Finally, Some Pictures...

of Homecoming. I know you were all hoping I was going to say I had new pictures of Levi. Me too! Unfortunately, there are no new pictures or updates to post. I'll post a few Homecoming pictures each day for the next couple of days as we took a lot of them and it takes too long to load them into a slide show. These pictures are from the night of the dance. Rachel wanted to get some pictures of her and Millie before we left to go to the nursing home for pictures with the residents and to get pictures with her date and friends. Millie was being her usual goofy self. First, all she wanted to do was give Rachel a kiss and then she was mad about getting her picture without a kiss.

I know it has been several days since I last posted. I have no new adoption updates (boo hoo!). We have been extremely busy with Homecoming and other issues and so I am ready to crawl into bed but thought I would stop and write and tell you that early this week I will have pictures posted from Homecoming week. Rachel looked beautiful!!

Leave Time from Work

On Monday night the School Board met and my adoption leave request letter was on the agenda. I made sure that I was very clear as to why I was requesting 9 weeks off and that I needed to be able to use the 134 accumulated sick days I have to make it a paid time off. Well, I can only get 6 weeks paid time off is what I have been told. Obviously, this is unacceptable to me as I cannot live for 3 weeks with no income coming in, especially when I will have 2 children to support. I was told that I could look into short-term disability leave. I will be doing that as soon as possible. I would like to ask everyone reading this blog to pray that I will trust God and that He will work everything out in this situation. I am thankful that I can at least have 6 weeks paid time off as earlier, when there was a different superintendent, I wasn't even going to be able to get that. I guess this is one of those times when I just have to trust. But boy it is hard!!

On another note, we are still waiting for updates and pictures! It is driving me crazy!! I guess I should stop checking my email so frequently. It seems like I do it every time I get the chance. Maybe you should pray for me in this area, too!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3: 5, 6

Hoping for News

I know that it hasn't been that long since we received word that we were on step 8 and that it can take a month to a month and a half, but I am dying to hear more news about my precious son or to receive new pictures of him. Several other families received pictures last week and I had my hopes up on Friday that I would get some new pictures as well. It was not to be.

Yesterday, I was looking in my Bible for places that Levi's name was mentioned. The first time his name is mentioned is in Genesis 29:34. It is the verse that tells about when Leah gave birth to Levi. It says, "Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, 'Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.' So he was named Levi." The note that goes with this verse says that Levi sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for attached. I thought this was so neat because my prayer lately has been that there will be no attachment issues for Levi. Isn't God amazing?!

Homecoming Float Building

Homecoming Week has officially started! Today we worked all morning (4 hours) on the sophmore float and we are still not finished!! It will be great when it is finished and I hope they win first place for all the work they are doing on it. I'll post the "finished" pictures after the parade on Friday. It's going to be a wild week but a fun one!!

Updates

My friend's dad with the tumor in the leg had his surgery yesterday. Surgery went well and he was able to go home today without a walker, crutches, or any other walking devices. Praise God!!!In fact, the doctor told him he would be able to go back to hiking after he was feeling better. I am so thankful for the way that God has answered prayers in this situation. I know my friend is too!

My brother had another spot removed yesterday. It was sent away to be tested. Next week he will have a procedure done on the two spots that were cancerous. They will cut around them until they reach healthy tissue. He will also have a full body scan to see if there are any other spots. The type of cancer he has is called squamas carcinoma (not sure if I spelled it correctly). It is usually contained to the spot where it is located. I pray that this is the case for my brother.

I finished my shingles medicine today. Praise God I have not been as itchy the past couple of days nor have I had as much tenderness in those places.

I thank all of you who have prayed for these situations. It has certainly been appreciated!!

Happy "3 Month" Birthday Levi

Happy Birthday my sweet boy!! Your big sister Rachel and I love you sooooo much and can't wait until we can celebrate your birthdays and all the other milestones in your life with you in our home. That time cannot come soon enough!!

Love,
mom

A Day At Home

Yesterday I had to spend the day at home because of my shingles - doctor's orders! I felt like I was playing hookie from school because even though there is pain and itching, I don't have to be down in bed. So, I used the day to get caught up on some things. I cleaned my downstairs (even cleaned the refrigerator) and painted a new wall we had put in for the pantry. I finally put the bed together downstairs that we moved to make way for Levi's room. And, I put together a baby registry on the Target and Wal-Mart websites. Now, here is where I need some help from those of you who have gone before me. Seeing that I am completely starting over, I need everything - from the little to the big things. I only registered at this point for basically some of the bigger things and things I was sure I would need. I didn't do clothes (because I am waiting until it gets closer to travel time so I know what size) and I didn't do bibs, pacifiers and all those little things, although I will need them. What are the things that you have for your little ones that you feel are a definite must? Levi will probably be somewhere between 6-9 months when we bring him home. Thanks for your input!!

Update - Step 8

We got word today that we are on step 8. For those of you who have not been through the process of adopting a child from Vietnam, what that means is that our acceptance papers have been received by the Department of International Adoption and they have sent a letter to the local justice department asking them to start compiling the legal documents(dossier) for Levi. This can take about a month to a month and a half.

Shingles

Well, I was right! Last weekend I was feeling like I had shingles. I had looked over the information online and was nearly positive that was what it was. Because it was Saturday and the nurse practitioner we see wasn't in, I opted to go to a family care clinic at the small community hospital in the next town east of us. The doctor there told me that it wasn't shingles. I wasn't in enough pain for it to be shingles. It was eczema. He gave me a prescription for a cream (a cortisteroid?) and told me it should be cleared up in about 5 days. Well, 2 days after using it faithfully as directed, my rash continued to get worse rather than better. So, I made an appointment with the nurse practitioner and yes, I do have shingles. I about fell over though when the pharmacist told me how much the medicine was. I better get a check in the mail from the insurance company for some of it. But at least I can get over it. Now I am praying that I get over it quickly and that I don't have any recurrences. I have been told that you cannot travel with shingles. I don't want anything to delay me from getting Levi. I don't want to wait one day later than I have to.

A Prayer

Lord I come to You tonight with a heavy heart. There are so many broken relationships all around me. Broken marriages. Broken friendships. Broken family relationships. God I ask You to heal these relationships. Father I ask that You would help each person involved in these relationships to lay aside the spirit of offense that has been taken up for whatever reason. I pray that You will help them to see that life is too short and too uncertain to allow the little things to divide us. Father, You have said that love covers over a multitude of sins. Let love overwhelm these relationships right now. Jesus, take what has been broken and mend it I pray. Lord, make me ever conscious of my own words and actions that I might not wound another. And when I do, help me to be quick to seek their forgiveness.

In Jesus Name,
Amen

Prayers for my brother

Last night I asked for prayers for my friend whose father has cancer and whose mother is suffering with back pain. Tonight I come to seek prayers for my brother Todd. Several weeks ago he went to the doctor to have a spot removed from his back, the side of his head, and the side of his finger. This week he found out that two of the spots, the one on his finger and the one on his head, had cancerous cells in them. He will need to go in for a full body scan at the end of the month and will have to have surgery to remove further layers of tissue on his head to determine if the cancerous cells are in those other layers as well. My brother is a really good dad to 3 children - two girls and one boy. These children, as well as his wife, need him to be around for a long time yet.

"Lord, I pray that all of the cancerous cells were contained to the area that has already been removed from my brother Todd's body. I pray that You will give him your peace that passes all understanding and that you would help him and his family to know that he is in Your hands. I ask You to pour out Your healing balm of Gilead down upon Him. May it flow from the crown of his head to the souls of his feet. I pray that as it flows it will strengthen the healthy cells in his body to do battle against that which would seek to steal life from him. Lord, let not the enemy have his way in this situation but let Your Name be glorified in his total healing - mind, body soul, and spirit."

Mari-Liis is Coming for a Visit

Hooray! We are so excited at our house because we found out this week that Mari-Liis, our foreign exchange daughter/sister is coming with her family for a visit sometime between Christmas and New Years. We have missed her so much and cannot wait to see her again and meet her dad, brother and stepmom. Now we are really praying that I will be home with Levi before Christmas so that she will be able to meet him. That would be the best present I could receive this year!!

Prayers for a Friend

Today my friend shared with me that the test results for a growth on her father's thigh came back positive for cancer. Within the next week he will have surgery to remove the tumor. After a short time he will have radiation. Please pray that God will shrink the tumor and that the tumor will not spread. Pray for the doctor to have steady hands. Please pray for her mom as well as she will need to take care of him and she has been having pain in her back that she found out needs to be corrected with surgery as well. And please pray for my friend because she is 12 hours away from her parents and really struggling with not being near them during such a difficult time. I pray that God will give her peace and wisdom. I pray that she will know that at all times and in all places God is in control of her parents' lives. I thank God that both her dad and mom know and love the Lord and that their eternal future is secure.