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News: The packet of 9 documents I was waiting to come back from the US Dept of State Authentication Office arrived! That means that stack of paperwork has just 1 more stop to make before it’s sent to our adoption agency for approval/translation/packaging/mailing to China! That stop is the Chinese embassy in DC. We do still have to wait, however, for the fingerprint approval document from USCIS & then that document has to go through its 5 steps of sealing. But progress! Sweet progress! 🙂
Valentine’s Day is coming & we have had several snow days. Snow days are good for doing crafty things around the house because you can’t leave and do anything else. So I made a couple festive “garlands” for the mantel. I have had the itch to mess with fabric for a while after seeing some cool ones online. So here they are:
The strand of hearts is just a double fusible layer with a fabric ironed onto each side of it, then cut heart shapes out. I stranded them together with a tiny rick-rack, just stitched on with my machine with about a pressor foot space between each. I stitched mine at an angle, but you could do them end to end or side by side…
The other is sort of a messy fabric tassel. I cut thin strips (about 1/2 inch by 6 inches), several layers at a time. I think I ended up with 8 strips per tassel. Then folded each in half (one at a time) over a length of baker’s twine & wrapped another around the top, securing it in the back with 2 or 3 stitches with a needle & thread. (Trying to catch through the baker’s twine at least one stitch to keep the tassel from sliding along it.) I spaced my tassels about 3 inches apart. Here are some pictures.
Share some joy with your loved ones!
I had a request to share this recipe & felt I should ask the source first & she said yes! So we can all thank sweet Kathy Glover for this recipe! Kathy shared this with me after a morning picking blueberries at the (then) local blueberry farm a few years ago in Indiana. It was such fun to take the kids & pick. I remember I used to give the people an extra few bucks when I was paying for all the ones the children had inevitably eaten while picking.
Lemon Blueberry Loaf
1 1/2 c flour
1/4 t salt
1 t b. Pwdr
6 T margarine
1 1/3 c sugar, divided
2 eggs
2 t grated lemon rind
1/2 c milk
1 1/2 c blueberries
3 T lemon juice
325 degree oven. Grease & line with parchment a 9×5 loaf pan. Combine flour, b. pwdr & salt in a small bowl. In other bowl, beat the margarine with 1 c sugar until light & fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Add lemon rind & mix. Add flour mixture, alternating with milk, beginning & ending with dry ingredients. Fold in blueberries (sprinkle a little flour over the blueberries to keep from sinking). Bake 1 hr 15 min. In small liquid glass measuring cup, mix 3T lemon juice & 1/3 c sugar. “Boil” in microwave til sugar is dissolved (I did mine for a minute)-{being sure not to boil it over or you’ll have a very sticky mess.} pierce top of loaf several times with a toothpick after allowing it to sit for a minute when done baking. Pour lemon juice/sugar mixture over & allow to stand/cool in pan 1 hour before removing.
I haven’t written any updates for a long time because there honestly hasn’t been too much interesting to report-just papers shuffled here & there.
Today is a good step though. Today we are traveling to Greer, SC to a USCIS office where we can be fingerprinted as part of the federal background checks & application with the US government to adopt a foreign child. Once we receive notice of approval (maybe in a few weeks at earliest), then we will have gathered all necessary papers for the “dossier.” (The packet that is translated & sent to China) All the paperwork has to be “sealed” though before sending. I think maybe I have touched on that before so I won’t bore you with all the details. Briefly, it’s a 5 step process at which various government officials have to show their approval & apply their stamp to each (each with their own fee of course…).
This is a picture of one of the many beautiful views our Lord gifted us with on our drive this morning to Greer, SC. Indeed the creator is worthy to be praised.
I do want to share that God is faithful. We have often wondered how this all would work financially. Honestly we had a nice little lump saved the first time around, but sadly, it was cleared out from the medical bills for my 3 brain surgeries in 2012. I am so grateful that we were able to pay those bills. Thankful that though they were big bills, they were a tiny fraction of the {incredible} largeness of the actual bills.
And when the dust settled on the pages of that story & we could still hear God whisper {or sometimes loudly & with nudges} that he wanted us to adopt into our family one of his children that does not currently have a family on this earth…
“But how God?”
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (NIV)
He is showing us. He has blessed me with the ability to work & generate some income. And it’s working, it’s making a lil lump in the savings (all for adoption purposes).
Psalm 90:17
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us-yes, establish the work of our hands. (NIV)
And out of nowhere…gifts. Gifts we have not asked for. Notes of encouragement with the gifts stating the givers’ desire to come along side us in obedience to God’s call to care for the orphan. Gifts we couldn’t repay (at least not in the horizon I’m able to see at this point in the journey). And so it feels like Grace. Sweet grace. Grace is something you haven’t earned, you can’t repay. Thank you Jesus for this. Thank you all you quiet givers.
Deuteronomy 15:10
Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
Ephesians 1:16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. (NIV)
the Cedar Place 