I'm No Marathon Runner......or Am I?

Being that this is a family blog....I gave Chris permission to post posts if he so desired...he finally did so. (I love him & am proud to be his wife by the way!!!)

A marathon runner? No, not me. Running 26.2 miles (in a row) seems quite daunting. Although I have a few friends who have done this numerous times and enjoy it immensely, I’m not sure I will ever be up for the challenge of a run like a marathon…or am I actually running in about 4 of them as we speak?
I have struggled with being at healthy weight for years.(Insert "Fatter Than I Want To Be" by Shack) About 15 years ago, I was at a weight I wish I was at now. It has taken me 15 years to get to the unhealthy point I am right now. I have made some strides toward getting healthier in the last few years but sometimes it seems as if I’m going two steps forward and one step back. It is progress none the less, but not as fast as I would wish. Why should I be discouraged when the solution doesn’t happen over night? It took me 15 years to get here so it might take me some time to turn it around. It isn’t a sprint, it is a marathon run. I’m in it for the long haul, the long run.
I have been married to my wife for almost 12 years. She is beautiful, amazing, and my best friend. We currently have 3 kids, true blue blessings from God. I love my family. But there are times when Amber and I just aren’t connecting, the kids are running us a little ragged, and family life seems a bit crazy. We also just recently jumped in head first into the world of international adoption. Something we have prayed about for literally years. We are excited but know there are many hurdles to clear before we have a beautiful baby girl from Ethiopia in our arms. (Insert the song “Jesus Loves the Little Children” here) Even with all the excitement, it sometimes seems overwhelming; the time, the money, the unknown. I have to remember, I’m in it for the long haul, the long run. It is not a sprint in time like a few bad days, weeks, months or even a few tough years. I want to glorify God in my marriage, be the best husband I can be, show Jesus to my kids and help bring them to a saving relationship with Him. My family life is a marathon run.
Being a part of ministry is a blessing. Being able to help people come to Jesus, care for people, and help lead them in worship is great! There are times when, believe it or not, discouragement sets in. Church attendance was down one week, offering seemed a bit low, no one showed up for the event we planned, and someone is calling to let me know my choice of songs wasn’t quite their cup of tea. The church is in it for the long haul, not the short sprint from week to week. I want to be a part of what God is doing in the life of those who are in my community. None of us is perfect; we are all growing and learning, and running a marathon in ministry.
The most important race I am in is a race to eternity. New life in Christ is a race. I have to set my life and my mind on the things that are eternal and stay focused. I can get tripped up with all kinds of worldly distractions, my own sin issues, feeling discouraged or tired, but I keep running. (Insert 33miles song, “Today” here) Paul said in Hebrews 12:1-3 “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (The Message) I got a feeling that if I am running THIS race focused, and on target, the other races will come along nicely.
A marathon runner? Hmmm….maybe I am. Maybe we would all do well to remember that life is a journey not a destination (insert NewFire song, “Journey” here). Let’s start and keep running!
(Sorry for all the song references, my life sometimes seems best played out in a musical)

Just so you know....

OK---I had a late night trying to "fix" my blog. Someone at my age should not be up till the wee hours of the morning, but alas I finally think my blog is updated. I wanted to clarify what it means to be "APPROVED" and to let you know what our next steps will be. To be APPROVED basically means Chris & I are good candidates for adoption (we can adopt), and that our agency, Children's Hope International (here in STL) has our back and will help us along the way to become an offical adopting family. It was exciting and surprising to be approved in 2 SHORT days!!! I have provided an Adoption Timeline above so that you can see where we are at and how far we have to go. The next few months will be a lot of document collecting, fundraising, and hopefully getting the home study completed. Once that is completed we will be able to apply for some grants/adoption loans and then reevaluate where we are at.

Some other answers to frequently asked questions: We were able to request gender, and we are requesting a little girl anyhwere under 30 months, but there will be a year difference between Tobe & her (so depending on how fast we get the paperwork done---might affect the age of the referral we will get). We will have to travel to Ethiopia two times....first for the court date, and then 5-6 weeks later to bring her home. ( I am already sure that will be the toughest part, is when 1/4 of our hearts will be left in Ethiopia). We will probably use some part of her Ehtiopian name, whether that means middle name or given name we do not know. However, a nick name or the name we will give her (and the name that my children pray for at this time) will be Chloe [which means "blooming"]. I think where my kids are it is good to give them a tangible name to pray for, rather than some little girl somewhere across the world. We DO NOT have a child matched to us, and that probably won't happen for perhaps a year.....but we are praying for her none the less. (Kind of like when you pray for your child's future mate---when you have no idea who they are). I am happy to answer other questions (IF I have an answer) if you got 'em.

Also I didn't get called in for an interview :(. I can only assume that means God has a better job out there for me. Please continue to pray for that matter, I will say that I do want to work in my field (Education)---and may just be a full time substitute....but even that requires some strategic planning with Tobe not in school and Eli only half day.....so it may be focus on the document collecting and then hope for a job in the fall!!!! Thanks for listening to my sentiments.

New Year's Revolution

Happy New Year!!!! This morning while sleeping in after New Year's Eve festivities, my daughter ran into my bedroom telling me about Joy FM (our local Christian radio)and their New Year's Revolution challenge. She said "we are to think of something that we can do that will please God." Eden (7 years old)is so passionate about listening to Joy FM and I LOVE it!!!Well we in the Strickland household have already been thinking about that for months (some of us for years) now. A Revolution can be defined in many different ways....one being a drastic change. Well as of today, Chris & I with the excitement of our 3 kids have started the journey of adopting a little girl from Ehtiopia. We are sending off our application bright and early Monday morning (not realizing the post office wasn't open today--lol). This will be a long process, an expensive process, but also a FAITH filled process for us. We are excited about helping one of God's loved ones and how we can be a blessing to her as well as she be a blessing to us. We ask that you would pray for us on this journey. And we hope to keep everyone updated on this blog. Our first prayer request is for a teaching/sub job for myself. If I was to have a job and we continued to live off Chris' salary--it would make for a good way to pay for this adoption. There is one immediate job opening that I am qualified for, so please pray that I can get an interview and all goes well.

So in a way we are "expecting" and our family is growing in more ways than one. 2011 should be an exciting year! We appreciate our friends & family so much!

"Make new friends, but keep the old...one is silver and the other's gold."

So.....I am on a contest/giveaway kick, therefore you are seeing an increase in the number of blog entries these days. :) I am excited to cash in on my free Christmas cards at shutterfly. That was like a $50 gift card for writing a few words about some beautiful cards. With that said, my friend Jennifer is having a giveaway at her blog Team Chase: 4 and Counting and I SOOOOOO want to enter it. She is giving away letter art from someone who donated it to her. I first saw some of this letter art at a Hearts-at-Home convention[side note: Hearts-at-Home is such an amazing weekend for moms of all seasons; working and stay at home moms---I highly recommend you check it out as well, I always leave encouraged]. It intrigued me right off the bat. Such beautiful photography and if you follow the link to the letter art donor, you will see her prices are A LOT lower than most doing this same art.
So....a little about my friend Jennifer. She and I met during our college years. We both worked at the Target (when it was brand spanking new) in Joplin, MO. We both were such responsible teens, that they put us in charge of the front lanes from time to time. We both have such an amazing work ethic, that on one particular work day, I had to clean up vomit, while Jen had to clean up poop. I am not even lying....Target can be a rough place. Joking aside, Jennifer is an amazing friend, a lovely lady of God, and I enjoyed my job because of her. She even helped throw me a bridal shower at work, because she is so kind. There aren't that many people that are younger than me that I totally look up to, but Jennifer is one of them. That is why I will go to all lengths to share about her latest journey: adopting a sibling group from Ethiopia. She is already a mom, but felt the call to adopt and she & her wonderful hubby, Trevor, are following that lead. They are taking James 1:27 literally and I am very excited about that for them as well as others answering that call. If you can't specifically answer the call to adopt, would you consider praying for them on this journey? or supporting them by looking at their fundraisers and buying gifts from sponsors that are donating some of their proceeds to their adoption? You know the old saying "Any friend of ________________, is a friend of mine."? Well turn that around and think of it this way, "Jennifer is a friend of mine, therefore (in Christ) she is a friend (& sister) of YOURS." Love you all for listening.

My New Found Addiction: shutterfly.com

OK---So I have heard about Shutterfly.com for a long time.....but for some unknown reason never took up on their spectacular photo offers. Finally in September, I purchased a Groupon certificate that gave me a photo book for $10. I was so excited and finally made a photo book of my wedding day. (It only took me 11+ years to do). But it was so easy to navigate around the site and being a scrapbooker, what normally could possibly take months, took me only an evening and it looks so simple and elegant. Not only could I post it online on my blog and on facebook---but I am getting a hard cover book in the mail. (View Shutterflywedding album).

So now I am excited about perusing through their Christmas photo cards. To be honest in the past I have gone through a retail store thinking they were cheaper, but their selection is pitiful. Now looking back, the price difference is pennies. There is literally hundreds of choices to fit your family's personality and chances of duplicates seem low. I even think some of the
5x7 cards could be framable. They have cards w/ the year already on it for those who save Christmas cards and those with elegant monograms. My favorite feature is the selection of cards that can hold more than 3 photos. I love squeezing as many photos of my family as I can onto a card or scrapbook page. You can peruse the card selection too @ shutterfly.com. After having made my photo book, I know that creating my card will be easy.

By now you are probably asking, "Did Amber get a new job marketing for Shutterfly?" The answer is no. I just am excited about what you can do on their site and hitting myself for not taking up on it earlier. I do however, as a blogger have a chance for some free holiday cards and if you blog you can too. Click here for details. Here are the two cards I am needing help choosing between:

With Love Chartreuse Christmas 5x7 folded card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

OR.....

Faith Hope Love Religious

Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

What is YOUR vote???