Julian Drive

Our church had the privilege of hosting a christian rock band on Sunday night. Of course we don't look at this band as just any band...they are very special to us. See, one of the guitar players is from our little town and we have watched him grow up. When he was in high sch*ol he played on the drum line for the marching band. Jon Milledge was probably 3-6 years old during that time and we had to go to the games early to see Jesse walk in playing the drums and we had to stay to the very end because the drums were the last to leave. I also remember in 1998 when I chaperoned a youth ski trip that Jesse was entertaining everyone on the back of the church bus with his guitar. We knew he was going to do something wonderful with his life we just didn't know what...now we do!
The band, Julian Drive, started out small and local but have worked very hard and it has pa*d off. They just released their second album today and I've even heard the first single off the new CD playing on an Atlanta christian radio station!! We are so happy to see God's hand working in the lives of these young men and can't wait to see what all He has in store for them. The concert on Sunday night was such a blessing for me. Not only was I proud of Jesse and all that he is doing to glorify God but it was wonderful to see my boys praising and worshipping God through an instrument such as Jesse, whom they admire so much.

Me, Darrell and Maria with Julian Drive

Jesse with two of his biggest fans!

P.S. If you click on the bands name above and go to their myspace page, you can listen to a few of their songs. My favorite is From Your Hands. You have to listen to it!!

Happy Chinese New Year!

People Born in the Year of the OX are stable, strong, dutiful, reliable, tenacious, practical, industrious, determined, honest, loyal, sincere, persevering and down to earth and tolerant. They can sometimes be lonely but they form firm bonds with home and family. The OX people cherish their private lives and are not usually very adventurous. They can be loners. They know the way to succeed is by a slow, steady, sustained effort. OX people are great traditionalists, they like the familiar.

Will Ruthie be born in The Year of the Ox? We hope, but only God knows!

Ooops!

For the first time since I started my blog, I forgot our LID Day on the eighth of this month. I feel somewhat guilty that I forgot but at the same time....HELLO...we have been waiting 26 crazy months!!! Because of that, I think I deserve to have a mental lapse every once in a while...right? So anyway, Happy 26 Months to us and everyone else with a November 2006 LID!

12 Year Old Boys

Since Jon Milledge is now 12 1/2, I thought I would post a few things that I have learned about preteen boys.

1. They are teetering ever so carefully on deciding whether to still be a little boy or to go ahead,take the plunge and be a full blown teenager. And this changes momentarily.

2. They can eat large amounts of food in a short amount of time.

3. Some days their parents know a few things and other days....not so much!

4. They have mood swings that would put most premenopausal women to shame.

5. They have a love/hate relationship with their siblings.

6. There is lots of drama with middle sch**l girls....and boys.

7. They have more energy than the energizer bunny....well, until you ask them to clean their rooms...then they are exhausted and can't move.

8. They start becoming a little more private and modest.

9. They can, when they choose, carry on a wonderful conversation with you.

10. And last but not least.....they can think their mama's are crazy one day, great the next, not so great the next and even downright mean the next. BUT, when they are tired and sick, there is no place they would rather be than........

...asleep in her arms!

Happy Birthday, Claire!

My cousin Claire, who happens to be a faithful blog reader of mine, is turning 15 today! I can't believe it! I was at the hospital the day she was born and saw her when she was only minutes old...what a precious baby she was! Claire was only about 7 months old at my wedding...so the thought of her being 15 just blows my mind. She has become such a beautiful young lady on the inside and out. She even sang a solo in "big" church a few weeks ago! Claire does have a very sweet voice and has made me so proud by becoming such a strong woman of God. He definitely has a very special plan for her and I can't wait to see what that happens to be!

Happy, Happy Birthday Claire! We love you!! Good luck on your learner's test!!

This is a picture of me, Claire and her two big brothers, Matt and Clay, on Thanksgiving Day!

January 2nd

On January 2, 2006, we completed, signed and mailed an application to The Open Door Adoption Agency. With envelope in hand and big dreams in our hearts, we dropped the application into a local mailbox. We waited with nervous tummies for about a week before we heard that we had been approved to adopt from China. Then the real paperwork began!

I often ask myself if we had known then what we know now would it have made a difference? I can't answer that for sure because obviously...we didn't know how long this wait was going to be...but I think and I would certainly hope that the answer would be that it wouldn't matter. We felt then and we still feel today that God called us to adopt an orphan from China and I hope that no matter what the circumstances were then, or are today, or will be a year from now, that we would still follow His will for our lives.

Three years is a long time to wait for something that we can't see and frankly something that often feels so uncertain. We choose to believe and trust that God has a plan for our family and that He has led us this far for a reason and we know He isn't going to forsake us now. The past three years have flown by so I like to think that surely she will be here within the next 3 years which fortunately or unfortunately(however you want to look at it) will be here in the blink of an eye.

With 2009 here, please pray for those of us in this process who are longing for our children to be home. Also pray that somehow there will be a speed up in China this year so that babies without a family can be united with families who already love them so much. Thanks!