Simple Beauty

After a pretty hectic week,

kicked off by a stomach virus responsible for

stealing time away from my dearest friends

and then dominated by juggling skills I didn't know I had, 

a morning walk through my gardens re-adjusted

my heart and my mind.

The simple beauty is soothing and restorative.

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

Words by Maltbie D. Babcock

A Teensy Favor, If You Please?

We are coming close to the one-month countdown on our Wild Olive Tees fundraiser to help us raise our remaining adoption travel expenses. I've been greatly restraining myself from a twice-weekly check in with the gals over there at the Wild Olive headquarters. I've been hustling to share the information in the creative and appropriate ways. I created a snazzy flyer to hand out. I've included links to it in my on-line yard sale. I'm pushing The Boss to hustle and share away, too. And as we get down to the line on this effort, I'm wondering if you'd consider helping us out with a teensy favor?

Would you consider sharing about our fundraiser on your blog? Or on your F@cebook feed? Or tweet out about what we are doing? Give them the link to our blog and tell them about the snazzy button on the sidebar that will bring them right.to.the.sale.sight? Tell them our family code is WHITNEY407? That the tees are really beautiful and created by some really beautiful women who are trying to change the world, one tee at a time?

Look at the beautiful F@cebook pic that they created for Fundraising Families, after I mentioned that a cover pic for the new Timeline format would be awesome and another great way to get the word out. I love it and can't believe they used my suggestion. They really rock that way, ya know?

How gorgeous is that picture? I asked. And because they believe in what they are doing and in what we are doing, they found a way to do it. I love that!

It's so humbling to me that folks in this adoption community all work so hard, in such a united manner, to help build families. To help build our family. I don't take that lightly. NOR do I take it for granted. It's not how I pictured this adoption progressing, but I'm learning that God knows better than me about these things. (Heh, I knew that. But I'm learning it anew. And in new ways. Know what I mean?!) Cuz truly, nothing about these last three months have been how I pictured them. I'm being as real as I can about this season. And I'm bein' really real when I tell you it's been hard. H.A.R.D. But God is proving Himself over and over and the kindness and generosity of the Body around us has been His proving tool. Beautifully.

So, I'm asking. It's a teensy favor, really. Just a link to a friend. A post. A tweet. A status update. And remember, it IS my blogoversary.  I'm just sayin'......

Hitting Triple Digits

May has been quite the milestone month for this gang. I became the mother to THREE teen-agers under one roof. We survived our first son's first car accident. We saw our dossier compiled and completed. Now we are just waitin' on the word that we are finally DTC (Dossier to China). Our Shaggy has been officially accepted to YWAM Denver for the fall Discipleship Training School. Sigh.We muddled through another month of three part-time jobs between the three oldest of us in the house with only 2 regularly reliable cars. We are down to 11 days of school left. I haven't killed anyone my alarm clock yet.

Aaaaand The Gang's All Here! hit a couple of really important milestones too.  On May 17th, this blog marked its 5th anniversary. You can read my first goofy post here. Really, I can't believe it's been five years already!!! I have been looking forward to this occasion for months, but with all the crazy irregularity goin' on around here, it completely slipped my mind the week of... I'm so bummed that I wasn't more on top of things to make a big deal of the occasion.

And then last night, whilst I lay moaning and groaning in abdominal agony on my couch, my follower-ship hit the 100th follower!!!!! I hit the triple digits with followers!!! Yay, me. Yes, I know. It felt a little anti-climactic, given that I basically missed the actual moment. I'm frustrated that I didn't get it together enough to have a fun event over that one in advance either. Life seems to be happening faster than I can type it out :)

So, in an effort to still mark these wonderful moments, I'm backpedaling and you get to help!

In honor of the auspicious occasion of my 5 Year Blogoversary, please get yourselves down to the comments and let me know how you found my little corner of the blogosphere. If you can, tell me your five favorite things about hanging out here or the five reasons you keep coming back. I know it sounds self-serving, but I am really interested to know what keeps this little blog chugging along for you all. And it IS my anniversary, ya know?! It's the little things that make a gal happy 'round here. And that? Would make my supremely happy.

AND to celebrate the triple digit-ry of The Gang's followers,

it is my distinct pleasure to introduce you to the actual 100th follower:

Theressa Putland!

Her blog is called "Ramblings And Photo's of Family Life" and it's relatively new to the bloggy world. Head over to the above highlighted link and give her some comment love to get her started off on a good note. I'm especially pleased to be able to connect you all to Theressa because she is a fellow adoptive momma of a sweet special needs daughter from the Philippines. She lives in Australia (how cool is that? The Gang's All Here! has gone international on several occasions now!), is the parent of a brood of three and reached out to me as a means of networking with other parents of children with hearing loss.

Theressa, welcome to The Gang's All Here! I hope you and your little corner of the bloggy world down undah find lots of connections and support in the blogging community and specifically within the adoptive blogging community. Thanks for following along! It's a great world and I'm proud to have been a part of it for these past five years!

Recurring "Trauma"

Edited to more realistically portray the level of "trauma" and drama
and give my attempt at the light-hearted view of the actual events.

Really, it was not nearly as traumatic as it was dramatic.

I promise, I am not torturing my child with my need for pretty shoes.

Nor am I oblivious to her sensory issues. She has them. This is one of them

And we work it out with her. A little at a time. Truly.

Every May, for now the 4th year since Li'l Empress came, she has had the strangest reaction to something that most girls LOVE about spring and summer:  She freaks out about going barefoot and wearing sandals. I kid you not, the reaction to the change is so extreme and it startles me every time.  I've said it before, I'm a little slow on the uptake like that. Booo hisss. 

I should have known it was coming, between the previous spring-to-summer transitions she's gone through with us AND the slightly anxious conversations she's been having as the weather has gotten nicer and nicer. Questioning my choice of footwear almost daily since Mother's Day. Comparing her choice of shoes to mine, to LadyBug's, to Shaggy's, to anyone who has bare foot showing. Aaaah, the gift of hindsight.

I started to get a bit more of an inkling of her stress the other day when I painted her toenails. She was so anxious to put her socks back on and she didn't even care that to do so would mar her pedicure. I made her wait for a specific amount of time and then tried to distract her when I started to get an inkling of what was going on. No dice. No way. No how. She is one seriously focused and intentional kid. I suppose that will come in handy when she is a world-famous nuerosurgeon some day. But now, in a pre-schooler? It ain't pretty. Neither are the sock prints on her little toes. Heh.

But yesterday took the cake. We were given an adorable pair of brown leather sandals by a good friend. (And by the by, while I'm thinking of it, what is with brown sandals for girls in the stores? WHY on EARTH are they so stinkin' hard to find these days?!) As part of our yearly "desensitizing process" (yes, we have a process whereby we slowly introduce the concept of naked piggies and strappy shoes that bare her feet to the world!), I showed her the sandals from our friend and asked her what she thought of them. Heh. She was indifferent, in a "I'm trying to show you how indifferent I am" kind of way.

When I took them out of the bag and asked Li'l E to try them on for me, her whole demeanor changed. I am not being dramatic here. She stiffened up, got a shaky tone to her voice and begged me to give them away. I admit, I was a little surprised at her response. She begged me to let her keep her socks on with the sandals. I declined, nicely, and asked her just to give them a try. I reminded her that her pretty brown and green sundress needed a snazzy pair of sandals just.like.these. but she was adamant. "I dohn want dem, Mommy. No sanks."  I persisted; I just really wanted her to figure out that it is SO.NOT. the big deal that she makes it, before it even actually happens to her. I wanted her to taste the confidence of conquering a fear or anxiety again, as she did when we switched the kids' rooms. Or when she had to get used to Daddy driving her to school when he came home full time. I knew she could handle it, we'd been through this same issue last year. And the year before. AND the year before that.

Through her tears and shaking little hands, she chose to heed my request and tried them on. I congratulated her for choosing to give them a try, thanked her for trying to obey nicely and helped her fit them. Then The Boss came to my aid and properly "oooh'ed" and "aaaah'ed" over them, complimenting her pretty purple toenails, mentioning the pretty flowers on the sandals. She ate that up. Truly, I could see her fighting the excitement over the pretties while she was also fighting her frustration over naked toes.

Sheesh, you'd have thought we were torturing her or asking her to eat raw squid.  It was THAT dramatic.

So I made a deal that she didn't have to WEAR them all day, as long as she'd just try them out while she was eating her peanut butter and honey sandwich. I'd even give her some extra honey drips on the sandwich if she could try for me. 

She reluctantly agreed and commenced eating that sandwich through her sobbing and slobbering. Hiccuping through her tears that the sandals were too tight and they were hurting her feet. Then that they were too big and falling off. That they were not pretty. That she needed her socks. OMYLANDS. It was PIT.EEEEE.FULLL! Again, I am not exaggerating. It didn't last all that long, but it was so pathetic and dramatic. I was pretty deadpan and matter of fact. Just reminded her that lunch is quick and she'd make it through. That she did it last year, she could do it again today. And I went silent.

Finally, as she was turning the corner from anxious and sad and getting quite rude and defiant, I figured out that there was something else going on. Again, I'm slow on the uptake like that. She had been up quite late the night before and up early for school that morning. So I encouraged her to go somewhere else with that noise and anger because Daddy had an important phone call to finish and she was interrupting him. She stood in the garage and cried and muttered with angry bursts and sobs. For all of three minutes. Seriously. Three.LONG.minutes of sobs. What on EARTH?

But all of a sudden, she decided she was done - just DONE, so she came in. She climbed up into her chair. She finished her sandwich, had a bite or two of my left-overs, and drank her juice. She chatted away, in her "over the top, look at how cute I am, I will win you over" manner and as SOON as the last bite of that lunch was done, asked if she could take off the sandals. NO distraction on my part would work. NOT.ONE.

So Daddy and I gave her the go ahead. We thanked her again for at least trying them on and seeing how they felt. (She was happy to tell me that they felt "TERRIBLE." Yes, she said "terrible." Oy.) Daddy extracted a promise from her to give them another try another time, just to see how she felt about them later. She grudgingly promised and sat right down to remove them. She happily ran them upstairs to her shoe bin and dropped them in and walked away.

And the whole thing took less than 15 minutes. I could have sworn it was four hours. Suffice it to say, it's not just the sandal issue either. She HAS to have socks on every night for bed. She could be so hot that she's stripped down to just her Kai Lan undies but she WILL.HAVE.THOSE.FEET.COVERED! I have never ever figured out what is going on and later, when I asked her if she'd need to wear her socks out to the patio and even in the pool she looked at me like I was insane. She scornfully said, "Moooooommmmmeeeee, you don't wear socks in da pool. Dat's just silly."

Heh. Yeah. And gagging on a pb& honey sandwich while you cry over cute new sandals is so sane.

Oh.My.Lands.

Wordless Wednesday {Clover Crowns}

Such a patient big sister,

to make these for the girls!

If only The Boss were as excited about

the presence of the clover as the girls were!

For more Wordless Wednesday fun,

head over to 5 Minutes for Mom!

Then Sings My Soul!

One of my most cherished memories is of a Sunday service in the teeny tiny 3-car-garage-turned sanctuary of my Dad's first church. We had only been home from my grandfather's funeral services and family time for a week or so but we were all still very tender and bruised over our incredible loss. For the first time in my life, I was dealing with real grief, the permanency of loss, and the awareness that while this was hard for me to grapple with, it was THAT MUCH harder for my dad to process through. He was very close to his dad and enjoyed a very loving, connected relationship with his father. It's one of the first times that I remember being so keenly aware that my dad was in a kind of pain and sadness that wouldn't just "go away" with a sweet card or a sunny day. That my dad had to deal with our collective pain on top of and connected to his own grief.  It was a profound week or two for me, coming to terms with watching his sadness and realizing that my pain was joined to someone else's pain.

On that Sunday morning so long ago, I was full of all kinds of heightened emotions and struggling to connect with the worship time. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I see my dad's arms go up wide and outstretched. Tears were flowing freely down his face and he was singing through his brokenness:

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

I will never forget that picture, as long as I live. To this day, when that song comes up on my iPod rotation or across the airwaves of our local Christian music station, I am instantly transported to that moment. When we stand in church singing these words in our own worship service, I am arrested and can barely sing through my own tears.

I've mentioned before that The Boss and I are in a bit of a tough season right now. Looking for a new career position. Waiting for Brynna's adoption process to come to fruition. Anticipating Shaggy's graduation in less than a month. Trusting HIM for finances for the adoption and for Shaggy's future plans. Walking through lots of new stages with the other kids that aren't bad but are certainly very new. Tough stuff that has had the tendency these last few weeks to distract me and weigh me down.

So yesterday, when our worship team began this song, I knew God was speaking to me.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

In the peaceful beauty of a starry still night, He is greater.

In the roar of life's greatest storms, He is greater.

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

In my desperate state of heavy burden and ugly sin, He was great.

He is greater.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

In my earthly struggle, bound by the circumstances of my human condition, He is great.

This is all real life stuff. But this is NOT my home.

And He is greater.

I'm so everlastingly grateful for the example of my Dad, for the chance to watch him walk through that great pain and, later as I grew, other painful difficult circumstances. Difficulties that would have broken a lesser man. Grief and hardship that would have distracted a less-intentioned man from the Truth. Instead, my dad let those circumstances drive him into the Truth. In my view, that song is my dad's lifesong.

In these hard times, during these stretching moments which I freely admit are NOTHING to contend with when compared to the pain I've seen my parents walk through in this life, I am choosing for it to be my lifesong also.

I'm lifting my eyes above the job loss. Above the uncertainty. Above the long wait to see my daughter's face. Above changes I know are coming to our home as Shaggy enters adulthood. Above the tensions and stresses of the everyday-ness of a busy life. Above the weariness and the frustration. Above the circumstances. 

I'm choosing to lift my eyes and sing to the heavens, arms up wide and outstretched.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Save The Adoption Tax Credit

I rarely discuss political issues here on the blog. I choose to keep things here on the lighter side of life most of the time, because, frankly, I choose to keep my eyes and mind focused on the positive and the uplifting. I think we'd all agree that there's enough to drag us down out there on the internet. I don't really need to add to it and if I'm being frank, much of what I might have to say regarding political issues would have the tendency to bring out the snark. If not in me, then I am sure in others. I choose not to go there.

But this issue, currently going before the Ways and Means Committee in Washington, is important to me. And I'd like to encourage you to educate yourself about it and the issues surrounding it. There are several really great resources you can use to do that and I've listed them below. But what I really want to encourage you to do is to ACT upon what you learn once you read up on the topic. And I've added a "form letter" of sorts for you to do just that.

To learn more about what the Adoption Tax Credit is (specifically HR 4373, The Making Adoption Affordable Act of 2012) head to Creating a Family. The highlighted post is a "primer" on the credit and the proposed changes. But the site itself is chock full of great information to educate yourself.

To learn more about keeping up with the activities surrounding HR 4373, head to this blog post and follow the suggestions at the bottom of the post.

If you are active on F@ceb00k, you can "like" the "Save The Adoption Tax Credit" page for regular updates, ways to share information with others, and contacts for finding your representatives in Washington to urge them to act as your representative in this issue. While you are on FB, consider joining the Creating a Family site there, too. Again, great information and great support for all issues related to building strong families.

Finally, if you desire to contact your representative(s), below is the letter that I sent on behalf of The Boss and I. I am completely fine with you using my words, using my letter as a jumping off point, or as an example to share with others. I just want you to strongly consider doing SOMETHING with what you know.

Dear Representative XYZ:

I am writing to you today to ask you, no, to urge you, to please consider throwing your whole-hearted support behind the proposed HR 4373 Making Adoption Affordable Act. Currently it is before the Ways and Means Committee, with cosponsors, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) and Steve Rothman (D-NJ).

As one of MANY adoptive families within your district, we are living first-hand the joys and blessings of one finalized adoption. And we are well on our way toward our second adoption. We are blessed to be able to fill our home with the love of this beautiful sweetie God has sent us and are anxious to meet the next one He is preparing for our home. As a citizen of a nation that is built on the institute of strong families, it is our strong opinion that the kind of support that HR 4373 offers for building healthy families is in the VERY BEST interest of our nation. We hope that you agree and will consider representing us well over this issue.

Again, we urge you to speak out to your peers in the legislature, support the act, and represent families like us WELL by supporting HR 4373, Making Adoption Affordable Act.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
The Gang's Momma and The Boss

Thank you for taking some time to read this. I sincerely hope that you will consider speaking out in one or many of the ways listed above. This issue is near and dear to The Gang's heart and affects many, many families that we know and love.