HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

As most of us will be ringing in the New Year tonight I can't help but share what has been heavy on my heart.

If you want to have news years resolutions, that's awesome, but maybe we should all stop and think about what is really important.




    Hubby and I have a lot of people in our lives who don't know Jesus, who know Him and don't care, or the ones that really kills us, those that think they know Him and claim to be a Christian. This is not coming  from a judgmental or self righteous place, this is coming from a pain in my body that has been placed there by the Holy Spirit. This post is written in nothing but love.

It's good to have goals, get out of debt, lose weight, or whatever you are thinking about, but those will not bring you life, bring you hope, those will not pull you from death. (if your not in Jesus you are dead)

If Jesus is not your foundation, if Jesus is not your everything, if you are just sprinkling Him in your life then you don't know Him. I honestly don't know how much clearer I can be. Going to church regularly, praying before a meal or at bedtime is all good, BUT if you are not actively seeking Him, reading His word, bearing fruit! Then how can you love someone you don't know, How can you call yourself a Christian or His child if you don't even know what's required of you?  It's not the pastors job or anyone else to show you, it's yours.
You don't have to take my word for it listen to what Jesus will say:


"Not everyone who says to me "Lord, Lord" will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in Heaven. On that day many will say to me .Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." Matthew7:21-23

It's also not enough to just use Jesus when things are bad. His word says:

"You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as front lets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise." Deuteronomy11:18-19
All the time! Do you see that?? when you are awake, when you are lying down.. ALL THE TIME.


We have such an amazing gift. We get to repent! Jesus says that  "As far as the East is to the West, I will remember your sins no more."  What a gift, why aren't you taking it?

My prayer for all of you (and me as well) is that you will examine your walk or lack there of with the Lord. That you will ask Him to show you the truth and that you will be willing to hear it and obey. That the Lord will rip the scales off your eyes and you will be able to see His Holiness, your depravity, and that He is worthy to be feared and worshiped.That you will live your life on your knees in repentance to the King of Kings and  that you will truly be a light in this dark world. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Am I?

     

 "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become so callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ, to PUT OFF YOUR OLD SELF which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and TO BE RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MINDS, and TO PUT ON THE NEW SELF, CREATED AFTER THE LIKENESS OF GOD IN TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS." Ephesians4:17-24

Am I being renewed daily? or am I still "putting on my old self?" 


As I have been praying  that I would be more aware of how my walk is and how I am spending my time (Ephesians5:15-16) I have realized that so quickly I am ready to put on my "old self."

The other day I was at a store with all my kiddos, they were being horrible (that's actually being nice) Normally I would have left with their behavior, but I had to get food. I had more then enough by the time we were checking out. I was doing all that I could to not explode so in turn I was being very cold. To add more fun to my night, I accidentally got into the 10 items or less lane with about 50 items. The cashier was nice and said she would take me anyway, but then the line behind me got long and the kids were all over the place, I told her I would put everything back in my cart and go to another line. The customers behind me were all making fun of me ( not in a mean way, trying to be funny) and I about lost it. The cashier could see that I was about to boil over and she read my shirt which said (hope) she said "No big deal, there is always hope, right!?!" You would have thought that I would have put a smile on my face and said "thank you". Nope, I gave her a nasty look and threw all my items off the belt and into my cart and went into another line.

 At the time, I thought I handled everything correct, because I never yelled, but when I stopped and let the Lord show me my behavior. I was horribly embarrassed and convicted. Needless to say I apologized and asked my kiddos to forgive me and the Lord as well.

I could share so many more.

I am pretty sure that if the people in the store would have known all that I went though leading up to my nastiness then they would have completely understood, BUT is that really an excuse (or any excuses for that matter) okay for those who say they are in Christ!?! That would be NO!

I don't want to live on this earth with my old self pretending to be new. I want the Lord to rip off my old self. And to live in Jesus, clothed in His love. (Colossians3)


 *Because God is pleased with me, I now want to live a life pleasing to Him (2Corn5:9, 1Thes4:1)

I am righteous through Jesus, now go and be righteous, I am loved now go and be loving (Col3:1)


I am forgiven, now go and be forgiving (1John4:11)

* I have had this written in my bible for a long time, It is not from me, but don't remember where I got it. If you know, please let me know so I can give credit*


                                        "You called me out of death and called me into life!"

It's. Almost. Gone.....

        Just wanted to remind everyone that our JEWELRY SALE is still going on. 

I can still ship it to you in time for CHRISTmas.

You better hurry though we only have 8 of our beautiful coin necklaces left!!! And once they are gone, they are gone.

So hurry and get yours today!!!!!!!


You can see all about the necklaces and our fabulous sale by going here!

If you would rather send me a check, that is fine, just email me masermel@yahoo.com

All I want for Christmas

Our beautiful tree

 On the Adoption front:

I wish I had some amazing products to sell you. (Though we do have some beautiful jewelry). I wish that I was more savvy in that area, so that our adoption would be fully funded, but I am not.  As I look back on all that God has brought us through all of you I stand in awe. We are near the end of this incredible journey, well at least money wise.

All we have left to raise is $8300 for our referral fee. When we get our referral (which could be any day) it will have who our son is and whatever information they have on him. We will then have 7 days to pay the $8300 fee so that we can say YES. If we do not make the payment then we will lose that referral. I know that God will provide it, I have no worries. I know that when the time comes, we will have that fee.  After our referral fee we will need to come up with about $12000 for travel and other fees. Then we are done! Seems like a lot left to raise, but you all have helped us raise over $9,000!!!

 All I want for Christmas is our referral and the fee to pay it.

I am dying to know who our little one is. I am dying to hold him and kiss his precious face.

Here is how you can help if you feel led.

Taxes are fun, well they can be if you get a nice refund. :D     We now have a way for you to not only help us reach our fees, but you will get something in return. You will be sent a  reciept for your donation that can be used towards your taxes. If you send in a check no later then December 31st then you will get a letter by the end of January for your taxes. How awesome is that? God is good!

It gets even better!

Also for those that send in a donation of $10 or more I will add your name to our puzzle. I would really love to have that completed for our little man for when he comes home.

So if you are feeling led (no amount is to small) Please send your donations to
                                          LifeBirdge Church 
                                             PO Box 520
                                         Largo, Fl 33779-0520

Please make the check out to LifeBirdge Church
And make sure you put that it is for the Maser Adoption. If you don't, we won't get it. If you would like to remain anonymous, just write a note with it stating that. If you chose to not go through the church then we still have our paypal to the right.

Thank you all so much!!! We have also been applying for grants to help with our fees, so please be in prayer that it would be Gods will that we receive them.

Blessings!

But I can't....

Tonight I got to meet with some pretty fabulous ladies. We were all sharing how our childhoods were and what is the one thing that we struggled with back then that we still do today. Since I have tons of issues, I managed to narrow it down to one :D

I have a very low self esteem. I constantly put others above my self. Though that can be a good thing, mine would be more like a self destructive thing. I never felt good enough, I never felt like I can do anything right. Always felt like I was constantly being judged in a not so good of a way. Just never loved the person that I was.

When my now hubby first started courting me, I stood him up four times. I even gave him a list of all the reasons why he should not be with me. I knew that he was a good man and I kept telling him that I was bad for him, that I could never be the person that he deserved..... Obviously we fell in love despite all that and got married.

The day that I gave my life to the Lord. I mean really and truly, everything started to change. The Lord was and is still teaching me what love really means. How to love Him, others, and even myself.


I use to leave conversations and over analyze every little thing. What did I say? How did I sound? What are they thinking about me now?

Now it's, Did I glorify Jesus with my words? With my actions?

Don't get me wrong my flesh and my spirit fight all the time, sometimes I get hurt in the process, but I come out of it learning so much.



I know.... I know... I know that whatever it is He is asking me to do I can't fail or mess it up, because it's not about me anyways.
I honestly have to say myself everyday, Lord I can't do (fill in the blank) but you can. Help me Father.  
Trust me you can tell on the days that I don't say this.


What a glorious Father we have that He loves us despite our sinfulness.



Father, I  want you to use all of me to further Your Kingdom at any cost, I want to know You more and more every minute of every day that when I go to bed at night, I am not the same person that I was that morning. Father help me to be so far removed from this world that when people see me, they only see You. Lord, I know that I can't do ANYTHING, but Jesus you can. Help me Lord that when your Spirit convicts me I immediately fall on my knees and repent instead of allowing the guilt, that is not even from you, take over.  Jesus help me to love you infinitely more then anyone or anything. Help my heart to be only able to sing praises for you.  It's in your glorious name that I pray. Amen!


 

We are ALL called......

    I know that you have heard people say it a million times " We are not all called to adopt, but we are all called to help."  Though it is true and I have scripture to back it up, I wanted to share with you what it feels like when you come along side a family and you are not adopting yourself.

     Yes, I know I am adopting...now... but when our dear friends started their amazing journey we had no desire to adopt, we even prayed for it and God said no. When they first started to pray about whether this is what God wanted for their family, we prayed with them. When they sent in the paper work we felt their joy.

 We have been praying and helping with whatever we can to help bring home their daughter. It has been an incredible journey. I have felt the frustration with them, I have cried with them, I have rejoiced with them and now I get to see this amazing family with their new daughter.

 I am saying all this because I feel their joy, I feel their love and I feel so blessed that they would allow me to come along side them and walk this journey with them. So many adopting families (including myself) want nothing more then to have a group of people praying for us and supporting us, whether that means encouraging words, financially, spreading the word, meals when they come home, more prayer. Anything!!

I truly believe with all that I am that we are ALL called to be apart of the orphan crisis. That doesn't mean just adoption. There are children out there that can be sponsored so that they can stay with their parents and go to school. Their are children in the foster care system who need a safe, loving place to stay.There are people who are adopting that need people like you to come along side them.

There are 147 Million orphans in this world and rising. Christians should be the first ones in line to help dwindle that number. I understand that money is tight. Believe me I do. But I highly doubt that when  you get to Heaven God is going to tell you that you shouldn't have spent so much money on those that have less then you, you should have enjoyed it for yourself. There is ALWAYS something that we can give up to help those that can not help themselves.

I am crying tears of joy as I write this, but here is sweet Abby Lynne. The one we have been praying for, the one we have been blessed to be able to come along side. Can not wait to love on this precious girl. This sweet child is no longer an orphan <3. Jesus THANK YOU for allowing me to be apart of her story. Thank you Jesus for working through so many people to help bring her home.

You can go over to The Walser's Blog    to see more. Amazing!!


One more thing. I promise you that by coming alongside a family you will be blessed more then they would be. You will get to be apart of something so amazing that words  can not describe, but more importantly you will learn and you will see that this life, this world, and these children are not about you at all!

To God be the glory!!!!!!

Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

    I have a hard time asking for and excepting  help. Ask my friend Rachel she knows all about it. :D... It's not a pride thing (well, all sin really boils down to pride) it's more of a "I don't want to play that card until I really really need it" kind of thing. I would even say that with my pregnancy, "I don't want to play my pregnancy card until I really really need it".


 The Lord has shown me that I also don't play the "Jesus card" until I really really need it. As if my friends willingness to help me will run out, I wonder if I treat Jesus, the King of Kings, the Lord Almighty the same way. Do I treat Jesus as if His willingness to love me, to help me, to guide me, to protect me will run out? I would like to say no, but then I wouldn't be truthful.

  I have the tendency to "try" and fix my circumstances, my suffering, or whatever I may be going through myself. Then when whatever I do causes everything to get worse (which it ALWAYS does) then I throw out the Jesus card. As if He is my last resort. Is this really how I treat the creator of the world? As a last resort?

  This is something that I have struggled with for years. A couple of years ago, if I was going through what I am going through now there would be no way that I would even be standing. What has changed? Well, I let go and I stopped boxing in my Savior. I stopped trying to do everything myself. I started seeking Him first. Not always, but I try.  I know that I am His daughter, I know that He loves me and that will never change. I know that my circumstances DO NOT DEFINE WHO I AM! I am His.

  Please don't take this as I have everything figured out and now I am perfect. Ummmm far from it. Just spend 5 minutes with me and you will agree that I am a mess, okay a huge mess. But He is not! I am not strong, but He is! I can't do any of what He has called me to do, but He can through me! I will always resort to some of my old ways, but He won't let me stay there.

 When hubby and I  really truly gave our lives and our marriage over to Christ over 8 years ago, I remember praying that he would be the leader in our home that I so desperately needed. I would pray for that every single day. Do you know what God would say to me? " I will take care of your hubby, let's focus on you and what YOU should be doing and/or not doing."  OUCH! God had to really break me in a way that I never imagined, but desperately needed. It was and still is painful. He is still breaking me! God went above my expectations of what I thought I needed. Hubby has been talking about the Lord placing it on his heart to be a pastor somewhere overseas, but never really owned up to it. Would not really tell other people.  Now hubby is really feeling the call to be a pastor and is on fire for it.  Though I encourage Him and am praying for him and I will honestly  follow him anywhere, the one thing I kept saying over and over again in my head (okay, maybe out loud too) was " I do not want to be a pastors wife!" If you knew me I think you would see where I was coming from. I know what I am capable of. I know that I am broken and that if I am not actively seeking God then I will mess everything up. Know what God said to me? " Then actively seek Me. Abide in Me. You can't do this, but I can."

 I love how our hearts will constantly change, but He never does. When you hear the words " A child has been given to us" or " He died for our sins." You should be changed. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. You should not be numb to those words, you should not listen to someone preaching and walk out of there saying " I all ready know this story." If your heart and your life are not constantly, every minute of everyday being changed by the Gospel and the Knowledge and the Love of who Jesus is and what He did for you then you need to get on your knees and actively seek Him.

 I pray that He never stops disciplining me, that He never stops giving me that tough love.  I need Him, I want Him!! Do you know the reason why I love my hubby so much, it's  because I see Jesus in Him. No he is not perfect, but the fact that he loves Jesus more then me and the fact that he wants nothing more then to share the Gospel with everyone he sees, makes me fall more and more in love with him. Makes me want that kind of a relationship with the Lord too. It encourages me. I love being able to talk to him about Jesus, because this life really has nothing to do with us. It's all about Jesus. If you don't know that, if you don't believe that, then you don't know Jesus.


My pastor spoke of this last night. I have had these verses circled in my bible for years. By it I have written the words "My prayer." I stopped praying that, not on purpose, I am sure something got in the way. Oh yeah, me! I want to start praying it again not just for me, but for you as well.

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power towards us who believe. Ephesians1:17-19

SALE!!!!

 The holidays are just around the corner and we have decided to have a HUGE SALE!!! Our beautiful necklaces have been discounted. Make sure you buy them now, they will only be at this price for a short time.

Our amazing Ethiopian 25cent coin necklaces.

This necklace features an authentic Ethiopian twenty five cent coin set in a silver toned bezel on a braided, genuine leather cord. One side of the coin bears the Lion of Judah symbol, which dates to the visit of Queen Sheba to Solomon (960 b.c.). The other side features a man and woman in a celebratory pose with the numbers 2 & 5 on either side of them.

The leather cord is 18" long and the pendant is approximately 1" in diameter.

Our beautiful fair trade glass beads and silver necklace. So long it can be doubled!

This necklace is made of glass trade beads accented with metal beads from Africa. The Ethiopian flag is green, red, and yellow. I added in the blue after seeing it in so much of the traditional jewelry. Both the metal and glass beads are fair trade. The necklace measure approximately 442” in circumference and can easily be doubled up.
Since these are handmade, no two are alike. 

The necklaces can be shipped immediately and you can order them to the right!

We also still have our ADOPTION shirts. These however would be a presale. I would like to know if there is any interest in these and then we would be happy to order more. We love them and also love that there is no specific country, we are ALL adopted. 

Here are the fabulous shirts:

Men's front

Men's back

Women's front

Women's back

 I also have the woman's shirt in the same color as the men's. The woman's and the men's fit very true to size. Please email me and let me know if there is any interest. masermel@yahoo.com  These shirts would be discounted. They would $23 including shipping!


Thank you all for looking and happy shopping!!!!!!

Our Story.... Part 2

  In January of this year, some families from our church were going on a mission trip to Ethiopia. I wanted to go so bad. I very strongly felt like the Lord wanted me to go, but I was not able to. I committed to praying for them every single day til they got back. Not a quick prayer, but a true on my knees, had to make time for it, kind of prayer. What I didn't know was that God had other plans for my prayer time, He was breaking my heart for Africa. I had never felt this way before, every single time I prayed, I cried. It felt like I was there with them, feeling what they felt, seeing what they saw. I had no idea what they were doing and I hadn't even seen any pictures. But God is bigger then that and that 10 days of prayer changed my life forever. I loved Ethiopia, without even having to step foot there. My heart was there and I just knew God was calling us there.

  Hubby would go around seeing babies and saying "look honey." and he would constantly talk about wanting me to have another baby. He said when I'm ready we could try again. I finally had to tell him to stop showing me babies. I know it was not his intention, but I felt like I could not give him what his heart desired. as a wife it killed me. I told hubby that I believe we are meant to adopt right now, He said he didn't feel the same way, but that he would continue to pray about it.

  My heart would not stop aching for Ethiopia and God kept telling me to be patient. I even started this blog knowing in my heart that we would be adopting one day.

  In February of this year we went on our first real family vacation to the Smokey Mountains. It was incredible, God had His hand in all of it. It snowed the whole time we were there (none of us had ever really seen it) and we got to go sledding. It was just amazing. The best part was as a family we got to spend time with Jesus with absolutely NO distractions. Hubby and I even got to journal a lot. We had time to talk and reflect on everything. He even brought up adoption and told me that he wanted to, but couldn't get the idea of a brand new infant out of his head. He said that God would have to take away that desire and wasn't sure if He would. I didn't want to adopt if my hubby was not broken for it. We needed to be in this together, so I told him I would wait and I knew with all my heart that God would take away that desire and replace it with a better one.

  We never really talked about it again. We prayed about it all the time, but I didn't bring it up anymore. I didn't want to be the one to influence his decision. I wanted it to be all from God.

 Towards the end of March, we got home from Church (we go at night) and put the kids in bed. We were getting ready to watch a movie. I was making coffee and hubby comes into the kitchen with a serious look on his face. I thought something was wrong. He told me (and I will never forget) that He was disobeying the Lord, that He could no longer deny what God was asking us to do. That we had a child in Ethiopia that was meant to be a Maser and he was ready to start the journey to get our son. I balled like a baby.

 Hubby's heart has changed so much since that day that he is all ready planning on going back to get our daughter. He even feels that the Lord is going to move us their permanently. Love how God works.

 We told our kids the next morning and they were beyond thrilled.  Ever since that day, they have been praying every night for their brother.

Our journey started out with us wanting to add to our family, but it has turned into so much more. Our eyes have been opened to the orphan crisis in a way that it never was before. Our hearts are broken for a country that we have never stepped foot in. We have put our faith in the Lord to provide and bring our little man home in a way that we never did with our pregnancies. We feel so blessed and honored that we get to be this little boys parents.

 It's funny how when you go through such pain you can't see how one day you will be grateful for it. I can honestly say that I am. I am thankful that I have three precious babies with Jesus, I am grateful that in my most painful moments I never lost sight of the one who had something so much bigger planned for our family. I am thankful that one day soon, we will step foot in a country that has our heart and we will hold our precious boy. I am thankful that as a family we all got to experience the hurt, but more importantly we all get to experience His joy.

Our story... Part 1

 Sunday November 7 is Orphan Sunday, as I have been reflecting on our journey so far I realized that I never really shared on our blog, how the Lord directed our family towards adoption.It's very personal, but the Lord says it's time to share.  Forgive me, I am not very good at blogging. :)



    When Jon and I first got married I asked him if he would ever consider adoption. He said yes and didn't care what race. I wanted to be a mom so bad and I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't care if I didn't have them. We never really talked about it again.

   We have known so many people that have adopted, we have always supported them, but never felt led ourselves. I actually had it on my heart to be a foster mom and if I was called to adopt through that then I would. My grandma was a foster mother and so was my sister. I believe to my core that if we could share the love of Christ with the kids that were put in our home, no matter how long they were here, then it would remain with them forever. Hubby agreed, but the Lord never gave us the green light to move forward.

  Over a year and a half ago, hubby had it on his heart to add to our family. So we started to try. During that time, two of our good friends put in applications to adopt. We had them over for dinner one night and they were jokingly saying "Now it's your turn." We both loved adoption,  I felt like God was telling me that He would be leading our family to this, but My hubby felt like God was leading us to something different. So we prayed about it and decided that now was not the time and we would just support our friends through prayer and whatever else we could.

  When I finally got pregnant we were so happy, but  I lost the baby a week later. I ended up getting pregnant again right away. I was scared. I thought it was to soon and I didn't want to have another miscarriage. God kept telling me this time was going to be different. Boy, was He right! I started bleeding around 7 weeks. I just knew... The doctors kept doing ultrasounds and the baby was fine and even growing. They kept telling me that even though I was bleeding it would be fine. I was trying to trust, but I just knew. At 10 weeks on a Monday I went in for an ultrasound and the baby had died. They wanted to do a DandC but I couldn't. Not that I think it's wrong, I just didn't want to have surgery. I went home and just cried. Then all of a sudden the pain came and I had the baby at home. I want to make this very clear for those that are for abortion. This was not some cells or whatever you want to call it. This was a baby. A smaller version then what most people deliver, but he has a face, hands, nail, eyes, heart, legs, everything. .... We went back to the doctors and as soon as we got to the parking lot I started to Hemorrage. It got so bad that I had to be rushed to the hospital to have the surgery that I never wanted. The nurse was there and she started crying over me as I was laying there and she began to pray and pray.  I feel to this day that she must have been an angel ( even though by doing that, it scared my hubby) I never saw her again.

  I remember waking up from the surgery and I said to another nurse who was there that I was blessed because I had two babies in heaven. She looked at me like I was crazy and I just kind of  went numb. The next couple of days after all this happened was really hard. I wanted to mourn, but wouldn't allow myself. I kept feeling that Jesus is enough and if I believed that then I wouldn't let it destroy me. The Lord gave me a verse that to this day is one of  my favorites. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  2Corinthians 12:9-10  He also told me that it was okay to mourn and that He wanted me to and that He would be right there with me mourning as well. With all my pain, and broken heart I still felt peace from the Lord. I needed Jesus, He was the only one that could bring me the peace and comfort that I needed. So I laid in bed for two days crying off and on and reading the bible and praying, praying and praying. I would also like to point out that I never had to share this burden alone. My hubby was perfect and we also had amazing  people who took great care of us and prayed for us. We felt them and we needed them.

 We buried our little one ( we believe he was a boy) in our yard and planted a butterfly garden.Our kids didn't know that our baby was buried there, but they knew it was in memory of our baby who is now with Jesus. 
The hospital wanted us to "turn him in" so they could try to see what went wrong. But that was my child, we could not do that, plus we didn't need to know what went wrong. We know that if God wanted us to raise that little baby here on earth then we would have. 

 I ended up getting pregnant again. I know what you must be thinking,.trust me, we were thinking it as well.  We were actually preventing that from happening. The doctors said that it still can happen anyway because your hormones are all messed up and highly fertile. Wish they would have told us that sooner. We didn't tell anybody and we lost that baby as well. We were probably about 6 weeks. Doctors said that we never would have known if we wouldn't have gone to the doctors. Still, it killed me. I was so angry that this kept happening, I couldn't understand why I had four babies, yet I couldn't have anymore. I couldn't understand why God would put something so strongly on our hearts and not give it to us. I cried out to the Lord and begged Him not to let me go through his anymore. I begged Him to help me trust in His promises and His will for my life. Crazy thing was, is that I did trust Him and I knew that He had something so much bigger then we ever thought.

This is when hubby was making the butterfly garden.

This is it now. The Lord has blessed it. We kill everything.

Since people say not to go long on blogs, I will write more later.......To be continued.........

And the winner is.........

This is going to be short and to the point. I just got home and we drew the winner, but before I annouce it, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Our puzzle is finally starting to look like a puzzle.:D I can not wait for the day we bring our little prince home and he sees all the people that have prayed for him and who have helped us get him here. Thank you!! Thank you!!

I still need to add three more pieces, I had a late entry.

 

 
                  Now for the winner of the ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY SMACKERS :)

 I had my hubby draw a random name and you will just have to watch to see who won!.

I will say this much. God knew who was going to win, because this person I have never even met and she has done nothing but encourage us, pray for us, and has even had yard sales in our honor. She is an amazing women of Jesus and I hope one day she will come to Florida so I can give her a bug hug!  Love you friend. Enjoy your blessing :) P.S. Send me your address.


Again I just want to thank you all so much. You can always purchase puzzle pieces. We still have a lot to complete and we are also still selling necklaces. We are getting so close to our boy and I know the Lord will provide!

Time is running out!!!

I will be drawing the name (it will be video taped) THIS Thursday October 28th!!!


To see how to enter, check out this post HERE

 Remember with each puzzle piece that you purchase, you will not only have your name permanently on the back for our son to see, BUT you will also be helping us raise our referral fee. For those of you that don't know what that is. When we get our referral that tells us who our son is, we will have seven days to pay the fee which is $8300.  You will not only be helping us in a HUGE way but you will also get the chance to win $150.00!!!!!

Thank you so much to all those who have entered! You have blessed us more then you know.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT!! ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY BEFORE IT ENDS!!!!!

If you do not want to use paypal, please email me, masermel@yahoo.com and I can send you my address :)

Waiting list and GIVEAWAY!!!!

I am overjoyed right now!!! We just got the email that we are officially on the waiting list to get our son. Oh I just love writing that. We are #47!!!!  I love how God works. I was at co-op all morning and hubby has been working. I have been checking my phone just waiting to get an email. But secretly I wanted to get it when hubby and I were together. When I got home, hubby was on lunch break, we were all together and guess what!?! We got the email. Seriously, God rocks!

To celebrate we are going to do a giveaway of $150.00!!! Yes, that is right. I was going to do an IPOD, but then thought why not just the cash. You can go Christmas shopping, go on a mini vacation, use it towards your adoption, or put it right back into ours ;).... Whatever you want to do with it, it is yours. Before I tell you how to enter, let me show you something.

This is a picture of our puzzle so far and it kinda makes me sad. You can "sponsor" a puzzle piece and you or your families name will be written on the back permanently. Then when it is complete, we will put it in a double sided glass so that our little one can see all the names of everyone who helped. :)

Now let me tell you how to enter.

$10 to "sponsor" 1 puzzle piece- 1 entry

$25 to "sponsor" 3 puzzle pieces- 3 entries

AFTER you have "sponsored" a piece, you will get another entry for putting it on your FaceBook AND another entry for putting it on your blog.

That is a lot of entries.

Just click on our Donate button and enter the amount you would like and the name you would like on the puzzle. For those of you who do not want to use PayPal, just email me at masermel@yahoo.com and I can give you an address.


Thank you all so much. Please celebrate with us. And  GOOD LUCK!

I can't believe it...

    We had the hardest time getting our dossier submitted.  The  Lord brought us the money, but our paper work had a few issues. It was so frustrating, because you look over that paper work a million times making sure that everything is perfect and somehow  I still missed mistakes . The most frustrating part was that we were going to be delayed by two weeks to get on the waiting list AND we spent well over $100 dollars on shipping that should have never been spent.  I know that it's Gods timing and I am also very thankful that we were able to see and correct the problems now, it would have been so much more time consuming and costly to have it mess  up later.

This is a Dossier. Your blood , sweat and tears, many tears!

We finally got all of them Authenticated.

Blue bow, for our little man!

Shipped out! We are coming for you baby boy! One step closer <3

Today I received an email saying that everything is perfect and we should be on the waiting list in  about a week and a half. EEEEKKKK!!! I am beyond excited.  We also have uped our age request. It was 0-15 months, but now it will be 0-21 months. We are thrilled and can not wait to hold our little man.


Here is some more exciting news. Once we get the email that we are officially on the waiting list we are going to have a huge celebration by giving away COLD HARD CASH!!! Yes, you read that right. You might want to be following my blog to find out when it will happen and how you can enter!!!


Thank you Jesus!!

Happy 4th Birthday Jacob!!

         I went into labor on a Friday morning. That night I told hubby we needed to go to the hospital. When I got there the nurses told me that my water had broken, but the problem was, we had no idea when it happen. I was in labor for well over 24 hours. ( the rest of my kids it was only 6 hours) When he finally made his debut I knew something was wrong. He barely cried. After they put him on my belly they took him from me to weigh him and check him out. I knew something was wrong, but no one was saying anything. Then the nurses finally told me that he was breathing to hard and that he was acting very lethargic. He ended up in the NICU for 5 days. It was the hardest five days of my life. To not know, as a mother what your baby sounds like when he cries is just devastating. He had four holes in his heart, low blood sugar, his breathing was to fast and his heart was beating to many beats per minute. We would not let anyone come to the hospital. I just couldn't, they all came to see a baby that I couldn't show them. We did have the pastor come and pray over him though (thank you Alan) I had two friends that didn't listen and came anyway to pray with me.(Thank you Suzanne and Tracie) I cried myself to sleep that first night. Jon layed in that little delivery bed holding me so tight and he just kept praying over and over til we fell asleep. I honestly felt like the Lord was there with us.  Jacob still did not want to eat. He was just out of it. His feet were black from them taking his blood every hour.

This is when they told me he would have to go to the NICU

This was in the NICU

When we were finally able to take him home I had to take him to a cardiac specialist twice a month. I was told that he would have to have heart surgery before he turned one.BUT When Jacob was 4 months old. I went to the cardiac doctor and they ran the usual tests, but this time it was different. He was completely healed. The doctor came in the room and said (and I quote) "It's like nothing was every wrong with him." Thank You Jesus for healing my son, I know that it was you who put your hand over his tiny heart and healed him.

Elijah loved having a brother.

                      
     When Jacob was 18 months old we found out that he was malnourished.( I will spare you the details on how we found out) His body was not absorbing the foods that he was eating. We had to go to a specialist and run all sorts of not so fun test. They have what you could call a check list for possible cystic fibrosis and they were sure he had it. We had to go to all children's to do numerous test and then we had to do more blood work. He didn't care about any of it. He was only allowed to have pediasure and we had to fatten all his drinks and food with a powder that causes people to gain weight. If you would have seen how much he had you would of thought he would turn obese. He was on it for over 5 months and  gained a pound. After about eight months of stress and not knowing what was wrong with him, everything started to just get better. He did not have cystic fibrosis and all of a sudden his body was acting right again. Our pediatrician said and I quote "It was like nothing was ever wrong with him." Thank you Jesus!

    So even though we will be paying his medical bills til we die, we are so very thankful that the Lord has been taking care of our sweet Jacob.

     Jacob is a cutie pie and he knows it. He is an amazing dancer, and loves music. He will do anything to make you laugh and I. mean. anything! He likes to embarrass his momma sometimes.Most people don't really get to see the real him, but when you do, you will be hooked.  Jacob is truly a kid so full of life. He tells me all the time that he will become a man, but I am still allowed to call him my baby <3

I am excited to see what the Lord does with him. I can tell you that it is going to be something off the wall and crazy, because other wise it would not fit him. Jacob loves the Lord, but even if he never said it, God has all ready shown me that he has him taken care of.

       I learned through my experience with Jacob that I need to give my kids over to Jesus. So I did, shortly after he was born. I remember the Lord telling me that it's okay, He loves them more then I ever will. I believe He does and I also believe all of my babies now and future ones are going to do great things for His kingdom.

Thank you Jesus for allowing me to be his mom <3

                                              Happy Birthday my precious boy!
 

                          

Gentle Whispers

     I have been so busy lately and hubby has been working his sexy butt off that I have not even had time to just breathe. With homeschooling, co-op, BSF, community group, Children's ministry,being a wife, meeting friends to pray with them, church, so many other things, that I am just spent. As I have been doing my best to spend time with the Lord lately, I have heard Him loud and clear. A little to loud! He has revealed somethings to me that I quite frankly didn't want to know. It's so painful isn't it? But then how can you not praise Him for loving you enough to sit you down and have a heart to heart with you. He really loves us! So as I am praying through my brokenness, the Lord has also shown me that though I am doing things for His kingdom I also need to just have time to sit in the quietness of the Lord. To really allow Him to speak to me.  Oh, I miss it, I am craving it. Yes, I am spending time with Him, but I mean those very intimate quiet, where it is just Him and I  in this whole world type quality time. Besides what good am I to the people around me if I am spiritually depleted!?!

"Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a gentle whisper."
 1Kings19:11-12

    So my prayer for you (and me as well) is that you will take the time out of your crazy busy day and not just listen to the Lord, but to sit quietly and wait for what He is trying to tell you. I believe He is speaking in a whisper, because it means we have to actually make an attempt to hear Him, to make an effort to be alone, to make an effort to quiet our hearts and minds and allow ourselves to be broken before Him and listen to His gentle whispers and what He wants to reveal to us.

     Are you listening to His voice or the voice of your busyness?  Sit with Him and find out.

          

Happy 6th Birthday Brianna

Today is my daughters 6th birthday. I remember when I was pregnant with her, I was so scared to have a girl. I was worried she would turn out like me. She did! LOL but God also gave her a uniqueness all her own. Brianna means "Strong One" We should have known what we were getting into :D

Daddy never had a chance, he was marked as soon as she arrived:)

                                 

Our Princess was here and we would never be the same

 

Her arrival meant that Elijah would be a big brother. A job he has been thankful for every since.

She is a lot like her daddy when it comes to food. She has a huge sweet tooth. She ate her whole birthday cake when she was one.

Out of all my kids, Brianna and I butt heads the most. But I also learn so much from her. I can see myself through her eyes. It's scary at times and at times it's amazing. Brianna excepted Jesus in her heart a little over a month ago. It was all the Lord's doing. She came up to us and said she needed to pray. All of us got around her bed and she told Jesus that she loves Him more than anything and she wants to live her life for him.We had no idea what she was going to say and it was beautiful. She had tears in her eyes and I know with all my heart that she loves the Lord and is going to do incredible things for Him. Her prayers every night floor me. Such beautiful heart felt words from such a little girl.

Did I mention that we are a lot alike?

But she will always be my princess.

Every year since her birth daddy gets his girls flowers. Brianna gets sunflowers. She looks forward to them every year. I love that they have a special thing for just them. Praying for her future husband to treat her with the same love and respect that her daddy gives her.

My 6 year old

Happy Birthday Precious Brianna. I am honored to be your mother. Even though I hate that you are growing up,I am grateful to be able to help guide you through it all. Praying that the Lord will continue to rule your heart. I love you my sweet girl.