Please Pray for "Lewis"

Last night I was searching a list of waiting children in Ethiopia and found our son. So much so that while I was reading his profile to Paul, (with many pauses to choke back tears), he said, "Let's get him. No, now. Let's get him!" I will go into details about him in a minute, but first let me describe why I am referring to him as Lewis.
In Disney's Meet the Robinsons, we are introduced to an orphan boy named Lewis. Without giving away anything, let's just say this movie is very enjoyable, and will make you cry, (it makes us cry at least). Everytime we watch it, Paul always says he wants to find a Lewis out there, (he is a precious little genius/inventor). Who wouldn't want to adopt him?

On the adoption website, I am not allowed to give out info on the kids, so I am giving him the name Lewis since he is, in fact, our Lewis.

No, he is not a boy genius, but he is even more than that.

Not only is he out going and great with kids, (he always helps out the nannies with the infants- does he sound like a great big brother or what?), but he also...

WANTS TO START AND ORPHANAGE WHEN HE IS OLDER TO HELP ORPHANS AND HE WANTS TO BE A SERVANT IN CHURCH.

Could he BE more perfect for us?

Now the adoption process will take about 18 months... problem is- I have to be 25. Ok, I am almost 23.5, so when he comes home I will be 24.5, or about 25. We are looking into getting him regardless of my age... maybe they can cut us a break since I will almost be 25, and Paul will be over 30. Oh, and if/when we get him, we will get our Ann Marie too! ;)

Regardless if he will be our son or not, please pray for Lewis. Pray that he will be adopted by a family that loves Jesus and will be an encourager to his dreams.

We would love it if we could be his family, but we know this is not up to us. We have faith that in our lives and in Lewis' that "God causes all things to work together for good to them that love God, and are called according to His purposes." Romans 8:28

What Can I Do?

Please watch then read below...




I have always loved this song, but now I love it even more! I have just been feeling so overwhelmed by God's love lately. I know God has me right where He wants me. Waiting to adopt is hard, but when God revealed to me that this time is His timing- it makes the waiting much easier. If you want more details, just ask, but I am not writing them on here for a reason. :)

It is just so humbling that God revealed to me some of His plan. Usually we go through things, and we are like, " I know this is His plan, though I do not know why," etc. Well, God has shown me some "whys" and I am so thankful! It is such a gift from my Father!

Now I always know God loves me, but I am feeling it stronger right now. Like we know our husbands love us, but then they do something extra special to show us their love and we feel super loved... that is how I feel!

On Sunday we had a leaders meeting at our church which we always open with worship. Greg, (our worship pastor), sang the above song, and in the middle asked for anyone to share some worship stories/praises etc. I rose my hand and shared the full story with them about what God revealed to me, and I about lost it. I had felt it in my heart and told it to Paul, but to admit it to a large group of my Brothers and Sisters and to know that it was worshipful to God to do so left me overcome with emotion. That was the beginning of me feeling hugged and loved strongly by God. :)

I still CANNOT wait to hold my baby(ies), but I have comfort in my waiting because God showed me why I have to wait. :)

What makes me smile...

The title of this post was going to be something about making me happy. But- it would not be entirely true.

You see, Christ brings me Joy.

Paul and Jersey make me happy.

This stuff makes me smile. :)

I had this 16x20 picture of Jersey on my dad's property in our entry way. It was nice, but I wanted something different.... something God honoring...

Ta-da! I took some pics from the shoot with Traci Marie Photography, and I put them in a frame with leopard as the background. (sorry it is crooked- it is straight on the wall- I just couldn't get a straight shot! It had to be crooked, otherwise the flash would reflect directly over the main pic, and I didn't want that) :)

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

Things that make me smile:

• Christ centered decorating- check
• Leopard print- check
• Pictures of my family- check
• Decorating with photography- check
  

In other news, meet Archie:
The mom I work for, N- this is her boyfriend's dog. Since they are out of town, I am also watching over Archie. He is a Labradoodle, but he sure resembles someone I love... :)

Archie is cute, and he looks an awful lot like Jersey, but he is nothing compared to my sweet baby! :)

Random... Ghosts caught on film...
Ok, so they are not ghosts, they are cows in a field... but you have to admit that this pic creepy! lol

Tired Tuesday

Ok, I'm tired. The kids' mom is out of town, so I am on full time, and I must admit I am tired. This is counter intuitive, but I find staying with younger kids is easier than older kids. Not that I love these kiddos any less- they are just not as easy as little kids. :)

So my camera bit the dust. I was very very very sad. I figured I wouldn't get another one for a long time-and that is just not cool. Well, Paul's Mama wanted to get me a present because she said she was proud of me for being so supportive of her son with going back to work so he could go to seminary, etc.

I was a little leery about this because I really wanted a REALLY nice camera, and I feared she would think I was taking advantage of her generosity. She was fine with the cost, and I was THRILLED!!! I thought about getting an SLR, but I decided on a Canon Power Shot G10. IT IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I told Paul to tell them that it was really an investment for them since one day it will take awesome pics of their grand kids. ;)


Ready for LOTS of pics??? :)

One of the last pics I got before my camera died- I got these shots of our friend's daughter. I am just now posting them- sorry Brooke! :) {notice how these pics look, then notice the quality of the rest of the pics in the post} ;)

Mudge sleeps with her tongue out... SO CUTE!!!





Here are some of the first shots from my new camera...

Ok, join me on a little detour for a minute...

My sister, Tracie died on a Friday. After arriving home that day, I did not leave again until Sunday for Church, and not again until Tuesday. As you can imagine it was a great time of mourning. I broke down in Michael's on the Tuesday my dear friends finally dragged me out of the house. Leaving the house was very difficult at that time, but why/how did I make it to Church?

Not going to Church was not an option. I needed to be in the prescence of my Father, (I already was, but there is something special about being in corporate worship). I needed to be hugged by my Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

I broke down a few times there, (these brake downs and the one at Michael's were one of the few times I lost it. It was such a shock, I was almost void of emotion at times). Anyway, worship began as it does every Sunday, and I rose to sing as I do every Sunday. The first song we sang was one that I always liked, but that day its meaning would change forever. Some of you have heard this following part before, but it explains the below pics, so keep reading. :)

It was the song, "You are Holy." The chorus which was/is my favorite part goes: "He is Lord of Lords! He is King of Kings! He is Mighty God, Lord of Everything! He is Immanuel! He is the Great I Am! He is the Prince of Peace, who is the Lamb! He is the Living God! He is my Saving Grace! He will reign forever, He is the Ancient of Days! He is Alpha, Omega, Beginning and End! He's my Savior, Messiah, Redeemer, and Friend! He's my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for Him!!!"

I lost it towards the end of the chorus. Not because I had lost Tracie, but because in spite of that, I was still worshiping God. That was very comforting for me- knowing that no matter what I was able to praise Him. Calling God my Prince of Peace at that moment was very powerful. Even though I will forever miss my sister, I had peace knowing that God is sovereign, (Romans 8:28).

Since then, I love any song that calls out the names of God. I always wanted to post them in my house, but didn't know how I would. Over the weekend, I made something to satisfy that want...
This is the first thing you see as you enter my house. The words in red are names of Christ, whether from the Bible or just from songs...
On the letters of Jesus, I wrote "Jesus loves you," in Greek, Spanish, German, French and Hebrew. Pretty cool, huh? :)


Today I was playing with my camera, and took shots of my favorite model. Notice the black couch covers- updated house pics soon, I promise! :) Some with and some without flash... with= w, without= w/o. Enjoy :)

w/o
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PS... Mom, did you notice that the girls forgot one of their bones here, so Jersey decided to give it a run... I am a paranoid mom, so I didn't let him chew it long. lol He will be returning it to his aunts soon. ;)

PAUSE

I need a pause button.

I have no time to post right now. I have stuff to blog about, just not the time.

The kids' mom is out of town so it is just them and me all week. So, yesterday and today, (my off days), were spent working. Love the kids and all, but I NEED TO CLEAN MY HOUSE for this weekend! NO TIME. :/

No pics today cause I have no time, so be sure to look below at the post below for some awesome pics! :)

They're here!!!

I told you about the photo shoot we did a couple of weeks ago for the budding photographer. Here are some of the promised pics... more on Facebook. :) I LOVE THEM!!! Need a photog? www.traci-marie.com Oh, and I usually take the time to put pics in order on here, but I do not have the energy... but even out of order- these pics rock!!! :)









I like his tongue sticking out here... :)

Adoption Awareness Month

As we all know, October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Now, don't get me wrong, I was greatly affected by breast cancer myself. My grandmother fought it 3 times before it finally took her life in 2002 at the young age of 56.

BUT, October is over. November is Adoption Awareness Month. One of my goals/dreams in life is that Adoption Awareness Month will be as "celebrated" as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.


Check out my post from today from my other blog.


To kick off this month, I will reveal the name of our African Angels. :) Lord willing, we will be adopting, (in like 2 years or so), 2 African Angels. They probably are not even born yet, but I already love them. Please join me in praying for these angels and all of the other African Angels that are orphaned. All they want this Christmas is a Daddy and Mommy.

Ann Marie Paulie Keierleber and Bradford Paul Keierleber

Ann Marie Paulie is the name of my character in my book, "She is Not Your Real Mommy." It is only fitting for our little African Angel girl to be named after her. :) How cool will it be for Ann Marie to do a book report over a book written by her mommy and starring her! :) My dad was adopted... Ann was his birth mother and Marie is his mom. That is where I got the name Ann Marie. I wanted to give her a tie to us, but lets face it, Keierleber is a name and a half! lol So, I gave her the name Paulie, (my husband's name is Paul). We are making this her middle name in real life, so she will be named after her daddy, 2 of her paternal great grandma's on her mother's side, her maternal great grandmother on her mother's, (her middle name was Ann :)), and her mommy, (Marie is my middle name). Pretty cool, huh? :)

Bradford Paul takes a little less explanation. I have a list of boy's names that I like, and this was Paul's favorite, so we picked it! lol And his middle name is after is daddy of course. Pretty explanatory! lol


Ann Marie is a pretty traditional name, and I prefer unique names. She will probably be the only one of our children with a traditional name. BUT, while her name is traditional, it has a pretty cool background! :) Bradford is quite different, and for our other children, we have pretty cool names picked out too! :)

Please join us in praying for Ann Marie and Bradford. AND for all of the other orphans in the world- everyday, and especially during Adoption Awareness Month. Please get the word out. ♥