Favorite Photo Friday

These two pumpkins LOVE each other! :)

These were Jack's Open Market products. He sold out, they really were cute!

This sweet dog was wandering around at the school on Wednesday. She did not have on a collar so of course, my kids begged me not to leave her there. We brought her home and made signs of "Found Dog" to post all over the area. By the afernoon, the family called us and were VERY happy to have Millie back. But Jack cried to see her go because she was so sweet. AND she could play basketball too. Seriously, just like Air Bud, she would bump the ball back to us with her nose and scoot it into a soccer goal. She was so amazing... now guess who is begging for a Border Collie.... crazy! :)

Hope Hollis

Dear friends, so many of you have asked me for an update on Hope Hollis, the sweet little angel on my sidebar with the adorable little glasses. Her sweet mommy sent this to me today and I wanted to pass it on to you.

"I want to give a quick update on our little Hope. As you know, her cardiologist appointment is scheduled for late June, and at that time, we will find out whether God had healed her little heart or whether He is going to allow her to go through a third open heart surgery. Praying Friends, we are believing for a miracle with every bit of faith we can muster!!!

To celebrate Hope's life, we have decided to take her to Disney World over Spring Break. We plan to dress her up as Cinderella one day, Snow White the next, and then as Belle. We plan to tie balloons all over her stroller, take baths in pink cotton candy, and even try to get Hope in the front car to lead one of the morning parades wearing her very own Mickey Mouse ears! We will introduce her to Cinderella, let her have lunch with Winnie the Pooh, take flight with Dumbo over the Magic Kingdom, and stay up late watching fireworks. We can hardly wait!

Our family has a choice to make. We can allow Hope's uncertain future to bring us down and cause us to fret, or we can choose to jump in and enjoy our lives with her. We are choosing JOY!!!

Thank you for standing with our family with your prayers for Hope! May God continually be glorified through her little life."

I also want to add that there is another condition Hope has been diagnosed with. I do not understand all the implications or medical ramifications, but as I understand it, Hope was born with a larger than average separation between some of the vertebrae in her neck. This is apparently not uncommon for children with Down Syndrome, but of course, we were hoping this wouldn't apply to Hope because she has already suffered so many "ailments" and life threatening issues. As I understand it, the problem with these separations is that a wrong move or a hard blow could cause irreversible damage to Hope's spinal column. Friends, I cannot tell you in a way that would help you truly know the daily faith that it takes for this family just to get out of bed in the morning. If I told you all the ways Satan has attacked this family, all the angles he has used to try to rob these precious friends of their joy and hope, you would probably not believe me. And I can honestly tell you that even through the extreme trials this family has faced, they have glorified the Father, they have sought Him, not in spite of, but MORE SO because and through it all. Please, please, please join me in praying for this precious child. The world needs more Hope Hollis right now, not less. She is precious and even though we know that she belongs to Him, and it's easy for me as a sister to place her completely in God's hands and trust that He will do according to His will and it will be the right thing, it's a different thing entirely for her mother to willingly lay her in the arms of the Lord, knowing full well that He may choose to take her to heaven with Him. I ask you to pray with me for Hope's healing, but also for the courage, wisdom, understanding and faith the entire Hollis family needs right now.

Thank you so much!

Lamentations 3:21-24
"Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

More of this craziness...

This book is really rocking my world right now. I'm telling you, God is doing something with me that, quite frankly, I'm a little scared of. I really do believe things come to us in their own time, His own time, when He's ready to carve something out or put something in that you didn't see coming.

Today, the exercise in the chapter I am reading was to ask ourselves if we are answering God's greatest call to us, to love. The way we can know if we really are doing this is to turn to God's definition of love and substitute our name each time God defines love. Honestly, I'm humbled even to put this out there... humbled to have to examine myself not only in the quiet privacy of my own soul, but for others to read and judge as well. Those who know me will certainly be shocked into judgment as they read these, it's startling to see your name laid out there lie this. So, for me, it looks like this (or more acccurately, it SHOULD look like this):

1 Corinthians 13

Ondrea never gives up.
Ondrea cares more for others than she does for herself.
Ondrea doesn't want what she doesn't have (okay, I'm working on that one pretty hard.)
Ondrea doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head, doesn't force herself on others, isn't always "me first."
Ondrea doesn't fly off the handle (wonder if we should just ask my children.)
Ondrea doesn't keep score of the sins of others.
Ondrea doesn't revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of the Truth.
Ondrea puts up with anything (should we ask my husband?)
Ondrea trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end.

Did you put your name into any of those? Now, obviously, I am falling WAY short on every single one of these. I'm failing so miserably I can't even bring myself to comment on half of them. But the ones that really hit home are the ones that most directly affect my family. Particularly my children, whom God has graciously (lavishly and heaps of grace) given me to love and parent. Seriously, God told us to love the orphans, and then He so LOVINGLY called me to do it. He placed a burning passion in my heart and then allowed me to go out and fill it! Do you know how completely and utterly and wholly lucky.... blessed.... I am? How many people have been given a passion in life, I mean, the kind that gives their life purpose to the point that they don't have to ask what is the meaning of life? And then of those lucky few who are called and whose passion is revealed, how many get to live out their passion and pursue it the way God has allowed me to pursue mine? He started by giving me a husband who would carry that passion with me, who would allow me to follow the dream even when he didn't feel called, and then He placed the circumstances in our life to prompt us. He gave us the resources to make good on our promises. And He then gave us a daily opportunity to "care for orphans", you know, the ones "He did not leave as orphans." So, what does that look like? How am I doing on the love scale? Ｉmean, I'm loving orphans... burning for them. But then I'm not loving the ones in my home in a way that glorifies God and brings me into closer relationship with Him. So, though I might speak with the tongues of angels, though I might give everything I have, though I might prophecy or worship, it's all for nothing if I'm failing at love. And I'll say it here first, I might not be failing, but I'm certainly floundering. I'm barely above average and I know God is calling me to more. Average is evil in God's eyes!

By the way, all the quotes lately are from "The Message" translation of the Bible. I love my NIV for study, but The Message just brings the words to life in a way that is very hard to ignore.

Lamentations 3

"I called out your name, O God, called from the bottom of the pit. You listened when I called out, 'don't shut your ears! Get me out of here! Save me!' You came close when I called out. You said, "It's going to be alright."

Favorite Photo Friday... and a little more

Okay friends, I thought I could get off on a rant. But then I found this awesome, cool adoptive mom who just took all the words right out of my mouth! And she was ranting about something that I haven't ranted about in a while and it reminded me of how absolutely annoying it can be when people are so freakin' clueless. Check it out... http://rdehaus.blogspot.com/2008/11/etiquette-lesson.html



Also, another thing I have been noticing and meaning to write about that I haven't taken time to say... mostly because I've been so consumed with trying to figure out how to sell all my possessions and give them to the poor without actually doing it. Seriously, isn't that what we're supposed to do? Read that passage in the Bible (Matthew 19:21) and then figure out what the heck Jesus REALLY meant because surely he didn't intend for me to live a life of less. Hmmmm, still working on it, but I'll let you know if I come up with something brilliant... k?



So, what I have also been thinking about is how this on-line blogging community really is just that... a community. It's very much like making friends. My friends who don't blog or don't at least follow blogs don't really understand that. Most blogs start out as a way for a blogger to chronicle some things of a personal nature. Sometimes maybe it's started with the intent of educating or whatever, but not the blogs I follow. Most of us are just moms who started out writing for our families and it developed into something more... an outlet for us, a community of like-minded women supporting one another, a way to remind ourselves that we are not alone, a connection to the outside world that's sometimes hard to come by when you're raising little children, and just plain entertaining too. The thing I have noticed for myself is that the people who follow my blog and the folks whose blogs I follow are mostly like-minded individuals who have something in common with me and me with them. A great majority of us are adoptive families, which immediately means we "get" each other on some level. The rest are certainly mom's and no one understands a mom's heart like another mom. So, you take a bunch of women who have something very sacred in common, and voila, community. But it goes beyond that. There are also "conversations" that take place in blog land. All the time I see a post on someone's blog that I want to comment on, like responding to a friend in conversation. And sometimes those posts or those comments spur posts on my own blog, where I link back to the original poster's prompting, which brings my friends (followers) to her blog and instantly, I've introduced one of my friends to another of my friends. So, the conversation continues and the community grows and we all sort of seem to know one another. I mean, how many of you reading this haven't at least once popped over to MckMama (Brian, you don't count!) So, then, in blog land, you start to follow blogs and you realize that these women follow pretty much the same ones you do (you know all the same people, like at PTO meetings.) You see the same faces and same links all around. And that furthers the notion that if these women all lived on your street (oh, what a glorious neighborhood that would be!) you'd definitely be having play dates and ranting about all this stuff in person... and MckMama would be taking our pictures for us and we'd be living in that Walgreen's commercial... you know, Perfect. But we don't and never will this side of heaven, so for now, I'll just keep blogging and keep letting my non-blog friends laugh at me when I say that Barb in Finland is my friend.



Cheerio my dear friends, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!



My favorite photo this week? This morning Liam asked me to take a photo of his shoes because he wanted to remember them just the way they are (brand new with no scuffs.) Precious! So I took a photo of his whole body, not just his shoes, because although he's not brand new, he's pretty "unscuffed" right now and I want to remember HIM just this way! And as I was watching him walk to the bus stop with my heart so heavy it felt like it would break because of all the struggles he has to deal with in life, I remembered that Jesus loves him as much as he ever loved anyone and Jesus' heart is breaking for him too. And as pitiful as it is to watch him struggle with all the effects of what was done to him as an infant, the good news is that he is loved and precious!

Oh yeah, and if it's still freezing cold where you are, just ignore the fact that he was leaving for school with no coat because it's supposed to be warm here this weekend! :)

Genesis 35:11 "And God said to him, "I am God Almighty ; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body."

The Easy stuff is so hard!

Here is the quote from today's reading of Crazy Love that just has me stumped. Maybe the answers is further into the book? Maybe I need to dig into the Word and find it for myself. Maybe if I do dig in, I will find what I want to find and not what God is trying to tell me. But you tell me, what do you make of it?

"Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don't have to trust God if something unexpected happens-they have their savings account. They don't need God to help them - they have their retirement plans in place. They don't genuinely seek out what life God would have them live - they have life figured and mapped out. They don't depend on God on a daily basis - their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health. The truth is, their lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God."

This is Lent. For Catholics, that usually means sacrificing something. But for most of us, it's nothing that hurts too much. Here's what God says about the kind of fasting that means something to Him:

Isaiah 58: 6- 8 from The Message translation

"This is the kind of fast day I am after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once."

c.o.n.v.i.c.t.i.o.n.

Crazy Love

I am reading a book right now called Crazy Love. The book itself is a bit crazy... or radical is probably a better word. I won't spoil it all for you, but I am going to ask you to go out and get it and read it along with me. It's riveting and I am going to need a whole host of folks to help me process because it's so beyond my comprehension level at some times, it's so much bigger than me, that I don't think I can shoulder it all by myself. So, get yourself a copy and let's talk about it. But beware, God is probably going to ask something big of you through it.

Today as I was reading I was struck, literally STRUCK as in a board to the head, by a few things that I was reading. I have read so many times and stood in awe so often of the verses in Psalm 139 where David tells us of God's great love for us and how we were created for Him and by Him and that He knew us before he formed us, even before He formed Earth He knew that today would come and this was scheduled in His day-timer of my life. I love that entire chapter of Psalms because it's so encouraging to me. And then I read Jeremiah 1 today and heard the Lord say again that He knew me before I was born and that He had made great plans for me. They may not seem great in the grand scheme of humanity, but they are His plans and therefore they are great. He has planned for me to serve Him in some very ordinary and a few extraordinary ways, but I'm doing what He called me to do and that makes it significant. The part that hit me anew and fresh today was when the author of this book, Francis Chan, makes the connection between those verses and Ephesians 2:10, in which Paul tells us that we were created (conceived in the Mind of God before we were conceived in the womb, or even our parents were conceived) to "do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Wow, He already has a "to-do" list for me and He has spent every day of my life preparing me to accomplish those things, which by the world's standards may be insignificant, but by His standards are essential to the bigger picture. Then the author goes on to say, "My existence was not random, nor was it an accident." This immediately set my spirit groaning. There are so many children in this world who are victims of "worldly knowledge" or convenience or standards. Children who were not accidents, who were not random, who have or had very specific calls from God, specific to-do lists that were or are set aside ONLY for them. But many of these children are never given a chance at accomplishing these tasks because of our medical "advances" and advice of well-meaning, but misguided doctors. Many children never get the chance to accomplish God's goals for them because it's an "inconvenient" time for their parents. And still others, with whom my heart resides, are trying to fulfill their God given lists without the guidance of a loving parent or maybe having never even heard of God because they are never really spoken to, just spoken at, by the adults who care for them in orphanages. All these 147,000,000 orphans in the world were not random creations, not accidents, but purposefully created by God. Some of them will find their way home and live out the destiny God created for them. But far more will not be given the chance at that life that God meant for them to have because not enough people are willing to bridge the chasm between comfortable and "known" to the giant unknown of adoption. I read somewhere last week (maybe it was Katie's blog, not sure) that around 30% of Christians consider adopting at some point, but only 1% actually do. Only 1%, are you KIDDING me? Friends, we are all adopted! God adopted us when Jesus died on the cross. We are all part of an adoptive family! God gave us a stellar example of what He wants family to look like with Mary and Joseph.... Joseph adopted Jesus! Wow, just think of it, right there in THE Christian family is God's endorsement for adoption. I am blown away by the fact that 30% of Christians consider adopting. What stops them, I wonder? Fear? The unknown? The "hassle" of it? The daunting task? Money? I wonder if God is in those restraints? Is it God's will that holds back these 30%? I know that God does not call everyone to adopt, but if 30% of Christians are "open" to it, and if they actually followed through, do you realize there would not be one orphan in the world? 30% is enough to end the orphan crisis altogether. Somewhere there is a child whose destiny, planned, wanted, needed, scheduled, is not being realized because there is someone who is dismissing God's nudging at their heart. Somewhere there is a child who is waiting for his or her mother and father to stop considering and just put one foot in front of the other in faith. Is it you? I'm not saying it is you, clearly not all have been called. But if you were called, and you have considered it, what's stopping you? God needs you to step in so He can start clicking some things off that child's to-do list. If you feel the urge, but feel the fulfillment is just too much or you are overwhelmed and don't even know where to start, please e-mail me directly or leave me a comment. I will pray with you. I will help you sort through all your options and decisions. I will help you raise money, I will tell you what I know and put you in touch with people who know more. Just please take that little first step!

From The Message translation of Jeremiah 1:

"Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you..."

In this chapter, God also encourages us not to feel incapable, He says, "Don't say, 'I'm only a boy.' I'll tell you where to go and you'll go there. I'll tell you what to say and you'll say it. Don't be afraid of a soul. I'll be right there, looking after you."

What am I, some kind of overachiever?

Whew, two blog posts in one day? What am I, some kind of blogachiever or something? Anyway, I just visited a blog I have been to several times before, but today I noticed that she was creating this really fun blog carnival... on a whim, I decided to participate. Why did I DO that? I mean, like I really need another blog to read... but anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, she is doing this fun blog carnival and I wanted to jump in on it and you might just be interested in it yourself. Go have some fun with Lynette at "Dancing Barefoot". And participate in Getting to Know You, if you feel so inclined. And even if you don't participate, you can still go check out all the other fun, she-she people that are actually participating... you might just find someone you love over there. :) Just click on the link below and then click to your hearts content while you get to know lots of other folks out there in Bloggyville.



Oh yeah, and since it's still Monday, might I add that I did NOT make it through a $200 trip to the grocery today with BOTH my pre-schooler AND my 2 year old in tow. I did not accomplish this by an ingenius game I thought up on the way into said grocery (whose employees all wear green vests.) I gave them a box of Jelly Belly candy and told them that they were "invisible pills." Every time they saw someone wearing green they needed to take a pill because today all pirates were wearing green. If a Pirate saw them before they took their pill, we'd be pillaged and made to walk the plank. They did a most excellent job of playing the game and you would not believe how many people were wearing green today (besides said employees.) And so what if they ate so much sugar that they ruined their lunch... there were NO tears at the grocery! :) I call that one successful Monday!

My verse for the day is Song of Songs... the entire book. Seriously, it's only like 7 chapters long and if you read it in The Message translation of the Bible, it's a beautiful love story that will make you just want to squeeze your hubby too tight!

Not Me Monday

Another Monday, another Blog Carnival... if you haven't felt the cathartic cleansing of participation, then git yer booty to MckMama's to confess your own "Not Me's". But not until after you've read mine!

My whole family is not in on the "Not Me" act. My brother does not EVER make suggestions for things I should confess here. He wouldn't do that because of course, he would know that would be very RUDE of him to point out my flaws. So of course, being the great brother he is, he wouldn't do that... but let's move on. His wife, who actually isn't RUDE, did NOT e-mail me his suggestion this week (while looking at my Disney photos on-line) and he did not say that I should add "I did NOT take 4,000,000 pictures in the "It's a Small World" ride." And I actually did NOT take all those millions of shots in that particular ride because I was taking requests from the peanut gallery. I did not have a very excited 7 year old sitting behind me yelling (very loudly I might add) "Mom, take a picture of that one. Ooooh, take a picture of that! Oh, oh, take a picture of that girl. Did you get that one?" You get the, um, picture.

I did NOT hear myself say this, "If you touch him one more time...", "I asked you to stop... ", "If you cry you will not get that... " and then realize, "Hey, it's not me... it's the family next to me and it sounds EXACTLY like the conversation I just had with my own kids." :)

I was not happy to know that our family is normal. And I did not say all those things to my kids at least once each last week and then sort of smile involuntarily when it was not my kid laying on the ground begging for a balloon. I didn't mean to, NOT ME!

I did not curse this woman, who kept sticking her little point and shoot into MY shot!

And of course, if it weren't for that pesky little safari tour guide, (who, I might add, was way too peppy for all us parents who had been with dragging our kids around the Magic Kingdom for four days) I could have gotten alot better shots. She was so insistent about keeping our arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times and remaining in our seats... I mean, you'd think there were wild animals about or something! Ugh...

I have NOT finished all our dirty laundry from last week. I didn't say it was folded and put away. In fact, it is most certainly NOT laying in a big pile on my bedroom floor and my dog absolutely, no way, positively did NOT make it his bed last night. I mean, that would be wrong on so many levels, especially since he hasn't been bathed in at least a few weeks.

We did not have the most fabulous and laziest weekend known to man. I don't know the last time that I have spent a weekend where I did not eat one meal outside of this house, but this weekend we did and it was NOT wonderful to lay around in our jammies with all four kids watching movies every night until we all fell asleep. I guess none of us were ready for the "togetherness" to end.

I did NOT have a wonderful time at the Magic Kingdom, I was not totally proud of all four of my kids for their individual contributions to the week, I was not a little sad to see the week end and us have to go back to our regular lives, and then I also was not happy to be home sleeping in my own bed without six people in the same room. None of that happened, no way!

And now I am not totally stressed about the fact that the END OF SCHOOL is almost here... can you believe it? and I have SO much stuff to do and dangit, I have to go now, because, well, there's alot of stuff that I have to do...

Disney My Way!

There is so much information out there on how to do Disney, it's totally overwhelming to a "fly by the seat of your pants", unorganized, scatterbrained girl like myself. In fact, my sweet hubby had been urging me to book us a trip to Disney for a few months before I got up the courage to take the bull by the horns. Every time I would sit down to try to book, there would just be SO many decisions to make that I was paralyzed and ended up walking away afraid to make the wrong choices. This post is an attempt to capture, for the other "anally retentive challenged" folks of the world, the bare bones, "just do it" approach to Disney. I have a few friends who have upcoming trips planned and I took notes JUST FOR THEM! :) If you are not planning a trip to Disney, this post will bore your socks off so don't bother reading! :)

Things I wish I had packed:

1. 2 pairs of shoes. I know this seems evident, but I took one pair of tennis shoes and wished SO badly that I had my crocs. A pair of Merrells, Tevas, Keens, etc. would have been the perfect alternate to the Crocs days. Tennis shoes were fine, but I would have preferred a little more room for my SWOLLEN toes'ies to spread out.
2. Hand Gel... now, for some of you germ-o-phobes out there, I know this goes everywhere with you, but I do not typically carry this stuff. I really wished I had had it at Disney because it wasn't always handy to wash our hands before a meal. Plus, I'll show you on Monday the little gross incident that we had with the "World's dirtiest Lego." Ewwww, wish I'd had the hand gel.
3. Take a brightly colored (I'm talking NEON) ribbon or some other easily removable "tag" to put on your rented stroller. Seriously, there are about 10,000 of them floating around the parks each day and even though you have a name tag on them, it would have been alot easier to go straight for the correct stroller if I'd had some type of identifying marker to tie to the handle.
4. Band-Aids - My pinky toes could have used a break about day 3.
5. Lotion... I ran out of lotion about two days in and my skin was cursing me for it.
6. Tylenol and Advil for kids AND adults. I brought BC powders for myself, which was great for the achy feet at the end of the day, however, Liam got a headache one day and we had to head to Disney First Aid for some pain relief. I know, I know, how long have I been parenting? I should have traveled with all the essentials, but as I mentioned before, I'm very organizationally challenged. I'm very typically unprepared!
7. Sunscreen... we really didn't need it, but if you have fair children, it would be a must.
8. Hats, the sun can be brutal at times and the shade of the hat was great.
9. More snacks than you would EVER eat in a week at home. Seriously... my kids ate their weight in gummy snacks, fruit roll-ups, peanut butter crackers, and the like. I would pull these out just about the time someone was starting to have a melt-down and it was really instant revival. They were like bottles for babies.
10. 18-55 Lens for my SLR. (see below)

Things I am glad I brought:

1. The "Unofficial Guide to Disney". This book was great once we were there. We would read the section for the particular park we were planning for the next day. We structured our days somewhat around the suggestions in the book. My thoughts are, IF you are as overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information as I was, my suggestion would be to ONLY read the introductory part of the book prior to visiting Disney. It will just give you some basic information (like maybe don't make the Magic Kingdom your first park, etc.) Then, read the individual park sections on the night prior to your visit to that park. That way, you'll have a good game plan for the day, but not have TOO much information to process at once.
2. Snacks were brilliant on my part (seriously, this is SO unlike me to have had those with me) but I did not have enough. See number 9 above.
3. Two cameras (my SLR and my pocket camera.) There were days when I didn't want to fool with the large camera and I was glad to throw my pocket camera in my... ugh... pocket. :) But... I do wish I had brought the small lens for the SLR. If you have the 18-55, it would be plenty of lens for every day except the Animal Kingdom day and the 25-300 is way too big to lug around all the time. My kids kept bumping their heads on the lens.

The Parks Info:

1. Personally, my kids could have totally skipped the World Showcase at Epcot and not missed a thing. I enjoyed the beer in Germany and Brian and I had alot of fun walking "around the world", but honestly, the kids could have totally cared less. And we did Epcot on our first day based on the recommendation in the "Unofficial Guide", which was perfect, really. If I were doing it again, I would go to Epcot, do the Nemo's Undersea Adventure, the Test Track (which even young children can do) and Soarin', then we'd spend our extra time from that day at another park. (Of course, on the other hand, how can you go to Disney and not see SOME of the World Showcase?) However, you have to arrive EARLY to get a Fast Pass for Soarin' or else stand in line for hours. We didn't ride it because of this (we arrived late in the day and all the FastPasses were gone.) Nemo's undersea adventure was so great we rode it twice. The fireworks show at Epcot is really great, but I think it started at 9 on Sunday night so it was a little late if you've been going all day. But it is really good!
2. At the Magic Kingdom if you want to ride Peter Pan's Flight, go early and get your fast pass immediately. We went to MK two days and both times they were out of FastPass by mid-morning. The Haunted Mansion ride is a little bit spooky for the kids, but Pirates of the Caribbean is great! Even young children can do it with no problem. The one thing that I would actually plan my visit around is the Spectro Magic parade. Liam and I caught this one totally by accident and we lucked into excellent spots for viewing... it's a nighttime parade and all the characters are lit up. We saw three parades and this one out shined the rest by 10 miles. It only runs two days though, so you have to plan around it. The fireworks are the best at Magic Kingdom.
3. Animal Kingdom is a half-day park for most families, probably. Get your fast pass for Kilimanjaro Safari AND Everest if you hope to ride them both. The safari is a must do and the main attraction. I would NOT let my kids ride Dinosaur unless they are super brave. Liam rode Everest, Space Mountain, and Tower of Terror. He still thought the Dinosaur ride was fun, but he ranked it as scary. It's VERY loud and dark.
4. Hollywood Studios was possibly our favorite park, but we love movies. Have one adult arrive at the park by opening and go IMMEDIATELY to Toy Story Mania for a FastPass. We arrived at 9:15 (park opened at 9) and the line for the FastPasses was already about 200 people deep. We thought we would be able to ride later in the day so we didn't bother, but by 10:30 the FastPasses were all gone for the day and the line never got under 110 minutes the whole day. I did hear that if you go during one of the Fantasmic showings that the line is short, but I wouldn't know because we were actually IN the Fantasmic show, which is a MUST do! It's fabulous. Hollywood is a good park to do on your third or fourth day because it's alot of sitting in shows, etc. and the kids are so pooped they don't mind sitting around. The Lights, Motors, Action stunt show was my VERY favorite thing I did the whole week. I was AMAZED in the first 10 seconds... it's great.
5. I wouldn't bother standing in line for Prince Caspian unless your kids are major Narnia fans. It was just okay.

Good things to know:

1. I could go either way on bringing your own stroller vs. renting one. The pro of renting the strollers there is that you don't have the hassle of folding up the stroller and carting it back and forth to the hotel, especially if you are using Disney transportation. I would rent the double, regardless of whether you have two kids to use it or not, it's nice to have an extra spot to stash stuff. The strollers are great, you can leave your stuff on the stroller and there are designated stroller parking areas everywhere. No one bothers them so you can just leave your big stuff on the stroller when you are in a ride.
2. The Port Orleans resorts are fine in terms of a hotel room, however, they are really no big deal. There is nothing particularly "Disney" about them. I heard they have the best pools, but if that is the best Disney has to offer then I could help them with a few ideas. The pools do have slides, etc., but they are really not anything special. It's okay for what you pay and probably fine considering how much time we DID NOT spend in the room (we literally came there to sleep and that was it.) I have nothing to compare it to, but I would say if the budget is tight, the All Star resorts would be just as good (and probably more "themed" for kids.) And I am sure the Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which are both also moderately priced, are better in terms of the "Disney experience." However, one thing to consider is how many are in your party. We had to sleep six to a room so our choices were limited.
3. The Disney Dining Plan turned out to be a very good thing for our family. I think we saved a bit of money in the end, but the main thing was the convenience. We did the two counter service meals and two snacks per person per day option. Meg was counted as an infant so we didn't have a meal plan for her but this was no problem because all of the portions were very generous and we usually had too much food at each meal. We loved being able to grab a snack whenever we wanted one without having the hassle of trying to be frugal with our money. Also, you can snack and eat from almost anywhere in the park. Based on which package you choose (counter service which is where you order your food from the counter and then sit or table service where you sit down and have a waiter.) We did not wish that we had table service options because we didn't want to take that much time out of our schedule, but if you are going for certain restaurants and wanting certain experiences in dining, then I would recommend the table service option. The thing I don't like about this is that it doesn't have many snacks on the plan and truthfully, we used the snacks a TON because you can get drinks, popcorn, pretzels, candied nuts from cart vendors, virtually anything Disney has can be used as a snack. The "refillable mugs" are not worth the hassle. You have to refill them in your hotel, which we did on the second day. But then we had to fool with the five mugs all day and it just wasn't worth it.
4. I did not once wish we had a car. The Disney transportation is very convenient and the buses run so regularly we never waited more than five minutes for a bus. We even switched one day from monorail to bus for the downtown Disney transfer and it was no big deal. I could see how staying on the monorail would have been fun, but honestly, it probably wouldn't be worth the extra money in the end.
5. We did Downtown Disney on Thursday morning before going to the airport. It was a great time to be there because it was not crowded. We went straight into T-Rex, were seated right away, and were allowed to even choose which section we wanted to sit in. If you have a kiddo who is into dinosaurs, then T-Rex is worth the money it costs to eat there. We sat in the ice cave and from there you could see the meteor shower that occurs every 20 minutes in the main dining area. Downtown Disney is optional in my opinion. I know alot of people love it and the Lego store is amazing, but for little kids there's not all that much that's ultra-interesting.

I am not into all the "stand here by x time and send someone for ice cream at x place while others hold your spot" kind of stuff. So for our family, it was a very good choice to go in February because we never waited more than 40 minutes in any line (that was for Lights, Motors, Action.) The majority of rides were at around the 15-20 minutes time frame, which in Disney terms is the same as no wait. We walked right onto most rides that we had FastPass for. As far as traffic goes, we were there at a very "uncrowded" time, and even so, it seemed packed to me. With very little preparation we were able to have a wonderful experience and felt so happy with all the stuff we were able to do. I think that each time you visit Disney you could have a totally different experience because there is SO much to do and for us, just happening upon things was some of the fun. We didn't have a list of "must sees" other than Fantasmic and were just excited to discover what was next without the stress of a major plan. I am sure there are others out there who would say, "I can't believe you missed x, x, and x." but it's sort of like choosing a wedding dress... all the other folks seeing you didn't see all the choices you had so the one you come down the aisle in looks perfect. Same with Disney. I am sure there are things we didn't do that we would have LOVED and that are awesome, but the things we did do were awesome to us and we didn't know it if we were missing something better so what we did was fabulous. And as opposed to being overwhelmed and stressed, I think for OUR FAMILY, the way we did it worked well. There's not that much that I would change, but I would stay in a different hotel next time.

From a sign I saw in a store:

"My prince already came... His name is Jesus!"

Dreamy

This photo needs no words... I waited a lifetime for this.

And while I'm here, I can't help but post a giant THANK YOU! to my dear friend, Sonja, who is SOOOOO sweet that she brought by a little pre-Disney goody for the boys tonight. She had a disposable camera for each one of them and she is going to have them developed for them when we get home. Now how thoughtful is that? (Anyone want to take the over under on whether or not there is actually ONE exposure left by the time we get to Disney? I am betting we have three cameras full of airplane shots :). Thanks girly! Love ya!

Favorite Photo Friday

There's nothing better than the end of a GIANT sucker... if you don't believe me, believe the amount of dirt that sticks to a boys chin in the process.

This is Liam on his way to school this morning. He looked so cute all bundled up, I just want to freeze him right there forever. Poor guy has a massive fever blister this week... ugh!

This will probably be my last post for a week or so. We are off to Disney on Sunday and I don't anticipate blogging from there... despite all you other bloggies I follow who somehow manage to post when you are on a trip, I'm dedicating the week to my kids and they could care less about blogging (for some unknown reason.) I'm not even checking my e-mail... gasp! Well, maybe just once. Anyway, the point is, I'll miss you. Carry on as best you can in my absence and I am sure I will have TONS of stories of all the chaos fun when I return. And if y'all could just pray that I don't lose any of my kids that would be swell. Oh yeah and that no one gets sick (which would make this probably the first vacation in 8 years where no one got ill, had a fever or went to the emergency room!)

2 Corinthians 5:7
"For we walk by faith and not by sight."

Beatitudes of a Bonding Mother

I wrote these a long time ago, when we were newly home with our second son from Russia. He was struggling to attach to us and I was struggling to juggle two kids and a job I loved and was afraid to give up. I ran across them today while I was looking for something else and the wind was sucked out of me remembering what a difficult time that was. And then when I read the last one, I realized how God was really holding me all that time and even in the darkest days I knew that He had a plan, He was in control, and I wanted to get where He was going with our family. Notice the signature at the bottom... so many promises fulfilled since then.

I post these here now for other mothers, who might be in the midst of their own dark transition time, or to remind those on the other side how much these women need our support.

The Beattitudes of a Bonding Mother

Blessed are you when your child cries, screams, or shows anger because you know that you have the unique opportunity to model moderation, control and love to this little one who has known deep rejection in his short life.

Blessed are you when you have the opportunity to spend time one on one with the little offender because you know that every moment you sacrifice yourself against your will, God is multiplying your efforts in you and using it for His glory.

Blessed are you to parent Jesus by parenting one who is unknown, unclothed, hungry, thirsty, sick, and imprisoned by his own fear of being rejected again, by another mother.

Blessed are you when you get to parent a child to whom the rules do not apply. The only rules are those of personal safety because he doesn’t care how much you know until he knows how much you care, never again will you be given the opportunity to look the other way for a while knowing that love is all that matters in these crucial months.

Blessed are you when God calls you to growth through defeat by a one year old. Nothing is more humbling and creates more need for Christ than knowing you are so weak you cannot even outsmart a one year old, but God can. Oh what blessing to rely on Him in such a humbling way.

Blessed are you when you pull your child out of Mother’s Day Out, even though he is the one child you’d like to get away from. Because you know that time with this little angry screamer is all that is going to heal him. And healing him is the only way to heal your family.

Blessed are you when you trudge on every day, putting one foot in front of the other, or maybe waiting for Christ to peel you off the floor, because you know that God blesses our efforts, not our perfection. We fake it ‘til we make it!

Blessed are you when your other children see your frustration and see you turning to Jesus, even in the grocery store, because they will model your actions and not your words and you will lead them to Christ.

Blessed are you when you turn anger and ire toward Christ and not direct it at your little hurt one, for God can take it and your child cannot.

Blessed are you when you have friends who have walked your road, because they can steer you away from the pitfalls if you allow them. And they alone understand your peril and they alone can truly advise you. They alone can cry out to our Lord in a voice of empathy and urgency that you need!

Blessed are you years later when you can reach the other side of that dark chasm and see what the Lord could see all along, but you could not; that the view from the other side was so much more pleasing, more rewarding, more fulfilling, and more Godly than anything you could have imagined.


Ondrea Harrison
Blessed mother of three boys, holding to God’s hope for a girl!

Not Me Monday

It's NOT Monday again... I advise you not to head over to MckMama's blog to see what all the other mommies out there are NOT doing. And I dare you NOT to participate yourself... it's not therapeutic at all and it certainly doesn't make you look at the things you did not do with a little more levity... now get goin' on my list and then "git your booty to MckMama's."

I did not survive and entire sick day last week by giving myself permission to eat as many Oreos as I wanted. That would set a terrible example for my children and I am SO above that.

I did not post the most boring "Not Me Monday" last week in the history of "Not Me Monday". And the fact that it was not boring had nothing to do with the fact that I had not had any sleep and tried to write my post before my coffee kicked in. I know that my brain does not function until I have had at least 8 ounces of caffeine, why would I display my Not Me for the world to see before I had the good sense to make it interesting?

I did not forget about a half pan of chicken enchiladas and leave them in my oven for two days this week. When I did remember them and pull them out, my dog did not sniff them and walk away, not even recognizing them as any form of human food. Not to mention anything of the fact that I did not recognize they were in there because I was not using my oven for two days... but no need to elaborate on that one, right? K!

I did not make these Valentine's cupcakes for the teachers at school. That would make me seem like I was trying to be Martha Stewart or something, which everyone knows by now that I certainly am NOT! Plus, they did not turn out nearly as cute as they looked in the magazine... I should have known better. "Stick with what you know," I should have told myself.

I did not entertain my kids while icing said cupcakes by letting them do this.... Why, yes, that is their very own bowl of cupcake mix they're eating, why do you ask?

While putting on some chapstick, Meg appeared very happy in the nice sunshine outside our door (it's been in the 60's here this week... sorry all you frozen tundra friends... it's pretty nice here right now, but I'm certainly NOT going to post the photos of my toes in the grass that I took because I certainly did not get to go barefoot this week. Have I mentioned how much I love to be barefoot?) When I decided she had enough GLOBBED on her lips, I did NOT grab my camera and capture the moment instead of trying to distract her. I mean, I'm so over much more compassionate about her two year old whims than to tick her off even more by trying to photograph the moment. I know none of you ever do that either!

I have not been doing the photography lessons on MckMama's blog. I have not loved getting my camera out of program mode and into some manual settings... I have not been totally renewed in my commitment to photograph every stinkin' day of the year all our big and small moments.

And last, but certainly NOT least, I did NOT get to meet alot of blogland friends and their cute kiddos yesterday. We did not have Valentine's dinner with Becky and Keith and their amazing sons. We did not go swimming together afterward at their indoor pool and Becky did NOT only teach me a couple of things about my camera that I didn't know, she also didn't make me want a fixed focal length lens, which does not cost about $200. Ugh, I hate when I have to save up money for something new! :)

And half the blog world of Nashville was not at BounceU yesterday for a fun little bloggy meet up. The Littlest Tsarina was there. So was the adorable Owen. Carey was there with her sweet kiddos, but her blog is private so I can NOT share her link with you. And Michael and Carrie were there with sweet little Silas... but when I changed my blog over, I lost their link and she never sent it to me... hint hint Carrie. But I'll leave you with a photo of all the amazing kids anyway, a good little portion of them were born in Russia... now see what I mean when I say that you are missing out if you haven't experienced adoption! :)

Paka!

My funny Valentine

Gone are the days of romance and roses. These are the days of cotton pajamas given a few days prior to "the big day" because, well, I just really needed them.

But I traded in all the cliches and sugary sweetness something far better. A life so full of love and precious moments that my heart can hardly contain it. Truly, when I look at the enormity with which I love every single little (and big) soul that live in my home I just want to burst.

So this is what a real day of love looks like in my house.... I woke up sweaty, sandwiched between two kids (Connor and Liam) and one hot hubby. What woke me up? Glad you asked... Connor singing some really crazy version of "the itsy bitsy spider" (possibly made up on the fly) wherein the spider actually gets squished. Lunch at a local sub shop. A made-up game of spider on the trampoline where I am the spider and I try to catch my "bugs". Tying strands of my hair around a tiny rubber alien's head so that he can appear to be flying. My first Valentine will be spending his afternoon in one of his many roles, as den leader, working to uphold his reputation as Pinewood Derby king. (He and Liam are going to carve Liam's first ever pinewood derby car... Jack's car has won first place the past two years.) Such is the life of parents of four... no time to stop and gaze into each other's eyes. But if I could stop to gaze into the eyes of the best husband on the planet, I would tell him how much more I love him now than I did when I married him (much to the credit of the fact that I have enough life experience to fully appreciate what I have.) I would tell him how happy he makes me and how safe I feel under his able guidance of our family. I would tell him how lucky I am to be married to a guy that I love hanging out with and how easy marriage is with him. I would also tell him how happy I am that I, by some unbelievable stroke of good fortune and uncharacteristic display of good judgment on my part, ended up married to him, the best dad and husband I know. And how blessed I am that he was crazy enough and enough of a gambler to marry me (a sometimes hippy, sometimes preppy, always on the move searching kind of a girl.) It was a perfect storm of events that only converge about once a millenia that would land someone like me in a marriage to a guy like him. But I'm glad I was in the eye of that storm. But, alas, there's no time for eye gazing and professing our love for one another, so he'll just have to read it in a blog post. I love you honey... thanks for reading the blog (now that I am e-mailing them to you.) You are truly the best thing that ever happened to me!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. -And now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Favorite Photo Friday

Meg was so exhausted by her cold, she fell asleep on the couch yesterday. This is a first for her. I always love it when my kiddos have been home long enough to fall asleep somewhere besides their bed. It's another little milestone that reminds me of how far they've come. I couldn't resist the urge to photograph her sleeping there, snuggly under her brothers blankie (a.k.a. Fuggy.) And these pink high-tops are so irresistible. How will my heart just not stop in it's track when her feet are too big for these?



It was so warm here yesterday that I was actually outside playing with the kids in my bare feet. Never mind the un-pedicured toes (and just ignore that deformed left toe), bask in the fact that the grass is green! :)

This one is probably my favorite from yesterday. Connor came home with Valentine hearts from school. This one pretty much says it all, don't you think?

Have a great Valentine's Day!

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." Ephesians 1:18

Yay, new clothes

I'm very excited about this new outfit I made for Meg yesterday. I took a class to learn shirring and I'm pretty happy with the results of my first project. It even fits, which is a miracle. Kinda crazy fabric, but I love Anna Maria Horner and this is her stuff, it's so much fun. I wish I could get away with wearing something that fun!

About nothing and alot, really

I got my T-shirt from Gwen today. Did you get yours? If not, you're missing out... they are CUTE and did you realize they are long sleeved? They are... can't wait to wear mine tomorrow. When I picked up my shirt today, Gwen ran out to the car all excited about a book she is reading. I haven't read it... yet. But I have to get it. She has quoted it a couple times on her blog already, but today she said something to me that just stuck with me. She asked me, "What are you doing today that is causing you to live on faith?" Wow! That's a way to start every day, huh? And I really thought about that for a while because I have often said that I am never closer to God than when we are in the midst of an adoption. Never closer because I am so dependent on Him. I know there is no way on earth that a child from the other side of the globe would be placed in my arms but for the grace of the Almighty. That's easy... I can live on nothing but faith in those days because there's no other option. But what about when I am in my comfort zone? What about when I am driving around in my SUV for 8 with a DVD player and a tank full of glass, sipping my Starbucks? What then? Isn't it strange that those days are when it's "hard"... the faith part is harder then. The other thing Gwen quoted from the book was "How can you walk out of a mud hut (I'll say orphanage) and return to your 2,000 square foot house and never look back?" I am looking back. I just don't know what that looks like right now. I think it looks like supporting Katie while she's cooking rats... go read it for yourself. Or delivering band-aids and anti-biotic ointment to Matt today before he leaves for Liberia. At least for today that's how it looked. What did YOU do today to care for the fatherless?

James 1:27
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world."

Not Me Monday

Folks, check out MckMama's blog carnival, I promise it's worth the time:



This was NOT my night last night:
Bed at 11:40 (the thought actually ran through my head, "I better quit reading and go to sleep, what if someone wakes up sick." Bad omen?
1:20 Meg throws up all over her face????? and has to be bathed, hair washed, bed stripped, new jammies, etc. Then she had to come to bed with us because ALL her sheets were NOT dirty.
Meg does not sleep if she is not in her crib.... toss and turn until....
3:01 Connor gets in our bed with an earache. Connor's ear is excruciating, he cries and tosses and turns with it until 5 AM. Meg is also awake this entire time.
4:45 AM, I finally scold Meg to the point where she lays down and gets still and I don't know at what point she fell asleep but I don't hear from her again.
5AM Connor wants to get up. I turn on cartoons for him and go to sleep (finally)
7AM morning routine begins... total hours of sleep, 4. (2 from 11 to 1 and 2 from 5 to 7.)

I did NOT think at about 3:45 AM, "At least now I have my "Not Me Monday" post."

I did NOT consider just turning on the light and the TV and letting them watch toons all night while I finished Breaking Dawn.

I am not drinking 2X my normal amount of coffee this morning in the hopes that I will not fall asleep on the 45 minute drive to our pediatrician's office.

My kids are not having popsicles for breakfast (not the school aged ones, just the pre-schoolers.)

I will not be napping this afternoon and possibly ordering pizza for dinner.... again!

I am not sitting here at 8 AM with my Not Me post ready while I watch more toons with two sick kids and continually hitting the refresh button on MckMama's blog. Even though I'm ready early this week, I'll probably still be about 200th on the list.... woe is me!

I was not partially worried about what all the sheet changes would do to my perfectly under control laundry. :(

And now that I am coming out of my fog, I do not have the sweetest sick child on the planet. She did not smile and laugh through her puked on state, even as she was crying.

And this is not the first time our little angel has run a fever.　Seven months home and not so much as a cold, that's got to be some sort of record, even for children of germ-a-phobes, which, by the way, I am not!

100 posts in 100 words

A look at the past 99 posts in about 100 words:

Knees bent, head bowed, heart poured out, filled to overflowing, renewed. A new love. A renewed love. Commitment to purpose. Awed! Inspired! Humbled, helpless, dependent.

I was not myself for a long while, yet those who loved me through it defined their love by their love. Single mindedness. Heart torn open by desire, mended in the act of mending. Stripped bare. Lifted up. Loved beyond what I deserved. Now truly in love with my Redeemer. Enlightened. My Savior enchanted with me!?!?! Protected. Provided for, lavished!

Indebted to you for holding me accountable and continuing to love me and pray with me through all of the above... and below!

"Be confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day we see Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6

I am laundry goddess...hear me roar!

Seriously, there is not one dirty stitch of clothing in this house... except what my kids took off today. How, you may ask, did I accomplish this phenomenon of nature, this perfect storm of motherhood? Well, I'm not one to lay blame at anyone's feet, and I don't want to mention any names here, but if you are paying attention, there has not been a blog post since Saturday. Blogger has not been too happy about my little break; he's called every single day, tempting me with all sorts of promises and teasers. And it's not like I'm breaking up with him or anything, to the contrary, I love Blogger. I'm "in love" with him. It's just that Blogger is so possesive with my time and when I let him in the house, he just consumes me. He leads me to all sorts of exciting places, takes me to visit my friends, shows me photos of adorable children who are just crying out to be commented on, and even introduces me to new friends. Some of those new friends, who are mutual friends of Blogger, even teach me how to do things that I never even knew I wanted to do until I met them and discovered that my life was completely devoid of whatever crafty idea they were proudly showing me. Which, of course, would end up taking more time. And then of course there are all the ones Blogger asks me to pray for... my heart is often wrecked by those stories he shares with me so then I have to spend time processing and praying over all those. Anyway, Blogger and I had a talk earlier this week and I had to give him some ground rules. There would be absolutely no late night partying this week (that time is reserved for Edward Cullen.... sigh.... I'm about 1/4 of the way through the 4th book.) I would allow him to relay messages from my old friends, but absolutely no introducing me to new people until the weekend. It's been hard on us both, but we've committed to make this work. And lo and behold, voila, tonight I clocked out at 8:52. 　People, I can't tell you the last time I "left the office" before 9:00. So, to uphold my end of the relationship, I am giving my darling Blogger this extra hour of my time. :) (Okay, sorry, but one of Bloggers more celeb friends showed me how to use the tres chic strike through thingy and I have been busting to use it... I couldn't help myself.)

Please head over to my friend Gwen's blog. She has a heart so close to mine (or what I aspire to be anyway) for the orphans of the world. And now she's made some rockin' cool t-shirts to help raise money for her next adoption. They are great and I already bought mine. But they are going fast, so you better get over there if you want to be wearing what all the cool folks with a heart for orphans are wearing! :)

Now, some random ramblings... hey, I've had alot of time to think of random things and nowhere to write them down:

Did you know that the individual, unpaired socks of six people will fill two COMPLETE laundry baskets?

Do you know any sound louder than a mother's "sssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" when she has seriously had it with all the after-light's-out discussion? Really, it can be heard from a whole other floor in our house.

The signal at my house that says Connor is finally giving it up for the day is the sound of his milk cup hitting the floor of his bedroom. You can count on him to be snoring within about three seconds.

My nine year old has been getting himself up and dressed for school most of this year. He dresses himself before he comes into my room (usually to wake me up.) This morning he actually woke me up and then by the time I got downstairs to get my coffee, he had already fixed himself breakfast. Ｉthink he might be ready for his own apartment. Ｉwonder if he would let me come live with him? Now if I could just teach him to make the coffee..... hmmmmm?

Does anyone know if there is something important going on tomorrow that I am unaware of? Ｉkeep feeling like there is something I am supposed to do and can't figure out what it is. I hate that feeling. Anyway, if I'm supposed to meet with you and I don't show up, just please come on over to the house, I'll be sitting here trying to remember where I'm supposed to be.

"LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us."
Isaiah 26:12