http://www.sermoncloud.com/emporiumcma/trading-gods-math-for-ours-the-secret-of-contentment/

Jeremy spent the last 5 weeks down at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, going through Commissioned Officer Training. He is currently a chaplain at the 911th Airlift Wing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

It’s kinda’ sad, but I really can’t refer to my children anymore as toddlers, but I still do.  Micah is four and definitely a big boy.  We’ve just been through a lovely bout of the flu, and are finishing up the final bits of another ailment called “norovirus” sort of like a cross between the flu and food poisoning (!?)  Yes, it is as miserable as it sounds, but at least it is fairly short-lived.  

So, Micah who has never thrown up in his life until this weekend, has insisted that throwing up is sin.  It could be labeled sin until this weekend, because he had “chosen” not to engage in this vile activity until then.   After he finished, he asked, “why did God give me throw up?”  Our answer that it was God’s way of getting rid of germs seemed to satisfy him.  

Of course, now he’s the expert on throwing up.  

Elijah is home today from school since he seems to be experiencing the precursors to norovirus (stomach pain and cramping and not wanting to eat).  Micah instructed Elijah to not sit on Daddy’s recliner “because daddy will be worried about it if you threw up on it.”  He went on to give him instructions on how to throw up:

“First, go to the bathroom,” he says pointing his finger at Elijah.

“Then go to the toilet.”  Elijah is smiling at him and I’m stifling a snicker and trying not to interfere with this very serious lecture Micah is giving him.  Micah frowns at Elijah’s smile and says,

“Then, put your head in the water when you throw up.”

Lovely.

My brother Jonathan proposed to his beautiful girlfriend, Hannah, and she accepted. . .I think we may have been more excited than him!  In Elijah’s words, “I’m glad she said yes!”  We are so proud of him, and also Beth (my younger sister) as they continue to flourish in adulthood.  I’m so thankful that Hannah has chosen to join the Ahlgren family, she is a joy and a blessing, not just to Jonathan, but I know for us in the years to come as our sister now! 

We are blessed beyond measure, overflowing and pouring out, because of the goodness of our great God, to HIM be the glory!!

At different points, I have struggled with feeling on the fringe.  Like somehow we weren’t as spiritual because we weren’t adopting.  As some of our best friends are on their second adoptions now (or third!) I feel like I’ve become quite the adoption observer, yet I still feel so inept at being any real help.  This sent me recently on a research binge. . .searching the internet, polling friends who have adopted, and asking lots of questions.  

• What can those of us who are not called to adopt now (or maybe not ever) do to support and love the orphan?
• What can we do to REALLY help those who are adopting?
• What can we avoid doing or saying that is a hinderance or discouraging?

I got lots of answers. . . straight from those who have or ARE walking the adoption road:

1. Pray
2. Read the book, Adopted for Life by Moore, (we took this advice and it gave us perspective on adoption that helped us understand and better support who are adopting)
3. Support an orphanage
4. Support a missionary to orphans
5. Volunteer at a local crisis pregnancy center
6. Give money toward someone’s adoption
7. Help with a fundraiser for an adoption
8. Tell someone who is adopting that you are praying for them
9. Give specific items needed (ask for specifics if they don’t give them)
10. Be a listening ear, and ask how things are going
11. Avoid complaining or reinforcing negative feelings about the process or the birthparents (it’s taking too long, why didn’t that caseworker do something different, etc. etc.)
12. Allow an adoptive parent to express their frustrations, but respond supportively, “I cannot imagine how hard that is”  ”I’m praying for you”  ”Is there anything I can do to help?”  
13. Pray more, for the child’s heart and transition into the new home, for the grief process, for healing, for whatever God places on your heart
14. Allow the child to tell their own story IF they want to, in their own time (avoid asking either the child or parents for details, allow them to share as much as they feel is right)
15. Offer babysitting, and other help you can think of, no matter the age of the child, or age of the children currently in the home
16. Give attention equally to children in the home.  There is the temptation to “ooh” and “ahh” over the adopted child and others in the family feel left out.  
17. Celebrate with families who are adopting in any loving or creative way you can think of: cards, letters, notes, making phone calls and remembering special days in special ways (the list is endless).
18. Remember that every adoption is unique, just like the children who are adopted, and so no two adoptions are alike.  Make no assumptions.  
19. When in doubt, ask what would be most helpful

Here we are this afternoon, making gingerbread houses and watching the Steeler’s game: 

Picking our first Christmas tree at a tree farm (this is a little one for Merry’s room since she is our Christmas baby.)

And here is our Christmas card. . .we ordered it yesterday so if you want a real copy in the mail, email me your snail mail address at adina77@hotmail.com. 

“So why did Adam and Eve not feel embarrassed even though they didn’t wear clothes in the Garden after God made them?” (I was hoping for the answer, “because they had not sinned yet”)  

Instead I get this great logical explanation from one of them after a long silence: “well. . .it was only the two of them in the garden and it was big (there were four rivers running through it) so they probably didn’t see each other very often.”

Well, that’s one explanation, and this mommy had the hardest time keeping a straight face (I HAD to, they had thought through their answer and was VERY serious about this explanation!)

Summer has given way to a beautiful Fall, and as we wind down our summer garden and try our hand at a Fall garden (peas, more lettuce and spinach, broccoli and pumpkins) we find ourselves thankful for God’s continued provision and work in our lives. 

Merry started Kindergarten and is flourishing!  Elijah is conquering second grade and we are waiting to hear if Micah is accepted into a one-afternoon-a-week preschool.  It seems like the children’s personalities have just blossomed over the summer.  I think they are more feeling confident and secure. . .like they belong here now, and it is fun to interact with each of them in their uniqueness.  Jeremy and I keep finding ourselves smiling at each other and sharing fun stories constantly of what they have been saying and doing.  It is starting to feel like we are a house full of personalities. . .not a house full of children!

There is lots more fun family news and happenings, but more on that probably over the next few months as I have time to write.  We have been here in Emporium now for 8 months, and we are, as always, so thankful to be a part of what God is doing here in our church, and in this county here in Pennsylvania.  

As summer gives way to Fall, we are reminded by the changes in the season that God gives life and provides for us far beyond what we could ask or think.  We stay warm, we have an abundance of food (not just from a good harvest in our garden, but many gardens in our community, hence big boxes of veggies dropped of at our door all summer!)  We are so blessed with a family to love and be loved by and a community that cares for each other and more friends than we could have ever hoped for in 8 months of living somewhere!

O Give thanks to the Lord for HE is GOOD!!