humble beginnings

I stress humblness....to think we are better than anyone else...well that just ain't right! So I give you this link with a little background.

A little over a week ago the Sherburne County Citizen did an article on Hope Blooms. This in turn drew some interest from Michele Bachmann. We were thrilled to get a phone call from her office. They wanted to give us a Congressional Certificate for the work that Hope Blooms is doing.

So when I say humbleness, we are humbly thrilled. Every time Wayne's and my name is mentioned just know my parents are so involved also, and we have a mission in mind. We are doing this for all the orphans out there. Not to get recognized for what we are doing. So read it knowing that! Ü

sorry you will need to copy and paste the article!
http://bachmann.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=129000

Shan

Listening When God Speaks

I have been trying to make it a habit to try to listen to God's voice. Since I have been doing that, I have come across many times that when I first heard God's voice, but ignored it, and then realized it was His voice speaking to me....

A few examples in the little ways that I have ignored His voice..

1. I needed Tylenol. I had a couple of bottle of Ibuprofen, but no bottles of Tylenol. I looked at one bottle of ibuprofen and looked around it, and after several minutes of searching, I opened up this bottle, the same one I overlooked, and it had Tylenol in it....

2. One day while I was driving kids to school I contemplated which way to go in. I was closer to cty rd. 23, but thought for a split second to just go back to hwy 25. I chose to go 23, and on my way in, my son called me to tell me there was construction on 23 and if I could to go back to hwy 25. There was a long wait.

Well, my point is, God speaks to us in many small situations. Many times we don't listen...I am learning to listen quicker than I used to.

A few weeks ago when I got Sue Turner, from WCCO, email, I was so excited, as you can imagine. It was early evening, and a nice night. I told Wayne that I just had to go for a little walk and just pray. We have a pond down a little hill behind our house. So I decided to go down there. I had 3 followers...the dogs. They all love to walk. So I went down there, the sun was starting to set, and it was a little cloudy. I knelt down and just said Thank You God over and over. All of a sudden I heard a plop/splash. In flew 2 ducks. Weird? Yes, I think so. I felt that was God saying to me...You are Welcome. Ducks are one of my favorite animals. They are fun to watch as babies. Usually when we walk down to the pond, we are scaring ducks out of there. For them to fly down, with me and three dogs down there, could only be explained as God.

Are you listening to what God is saying to you? What have you missed out on?

Dandelions or Lillies

There is much growing that we need to do as adults...young adults as well. I look back to my younger years. Wow so much growing up we do in our 20's. Coming from a girl who at age 16 got a free meal with my parents because the waiter thought I was under 12...I so couldn't wait to be 30....now I am leaning closer to 40 and want to be 30 again...or even 27....but I don't care to go back to my teens. There is enough to deal with in a normal childhood...I don't care to do it 2 times!

We just heard a sermon on Sunday about planting, blooming, spreading....Our pastor used dandelions. I will use Lillie's...much more enjoyable flower!

I have Tiger lilies, pink lilies, white lilies and dark maroon red lilies and Asiatic lilies. Every year they grow to be a bigger bunch....sometimes they come up where we have not had them before. Some have huge stems, some just tiny...the newer ones seem to be the tiniest.

Lillie's grow in sandy soil, but really go to town in the darker soil that we have planted some of them in.

After a summer of watering them, pulling some of the weeds that are around them, and watching them grow bigger and bigger, they get a beautiful flower on them. Hummingbirds love to come drink nectar from them.

How can I apply this to my life? Well, for starters, I create a home of rich soil. That is I don't bring in junk into my home...pornography, shows on TV that are not suitable for kids. Drugs or to much drinking. We use kind words to each other most of the time. We are creating good soil for us and our kids. Getting into God's word on a regular basis. God isn't just for Sundays. Once we have good soil we are fertilized and watered through God's word. Dig into the word....Your faith is caught not taught! As you follow this, you will bloom into a new creation that God wants you to be.

I love planting flowers, and seeing them bloom. I really like different ones that not every one has. But don't always have luck with them! Hope Blooms is founded on this... as we take care of children, nurture, fertilize new children in our lives, water, we can watch them bloom. There will be nothing better than when we can actually see the fruits of all this labor. I just cannot wait to physically start Hope Blooms!

The best is yet to come...

Just a year ago....Hope Blooms wasn't even a thought in my head. I found www.mnadopt.org and found a girl named Britney that I had a heart to help...then Joe, then Jason...then.....I still see these kid's picture in my head. They are all almost to ready to age out of the foster care system. Makes me sad that I cannot help them right now.

There are so many Joe's Britney's and Jason's....

I often pray for them....asking God to give them hope

asking God to give them peace...

I hope they feel that in their little lives. They have so much ahead of them, and soon decisions will be all theirs, rather than the adults that have been forced into their lives.

We have an interview set up for this coming Friday with channel four...WCCO/CBS. I really feel God orchestrated this moment to truly benefit Hope Blooms....the best is yet to come.

I feel that God is telling me we will be building this summer. This is so unthinkable to me. To think just a year ago, Hope Blooms wasn't eve non my mind, and here I am planning to buy land and build up to 10 homes this summer. Last year I was asking God...pleading with God...what do You want me to do with my life? I knew I wanted to make a difference...but I wasn't prepared for what God was going to show me. So all you little children in the state of Minnesota, hang on the best is yet to come...I will do my best to help each one of you. God has given me a huge task that I will not take lightly!

Time flies when you're having fun?

You've all heard the saying, time flies when you are having fun. When you are in the midst of little ones running around. Wiping noses, changing diapers, doing laundry...being a wife. IT is such a crazy time. Time feels like it will never end. You go to bed and wake up and do the same things over again. BUT and I mean a big BUT, it IS gone in the blink of an eye. Oh how I wish I was teaching my kids how to use a scissors safely again. Or making koolaid play dough. Or cleaning up their little messes.

When they are getting ready to graduate, turn 18 and go to prom....you want to rewind the clock and start over again. Relive your regrets. Do over....rewind, erase, do over. Be the better mom.

At 18 I am sure I was more grown up than my soon to be 18 year old....wasn't I? I didn't think I was invincible. I thought I could do it all alone. Or was I the same way that my son is now? I feel as if he has some big time growing up to do. Even today as we were taking prom pictures, is little 12 year old brother was annoying him....cannot handle that like an adult now. Ü My grandma just recently told me, after a particularly tough time with my almost 18 year old.."he is stuck between a man and a boy." That is so tough.

Hang on to every moment that you can. It is gone in the blink of an eye.

Shan