You can never have too many...

CUTE T-SHIRTS!!! :)

Please support our adoption fundraising by ordering a super cute Southern Belle T-shirt. They are on a teal blue shirt, with bright yellow and hotpink accents and black writing. They are "just fabulous" and I can't thank my sweet friend, Heather Allen, enough for organizing this fundraiser for us! The shirts are $20 for adult sizes and $15 for children's sizes. The design is below...



If you'd like to order, you can leave comments below with the size you'd like and I'll email you payment options. You can also send an email to polkadoption@gmail.com to place an order or on my Facebook page.

I've also been asked a few times if we are still doing the Iron Bowl Adoption fundraiser. We definitely are! It'll run until the week of the Iron Bowl! We are hoping to have an exciting announcement very soon regarding this fundraiser...(hint: "stay tuned" for exciting developments.) If you'd like to vote for Alabama or Auburn to win our allegiance, go to www.ironbowladoption.com and donate :)

Adoption is a rollercoaster...we have great days, we have not-so-great days. We experience victory, we experience defeat. But the one constant in this process has been the support of our amazing family, friends, church and community! We couldn't do this without you...thank you from the bottom of my heart~

Be joyful with little and plenty...of vacuum cleaners :)

How on Earth have I managed to blow up two vacuum cleaners in less than 12 months??? OK the first one was kind of my fault. I didn't clean it out enough but I didn't realize the machine was so "high maintenance" until it was too late. However, I still haven't figured out what happened to the second one. I was just vacuuming and as I was about finished with the entire house the piece where the filter fits in on the side literally fell off onto my breakfast room rug...leaving behind remnants of melted plastic on the rug! I have NO IDEA why it melted off but I was SO irritated to have to buy another vacuum.

The first vacuum cleaner I LOVED! It was compact and light weight and had amazing suction! I was really sad when it bit the dust :) Not only was I upset because this vacuum made my cleaning endeavors easier but also because the timing was terrible. It quit working the week before the adoption fundraiser/yard sale we had back in April. A time when we became totally focused on saving and raising money for our adoption. A vacuum cleaner wasn't in the budget...and still isn't. So imagine how excited I was when the day before the yard sale my sweet neighbor shows up with a bunch of items to donate and one of them was a perfectly working vacuum.

At the time I was grateful but didn't see the significance of "a need" being met at just the right time. The most recent vacuum cleaner fatality that occurred at the Polk house was last week, the day before we were set to leave for "home" on the coast. We had a precious missionary coming to stay in our home and I wanted to make sure everything was spotless for her. This was the day my "new to me" hand me down vacuum cleaner melted to pieces. But I didn't let it get me down. :) We have tried to remain focused on glorifying God throughout this process and trust that because we've remained faithful in giving to others, He will continue to provide for us. If I let myself dwell on the money it would take to buy a new vacuum, I'd have gotten really mad! You see, buying cleaning equipment irritates me as much as buying tires! If I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars on something, it should at the very least help somebody OR be pretty or shiny or fun or have a high heel :) A machine that sucks up dirt doesn't fit any part of that description!

We had a great visit at "home" with family and friends. We capped off the week by saying good bye (for now) to some very dear friends that are moving across the country...three time zones away...to California. Luckily, they will be "behind" us so Amy and I can still have our 9 am chats only it'll be 6 am her time:) You know that feeling you get in your stomach when you know you are about to have to do something you really don't want to but you have to...well when I walked up to their "seminary sale" Saturday morning to say "goodbye" that's the sensation I had in my gut. So how awesome is it that to ease the sadness of the situation, there was a vacuum cleaner sitting there waiting for a new home? :) After a tearful goodbye, I drove off in my "mommyvan" with my "new to me" vacuum cleaner sitting in the back. And then it dawned on me...God did it again! I have now needed a vacuum cleaner TWO times since this adoption started and without asking around or putting any effort at all into finding a cheap enough machine to get by until we are operating on a "normal budget" again, God has met that need. Significant? Not really...unless you consider $500 will pay for a home study review fee, or Registration fee, or Post-Placement fee, or two Visa's, or a Russian Medical Exam, or both boy's passport's, or 50 documents to be apostilled, or half our USCIS fee, or half of a round trip flight to Russia, or half of our "gift" to the orphanage...OR a vacuum cleaner.

God reminds me daily every $500 or $50 or $5 we save or raise is significant in this process. And if we are faithful to continue supporting other ministry, even when it's very tempting to focus all of our resources on the work we've been called to right now, He will be faithful in providing for us. NOW do you see why I'm so excited about a used vacuum cleaner? :)   Phil. 4:12

Happy Monday!

I've never thought of myself as an atheist...

Everyone inherits traits from their family members...good and bad. I'm always cold! :) You don't have to look far in my family tree to see where I get this from. My grandmother, Edna Brady, is known in our family for wearing a jacket even in 90 degree weather. Well, one trait I got from her late husband, my "grandpa Brady" is to worry...about everything. :) My whole life I've been called a "worry wart." I can even remember as a young child my dad telling me "you are just like your grandfather. You worry about things that haven't even happened yet." I guess that is why I've been desensitized to how harmful (and sinful) "worry" can actually be in your life. It's been a part of "who I am" for so long the effects of it are also just part of the "life I live."

Obviously walking this adoption journey has provided plenty of opportunity to worry. From little issues like Dustin's FBI clearance taking forever to come in to BIG things like how to come up with THOUSANDS of dollars to be able to bring our children home. Uncharacteristically of me, for a big portion of this adoption, I was not stressed, worried or anxious about any of it. Don't misunderstand me, I had moments of doubt or anxiety but because we were focused on Christ through this process the worry would quickly diminish. Keeping our focus on His glory and plan kept me from carrying around the constant weight of this HUGE step of faith we call adoption. Until a few weeks ago...

As I shared in the last post, we received a gift from some dear, Christ-like friends that enabled us to move forward to the next step in adopting twin boys...a direct answer to prayer.  I didn't know why but after the elation of our most recent "win" in the adoption process wore off I felt a bigger burden on me than ever before. There were a few things that weren't going quite the way "we" wanted and then ,of course, this constant reminder about the money we have left to raise. However, our situation was no different than it had been in the beginning. If anything it was better...we are closer to our goal and we've had several BIG indicators that we are totally within God's will for this situation. So why am I letting this bother me now... four months into the process when I haven't really worried about it before. A few weeks passed and the consuming stress was beginning to take it's toll.

One Sunday night I was listening to a "guest pastor" share a message on Phillipians 4. I've heard most of it before. Typical, "don't worry or be anxious for anything" scripture I've read hundreds of times. I've been told my whole life as a "worrier" :) to give it God, we aren't suppose to worry. But something I've never heard was this quote...

"The extent to which we worry is the extent to which we are an atheist at that moment. An atheist is a "no god person" and when we worry God is not a percieved reality in our lives."

I've never thought of myself as an atheist. In fact, the accusation would be hurtful. My faith is very important to me. IT'S "WHO I AM." This quote spoke loudly to me...you can't be a "worry wart" and a beleiver in Christ at the same time. To worry is to NOT TRUST God...the core foundation of what makes my relationship with Christ real. So to transparently look into my life the past few weeks and see the faith of an "atheist" was disappointing. Especially when God is so faithful and loving to me. All He asks for is my trust in Him. I fail so miserably...but He knew I would which is why He gives us undeserved grace.

The difference in that "down" time and the months prior that were "worry free" was my focus. I got distracted by the "task at hand" and accomplishing it myself instead of trusting Him with every step and rejoicing in the Lord. Phillipians 4 was a great encouragment to me that if Christ is REALLY at the center of everything in my life 'His peace will guard my heart and mind." And a great reminder that even though I think I'M walking this path in faith...really He is carrying me the entire journey. :)