Inspiration

Shoshannah has a pair of earrings named after her! A creative friend has named a pair of her earrings after Shoshannah! Check them out.




http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_1&listing_id=15688021 Link to this if you would like to see any of Mary's other creations.

Thanks Mary!

Thank You, Lord for Blessing us....

Adoption Day 2006
September 2008

Today, September 17th is our 2 year Forever Family Day Celebration with Shoshannah. Two years ago, in Chongqing, China we were handed this precious baby girl that God had ordained would be our little girl.

Our journey began 11 years ago in Bremerton WA when God planted the seed of adoption in my heart. However it took 8 years for God to bring Craig and I together on this journey. We began the journey together in December of 2004. In June 2005 all of our paper work was sent to China and then we waited and waited and waited some more. Then on August 1, 2006 we received that phone call...You have a daughter. In September 2006 we boarded that jet plane for China. And on September 17th we became a family of 7. IT was a long journey full of many tears, lots of prayers and crying out to God, and then the sweetest joy.

The baby we were given that day has blossomed into this beautiful, full of life 3 year old. She loves life to its fullest in every way. It seems like she has to pull everything in at a fast neck pace. She has blessed and grown our family. God is using her to teach me more about His Mercy and Grace. How it must flow from us each minute of the day if we are to be more like Him. Shoshannah brings a joy and liveliness that just makes each day new and exciting and tiring!I can never find the words to tell anyone what having this answer to prayer in my life means. I will use another blog to tell you how much she has changed and what she has taught our family.

Thank you God, for Shoshannah and may she bless you all the days of her life. To our family and friends thank you for your love and prayers. And to our travel mates who are now wonderful friends, we love ya'll and we are so glad to be sharing this journey with you. Give each of the girls a kiss from us and an extra squeeze from Shoshannah! To Shoshannah's birth family may you find peace in knowing that your little baby is safe, happy, and loved beyond belief. To the Nannies of Chongqing Children's Home, thank you for the care you gave Lanjiang for the first 13 months of her life. To the Chinese government thank you for honoring our request and letting us adopt this beautiful baby. To Bethany Christian Services thank you for all that you did in making this adoption happen, Special thank you to Jeanne, Shiyan, Joy and Michael you are amazing people.

How Awesome is this....

I love how our God brings things back to Him and how His splendor is reveled in so many ways. Please take the time to listen..


Laminin

Dancers.....

Today, dance began again for Danielle and anew for Shoshannah.Danielle has a gift for dance and she loves it. She is starting Pre Pointe this year and must take 2 classes which are 1. 5 hour each. So today is she tired after her first class but wait until she completes her second class tomorrow!

Durning the Wednesday morning classes Shoshannah started her ballet class. Her class name is the Shinning Stars. Thankfully, she has the sweetest teacher. Her teacher Miss Jessica is the daughter of Danielle's teacher Ms Christine! We have been so blessed with this dance studio. It is owned by a Christian couple and the studio is about teaching these children how to use the gift of dance to Glorify God. It is wonderful and I can't rave about them enough. I wasn't able to take pictures during class, so here are a few that were taken prior to going.

New School Year 2008

The official start of the academic year has begun in the Bacon Household. I say academic as we believe every day is a day of learning. And school is about learning how to run a household, take care of younger children, cook, clean etc. In our house it is also learning how to nurture relationships with those around you.

We are so blessed to be starting our 18th year of homeschooling. Our thanks goes to the Lord, He called us to this journey. I love being able to be with my children on a daily basis. Thank you, Craig for being such a wonderful provider and encourager. Couldn't do this without you!:)

This year starts with Craig Ellis and Gina in college at Columbia International University. They are still in the beautiful honeymoon stage of life. Both are working and attending classes part time.

Andrew is officially a freshman at Tidewater Community College. I know he is taking computer classes but I can't tell you the names. (trying to let go) He desires to work in the computer field. He is also working part time at Food Lion.

Arielle, is a freshman in high school. WOW that is hard to believe. She is taking.. Algebra 1, Biology, Language 9, World Geography and reading Hamlet at this time. Also starting her 5th year of piano. She will also be acting in our Children's Ministry dramas and working on the tech team. She hopes to learn to sew this year.

Danielle is in the 6th grade. She is taking... Arithmetic 6, Astronomy, Learning Language Arts through Literature, New World History/Geography. She starts her 5th year of dance. She will be helping to lead worship on our Children's Ministry Praise Team.

Shoshannah..well, she wants to "do school" so we are playing around with letters, nothing serious. She can almost verbally spell, Shoshannah. We will see how the year progresses with her:) I may need lots of encouragement to continuing homeschooling her:) God will be working lots on me....

I will post a few pictures taken so far

Connections

Andrew came home from Big Stuf camp, excited and full from his mountain top experience. He brought home this book, titled God's Blog's by Lanny Donoho. So he has passed it on to me. I am enjoying this book. I was reading a blog this morning and wanted to share it here.

Connections

Today I listened to millions of prayers. Many of them were from hurting people begging Me for intervention and asking Me why.

In order for you to understand, I 'll use the human vernacular for just a second and say that My heart aches for you so often.

I see and feel your pain and do what I know is best...and yet, I know

you cannot understand for now.

There is a concept you can understand though, and if you grab hold of it, it might help.

It's about your connections.

Many of you are unaware of your role in the universe and how important your every thought and word and deed are.

They are connected to others in ways you will never see.

People are put into your path. It is important that you notice them and that you talk to Me about them, and especially that you hear from Me on how to act and react to them.

Let Me tell you about a family that I see right now.

In a crib in Phoenix, Arizona, lies a little infant named Megan.

Megan was born a few months ago with a birth defect.

Her mother is sitting in a rocking chair in the living room of their little house praying to Me.

She is also feeling somewhat guilty that her child was born like this.

Let Me tell you what I see in the future of that little girl.

Her mother realizes she can't bear this burden alone. and she begins to rely on Me to help her.

Little Megan grows up surrounded by love, She hears her mother tell her Bible stories and stories about Me and My love. She attends a church where in spite of her " not being normal", she is loved by a youth group. I watch as she learns and grows and loves.

I watch her at her wedding where over three hundred people weep and smile and hardly notice any unnatural deformities because they are so mesmerized by her countenance.

Their smiles are there because they know her heart. Her life has given them encouragement.

Megan's mom has given them a gift. And many don't see the connection.

Her dad has given them all a gift. He loved her and sacrificed to be with her and didn't get his promotion at work. And that alone allowed him to stay home more.. and his constant presence made her feel more loved and more normal.

And all of that has caused her to be a loving servant to many. Many think it is sad that her dad didn't get to fulfill what he could have...and they don't see the connection, either.

All of this could be the end of the blog, and you could see how important it was to see the connection between a mother and father's love and how it impacts a child and how that child impacts the people around them. But I want to tell you more.

I AM here in Megan's present, and I AM watching more of the connections way in the future.

(we're gonna travel fast through the future here, so pay attentions and don't get lost.)

I watched Megan have her first son Daniel, and them I watched him listen to a lot of the same stories she heard from her mother. Daniel grew up and as nineteen year old worked in a Starbucks, where on a Saturday in April in 2045, Daniel, sat down with a fifteen year old and shared his faith in ME with that kid.

That kid-his name is Nathan- had an interesting future. By the time his life was over, he had used his platform as a speaker to communicate to over thirty million people. He communicated truth about ME that changed the world..in a way I really like.

Here's a thought for you to consider.

People are put in your path almost every day.

Some are quite unobtrusive and you might not even notice them.

Many are somewhat undesirable and you don't want to notice them.

Some are right in your path and you are forced to at least acknowledge their presence.

BUT

you make connections and the connections never die.

The thread just keeps unrolling through time- touching everyone, tying everyone together. It won't stop until you walk into eternity.

THAT'S why......

EVERY DAY MATTERS

EVERY PERSON MATTERS

You have been placed in circumstances somewhere far beyond what you would have chosen and could imagine yourself in.

Be aware of those circumstances...they could be another chance to change
the future of the universe.

Look Around. Very near to you is a person through whom you can change the future of millions of people.

People whom you will never see.. futures you will never know about..but I will.

And when we get together at MY place soon, I will tell you about them and how your connection made a difference.

And you will smile with ME one of those everlasting GOD sized smiles.

Okay more....