EDITED: Link to a Giveaway and a Couple Prayer Requests

I love reading Amber's blog at Striving for 31 She is having a book give away. Click the link above and register yourself! Good luck!

By the Way....still no answer from the CCAA we should hear something today or tomorrow...in a perfect world. Also say a prayer for my bloggy friend Alycia who is waiting on her TA and for a travel buddy "L" who is waiting on the final steps for her family to bring home two sweet little boys. I know they are both ready to have their children in their arms.

EDITED TO ADD: Sorry I thought I had already posted about what we were waiting on from the CCAA but now I remember that I wrote a partial post and my internet went down...so basically we are waiting to find out if our eligibility check was approved. We have a couple of issues that fall just outside of some guidelines and we are trying to get the CCAA to overlook those issues and let us apply to adopt our sweet little Brooklyn (this is what we will name her and what I will call her on this blog, I know many of you know her by a different name but I do not want to post that information out here for the whole world to see). If the answer is a "No" or "Wait" then we MAY go ahead and begin to pursue an adoption of an Ethiopian boy whom we plan on naming Silas. Notice I said MAY. We are beginning homeschool in a couple of months and if this CCAA request is denied we also might just wait for awhile so we can save money and get into the swing of things with homeschool.

We both have a heart for adoption and we do plan on adding to our family at least once. I would love to have Brooklyn and Silas and I am praying that if that is God's will it will happen in His perfect timing. Just wanted to clarify!

In Christ Alone,

My heart sings....I AM FREE

I am so excited!!! I went to a BCHE meeting last night. That is our Home Education Group here in our little town. I was AMAZED by the women there and I cannot wait to jump into Homeschooling! All the questions that had hung over me like a weight were answered and although I know I have a LOT of hard work ahead of me and when I think about getting my mess of a house wonderful home organized and ready for this it makes me want to take a nap. I know I am capable and I really can't wait to get started!


Please pray about my job. I have let my Manager know of our plans and I have worked out a schedule that will allow me to work between 5 and 20 hours per week and still do homeschool and attend church. I am hoping that they will let me go permanent part-time because this would make health insurance available to me. I know that God is in control and I trust him to have his way in all of this!

We have 6 more days of school and then the Roe Family will be FREE of the constraints of the school system and we will be able to set our curriculum and our schedule around the plans that God has for our lives. Who knows we may even get to take a field trip to China in the next year or so! God is working on our behalf and I am waiting on bated breath to see what He is going to do in our lives. I know that I felt Him call us to homeschool and I know that He has also called us to adoption...His Word tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice and I can't help but think that the steps we have taken in the last few weeks have made our Heavenly Father smile. I don't pretend for one minute that we haven't also made Him frown or cry because of our sins and shortcomings... we are human end of story. But for some reason or the other HE LOVES US and I am so glad to know He is on my side!



In Christ Alone,

Memorial Box Monday:In His Hands

Today I have a lot that I want to say and not a lot that I am allowed to say. So instead I'll do a Memorial Box Monday post with sweet Linny over at A Place Called Simplicity which is a page I visit sometimes, even if she hasn't blogged, just to listen to her playlist! We have the same taste in music...anything that glorifies HIM is ok with me!

This Memorial Box Moment happened when I was quite young, about 6 years old I guess, but I still remember it like it was yesterday! As a child I was vexed with nose bleeds from the time I was a little over one year old. My mom found me in a pool of blood one morning and finally calmed herself down enough to realize it was coming from my nose. From that time on I went through countless trips to the ER to get my nosed packed and I had somewhere around 6 surgeries (or maybe it was 9 I can't really remember) to try to cauterize my weak blood vessels. This particular time I had my tonsils removed and I had my nose cauterized in the same surgery. The doctors stressed how important it was that I did not throw up. This was an issue for me because the anesthesia had a history of making me very sick. After the surgery I fought and fought to keep from getting sick. For days I fought it but finally a few days after the surgery I just couldn't help myself. I was afraid I would get in trouble so I didn't tell anyone. So after about four times of throwing up nothing but pure blood I finally told my Daddy. I remember him grabbing the phone and dialing my doctor while telling mom to get me ready to go. The doctor told my parents not to wait for an ambulance to get me to the ER immediately. I remember my mom calling my grandfather to pick my sister up and I remember my sister standing on the edge of our porch in her pj's by herself and us pulling out of the driveway as my grandfather turned on our road. I was so scared my Dad was a Pastor of a small church and they had just purchased him a 1985 Buick LeSabre (just like the one in this picture only it was Maroon) because we drove so far back and forth to church.

Well I remember being in the back seat with my mom and I was still throwing up, I just couldn't stop! Our main road here in Cleveland is APD 40 it is the "short-cut" to town and my Dad loves stopping here when he is telling this story to say it wasn't even open yet, it was about to open and so he used it to get to the hospital faster, he just likes me to know that I am older than the road I travel everyday :-) Thanks Dad!

Anyway we were on APD 40 and we were coming down a big hill and my Dad had the car "pegged out" as he says basically he was going as fast as the car would go and the speedometer couldn't keep up. When we were coming down that hill I remember saying "Pray Mama Pray" and I remember my Mom and Dad starting to pray and at that exact moment the front two tires on that brand new car blew out. I remember the car starting to spin and then just as quick as it started I believe the hand of God touched that car and it stopped. At the bottom of that hill was one of the busiest intersections in Cleveland but since it was kinda late at night there were no cars there that I had noticed on the way down the hill. However when the car got finished spinning there were not one, not two, but three police cars sitting at that red light and one detective. The detective and his wife had been coming home from eating dinner and they got me and my parents in their car...all I can remember is the car was white and ALL the interior of that car was white and I remember thinking oh my goodness I am going to get red blood all over their white car! They drove us straight to the ER and the Police Officers told my dad that they would bring his car to the hospital.  We got to our local hospital and they couldn't get the blood stopped they said I would have to go by ambulance to a Children’s hospital 30 miles away. My mom rode with me in the ambulance and my dad walked outside to see us off before he called someone to come get him and his car was sitting there with the spares out of those officers’ cars on it. They had changed the tires and brought it up there so he followed the ambulance. We got to T.C. Thompson's Children Hospital and I was still bleeding from the ripped stitches in my throat, the doctors came in and tried all they could and they went back out and told my parents that they had done everything they knew to do and that I was still bleeding. But Praise God I serve a God who likes to work when NOTHING else will. The hand of God came down again and touched my throat and for reasons that the doctors could not explain my throat stopped bleeding instantly. I did not need a transfusion;  God took care of the problem. I had to spend several days in the hospital, I think that was because the doctors couldn't believe it and expected it to start back up at any moment but my Miracle-working, Mountain-moving, Awe-inspiring, Gasp-giving* God had big plans for my life and he healed me completely that day!

(*I borrowed that from Linny...Sorry Linny! but isn't that a PERFECT description of him?!) So when I find my "perfect" Memorial Box I am going to put in a Matchbox car that looks something like that Maroon Buick to remind me that even when situations spin out of control God's hand will guide you into perfect provision.

The thing that sticks out to me today about that day is that in the time of trouble I can call on Him (Pray Mama Pray) and He will keep what I have placed in His hands. So today as I wait on an answer about whether or not a current circumstance will stand in the way of our journey to our sweet, sweet Brooklyn Jane I am doing one thing...Mama is Praying! This is a mountain (there were actually two small mountains and one large one and God has already moved the two small ones right out of the way!) and I am asking my Mountain-moving God to MOVE IT! God Bless You All!

UPDATED TO ADD: The mountain that was standing in our way recieved an answer and the answer was No. God is still in control and I know that when the time is right to add to our family God will do so in the way He chooses. We are trusting Him and looking at all the options. Please continue to pray!

2 Timothy 1:8-14

 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,  which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

In Christ Alone,

The Roe's Get Schooled

To Homeschool or not to Homeschool that is the question...


Well we have been praying and thinking and praying and thinking and we are down to the wire now. We really need to decide what we are going to do about school next year.

We LOVE our school and we had WONDERFUL teachers this year but I have been uneasy lately. I don't know if any other mom's feel this way or not but I just feel like God has called me to an awesome ministry...MOTHERHOOD....and then he gave me two little precious gifts that I chose to call Sarah Ann and Colton Jack and I enjoyed them and loved them and took care of them and then they turned 5 and I sent them away for 7 hours everyday. 7 hours a day I give them into the hands of others to mold them and teach them. Now I can tell you that if I think for one second that they have been taught something contrary to the Word of God I tell them that whoever taught them that was WRONG. End of story. My dad likes to say the Word of God is truth and every man a liar. I agree. But for 7 hours I don't have the ability to speak in their ear and tell them that God loves them and that I love them. For 7 hours they don't read the bible one time, for 7 hours I don't see their smiles or kiss their lips. That's somewhere around 1260 hours a year that I lose with them. And that is just not ok with me.

The second issue is that Colton is behind in reading. He is reading at 2nd grade 1st month and he is about to be finished with 2nd grade. I think that he needs more one on one time to get him on grade level or better yet ahead of grade level. In every other subject Colton is on target or ahead. Sarah is ahead in almost every subject and I am afraid she is getting a little bored. I just think I could fashion a school day for them that would cater to both of their needs and wants. I know this would be a BIG task and I don't think it's for wimps...which I tend to be a little wimpy...lol. But I just keep feeling God drawing me to do this.

I have a friend that I met back in China in September of 2008 who just happens to live in the same state as me (about 2 hours away) who homeschools. I have gotten lots of advice from her and I have actually decided to use some of the same literature as she is using (ok actually all the same literature but what can I say it all looked GREAT and I know nothing about where to start so I figured if we do this for and something doesn't fit with my kiddos I can adjust.) I am so thankful for those connections we make in life that make doing what God is calling us to seem a little more attainable!

Anyway lest we think I just accepted this like a good little girl let me tell you I have thought of several reasons this just wouldn't work...so here is a play by play of what my conversations have been with God...this happened over months not in one setting...THANK GOODNESS because it takes time to admit your wrong, well at least it does for me.

Me: I have to work.
God: Well yes you do but you can work from 3-8 and still get in part-time hours.

Me: I have NO ROOM!
God: Well actually you have a dining room and it is way big enough.
Me: (in a really whiney voice) But then I have to take all of my beautiful pictures down and that is my only "frilly" room.
God: Really Sherri?! What matters most a frilly room or the difference this could make in the lives of your children?!
Me: Wow...flesh stinks. The children matter most of course. (Again I didn't get to that answer without a few weeks and God stepping on my toes a few hundred times.)

Me: What about socialization...they'll turn into weird shy homeschool kids.
God: Their your kids...they are already weird... (HAHA just kidding I thought that on my own but I know He thinks it!)
God: YMCA, BCHE, ECT!

So honestly I am just getting sick of fighting it. I am not sure if Mitch is completely on board or not but I am leaving that up to God if he can convince me to keep my kids home with me 365 days a year I am sure he can convince my husband to let me.

Now that I have given into the fact that this will most likely be the route we take I am actually having fun with it so if there are any other homeschooling mom's who have ideas or advice I am welcome to it!

These are my top five questions for now.

1. What reading curriculum do your recommend?
2. What if my child has an IEP how can I continue to get Speech therapy for him?
3. How long do you devote to each subject (per day)?
4. How do you deal with behavior during school hours? Dad usually does the spanking around here and I would really like to use some other methods during school hours. (I want to say I DO believe in spanking and I feel like it is what I am commanded to do through the Word but I know if they were in school they would be expected to offer great behavior without the threat of spanking and I want to do the same. They are great kids but they FIGHT all the time!)
5. Do you know where I can get any good deals on storage cabinets or bookshelves for our school room?!

I am really looking forward to this...most of all I want to find JOY in our JOURNEY. I also want to do what is pleasing to my Heavenly Father, after all when the day is done that is all that really matters!

In Christ ALONE,

Help the VanDruff Family!

Please visit the link below to learn about a family who really needs our help!

http://blessingsfromethiopia.blogspot.com/2010/05/help-thon-for-van-druff-family.html

God Bless!

I HATE SOCKS!!!

So I just need to vent for a minute; I.HATE.SOCKS! I mean it! My two lovely children are both VERY picky about their socks. They can't be too big or too little, they must hit at just the right place on their ankles. Both of my well behaved children have been reduced to a puddle of tears several times just because they couldn't find any "good socks". We have been fighting this battle for a very long time. When the kids were young I just didn't have time to sit and mate socks so I got in the habit of having a sock basket. As soon as socks came out of the dryer they went into the sock basket. Everyone’s socks went in there and that way when you needed socks you just had to dig through and find a pair that fit.

Well as the kids got older that got to be way to much trouble because when your child is picky over socks it takes forever to dig for just the right pair and its perfect mate! Well then I tried something different I had a bowl of safety pins and I told every person 10 and under in our house to bring me their socks and a safety pin when they took them off and I pinned the very tip of the toes together and then when I took them out of the wash I unpinned them and mated them and all was good for awhile. However I am here to tell you it gets to be a pain when you are rolling out biscuit dough and a child runs in with dirty socks and stands there waiting on you to pin them! So eventually we got out of the habit and now we are back to the sock basket. Well today I noticed it has grown from one basket to two baskets! I have two baskets full of stupid clean socks staring at me right now!!! They are taunting me and telling me how they will eat the kid’s favorite socks and cause crying fits for the next three weeks of school before socks are banned and flip-flops reign. I want to take those smart mouthed socks to the front yard and set them on fire and roast a marshmallow over them. But I don't have a burn permit and the pollen would choke me to death. So instead I have decided to mate these socks, throw the extra's away, and buy a new box of safety pins then I am going to give instructions to take the socks to DAD to be pinned, after all he doesn’t make biscuits! THANK YOU GOD FOR SOCKS but I sure hate em!

Guess what I am not the only one! May 8th is NO SOCK DAY!! How about that?! I think I may need a twelve step program to get over this! Have a great Thursday!!!

Updated pictures...and blog!

Just so you know I updated my blog from earlier today and we had a photo change in our header and on our side bar if anyone would like to see what my little lovley children look like now! Hope everyone had a great Wednesday!

In Christ Alone,