Jason’s Graduation

I am finally getting around to posting our pictures of Jason’s graduation from Liberty University.

 

When we got to Lynchburg, the first stop was registration. Basically, the graduates checked in and could gather information. There were various activities, giveaways, etc., and it was a fun time to learn more about Liberty.

After check-in, we were able to meet my cousin Rachel and her family for lunch. We went to a Mexican restaurant together and LOVED getting to spend time with her and meet her husband and little boy.

Please pardon the poor quality of this picture. It was from a photo booth at the reception.

That afternoon, there was a reception for the graduates. It was held in the stadium and there were all kinds of free food (cotton candy, donuts, cake, soda, kettle corn, etc.) and gifts. The chancellor gave a speech and the graduates could meet him and have their pictures taken with him and his wife. We were super impressed with the friendliness of the student workers and all the Liberty employees that we met.

That evening we headed to baccalaureate where we got to see Ravi Zacharias receive his honorary degree from Liberty.

And then we got to hear him speak. He spoke about Daniel in such a talented way. He is one of those few speakers that I never tire of hearing.

The next morning we had to be at Liberty at 7:30 for the graduates to line up. Traffic was so bad (There were at least 30,000 people at the graduation that day.) that Jason hopped out of the car near the cross walk and walked all the way across campus and was still where he was supposed to be a half hour before I was parked! I sat in traffic, and finally parked around 8:30. By the time I got to the stadium, there was very little seating left even though commencement didn’t start until 10.

Because there were so many graduates marching (About 7,500 of the 15,000 that graduated were at commencement.) The processional started at 8:45.

Liberty is proud to be a military friendly school, and one of the neat parts of the processional was the many servicemen and women that were in dress uniform.

The processional took more than an hour even though the graduates were entering several at a time from both sides of the stadium.

 

Finally, I got to see my graduate! I was super thankful for a good camera lens, because without it, I would not have been able to spot him, let alone take pictures!

 

This picture will give you a little idea of both where I sat, and the magnitude of both the crowd and the graduates! The whole center section was graduates.

Shannon Bream (a Fox news reporter and graduate of Liberty) was the commencement speaker. She did a fantastic job as she spoke about being strong and holding to values.

Jason, in the middle of a sea of graduates. Because of the number of graduates, degrees were not granted at commencement but at other ceremonies in various locations around campus later.

I don’t think that I have ever seen Jason so happy (except on our wedding day) or so willing to let me take photos of him, so I took full advantage.

 

Then came time for the degree granting. Jason was part of a ceremony of 600 masters and doctorate degrees through Liberty’s Baptist Theological Seminary. (Again, it was a very long ceremony!)

I’m so proud of my graduate! Jason worked so diligently to hold a job and be a full time student!

The Guardian–Book Review

In the hub-bub that has been my life lately, it was lovely to sit down the other night and lose myself in a book. It was a sequel to a series that I have been enjoying thanks to Bethany House Publishers. The Guardian is another book in the Home to Hickory Hollow series by Beverly Lewis. The quaint Amish community in the heart of Lancaster county provides a beautiful setting for these books.

The Guardian really caught my attention because it centers around the life of a teacher. She has just been laid off, and finds herself housesitting for a friend. As she jogs one evening, she discovers a toddler at the edge of the road, crying, with no clothes, and unable to speak English. When she realizes that the little girl is Amish, she follows a tip given by a friend and heads out to Hickory Hollow. While there, she is intrigued by the simple way of life of this community.

The Guardian follows in the long tradition of Beverly Lewis’s Amish fiction. It is well written, and draws the reader into the customs and traditions of Amish life. It was a relaxing way to spend an evening.

The Guardian is available on Amazon, CBD, or wherever Christian books are sold.

**** I was given a copy of this book by Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and there was no other compensation.

Natural Bridge

Last weekend we went away for Jason’s master’s degree graduation. We decided to leave a day early and see some sights. We went to Natural Bridge, VA and visited the attractions there.

 

We stayed in the Natural Bridge hotel. It is a gorgeous building complete with balconies, fireplaces, pillars, and a colonial dining room.

One of the attractions was a butterfly house. It was small and there weren’t very many varieties of butterflies, but the ones that were there were fun to photograph.

Along the walkway down towards the natural bridge, there are several waterfalls. This one begged me to take its picture as it rushed along.

 

This 600 year old tree bears its age with dignity, its gnarly roots showing years of strength.

It amazes me how plants can thrive in little clefts of rock like this!

The natural bridge was breathtaking. Pictures do not do it justice. I had seen many pictures of it, but the pictures don’t show the magnificent splendor that God created!

 

I’ve been fascinated with sun rays lately, and managed to capture them in this photo.

This is one of my favorite photos of the day. It shows Jason’s analytical personality quite well.

 

And last but not least, we went down into the caverns. They were beautiful as well.

Home Study, Check!

I have so appreciated the comments you have shared on my past adoption posts. They have made me smile, cry, and be encouraged! Thank you for your support. This can be a daunting process, and your encouragement really makes a difference! As I’ve shared some of your comments with Jason, he has been encouraged as well.

I’m super happy to report to you that we had our home study last Wednesday evening. We have one last little bit of homework to turn in and then we will be approved and in the matching process! I am praising God for His help!

The home study was great. I have to give kudos to our “intake coordinator” for making us totally feel at home and comfortable as we told her our life’s stories in the interview part of the home study and as we showed her our little home in the tour part.

So now, the waiting begins again. But if the efficiency of the organization we are with now is any indication, we could have children in our home before school starts! I’m excited to see what God has in store for us!

I checked to make sure it was ok to share the names of the organization we are with and were with in the past, and since it is, I can share a little more info with you all.

Here’s a timeline of our adoption journey so far.

Sometime, 2006 – Jason and I discussed the possibility of adopting and found that it was something that both of us had wanted to do from a young age. This was before we were married, and helped us to realize that this was yet another way that we were compatible.

 

Fall, 2010 – We had been married for awhile and decided that maybe now would be the time to more seriously pursue adoption. We looked into several agencies and found Bethany Christian Services (BCS) seemed to have a good reputation. We called and signed up for their introduction meeting.

November 2, 2010 – We attended the introduction meeting in Lancaster, PA. BCS seemed to be a nice organization and we liked that they were Christian based. We signed up for training classes at their nearest location to us. They were to begin in February. (We were given a packet of homework and documentation to provide and it was ready within a week.)

February, 2011 – We were called and notified that the classes in State College had been cancelled and it was too late to join the ones going on in Lancaster. The next set of classes would not be starting until March.

March – July 2011 – We took the trainings we were required to take (4 all day Saturday classes in Lancaster, CPR and First Aid certification). We found out that some of our paperwork had been lost, and so resubmitted it.

July – November 2011 – Because of some questions BCS had after reading our biographies and hearing from our references, they gave us some additional requirements. This was done in 2 months. (We were told that we completed these requirements far faster than they anticipated.)

November 4, 2011 – Our home study with Bethany Christian. A year after we had started the process….. The home study felt more like an interrogation than an interview, and really was not well organized.

November 2011– January, 2012 – Our caseworker went on a couple of vacations and said she’d get back with us when she had typed up our file.

January 9, 2012 – Caseworker met with us to review our file and told us we had been approved and could start the matching process.

April 2012 – We received the letter stating that we were approved. That’s right, 3 months later.

July 2012 – By this point, we had heard of a couple of matching events from our case worker. We had not been given any leads on children. She repeatedly failed to return our calls, so we requested a different caseworker. Thankfully our request was granted. The new caseworker seemed sweet, but let us know that she would be going on maternity leave in a month or so.

July – December 2012 – A few phone calls about children, but all were medically needy to the point that we were not capable of caring for them. (BCS knew that we did not have the resources to care for medically needy, but said they called “just in case”)

December 1, 2012 – We got a phone call saying our paperwork had been lost and the Lancaster office of BCS was being audited on the 5th so they needed all the paperwork by then. Yes, that’s right. They wanted it all in 4 days. They told us some of our clearances needed to be renewed as well and that they should be done by the 5th also. Thankfully Jason is super organized and had copies of all the paperwork. He researched their own documentation and found that our clearances did not need to be renewed. When he showed them, their response was basically, “Oops. We’re glad you caught that.”

December 17th, 2012 – We finally had a placement, but it was temporary (only a weekend) due to circumstances beyond our control. Our hearts were broken, but the experience reinforced the fact that this was God’s will for our lives.

January 2013 – Bethany contacted us letting us know that it was time to renew our trainings and such. After the hassle they had put us through over the past 2 years, we decided against it.

February 2013 – We attended our first training with The Bair Foundation (TBF) When we walked in the door, we could tell the difference. Where BCS had provided copies of copies for their handouts with no color and very little teaching other than just reading from the powerpoint, TBF had colorful handouts, snacks, and practical discussion and input into what fostering/adopting would be like.

March 2013 – We were supposed to have our second training, but due to a family situation with the trainer it had to be postponed. We rescheduled for the end of April. We did however renew our CPR, First Aid, and Passive Restraint classes in March.

April 2013 – Home study was scheduled for the 16th, and last class for the 28th. However, on the day of our home study, our worker’s toddler daughter had to be rushed to the ER. Thankfully, after a weeks’ stay in the hospital she was fine. Our worker was quick to notify us, and rescheduled just as soon as she got back to the office. We were impressed with her communication! We went to our last class on the 28th, so all we had left was our home study!!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013 – I rushed home from school for the home study. As I mentioned earlier, it was smooth and fantastic! Again, I was impressed with TBF’s organization and competence.

And that brings us up to date. What took us a full year plus a little with Bethany Christian took us about 3 months with The Bair Foundation! We have been so impressed with them and have really seen them sharing Christ’s love.

I’ll try to keep this timeline updated as our journey continues. The best is yet to come!

***** Disclaimer – This post is not meant to be a gripe or complaint against BCS. I simply presented the facts of our experience with them. I have heard very positive things about them in many other situations, and I realize that in our case it may have just been a fluke.

This post is meant to be a recommendation of The Bair Foundation! They have shown Christ-likeness as they worked with us in an efficient, organized, and practical way.

All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Gardening. . . It’s Just Not the Same

Have you seen those pictures on Facebook where someone posts about “What others think I do; What I think I do; What I really do, etc.?”

Gardening is kind of like that for me.

What I wish gardening was:

I want gardening to be as easy as caring for my lilacs. I don’t water them, they require very little maintenance, and yet each year, they provide a beautiful display of blossoms that smell lovely and look fantastic!

 

Our White Lilac in Bloom

 

What I thought gardening was:

As a child who grew up in a large missionary family, I thought I was familiar with gardening. We would ask a friend who had a tractor to come cultivate our garden. Our garden was probably three times as big as our house. (In my mind, it was ten times as big, but I wrote three to be safe!)

We planted and planted and planted. I don’t have vivid memories of it, but it seemed like nearly every summer day, we had a gardening job to do. We planted OODLES of potatoes and carrots so that we would have enough to store in our cellar all winter. Cucumbers were another big part of our garden. We also planted beans, corn, cabbage, and tried to plant lettuce. It was a large job, but we had a large family, and although some days I managed to barter and do house cleaning instead of gardening, many of my summer days were spent in the garden.

In the fall, we’d can and can and can. I remember blanching corn and green beans over an open fire in our yard because we had no propane to run our indoor stove. I suppose in the long run it kept the house cooler, but it was a huge chore!

What my husband says gardening is:

To my husband, gardening is a similar memory. Every year, his mom would have a tractor come cultivate the land, and then they would plant. His mother would send each of the boys out with a 5 gallon bucket every Saturday, and they had to fill it with weeds. Then, when fall came, they canned and canned and canned.

Jason loves the value of gardening, and has wanted to try it for years, so. . .

What gardening really has been: (so far)

In mid-March, we started seeds inside. It was a fun project to watch them as they grew! They really flourished, and we were excited to have such good success.

 

Our Sprouts

We checked into renting a tiller. Come to find out, to rent one was about a fourth the price of buying one that we (and by we I mean my amazingly thrifty husband) found on sale. So, we ended up buying a tiller. It’s a good thing too, because we used it, and used it, and used it! We live on the side of a mountain, so the soil is full of rocks. As far as we know, there has not been a garden here before, but if there was, it was years and years ago.

After tilling, we started picking out rocks and sod. A couple of our nephews happily helped us out, and were able to earn some money in the process. We filled not one 5 gallon bucket, not two 5 gallon buckets, but about 60 gallons worth of rocks and sod… and we aren’t nearly done.

Next, we planted. We were super grateful for the help of one of the teens from our youth group. She had a service project to do, and this fit her time schedule. She did a fantastic job, and we got the garden planted in about an hour. We planted green beans, peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, cabbage, eggplant, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Now, we are simply waiting to see what happens. Do you have any advice for us as new gardeners?

Our Little Garden

The rows aren’t perfect. The soil isn’t great, but we’re excited to see what success comes. We’d love any input you can give us about gardening experience, funny stories, and more.