time off if we need/want to. And

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-62743675121249487072014-06-12T00:33:00.000-06:002014-06-12T00:33:01.053-06:00

Last night at the end of a long, tiring day I decided to put up a fb status that reflected the hard parts of adoptive parenting instead of focusing only on the joys. And there were several who responded, messaged and texted to say they were thankful for my transparency, that they could relate to my day and/or to offer prayer support and encouragement. (And can I say how very blessed I am with

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-38935351808203638422014-06-04T18:12:00.000-06:002014-06-04T23:31:15.513-06:00

 We spent so much time out with the choir last year. The girls have only been out for one trip since late last fall. Since then we have been busy with our last adoption and Trevor has traveled for work, so it has been good timing for us to be home together more. However, WE HAVE MISSED THEM! And we are so happy to spend some time with them! Getting to know the staff and

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-49451675753417013812014-06-03T17:07:00.003-06:002014-06-03T17:07:31.934-06:00

Feisty. Ornery.  Expressive. Entertaining. Pensive. Beautiful. Hilarious. Cheesy. Dramatic. Observant.  Playful. Talkative.  Goofy. Defiant. Sweet. Precious.  Loved. So thankful for this little one that God placed in our life. She stretches us, blesses us and keeps us on our knees in prayer! Love her

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-75971203691271883672014-05-20T23:55:00.003-06:002014-05-22T10:35:38.892-06:00

When our boys were little we explored alternative health options. We used some herbal remedies, but homeopathy was what we used the most. Our sons each had one ear infection. We treated it with homeopathic remedies and they never had another. I absolutely believe antibiotics have their place and I want them to work when we really need them. So, we hoped to not use them much if possible. As it

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-83219349208325732002014-05-06T17:51:00.000-06:002014-05-06T17:51:08.229-06:00

I don't understand how it can feel like it was a year ago when Trevor and I packed up to go to Colombia. Yet, it also seems crazy that we somehow went from Christmas to nearing the end of spring already. The passage of time seems to be altered when there are major life changes. But, we have regular dates that bring us back to reality and anchor us to our family traditions. We did miss Hunter's

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-27280235242008977452014-04-22T23:35:00.001-06:002014-04-22T23:35:30.979-06:00

Resurrection Day!  (Vivi was yelling, "JESUS!") We are settling into a routine...I think. Though I imagine the coming weeks we will hopefully continue to feel more settled. For pretty much the entire almost 4 weeks that Angie has been home someone or a few of us have been sick. Kind of a bummer when we've had a pretty healthy winter. We've passed around some kind of flu that seems to turn

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-2277008569643178912014-04-10T00:35:00.002-06:002014-04-10T00:35:36.840-06:00

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27 We have all been home for two weeks already. Wow! Time has passed by in strange ways these past few months. Both Trevor and I continue to confirm with one another what day it is and even what month we are in. It is so strange to think that it was 2 months ago when we were getting ready to leave for

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-57795234348158706452014-03-25T22:33:00.001-06:002014-03-25T22:33:37.676-06:00

Two years ago God planted a seed in our hearts...one that would grow and blossom into being open to the idea of adopting an older child.  One day 18 months ago, after an evening talking about God's change in plans for us...Trevor told me to go open up his laptop. There as the screen came to life was this face smiling back at me. She had just popped up on our agency's waiting child list. We

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15433252.post-64328122779400316592014-03-19T11:02:00.001-06:002014-03-19T11:20:52.067-06:00

Yesterday we received the long-awaited news. We have our Sentencia! Angie Astrid Collins is officially our daughter! She is an orphan no longer and our family has been given the gift of a new daughter and sister.  Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.  Matthew 18:5 We feel extremely grateful to finally be at this stage. We began her adoption process about 18 months

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14412149972283595823noreply@blogger.com1