Christmas Cards

Just a reminder that I will be designing custom Christmas cards again this year.  Head on over to my Etsy site to check out the rest of my new designs!  So far I have over 50 cards to choose from and I will be adding more.  

Cookbooks For Sale!

Order your cookbook today!  It's full of over 300 great recipes of all kinds from some great cooks.  All proceeds will be used to fund our adoption.  The suggested donation is $25.  Email me at jennydixon921@gmail.com to reserve your copy!

Compassion International

My favorite blogger, Ann Voskamp, is in Guatemala with Compassion International this week.  She and several others are there blogging about what they are seeing and raising awareness for Compassion's great work in Guatemala and all over the world.  Click on the picture above to get a glimpse of Compassion's work in Guatemala! 

Step Aside

She wants to be just like me.  ME!  For nearly 10 years I've been a mother of boys.  Boys who at the age of 2 began to identify with their daddy - their nearly perfect daddy.  Boys who by the age of 3 wanted nothing more than to be just like their daddy.  And as a mommy who has always been painfully aware of her faults and shortcomings, I've taken great comfort in the knowledge that my boys will likely model themselves after their dad.  But now there's this girl.  This sweet, strong and oh so smart little girl.  She loves all things pink and Dora and baby dolls and pigtails.  She stands beside me in the mirror and asks me if she's pretty.  And lately all she talks about is how her hair is long "like yours mommy."  And how she sleeps in a big girl bed "like you mommy."   And how she goes to the potty " like you mommy" :).   And she says things like "We're the girls!" and we hit fists and she says "Girl power!".  It seems like half of her statements end with "like you mommy!".  So like any honored mother would do, I smile and I nod and I say something along the lines of "That's right!  Just like mommy!".  But each time I hear her say those words, deep inside I can feel the panic creeping in.  The panic says, "You do not need to be replicated!"  The reality is that this too selfish, impatient mama doesn't want her little girl to grow up and be just like her.  I am humbled.  I am terrified.  I tell myself I've GOT to finally get my act together.  Stop losing my cool.  Stop being so distracted.  Start being the perfect mother that she needs and deserves before it's too late. 

But he said to me, 

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 

2 Cor. 12:9

And that's when I remember what is truth.  She is His, not mine.  And that's good news for this mother in need of much grace.  Yes, He has given me a great task in entrusting her to me, asking me to train her and love her and show her Christ.  And oh how I don't want to fail at that most important of tasks.  But how quickly I forget that my "success" in this and all things is not dependent on me.  All I have to do is step aside and let His power work through me.  But isn't that the hardest task of all?  The stepping aside?  And why is it so hard?  Do I really think I can do a better job?  

More of Him and less of me.  That's the only thing that needs to change.  When I finally step aside and let His power be made perfect through my multitude of weaknesses, perhaps then my heart will swell with joy at the sound of my daughter speaking those precious, heavy words.  

"Just like you mommy."  

Pink

Live to the hilt

Live to the hilt

of every situation

you believe to be

the will of God.

- Jim Elliot

My Girl....

A New Birth Announcement

You can find this new birth announcement on my Etsy Site (www.jennydixon.etsy.com)

Lenses

I've had glasses and/or contacts for as long as I can remember. My first pair of glasses was pink and they were on the large side. I can still remember how excited I was when I finally reached the glorious age of contacts. It is my personal opinion that overnight contacts are one of man's greatest inventions. They are so convenient that I lose track of how long I've been wearing them. My optometrist says I should take them out at least once a week to clean them and rest my eyes. I'm busy. I usually remember to take them out when I can't see out of them anymore :). Yesterday they were getting a little cloudy, so I took them out and put my glasses on. My current glasses aren't as horrible as my initial pink ones, but they aren't "current" either. Not the right prescription and definitely not cool. When I first put them on, everything appears to be a little off (because they are ). But after just a few minutes things appear normal again, as if I'm seeing perfectly well.

Last night, tacky glasses firmly in place, I fell into bed and opened my bible to the book of John. Noah will be studying John when we crank school back up in a few weeks, so I figured it would be good for me to revisit it. Ten verses into John I read about how Jesus came into the very world that he created, only to have that world not recognize him. The very world that he created rejected him. Even "his own people". And I'm struck once again by the injustice of this. And then I start to wonder how often I fail to recognize him when he comes to me now. And it doesn't take me long to know the answer. Daily. Hourly. Because I know it is daily that I fail to recognize him in the face of the Chick-Fil-A employee, the college student, the easy to judge celebrity, the fellow church member, the child, my child, my friends, the orphan, the widow, the man walking down the street with all of his possessions slung over his back, and the list goes on.... And I'm saddened.

Each time I remove my glasses and place a new pair of contacts into my eyes, I'm taken back by how clearly I can see again! And it surprises me that it wasn't bothering me to wear my funky old glasses. But I guess that's just the way it goes with lenses...

This morning as I blinked and opened my eyes to my contact restored vision, I couldn't help but think about how much I would love to have such a quick fix for my heart to see clearly. But selfishness and busyness and the things of this world seem to constantly cloud my vision. And even worse, sometimes they don't cloud it at all. Sometimes the eyes of my heart easily adjust to the lenses that the world freely provides. And when that happens the orphan crisis looks like a hopeless cause. And the man walking down the street with all of his possessions slung over his back seems scary and dirty. And the Chick-Fil-A employee was placed there to serve me, not to be blessed by me. And the strung out celebrity is reaping what they've sown. And the fellow church member should wise up and see things the way I see them. And the college student just needs to grow up. And my child just needs to shape up. And before I know it, I can look all around and not see the face of Christ anywhere on anyone. And that scares me.

I really need some new glasses. I haven't replaced my old ones because I can never seem to swallow the cost. They are so expensive! I guess that's why I keep my worldly lenses around too. Maybe I haven't been fully willing to swallow the cost of replacing them. No doubt it will be expensive.

I plan to get some new glasses soon, but today I'm just praying for new lenses. Lenses that will allow me to recognize him. Lenses that will keep me from rejecting him. Unlike my wonderful overnight contacts, these lenses probably won't be convenient. They will open my eyes to things that my worldly lenses protect me from. They will take me places and show me faces that my worldly lenses can't see. But deep down that's what my heart desires. Lord give me your eyes.

Back from Blogcation

Oh my, it's been a while. Since I last posted we have been quite busy! We moved into our little apartment a few weeks ago. I often have people ask me, with a hint of pity in their voice, how apartment life is going. My answer to them is that I love it! Most people probably see it as quite a hardship to live with 3 kids in an 1100 square foot apartment, but I say NO WAY DUDE. Having your washer and dryer IN the kitchen has a lot of advantages. Plus, it only takes me 15 seconds to mop my kitchen floor. (The kitchen is a little smallish, but you can't have it all, right!) The phrase "less is more" has taken on all new meaning for me. My kids don't miss a single toy that they have in storage. And they still don't play with half of the ones we brought to the apartment. We always joked in our big house that it didn't matter how much space we had, we all ended up in the same room most of the time anyway (this joke was usually made when we were annoyed that we couldn't seem to get 5 minutes away from the kids to have a conversation). But it's so true. We haven't missed the space one bit. Of course half of our stuff is in storage. Which can only lead me to one obvious conclusion. We Americans think we need big houses to comfortably hold all of our people. But in reality, we need them to hold all of our stuff. Half of which we wouldn't miss if we never saw it again. Just a thought I can't seem to get out of my head. I guess that was a really long, too many details way of saying that apartment living is going quite well!

Noah is on the swim team and Micah is taking lessons, so that has occupied nearly every one of our mornings this summer. Add in sports camp, dinners with college students, beach trips, swim meets, house plans, dossier, etc. and I'm starting to think we will finally get some rest when summer is OVER! Isn't that backwards??

Update on the kids: Sophia is carrying on full conversations and developing a little bit of an attitude. Micah has learned to swim this summer and officially seems like a big kid, rather than my baby boy. Noah is really growing up. One of my favorite sounds in our house right now is listening to him reading books to his little brother and sister. Don't get me wrong, there are some less pleasant sounds that go along with his new grown up self too, but let's just be honest and admit that we like to paint a pretty picture on our blogs :).

We have a contract on land and are finalizing house plans, hoping to begin construction across from West Circle very soon. And our adoption paperwork is finally in Ethiopia! Now we just wait and continue to raise funds for our travel expenses. These expenses have increased now that they will be requiring us to travel twice instead of once like we were originally told. But that's no big deal for God! We are so excited to be at the this point in the process.

I'll post a random selection of pics from our trip to the beach. We had great weather and minimal tar balls! As always, we are so thankful to mom and dad for arranging this trip where we can spend great time with our family! More pics in my fb album. NaNa, you're just gonna have to get on Facebook :).

Requirements

Well....here we go again.

Two years ago when we moved to Tuscaloosa I vowed that the house we moved into would be lived in by us for as long as we remained in this town. I don't particularly like moving and I have done a lot of it in my short adult life! That being the case I had some pretty specific requirements, whether consciously or subconsciously, that it had to meet:

1. Must be in a safe neighborhood with sidewalks, big trees and lots of grass.

2. Must have enough space for all of our glorious stuff.

3. Each child should have his or her own bedroom. Heaven forbid 2 people share one room. Wait a minute.... Duane and I share a room!

4. Clean

5. Convenient

6. Comfortable

6. 2 car Garage

7. No remodeling requirements of husband. Been there. Done that.

8. And a fence. Which I did not get. And I'm still slightly bitter about it.

It was a pretty good run. 2 years. That's about average for the Dixons. After a year on the market the house has been sold. Next week we will move Team Dixon into an 1100 square foot apartment while we wait for our house to be built (by husband of course) directly across the street from the West Circle Public Housing Development. After much prayer and consideration, we believe God is calling our family to live in this community (hopefully for longer than 2 years!) While the neighborhood does have sidewalks, a few big trees and a little bit of grass, it is not known for it's safety. And we will not be building a house large enough to accommodate all of our stuff. Much of the stuff will have to go. And our little princes and princesses will be sharing rooms with their siblings. Of course I will attempt to keep it relatively clean, but it's doubtful that our new home will stand up in the categories of convenience and comfort.

I tried telling Him no. I really did. I reminded Him that I have one, soon to be 2, daughters. And He asked me if I trusted their lives in my hands more than in His. I told Him that I am already so overwhelmed with the everyday tasks of my life as a homeschooling mom pursuing the adoption of a 4th child and I didn't think I had much left to give to the people of West Circle at the end of the day. He reminded me that the simple presence and example of a healthy family following Christ would be enough. I reminded Him that when He created me he gave me the introvert gene and my home has always been my place to hide out and regroup! Surely it was ok for me to keep just this one sacred thing for myself. He gently said, "I want it all." But God, we're already so involved with campus ministry and adoption ministry. What if we can't handle all of this ministry? He pointed out that this isn't a ministry. This is life in Christ. Surrounding ourselves with the very people that Christ placed himself among. It's just where we will live and love as Christ's ambassadors. And we know that it will only be through His spirit and His grace that our mere love and presence will be enough to make a difference in the lives of the precious people of West Circle.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

His requirements are so much better than mine :). Please pray for our family as we seek to move in God's direction for our lives. We have full confidence in His faithfulness.

Need a baby shower invitation?

This is my latest baby shower invitation. It would also make a cute birthday invitation. It will not be on my Etsy site, so if you're interested in ordering just email me at jennydixon921@gmail.com. I will soon begin offering several cards from by blog that can't be purchased on Etsy. There are lots of rules with commercial licensing that I want to be careful to follow, and listing from my blog allows me to do that. Remember, all profits will go toward our adoption!

Monkey and Lion - $12.00 (for custom design and jpeg image)

Giving Hope Homes 5K

Today's 5K to raise money for the many adoptions in our church was a huge success!

Our dear friends Adam and Wilkes.

Micah rode his bike the entire way :)

The pros :)

Me and my sweet friend Anna.

This sweet girl was just happy to be along for the ride.

Easter

We had such a blessed Easter! We are so thankful for our family here in Tuscaloosa. We had a great lunch and egg hunt with our friends. More than anything we're thankful for the victory that is ours because we serve a RISEN Savior! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter too.