Wow is all that I have to say...

RADICAL from David Platt on Vimeo.

***Pause the music to watch the video.***

So I saw this video on one of my fellow blogger sites that I regularly follow. Watch it now (if you haven't already) then continue reading. Of course the timeliness of this post was spot on (as usual) as this is an area that I REALLY struggle to relinquish to God. My one dream has always been to have the American Dream. I want the nice big house in the country, where my family gathers for holidays, where the kids bring their friends, where I am the stay-at-home-mom, where we have enough to afford missions trips to far away places AND go on vacations as a family. And I admit that this video is painful for me to see in the way that dirt and gravel being scrubbed from a wound is painfully healing to the body. It forces me to come face-to-face with my acknowledgement that I have not fully surrendered EVERYTHING to my Maker, and that it is what I am being asked, in faith, to do. So please pray for my strength in surrendering ALL, and that God, in His infinite wisdom, would keep providing these reminders to me until it is accomplished in HIS eyes. I don't really want to add too much more to this post. I feel that it speaks for itself, but I do want to add just one last thing for you to ponder now that you have had the opportunity to view the clip. My husband's response after viewing this video was "Wow, that's kind of in your face." to which my response was, "I think that's the point...I think that is why the title is Radical." But I ask you, what was your response? And what should our responses be? Leaving you to ponder. Have a great Memorial Day Sunday everyone.

Nicole

It's in the mail and other updates!

Well, it has again been a while since my last post...for a couple of reasons. It may sound silly, but for the most part I feel like I am talking to myself...not that there is a problem with that (I do that quite often actually), but it makes it hard to know what to write about, since I don't really need to update myself on what's been going on in my life. The other reason is that life (as usual has been SO chaotic here in the last month of school, that it has been hard to find a moment to actually force myself to sit down and type! So just to give you a quick update, I'd started working at a tutoring center, which I had planned to do for the summer to bring in any extra support for our adoption. Then I received notification that another summer job opportunity that I thought had fallen through was being offered to me! Praise God! I think that will be a fantastic opportunity to learn and grow. I will be working as an office assistant basically, for our county Iowa State Extension Office. They work a lot with 4-H and all things agricultural. For those of you out in blog land, the largest (I think we still hold the title for the largest) county fair in the world is housed right in our very own small town of Spencer every September, and the IA Extension Office has quite a BIG responsibility of getting things up and ready for that. So in addition to all of the clerical duties, I will be educating myself on all things Fair-related. Now, even though I grew up in a small-ish mid-western town, and all of my grandparents were farmers, and my husband and his family were farmers, I am NOT a farm gal. I know NOTHING about tending to crops or animals. In fact, my dad thought it would be a good character-enriching experience for us to learn to care for a garden. I HATED IT! I mean, for crying out loud, I had to weed it every day! ;) And if you ask my cousin's Erin and Luke, they will verify that I was CONVINCED one year that my grandpa's sheep had melted like the wicked witch of the east from being too overheated with all of their wool covering. My loving husband (boyfriend at the time) graciously tried to induct me into his family one weekend by asking him to help out with castrating their pigs. His sisters (to my everlasting appreciation) saved me from that horrible, I mean "wonderful", opportunity. So to make a long story even longer (as is often the case with me) I will be learning and growing through this seasonal job experience.

On another note, hopefully soon I will be able to post a blog about the Christian-Alliance-for-Orphans Summit that we attended at the end of April. It was SUCH an exciting and confirming experience for us. There was SO much that we encountered it is hard to know what to blog about first! But that will be coming soon...hopefully after I have completed the four remaining days of school!

And finally, I just wanted make it known that we officially sent in our agency contracts and fee this week! Yea! We've made our next step in the adoption process, and now we will begin the homestudy and training process of our journey. I still am amazed daily by the way God Almighty is shaping our path, and how faithfully He affirms His plan through us. We are excited to finally get moving and focused on this process and can't wait to join our agency listserv to get more aquainted with everyone out there. I love to learn, and I've never been afraid to ask questions or seek out advice. This will be one more resource that will allow me to develop further, and I am very much looking forward to it! Happy Wednesday everyone!