I've been meaning to get this blog started for a while, but this last year has been one wild ride! I moved to Durango (CO) one year ago, jumped right into starting my music studio/business, had my identity stolen in August, had a supposed "piano teacher" present a serious safety threat to my home & music studio in October (and stole my credit cards in the process!), had a fire at my house in November, and am now having to move to yet another house due to extreme cold in my current house! Life is sometimes quite crazy, but God has shown me His faithfulness through all of it, and is so gracious to allow me to see how much He's blessing my socks off in the midst of it!
I mentioned that I'm moving soon... I can't wait! The house I'm moving to is very well built, much better than where I am now, and it's WARM! There's plenty of space for the dogs to stretch their legs, and there's also a small orchard and a rather large garden area which has been amended annually for over 20 years! I can't wait to start getting plants into the ground & then harvesting later this summer! (Canning party, anyone??)
I have found a church home (yay!), and am getting involved with the Missions Team (big yay!). The River Church in Durango is a special place filled with people who love the Lord & encourage each other to continue seeking to honor Him in all aspects of life.
My music studio is doing well, and I absolutely LOVE my students! They are awesome kids, and are growing into amazing musicians as well! I'm getting ready to set up shop in the Smiley Building in downtown Durango (as opposed to continuing to teach in my home), and this is turning out to be a great business move... SO many calls since people have found out that I'll be in the middle of town! I'm also starting an Early Childhood class in a few weeks, which is going to be great fun!
I'm sure you're wondering about the "ADOPTION" part of my blog's subtitle...
For several years, God has been moving my heart towards adoption. The seed was planted when I visited an orphanage on one of my trips to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in the late 90's. But it began to bloom a few years ago when I found out that I have PCOS (and therefore probably can't have my own biological kids), and also as I thought about nearing 40, with no husband prospects in sight & the clock ticking quite loudly! At that time, I began to be more seriously open to adoption, but I felt strongly that I needed to have more stability in my life before bringing a child into a single-parent home. I had just moved back to Portland, and was definitely not anywhere near being settled yet. Then I got laid off from my job, and a year later, I got laid off from another job. Then a year later I moved to Durango. Somewhere in there, God moved me to apply to be a foster mom, and I was actually just a few weeks away from being certified when I moved to Durango to start my business.
In this past year, as I am even closer to 40, I have been evaluating much in my life, and goals I want to attain - or be actively moving towards - by the time I get to "the big 4-0". One of those goals is taking more serious & active steps towards adoption.
At this point, I am targeting being able to bring my first child(ren) home sometime in the 2nd half of 2012, but will submit to the Lord's timing. I am in the process of choosing an agency to work with, and hope to start putting together my dossier later this spring or by the beginning of this summer. I would love to adopt a sibling group as young as possible, and am even open to kids with certain special needs. Eventually, I would love to bring home as many kids as my house & heart will hold! I am taking steps to get my business set up in such a way that I will be able to balance everything. Ideally, I want to homeschool my kids, have them be "helpers" with the Little Rosebuds classes (and learning along with the other kids!), and probably have them participate in Durango's "Shared Schooling" program.
Also, there are several in my church who have adopted - or are in the process of adopting - including my pastor's family, with 7 out of their 10 kids being adopted! So I think that there could be a good network of us that encourage & support one another.
In this past year, as I am even closer to 40, I have been evaluating much in my life, and goals I want to attain - or be actively moving towards - by the time I get to "the big 4-0". One of those goals is taking more serious & active steps towards adoption.
At this point, I am targeting being able to bring my first child(ren) home sometime in the 2nd half of 2012, but will submit to the Lord's timing. I am in the process of choosing an agency to work with, and hope to start putting together my dossier later this spring or by the beginning of this summer. I would love to adopt a sibling group as young as possible, and am even open to kids with certain special needs. Eventually, I would love to bring home as many kids as my house & heart will hold! I am taking steps to get my business set up in such a way that I will be able to balance everything. Ideally, I want to homeschool my kids, have them be "helpers" with the Little Rosebuds classes (and learning along with the other kids!), and probably have them participate in Durango's "Shared Schooling" program.
Also, there are several in my church who have adopted - or are in the process of adopting - including my pastor's family, with 7 out of their 10 kids being adopted! So I think that there could be a good network of us that encourage & support one another.
Yeah, I've put a bit of thought into this...
As I think about where I would want to adopt from, my heart first goes to Central Asia (Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan), then Caucasus (Azerbaijan or Georgia), then Russia, then Ukraine. I feel that having the language skills & cultural understanding from my years of living in and traveling to the Former Soviet Union will help me to help the kids retain their origins. I don't want to bring home a "Nikolai" and change his identity to "John". I want my children to have all of the opportunities that I can give them, yet not ever forgetting where they came from. And wouldn't it be great if someday they wanted to go back to their birth country to serve the Lord there?!?
Some of you may be wondering why on earth a woman would purposely bring children into a single-parent home... I am of course still praying for God to bring a Godly man my way who would want to share in this journey with me, but in the meantime, there are 163 million kids out there who don't have any family at all.
As I think about where I would want to adopt from, my heart first goes to Central Asia (Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan), then Caucasus (Azerbaijan or Georgia), then Russia, then Ukraine. I feel that having the language skills & cultural understanding from my years of living in and traveling to the Former Soviet Union will help me to help the kids retain their origins. I don't want to bring home a "Nikolai" and change his identity to "John". I want my children to have all of the opportunities that I can give them, yet not ever forgetting where they came from. And wouldn't it be great if someday they wanted to go back to their birth country to serve the Lord there?!?
Some of you may be wondering why on earth a woman would purposely bring children into a single-parent home... I am of course still praying for God to bring a Godly man my way who would want to share in this journey with me, but in the meantime, there are 163 million kids out there who don't have any family at all.
Here's a great post by my pastor's wife: "Should A Single Woman Adopt?"
Would YOU like to be the one to tell that child in the orphanage that they should just keep waiting there until there is a two-parent family available, when there is a Mommy over here longing to give them a home, lots of love, and countless opportunities to reach their full potential?
'Til next time...
Welcome to the blog world sweet friend!! I'm excited to follow your journey to the treasure the Lord designed to be with you since the beginning of time!! Yippee Jesus!!
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