Memorial Box Monday: The Name

One day late due to technical difficulties . . .

It's time to share another story, and place another treasure in our Memorial Box. For my full scoop on what a Memorial Box is see this post, which will also link you to my friend Linny's blog . . . which is where Memorial Box Monday got it's start!

Today's story ~ The Name

The name story is not something that happened in a day's time, or even over a couple of days or weeks, but one that unfolded over the span of about eight years . . .

In 1999 our family returned to Okinawa, Japan for a second three year tour. We had lived there previously from 1987 to 1990, this beautiful island also happened to be the place of my sweet Taylor girl's birth. Shortly after moving back to Oki, I remember running into a lady in the base photo shop (this was back in the days of film developing). The lady, a stranger to me, was joyously flashing a tiny baby picture around for anyone who would care to look. She had just received an adoption referral, and she was at the photo shop to make copies of this little image of her soon to be child. She was so proud! As I looked at this lady's tiny picture full of promise I remember asking the Lord, "Is this why You brought us back here (to Okinawa)?" It was in that moment that the Lord planted the seed of adoption in my heart, and so the story goes . . .

Shortly after the photo shop event took place, a new friend asked me something about one of my children's names, this in turn led to me to thumb through my baby names book. It was then that I came across The Name.

Theadora. Teddi.

"Gift of God".

(This ornament will represent our "Teddi" gift!)

Hmmm, I thought, "That would be the perfect name for an adopted child." A gift.

So I began to pray, asking the Lord if adoption was His plan for our lives. It didn't take long for Him to begin to answer. A couple of weeks later, while entering into the door of our new church building, I stopped to read a flyer taped to the glass. The flyer was promoting an upcoming conference, it included the names of the pastors who would be coming from mainland Japan to lead the conference . . . Ron & Teddy Sawka. Wow. Teddy. Did I just read that? This was my first confirmation from the Lord! Some may wonder how the Lord "speaks". This is how. The flyer was not a coincidence. Hearing Him does not necessarily mean hearing a voice. Often times you will see with your eyes, and know in your heart when the Lord "speaks". I've learned to listen with my eyes and to hear with my heart. It's a sweet, sweet sound.

Thus began an eight year long dialogue with the Lord. I prayed, and I journaled a little. Sometimes adoption would consume my thoughts for days, and sometimes months would pass before I would once again ask, "Lord, is this still Your plan?" I must tell you that the Lord was way less slack in His response time than was I. When I asked, he'd answer, always within a day or two. The answer always came in some form of Theadora or Teddy or Theadore . . . and it came creatively . . .

I volunteered in a thrift store for a couple of years and part of my duties was sorting clothes. The name 'Teddi" would show up on labels, it was a women's clothing line. That always made my heart smile.

Time would pass and I would pray again about adopting, and within a day I'd run across the name in a magazine article, or in an email (once about Teddy Roosevelt). I continued to ask the Lord, and on one occasion opened a mail flyer that was advertising classes being given at the base Art's & Craft center. The instructor? Teddi. A coincidence? Nope.

I remember asking the Lord again, one summer while visiting my mom in Michigan. "Is this really still Your plan?" I was growing ever more impatient-- the years were passing by. C'mon Lord, one more time. As the story goes . . . my mom didn't live out in no man's land, but let's just say it was rural, very rural. The day after I prayed we were out and about driving, when what to my wondering eyes should appear? A sleigh? No, but would you believe a big truck? Make that a big truck with Teddy written on the side of it. "Teddy's Meats" to be exact. I've always said the Lord knows when we need big signs. That was the biggest.

There were newspaper articles, and a street sign: Theo Avenue. Seriously, it's here in San Antonio. The Lord also used books and magazines to reveal her name as if nudging me to keep praying!

For years, this on again, off again dialogue with the Lord continued. Finally on the morning of February 13, 2007, as I sat still before the Lord (oh how hard it is to be still) I heard with my heart, these precious words, "She's on her way." Ohhhh yes! Could this wait be coming to an end? That same night, after tucking Brogan in, I decided to make handmade Valentine's for my family . . .

Tick-tock, tick-tock . . . and 2:oo a.m. found me sitting on the couch surrounded by paper scraps and glue sticks . . . scissors . . . cut up magazines . . . and eventually love letters for my family. I had the television on just for noise. (Funny how as a busy mama you crave quiet, but will then leave a T.V. on "just for the noise"). Anyway, a real estate infomercial had come on, and what caused me to look up I do not know (well yeah, I guess I do). On the screen were the names of the husband and wife real estate team, and guess what the wife's name was? Mmmhmm. Teddi. My heart leaped again!

Valentines . . . Infomercials . . . Realtors . . . and the words, "She's on her way". God had spoken a promise and then backed it up at 2:00 a.m. That is sooooo God!

A couple more months passed, and God sent yet one more big sign . . . I was sitting in a darkened theatre waiting for the movie Pursuit of Happyn*ss to start. As I got comfortable in my seat I pondered the uniqueness of names. In the middle of my thought, and I do mean smack in the middle, I looked up at the screen to see the producers name coming across in big letters, moving slowly from the right side of the screen to the left . . . and my eyes read . . . Teddy Z! Ooooooh the Lord speaks very loudly in words sometimes--we just need to be praying and watching!

Spring of 2007 had arrived and I was nearing the eight year mark of praying and waiting faithfully. I had learned so much about trust, and about God's timing. On June 11th I received an email from rainbowkids.com, it contained a list of special needs children awaiting adoption in China. It was in this email that the Lord revealed Teddi's face to us. The very next day, on June 12, 2007, we began the journey to our Theadora Fu Xiao. He provided all that we needed to bring our baby girl home.

"Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens.

Remember the great reward it brings you. Patient endurance is what you need now,

so you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that He has promised."

~ Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT

Next week I will share the unbelievable way that the Lord wrapped up His promise in China!

Blessings from my nest ~

Tina

Wordless Wednesday (not really)

I hope this brings the same smile to your face that it brings to mine, dear friends. I was looking back through some pictures, and this particular one (that I happened to snap) just fills my little heart right on up! Oh how I love this girl!

I really think that this is the way the Lord looks down upon us, His children . . .

with uncontainable joy!

His word says this~

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17

Our heavenly Father delights in us! He deeply enjoys us! He sings over us with irresistible joy!

He delights in me! He delights in you! And He is mighty to save!

Remember this today.

Remember it every day.

Oh how He loves us!

Thank you Father God that we are YOUR delight!!

Blessings from my "not so wordless" nest ~

Tina

Thankful Thursday . . . delayed

This Thankful Thursday (Sunday edition) I am thankful for a little experiment that has been going on in Houston. "The Newlys" are the conductors of this experiment and they have shared it all on a blog.

To give you a little background . . . Our church has undertaken a huge project involving the Children's Hunger Fund (CHF). The goal is to fill 10,000 CHF Food Pac Boxes to be distributed here in San Antonio, where statistically one in four children goes to bed hungry every night. (The hunger rate among Texas kids is the highest in the nation).

These food pacs contain dried beans, rice, two canned meats, two canned vegetables, two canned fruits, peanut butter, crackers, pasta, tomato sauce and a few other items. It costs between $18-25 to fill a pac, and it is supposed to feed a family of four for one week. As you can imagine, $25 worth of non-perishable food is not a lot of food, but it is adequate. If you have nothing in your cupboards, it probably feels like a feast. Sadly, most of us cannot even begin to identify with the thought of empty cupboards, or of living off a very simple box of food for a week.

The Newly's decided to take the project a bit further, and truly experience what it would feel like to live solely on the contents of a food pac for one week. So they filled their box, and ate simply. Not other food, no eating out. Word got around, and by the end of the week their blog began to draw attention from the people at CFH, but by this time their experiment was wrapping up. So . . . what did they decide to do? A repeat. After a one week break, they filled another box, and again blogged about their experience, including tallying the cost of each meal. Anyone made dinner for two for $2.22 lately? And that was one of the costlier meals!

As you can imagine, this "living below their means" was a growing experience for Taylor and Frankie. It spoke to a lot of other hearts as well, including my own. I realize that I have no idea what it is like to be truly hungry, or to not have food to feed my children. I often take this for granted. We are indeed blessed beyond measure.

I regret that I didn't post about the kid's experiment sooner so you could follow along as things unfolded. I would love for you to go pay them a visit now, and see the outcome of their adventure. The fruits of their labor will amaze you! Go see for yourself at The Adventures of Taylor and Frankie. God did some really cool things--take a look at the post from September 18th, "Day Five in the Field"! This mama is thankful . . . and more than a wee bit proud!

Blessings from my very blessed nest ~

Tina

Two Word Wednesday (Updated)

Teething . . .

Un-teething!

Blessings from our "toothless" nest ~

Tina

NEWS FLASH!!

Make that "TWOothless nest"! :)

Memorial Box Monday

Today I happily begin my Memorial Box Monday posts ~

My friend Linny, over at "A Place Called Simplicity" is the one who introduced me to the idea of a Memorial Box. She explains it in detail here, if you'd like to go see for yourself. Go see, you are sure to be blessed!

The idea of a Memorial Box is based on Joshua 4 . . .

Joshua 4 (New King James Version)

The Memorial Stones

¹ And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying: ² “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’” ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; ⁵ and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’⁷ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

⁸ And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over. ¹¹Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. ¹² And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. ¹³ About forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life. ¹⁵ Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, ¹⁶ “Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁷ Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸ And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before. ¹⁹ Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ²⁰ And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. ²¹ Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; ²³ for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, ²⁴ that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

So our Memorial Box will be the equivalent of the stones that the children of Israel obediently set as a reminder to their children. Permanent, tangible reminders of God's faithfulness and mighty works! We will fill our Memorial Box with symbols that will represent the stories of the many times that the Lord has moved mountains that needed moving . . . brought healing to our household . . . been our great Provider . . . given us the desires of our hearts . . . and preformed miracles just for US! We will be able to look at these treasures and be reminded of all of the times the Lord has moved powerfully on our behalves, showering us graciously in His love. Our children will know of His great works!

Here is my first story ~

The Giveaway

Months ago my friend Linny announced a giveaway on her blog. For those who aren't familiar with Linny's story, Linny's family lost their cozy log cabin (their precious "Place Called Simplicity") to a horrible fire last January. Linny and Dwight's Memorial Box would now need to be replaced due to the fire. Linny, with her giving heart decided that she would search for TWO Memorial Boxes, one for her family, and another to give away. Her heart's desire was to see another family begin to "memorialize" what the Lord had done for them!

So the search was on . . . and on . . . and on! Until finally one day Linny announced that she had indeed found, not one, but two boxes for her great giveaway. Time was ticking, and Linny encouraged anyone who hadn't entered the giveaway (by leaving her a comment) to enter. The deadline was set. About that time, I thought to myself, "Hmmmm, I don't think I've ever entered this sweet little contest." (And maybe I had, but she'd been taking comments for longer than my memory is.) So I entered.

Linny announced that the drawing would take place soon. Checking . . . checking . . . checking that blog. On August 11th came the long awaited post, "And the Winner Is"! I began to read, expecting to see two names, but instead of two, it was a list of the top ten finalists. Linny's hubby thought it would be great fun to drag things out a bit. . . gotta love that Dwight!

So I start scrolling through the list, and guess what? There. I. Was. In the top ten! As Linny would say, "Yippee Jesus"! Wooohooo! One hundred and fifty-six people had entered, and I was in the top ten. How cool is that?

On August 23rd the two winners would be announced.

Checking . . .

checking . . .

checking that blog.

Finally, another "And the Winner Is" post! Starting with the tenth person drawn . . .

I

began

to

scroll

through

the list

of names

like this . . .

number nine, not me . . .

eight . . .

seven . . .

six . . .

five . . .

my heart is pounding . . .pounding . . . pounding . . .

I'm down to the fourth name, still not me . . . which means if I reveal number three and it's NOT me, I've won one of the two boxes!

At this point I send a holler through my household . . .

number three . . . not me!

I have finished in the top two!

YES!!!! I've won! I've won!!

Scrolling down to number two . . . still not me . . .

Number one says this: TINA

Yippee Jesus!

I was listed as the first place winner! My previously pounding heart soared!

I had won!

So why did Linny publish the whole top ten? Because she wanted to bless ten hearts instead of two, and the Lord pointed her in the direction of more Memorial Boxes.

Guess who got first pick? Me. And guess whose box arrived from Colorado last week? Mine! ("Mine" sounds so "two year old", but very fun to say sometimes!) So this, my first Memorial Box post, will be about just that-- my Memorial Box, and how the Lord granted me the desires of my "winning" heart! Just for the record, we are ALL winners in God's eyes. Oh how He loves us, each and every one of us!

The first thing to go into my Memorial Box will be a little framed picture of my Memorial Box, taken on the day it arrived!

On the back of the box, Linny inscribed these precious words, "I pray that each time you look at your Memorial Box you are reminded of God's deep and ever-abiding love for you and your family. I pray you all spend the rest of your lives celebrating the stories of God's complete faithfullness to each of you . . . that you are always reminded that He is the Miracle-Working, Mountain-Moving, Awe-Inspiring, Gasp-Giving God!! Yippee Jesus!!"

We will Linny. We will! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being the start of something wonderful!

Blessings from my "sweet Monday" nest ~

Tina

Thankful Thursday . . . Friday Edition

I didn't get my post written yesterday, and I had much more to share, but I can't let the day pass without saying I am thankful for this . . .

Our flag, long may it wave. We live in the shadows of this beautiful building (about one block behind it), so this flag flying freely is a sight that I see every single day. I must say that I never, ever take it for granted. This morning as I rounded the corner I looked and didn't see it above the tree line, my heart sank as I soon realized it was because the flag was half staff. Today we remember the many who lost their lives on September 11th, and the many who have given their lives since-that we may live freely.

I am so thankful for our freedoms, and all that our flag represents. I am so grateful for the men and woman who have died defending those freedoms.

I am thankful for the freedom of prayer . . .

Oh Lord remind us that, on our knees, is the only way that this nation will come back to you.

Blessings from my nest ~

Tina

First Day Of School

We have two+ weeks of school under our belts, and I just remembered that I never posted these pictures from the first day . . .

Brogie with that nervous "off to Kindergarten" smile. Poor baby had a yucky cold, and was totally Benadryl-ed. Despite his drowsiness, he had a great first day. He made a new buddy known as "the boy in the orange shirt". We have since learned that the "the boy" is more commonly known as Adrian. He and Brogan are becoming fast friends. Brogan's teacher is great, and is also an adoptive mom of an eight year old Chinese daughter. So far lunch is "the favorite part", although art class in the "Art Studio" was a pretty exciting new experience. I think we are off to a great start.

Teddi got to bring a stuffed friend (meet "Tiny Panda") on the first day of her return to Pre-K. Teddi was immersed as a young four last year due to her speech delay. This year she is of "legal" Pre-K age, and she is ever so happy to be back. She was a bit upset when she found out that Brogie wouldn't be in the same class this year, but her sadness didn't last long. She is very excited to go to school every morning. She and Brogan both start at 7:50, Teddi finishes at 11:00, and Brogie finishes at 3:15 ( a long day for a five year old). Teddi and I are enjoying our time alone together--the first we've had since she came home from China. Two afternoons a week she attends speech across town-- in combination with the three sessions a week she gets while at school. She's coming along, and others are beginning to understand her--this is good!

School days . . .

A squeeze from Daddy, and one last "cheese" for mama,

and they were off . . . leaving mama wondering

where in the world time goes when it flies?

Sweet babies.

How thankful I am.

Blessings from our "learning something new everyday" nest ~

Tina

Happy Birthday . . .

to two of my favorite faces . . .

my mama, who taught me all about laughter and love . . .

and my husband . . . who most definitely is my true love (after Jesus)!

Lord, thank you for this double birthday blessing in my life. Thank you for giving me a mother who taught us that "loving one another" and "loving our neighbors as ourselves" wasn't an option. It was the only way to live. Thank you for giving me a husband, in the form of my high school sweetheart, so very long ago. Thank you for the love we share. Thank you that You have blessed that love five times over. Today Lord may you bless these two loves of mine!

Happy Birthday Mom and Bry. I love you both to the moon, and the stars, and back! May the Lord smile on this precious day that you share.

Blessings from my birthday celebrating nest~

Tina