Why Are People So Afraid of God and "Religion"?

Tim Tebow---you've heard of him, right? If not where in the world have you been the past several months during football season?! He's the quarterback for the Denver Broncos and this guy is not afraid to show his faith! We love what he stands for and how he's not afraid to show that he loves God and that Christ is his Saviour! But----there are a lot of people out there that are bothered by Tebow being so public about his faith! Why does this bother others so much?

Well, I've seen firsthand how people don't like for you to mention God. It happened in another Yahoo Group for adoption support. A woman simply stated that she felt that "this was all part of God's plan". You'd have thought that the woman was going door to door, making phone calls, and passing out flyers to the members. There were 2 women in particular that immediately started a fuss, wanting to know the rules on "religious posts"!! Are you kidding me? Well, a few of us posted our support for her and tried to say our side of it which was that she wasn't taking away from the reason for the group, but that this is just part of her life and how can you take the faith part out of your writings if it is a big part of your life?

In the end, the moderator sent out a message that we have to all keep the posts to just the question, and not mention anything "religious". Why is it that this bothers these women so much? I feel bad for them and just wonder what things are like in their house! I can only imagine.....

These Yahoo Groups Aren't Always Supportive!

So I learned the hard way---be careful what you share on a yahoo group full of women who want to tell you like it is and not even try to be tactful! I posted that we'd locked in our boy and in the post just happened to mention that we might be able to find kiddo #2 off of the special focus list and bring both home on the same trip. WOW! I never dreamed I would have SO many women get mad at me!
They started going off on me, saying that no social worker should have ever approved that, what was China doing, what were we doing, etc etc!!! I didn't even realize this was going on, because when I didn't see congratulations posted it looked like a new topic had started. Then I started getting apology emails from women telling me not to listen to what these women were saying, etc etc! So I went back to the group posts on my topic and realized what they were talking about! Talk about mean and nasty! These women need to get a life! Apparently some of these women sit at their computer all day and look for things to go off about! Anyway, long story short I am NOT a member of the "Adoption Parenting" Yahoo group anymore! What a supportive group of ladies---NOT! I had 2 women email me to tell me they were quitting the group because this wasn't the first time that these women had been mean and nasty to another member!
Live and learn......maybe Yahoo groups aren't the best place to find mutual support towards adoptive parents!

Grant's Been Sick for Two Days!

He missed school yesterday and then today when I woke the kids up I could tell that Grant was still feeling really crummy! And I had volunteered to work all day today! Figures, right? So, hopefully tomorrow he will be all better and ready to go back to school! I am wanting to get some hours in to help with the cost of this adoption!!!

Shopping For Clothes Already?

Okay so I didn't plan it, honestly I didn't! I went on base to get ski tickets and decided to go in the exchange "just to look". But then I saw the big 75% off sign and I had to look even harder! Cara helped me pick out a TON of clothes for Tian---all at 75% off of the PX's prices! We got some CUTE clothes!

Of course I had to buy some clothes for Grant and Cara too! And all to the tune of $100 and some change. I saved almost $288.00!!

It's so neat picking out the clothes and picturing little Tian wearing them!!

Introducing Tian Jonathan Alexander!

Okay so isn't he the cutest thing in the world? This little precious boy is soon going to be part of the Alexander family! His Chinese name is Dang Tian Yi and we are going to keep the Tian part and name him Tian Jonathan Alexander and maybe "TJ" for short! Tian means "sky, heavens", Jonathan means "Jehovah has given" and of course Alexander means "protector and defender of mankind". We love it!

We called CCAI yesterday to lock him in and immediately sent our LOI (Letter of Intent) along with the other paperwork to get things going!

He was born 9-21-09 and he had cleft lip and palate on the left side. He was fortunate enough to be placed in a rehab center, then was transferred to Maria's Big House of Hope when he was 6 months old and was there until 22 months old when he was transferred to a foster home. Maria's BHOH is named after Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter, Maria. She was adopted from China but at age 5 was killed tragically in a car accident in their driveway. This is a wonderful place and it seems that these Christian people are so dedicated to helping the orphans in China.

Tian had his lip repaired by Operation Smile when he was 10 months old and he had his palate repaired by a wonderful plastic surgeon from Hong Kong. He was 17 months old for that surgery and also had tubes placed in his ears. Children with cleft lip and palate are known for having ear infections, and he was blessed to actually already have tubes placed in his ears!

We started this adoption process back in May 2011. We immediately went the special needs route and have been working to get all of the necessary paperwork completed for our dossier. We got logged in with China on 11-2-11. We found this little guy on CCAI's website on January 3 and got his file on January 4th. We had his information reviewed by an oral surgeon and by an MD. Everything looks great!

Grant and Cara are over the moon! They are so excited to have a brother! We hope to travel in 5-7 months so if all goes as planned we'll be able to go this summer!!!

I Can't Leave Out My Girl Cara!

So the latest with Cara is that Daddy just installed a chandelier in her bedroom last night and she got up earlier than usual this morning just to see it! I will post a picture eventually!

Cara's now into football more than before since her big bro is an addict! She says she won't be a cheerleader ever, but I have a feeling she'll change her mind later! She wants to enroll back into her gymnastics/tumbling classes, so she's set to start that next week! Meanwhile, soccer season starts back up the end of March----go Tigers!!!

How Has Football Become So Addicting for Me?

So Grant is TOTALLY into football now. It all really got going when he started playing tackle (yes TACKLE!) football in 3rd grade. (yes, THIRD GRADE!) So he's played a total of 3 seasons so far---fall and spring in 3rd grade and fall season in 4th grade. He got to pick his number so he picked #15 for Tim Tebow and he picked it before Tebow actually became so "cool" here in Colorado.

So what I am asking myself is, "How in the world did I get into this football mania so quickly?" I'm watching ESPN while working out at the gym, I have College Football, SEC, and ESPN saved on my settings for my XM radio in the truck! I'm turning on ESPN at home. What's up with that? I've learned a lot of the players' names and numbers on the Broncos. Of course #15 is Tebow, but I'm loving #23 McGahee and #92 Elvis Dumervil. Elvis lives and he's in Denver!

I think that everyone will have their passions and addictions. I'm just glad my new addiction is calorie free, fat free, and not harmful to my health!