Then We Were Off
Following the meeting, our stomachs dictated that we eat so Carmi suggested a restaurant nearby called Pike's Old Fashioned Soda Shop. We left after our meal and Eliana was fascinated with some butterflies on bushes outside the restaurant.
Carmi said that a scene in the movie "Shallow Hal", released in 2001, was filmed in this restaurant. I didn't know that. Seems that the two main characters, Jack Black and Gwnyeth Paltrow, shared a large milkshake at Pike's. Rumor has it that Gwyneth enjoyed her peach milkshake so much that she wanted to reshoot their scene multiple times.
Then we were off to Festival in the Park, an annual event held at Freedom Park in Charlotte since 1964. Eliana got to ride a pony...
Stalk some ducks...
Wear down dear old dad...
And then sleep on the way home...
Oh, and we bought this cool painting from a Chinese artist. Eliana picked it out herself so it will be displayed proudly in her room. The artist, I discovered, is from Guangzhou.
I Ain’t Believin’ This
What kind of geeky parent would be sitting at a website with their finger on the "buy" button just waiting for a stroke of the clock?
I didn't this time but you better believe I'll be quicker on the draw NEXT time!
At any rate...I did manage to get some lower-level seats so it won't be too bad.
I must write 500 times on the chalkboard..."I'm not bitter. I'm not bitter. I'm not..."
Mom Set Up Shop
Just Too Cute
Going On A Field Trip
An Offering From Ticketmaster
Starbucks shop opens at Great Wall
Which End Is Up?
What’s In A Name
Back when we were deciding on a name for our soon-to-be daughter, we knew we wanted to use 'Paige' as a middle name. 'Paige' is the name of Carmi's father who passed away in 1979. There were several baby name books that we looked through before settling on 'Eliana' for a first name. All the books said 'Eliana' was a Hebrew name meaning 'My God Has Answered' or some variation thereof. Earlier today, Carmi was looking through another book as we prepare to find a name for our 2nd daughter. In this one particular book, the name 'Eliana' means 'Sunny' and 'Sonny', Carmi said, is a nickname that was given to her father.
Coincedence? I don't think so...
Here We Go Again!
I am sitting here at my computer trying to think about how to begin this wonderful message. I can’t think of any catchy phrase so I’ll just tell you the story.
Most of you know that Doug and I have talked about adopting again. However, we were waiting on the bus to sell. For those of you who may not know, the bus is a tour bus that Doug and his former group Southern Sanctuary used to travel to concerts. Doug is not currently singing with a group and is instead leading music on an interim basis at our home church. In any case, we have this albatross of a bus around our necks now and it needed to go - or so we thought - before we would have the funds necessary to begin the adoption process again.
I had been convicted for some time that we should just go ahead and start the adoption process. After all, many couples begin with no idea of how they will get the money to complete the adoption. However, uncharacteristically for me, I was trying to be a good submissive wife and let Doug take the lead in this. But, God would not let the conviction go away! He then used a friend of mine at church named Tina to further this conviction. Still I was really afraid of my idea being �shot down� so I would not say anything to Doug.
Friday September 16 at work I was looking at the Proverbs 31 website. I read the devotion for that day and then decided to look through the previous devotions specifically looking for one on faith. The December 13, 2004 and December 14, 2004 devotions with the title Genuine Faith parts 1 and 2 caught my eye. I read the devotion for December 13th and nothing really hit me but when I read the devotion for December 14th I was totally blown away and sat trying not to cry at my desk! Here is the link to that particular devotion of you would like to read it since that is what God used to move me.
I sent Doug and email with a link to the devotion and asked him to read it and let me know when he had because I had something else to say on the subject. Wow was I nervous after doing that! Following is a string of emails we sent Friday morning after my initial email.
Doug Said:
I read the devotion and it definitely hits home. One of the reflection points in particular is one I need to work on:
‘Do you need to “see” God’s hand at work before you can trust Him?’
Carmi Said:
OK, now I have a whole thing about this. That part in particular hit home for me too. Here are my thoughts after I read this devotion.
1. Do we believe it is God’s will for us to adopt another child? If it is not God’s will then the rest of our efforts & prayers in this direction are pointless. I do believe it is God’s will. When we first adopted I thought we would probably have only one child because of the expense etc. I do not believe this way now and I believe God has made that change in my thinking.
2. Genuine faith is not what you profess, but who you believe. Do we believe God will be faithful to bring about His will for our lives?
3. We know God and who He is. If we are on God’s side & acting in His will, we will ultimately be successful in what we undertake.
4. Can we bring about the adoption all alone? Are we trusting in our finances, circumstances and understanding or do we believe everything belongs to God and He can and will provide? I think we have been acting like we have to do it alone.
5. How has God demonstrated his faithfulness and care of us together and individually in the past?
6. What is hindering us from stepping out on faith with only 5 stones like David? Looking at David with the world’s eyes Goliath appeared to be correct in his thinking that he would defeat David. Are we acting like Goliath & the army of Israel or like David when we don’t move forward with the adoption process? David had to make a move before God acted! God could have made Goliath fall over dead when David expressed his faith by telling King Saul that God would help him defeat Goliath. BUT GOD DID NOT! David had to move and act in faith. I believe that we need to move and act in faith and start the adoption process before God is going to move and make that bus get sold. Or maybe the bus won’t get sold at all. God may have a different plan and He is waiting on us to trust Him in this.
I honestly believe that the bus will never sell and we will never start this process unless we act in faith. God will make a way but we have to act like David and not the army of Israel.
I believe that this is a word from God to me. I have not had anything happen recently that I am as sure of as I am of this: If we don’t move ahead I really think we might as well tell Eliana that we have decided not to get a baby sister for her from China.
Also, remember that saying about how if you wait until you can afford children you will never have them? Although it’s a saying from the world, it is definitely true.
Remember your dad saying that one child took all his money and so did four?
Doug Said:
I couldn’t agree more.
A second adoption has been so heavy on my heart this week.
I can’t say that I have been praying ‘sweat drops of blood’ over it but I have definitely been ‘talking’ to God about it. He wants to give us the desires of our heart if we are simply willing to step out in faith and be obedient just as you have talked about. There’s nothing I want any more, right now, than to have another little daughter and a sister for Eliana.
I was actually going to say something to you about this tonight but you beat me to the punch.
Next year is our 20th anniversary. I know we want to do something really special for that milestone so I say, “Let’s go to China!” I’ve got the $200 necessary to start the process with CWA. Don’t have any of the rest of it but I do have that much…
I love to see God work this way. He has been dealing with both of us independently of the other. If that’s not a confirmation, I don’t know what is.
I wanted to jump and scream after reading this last email from Doug! How awesome that God was working on us both! Even more awesome was that God prepared the way for me to send that email to Doug! Every time I�ve tried to tell someone about this I just start crying! I figured out today that if we want to go to China for our 20th anniversary, which is November 15, 2006, I will have to get our documents in to CWA so we can be DTC (Documents to China) in January. I also called Melissa, a good friend, who also now works for CWA and told her we wanted to start the paperwork. She set me right up with all the homestudy information! Now I just need to wait until the CWA home office receives my email about wanting to begin the process again and we will be well on our way! Hold on tight Doug & Eliana...this is going to be a fast ride!
