Hi there! Welcome to Brady & Christen’s blog about living life, loving God, & growing our family through adoption. We're excited to share what God is doing as we embark on the next phase of life & we are glad you're following along!
I recently made a trip to books-a-million to purchase Manny some reading books, "for fun". At first, Manny was confused as to why anybody would try to read instead of looking at the pictures to get the story. After some coercion he gave it a try. I am happy to report that Mr. Manny has now reached the level of reading books to himself for fun! We are so proud of our little guy and the progress he's made!
I know what you all are wondering...and yes, reading is definitely more fun through orange tented lenses! Plus, it just looks awesome!
If you have been shopping anywhere lately you've noticed the store's are once again clad with decor reminding us all that Christmas is just a little over a month away. I usually wait until the week of Christmas, to get all my shopping done, but if that cinnamon scented potpourri in all the stores is exciting you into a shopping frenzy, then I have a few ideas for you this holiday.
Raven and Lily- I love this store. Their goal is to employ impoverished women in developing countries to create beautiful products from scrap material. This company is not only altruistic, but its roots are Christian. R+L's blog posted this story of the employees response to the businesses success- "the women cried with joy when they were paid from our orders. They had never felt the value and dignity that comes from earning enough to provide for their needs. They could now afford to send their child to school, buy enough food, purchase things they never thoughts attainable… It was a turning point for me to be able to know that this partnership really is making a tangible difference." Click hereto visit Raven + Lily's website.
Toms- I think just about everyone has now heard of this shoe company and their one-for-one philosophy; if you haven't you should look into them. They're cute, comfortable, and causeworthy! Click here to visit Toms website
Samaritans Purse- They put out a catalogue each year of great and inventive ways to donate items to those in need all around the world-with little effort to yourself! As I was looking through the catalogue I told Manny we were going to buy a goat for a family. He was both confused and angry! Clickhere to visit Samaritan's Purse gift catalogue website.
Speaking of Manny, I'll give you all an update on him soon.
Today we recognize Veterans Day and the sacrifices made by those who served our country in war. Presently, we are all at war against our sinful flesh. I read the following statement on a blog I came across yesterday, and it resonated a truth about mans sin state.
A child allowed to live in flesh, will become controlled by flesh.
We must not allow the flesh to controll us. We must "fight" and "put to death" our sin.
"Fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim 6:12)
"For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Rom 8:13)
How do we "fight" and "put to death" our sin? I like the Fight Club terminology Jonathan Dodson from Acts 29 Network uses.
The Three Rules of Fight Club 1) Know Your Sin.
The first rule of Fight Club is "Know your sin." If we don't know our opponent, how will we beat him? We must become well-acquainted with the areas in our lives where the flesh gets the best of us, where we are prone to sin.
2) Fight Your Sin. The second rule of Fight Club is "Fight your sin." Once we know our sin, we know where to strike. The challenge then is to actually strike, to beat up our flesh.
3) Trust Your Savior. The third rule of Fight Club is "Trust Your Savior." How do we fight? We fight, not in our own strength but with the strength of the Spirit. One day the fight will be over. Faith will become sight. Our image will be perfectly aligned with Christ's image. We will no longer know our sin, fight our sin, or struggle to trust our Savior. But until then, may God grant us his sovereign grace to fight the good fight of faith, for our joy and his eternal glory.
-Johnathan Dodson
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
A couple weekends ago we traveled to Houston to visit Brady's brother Rick and his family. It had been a year since we last all got together, so the visit was much needed. We enjoyed the time with family and introducing Manny to his uncle, aunt, and 3 cousins. While in Houston, we went to the science museum, the zoo, and a major league soccer game. It was a fun time!
This past week Manny's soccer team played in the post season tournament (his team was seeded #1). On Thursday night we were vying for a spot in the championship game and lost to the #4 seed. It was a tough loss, which was seen in the faces of some crying 7 year olds.
We celebrated my Sister's and Papaw's birthdays this past Saturday, and then headed back home for Halloween. Manny dressed up as a muscled-up police man and sat out on the front porch playing the candy police to all those trick or treating. We finished out the night by roasting marshmallows.
October 31st also commemorates the often overlooked start of the Protestant Reformation. In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesesto the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther was confronting the religious faux pas of the Roman Catholic Church, and rediscovering the doctrine of justification—salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Those of us from a Protestant faith are grateful beneficiaries of this man's boldness for the truth.
To read more about Luther and the Reformation click here.
Last Thursday we celebrated my sweet husbands 30th Birthday! To soften the blow of turning 30, I thought a gift from his childhood (to remind him of younger days) would be nice. So we got him a retro nintendo game console, complete with some favorite past games. The gift was a hit, as Manny pointed out while I was tucking him in bed, "Mommy, Daddy still is playing. He love his present!"
Side note: Manny might possibly be the worst at video games ever. It's quite painful to watch!
That cupcake is on fire!
"They still make these?"
Mario
His introduction to video games was quite entertaining!
Brady and I enjoyed a night away in New Orleans for his birthday. On the way down we stopped at Canjun Encounters for a swamp tour- Brady holds a childlike fascination for alligators.
Enjoying a beignet at Cafe Du Monde!
The Honey Island Swamp
A Playful Baby Gator
Another Manny-ism: I've heard of blaming satan for alot of things, but schoolwork is a new one. The is an excerpt from our classtime last week.
(Manny is reading a problem from flash cards and providing the answers.)
Manny: one plus four equals.... three
Mommy: No
Manny: OH!
(Note: we start over and redo all the flashcards when one is missed.) Manny: Mommy wait...I have something to say. When I am reading I am thinking five, but Santa (yes we are still confusing our jolly friend with our spiritual enemy) make me say three.
Oh how early the blame game does start!
MORE PICS
School supplies purchased with donations in Ghana last week for Manny's orphange.
Manny finally warming up to Maggie. After another Victory.
On Southern's campus for the Homecoming Game.
The soccer showdown between Manny and Parker. Lucky for Manny he got on really good team...Parker didn't get so lucky!
(Christen) For those of you who have followed our journey on the blog, you'll remember that we raised some money (while in Ghana) from generous friends and family back home. We have used small amounts of the donations to meet various needs at the orphange Manny came from. The majority of the money has been sitting in a fund waiting for an appropriate need. We decided last week to give a good portion of the money to the orphanage we visited in Tema. We recieved the following email from the orphange directors this week.
Dear Brady and Christen,
I just wanted to let you know that we did receive the transfer today. Thank you so much for your gift. You know, we do serve an amazing God...we are going to be moving the end of October and we have to rent a new house...in Ghana they make us pay rent 1 year in advance...we are renting two houses with rent due on both of the houses...the house that we are renting for the Freedom Center is 350GHC per month...this comes to exactly $3000 for the year...your gift is exactly what we need for the rent of the house...God is so good!!!
Thank you so much!
Stacy
God is good indeed!
Speaking of money...our little Ghanaian has been learning the value of the hard earned dollar (well not too hard in his case!) After about a week of being in America, he very quickly came to the conclusion that America was about getting gifts. WRONG! He has been asking for a bicycle since we met him, so we thought it a good idea to let him earn some money and buy it himself. He has earned stickers (which equates to money) by having a good attitude and working hard in school, keeping his room tidy and his things put away (which wasn't a chore for this neat freak!), telling what he learned in church (He is still working on this one-it's tough to remember! Ha!), behaving in a Christ-like manner, and scoring goals/touchdowns in his games (I couldn't refuse spurring on atheletic achievement!) This weekend he finally had enough to purchase his bike! He clearly has had some past experience on a bike and rides like a pro already!
(Christen)The past week provided more opportunities learn and try new things for Manny. We had our first soccer and flag football games. Manny had a blast. He scored both a soccer goal and a touchdown!
We also had our second visit to the Doctor. Manny received 6 shots and had blood drawn. He was very brave and his eyes only watered a bit. While in the exam room waiting for the doctor, Manny, being a typical 7 year old was smelling my arm, and he informed me "Mommy you smell like white lady!" For those of you curious as to what a white lady smells like, I was told it is a combination of water, soap, and lotion!
Our schooling continues to go well. I talked with Manny about the possibility of going to a school next year and he seemed appalled by the thought! Although I'm quite confident he would love it. We've certainly not made any decisions on this yet, and plan to make our schooling decisions year by year.
A Few Pics as Promised!
Last week we introduced the projector to help with learning. As you can see, Manny was quite happy about it!
I recently made a trip to books-a-million to purchase Manny some reading books, "for fun". At first, Manny was confused as to why anybody would try to read instead of looking at the pictures to get the story. After some coercion he gave it a try. I am happy to report that Mr. Manny has now reached the level of reading books to himself for fun! We are so proud of our little guy and the progress he's made!
