strong and courageous life

Be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the LORD.

Psalm 31:24

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:37

God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect.

Psalm 18:32

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles;  they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:29-31

Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

The Lord will give strength to His people;  The Lord will bless His people with peace. 

Psalm 29:11

The LORD is my strength and my song. 

Exodus 15:2a

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith.  Be courageous.  Be strong.

1 Corinthians 16:13

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

Isaiah 41:10

Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:14

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 

Phillipians 4:13

Surely God is my salvation;  I will trust and not be afraid.  The Lord  is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  

Isaiah 12:2

The Lord is my strength and my song;  he has become my salvation.

Psalm 118:14

I have struggled with confidence.  I have struggled with fear and self-doubt.  These are just a few of God's promises that give me strength and courage during those weak moments.  

Being strong and courageous isn't about being agressive or physically powerful.  For me, being strong and courageous means facing and fighting the difficulties in this life with a head held high because He has given us this great strength.  He has given us power.  My past is full of pain and loss, and I still hurt sometimes.  But He is my comfort and strength, and it's a conscious decision to not let the fear and pain and lack of confidence consume me because HE is my strength.

I also have two sons. I pray that they would become strong and courageous men of God. To be bold, to live with integrity, to love fiercely, to serve others. 

And I pray that our family will make strong and courageous choices as we follow God.  I pray for a willingness to go whereever the Lord asks us to go.  And for someone like me, that takes great courage.

adoption

So what the heck is going on?

We still plan to adopt.  We are still burdened with adoption and orphan care.  We still desire more children, and we want them to join our family through adoption.

But we aren't sure of much more than that at the moment.

We've had two moves, a few setbacks within our control and many outside of it, and we've been dealt some agency/country/etc. policies that have changed our situation.

To those of you who have donated, purchased, prayed, asked and wondered....we appreciate your support tremendously.  We still need this support.  Prayer is huge.  We need encouragement.  I remember reading years ago that the adoption process is not for the faint of heart, and as frustrating and ridiculous as it seems, I am still deeply committed to adoption.  But I have hurt and been discouraged at times, and sometimes I withdraw into those emotions.  Sandman is a rock....I blame his military training for his insane ability to compartmentalize his feelings and view things rationally, while I melt into a weeping pile of sludge when we get news about something that wasn't part of "THE" plan.  (read: MY plan)

Hopefully, we will have more news within the next month or two.  To be honest, I don't mind being asked about the adoption, but it has been difficult for me to have to keep saying, "well, we're back to square one...so I don't know" or "well, the agency has changed its policy....so I don't know.."  or "well, we're changing agencies/providers/countries again...so I don't know."  I guess it makes me feel like I'm disappointing the person who asked (who, of course, was being kind and genuine....)

The Lord has been laying some things on my heart lately, but because I don't know where to go with them, I am keeping them to myself.  I have never been so committed to praying for things...some of them being so unknown, and that's something new to me.  It's been sweet, and in some ways, I'm at peace, but in other ways, I know our son is out there, and I desperately want to find him.

So if we don't put lots of updates on the blog, it's probably because we're facing some uncertainties, and I'm guarding my heart.  What I will probably do is write a number of blogs but leave them unpublished until I am comfortable going public with the info.  And sometimes in adoption, it's better to keep things private.  Sandman wants things fairly "sanitized" anyway, which is why you will probably not see our real names here, so our goal is slight anonymity from the get-go.

Thanks for being patient.  I have not been patient.  But I'm getting there.

Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14

my dandelion boys

Our little military 'brats' never asked for the life we have chosen. I have struggled with this identity myself, although after years and years as a military wife, I can confidently say that it is part of who I am. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started falling for that cute ROTC boy back in college.  But I think most military spouses will admit feeling this way to some degree because it's necessary in order to plow through life alone at times, to face frequent moves, to establish a home in a new place, and to bear the unpredictable realities of each day.

This quote and the blog that follows sum up many of the prayers I have for my Dandelion Children as they face this life. (April has been designated the Month of the Military Child.)

"The official flower of the Military child is the Dandelion. Why? The plant puts down roots almost anywhere, and it's almost impossible to destroy. It's an unpretentious plant, yet good looking. It's a survivor in a broad range of climates. Military children bloom everywhere the winds carry them. They are hardy and upright. Their roots are strong, cultivated deeply in the culture of the military, ...planted swiftly and surely. They're ready to fly in the breezes that take them to new adventures, new lands, and new friends." (copied from Shades of Green's FB page)

This blog calls our kids "unseen heroes."  We have been so fortunate to have Sandman home most of the time, but he's been TDY and downrange often, and we know there will be more goodbyes in the future.

I pray that Sandman and I equip and encourage them to bloom where they are planted.  To be strong and courageous, knowing that the Lord is with them in new towns, with new friends, when missing the lives we leave behind each time we move.  We pray that we would cultivate in them deep roots, not just in the military culture, but in our family culture, in their faith in God, and in their desire to serve others. 

And let's be honest, even though dandelions are considered weeds, they are much loved in our family.  Like most kids, my boys can't bear to leave one standing, and they take great joy in watching the little seed pods fly away. 

Old blog

Here's the link to my old blog. I'm just going to leave it as is. The separate adoption blog was to reserve the right to go private when needed while not having to shut down the family blog, but I think I'm capable of fixing this one so that I can keep things private when necessary. Blogging is still new to me. I'm not a tech-minded person, so we'll see how this goes.

an introduction

Going to try this blog thing out again. I enjoyed it briefly back in '08-'09, but life got busy, complicated, blah, blah, blah.  But with a greater number of close friends and family scattered around the globe, my hope is that I can fill in the gaps between those special calls, skype visits, emails and texts.

Just in case you aren't a close friend or family member, we are a military family of four.

Sandman is my love and best friend, an active duty military man, football-loving daddy to our boys, a God-fearing man of integrity who teaches us how to be strong and courageous every day.

Buddy is our 6 year old firstborn son...an intensely sensitive and creative boy, who loves hard and plays wildly. He adores camping, soccer, MarioKart, playing in the backyard, his horseback riding lessons, and at the moment, has plans to be either a Storm Chaser or a Blue Angel Pilot (that can play the drums and the trumpet.)  Has a scary knowledge of aircraft and enjoys his life a military brat.

Nugget is our (nearly) 5 year old second born son...my quirky little mama's boy, a hugger and a kisser, silly little guy with a hilarious imagination. He loves dinosaurs, soccer, chasing animals, and poppin' wheelies on his bike (not really...though he's fiercely proud of ditching the training wheels last month!)  I have no idea what he wants to be when he grows up....this kid is limitless.

I am KJ: Mom, teacher, chef, military spouse, financial advisor and officer, nursemaid, friend, etc. I would not change a thing about this season of life. I am content and feel that the Lord has brought me to not only this physical location, but to a place in my life where I am striving to serve Him through my parenting, teaching and those I interact with in our daily life.  I enjoy sports, music, camping, chatting with my girlfriends, Disney World, and real buttercream icing.

Bear with me...pics to come, and more posts to follow......

I have also been informed that "KJ" isn't cool enough for a bloggy nickname.  Sandman requested that we keep things semi-private due to his job, and these are the names I chose for various reasons.  I am only slightly nervous about what these informants plan to name me.