three

Word of warning this blog post is going to get pretty sappy! Don't say I didn't warn you!!!!
Well tomorrow my baby is turning three! I can't believe how time flies! Its also a dual celebration for us cause it is also two years ago on her first birthday that we met Gina and Paul in the parking lot of the Vernon walmart and took our baby home forever! What an amazing thing that God chose us to be her parents! So amazing to me that this precious girl started her life in a random utility shed where she was born, to the loving home of Daugherty's and then into our lives forever!!! Raelynn we love you forever and more everyday!!! Happy birthday my baby girl!!!!

"preschool"

Well the latest adventure has me racking my brain day and night. I have been researching like crazy and blog stalking to boot! My latest adventure has me trying my hand at "home preschooling". I have been trying to find ways to fill our days with fun but educational activities. Wow who knew there is so many great ideas out there! I just can't believe how creative some people are! So stay tuned for some of our crazy adventures in "home preschool". I am sure with Raelynn this is going to get interesting to say the least!!!!

my foster parent prayer

So today was a rough day. I took the kids to their first visit at their mom's house. It made the whole returning home process real for me. Then I remembered why we do this, for those precious babies. Our mission statement for this calling is to show every child in our home unconditional love, God's love, even if it is only for a day. So I pray this never gets easy. I pray I never harden myself to the pain of letting them go. If I don't get my heart broke every time then I am not fully loving these kids with my whole heart and they deserve to have every part of me! Not to mention if I closed myself off I would miss the best part of it all which is the precious innocent love I get in return! Thank you God for giving me tons of tiny footprints on my heart!

puzzles

Well big changes are coming to the Moore house that's for sure! We are going to be working on getting two of our kids back home. At first my thought was "noooooooooo". Then sadness. Then anger. Then I got smart and did what I should have done to start with, I prayed. God showed me two things that I had been missing. 1. Why would I not want their mother to get better and be responsible? Why was I only expecting the worst from her? Well the answer is it is very hard to forgive her for the things she has done. It makes things simpler to think that she can't change and care for her babies. How sad the world would be if Jesus found it too hard to forgive us and thought that we were all too far gone to change. Wow! I would be in a lot of trouble right now if he hadn't forgiven me. So with His help I can find forgiveness for her, cause after all "there by the Grace of God go I". She deserves the same second chance I got when He wipe clean my past and how else is she going to know this possible unless someone shows her Christ-like love. Which leads me to point 2. God showed me he has called me not only to witness to children in my home but also the parents that have fallen by the wayside. Due to the process in returning the children it is necessary for me to spend a lot of time with this momma one on one. That equals lots of time to plant a seed. Why have I forgotten this is my responsibility as a christian? Ok God got the message! (once again in a big flashing neon sign) So I am going to suck it up and help repair a family that might have a chance at change. An awesome family member reminded me of an analogy that Priscilla Shire uses. She talks about how life is like a puzzle and when we dump the pieces out in the floor we can try to put them back together but unless you know what the picture looks like we can't put the puzzle together. God is the only one that knows what the final picture is suppose to look like. So we shouldn't try so hard to put thing where we think they should go and let God do it cause He knows how it will all fit together in the end!

control

Hi guys its me again! This morning I was woke up with anxiety over several things going on in my life and lives of those I love. Some of these things are way beyond my pea brain realm of understanding. Then again some of them are so simple the gum on my shoe could have figured it out. Either way they are all equally upsetting to me. What do all these situations have in common? People are hurting and lives are being altered. (Ok people stay with me I don't plan on continuing this depressing ramble for the whole blog.) One thing I am sure in all of these things is God is in control! The song playing endlessly in my mind this morning is Casting Crowns "I will praise you in this storm". I need a reminder to do this constantly! So today I say "rejoice in the Lord always" this control freak is "letting go and letting God" and all the other inspiring quotes you can think of. Does this mean my heart won't still ache for the people that have been hurt of course not. These people are family and "family" to me and I love them and care about them. It does mean I have hope that all things are for a reason and at the end of the day all part of a very perfect plan!

my first attempt at blogging!!!

Well here it goes, I am officially a blogger!!! Like I have said in the title, I truly view my life as an adventure. Those of you that have had the, lets just say pleasure, of knowing me for any amount of time might agree. The Moore's ARE "Murphy's Law"! In my life, I have experienced everything from emu attacks, trucks on fire, driving with the deceased, to the "great flood of '08" and many more things in between. (Don't get me wrong I am far from bragging on my experiences just embracing them.) Well at one point in my life I would have asked God "what was the point of that?" Today I can look back and confidently say its all been to get us to this point (hence the title of my non-existent book "How Did We Get Here"). God has put these things in our life and each had its own lesson that needed to be learned. Why one might ask did God go to such extremes to teach me? Have you met me? I am to say the least a hard headed, a control freak with ADHD. It takes large blinking neon signs to get my attention. God knows this about me and has seen fit to apply extreme tactics to guide this child of His! So what does all this mean for my life today you ask? Well I can only hope that maybe I have grown in my relationship with my Father enough to listen a little closer to his "Godly GPS" or who knows maybe more extreme lessons are to come. Either way, this life is an adventure and I want to just hang on for the ride and let God take me where I need to be!