At Home With Dot

My husband and I had the privilege of sharing our adoption story during our church's recent Orphan Sunday luncheon . I've shared about adoption on the blog before, but I'm excited to write these words along with my husband!!   Orphan Sunday Testimony My Husband's Testimony We want to thank you for the opportunity to share with the group a little about our experience.  We have been married now for almost 15 years, and we have four children.  B who is 10 years old, O is 7.5 are both biological, while Lil B is 4 and M is 2.5 who are both adopted.  We were naïve, and thankfully so, (especially for someone who is logical almost to a fault) because that’s what it takes often times to step off the ledge in obedience.  You can’t overthink it, because that just allows doubt to eat away at your faith. So, our journey began in 2011, after our oldest daughter old was 1.5 years old. Dorothy started talking about it a little here and there.  And, let’s face it, yo

I wanted to give up on our family Bible times on several occasions. As we started our journey doing Bible time together, it included us (the parents) reading directly from the Bible. We would all sit around the table listening intently to the treasury of words coming off the page...DID NOT HAPPEN. Yes, we all sat around the table BUT the response wasn't met with focused listening. Instead, it was met with kicking each other under the table, comments of "I'm thirsty," "I need to potty," "my head hurts," "she stuck her tongue out," and slumping over to fall on the floor below. Something needed to change because a simple Bible reading and discussion wasn't working to bring their hearts into the experience. So, I asked myself "why DO I want to do Bible time with my family?" AND here are the list of reasons I came up with: 1) The Bible calls us as parents to teach the Word to our children. "Teach them to your childr

Our youngest son rarely has two feet planted on the ground at the same time. His motion is usually a run, jump or skip. Asking him to walk is like asking me to stop eating chocolate. Slowing down is so very hard for him. Being active is simply part of his temperament. In my own simplified words, temperament consists of personal characteristics that you are born with. These characteristics can be molded in different ways depending on how you're raised and/or life circumstances. Our temperament determines how we will respond to experiences and events in our lives. One of our little guy's temperamental characteristics is being highly active and today his preschool teacher needed to talk with me about it. Our son is still learning how to appropriately express his excitement and energy level. Often times this excitement sends adrenaline through him and the result usually entails touching, hitting and pushing anything that moves. This type of behavior from a one year old may s

I had just stepped away into my bedroom for a mommy break when I heard..."the babies are playing with sister's nail polish and have all the containers open." My eyes closed and I took a deep breath expecting to see polish spilled on the floor and all over their arms and legs. Luckily, I only found a few marks on my little girl's lips, the little guy's arms and my dinning room table. Even so, I was at the end of my patience and emotional control. I lost my temper and the mommy tears started to flow. Its a beautiful thing when a child develops both compassion and a sense of wonder! Right now my two youngest have wonder that far outweighs their compassion. This often means their curiosity compels them to explore in inappropriate ways. Just this week I've cleaned up a toddler toilet play pee mess, witnessed my child making a meal out of dog food, removed a meal of toothpaste from two pairs of busy hands, saw my 3 yr old climbing on top of the covered Jacuzz

Lettering By: Lindsay @lindsaylettering I had just finished gathering up everyone into the car so we could drive 20 minutes to deliver a meal to a mom we didn't know. After we delivered the meal and climbed back into the car my oldest son said, "this was so boring." He was honestly speaking up and expressing his opinion. My kids know I'm always open to hearing their feelings and opinions. However, I'll also do my best to take advantage of every teaching moment. So, as we drove home, I reflected with my son and was honest right back. The thing is, in this situation, I totally agreed with my son. It was boring. I also know my family will be pulling for my attention at all moments of the day. Why not gather them up and postpone meeting their needs and desires in order to show them the needs of others. Show them how to move beyond themselves and help meet the needs of others. Show them it won't be easy and even admit it along the way. Then point

Do you have shadows that follow you around during the day? You know the ones that are eagerly watching every move you make? The shadows that want to be there when you use the restroom, take a shower, and fix dinner? The little people shadows. These little shadows can close in on my personal bubble REAL fast. I struggle with having a pleasant attitude when my littles are stuck like glue on me. On one particular morning (similar to most mornings) we had just finished breakfast, cleaned up, and had our regular protesting fits about getting dressed. So, I planted myself in front of the sink to decompress while washing dishes and scrubbing the counter really, really, really hard. Then my little people surrounded my feet and just said "momma" at random times as I tried to manipulate around them. They're right next to me ALL THE TIME! So, from my mouth comes, "I need you to walk away and go play" or "please leave me alone right now." I have to admit, w

Last night my oldest daughter melted into a ball of tears "Dad spent time playing with Bubba and now I want to play my game. Its not fair that dad is only playing with him." My oldest son only minutes earlier was crying in his room, "Dad hasn't played with me since Friday, I've been waiting to play with him since Friday." Does this sound familiar to you at all? There is only one of you and so many children!!! What a great "problem" to have. Our children actually WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH US! I know, as they age, this will not always be the case (right now they're 2, 3, 7 and 9). They will eventually spend more time with friends, be busy in extra activities and completing mountains of homework. However, it doesn't make the task of making time with each of our children any easier. I want them to always desire to spend that time with us. As a result, I can quickly fall into feelings of guilt or become overwhelmed with the lack of time for eac

This week I was hit with jealousy. The kind of jealousy that causes a domino effect in your thoughts and how you act. I was jealous because I saw someone else experiencing great success in their career.  I'm usually not the jealous type but the Lord is using this situation to fully show His path for me is perfect. You see, the person I was struggling in jealousy over was my husband.  Can you believe that? Don't get me wrong, I'm also very proud of what he has accomplished and how hard he works for our family. That's why I was shocked and confused when these emotions started servicing. So, I began to reflect on this source of jealousy and ultimately my choice to be discontent. As I reflect on where the Lord currently has me; it causes me to think about where I have been. So take a little journey with me... Many, many years ago I started my college career as a Psychology major. I liked the idea of helping others and counseling those in need. Well, after 1 year I

A Book I Referred To Several Times As a First Time Mom I was brought out of my slumber once again by a sick child moaning "mamma" in their bed. We are currently in week four where one or more members have been sick. So, this has inspired my current blog post. Typically it is no fun having sick children. However, in some cases, it truly is a blessing. I'm seeing this season as a blessing because its slowing my children down for a time and me as well. You know Psalms 23? Well, I've been reflecting on this verse as I care for our household's health.  The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2       He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3       he refreshes my soul. Did you catch that? "He MAKES me lie down..." Have you ever thought of sickness as something He brings to make us lie down? As a mom I know my plate can become full quickly and I just keep moving. Its hard to just sit and be still; to lie do