Kite flying on the Oregon coast

Who knew kite flying could be so much fun? We didn't. We got this kite from Danny and Mindy for Christmas and tried it out while we were living in Calif. but never got the hang of it...til this week! It's a stunt kite, the kind with two handles. It takes a lot of effort to keep it up, but once we figured that out, we have had a lot of fun dive bombing each other. : )
Claire is using one that we borrowed-just a basic kite. It was perfect for her. She thought she was quite the kite flying expert since it was so easy for her and daddy was having such a hard time figuring out his. What's the problem, dad? Just hold the handle.

Trip to Oregon

This week we are in Oregon. We were given a week at a house in Manzanita. (Part of a timeshare deal.) We left early Sun. morning and spent the afternoon at OMSI, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. We don't have big plans-just relaxing, reading, watching movies and playing at the beach. Here are some of the pictures from our trip.

God is good!

We knew it was coming... Sooner or later we knew that our own resources would be exhausted as we paid for various adoption expenses. I guess I didn't expect it to happen so early in the process though.

This weekend we got a bill for $2000 for our home study. I checked our savings account, thinking we could squeak out one more big payment, but then realized that if we paid it, we would not be able to pay our property tax next month. I was devastated. I spent a good part of Saturday and Sunday crying and praying. What should we do? Pay this bill? Pay our property tax?

Roland decided that we just needed to wait on the payment til the money somehow came in, thus delaying our receiving of the homestudy. This, in turn, would delay our applying for grants, submission of immigration paperwork and completion of our dossier. I didn't disagree with him, but still my heart sank.

Fast forward to Monday (the very next day)...
I was doing school with the kids when there was a knock on the door. A friend was just "in the area" and wanted to drop by a note of encouragement. He said it should be read as a family, so since Roland was home we all squished together on the couch and I began to read the note aloud. Eventually, I had to stop reading because of my tears, so Roland continued where I left off. This friend has been through the adoption process and was well acquainted with its emotional highs and lows. He wanted to remind us about the good work that the Lord was going to do in our hearts through it all. And tucked in the envelope was a check...for $2000.

We cried as a family when we saw it and then spent time thanking and praising the Lord for his goodness and faithfulness.

I am so thankful to be part of the body of Christ.
God is so good. May He receive the glory.