stick-to-itiveness

stick-to-itiveness: dogged perseverance; resolute tenacity; the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult or unpleasant

Example: My cat, Bindi, inspires me with her sticktoitiveness.

She has sat and starred at the gerbil cage for a solid year now (well, with the occasional bathroom break).

All the other cats in our household were fascinated with the gerbils upon arrival, but quickly tired of whamming their faces into the glass and gave up. 

But not our Bindi.

Even though she has to straddle herself between the counter and the shelf and hold on for dear life with her little bitty paws... she persists.

Some might say "Dumb cat. Doesn't she realize it's never gonna happen?"

(ahem.. Grampa)

But 'I' say she's the epitome of determination, commitment and stick-to-itiveness.

She never gives up hope. Never quits. Keeps on keeping on even in the face of daily failure.

I could learn a lot from my cat.

stuff I learned this week

• There is simply no point in wearing eye liner on my bottom lid. No matter what brand I use, I will look like a drunk raccoon by the time I leave the bathroom.
• If  you drop your cordless phone in a sink of water - pull it out quick and dry it off - it may ACT like it's fine for a few days... but when you need it most it'll be deader than a doornail.
• Gossip Girl is, in fact, as ridiculous, superficial and just plain pointless as it looks in all the commercials... maybe that's why I can't stop watching it.
• The 7 year old boy who seemed way too sick to go to school at 7:00am will be bouncing off the walls and driving you bananas by 9:15am. Note to self: when in doubt - send him to school.
• There is not a 'consequence' on planet earth that matters one tiny bit to a child with attachment disorder. Ask my daughter who screamed and fussed while writing "I Will Be Nice" 51 times... slammed down the pen... and repeated precisely the offense that bought her the 51 times to begin with.
• Ben and Jerry are not my friends.

100!!

Thank you Beret from One Family A to Z...

for being my 100th blog "follower"!!

Such a silly little thing, I know... but it made my day!!

Beret has a daughter from Ethiopia who knew our daughter Spicy. Check out her blog!

almost done

Okay, time for a lighter moment.

So I'm just gonna take a second to brag on myself here.

It's not even Halloween and I'm almost done my Christmas shopping!!!

--insert happy dance--

Not only that... but I'm almost done shopping for 5 birthdays, 3 forever days, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and our wedding anniversary which ALL come over the next couple of months.

But wait.... there's more!!

I'm 1/2 way done all the wrapping too!!

  

The reason this is so monumental is because I am N-O-T a well organized person.

Emphasis on the N-O-T.

However I am sick.and.tired of feeling nothing but STRESS during November and December.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are such beautiful holidays and some of my personal favorites, but they seem to get completely swallowed up by the CHAOS of last minute planning and gift buying.

So, since I loathe Halloween, doing all the hectic racing around searching for just the right gift during OCTOBER has been awesome because I've hardly had time to notice all the bloody corpses and decapitated skeletons dangling all over ever single isle of every friggin' store...

wait - this was supposed to be a "lighter" moment...

So, the point is that I'm almost done my Christmas shopping and wrapping.

Please commence admiration.

10 years ago

This was the faxed picture that we said YES! to 10 years ago.

The adoption agency suggested we wait until we read through her medical papers and looked over the info...

but as soon as we saw this fuzzy little ink blob, we knew God had destined her to be our daughter.

10 years later she is our beautiful, super charged, fast talking, cat loving, squeezable, silky haired, brilliant, compassionate, future doctor...... Boo.

My "first born".

She has my heart.

I mean she HAS it.  It's hers... not mine.

Love is like that.

Happy Forever Day, Boo.

killed a spider with a dollar cause I didn't have a tissue

are you aware?

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

I'll be honest and say that I used to think I could never adopt a child with Downs.

The whole thing seemed too intimidating and unknown.

However now I would seriously consider it if the time was right and God was leading us to adopt again.

This change of heart is partly due to what I've learned since adopting teens (which I said I'd never do) and an HIV+ child (which I said I'd never do).

However it was also largely due to 3 women who have talked openly about their Down Syndrome kiddos... Carolyn, Adeye, and Elizabeth.

I hope you'll check out their sites and learn more about these beautiful kids.... keeping an open heart and mind (no matter what you think you could never do!).

Click on any of these pics to read more about these sweet little ones who are waiting for families!

that explains it

Source: lifeonthefrancofarm.blogspot.com via Chantelle on Pinterest

okay, this will thrill your soul

I only need 4 more blog "Members" (aka Followers) to get to 100!!!

[If you're one of those big time bloggers who rake in followers by the thousands... please contain your giggles.]

For me ... it's a big deal.

SO... to encourage some of you readers of Given Much who have NOT yet joined to do so, I thought I should have a giveaway!!

I should give away an iPhone or an iPad or an iTouch to the 100th person to join!!

But then iRemembered that we don't have that kind of money.

So how about this instead... the 100th person to Follow my blog gets...

...drum roll please...

the satisfaction of knowing they made my day!!!

I know. Lame prize.

But hey, doesn't anybody do anything anymore JUST for the sole purpose of bringing joy to another human being????????

(If Andy Griffith read my blog, HE'D do it.)

-------------------------

[PS. Check out my new blog header for fun pics of my family!]

the dangers of adopting teens

Danger #1:

1) You might fall in love with a teenager who will only grace your home with her beautiful spirit for a few short years before becoming a young adult and starting to branch out on her own.

Danger #2:

2) You'll miss her terribly when she's gone. You'll miss the chick flicks and late night chats... and you might even miss the eye rolling (if she's gone long enough).

____________________

Our 2 girls (who were unrelated 13 year olds at placement into our family) just got home from their 1st trip back to Ethiopia since we adopted them almost 7 years ago. They wanted to go back to visit relatives and to volunteer at the orphanage they lived in.  (THEIR idea)

They wanted to paint the nails of the little girls and play soccer with the little boys. In their words - they wanted to "brighten their days" since they personally know how "very slow time seems to pass"  when you live in an orphanage.

With their own money they bought tons of donations, toys and gifts to give away.

It was important to them to GIVE BACK.

I need emphasize that this was ALL THEIR IDEA. I want people to know this because, just like the adoption of HIV+ kids, the adoption of teenagers often gets a very undeserved bad rap.

Is it sometimes hard? Yes. Is there any adoption that is NOT sometimes hard? No.

Of our 5 adoptions ... an infant, a toddler, a grade schooler and two teenagers... I can honestly say that the teenagers have DEFINITELY NOT been the hardest.

There is no rule of thumb.

It just all comes down to the individual life experiences of the individual child. I've known people who have adopted international infants who have grown up to rebel against God and their families and basically broken their parent's hearts - and I've known people who have adopted teens who have grown up to become loving Christian adults who want to serve God and love others with their lives.

If God calls you to adopt ... answer. And don't get too wound up in the details.

When it comes to following God's lead... age, just like biology, is ultimately irrelevant.

you're not Francis Chan

"Maybe you have greater faith than you think.

Maybe the resilience that it takes every day

to KEEP SHOWING UP in a place where you feel stuck and unproductive

is GREATER than the faith that it takes for someone else to walk away from it all."