More than Enough to Celebrate

As we approach this Easter Sunday, our hearts have been burdened with how to handle the traditions of the day.  For generations, our family has recognized Easter as the celebratory day for remembering the Death of Christ and His Resurrection - but as the day goes by,  those truths quickly lose out to the eggs, the dye, the bunny, the candy, the baskets, the new outfits....you get the picture.  Jay and I have asked our respective families to not mention the whole Easter Bunny thing this year (I'd love for Americans to ditch that part altogether - to be honest, telling kids that a bunny hops around to everyone's house and brings you a basket loaded with goodies and candy is a little twisted.  At least Santa is pictured as a jolly old man - some renditions of this mysterious bunny are downright scary!)  We told our children years ago that all those traditions were myths because we wanted them to focus on the realities of Christ and what Christmas and Easter mean from His perspective.  I once heard someone say that if kids grow up believing in Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Leprechans, and Jesus - then one day you say "Oh yeah, I need to tell you that all those things are make believe, except Jesus" (whose story often seems just as unbelievable) - that He can be quickly dismissed as fairy tale, too.  I never want my children to consider Jesus as a possible fairy tale or fond childhood memory.  He is the King of Kings and the whole reason we have any morsel of hope to be freed from our depravity!!  Jay and I were talking about this, and said if Jesus, His death, and His resurrection aren't reason enought to celebrate - than we don't know what is.  Why in the world would you allow some urban legend to share this day with JESUS!  We, as followers of Christ, worship the only God who has defied the grave.  No other religious figure has ever even come close to that miracle.  The Lancaster family encourages you to worship and celebrate Him and Him alone - He is enough.

Home *Sweet* Home Study

Many of you know we are going through our Home Study and Interviews this week.  So far, it has been a wonderful experience and our dear Social Worker has been so pleasant and helpful.  Thanks for all your prayers.  We have our final meeting tomorrow (Wed) and then we work on the written report.  All this puts us one step closer to Lori. 

Big Love for Lori

Stay tuned......(and yes, we know that Big Love is the title of a tv show - but we are using it anyway)

Open Windows

Ok - so we thought we had run into another snag.  Last Sunday - two wonderful ladies from DFS came to talk to our church about State adoption and the desperate need for loving families.  They are making a plea to the faith community - and rightly so!  We should be the ones stepping up to take these children.  Well, they briefly talked about the Home Study process.  They mentioned what they look for - fire alarms, fire extinguishers, windows that open, general home safety - wait, go back....windows that open - Yikes!  Our windows are 50 years old and have been painted shut for decades!!  We talked to our social worker and confirmed this little detail and called to get a quote for replacement windows - $3100 - no way!  So, my dear hubby put the pedal to the metal last night and with a little elbow grease, a crowbar, and a hammer - the windows OPEN!!    To Jay - Von al Don al!!

And the Winner is........

Seeds Giveaway

I got this great idea from Glenna at http://www.glennamarshall.blogspot.com/!  For years, we have been listening and loving the CDs from the Seeds series.  They are wonderfully made and so great for learning Scripture.  Even 2 year olds quickly learn these verses by singing along.  So, I ordered No. 5 in the series - Seeds of Encouragement - and the company - http://www.seedsfamilyworship.com/ - has this great promo going - when you buy the CD - they send you a second one for FREE!  You, my friends, have a chance to win this FREE CD just by sending us a comment (be sure to include a way to contact you).  Then, Chloe is going to pick a name and we will send the CD to you.  How fun is that!!

A FULL DAY at the Doctor in STL

Today has been a much anticipated day!  A day of answers. 

This morning, our family (minus Annie who stayed behind for basketball practice) loaded up for what we thought would be a fun day with a quick stop off at the doctor.  The first unexpected thing to happen was that after we were on I-55 for maybe a mile, and a car passed us with a red car tailgating it.  It was so obvious that we discussed how dangerous it appeared.  Maybe one minute later as we were just north of Sikeston, my attention shifted to the median about a 1/2 mile ahead.  I saw what appeared to be the dust cloud from the tazmanian devil.  Then I noticed it was a car rolling.  All I could repeat over and over was, "Oh my goodness!"  The car finally came to rest as it struck the guard cable on the southbound side, which kept it from getting hit again.  We pulled over and noticed that it was the red car.  We called my office and got them to radio the Highway Patrol, which was on the site fast.  It drew quite a crowd.  An exciting beginning to our trip.  I hope the people were all ok.

Then we showed up to my new back doctor in Chesterfield at 11:30...fifteen minutes early.  We walked out at 4:08.  Wow!  Didn't see that one coming.  And with four out of five kids in tow, it was a challenge waiting that long.  Even though I had an MRI done ahead of time, they sent me for XRays and for a CT scan.  The kids did great, though, and the doctor was awesome.  I really liked him.  We had hoped to be in/out of the doctor in an hour or so, and get to squeeze in a little time at the zoo.  Turned out that by the time we grabbed a quick supper at Chick-Fil-A and got in five o'clock traffic that we didn't get home until 8:10.

The Parallel This Adoption Is Beginning To Teach Me

One thing that always amazes me is how whenever any of us set out to do something that we think is solely intended to bless someone else…that we end up being the one that is blessed! I remember when I went to Romania how I thought I was going to minister to the people of Romania. What I learned to my surprise was that I was blessed and ministered to by them so much more than what I could have ever done for them. I actually thought that I was there to offer something…but God humbled me so much to realize that I was there to grow and learn…not to offer anything. I now realize how silly and arrogant it was to even think that.

In setting out on this adoption journey, I also thought this was something we were doing for someone else…for this child…this orphan. I have found recently, however, that I think I was once again mistaken. This weekend, I had a moment where this huge light bulb went off in my head and my heart.