God Bless America

Yes, I am posting about the election, but read on.  Please.   

Yesterday, I went to the polls with my family to vote.  Dave and I thought it was important for Aiden to vote with us.  Did I vote for President Obama?  No.  But, that doesn't matter this morning.  I stayed up late last night and watched as the results of the American voters unfolded.  Once Ohio was called, I went to bed. 

I got up this morning, check the happenings on Facebook and Twitter and as I was doing that I heard a question from God rise up in my Spirit.  I clearly heard him ask, "What are you going to do?"  Good question.  I've never been a person to really bash the President for some of his decisions. Do I support some of the decisions?  No.   Is America doomed?  I don't think so.  

So, as I do when God asks me a question, I answered him.   I said, "God, this is what I'm going to do.  First, I put ALL of my trust in you.  Second, You are love and that is what will pour out of me.  I will pray for our President, the House, the Congress, our Senator, and the Judicial system.  That is what I am going to do."   

My friends, don't be discourage (good topic for our Pastor to talk about last night).  History is filled with change that came from the perseverance of prayer.  Remember the fall of the Berlin wall. I'm not going to go into a history lesson, but here is an excerpt from the man that started the weekly prayer meetings.  In 1982 the Nikolai Kirche started weekly prayer meetings, that went on unbroken for seven years, until the Wall fell. When discouragement kicked in, they reminded each other of Jesus’ words that when two or three gather, He is in their midst. “We realized that if we would stop praying, there would be no hope for change in Germany.”   In 1988, even with some opposition, the prayer group grew to 2,000 and in 1989 60,000 people were praying.  

Another thing that the Lord reminded me of this morning, is that I did not pray enough for our government over the last four years.  Today, that changes. 

My point to all this rambling, is that if we profess our faith in Christ, then we are commanded to love.  If we want to see change.....pray.  

God's Goodness

2 years ago on August 24th, Dave and I started our journey home from Texas with our first son, Aiden Jonathan, he was 5 1/2 years old.   The last 2 years have been life changing.  8 months after Aiden came home, we flew to Taiwan to meet our 2nd son, Ethan Matthew.  God's sweet love for us is extravagant and I know without a doubt He hears us.  He hears all of us.  

On Friday, we celebrated Aiden's "Gotcha Day".  What God has done in 2 years is amazing!  When Aiden came home he spoke almost like a 2 or 3 year old, he definitely had limited vocabulary.  Not to mention major trust issues.  All Dave and I could do was trust the Lord and look to Holy Spirit for guidance.   So, when I heard, the words last week, "you are the best mommy in the World," from my Aiden.  My heart melted at that very moment.  Aiden just recently is becoming less guarding with me.  He is relaxing, he is trusting.  He has excelled with speech therapy.  God has done a marvelous work in my Aiden.  

.........We had many things to celebrate!!  

We celebrated with a picnic and snorkeling at the beach!  Of course, I had to bake something delicious for my little man.  I asked Aiden what he wanted.  He asked for cupcakes, brownies, cheesecake, and maybe a few other things.   So, I met him in the middle and made a brownie cheesecake.  Not to boast, but it was decadent.  YUM!

My husband and I are continually cultivating the life style of "stopping for the one."  The one person that is in front of us at any particular moment that needs to encounter the love and goodness of our Father God through us.  In May of 2010, we stopped for the one in front of us.  The one looked like a little Chinese 5 year old boy from Texas.   I am thankful for our friends, Mike & Deena  for feeling the nudge to ask us about being this little guys parents.  

My Aiden.......I love you with every ounce of my being.  

 

Turning 33

I turned 33 nearly two weeks ago.  I love birthdays, I love to celebrate people having a birthday and I will confess, I like to celebrate mine as well.  Three years ago when I was approaching the big 'ole 30, I was terrified.  Terrified of what?  I don't remember.  It was just society working me up telling me that I am getting old.  Now, at the young age of 33, I have no idea why 30 was such a big deal.  I am a youngin'.  Now, that I've digressed about turning 30, let's move on.  

My cutie pie of a husband had a man event at church the night of my birthday.  So, I got to spend the evening with my handsome and adorable little men.  Aiden had been asking me for days to watch Iron Giant (an old movie, I think), so we watch it that night. I had Ethan on my lap snuggled up to me with his thumb in his mouth and his monkey jammed near his face.  Oh, how I love that boy of mine.  Aiden was somewhat close to me (we're still working on snuggling).  Anyhow, about 20 minutes into the movie, I thought how very blessed I am.  I mean beyond blessed, I was filled with such an emotional that I couldn't and still can't put words to it.  I am a mommy.  I am a mommy of two little boys.  A mommy who for over six years, prayed, cried, prayed more, faithfully trusted God, had heart aches and devastation, but trusted God through it all.  Snuggled up to me on the night of my 33rd birthday were my two gifts from God. At that moment I was fully satisfied with my life.  I felt like things were just right.


Does that mean there's nothing left to fight for?  Oh, no, everyday we have a fight.  Every day set before us, the Bible states we have a choice, "life or death, blessing or cursing."  The Word of God also talks about a fight of faith.   But in the fight we can rest is God's sweet presence.  I would say I'm a fighter.  I have fought for a lot of things in my life.  My husband and I fought for our boys.  In adoption you are your child's advocate.  Agency's will help you get your child home, but, I believe, ultimately it's up to how hard we fight.  Because, we will get pushed down and sometimes trampled on during an adoption process.  There will be news that your child is being placed with relatives or the country has closed down temporarily. All kinds of crazy things.  But, keep the faith, because if you are going through the process right now, soon you'll be sitting on the couch snuggling with your "gift". One day you can tell them just how hard you fought for them.  

Oh, and to top my birthday off, I had an amazing day out on the following Sunday with my hubby.  He got me a pedi at a glorious spa and then we had lunch.   Nothing fancy, but I did have the best onion rings EVER!!  My parents got me a few gift cards, one to one of my favorite stores!! On my bday, a fabulous friend made lunch for me!!  Life is good!!

Summer Time!

Aahh....  School is out and summer is upon us.  It's time for the beach, playground, library, Grandma's house and all sorts of fun things!  However, as a stay at home Momma I kept getting the question, "so, what are you doing with the boys this summer?"  Now, every time I went to answer it I sidetracked and diverted the question.  Why?  Honestly, I felt awkward saying, "Well, I am going to do nothing but seize this time in my children's life and have as much fun as we can."  I felt awkward, because shouldn't I be doing something more important or more responsible.  Come on, I am going to play with my kids...?  Yes, that's the plan.


I haven't had my boys for very long.  This is Aiden's 2nd summer with us and I want to cherish this amazing time God has blessed me with and focus on my kids.  Of course, I will be doing some work during the week, cleaning the house, and working with Aiden on some school work over the summer.   But, I want to make time for memory making fun.  I really think that God would like us to do more of this in our lives.  Sometimes I think He's trying to tell us, "Hey, why don't you go have some fun with your husband and go on a date,"  or "save the emails for later and go play a board game and eat ice cream with your family."   This applies to some personalities that don't know how to relax and always feel the need to be doing something.  And, that is totally me.  Sometimes I lay on the couch to take a break, then feel bad that the dishes need to be washed.  Crazy, right?   On the other hand, God may be telling other more relaxed personalities to kick it up a bit.  Everything in balance.  


So for all you stay at home mommas and even those that work, throw your hair in a pony tail and go swing with your kids.  Let them see the Jesus in you and love them unconditionally.  One fun thing that I am working on is creating a summer bucket list. It doesn't have to be 2o things, you can create one with 5 or 6 activities that you want to do before summer is over. 

Be creative and have fun!  




Because it’s summer and the memories are just waiting to happen.
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My Sweet Boys

Ah, the world of blogging.....  The world in which I can't seem to stay on top of.  I've always enjoyed writing, but when it comes to journals or in this millennium, blogging, I have never been able to keep things current.   I could make a number of excuses, but I'm going to keep things real, if I'm not being paid for it, it will always be sporadic.   

Moving on...   My Aiden had his Spring Break last week.  He has been home with us for 19 months and this was my first successful school break with him to date!   I should define success in the Behrens' home.  Success looks like no tantrums, minimal responses with anger, good communication, and relaxing with each other.  I have seen Aiden grow tremendously over the last few months.  Yes, we have had a few set backs, but with the right response we have actually propelled forward.   All in all, trust is continuing to develop and the "forever" concept for my little man is becoming a reality.  If you need a good parenting tool, I whole heartily recommend Danny Silk's series called, Loving Our Kids On Purpose.   Excellent resource!!  

I am absolutely confident that every mom at some point watches their child and is still in awe of that little one or big one.   The other day I stopped and watched Ethan and was so overwhelmed by God's goodness in my family.  Both of my boys are miracles.   I look at Aiden and see his strength and determination.  I also see his compassion and desire to love and be loved.  My Ethan is fun-loving and adventurous.  I never want to forget what God has done for my family.   My heart as a mommy, even in the midst of crying and craziness, I want to remember the miracle and raise my boys to love God.  

On that note, Spring is here!!  Get outside and enjoy every moment with your children, spouse, and friends!!   I love this time of year!

A New Year!

Yes, I'm a little delayed about posting about a "New Year".  This post should have been written on New Years Day and I should have declared all that 2012 will hold and yada yada yada......    Don't get me wrong, I think having plans for this new year are very important and yes, I would even say, necessary.   I'm a planner and I love it!  Without planning, days, weeks, and even months can slip by.   However, this year, 2012, I am attacking things a bit different. 

It's the first year since 2006 that I am not thinking about where my adoption paperwork has to go to next.  I have two little amazing boys in my life.... forever.  At the moment, we are focusing on them.  If God wants to bless us with a surprise, then we would be thrilled, but we are not pursing another adoption at the moment.  

Dave and I are making date night, a once a month mandatory thing this year (maybe we'll be able to sneak in two).  Even when we didn't have little ones in the house, we still found it difficult to carve out time for ourselves.  It's important not to let your marriage grow stagnant.  Family night is also on the calendar, pizza and games!  All this planning and schedule, doesn't it seem like it's too much?  I think spontaneity is important and I plan on doing some of that this year.  Like, snagging a deal from Living Social or Groupon and going away for couple of days.  However, I also think that if you don't put pen to paper and make time for yourself, your spouse, your children, then 2013 will be here and the most important people in your life will have taken a backseat to less important things.

I have goals and dreams and I want to fulfill them, but I realized at the end of 2011 some of those goals and dreams have changed.  I'm a busy gal (and I prefer to stay busy), but my most important job is staying home and take care of my family.  It has taken almost a year to see the beauty in that.  With certainty, I can say that my identity is not wrapped up any longer in what I do, but it is wrapped up in who God says I am. I still do volunteer work for our friends in China and I believe without a doubt the Lord has taken care of us through my obedience.  Plus, I love it and I would do just about anything for our friends!! Dave and I also still believe strongly that we are called to the field to be full time missionaries.  When will we go?   I'm not sure.  When God says, "go", we'll go.

Don't let this amazing year pass you by.   What's possible this year?  All things!