Ethiopian Orphan Rescue a.k.a. Adoption

Our good friends the Webbs are called by God to rescue an orphan from Ethiopia! This has been a very exciting for us (and exhausting and exciting for them). They are about to complete their home study, and we are having a HUGE yard sale at our church on Saturday. Come by if you can- if you can't, go to their blog and contribute $ on PayPal. They are a wonderful Godly couple giving everything that they have and more to make this happen- won't you help?

Reasons To Adopt From Ethiopia

• One in six children die before their fifth birthday
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone, and there are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia.
• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
• In the 90s the population (3%) grew faster than food production (2.2%)
• Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.
• Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002.
• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.
• In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.

Blog Award!

I received a blog award from my friend the Bookworm!!! Thanks so much! Your blog rocks too!

Wow! It's so hard to decide who to pass the award to! There are so many great blogs out there! Here are a few of my favorite!

1. Our All in All
2. A Season for Everything
3. Higher Up and Further In
4. The Homespun Heart
5. Ponderings from a Picket Fence Cottage
6. Renaissance
7. Pleasant View Schoolhouse
8. Lazy D Ranch
9. Be Bold Jen
10. Inside SCM-Simply Charlotte Mason

Here are the Rules:
1. Add the award logo to your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you. (That's me!;-)
3. Give the award to other blogs. (However many you choose!)
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message (in the form of a comment) for your award recipients on their blogs.

Thanks so much Bookworm!!!

Lifelong Learner

What better way to enjoy a book than sitting on a "big wheel" in the Spring sunshine!

Brussels Sprouts

Okay- I know that the very mention of brussels sprout causes you to scrunch up your face! BUT- you haven't had them like I make them! They taste great and are so good for you! Try them this way some time.

Yummy Brussel Sprouts
1. Cut off the ends and slice in two.
2. Steam in basket until bright green (around 3-5 minutes)
3. Run cold water over them in a colander (to stop them from cooking)
3. Chop a medium onion ( I like sweet onions- I'm Southern!)
4. Melt 1/2 stick butter and saute onions until tender.
5. Put drained BS in pan and stir until coated with butter and onions
6. Toss in 1/4-1/4 cup sliced almonds.
7. Watch carefully and stir occasionally until BS are beginning to brown.
8. ENJOY!

Check out the BS that we grew in our garden!

God's School of Faith

I read this excerpt on another blog that I like to read. Boy, if I could just get this through my thick skull, I would be so much better off!!

From the March 7 entry in Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman:

"There is no way to learn of faith except through trials. They are God's school of faith, and it is much better for us to learn to trust Him than to live a life of enjoyment. And once the lesson of faith has been learned, it is an everlasting possession and an eternal fortune gained. Yet without trust in God, even great riches will leave us in poverty."

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams

We are having a great time with our new Artist/Picture Study of Ansel Adams. We read about Mr. Adams each day from a biography and we take a look at his photographs along the way. Today we went to our wonderful and favorite park (Lil' Mulberry) for nature study and to do a little of our own photography. I think the results are fabulous. But, I'll let you judge for yourselves.

Meet Sam. Photographer extraordinaire:


Here's my favorite Sam "Adamnesque" photo:



Next comes Bennett:



Cool.....



Then there's me:




My favorite...






Others that we like:






by Sam














by Bennett














by Caroline

Living Life Backwards

We should be living our lives backwards- at least backwards from the way the world lives theirs. I have always had this mentality that I will live my life here, and then I will get to go to heaven. I should be living my life in such a way that I remember that I belong to heaven, and I am only here for a little while. This place is just a stop over. It will only a blink of the eye in the light of eternity. I am on my way home.

My aunt Henrietta died last night. She was only 61. It is so difficult at these times to understand the mind of God. She has a husband and two children. And her children have young children. They need her, the grandchildren need her. Nevertheless, our Lord saw fit to take her home. I have no shadow of doubt that last night at 10:15pm, Jesus met her and told her "well done, my good and faithful servant." Her faith was her life. I pray today that the Holy Spirit will draw all of her friends and family who don't share her faith to the Lord Jesus. I pray that her life and death will shine like a star in the universe and give hope to the hopeless.

Henrietta's kids- John and Emmie and
their kids with Bennett, Sam and Emmie June 2005

There Will Be A Day- Jeremy Camp

I try to hold on to this world with everything I have
But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that trys to grab
The many trials that seem to never end, His word declares this truth,
that we will enter in this rest with wonders anew

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always

I know the journey seems so long
You feel your walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you’ve walked out all alone

Troubled soul don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting

I can’t wait until that day where the very one I’ve lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced
To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing….

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face

There will be a day, He’ll wipe away the stains, He’ll wipe away the tears, He’ll wipe away the tears…..there will be a day.