New Home!

The new website is up!   A very exciting day here. :)  It's called-  "The Sacred Sink: Meeting the Divine in the Dirt and Grime."   Please hop on over and check it out!  Click here to view my new home on the web.  God bless you!

Blessings in the Vineyard

Our second oldest, Grant will be receiving his First Communion in just a few days!   He's been preparing all year at home and with his second grade class.   In the Catholic faith tradition this is an enormous occasion (remember Gabriel's big day?!)   As we prepare at home, aside from special prayers like the Amina Christi, and reading books like the story of St. Imelda, I also wanted to do something special to convey the importance of the sacrament.   Since this is a rite of passage of sorts, we wanted to treat Grant like the young man he is becoming.  We arranged for a babysitter, got dressed in our finest, and Jim and I took Grant to a lovely formal dinner.   We are blessed to have beautiful vineyard in our little town, and symbolically it was the perfect place.  As Grant prepares to receive Jesus, the Bread of Life in the Eucharist and drink the Precious Blood, this seemed a fitting place of preparation.    The Bible has a lot to say about vineyards.   Jesus himself says "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit." John: 15:5.  During the last supper He says " For I tell you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."   So, armed with some edifying ammo (i.e. scripture) and some conversation starters, we set out for our special dinner:

 Root Beer toast.  Salute!

 Nutella pizza with gelato.  Oh my.  Y-u-m!  

I also dusted off my own First Communion photo album for Grant to see.  I shared my memories with him and he laughed at my 80's hair. :)    This picture is from April 27, 1987 with my grandma.  

After our date at the vineyard I found this Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, and wished we would've incorporated that, but it's okay.    I'm not even sure if he will remember the deeper things we tried to teach that night, but I sure hope he'll remember how special it was.  I know I will. :)

Coming Soon...

Girls and Gus

What a weekend!   We had a ball at the Image of God Women's Conference on Saturday.   I had the privilege of spending some time with my friend Danita Harris from News Channel 5.  I haven't seen her in several years, and although I knew she and her husband had adopted a baby boy, I hadn't heard the full story until we talked this weekend.  It was yet another example of God's leading!  I also know many adoption stories of heartbreak, delay and detours,  but in the end the Lord always seems to have had a plan and purpose for it all. 
 In addition, I was able to see my dear friend Linda Isaiah again.  If you have not heard her speak before, you are missing out!   I'm hoping she'll be at the conference next year.     Overall it was a spectacular day of celebrating the Lord and feeling renewed and restored.  Thanks to all who attended!   Here is a photo of Danita, Linda and me:

Next up, the Mom Squad Mother's Day Celebration on May 5!   Point of Grace and Jimmy Pena from PrayFit will speak on the theme "Strength for the Journey."  Tickets are still available.   Click here to order.




Next up:   BIG news on the home front!   Mr. Gus is now a sitter!   Check him out:

The tongue thing is classic Gus too.  This is his "signature look."  Augustine will be six months on April 27..can you believe it?! :)   What a big boy.    Hope you had a blessed, relaxing, happy weekend!






  

Image of God

This weekend, girlfriends in God will gather together for the Image of God Women's Conference.  Over one thousand tickets have been sold, but there's still room for you!  The event will be at Grace Church in Middleburg Heights this Saturday.  I am thankful and thrilled to be a small part of the line-up of awesome women like Nicole C. Mullen, Danita Harris, Linda Isaiah, Amy Lively, and Praise-aPella.  There will be praise and worship, moving messages, and a great meal from Chik-filA.  I can taste the sweet tea already! :-)   
The theme of the day is "Redeemed." 
How perfect as we sit in the afterglow of Easter, the Savior laying down His life to pay our ransom.  Redeeming. you. and. me.

If you are able, I would love for you to come and be lifted up.   Click here for the official website.  Hope to see you there!

The Most Beautiful Sound

As we celebrate our anniversary of meeting Karolina, I wanted to post a quick video of a special moment during our first trip.   It's a video Jim captured as we found something that made her crack up.   I simply ripped a piece of paper and she lost it!   A totally awesome, delightful baby belly laugh.  Can you think of a more beautiful sound?! :)  Hearing a baby laugh is such good medicine for the soul.  What I have since learned, is that Karolina gets the hiccups whenever she laughs hard.  It is a 10 on the cuteness scale.  So, I hope this little clip makes you crack a grin too. 
  P.S. Can you believe how LITTLE she looks here?!  Our baby girl is getting so big.

One Year Ago....

We were en route to Czestochowa,  Poland to meet our precious Karolinky!   What a flood of emotions.  At the time I didn't blog about it until after we returned, due to privacy rules.   We departed on April 12, 2011 from Akron/Canton with a layover in Detroit.  Then, the long flight to Amsterdam with another LONG layover and finally a connecting flight to Warsaw. 
Once we disembarked in Poland we still had to wait over an hour for our driver, then about a 3 hour drive to our hotel in Czetochowa.   All the while our hearts fluttering in anticipation to MEET OUR DAUGHTER!    I still can't believe it's been a year since we first held her.

She was SO was worth the wait.  Worth the years of infertility, pleading prayers and long road that led us to adopt.   
'O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things! '
Isaiah 25:1


Here is a little slide show from that first trip.

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I actually haven't even seen some of the photos from that trip since we took them last year.  Jim has them stored on a CD and we hope to view them tonight.  I can't wait to look back at those images!   I may even post some of them too, if you don't mind. :)   For now, I'm off to hug my sweet girl and celebrate this day!