Our little joyful plum

I know I have a lot of readers that have not asked for the password to the wordpress blog. We have decided to let everyone know about the referral of our daughter from Taiwan. She is an absolute doll. She is five months old and we expect to travel in about three months or so to bring her home. God has been good to us! I am happy to introduce to you Kaylee Anne-Marie McCulley. We will be withdrawing from the Vietnam program and from Children's Hope International. Right now I am keeping certain information protected on the other blog, but when we travel, we will be happy to share our journey with everyone. She is an absolute answer to prayer as we were called on Christmas Day with her referral. We are busy getting everything ready and our paperwork is already being translated in Taiwan. This is going to be an exciting journey for us!

Faith is...

not believing that God can, but knowing that He will. He spoke it, He planned it and He has finally brought it to pass!

Our Christmas Miracle

We have a Christmas Secret! It is password protected. You will have to have the password to log on to www.joyfulplum.wordpress.com to find out our secret!

Still here, still hoping

Hi, all! I know it has been FOREVER since I have posted. Please forgive me. So much has been going on, physically and emotionally. I have been spending a lot of time with my niece and her new daughter while she was on maternity leave. I know, I know! I cannot believe I have not shared pictures of this little beauty with you. I promise to load them up asap! She really has become the light in my life right now. I have also been fighting a horrible infection all month long and finally went to the Dr. this week to find out I have a bacterial infection and am now on a round of Augmentin. HMMM, many trips to the bathroom! Can anyone relate?!

On the Vietnam front: many of my blog friend families are finally traveling to finalize their adoptions. The US Dept of State reported on their website that no new adoptions will commence until a new bilateral agreement is reached or Vietnam signs on to the Hague Convention. Our agency projects this process to at least be a year. Our agency is also being reconsidered by the Hague committee, so hopefully they will be approved. Our fingerprints will expire in Dec, so we are looking at 900 dollars to keep those current while we decide what we are going to do. I know several families that have chosen to go other routes and some that are having no choice but to wait out this moratorium with Vietnam. I will be posting soon on the other site about our options. You have to have a password to follow. I am also thinking of changing my password, as i feel I may have been too liberal with the first one.

I am really enjoying my Tues. night Bible study. Look for a post coming soon with some things I would like to share with you. It is just so relative to this adoption journey we have been on. It is too good not to share, but it will take me a while to compose on that.

I am going to be making hair bows, tutus, and the like to supplement our income. I may try to set up a website, but will at least be posting my designs here. If you have little girls and like hair bows and ponies, I am working on some designs for Christmas. I promise the prices will be reasonable. I hope to have some pics posted early next week as this is going to be my weekend project.

Pouring out, pouring in, and pouring forth

It has been awhile since I shared my Bible study with you. Our session Tues night was incredible. Living in the Spirit is all about living in victory and living in the Spirit will change your day. It will determine your mood, it will determine your choices. Begin each morning in praise to the Father, allow your worries and anxieties, your fears and your tears to be poured out at His feet so that you can stand completely pure before Him. I mean, pour out EVERYTHING. Confess all that is consuming you. And then once you have confessed it, allow yourself to accept the forgiveness that God redeems you with. God is our refuge, spill forth all of your concerns at His feet. Once you do that, you will allow Him to pour in all that He is willing to give. This is one thing that you can indulge in. We were created with the desire to be full. Allow the spirit to fill you to the emptiest places, the deepest crevices, the most secret spots. Tell Him what you are lacking and ask Him to fill it for you. We need to live by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and keep in step with the Spirit. Once we pour out all that is in us and allow Him to pour in what we need, then we will be able to pour forth His spirit on others and minister to them through the spirit. Letting Him take control, giving Him the worries, will overflow you with peace and and permeate your bones so that you naturally live by the Spirit each day. The Spirit empowers us to fight life's inevitable battles with the world, the flesh, and the devil. In every way and at every turn we are utterly dependen on the Holy Spirit of God.

Sharing my study- Influence

Today's treasure: " Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to reamin true to the faith. 'We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God' they said" Acts 14:22. Wow, how is that for being relevant? And this was just the first verse of study! Today's study focused on the power of influence and why we need to stay rooted in the Holy Spirit. Did you know that we can possess the very character of Christ? You have to grant God an all-access pass to every part of your life and when you do you will never be the same. Think with me if you will about this. God entrusted women with the most wonderful and terrible gift- the power of influence. Think about Eve in the Garden? Why did the serpent approach her and not Adam? Think about the power of feminine influence. We are the bearer of children, women overwhelmingly staff schools, MDOs, daycares, and Sunday Schools. With the divorce rate up, mothers are the primary influence in children's lives. When we use our influence at best- we encourage, nurture, teach, evangelize, and disciple others. At the worst- our influence can cripple and kill. The line becomes very fine between the two. God exhorts us to have gentle and quiet spirits, meaning we need to think before we speak and act. These warnings in scripture are no provided becasue we are so lowly, but because we possess such an awesome gift.
How do you use your gift of influence in your home, at work, and in your church? Learning to live by the Spirit can refine our influence to be used in positive ways and gentle ways. Please pray that God will help you to wield your influence ONLY under the authority of the Holy Spirit who dwells within you!

{Some statements are taken directly from my study guide and some are my wording.}
Please let me know if you enjoy me sharing these tidbits or not. I just love studying the fruit of the spirit because it is relevant for every day living. And it also helps me study when I share a small portion with you. So speak up! If you don't care for it, I won't share quite as much! But I hope it helps someone out there! I will tell you that this particular study is available for online study and www.lifeway.com if you would like to watch Beth Moore and download the study guides. After two days, I am already feeling refreshed.)

God is already speaking to me

Wow, can I say here that only after this first session of Beth Moore's "Living Beyond Yourself" that I came home reflecting already on how He spoke to my heart. This study is about learning to live in the fruit of the spirit, living beyond what we alone are able to do. God has called us to live beyond ourselves. When we are filled with the fruit of the spirit, it makes us immediately different. When you are filled with the fruit of the Spirit, you will find God making you reach out and press forward to your goal. There was one verse in particular that spoke to me in regard to this adoption journey. In 2 Corinithians 1:8-9 it says in part " We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired in life." God brings us far beyond our ability to endure and when we reach the goal we can say without a doubt that GOD IS GOD because it went way beyond our natural talents and abilities.
" The essence of an abundant life is God abundant in our lives."~ Beth Moore
"If you are still breathing, God is still happening".
God has called each of us to live beyond what we are able. I am looking forward to immersing myself is God's word and allowing the wind of the Holy Spirit to blow on my face. If your unrelenting daily demands are beyond yourself and you find yourself having a "here we go again day" stop and fill yourself with the sweet fruit of the Holy Spirit. It will change your life, it will change your day, it will change your mood.

I look forward to sharing my daily studies with you. It is so refreshing to soak up God's beautiful word and see where He has already brought me beyond myself with this adoption and I will continue to trust that God is God and He is still happening and it is far beyond my own ability to endure this journey, so I will put God in control and allow Him to teach me what He would have me to learn. I hope you will enjoy sharing my studies with me. The fruit of the Spirit is probably my favorite study ever because it relates to everyday living and provides and immediate growth in my walk with God.