three sizes

Lately, I've been praying that the Lord would grow my heart. Meaning, help me to love more- love deeper those I already do, increase my love for the unlovable, help me to sacrifice more out of love. As thoughts raced, two things stuck. (Okay, three if I include the conviction that I'm really failing in these areas.)

#1  Remember the Grinch? His heart was two sizes too small but at the end of the story, it grew three sizes in one day :) A literal picture of a heart growing to fit more in.

#2  I have been following another adoptive mom's story lately as they seek embryo adoption and the name of her blog came to mind: Room For More. Mind you, they have 5 children and completed an adoption already.

What 'more' looks like will differ for us all. For some, it may not even be more. It may just be that we might not grow weary in what our hearts are already invested in. But, can we do more out of love? Open our doors wide with hospitality, sacrifice 'our' time for serving our church family, make tangible effort to show love to those who do not love us, care more deeply and sacrificially for orphans and children in need of families. By His grace I can, remembering CT Studd's admonition- only one life twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.
 

Well, in Whoville they say - that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day.

may He grant your petition

Last year at this time our dear friends came to visit. The two things I remember vividly from their time here- how beautiful she looked pregnant and our time of prayer before they took off for home.
We were standing in the garage saying our goodbyes. You know that bittersweet moment when you're thankful for the time you had together but sad to see it end and no one really wants to get in the car so you pause for a moment, just looking at each other? She broke the silence saying she thought God would have brought us our son or daughter by then. For the last seven months we had been waiting for a birthmother to choose our family. Can we pray for this? she asked. That time of prayer was powerful and sweet as all four of us petitioned before God. Hope filled our hearts that He had given ear to our prayer as our friends drove away.
Then day after day, it appeared that He had not answered that prayer. We waited and waited, prayed and prayed. When we were matched five months later, we rejoiced! So He made us wait for our desired answer for months- He is good and His timing is perfect- no big deal. However, judging from the due date, our baby had her beginnings right around that precious time of prayer with our friends. Our prayer had been answered in the way we had hoped months ago- when we had prayed- we just weren't aware of it.
I encourage all of you who are waiting for answered prayer, trust Him, hope in Him. Our eyes cannot always see the mountains He is moving right at the moment our lips are asking. It may take days, months or years to see the fruit of our prayer. We can rest knowing He is faithful.
“Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to Him.”

1 Samuel 1:17

bring him home

A sister shared a video with me about a couple adopting from Uganda. Things have moved along very quickly (yay for them !) and because of the way the courts operate in Africa, they would like to raise the remainder of funds in the next 2 weeks. Such a great idea they propose here as they ask for just $2 from each viewer and that you would share with 25 friends. Here's to hoping 25 reader friends will see this post and help this family bring their son home :)

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

happy mother's day

I think this song by Keith & Kristyn Getty is very much the prayer of every believing mother- whether her child is showering her with love today, waiting for the day to come home to her 'forever' or still growing in the womb. I feel safe saying, it is even what we pray for our children that He has yet to give. What a blessed gift, this role of mama- Happy Mother's Day!

brownies

My husband says said nothing beats a box as far as brownies go. I agreed; we loved the red box. Chewy and fudgey... no cakey brownies in our house and especially no frosting or nuts. We're purists : )
In an effort that began last year to eat "from scratch", I started my search for homemade brownie recipes that could compare to our favorite. After a few attempts -and failures- we were visiting my mom's bakery. She had the best brownie recipe, even the hubs couldn't say anything bad about them. A tiny tweak here and there (she added nuts) and this is our go to recipe.

BROWNIES
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (I use unrefined, refined works as does butter if not on hand)
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups flour

-Melt butter and coconut oil. Sift cocoa into mixing bowl, add butter mixture, eggs, vanilla, salt and sugar. Stir until smooth. Add flour, stirring until just combined. Bake at 350* in a 9x13 pan for about 30 minutes.

We tend to eat them warm with Breyer's vanilla bean ice cream... definitely a favorite dessert.

Who wants to see a picture of brownies when you could see this precious face? At 2 months, she's full of sweet smiles!