Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Agh! Pray Please!

Trust me... this is important. Please pray for the children in the SWI's in Maoming, one in paticular!
The 14th strong typhoon of the year landed in Dianbai County in the city of Maoming at 6:45 a.m. with winds of more than 200 km per hour at its eye, the Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Bureau said.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Tell me why...

Why do people get out in public when they're sick? I realize some people have no other options. But we're talking a routine eye exam. If you have the flu and are throwing up, wouldn't you re-schedule?
Ugh... I had a patient today with the flu and just having her breathe on me makes me instantly feel like I have the flu now.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Happy Birthday Jack

Today is Jack's birthday! I'll have pictures to post soon!
Happy Birthday honey!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Fireproof

Last night, Jack took me to the city to see Fireproof. It was SOOOOO good! I absolutely loved it. I can't recommend it enough to everyone - GO SEE THIS MOVIE!
I was expecting it to be real serious and was told to take kleenex's, but I really didn't need them. Yes, there were times of weeping, but not all out bawling like the Passion of the Christ. Mostly, it was humorous. Like the first 2 movies, this one is full of quick wit and things that are so true in life.
The Gospel message is wonderfully shared and the scene where Caleb recongized his need for Christ is truly touching. Everyone clapped in the theater. It just is a really great 'feel good' movie.
Go see it and let me know what you think!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Call to Adopt

Every call has a beginning
A quiet moment when
God whispers a promise
to a mother’s heart
A holy place where
a father bows and faithfully
accepts the journey set before him.
A miraculous morning that
unexpectedly dawns…
Casting its first light on a chosen threshold.
A gentle knock..
a closed door opens.
A sacred invitation sent by the Father..
Leads to the other side of the world.
Where lonely hearts stare out orphanage windows
Praying for someone to care..
And then one morning,
On an ordinary day
An orphan’s life changes...
God sends them a second chance...
Through you..

--author unknown

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Believe in the Power of Prayer...


After Hurricane Ike, Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston TX. Photo sent by my Aunt who lives in Huntsville...

Friday, September 12, 2008

Stella Awards

I received this from my brother! Be sure to read through and then read the bible verse at the bottom....

It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For
those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named
after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot
coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's
in New Mexico where she purchased the coffee. You
remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it
between her knees while she was driving. Who would
ever think one could get burned doing that, right?

That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish
lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S . You know, the k inds
of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your
head scratcher handy.

Here are the Stella's for the past year:

7TH P LACE :

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded
$80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her
ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a
furniture store. The store owners were understandably
surprised by the verdict, considering the running
toddler was her own son.

6TH PLACE:

Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California, won
$74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran
over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently
didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the
car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's
hubcaps.

Go ahead, grab your head scratcher.

5TH PLACE:

Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, who was
leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the
garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic
garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get
the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter
the house because the door connecting the garage to
the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced
to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT, days on a case of
Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the
homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental
Anguish.

Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must
pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all
have this kind of anguish.

Keep scratching. There are more...

4TH PLACE :

Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered
4th Placein the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500
plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt
by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the
beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard.
Williams did not get as much as he asked for beca use
the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked
at the time of the butt bite because Williams had
climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly
shot the dog with a pellet gun.

Grrrrr. Scratch, scratch.

3RD PLACE:

Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because a
jury ordered a Philadelphiarestaurant to pay her
$113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and
broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on
the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend
30 seconds earlier during an argument. What ever
happened to people being responsible for their own
actions?

Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there; there are
only two more Stellas to go...

2ND PLACE:

Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware, sued the owner of
a night club in a nearby city because she fell from
the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two
front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to
sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying
the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club
had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses.

Go figure.

1ST PLACE :

This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner
was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On
her first trip home, from an OU football game, having
driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control
at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to
the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich.

Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway,
crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs.
Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the
owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the
driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The
Oklahomajury awarded her, are you sitting down,
$1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually
changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just
in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also
buy a motor home.

Are we, as a society, getting more stupid...? Ya Think??!!

Isaiah 59Separated from God
1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue has muttered perversity.
4 No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in empty words and speak lies;
They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.
6 Their webs will not become garments,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the act of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of peace they have not known,
And there is no justice in their ways;
They have made themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
Sin Confessed
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
We look for light, but there is darkness!
For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10 We grope for the wall like the blind,
And we grope as if we had no eyes;
We stumble at noonday as at twilight;
We are as dead men in desolate places.
11 We all growl like bears,
And moan sadly like doves;
We look for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And as for our iniquities, we know them:
13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD,
And departing from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
15 So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Redeemer of Zion
Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him
That there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no man,
And wondered that there was no intercessor;
Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17 For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18 According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
19 So shall they fear
The name of the LORD from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
20 “ The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”
Says the LORD.

21 “As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.”

Thursday, September 11, 2008

We Will Not Forget...


I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Fireproof

We stumbled across 'Flywheel' a few years ago. I seen it was about cars, so I bought it for Jack for Father's Day. It became our favorite movie. Then when we seen 'Facing the Giants' we had no idea the 2 were connected. It was so much fun to see the wife in FTG was an outraged customer in FW, the truck they gave him the FTG was from Jay Austin Motors, many more things that connected the two made it fun to watch over and over!
So we anxiously await the showing of Fireproof!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Presents and Labor Day weekend project

Here's a picture of my much anticipated porch swing! I love it! Jack worked so hard sandblasting the rust and grime off of it and then powdercoating it. Our friend that owns the powder coat shop didn't like the red at all, but I LOVE it! Our house is grey, white trim, black shutters and the red gives it that 'pop'. And I couldn't hardly post a picture of our new porch without a picture of everyone enjoying it! Here's my Dad and Jack with Jadeth and Jacen.
My parents gave me cash, which I used for a down payment on a Lee Teter print for my home! "The Reminder" I love this picture! I wish I could afford the real deal, but I'm having a print matted and framed. I can't wait for it to be done, about a week or so. I'll post a picture of the finished product!
And finally, here's a picture of a project Jack and I worked on Labor Day weekend. I"ve been wanting a firepit for a couple of years now, but couldn't find one with the right lid. I wanted a lid that slid to one side and you didn't have to take it off. Anyway, I never have found just what I want and I finally came to the conclusion that most likely something like that, that would sit on our deck, might possibly be too much temptation for our boys and end up burning our house down! So we took some rocks and bricks we had, dug down in the ground and made our own firepit. It's really cool and we love roasting marshmallows around the fire. We used to do this at my parents all the time and everyone is just too busy now days. It brings back memories of my cousing Matt pickin' his guitar and just being with family... Ahhhhh the good 'ole days! Anyway, here's the pic... my brother took it from our deck on Saturday, but you can sort of see it.
I had a 'glorious' birthday and really have been blessed by God. I have so much to be grateful for, and believe me, I am. Eternally His... JMS

Sunday, September 7, 2008

36 Candles

Here's a video my brother took during our family celebration! Enjoy..
"NOTE: you may want to scroll to the bottom and pause the music player if you'd like to hear my family sing happy birthday to me!"

Friday, September 5, 2008

Thursday, September 4, 2008

The Vow and Psalms









Geoff Moore Lyrics



At World Changers, our speaker sang (?) the chorus to this Geoff Moore song.
In the midst of the crowd, I stand alone and I make my vow
Whatever it takes, I will be faithful.
I love Geoff Moore and I'm surprised I wasn't already familiar with this song. Jack and I seen Geoff at a compassion concert in the Spring of 2006 and he spoke of his daughters. That was the year we began our paperchase!
Anyway, the WC speaker gave us the opportunity to make more than a promise, to make a VOW to God to be more diligent about reading and studying our bibles. I opted to take that vow, along with most of the other people there. It was at World Changers that I decided getting up before the sun wouldn't kill me. I could get up earlier and survive. That's what comes from having breakfast served at 6AM every day. So that is what I've done ever since. I get up earlier than usual and spend time with God, reading His Word. (This is something I like to do on my new front porch!) I always read my bible in the evening, but so much is going on and I'm wearing down from my day. I felt like it was the left overs. The bible tells us that early in the morning, Jesus went to spend time with the Father, (Mark 1:35) so He's set an example for us!
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3
But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you. Psalm 88:13
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Psalm 143:8

So I still enjoy reading my bible in the evenings, I'm trying to read front to back and just started 1Kings. But in the morning, I recently decided to read through the Psalms. Something about reading about David through 1-2 Samuel, made me want to read the Psalms in the morning! :-)


So yesterday was Psalm 9 and here's what struck me... I'm reading along and Vs. 10 says this: And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. I'm thinking how true this is that God does not forsake those who seek Him. Everything that's been happening with our family, particularly the adoption, just SCREAMS - God has not forsaken you! Then I read on, pondering that and I come to vs. 18, For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. This really causes me to pause and take notice. Not only is God there with me always, but He's also not forgotten the needy and poor. It's like He's fullfilling 2 dreams at once, mine and our daughters. By fullfilling my dream, He's providing a loving family to take care of her, and vise versa.


So this morning I'm on to Psalm 10 and my bible says in the original text, Psalm 9 & 10 are one. Psalm 10 says this is vs. 17-18 LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more. I just think it's so awesome how His word speaks to me. I know someone else could read this and get nothing out of it. But to know that He's working in my life and at the same time, working in our daughters life, takes my breath away. It's neat to know that 2 lives are about to change, each a world apart. To think how are lives are about to collide and that God has orchestrated it all along. And since finding our daughter, my prayer has been to prepare her heart for her family. I've asked God to speak to her little heart and let her know a family is coming for her, to give her hope and help her not be afraid. So when I read that in Vs 17, it just brings tears... that's all I can say. He causes His ear to hear... Thank You Jesus.

Eternally Yours... JMS

Wednesday, September 3, 2008


Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Sneak Peak

Here's a little slice of Heaven for you!




I can't wait to elaborate on this little picture. I really shouldn't be posting it at all, but I just can't wait! God has done some amazing things in the last few weeks. Actually some things I'll probably not be able to share on my public blog.

At World Changers I totally gave this adoption over to Him. I've been obsessing over it and trying to control it for over 2 years now. It's eaten away at me, my family and my marriage. As badly as I want to adopt, I didn't like the person the awful wait was turning me into. So I confessed my anxiousness, my limited trust in Him to fullfill His promise, my doubts, fears... it felt so great to let it go. It involved gut wrenching sobs, I imagine I looked utterly ridulous to those around me, but it felt so good to let that burden go and give it to Him. I can't tell you what it's like to love someone so much that you've never met. To know that I have a daughter out there waiting for me. I want so badly to hold her in my arms, rock her to sleep, introduce her to our family and friends... I miss her so much. I feel like I"m not complete without her. It just.... HURTS. Badly. And I was just so tired of it. So anyway, 2 days later, I got a call!

It's really all I can say right now, other than I'm told things WILL work out. Things are happening that just simply don't happen in adoption. I KNOW it's God! People are offering things that just aren't offered in adoption. I'm not asking for them! It's God. He has this under control, now that I've let him! ;-) When I gave up control and let God have it, that's when things started falling in place. I hope one day I can share the details, simply so others will know how awesome God is and that He's still in the miracle business. But like I said, things that are being done for us, usually aren't. We've been called a 'pioneer' family! Hopefully soon, I'll have that daughter home, rocking her, loving her and spoiling her rotten!

Eternally His.... -JMS

Art

I wanted to share a website with you. Lee Teter Fine Art. He lives in a small town not far from me, and I recently seen a brochure for his artwork. The more I look over his website, the more impressed I am... with the man and the art.

Here is a quote from his website..."There are two worlds; a real one made by God as a gift to those He loves, and a world of lies and deception made by men. I find wonder in the one and I hide from the other. I don`t know any other way to keep my heart intact."

I know you'll enjoy looking it over as much as I have. By the way, my favorite is "The Reminder".

http://www.leeteter.com/leeteter.asp