If Home Is Where Your Heart Is. . . .

(*Note: I wish this post title was WE GOT OUR REFERRAL!!!!!!!!) Well. . .this is maybe the last time you will hear me blabbering and blubbering about my China adoption.  Yesterday our group received their referrals and a new wave of sadness has washed over me.  What does that mean? you ask.  Yesterday we should have gotten in our inbox a picture of a beautiful Chinese baby girl. . .and we didn't.  After 13 months of paperwork and then 82 months of waiting, our time would have been up--we would have a name and a picture and any history information.  Blah. Blah.  Blah.  Blah. I'm so happy for the families who finally saw the face of their daughters!  What a joyous moment long awaited for and deferred and fulfilled! But. . .blah for me.  That's kind of how I feel.  Tears are dried up.  Emotions seem shriveled up.  I just feel blah about it. . . .

So, recently I have been thinking a lot about integrity.  Weird way to start a blog post, maybe. But I've been thinking about it for several reasons.  One reason being, this summer I feel like this generation is really missing the boat on integrity.  I feel like our staff has struggled with the simplest of standards and I immediately attribute it to a lack of integrity.  Also, in my Leadership classes, I have been writing and writing and writing that a leader must be a man or a woman of integrity.  I value my own integrity and I believed that "as you think in your heart, so you are". . . just have integrity for crying out loud is kind of my theory. I'm reading a book by M.J.C. and I just read this paragraph that I think changes everything I feel about integrity: . . . we think of integrity as exhibiting good morals, having strong character, and diligently obeying God's commands.  Actually, these are all consequences of integrity.  Integrity itself...

A friend of mine from Africa suggested that I take some time and read through Psalms after I called her yesterday to chat.  So, I read through the Psalms yesterday--skipping the happy ones.  I love the things that stuck out to me and I thought I'd share. Psalm 11:1a In the Lord I take refuge . . . . Psalm 13:1-2 How long , O Lord?  Will you forget me forever? How long will you hid Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Psalm 18:2b . . .My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge . . . . Psalm 18:28-29 For You light my lamp; The Lord my God illumines my darkness. For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall. Psalm 20:4a May He grant you your heart's desire. . . . Psalm 20:5b . . .may the Lord fulfill all your petitions Psalm 22:2-3 O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest, ...

Maggie has been at K1 for more than 2 weeks now. Sweet thing--she is having so much fun!  She looks happy and relaxed in all of the pictures.  She loves living with friends and being surrounded by girl friends all the time.  I think kamp is her happy place! I get a letter almost every day from her.  She is so thoughtful.  This weekend our family received a letter and it made me so happy.  Below are excerpts: Dear Family, Please write me.  I want to know what is going on in Colorado. . . .  Last night I cried becasue I missed all of you.  I told myself that I love each and every one of you for who you are!  Now I know that you are all probably laughing because I cried about you.  What can I say?  I'm a girl.  I realized something now.  All of my friends like me for me, not because I'm Joe White's granddaughter.  That was really big for me. . . .  I'm watching all of my friends write to their parents an...

(Andy shared this article with me and I thought it was good enough that it needed to be passed along!) By Rachel Held Evans , S pecial to CNN (CNN)   –  At 32, I barely qualify as a millennial. I wrote my first essay with a pen and paper, but by the time I graduated from college, I owned a cell phone and used Google as a verb. I still remember the home phone numbers of my old high school friends, but don’t ask me to recite my husband’s without checking my contacts first. I own mix tapes that include selections from Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but I’ve never planned a trip without Travelocity. Despite having one foot in Generation X, I tend to identify most strongly with the attitudes and the ethos of the millennial generation, and because of this, I’m often asked to speak to my fellow evangelical leaders about why millennials are leaving the church. Armed with the  latest surveys , along with personal testimonies from friends and readers, I explain how young ...

Part two. . .did you go read the blog yesterday like I suggested (several times)? If not, go HERE ! Sophie and her parents (as I said yesterday) are teaching me so much about celebrating every single day.  Why does it take tragedy to remind us to make each day count?  Last year when Chase died (read HERE and HERE ), it was terrible. But it was such a great reminder for me to make each day count and I feel like I made the most of each day this year with my kids as a result.  It was my "yes" year--my year to not have any "what if's." I was talking to Andy yesterday about worry.  Right now he has a lot of things on his mind and a lot on his plate and he is worried and stressed about some stuff.  I was reminding him that these summer days with teenagers at our camp are his favorite days of the year.  He gets to teach every morning and counsel and bike with them every afternoon.  These are his best days and he is wasting them on worry. I was trying to...

This is going to be a two part post because I know how much most people hate reading posts where you have to scroll and scroll and scroll. . .and I have a lot to say on this subject! The title of this "series" should really be "Thank you, Sophie and Lindsey and Kevin" but that makes it too long and then the title gets pushed to two lines and that really bothers me.  Before you read any further, click HERE to read the full story behind this post. . . just keep reading and reading and crying and reading.  Don't forget to read this post from Mother's Day ( click HERE ), but for sure have your Kleenex box handy.  If you're the type of person who is just too busy to read, then I will sum up the story in just a few sentences and then get to the meat of my own post--but you really should take the time to read the blog I'm recommending (and you need to check your personal calendar and make more time in your day--more on that subject at a later date)! L...