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Soccer, Running, and Boise

By OneThankfulMom Thursday May 13, 2010

It was a full day!  Each Thursday I have a Bible study with my friend, Kathleen.  She lives in Seattle and I live in Idaho, so we meet on the phone, which could be weird, but it works for us. Kathleen is an amazing mother to some big kids and two great boys from Kenya and we share many common experiences as adoptive moms.  I look forward to our study every week and I am learning so much.

The rest of the day flew by and by 4:00 I managed to have the house pulled together and dinner in the oven.  Then Russ and I did our “divide and conquer” routine — I took four girls to soccer and he took the two little boys to Samuel and Rusty’s track meet.

The good news is that Samuel qualified for the State track meet in Boise!  I’ve been in denial about traveling to Boise next week, but now I am excited for him and although I haven’t figured out a single detail, I’m sure it will be great.

I blogged today over at Grown in My Heart, so please stop by if you have a moment!

~Lisa

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World AIDS Orphans Day

By OneThankfulMom Friday May 7, 2010

Today we remember the many children who have been orphaned by AIDS.  If you have been to Africa, Asia, or other areas where AIDS is particularly prevalent, you have seen these children with your own eyes.  The effect of AIDS is staggering.

For more information about how you can help children who have been orphaned by AIDS. please visit our From HIV to Home website, to learn how you can Love One.

If you are planning to adopt…consider an HIV+ child.  You can find more information on raising HIV+ children on my FAQ page.

Let’s remember the children today.

~Lisa

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Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit VI – Day 2

By OneThankfulMom Wednesday May 5, 2010

Day two of the Summit began with worship and more great speakers.  I sent a text to Rusty to tell him that I was listening to Desperation Band…they were great.  I love the song Rescue.

The morning Breakout session, Supporting Families in the Post-Placement Journey was put on by Michael and Amy Monroe of Tapestry Ministries.

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Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit VI

By OneThankfulMom Tuesday May 4, 2010

I left for the Summit on Wednesday morning, flying out of the little airport in our neighboring town.  I was in Seattle, feeling airsick from turbulence, a mere fifty minutes after take off.  My dear friend, Marybeth met me there, and the flight to Minneapolis went by quickly as we chatted and then slept a bit.  We arrived a few hours before the rest of the From HIV to Home ladies,

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Chocolate Cake and Rocking Chairs

By OneThankfulMom Monday May 3, 2010

I am home after a wonderful time at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit.  It was an amazing experience and I was encouraged in so many ways.  I loved my time with the From HIV to Home ladies and my dear friend, Marybeth, who went with me.  I also got to meet quite a few of you!  Thank you to each one of you who introduced yourself and encouraged me to keep blogging – I’ll do my best.

I arrived home in time to make the frosting for Eby’s birthday cake.  I didn’t manage to cook the dinner I had planned before I left (and before I was sleep deprived by lots of late nights), but Russ picked up pizza and Eby was thrilled.

After dinner I rocked my girls and spent some special time with Honeybee.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for Honeybee while I was gone.  She did great and I came home to a calm girl.  Thanks be to God!

I hope to write more about the conference soon, but in case I forget to say this, I would encourage anyone who has a heart for orphans, to attend.  You will not regret it!  I don’t believe they have announced the location for next year’s Summit, but maybe it will be in your neighborhood, or at least your part of the country.

~Lisa

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The Marathon of Therapeutic Parenting

By OneThankfulMom Tuesday April 27, 2010

I have at least six unfinished blog posts that may make it here one day, but I can’t seem to get much time on the computer and honestly, my heart just isn’t in it.  My Honeybee is struggling with great sadness over the losses in her life.  It is hard to be strong for her because her sadness sweeps over me and I find myself carrying it with her.  “His yoke is easy and His burden is light,” these words come to me, yet this burden does not feel light today.

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Tuesday’s Answers: What Led You to Adopt?

By OneThankfulMom Tuesday April 20, 2010

One of Eby's Referral Photos - such a sweet, sad boy

Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer our Tuesday Topic: What Led You to Adopt? There were many great responses, so many that you really need to go to the original post and read  them.

I thought it would be interesting if I pulled some quotes from the comments, so you can get a taste of the great things people shared.

“It was God. There’s no other explanation.”

“Over the months, the desire to have another biological child faded. Then it was gone; and I mean completely. Within six months we had submitted our paperwork. Our license was then expedited (and changed) to accommodate three fabulous girls. Our only placement.”

“People would bring up adoption wherever we went, even the check out clerk at the grocery store. The final straw was when my husband took me to the post office to send a package to his mother. He waited in the car and wondered why it was taking me so long. When I came out I told him how the clerk went on and on about adoption…

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A Little Catching Up

By OneThankfulMom Wednesday February 10, 2010

I have a Post-it note scribbled with little items that I need to write about, so this post is a means of crossing them all off my list!

In no particular order, here we go:

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Five for Five: Loving the Children of AHOPE

By OneThankfulMom Wednesday December 2, 2009

You all know how near and dear to my heart AHOPE is. By the grace of God, AHOPE saved my daughters’ lives. I’m not saying that to be dramatic; it is simply true.

AHOPE is From HIV to Home’s featured partner for our World AIDS Day 5 for 5 campaign.

Welcome to Day 2 of our Five for Five campaign for World AIDS Day – a chance to give $5 a day for 5 days – each day funding a different project serving orphans living with HIV!
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Today’s project is “AHOPE for Children” in Ethiopia. AHOPE Ethiopia provides two children’s homes exclusively for the care of children infected with HIV, with a capacity of about 100 children total. The Child Development Center is a community outreach program that provides services essential to enable a destitute extended family to keep its orphaned children at home. The first Child Development Center was opened in September of 2007 in an impoverished neighborhood of Addis Ababa. It has the capacity to assist 100 children and their guardians and is designed as a model that is suitable for replication in other needy areas as funding allows.
All “5 for 5″ donations received today (December 2) will be designated toward AHOPE’s Child Development Center – enabling extended families and communities to keep their orphaned children at home.
To give:

click here to be directed to our donor page at Network for Good and type “5 for 5″ in the designation box.

To share:

share the link to www.fromhivtohome.org wherever you can today – Facebook, Twitter, emails, blogs!
Come back tomorrow for a new project!

Our Tuesday’s Answers will be up in just a bit….I’m working on it while packing to leave for Seattle. This is probably not the best example of multi-tasking.

~Lisa

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World AIDS Day – Be Part of the Solution

By OneThankfulMom Tuesday December 1, 2009

I’m a little late today…but joining in nonetheless. Since I LOVE spending hours each week in my car, I decided to make a quick (nearly two hour each way) trip for an unexpected appointment with an oral surgeon. Fortunately, the problem was small and easy to resolve. Now on to the important topic I had planned to blog about today.

Today is World AIDS Day – a day that I hope will cause us to pause and consider the effect of AIDS in our world, particularly on continents that are not so fortunate as we are. I wish I could show you the effect of AIDS in Ethiopia, where a person cannot remain untouched by this disease. So many children are left to care for themselves as their parents die. So many grandparents are left to raise their grandchildren whose parents have died of AIDS.

I live in America, where there is food, and comfort, and ARV’s that keep my children healthy. I thank God that tomorrow I will get in the car for yet another trip to Seattle, but there I will find the finest medical care for my children, clean needles for blood draws, high-tech laboratory equipment that will give us helpful information, H1N1 vaccines, all in a place that cares about children and has medical providers who are both brilliant and kind.

From HIV to Home is launching a Five for Five event today. I will be linking to Jennifer’s blog each day during this project, but to make it extra easy for you today, here is what she posted on her blog:

Welcome to World AIDS Day and the start of our Five for Five campaign – a chance to give $5 a day for 5 days – each day funding a different project serving orphans living with HIV!
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Today’s project is “Agape Children’s Home” in Thailand. Located in Chiang Mai Thailand, the Agape Home for babies with HIV/AIDS opened in May 1996 as a response to the plight of children impacted by the spread of HIV/AIDS across Thailand. All of the children who come to the Agape Home to live are, or are at risk of being, HIV positive. Many of them have already lost their parents to AIDS, and there are no other options for their care.

All “5 for 5″ donations received today (December 1) will be designated toward Agape’s current building project – a village of smaller homes where children will be able to live in a more family-type situation rather than in one large facility.
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To give:


click here to be directed to our donor page at Network for Good and type “5 for 5″ in the designation box.

To share:

share the link to this page (www.fromhivtohome.org) wherever you can today – Facebook, Twitter, emails, blogs!

[Note: In honor of World AIDS Day, I am postponing our Tuesday Topic until tomorrow - if you were planning to reply, but haven't gotten to it, it isn't too late to join the discussion.]

~Lisa

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