The Sovereignty of God

What Good Thing?

I am recovering from a serious life-long case of "waiting for the other shoe to drop". I always looked at bad things that happened to other people and seemed to think that there was a quota of bad things that must happen to us in our lives. I have been, and often continue to be, leery of what bad thing will soon befall me.

I have heard a lot of stories lately of people dealing with their own pain and tragedy, and sometimes it becomes difficult to not be overwhelmed. I have determined that I don't want to spend my life waiting for the other shoe to drop...anticipating that bad things are bound to happen and that I am at the mercy of whatever will befall me.

I want a new perspective.

I want a Biblical perspective- one that reflects a faith in the sovereign and merciful God on the throne.

The painful things in life will inevitably come. There is no question of this. Instead of seeing the evil though, I want to see the hand of God. I don't want to be overwhelmed by circumstances, but I want to ask "God, what good thing are you doing here?"

If God is good, AND God is sovereign over all He has created, then He not only allows evil, but ordains evil for His own purposes. No bad comes to us that hasn't been ordained by the hand of a loving and gracious Father, and it's FOR GOOD.

Romans 8:28 says "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." It does NOT say that the bad things that happen are good, only that God causes ALL things to work together FOR good.

No matter what situation you find yourself in today, instead of being overcome, allow God's peace to fill your heart and mind as you take every thought captive to Him in obedience, and ask "What good thing are you doing, Father?"

(For deeper reading on this topic see "Suffering and the Sovereignty of God" edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor. I found the above video when searching for sovereignty of God. It is an amazing testimony of one man's faith in God, in spite of his personal sufferings.)

The Christmas Pictures

There was actually a reason that we all bathed, got dressed and did hair on the same day. If I am going to send out Christmas cards...I need to get on the ball! I wanted to make a card that had all of the kids individual pictures as well as one group picture on it, but even the multi-card options only allow you to put four pictures on. I decided since I wasn't able to include all the individual pictures that I would post them here. Each picture is unique and in some way represents that child's personality.

Madeline- She is our most well-behaved child. She is technically the first born, even though we threw the whole birth order thing out of the window. She is very tender-hearted, compassionate and mature. People tease her about polishing her halo, so we thought it would be appropriate for her to wear an angel on her head for the picture.

Eliana- Eliana is a lovely girl, inside and out. Fortunately, she is equally interested in cultivating both her beauty and her spirit. She has never met a mirror she hasn't paused to preen in front of. She recently got braces, and rather than being concerned with how the braces would make her look, she was more concerned with losing the gap between her front teeth, which she thinks is tremendously gorgeous and unique. She loves her picture, posing as though she is wearing a fur, but she did complain about how itchy it was!!

Meghan- Meghan is trouble. For the first six months of her life she screamed day and night. She is very mischieveious and definitely has her own personality, style, you name it. She originally had on a different outfit for the picture but managed to get chocolate all over the front of it about 30 seconds before picture taking commenced. I think you can definitely see the essence of Meghan shining through this photo.

Isabella- Isabella is cuddly and snuggly, and stinking cute. I thought it would be adorable to take her picture with the snowman. She loved it!

Jude- Jude is devilishly handsome and knows it. He started this pose on his own last year. We call it "the senior picture". Whenever people tell him how cute he is, he inevitably poses this way. In fact, a few weeks ago he wanted his sister to get something for him, and when he found she wasn't willing he asked if she would get it if he showed her "the senior picture"! Alas, the cute factor doesn't work on big sisters!

Gingerbread Houses

Last Friday we had our homeschool Christmas celebration, ok, ok, we celebrate Christmas more than one day. We actually bake cookies, pop popcorn, drink hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie every Friday night. Last Friday, though, we decided to take it a step further and make gingerbread houses. It was super fun, extremely messy, and very competitive. Regretfully, Isabella chose to have a temper tantrum and so got to take a nap rather than participating, but everyone else had a fabulous time.

For the First Time this Week....

-I bathed while it was still daylight.

-I put on clothes (my pajamas have seen a lot of wear this week!)

-I did NOT wear my hair in a ponytail.

-All of the kids had baths, combed their hair, AND got dressed.

-I put on make-up.

-I am going to leave the house.

-And last but not least, tonight I will go to bed before 3 AM.

34 Weeks Today

Michael told me I should sit down for this picture because I look "fatter" when I am sitting. Umm, I wasn't aware that I WANTED to look fatter!

Dietary Restriction

The real Garfield video - Extreme videos - StupidVideos.us

Michael sent me this video...I am afraid my kitten Thomas Orange is going to look like this or worse if we don't take extreme measures soon. Thomas eats everything in sight. I have even caught him inside of the large bag of dog food. I have taken to referring to him as "Fatty" because he is well on his way to obesity.

I have included a picture of Thomas and his sister, Catarina. We actually got Catarina from a stray rescue. She and her three brothers were rescued from a bathroom in a trailer with no air conditioner this summer. We took Catarina, and then her former foster mom convinced us we needed to take Thomas as well. The two of them snuggle all of the time, and bathe each other...it's very strange....much different than dogs.

Michael would really like me to include a picture of him and his dogs as well. He is a dog person. I am a cat person. Somehow....we make it work.

Raising Money for Adoption

As many of you are raising money for your adoptions, my parents are also trying to raise money for their adoption of Dayana. Currently, I am helping them with two different fundraisers.

My mom is making these beautiful starfish necklaces to sell. The necklace is a leather cord with a toggle clasp. The star charm measures 3 inches in diameter. Each necklace will come in a drawstring gift bag with the starfish story. This would make a great gift for an adoptive mom! The necklaces sell for $25. About half of the cost will cover materials, and half will go towards their adoption costs. If you are interested, please email Kim at kim.harmon@intulogy.com

The second fundraiser is through Heaven Scent Candles. These are hand poured candles made by a stay at home mom. She has some wonderful scents available, as well as candle accessories. These candles are comparable to Yankee Candles, at a more affordable price. Here is the flier with the information on participating in the fundraiser.

Your support is needed!!
Heaven Scent Candle On-line Fundraiser

Benefits: Harmon Adoption Funds
Dates: Friday, December 7th – Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

How you can help: Click on the link below to shop our website! Place your order and type “HAF” in the note/code section during checkout. Your order will be shipped directly to you via US Priority Mail (arrives in 2-3 days). Send this link to your friends and family, so the Harmon’s can earn even more support.

www.heavenscentcandle.com

The Harmon’s will earn 20% profit
from your order!

Don’t forget about Christmas!!
Our candles, warmers, and scented ornaments make great gifts for teachers, friends, co-workers and relatives.
Orders will be shipped within 72 hours!

Purchase with Confidence:
Our highly fragrant, hand poured candles are made with the finest wax, dyes, fragrance oils and lead-free wicks!

Thanks for your help and support!

Birth "Control"

While we were walking through the adoption process, one of the most stressful aspects was the feeling of having no control over the process. We were totally at the mercy of a foreign government, an adoption processor, and circumstances beyond our control. God used that experience to give me a different perspective on things. Really, we were not at anyone's mercy, but the process was controlled by God alone. And actually, I am not in control of anything. I just think I am.

I can't control my ability to not be in a car wreck because I can't control other drivers.

I can't control how long I live...or my children...or my husband.

I can't control even what we have for dinner, it is dependent on what food I have available.

I can't control whether or not my children will choose to accept Christ as their Savior.

You would think with this realization, would also come a lot of stress. After all, every one of us wants to give the impression that we are perfectly in control of our life, our finances, our circumstances...that we have all of our ducks in a row and can handle whatever comes our way.

For me, though, this realization was totally freeing. I don't have to be in control because an omnipotent God is. My Savior, my Redeemer, my Friend, is in control of every single thing in the universe, and He loves me, and He promises that His plans for me are good, and that He is working all things together for good.
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I read a book a couple of years ago called "Lies Women Believe, and the Truth that Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. One of the chapters in the book is about birth control. One thing Nancy points out is that if we truly believe God is in control, then why don't we believe He is in control of our child bearing as well?

In Genesis 20, God opens the wombs of the women in Abimelech's household after closing them because of Sarah. In Judges 13:2-7 God opened the womb of Zorah so that she gave birth to Samson. In Genesis 30:22, we read that God opened Rachel's womb. Certainly, God opened Sarah's womb, even into her old age. He opened Hannah's womb so that she conceived Samuel and in 1 Samuel 1 we read that it was God who had initially closed her womb.

For me personally, this was very convicting. When I considered the reasons why I didn't want to have more children, they were all selfish. I worried primarily about money. How would we support another child? Again, isn't that something God is in control of? The heart of the matter was probably my concern about how it would impact my lifestyle. What would I have to give up? The truth is, our lifestyle HAS changed. It changed because we paid a lot of money for an adoption, because my husband lost his job and was out of work for 18 months, because we nearly doubled our family size in a matter of weeks. Now, I have less time for myself, less flexibility in my schedule, less ability to go out with my friends or my husband because we can't find a babysitter.

I have to ask myself, even though it has meant sacrifice, isn't it God's will? Aren't I living out the life God chose for me? Is there any better life than this? I don't think so. Even on the worst days (of which there were quite a few in Nov. Read the old posts if you need proof!)it is still so worth it. My kids sing a song that I learned at church as a kid "Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe. Doing exactly what the Lord commands. Doing it happily. Action is the key. Do it immediately. Joy you will receive. Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe."

I think it's sad when other Christians tell us we are crazy for having so many kids, or that they could never do it, or that they prefer XYZ to having a house full of kids, etc., etc. We are being obedient to what God has called our family to do, and in that, there is tremendous joy. God calls us to different ministries, and just because ours looks different, doesn't mean it is any less valuable than any other.

If you are reading this, and you believe you should be in control of your child bearing, I ask you to prayerfully consider whether this is God's will for your family, or if it's your will for your family. If you are a follower of Christ, won't you consider allowing God to grow your family His way?

My friend Courtney over at Camp Girdwood, posted about birth control pills as an abortifacient. I encourage you to read her post, watch the video, and ask God to show you His will in this area.

Cloth Diapers

We have been tossing around the idea of using cloth diapers. Being totally sold on the merits of them, we began to research which were the "best". What we have found is that they are very expensive. The cheapest I could find were about $13/diaper, and apparently you need about 36-48 to avoid laundering on a daily basis. Since I don't have $500 to purchase an adequate supply of cloth diapers, Michael and I decided we would attempt to make some of our own using a yard of flannel purchased at Wal-Mart, an old towel, and some velcro.

We have been unsuccessful. After staying up until 3 AM on Saturday night trying to figure out how in the world to set the sewing machine up properly, we spent last night trying to assemble a diaper....yes, A diaper, as in 1 lousy diaper. The results were less than spectacular. Michael can actually operate the sewing machine, and did most of the actual sewing. He kept saying "why am I doing this? You were the one who wanted a sewing machine." When given the opportunity, I somehow managed to not only cause the machine to lock up without securing one stitch, but then decided to start unscrewing things without any idea what I was doing. Michael then got to spend the next half hour putting the machine back together.

My mom, who can actually use a sewing machine, is going to attempt to make us some diapers. I have already invested so much time in making one diaper that any cost benefit that would have been recognized, has been expended in time. At this rate, I may have five diapers made by the time the baby arrives. If the diaper has to be changed every two hours, that means I can get by with "only" doing laundry every 8 hours or so. I think I'll have to pass.