A little food for thought...

Amen. ~Paula

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

I posted this on our homeschool blog a couple months ago and I really want to put it here too (and well, it is my blog, so here it is).

This is too sweet not to share and have here on our blog forever.

Zoe loves the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" Just last night, she crawled up on the couch and started "reading" it out loud. It was the cutest thing ever. I captured it today on video b/c it's too good not to. She's such a joy!



Lots o' Learnin' going on here at the Sloan house. Hard to believe this sweet girl has only been with us 7 short months.

~Paula

Field Trip to Parker Pioneer Homestead

Lots of learning going on while on a super-awesome field trip to to Harrisburg, Arkansas to visit Parker Pioneer Homestead!

We took off in Jewel's 12-passenger van (I secretly LOVE that thing!) and headed across the Mighty Mississippi and into Arkansas. Look at this van full of kiddos!

It was a fun and VERY educational day. I have to admit that it made me thankful for the modern conveniences we take for granted everyday - even as much as I hate doing laundry, I can appreciate that I don't have to hand-wash it and run it through a ringer!



The kiddos thought that was really fun; I don't think they would think that was fun if we had to do that all the time though.


However, it did make me wish that we lived in a simpler time.





It was a fun visit and I really felt like I stepped back in time a couple hundred years.












~Paula

P.S. this will be posted on both our family blog and our homeschool blog. :)

When Love Takes You In

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Last night was the first night of the Memphis Empowered to Connect Post-Adoption Class. I have volunteered to head up the childcare while the parents are in their classes. The Empowered to Connect Class is a training designed specifically from Dr. Karyn Purvis' book: The Connected Child. I am so excited that we are equipped with ETC trained leaders here in Memphis. The Ottinger's story and hearts for the orphan and adopted families never ceases to blow me away. They are fearlessly leading a class of adults - all with adopted kiddos through this class for the next 9 weeks.

While the adults were in class, I (and 2 other amazing leaders) got to hang out with 14 of the most awesome kids EVER! These kiddos are incredible! I know I'll leave this 10 weeks more changed than they will. I have to admit, my breath caught in my chest for a second tonight. Here I was in a room filled with children of every color; some from here in the US and some from other parts of the world. Children who know family means love and not genes or blood type. Some of these children come from hard places and struggle daily as they learn to heal and how to be a family together. Children who look nothing alike - children who have only been siblings just a few short months - staying close by to comfort their newest sibling and making her feel secure and at ease in this new environment. Children who look at the child beside them and say, "I'm from China, where are you from?" as they play with cars on the floor. Children who sit together and draw flags to represent their birth-countries, so proud to announce where they were born. These kids get it. These kids don't complicate things the way we adults tend to do.

For a second, I imagined that is what Heaven must look like. This is real-life, every nation, tribe and tongue. For a second, I seriously considered if I should take my shoes off because this must be holy ground. I am so thankful I get a little peek of that here on earth.

One little family touched my heart in big ways. There are two biological children and a new adopted sister from Bulgaria at age 6 - just home this summer - she is right in between her big brother (7) and little sister (4). The littlest sister stayed close to her new sister, comforting her and sticking close in case she needed her. She showed her where her snack was and her drink and sat close to her as they ate together. When they were playing play-doh together, she moved her chair closer to her sister to help her. The big brother came by and looked after both of his little sisters - checking in on them pretty regularly. At one point - when the other children were talking about where they were from - he announced proudly: "My sister is from Bulgaria!" He was so proud to announce his sister's birth-country. They were the sweetest kids. I came home and told my hubby all about this little girl and how she touched my heart.

I love that I get to be a part of this. I love that God shows me big things through these amazing kids. I feel like my eyes were opened a bit wider tonight - praying that I continue to see more clearly.

~Paula

Lake Forest Ranch Labor Day Family Escape

This is the 2nd year we've gone to Lake Forest Ranch for the Labor Day Family Escape. It is a great weekend away with the family without all the distractions that a busy life brings. It's so beautiful there in the middle of the pine forest. We had Family Worship, recreation, games, Bible study and a lot more. It was fabulous!

Satan is a punk!

I believe strongly that Satan does not want us advocating for the orphan. He doesn't want us doing God's work. He doesn't want children coming home to Christian families. I believe Satan will attack a family who is adopting. I believe that he will throw every obstacle in our way to keep from making a major impact for the Kingdom of God. Satan is a punk.

The Holy Spirit wasn't something we talked about all that much growing up in a traditional Southern Baptist background. I think the Holy Spirit kinda freaks some people out. I grew up mainly skimming over the verses regarding the Holy Spirit. Not really talking in depth about His power. God promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to every believer. In Acts 2:38 Peter says, "And Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" I need Him living inside of me to help me through my day to day life. I feel His promptings. I hear Him speaking. The more I listen and stay tuned-in to Him, the more clearly I hear him. When I choose not to listen to Him, it becomes more difficult to sense Him and hear what He's saying.

God has been showing us that He wanted us to do something big regarding the orphan and that He wanted us to be willing to say YES. The Holy Spirit was revealing to me that Satan could/would try to stop us. I think that is why He wanted that YES before we started to dive in and begin putting our feet to the pavement.

This week, I have felt like we were under spiritual attack and that Satan was throwing out a few of his nasty tricks to keep me from meeting with 2 local adoptive mamas who have a heart for the orphan regarding a local adoption/orphan ministry. When you get 3 mamas (we have 12 kids between the 3 of us) to nail down a date/time that we can all meet, the only thing left is an 8:30 at night meeting at a Starbucks on a Wednesday night - after we've schooled all day and once we all get home from piano lessons, church, Bible study and get those kiddos headed to bed. So the time was set. We're gonna chat about a local adoption/foster-care ministry and orphan advocacy.

Wednesday morning at 1 am, Zoe is awake and crying. Her nose is running something awful. That's strange. She's never sick. No symptoms prior to that. She was up from 1 -3 am. I knew we had to be up at 5:30 AM for our field-trip. Whatever, we've got things to do, so off on a homeschool field-trip we head with a pack of tissues in hand and I popped her in the carrier for the day.

By the time we got home from our field-trip and got the boys off to TaeKwonDo, Zoe's nose was like a fountain. It was terrible and she was miserable. Then Tona sends me a text: "I have 2 kiddos who are acting pitiful. I think they're getting sick. I don't think I can leave hubby with this." I call Jewel to let her know and we decide to re-schedule. I text hubby (who has the boys at TaeKwonDo) that the meeting was off for tonight. This re-scheduling would have had to postpone this meeting by more than 3 weeks- the next available date for us all to meet. I prayed: "God, you've got to handle this. I feel your promptings to do this - show me what You want me to do". An hour later, Tona sends another message saying the kids perked up when they got home and she thinks Mo can handle it. I call Jewel back and told her that the meeting was back on if she can still make it. Move 'outta our way, Satan! We've got some babies and families who need us to stand in the gap for them.

I skipped Bible Study Wednesday night since Zoe was sick - figured the Children's Ministry would rather I kept my snotty baby at home. I decided to pray for the evening ahead and that my mind would be clear at this meeting. I expected Michael home with the boys soon and we'd have supper together before I had to head out.

Michael and the boys come home and we had an argument over something random and totally stupid. He said something snarky and I snapped at him. This was all over something totally stupid and insignificant. We rarely argue, so this really irritated me. I was tired (we had to be up at 5:30 that morning for our field-trip and I was going on just a few hours sleep since Zoe had been up in the middle of the night) and irritated. I KNOW this was Satan trying to keep me from going and if I did go, he didn't want my mind clear about what needed to be done for this ministry. I apologized to my husband and said "pray for us" as I walked out the door.

The whole drive to East Memphis, I was just asking for the Holy Spirit's protection. I was telling God that I knew we were under attack and that I know this wasn't the last of Satan's attempts to de-rail us. Wouldn't you know, I got little confused about which way to turn and I took a little detour - through an area that I am relatively familiar with. I needed to turn RIGHT on Poplar and I couldn't find the ramp that took me that way. This might not've been Satan. This might've been my lack of ability to navigate and my lack of all things directional. I am seriously directionally-impaired.

I made it to Starbucks that night and we had a great night of sharing our hearts with one another. We talked Adoption, Foster Care, Orphan Care, Advocacy, and LOTS more. I can't wait to share some of the BIG things that God is doing through His people right here in Memphis. He's calling up His Church to defend the fatherless. It's exciting stuff. It was amazing - it was like seeing a little peek of the Father's heart for these kiddos and their families. I am humbled to be a part of it.

I came home and plopped down on the couch next to my sweet hubby and just said "Satan is tricky and I hate him". We laughed about how he tried to throw off our night and my mind and how he really doesn't want us to make an eternal impact. He feels threatened - he should 'cause we're not stopping. And praise the Lord, we've got the Holy Spirit to help keep him off of us and to help us persevere through whatever he throws our way.

Satan is getting on my nerves, but he's not going to stop us! I think I need this shirt:

~Paula

"There are Children in America Who Need Homes"

I've received this comment twice in one week. One was from a random stranger, but based on her tone and condescending attitude, my guess is that she's a racist and has never done one thing on behalf of the orphan on any stretch of land neither here, nor there. Quite frankly, I don't give a flip about that hateful woman. Maybe she wasn't held enough as a child. Maybe her mama never taught her the "Jesus loves the little children of the world" song. You know the one: "red and yellow, black and white; they are precious in his sight". Maybe she forgot that we were all descended from Adam and Eve, therefore we are all from one race - that'll get a rise out of her for sure! Maybe her ancestors all arrived in the US miraculously because I get the feeling she's one of those ignorant people who post anti-immigration and racist remarks on Facebook and ends it with "if you agree, pass it on". BARF! Whatever old lady. Jesus Loves you; everyone else thinks you're an idiot.

The second time I received this comment this week made me want to scratch my head. I know I must've looked like this:

or maybe this:

This time it was because it was a church lady. I don't understand church people sometimes. Which reminds me how much I love this (completely unrelated) blog: Stuff Christians Like. She continued to share with me that "she feels strongly about domestic adoption". That's great! One thing I love about God and His infinite wisdom is that He calls us different things. He gives us different passions, different giftings, different abilities and strengths.

Let me put it like this: I believe wholeheartedly that we are to "Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows." - Isaiah 1:17 He commanded it over 50 times in the Bible. That is not debatable - obviously it's ignoreable (yeah, I just made that word up) - but it's there nevertheless. What you do with it is between you and HIM.

This might come as a surprise to some who might just see us randomly with our little Korean-cutie and our homegrown boys, but not to those who know us and our hearts for the orphan: "Dude, we don't care HOW you do it; just do it!" I couldn't care less if you adopted a child from a far away land or if your neighbor showed up on your doorstep with her baby and asked you to take it. I don't have any strong feelings about "international versus domestic", "private adoption versus going through the state". I don't know what "DEFENDING THE CAUSE OF ORPHANS" looks like for you. It might be adoption, it might be foster-care, it might be a feeding program, it could be child-sponsorship or going and serving in an orphanage - either in your hometown or somewhere else". It might be to give, it might be to pray and encourage. Whatever it is, don't ignore it.

Bottom line church-lady, they are ALL HIS kids and they ALL deserve a loving home of their own. You feel passionate about domestic adoption? Awesome! So do I! Well, I just feel passionately about adoption, so okay. Knock yourself out!

What gets me is this: out of all the times we've received this comment (and it's been A LOT), not a single one of them has any domestically-adopted children. I just want you all to be warned: I now carry information for Child and Family Services in my purse and the next person to say this to me will be given a plethora of information on how to begin their domestic adoption.

Yep, there are children in America who need homes. In the US, about 500,000 children live in Foster Care. There are about 1,000 children living in Foster Care in Memphis. 200 of those kids are available for adoption today. Globally, there are approximately 147,000,000 orphans on the planet. Each and every one of them created by God and all deserve to have a loving family of their own.

I hope to understand church people one day. Until then, I pray they become Kingdom People.

~Paula

Created for Care Retreat

I just registered for the Created for Care March retreat! I am so excited and so blessed to get to go to this amazing retreat. I know it will be a great time of encouragement, rest, relaxation, learning and so much more. To be with other adoptive mamas who "get it". Mamas whose hearts are for the orphan, mamas who know what it's like to field questions - both appropriate and inappropriate - about our family on a daily basis, mamas who struggle with parenting an adopted child: answering questions, being intentional with attachment, etc. I can't tell you how much just registering for this event has given rest to my soul. It tells me there are other mamas in the same place I am; some have walked this path before me; some who are walking along beside me. It gives me hope that this can be done and done for the Father's Glory!

Jesus loves these kiddos too much to leave them as orphans - to be with 1,000 other mamas who love these precious babies and have heard (and obeyed) His call to defend them is so encouraging to me.

I can't wait to be on beautiful Lake Lanier in Georgia in March. The best part is that I know like 30 adoptive mamas who are attending! It will be amazing to connect with moms I've only known online for the last couple of years. Many of us have Korean-adoptive kiddos and to be able to hug their necks and spend 3 days with them - all while hearing from amazing speakers - is going to totally rock!

I know Satan tried to keep me from going to this retreat. There were obstacles in our way, but God who is able to do even more than we can imagine - HE made a way.

To learn more about Created for Care, go to http://createdforcare.org/

~Paula

The Orphan Crisis

There is an orphan crisis. Did you know? Have you heard? Crisis. A REAL Crisis. Not like a "there's no more cookies" kind of crisis. Not a "the power went out and the TiVo didn't catch my favorite show" kind of crisis. A crisis as in there are an estimated 147 million orphans on our planet today crisis - waiting for a forever family kind of crisis. Hungry children living on the streets. Some in institutions, orphanages with no one to love them, hug them, kiss their foreheads and tell them they are special. No one telling them they are precious, chosen children of the King. No mama to kiss their boo-boos, no daddy taking the training wheels off their bikes and chasing them down the sidewalk for the first time. No brother to crawl into the bed with them at night with a flashlight and wisper and giggle with under the covers. No sister to laugh with and braid their hair and dress like princesses. No grandparents (or Grandmoo and PawPaw like we say 'round here) to spoil 'em rotten with cheetos for breakfast and a trip to the department store for a new toy - not because it's their birthday or a major holiday, but because they love 'em like crazy. A few lucky ones in foster homes; never intended to be their forever home, but lovingly providing care to children who need it.

I can't even wrap my mind around 147 million. That is a huge number. Unfortunately, it's just a number to many. Until you see their faces. Until you know their names. Until you know their stories. Why is it so easy to turn away and do nothing? Why is it so easy to ignore? How do we sleep at night knowing they are out there? How do we sit in our comfy homes in the suburbs with our 1.5 kids (nobody really has 1.5 kids, but you know what I mean) and our 2 or 3 cars, our boats, with our kids in every possible extra-curricular activity on the planet, our name-brand jeans and our hair done up, our nails done and fancy TVs and cell phones, yet we can't do anything to feed these kids? Find them forever homes?

Today my facebook status read: Today my heart is full as I celebrate a child uniting with her adoptive family for the first time in Korea. Today my heart aches as many friends wait longer & longer to hold their children for the first time, separated by oceans and miles apart. Today I feel the bitter sweet emotion of a friend who celebrates her daughter's 4th birthday while she waits in E. Europe; praying that someone gives her an extra hug today & tells that beautiful girl with Down's that she she's special. Today I question "Why God?" as I look on the faces of those who continue to wait for families. For many, that time may never come. Today I want to scream "Wake up Church!"... "who will speak up for these children?" I whisper, "Yes, Lord, here am I" through sobs I can not hold back. Let His name be written on the pages...

I mean it. I'm not joking. I've seen the face of Jesus through these kids. I've seen the GLORY of the RISEN KING in the face of this angel who sat on a Waiting Child photolisting of an international adoption agency.


That sweet face now looks me square in the face and smiles at me and says "MOMMY!" a million times a day.

That sweet baby was plucked out. She was spared. She is no longer one of the 147 million orphans. She is ours and boy can she rock a pair of striped leggins and a bow like no other.

She waited. We heard the call and we answered. We obeyed. We took that leap out in faith and said "Yes, Lord, here we are. Wherever, whatever the cost. Yes. Unashamedly - Yes. I don't know how You're going to work this out Lord, but we trust You." I sure am glad we did.

Through her story (In roughly 19 months), God has led 4 other families to their children. We've shared our hearts with many for the orphan praying that He speaks through us. Praying that we are a light in what seems to be an impenetrable darkness. We've advocated for children and raised funds to help children unite with their families.

Now, I feel a stirring in my spirit. I'm at a crossroad in my life. Something big is coming. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it looks like. All I know is God has opened my eyes to catch a glimpse of the Father's Heart; it is in these children. At some point, we will not be able to bring more children home, but until they put me in the ground, I will fight for the orphan. I will advocate for Christian families to step up and adopt them. I will send money to feeding and education programs. I will help build orphanages. I will help families raise funds for their adoption expenses. God has given me a passion for the orphan and has lit a fire in me that runs hot in my veins. Something is on the horizon. I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, my answer is YES! Yes, Lord, here am I!

You see, adoption isn't ideal. In a perfect world there would be no adoption. There would be no need. But we do not live in a perfect world. I recently read here that "Adoption is chemotherapy to the cancer of the orphan crisis." I agree. And as long as that cancer exists, I will be there helping one baby at a time find their family.

The Bible clearly commands over 50 times to care for the orphan. To speak up for those who can't speak up for themselves. It commands over 300 times to care for the needy. We need some more folks to step on up and say "Yes, Lord, here am I".

~Paula

I need a space to write, so write I will.

I have not written on this blog in a long time. I have so much I want to say, yet the words seem inadequate. Words don't seem to do justice to what needs to be said.

Since I last posted, sweet Zoe has joined our family from South Korea. (probably a huge reason why I haven't had time to post lately; among other things.) We love her! She's awesome.

Here's a picture of all of us at camp this year.

I love this one of the 3 kids!

I'll try to re-cap our weekend at Lake Forest Ranch soon. I plan to be bloggin' over here quite a bit. So stay tuned.

You can also check out our new homeschool blog: http://sloanacademy.blogspot.com/

~Paula