adoption & the gospel pt 7

look at that sweet little amos face!!!! someone took these of our boy while he was waiting in the orphanage. often i think about the times we missed with him, the milestones we didn't get to go through with him & i wish we had those memories & i wish we knew everything He's been through. but the Lord has given me peace in remembering that our Lord always saw him. He never once lost sight of our amos & in fact He ordained all that he has ever been through. 

amos is feeling more & more like part of the family. he just fits in. he understands that he is a part of this family & he's attaching more to his brothers. he sleeps in the same bed with sammy & he plays with them more instead of going off to play by himself. i rejoice in the work the Father is graciously doing in our boy. He's teaching him how to be a son & brother & showing him how to be apart of a family.

our gracious God does this in us... He patiently teaches us. He never grows weary of showing us the same truths & bringing us back to the cross & His great gospel! He has started a work in each of us & we are in this process of adoption. yes we are called "sons & daughters" immediately , but we don't always act like His children. it takes years for our hearts to heal & KNOW the truth. but we choose to act out of the truth that WE ARE HIS & He is gracious. i pray that as this new year starts we will not grow weary in the work He's doing in us; the work that He has planned out & ordained, but we would be patient & thankful & trust that He will complete the work He's started in us.

"& i am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." phil 1:6

He will never leave us or forsake us. cling to Him in this new year.

thank you so much for following my blog this past year & oh i pray that the Father would continue to use my simple & sinful life to bring glory to His name!

(pt 1, pt 2, pt 3, pt 4, pt 5 & pt 6)

al

lately grams

wow it's been way way way way WAY too long since i've done lately grams!! 

so here i go to solve that problem! :)

follow me on instagram... @albark (my account is private so please request to follow).

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

1) the fellas playing some football. 2) my sweet jude boy with his toy camera. he takes pictures of everything now! the other day he stood up on his chair to take a picture of his food. he said, "i take pit-cher of my food like you do mommy." 3) my beautiful sister & her fiancé, emanuel. could not love them more!!!! 4) amos & his uncle nick... favorite! 5) my handsome guy & myself on Christmas. 6) eating up some vegan pumpkin pie! 7) the boys. 8) one of my presents for my guy. it's hard to read it, but it says, "oh darling, let's be forever & ever." i love that man! 9) he's pretty great at giving gifts!!!! book of my blog from 2011, kinfolk volume 6 & registration for this amazing class!!!!!!!! he knows me sooooo well!!

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

funny/favorite/current things...

*jude is so observant. he's notices the smallest things that most kids would never see. he's growing up way too fast. he's got to slow down. 

*sammy can pretty much say any word! & words he's not sure about he always tries to say. super cute! i LOVE the way he says his x's, sh's & s's. cute little chubby face.

*amos's words are exploding!!! he's saying a ton of stuff! & he is one big boy! he's already passed his older brother, sammy, in weight. he's gonna be huge!!!!

*we're going to enroll the boys in tumbling classes... they've got to get all this energy out during these cold months! & it'll be good exercise!

*i cannot wait to have my sister & her fiancé visit us next week!!!! & even more i cannot wait to have her live with us for a few months & help plan her wedding!!!! i'm freaking out just a little bit! 

*we've just gotten super serious about our budget & i'm loving it!!!!!! i like so much that i know exactly how much i have to spend on everything instead of just feeling bad for spending anything at all without a budget.

*i feel at home in this sweet little white house & it feels good. 

*my guy starts seminary classes at the end of this month & i'm so happy for him. i know he's going to enjoy it so much & gain so much wisdom!

al

russian orphans

i just heard today that russia has put a ban on russian adoptions by american families. this is so so sad!!! watch a video about it here, & you can read about it here. it's really just all politics, and there are thousands of children in russia right now that will be waiting for mommies & daddies for years to come.  they may end up on the streets of russia because they grew out of the orphanage. there are not enough willing russian families to adopt them all. we need to pray for these sweet babies & the children that have already met their adoptive families, but cannot go home with them because of this ban. 

it's so good to remember that our God is sovereign over all things! 

"He sets up kings" (daniel 2:21) & He is over all. 

i pray that those of you & others that felt strongly to adopt from russia & maybe already started the process will not give in to despair & will maybe look into adopting from another country. we don't understand His ways, but we know that He is good. even though this "door" has closed for the time being there are still millions of babies around the world that need mommies & daddies. & we know that He will not abandon the sweet ones in russia. He is near the brokenhearted, the lonely, the fatherless, the fearful one & He will comfort them with an everlasting peace.
He will come to them.

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
john 14:18

al

butternut squash & bartlett pear soup

i made this yummy soup a couple weeks ago... mmmmmmm! so good & an easy/light meal after all the holiday eating! :)

what ya need:

*3 Tbs olive oil (i used coconut oil)

*2 medium leeks, white & tender green parts finely chopped (about 3 cups)

*1 small butternut squash, peeled & cut into 1 inch pieces (about 2 lbs)

*3 bartlett pears, peeled, cored & cut into 1 inch pieces (about 1 1/2 lbs)

*5 cups veggie broth

*1 15oz can of light coconut milk

*1 tsp fresh chopped thyme (i used dried)

*pumpkin seeds to garnish

how to whip it up:

*heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low. add the leeks & sauté till soft. 

*add squash & pears & sauté for about 5 mins. add veggie broth & bring to a boil. reduce heat to medium-low & add salt. sauté for 20 mins till squash is tender.

*remove from heat & add coconut milk. blend soup in batches in blender & pour into a large bowl. after all the soup is pureed put it back in the soup pot. add thyme & salt & pepper if desired. reheat the soup.

*serve it up & garnish with pumpkin seeds. enjoy!

al

happy Christmas eve

He has come & we like to celebrate Him A LOT around our house! :)

al

we like nashville... especially at Christmas!

the past 2 years we've gone to nashville with friends for a celebration for jude's birthday. we like nashville a lot! & Christmas in nashville is even better! it's been a tradition of my family's for years to go see the lights at the opryland hotel... so fun! & there's the cutest Charles Dickens Christmas street festival in downtown franklin, tn. in fact we're going to nashville again before Christmas because we just can't get enough. ;)
our adventure was good & crazy & way too short with some of our dear friends from memphis! thanks again for coming friends!!!

we had FUUUN!

one more "happy birthday" to our jude boy!

al

late thanksgiving!

happy late thanksgiving!

daddy made the whole family pumpkin waffles...

i set the table with my sister-in-laws...

my cute sister-in-law made that huge turkey all by herself...

& then i apparently didn't take any more pictures of thanksgiving day because my children were running around like crazy people. ;) 

al

both to will & to work

(embracing the camera here)

we visited sovereign grace louisville this past sunday & it was so rich & refreshing for my soul. i am so weary of my sin & failings as a mommy. i get so tired of messing up & then repenting & then doing so well & then failing again. the teaching was on philippians 2:12-13 & oh how i needed to hear these truths.

"therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

in my weariness with this fight against sin it is God who works in me to give me the desire, the will, & the ability & strength (work) to be sanctified. we don't play equal parts with God in the work of sanctification. He does it all. He places in us the desire to be more like Him. then He gives us the will. & then he does the work in us. He is to be praised!! He is at work in us!!!

& the best part... all of His work in us is for His good pleasure. it has nothing to do with us. it's not to achieve being "righteous". for His good pleasure! this takes the attention off of us. hallelujah! so all of my weariness & frustration is just selfishness. because being sanctified is not for me. it's not that i would succeed at being mommy. i need to chill out & stop "trying" so hard to make His sanctifying work complete. He is already at work. & He is faithful to complete the work He's started in me.

i am His good work & praise the Lord He is making me more like Him!

al

advent

we celebrate His birth this month. we wait in expectation for the One who would come to set us free & deliver us. He has heard our cry! hallelujah!

i blogged over at kate & kuby today about our advent tradition.

al

cute things

i like this little shop sooooo much! i ordered some stuff from we love citrus this summer & i decided to order a few things for Christmas gift wrapping. the cutest packaging & the cutest products! they included some little Christmas treats as a "thank you". ;) check them out!

al

jude turned 4!

we had an early 4th birthday party with mike's family in michigan before we made the move to kentucky. jude's birthday wasn't going to fall till we were in kentucky & he REALLY wanted his cousin caleb at his party. ;)
he also really wanted a rainbow cake... so this is what i came up with...

we had a "build your own pizza" bar, we sang "happy birthday" & ate cake
& then opened gifts.

it was a fun little family party.

al