YOU are my sister!

Congratulations to the winner of the Thankful Blocks from Blessings Unlimited:

HEATHER KRIETE!

I should also take this time to thank Heather (credit Heather) for the design of our Run 2 Love 4 Love T-shirts.  She has been a huge help in putting on our race both years, along with some very other special friends.  Actually, Cassie Kriete & Melissa Gerdel are the two that pushed us to put on the race again and the three above ladies have to commit to putting it on with me each and every year. :)   I shared how successful the 2nd Annual race was HERE.  Besides the amazing ladies above I would like to give thanks to Andrew, Chris & Tayra, Gussie, Sally & Dennis, Sandy, Pam, Leslie, Dave Armstrong, Andy & Ashley Adrian, Bob & Christine

Me, Cass, & Miss sporting Heather's shirt design at the race this year.

I am just so grateful for sisters.  Not official blood relation sisters (although I have one and I love her to pieces).....but "In Christ" sisters.  Those that push you to be better, those that encourage you when you are throwing yourself a pity-party, those that mentor you along the way.  Some are little sisters, some are big sisters, others may be twins (Cassie).  Some our little "big" sisters, meaning they are younger than me, but their wisdom is far better than mine and I am challenged by them quite often (Missy & Christina).

So I have been so blessed to have so many sisters in my life and I want to give a shout out to some of them right now:  Christy, Heidi, Shanna, Melissa, Stephanie, Jen, Rachael, Sally, Evelyn, Dana, and Jessica (Along with the 4 above that I love!)

That is just the beginning of my list of In-Christ sisters that I have.  Especially where I am right now, I have tons of sisters that encourage me and hopefully I encourage them.  I am hoping and praying that this upcoming year will be a year of growth, risk taking, and truly helping our fellow sister because WE ALL NEED ENCOURAGEMENT!!!

Below is the blog I read that pushed me to write this "thank you" if you will.  I read it and got fired up about how we are suppose to treat each other, and let each other in our real lives and struggles, and be big sisters to little sisters AND for those of us who seem to be big sisters to admit we need big sisters too!!!  Please read it and be encouraged (although I do not believe you will get through the 2,002 responses on this particular blog post---talk about hitting a nerve on a needed subject area).  If nothing else you will either thank God for the different blessings you have and that your life is not as hard as it may appear OR you will be so grateful that you are not alone with the struggles you have. 

http://blog.lproof.org/2012/07/big-sisters-and-little-sisters.html

P.S.  I read Psalm 25.  It is good.  Real good.  I have accepted the challenge to memorize it.  I have only 5 verses down (needing bigger nudges to do this in a timely fashion).......Who is with me?

One year waiting & utterly blessed.......

Today marks one year on our wait list.  I know I sound like a broken record, but when we started this journey I never imagined us making it to this point.....but here we sit (or stand depending how you look at it).  The good news is our number has changed since last month.  We are now number.............................................................................

These shoes were the perfect pic for our new number.  Dirty shoes but not totally worn down shoes.  It may still be a long road until we see Chloe home, but we are going to keep on trecking, walking, running, {insert any of your own "moving forward" verbs here}.

Please pray for continued referrals, quick turn around for those between referral and court and between court and bringing child home. 

I just want to share how blessed we are because we are on this journey. God is teaching us a lot about His patience with us, His all encompassing love, His joy and excitement for when we come to be apart of His family, and so on and so on. May I not be blind to the other things God is trying to show us.

Of course one of the biggest lessons (which I like to believe I already knew---but it was 1000% confirmed this past year) is that we ARE so blessed.  Blessed to have the privelage to  even be on this journey, blessed to meet others that share the same passion and calling (James 1:27), blessed to have christian family and friends who are so supportive both emotionally and financially, blessed to have God's people who are literally helping to "bring Chloe home".  Blessed to see God work in so many different hearts and lives.  God is good all the time! And all the time God is good!

Once you figure out how blessed you are the only thing thing that can spill over is gratitude.  Gratitude for all that God has done.  Not the least of these being adopted and saved into His family.

OK, I am going to admit that I am going to be done with the monthly giveaways, I pray that doesn't mean friends will stop reading the blog.   I just don't know how long of a wait we will have and I can't keep putting my efforts into them.....But perhaps when we get our referral, I can have something fantastic to celebrate with!!!

So for our final giveaway we are giving away these Thankful Blocks from Blessings Unlimited.

How to win them:

1.  Visit my consultant Debbie's Blessings Unlimited page above and leave a comment about what item would you feel blessed to have.  (Seriously I have a Blessed necklace, a Phillipians 4:8 bracelet, 3 gorgeous ornaments that I use all year round, a nativity puzzle for the kids, and the One Thousand Gifts Family Gratitude Journal---I LOVE their stuff!)

2.  Follow Blessings Unlimited on twitter and leave a seperate comment that you did so (I linked to twitter from Debbie's page).

3.  Become a follower of our blog and leave a comment that you did so.

4.  Share our blog on facebook and leave a comment that you did so.

5.  Leave a comment about what you are most grateful for or how you have been blessed this past year.

*** The deadline will be 7/12/12.  I will draw a winner Friday morning.***

Blessings to you and thanks for listening to our sentiments!