Everybody needs their daddy...

So last night was not a great goodnight ritual. The kids were having a lot of difficulty falling asleep and I was definitely not at my best as a mom. Impatience and frustration are 2 words that come to mind. Things were not going well and right in the middle of trying to get them all down the phone rings. My husband has been away for 10 days on an incredible ministry trip, for which I am super proud of him and excited about the ways God continues to use him. Anyways, he called and as I was trying to talk to him and I was trying to not-so-calmly get the kids to bed, he asked to say goodnight to the kids. I put the phone to little princess' ear and through tears she said goodnight daddy. I don't know what else he said to her but she calmed down instantly and there was a certain peace about her. A daddy's love and assurance are so important in the life of the child and I saw it transform her right before my eyes.

Fast forward to about 10 o'clock at night as I was about to go to sleep. I thought I would go downstairs to watch a little bit of TV when I heard THAT sound. The sound of a mouse...ugghhh. In my dryer vent that heads outside. With no husband around ( who I am afraid would not have been a great help in this particular scenario...for those of you who know him, you will know why - I love you babe!)
I of course called my dad. My dad is great - he always has a solution for fixing things. So after walking me through what sounded like a good idea, I hung up the phone. He told me to phone back after I finished.
So I took off the vent tubing and put a plastic bag around it. Filled a rubbermaid with water, Duct taped the hose to the rubbermaid, ensuring it was pointing downward. Took the plastic bag off. started the dryer. And in about 30 seconds flat the rodent was swimming around in the water. Outside went the container. up went the dryer vent (with a temporary fix of duct tape).
And voila, no mouse.
genius. My dad that is.
I phoned him back in a matter of minutes and thanked him for the idea. An then I went peacefully to sleep.

Two daddies needed, 2 girls very content!

Blessings,

Candra

What makes me smile...

that my little princess would rather have this for breakfast than any type of breakfast food!

this reminder that I still have 2 little ones, even though the changing part is no fun!

that our new home is looking like a house... and that my amazing husband is  making this dream become reality!

that these 4 are my beautiful gifts!

What makes you smile???

Blessings,

Candra

happy Easter and tug of war...Part 2

Easter has always been my favorite time of the church year. Reconsidering more intentionally what Christ has  done for me. that because of His death & resurrection, I am forgiven. I am loved. And I get to experieince His grace.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - Ephesians 2:8

It is truly a gift and one that too easily can be forgotten in the routines and the chaos of life. take last night for example. Riley is away on an incredible ministry trip and so I find myself parenting by myself. I admitted tonight that I was lonely. Something I rarely allow myself to feel. So for 10 minutes I was pretty upset and was just wanting to wallow in it a bit more....

But then as i was praying I felt God saying "Hold onto Me". It is far to easy for me to simply try and take control of my life rather than recognize that I cannot do it on my own. It feels like a tug of war sometimes....Following God's leading in my life is not always easy. Sometimes is terrifies me because it is complete trust and I have to blindly take a step. Sometimes it is just hard work... being disciplined in my spiritual life, parenting well, being a good friend, striving and seeing my marriage grow. So the words "hold on to me" helped me to realize that I am not alone. Not matter what I feel like at any given moment- that I don't always have to try and win the tug of war.....

Christ is risen, and because of that I am alive. never alone on this crazy exhilarating adventure called life.

Blessings,

Candra

happy Easter & Tug of War Part 1

This Easter weekend was incredibly wonderful. I have hoped for several years to get back to my grandma's for Easter. And this was the year. Friday, i took the 4 kids to a good friday service at West Portal Church as we don't have a goof friday service yet...it was a good way to start this very significant weekend. then we travelled down to the land of snow and ice...still... and spent the weekend at Pomona Acres with my grandma, and my mom & dad.  It was amazing... and the kids loved the freedom to run and run and run!!!

arriving in spring dressess to snowbanks!

fun times with grammie...cool dude!

Decroating easter eggs...tradition! we made 3 doz & only 3 so far have gotten eaten!

Easter egg hunting...so adorable!

found one

found some more

photo op!

easter morning with my 4 blessings!

coming down to find easter baskets!

found them.

making a snow bunny!

off to Brownville school - where Grammie taught!

handsome teacher

cute student

one room...the kids thought it was awesome!

with my mom and dad...love them!

with my grammie. love her.

had to add this one cause of all the memories it brought back...my grandma and grandpa (who passed away almost 24 years ago) with me & my brother. I am so blessed by the heritage I have been given through all of my grandparents!

part 2....tug of war...on the next post

Blessings,

Candra

easter fun

So this was little man's first time decorating eggs...this was as far as we got -

trying to eat the egg...shell and all!

...more Easter stories to come!
Blessings,
Candra

first family day!

Sunday, was our little man's family day! He has now been part of our family for 1 year and we continue to be so blessed by him.

little man's family day 2011

Last week, we recounted the week leading up to leaving...the ache of leaving our other kids, the anticipation of meeting our fourth child, the plane rides, the excitement of the unknown and finally going to Africa (something we have wanted to do for a long time) and pulling up to the bed and breakfast and meeting the most wonderful & gracious woman, who will forever hold a special place in our hearts!
We will never forget this day filled with sweet memories.
The car ride there...being able to share our heart with our social worker (whom we continue to pray for daily!)
Pulling up to the baby home and meeting the director...we pray for the baby home, the current staff, the  little ones in care and the former director.
Walking in and seeing little man for the first time. What a moment that was- so different yet so wonderful.

within moments of meeting him (2010)...happy boy!

Leaving the home and realizing that this was it...this was the day that for many months we had been looking forward to.

It was painfully beautiful. 

Painful because I know (and am SO thankful) that he was dearly loved, treasured and prayed for by those who cared for him. Beautiful because he was now part of a family.

kisses

Today, little man is an energetic almost 2 year old who....

and more kisses...may need to do this pose every year!

...still loves to wrestle
..shows compassion and love unconditionally
...loves to play with his siblings
...loves to help (his favorite is helping put away the sound equipment at church!)
...is a chatterbox, with his favorite words being all of his family and "puppies"
...loves singing (with amazing pitch by the way) and dancing

little man

As with each one of our blessings, there is no way i can imagine life without him. We are blessed.
We love you little man!

Blessings,

Candra

And we continue to await news of adoptions beginning again through little man's birth country. We pray that honorable decisions will be made and that those entrusted with the futures of these little ones will have wisdom.

gifts.

My kids....

handsome boy..with LEGO that he and his sister completely by themselves!

my sweet youngest...who loves hats!

little princess helping make/eat muffins!

my beautiful girl..reading her bible. The parable of the good samaritan.

I am so blessed to be their mom.

More to come tomorrow - it is a very exciting day!!!


Blessings,
Candra

A good reminder...and RUN143

Unexpected blessings amidst the routine, adventure and chaos of life are a reminder to me that God has all thing in his hands...even me. I just finished reading articles on Haiti and Japan and I sometimes wonder how, when so many people in our world are in the greatest despair, that God still knows my heart and He cares for me?

Today, I was not feeling great...stomach fluish. The kids had swimming lessons this morning and my husband had meetings so away I went with the kids. As we were waiting for my oldest's lesson to start, I hear little princess yell "DADDY" and off she went running. I turned around and there he was holding me a tea misto for me from my favorite coffee shop. Even though he was now late for his meeting.

unexpected blessing.

Last night my grandma called just to chat. It was so good to talk to her and hear how she is doing. And she always ends the conversation "Love you dear". It is good to be loved. It is amazing to have a grandma who I know prays for me.

This week, even though I wasn't supposed to know for another possible 2 weeks, I found out that I got my job so I am officially 4 days a week.

In the Psalms, it says "Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart". It doesn't say when or in how long, it doesn't say if he will give you ALL the desires of your heart but is does say that when you love Him, follow Him - that he will listen to your heart's cry. And this week, I made sure to look at how God was working through those around me - my husband, my grandma and my colleagues - and I know that He cares for me.

And in other news the website is up and running for the second annual RUN (ONE)43!! We are so excited to be able to support another family as the await the arrival of their child...and...to support both local and international agencies that work with adoption and orphan care. And of course to raise awareness about orphan care.


there are over 143 million orphans worldwide and we want to bring awareness to this and help do something about it. 

So, check it out and won't you join us for a run????

I am tying up my shoes this week and starting. My husband and I will do the 3 days between the 2 of us and I am so looking forward to it!!! Can you tell!!!!!
If you want to help out in any way, let me know!

have a great weekend and know that He cares for you.

Blessings,

Candra

and it took my breath away...

I found this post from another blog ("Building the blocks"-  a link on the side of my page) that I cannot get out of my mind...literally.

It took my breath away.

This is written by an adoptive& biological mom of, I believe, 8 children; her and her husband and their family have chosen to move to Guatemala to serve at an orphanage there.

I am not finished all my thoughts on sacrificial living, but this stunningly written piece has given me lots to think about and how my choices and the way I live impact the world.... it is called

He chose YOU


Sometimes, we find it easiest to look the other way. 

Sometimes, we believe He isn't talking to us. 

Sometimes, we figure someone else will do it. 

Sometimes, we blow it off as someone elses responsibility. 

But what if... God meant for you to do it? 

As we were talking to someone the other day about support for our mission work we heard the all to common comment of 'go ask this church- or go ask that church'.

But what I sometimes think we forget is WE ARE THE CHURCH. 

And often times we use the church as our excuse to not have to do what we are called as individuals to do. 

We hide behind the title 'the church' and forget the church is made up of individual Christ followers who are all to do their own part. 

Because after all, He is a personal God. 

Personal to me- and personal to you. 

While the church as a whole is powerful enough to knock out the orphan crisis- it's going to take all of us to do our part to make it happen- or it never will. 

And yet all too often we sit and we wait... 

For someone else to take care of the problem... 

For someone else to give... 

For someone else to serve... 

For someone else to do something about it... 

And we excuse ourselves of our individual responsibility. 

When perhaps He was talking to us all along... 

In the past I have talked a lot on my blog about our ties to money- and what the Lord has been teaching us. As we are raising funds for missions, more than ever before, our eyes are being opened to our cultures connection to the almighty dollar.

And more than ever before- I see how clearly it is the one thing that is bringing us, as a nation, down. 

Our love for things... 

and our love of self... 

Over our love for Him. 

I came across this picture the other day and I felt like someone punched me in the gut. I wondered how someone could just look the other way and go on without doing something to help? 



But then it hit me.. 

Aren't we, in essence, doing this exact thing when we- choose that $6.00 latte over giving to missions? 

When we choose to take a family vacation instead of giving our tithe? 

Choose to have a pedicure over sponsoring a child in need? 

Choose to look the other way as the homeless man sits on the corner begging for our help? 

Choose a bigger house over adopting a child? 

Choose to do nothing- when we could do something?

Choose not to respond.

Roman 14:12 tells us "Each of us will give an account of himself to God."

Belonging to a church isn't enough. 

Each one of us, individually, are accountable to God for what we have done for the poor, the helpless, the widow and the orphan. 

I once heard someone say the only thing worse than being lost- is being lost and knowing there is no one looking for you. As the body of Christ I believe the Lord is calling each one of us- as individuals- to open our eyes and LOOK. Look for the need and act. 

Give. 

Serve. 

Love. 

Take it personal- 

Because He does. 




Blessings,
Candra

A very long post

It has been too long since I have taken the time to sit down and post something...I love doing it but finding/making the time to do it sometimes proves elusive! So in advance, I warn you that this is somewhat of a random post and may at times be long winded but this is a glimpse of what we have been up to over the last couple of weeks. 

I love celebrating birthdays and at the end of march, I got to throw 2 parties! One for my little princess and one for my husband.

birthday people!

They are born on the same day, exactly 30 years apart so we had a weekend extravaganza! Saturday was all about little princess. She made the guest list and I invited. We had helium balloons, playtime, cupcakes and presents. I was smart this time and planned it in the afternoon so no meals needed to be provided! She LOVED it. Although she did think that her birthday should go on and on and on......

me and m getting ready for the party...he helped me fill all these!

birthday girl and her new bike

eating the icing of her cupcake...doesn't like cake!

balloon cupcakes

love you...sweet little princess

it is hard to believe that she was once this little.

She is a beautiful, confident happy little 3 year old, but some days I miss the baby girl who graced our house each day. She is absolutely full of life and is such a sweetheart!

Sunday, was all about my man. Except for the morning when he had to work! I took him out for supper at the Taj. it is THE MOST AMAZING indian restaurant! The food was incredible. It did make us a little homesick for SA, as we ate a lot of curry there as well. We were able to spend some time talking about us, the future and what God has intended for our lives and for our children. It was awesome.

And then we went home...put out a bunch of appetizers and friends started arriving! WE had a great time hanging out with friends, laughing and celebrating his birthday! And, I attempted and succeeded at making red velvet cake with buttercream icing.

happy birthday!

It was sooooo good - and he thought so to!

Monday, there actual birthday was a quiet family night with an outing to McDonalds for ice cream. A perfect way to end the birthday celebrations of 2 people that I love so much!

A few other things have popped up in the last couple of weeks....
SPRING IS HERE...I hope.

We are in process of putting away winter clothes. I figure they can always wear a hoodie underneath if they need! We went for our first family bike ride/snowball throwing walk and that was super fun!

the rubber boot swagger!

beautiful.

so happy to be back on his bike!

 We invested in new rubber boots and splash pants for all and headed over to our house build where currently we have lakefront property. The kids had a blast!

the epic puddle

Swimming lessons have begun for the 2 older kids; they loved it! Little princess was looking longingly at the water - her class was full an hour after registration opened. Crazy. We will try next time.

OUR HOUSE IS GETTING A ROOF.

our new home

In other exciting news, the house is coming along! The roof should be on soon and all windows and doors should be in by end of April. Now the exciting part begins for me where there are many choices that I get to help make. I am looking forward to it.....
I am so blessed to have a husband who is building this house for our ever expanding family! It is truly a labor of love and a sacrifice, as he is doing it on the side. We are also blessed with some amazing friends whose support has been incredible and unwaivering.

So for tonight, I think I will end it here. All in all, life is good. There are moments that it seem crazy and overwhelming but that dissipates pretty quickly, knowing that I trust in a God who will never leave, a husband who supports me fully and 4 great kiddos who say I love you every single day. Laundry that is not completely done, the house is often partially clean ( I am a good "tidier"), an occasional speeding ticket cause I wanted to get home fast (yes that did happen last weekend...ughh) and all those other little distractions are gonna take a backseat so that I can love fully and try and enjoy each day that I am given.
I will pay the speeding ticket though.

I have a lot on my mind about sacrifice and what it means to live sacrificially. I am hoping to bring all these thoughts together for my next post, which will hopefully be sooner than the last.

Thanks for making it to the end.
Blessings,
Candra




P

Spring has sprung!

So I had a whole post done and it disappeared...no idea where it went but it disappeared. The main point of it was that I was gonna enjoy my weekend with these 5 people...

...and not be distracted by all of life's other adventures! So have a happy, wonderful and wet weekend. Will write more, hopefully tonight...I have a few things brewing!
Blessings,
Candra