LOVE THY NEIGHBOR-----PART 2

In Oklahoma weather terms our reception into this new neighborhood was a typical warm front followed by a blustery cold front which was followed by a storm that popped out of no where!!

Since we moved in back in February we had not spent to much time out front with the boys. Two days into our living here we got a knock on the door from the "gate keeper" welcoming us to the neighborhood, he brought with him the quarterly newspaper that he writes for the neighborhood and a copy of the HOA covenants. We asked him about the "extra parking" in our cull de sac and if it would be a problem for our daughter Annie to park there so we didn't have to shuffle cars when we wanted to go somewhere and he told us that there are a "few" people that might want to complain about it since it was suppose to be for guest parking only but to not let that bother us. The gate keeper also went on to say that the rules are for no on street parking but that his house was so far away from the guest parking that he was never going to make any of his guest park in it and have to walk all the way back to his house then he laughed and made a comment about some people are just to much of a "stuff shirt" person but he was glad to have us in the neighborhood and stop in at his house anytime if we needed anything.

John and I chuckled about some of the rules and couldn't wait till we looked over the HOA packet just to see what all was in it. That of course is when it became clear just how much this neighborhood DIDN'T want kids in it as they had rules like:

No kids toys or things in the front yard, No swing sets, play gyms, playhouses above 6 feet in the back yard allowed,( when was the last time you saw a swing set under 6 feet tall-lol!!) no trampolines, no basketball goals allowed, no above ground pools--any in ground pool had to be approved by the architectual committee
No obnoxious noise that would be deemed as disruptive to the neighborhood and the neighborhood gets to determine what is obnoxious!(this of course means the "neighborhood can say that children playing loudly is obnoxious and disruptive")

So we laughed about it and went about our life letting Annie park in the guest parking and making sure she parked in our driveway whenever any neighbor was having a party or friends over--which NEVER HAPPENED DURING THE FIRST TWO MONTHS WE WERE HERE and no complaints by anyone.

The neighbor to the right of us would smile and wave when we saw him out but we never saw his wife, we walked the boys to the pond one night and met another neighbor across the street and they smiled and loved meeting the boys so we felt like we had been given a warm welcome considering this was a non child neighborhood. Of course the weather was always hot then cold then rainy so the boys didn't play out front and we didn't have much contact with the neighbors during the early spring until mid to late April when a clear "cold front was about to be unleashed on us!"

It started shortly after the weather got good enough for us to play outside. There was a house that always had an older man sitting outside talking to one of the neighbors next door to me and they would wave when I left and I waved and smiled back all the time but that stopped suddenly after I let the boys ride their bikes outside in the cul de sac and he noticed them. Once when taking the boys for a walk around the pond we stopped to watch the dogs playing in the back yard of people that live in the "green house" as their back yard backs to the trail that goes around the pond and the lady of the house came out and shot us a dirty look and took her dogs in. I didn't think anything of it because I figured she got tired of people standing out her back yard looking at her house---which made me think way in the world would you buy a house that backs to a trail if you didn't want anyone looking at your yard and we continued our walk. The next day I noticed they had an American flag flying on their flag pole and didn't think anything of it either.

I finally saw the neighbors wife to the right of us one day while out with the boys and smiled real big at her and waved but she just looked angry at me and turned around and went back into her house so I shrugged it off thinking maybe her hubby is the friendly one of the family. Little did I know that the cold front would only get colder the more we played in the driveway. I had play dates over and one little boy loved to ride his bike so his parents would bring his bike so the boys could ride around and be safe since this little one lived in the country and didn't have a contained area to ride and again I never thought twice about it after all I was always out there with them and if I thought they were being to loud I made them be quite or we went into the back yard to play.
Near the end of April we got our first call from the HOA president telling us we couldn't be parking in the "guest parking" and John explained that we weren't leaving a dead car in the parking just allowing our daughter to park there when it was open so we could all get out easily and the man informed us the we should clean out our garage so that we could pull our cars in and have room for Annies car on the driveway--that made us laugh because the gate keeper had told us that at one time someone in the neighborhood had petitioned the HOA to add in the rules that ALL CARS BE PARKED IN THE GARAGE and not in peoples driveways---he said some things about that which I won't post because I"m a family friendly blog--lol!! But it was funny that we got a call just as we started to let our boys play outside, and even funnier because from the day we moved in the ONLY time we ever saw anyone have someone over and use the guest parking was one car on Easter Sunday and two cars on Mothers day---the guest parking is a four car slot so Annies car never prevented anyone from parking in it. We made Annie park in the drive way for about 3 nights then seeing that NO ONE WAS USING THE GUEST PARKING we let her go back to parking there.

Little did we know the storm was about to hit.........

"LOVE THY NEIGHBOR..."

Three simple words that are so easy to do when you have lovely neighbors but sometimes the hardest thing you will ever do if you don't!

My currents scriptures that I'm having to stand firmly on these days is Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 5:44

Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord

Matthew 5:44
But I tell you Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you.

Just a little background to help you understand our situation. When I began to pray that we would move from our home in Wagoner my prayers involved my hearts desire to be a "beacon of light" to my community, and I hoped that I would live my life as an open bible for all the neighbors to see so that I might be able to minister the love of God to them and if any was not saved help lead them to Jesus. I would pray every day that God would open the door for us to move and that we would be a witness to our neighborhood and of course I was always asking God that the neighborhood be my beloved "Washington Lane" As I prayed I had this image of me walking the neighborhood with the boys, making friends with those that lived there, always smiling and waving at the neighbors, even having morning coffee with other stay at home moms, having play dates with the neighborhood kids, and taking young mothers under my wings and being a blessing to them by mentoring them as mature mothers had done for me all those years ago. Of course when we moved into Washington Lane I thought "YES I HAVE ARRIVED AND GOD HAS ANSWERED MY PRAYERS" after all I prayed and TOLD GOD HOW TO ANSWER THEM and it looked like He did,but as always sometime the plans God has for us are not the plans we have for our self and that became evident when our house sale fell through and we needed to find another place to live that God's plans were going to be different than my plans. God showed up and provided and you can find that story in my older post.

I was disappointed when we moved from the beloved Washington Lane as I had held firmly this image of what I thought God wanted for us, but God has other plans and following those plans comes with rewards that are greater than anything I can hope or ever think of, and so I received this new house and neighborhood with great expectation of that blessing. I love this house we are currently renting--it is beyond my dreams of a home and is a true blessing to not only us but to the woman we are renting from. When I first walked in the doors to view it I felt not only total peace but God directly giving me all the things I had asked for in a home,I'm so content in this house I forget it really isn't mine but just a rental. But we were given a warning by our landlady that the neighborhood wasn't very "child friendly" and so I have worked hard at not offending the neighbors by making sure the boys do not go on their driveways or scream to loud while outside playing. I smile and wave to all the neighbors and work hard at trying to be not only friendly but to make a friend with them after all we have a very common ground of all of us being grandparents even though I am about 15 years younger than the next oldest woman on the block.


So in the next few posts I'm going to blog about the persecution we have endured since arriving in this gated community and my need to live out the word of God to LOVE THY NEIGHBOR!!

In the mean time I could use some prayers for strength and endurance as I mold into the "BEACON OF LIGHT " God needs for me to be!!

OK here is MONGO

You need to read the lower post to understand why this waiting child is being posted and "named MONGO" --lol!! And since it's late and I can't get his image to show up you will need to click on the link to see him--trust me he is adorable and can be found on the HOLT website

PLEASE PRAY FOR THESE CHILDREN AS GOD DOES KNOW WHO THEIR FOREVER MOMMIES AND DADDIES ARE SUPPOSE TO BE!! PRAY THEY FIND THEM SOON AND HAVE FAVOR FOR ALL THE ADOPTION PROCESS INCLUDING MONEY!!


ID: B09_134
DOB: November 8, 2008

B09_134.jpg (JPEG Image, 300x300 pixels)



This cute little guy was born at 38 weeks and weighed 5.5 pounds at birth. His birthmother did smoked 7 cigarettes a day and drank ½ bottle of soju a week while pregnant. In his March well baby check he weighed 19 pounds and was assessed to be at a 3 to 4 month developmental age. He does have a neurological condition known as clonus. He has symptoms in his legs and chin, but they have been diminishing in frequency. He is being treated for this condition with medication and is being monitored by a neurologist. His MRI notes that he is microcephalic and his head circumference at his March well baby check was 41.2 cm. He also shows signs of delayed myelination in his brain and possible seizures. His is described as having cute features and that he is doing well with the foster family. He is in need of a family who is able to provide him with the medical care that he needs and is open to some unknowns.

To adopt this child, couples must submit their application to Holt before the oldest spouse reaches the age of 43. Applicants must be married at least 3 years and live in one of the following states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, IA, KS, KY, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NJ, NM, OH, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, WADC, WV, or WY. Up to 4 children in the home. * See country criteria for complete requirements.

Meet.........Mike, Marie and Mongo!!!

Today I was looking at some waiting kids as I always do with Colton on my lap as he LOVES to look at the kids waiting for their families to find them. I often have " little moments of Mommy pride" when Colton looks at waiting children with me as his heart is as tender for those still waiting as mine is. Most of the time he will just point and ask me to bring the picture up bigger on the screen so he can see them and then he says "AHHHH he is so cute" or "Ahhh I want that one to be my "kinna sissy" (his way of saying Korean sister)". I always remind him we should pray that these kids hurry up and have their mommy and Daddy find them so they to can go home to the place God has waiting for them and that usually makes Colton stretch out his hand towards the picture and he prays his little prayer---" Father God in Jesus name help him have a Mommy and Daddy to come home to" Then he hops down and runs off as his attention is on to something else.
But today was different and when I pulled up some newly listed little ones he asked "What's that babies name?" and since there wasn't one listed I said "He doesn't have a name as he is waiting for his family to name him" So Colton responded without missing a beat "I'm going to name him MIKE!!!" I was shocked because we don't have a Mike that he plays with nor does he know any Mikes except one but never calls that person Mike as he is the daddy to one of his good friends so he refers to him as Ryans Daddy. Colton has prayed for "Mike to have a family" and I thought I would share him with you ---I feel like I can because he is listed on the HOLT website and is not password protected so the following is "MIKES" listing and you can find him at the link right above his photo.....If you feel like MIKE is your son looking back at you then Please contact HOLT INTERNATIONAL and drop me a line or post back in this posting so Colton can know that you are his new family!! After we looked at MIKE Colton asked to see two more and named them also and so below MIKE is MARIE, and MONGO( I have no idea how he came up with the name MONGO but it rolled right off his tongue the minute he saw his face.!!)

This naming of the babies really tugged at my heart as it makes the kids so real and not just some picture. I often name waiting babies just so I have a name to say as I pray for them and I guess it has started rubbing off on Colton even though I have NEVER MENTIONED I name the babies to him--I think he just has the same heart that I have with the passion for these kids to be real and have a real family!

SO HERE IS COLTONS MIKE!!!!!!!
http://www.holtintl.org/waitingchild/photolisting/images/B09_135.jpg

ID: B09_135 DOB: October 14, 2008 This adorable little boy was born full term and weighed 7.76 pounds. He was on target developmentally in his well baby check in April. Prior to birth, he was found to have meconium peritonitis which was treated surgically after birth. He has been hospitalized and treated for gastroenteritis and colitits and his condition is now being monitored. A neurosonogram in December found subependymal hematomas in his brain. However, his most recent neurosonogram in April shows no abnormalities. His birth mother did smoke cigarettes during her pregnancy and took medication for dry skin. His foster family describes him as a good looking boy who looks very bright when he moves his lips to babble. He is in need of a family who is able to provide him with the medical care that he needs. To adopt this child, couples must submit their application to Holt before the oldest spouse reaches the age of 43. Applicants must be married at least 3 years and live in one of the following states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, IA, KS, KY, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NJ, NM, OH, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, WADC, WV, or WY. Up to 4 children in the home. * See country criteria for complete requirements. and here is his MARIE--which Mommy thinks is so adorable and would LOVE to chat with anyone that would like to know about having a child with a teeny tiny head as Bradens head is still in the UNDER 3%

s.

ID: G09_133 DOB: August 29, 2008 This beautiful little girl was born at 40 weeks and weighed 7.65 pounds. Her birth father has Wilson’s disease and it has not been determined if she inherited the disease. She is taking seizure medication after her EEG showed left central spike discharges. Her most recent neurology report states that there is not any definite seizure activity, and that her head circumference in the in 3rd percentile at 41cm. Her March well baby check assessed her to be at a 6 month developmental level, and notes that her lower extremities are spastic. She also has been hospitalized 3 times to be treated for jaundice. This sweet little girl is in need of a family who is open to some unknowns and is able to provide her with the medical care that she may need. I can't seem to post MONGO without erasing Marie so he is going to get his own post--lol!!