The Befores!

Hi everybody, so I have had a few projects that I have been wanting to complete for some time now. I suppose I procrastinate on some things until I put myself in a position to fulfill a promise.

So, here are two projects that I need to accomplish:

1 - We have an old desk that is in desparate need of paint. I would love to refinish it but it is veneer and has just been trashed by years of loving use. It belonged to Mark's dad and we have used it for over 27 years. So, paint it needs.

2 - Our home was built in 1981 (the year we were married) and has oak kitchen cabinets. We have been slowly refinishing them (for about 1 1/2 years). It is time to complete the project. We only have one cabinet door and 4 drawers to finish along with the face of the bottom area.

Matthew will be away from home July 3-13 so Mark and I will have the house to ourselves. My goal: have fun, enjoy each other's company AND finish the two projects.

Now I have posted a challenge to myself - be sure to watch for the AFTER photos sometime after July 13th!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

"Not flesh of my flesh, Nor bone of my bone, but still miraculously my own.

Never forget for a single minute, You didn't grow under my heart,

But In It".

One of the greatest joys as a mother has been to watch my children grow, mature, and become young men. That is especially true for my youngest son, Matthew. When Matthew joined our family as a foster child at 4 months of age we were daily reminded not to expect too much.

Doctors, counselors, and case workers told us that he would not live a year, so don't get too close. I would just respond with: "You don't know what God can do!" We loved Matthew from the moment they first placed in him my arms and were committed to provide whatever was needed to see him live the most happy, productive life possible. On his 2 1/2 year birthday, we signed the final adoption papers. What a miracle, what a blessing.

Today, we celebrate again with Matthew on his 23rd birthday.

This past week Matthew had a few friends over for a weekend party of video games, swimming, and lots of food. It was so great to see him just hangin' out with friends. Yes, it was a long weekend. Six 20+ year old boys, all with autism or some other developmental challenge, but it was one of the greatest weekends of our lives.

Matthew is the little guy in the middle. They put up tents and 'slept' outside! Most of them really didn't sleep - in fact at 4:45 AM we asked if they could quiet down just a little so we could sleep for an hour. Needless to say, we didn't sleep!

There are not words to express our gratitude to God for how He has blessed us with such a treasure in Matthew. Matthew has helped US grow and mature as Christians and children of our Great King.

Father, today I honor You. I am humbled before You. I bless Your Holy Name. I thank you Lord for the blessing you brought to our family the day you brought us Matthew. We are changed because of him. You have used him in our lives to help us see You more clearly. Your love and compassion are characteristics you have developed within us. Our faith is stronger, we have learned to trust. Each day is new with so much to look forward to. I am honored to have been chosen to raise such an incredible young man. I pray You are pleased. Today, I bow before You and worship. You are to be glorified. May others see us display Your glory

through our lives. Amen

Please feel free to leave a birthday greeting for Matthew

and I will be happy to share them with him.

Make is a great day.

Cindy

Urgent Prayer Request!

One of my dearest friends called me to let me know that her daughter-in-love is pregnant.

They had tried to conceive for a very long time and really gave up when all of a sudden,

well, here comes baby.

Just 8 short weeks into the pregnancy, during a routine ultrasound,

the doctors found a tumor growing on the baby's umbilical cord.

The tumor is about 1/2 the size of the baby.

If it is a fluid filled tumor it should go away and the baby will be fine.

If it is another form of tumor (?I don't know the name?)

it will impair the baby's development and the baby will not be compatible with life.

Please pray for this very special, young couple.

'Hoop' Di Doo!

So, here is some random information.

This is my new exercise pleasure :

AcuHoop (click on the hightlighted word to see website).

I bought this AcuHoop a couple of weeks ago and love it. What a fun form of exercise. I even took it to work last week and we had a blast with it at lunch.

I am hoping that it will help 'narrow' the waistline. I have lost some weight this year but my midsection didn't get the memo!!

I bought the one that weighs 3 pounds but they are also made weighing 4 and 5 lbs. The instructions do tell you to take it easy the first week or two so you don't get to sore. I didn't listen and I did end up with some bruises the first week. But I have adjusted and I am really enjoying it.

I still walk at least 5 days a week and do some weights but this is a nice deviation from the routine.

Hope you are enjoying your week.

Until the next post - God Bless!

Cindy

Ok, It's My Turn!

It's always difficult to write about yourself. I have been attempting to write a little about each of our immediate family members. I've avoided doing my own until now.

I am not quite '50' but this IS the year!!

I have always loved Jesus thanks to my mom who told us so much about Him while we were growing up (Thanks Mom!). I didn't get to go to church much but did attend Christian school for a few years. I really gave my life to Jesus at 16 but, as many of us, have drifted in and out of real commitment. I have attended church since before my marriage to Mark and have served the Lord faithfully since 1981. Mark and I were baptized together in 1986 after his transformation into this blessed Christian life.


I love family, being a wife, mom, daughter, sister, aunt, and being a Nana!


I work as an administrator for a medical practice which has been a challenge to learn new skills. Most of my administrative work has been in the area of church ministry. I do feel it is good to keep learning new things, it helps keep the mind sharp.

I love scrapbooking, reading, and hiking (not real hard stuff - just getting out and enjoying all that God created). I am an organization freak, however you couldn't tell that today by looking at my desk!

As far as church ministry, well I have done most everything from teaching to cleaning toilets. I enjoy short term mission trips. From 1999 through the first part of 2007 I was not only the church administrator but also the women's ministries director (this is my real passion). After taking a year long sabbatical I am again feeling the pull back into ministry. God's timing is perfect and He is opening great doors.

I am enjoying this new blogspot. I am looking forward to sharing moments in our lives as well as random information or ideas. I will LOVE to read you comments - so please feel free to send them. If you don't know how, just click the 'comment' at the end of this blog and follow the directions. I had to learn too!

This is enough info about me. Now, I can enjoy sharing all the fun things that happen in our little family.

Have a very blessed day,
Cindy

Kori, our Blessing!

Kori is our nearly 4 year old granddaughter. What a blessing of God's timing. Kori came into our world in July 2004, just after Mark's transplant, a time when we really needed something to redirect our focus. The previous year had been spent trying to survive Mark's diagnoses and treatment for total kidney failure.

I was honored to be in the room when Kori was born. What a beautiful moment, especially for someone who was never able to conceive children. There is just something about watching your grandchild be born! She captured my heart and, of course, she is the most beautiful little girl in the world.

Kori is a happy, healthy little girl filled with energy. She is so much like her daddy! She in the most precious spirited little girl. I have always called her nana's little 'angel bug'. (I found a pair of Christian Dior earrings when she was born. They are pearl and diamond in the shape of a little bug with diamond wings, too cute!).

Kori loves to play dolls with Nana and watch 'tartoons' with daddy. She loves her Papa and just adores her Uncle Matthew. We are priviledged to have Kori in our home every Thursday and Saturday evenings which keeps us young and on our toes. With our own boys grown, we can get a little sedentary, so having Kori here is GOOD for our health.

It seems only yesterday when we first learned about Kori and now she'll be turning 4. Wow, where does the time go?


I love the song 'Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman and after hearing of the tragedy which hit their family I was so grateful to capture this moment of Andrew dancing with his daughter.



We are thankful to our Heavenly Father for allowing Kori to be in our lives. She is truly a gift from above.

Blessings to you until next time, Cindy

Healed!

We are celebrating tonight!

After nearly 11 months and weekly trips to the wound center,

we can officially announce that Mark's leg wounds are

HEALED!!!

We are praising God

and thanking the doctors and nurses at the center.

I won't post any pictures because they are really ugly -

but we rejoice anyway!

Thank you for all the months of prayers!!!!

Blessings,

Cindy

Matthew, our Miracle!

Matthew James Cain, born Jeremy Mellor June 23, 1985, came to join our family on November 1, 1985 as a foster child. His adoption was finalized on December 23, 1985.

I began praying for Matthew months before he was born. We knew his birth family and it was not a healthy situation for any child to be born into. We got the phone call in October asking us to take this little boy until they found a suitable institution for him to go to. Matthew, we were told, was deaf, blind, paralyzed on one side and would never walk, talk, or function in society. The social worker said she didn't even expect him to live a year but they just needed a temporary place for him to stay. Of course he came to our home a few days later and we have never looked back.

Matthew's therapy sessions began the second week we had him and included, physical, speech, occupational, and the like. We had people in our home nearly everyday until the school district started a pre-school program when Matthew was 3.

Needless to say, God did work a miracle and Matthew is not deaf, blind or paralyzed. He does have some mild developmental delays but he is a healthy, happy, and a smart young man.

Matthew graduated from high school 2 years ago and has since taken 2 college courses. He loves video games and computers. He works at Bashas, a local grocery store, and has been there for nearly 3 years. Prior to that he worked at Jason's Deli. He has several friends who all enjoy the same things, video games! (Here is a picture of him 'perfecting' his video game skills.)

Matthew was the co-president of Best Buddies and was afforded the opportunity to travel to Houston, TX where he met Anthony Kennedy Shriver, the founder of Best Buddies. What an honor to represent the state of Arizona. He has traveled to Washington DC and Mexico on mission trips as well as a wonderful trip with a teacher and two friends to New York City.

Matthew enjoys reading about presidents and things that happened in th 1800's. He also loves California as wishes we would move back there. (Probably not going to happen). Matthew is the kind of kid everybody just loves. He is pettit and sweet, has a great smile, and a cute shyness about him.

We are filled with gratefulness to our God that He chose Matthew for our family. Our lives are richer and our relationships deeper because of him. He has caused us to be more compassionate and loving toward things that are different and we have learned to accept all that God has chosen to put in our path. Our journey with Matthew has not been an easy one but it has been rewarding in ways we never would have imagined.

I hope you have the opportunity to meet this very special young man.

Until the next post ~ Be blessed ~ Cindy

Andrew, our Lifesaver!

Andrew Mark Cain, born Donald Jay Moore Jr. on November 24, 1981, came to join our family August 29, 1983 as a foster child. He was the cutest red headed, freckle faced little boy I'd ever seen. From the moment I laid eyes on his picture I knew he would fit perfectly into our family. And, as it turned out, he has. Andrew's adoption was finalized on December 18, 1984 and there was no turning back.

Andrew is the most giving, non-judgemental, personable young man I have ever met. From the time he really began speaking we just couldn't keep him quiet. He could talk to anybody about anything and he still does today. There is something about him that just attracts people.

Andrew is a rough and tumble kind of guy. He likes dirt, grease, and junk. Fishing, hunting, and outdoors are fine with him. He likes fast, fast, and fast. He couldn't live without a bicycle or motorcycle (Yikees!). When he played baseball they called him 'WildThing'. He loves a challenge!

Andrew does not love clean, tidy, or neat. Just ask his mom! (He probably likes them, just doesn't do them!)

In 1999 and 2000 Andrew was blessed to travel the United States with a youth ministry. They were able to minister to thousands of kids all across this great country of ours and see many lives changed for eternity. What an awesome opportunity he had. He went places and did things that most of us only hope to do. I know he will have many jewels in his heavenly crown because fo this trip.

Andrew is a life saver. He was secretly tested in 2003 as a possible kidney donor for his adopted dad and turned out to be a perfect match. With great hesitation, we agreed to him donating one of his kidney's to Mark. We worried about his future health, but Andrew would not take no for an answer. He literally did save his dad's life. For that we are eternally grateful.

But we are also grateful to our precious Heavenly Father who so creatively selected Andrew to join our little family. I could not imagine my life without him being a part of it. He has brought so much joy to our lives. He is funny and loves to laugh. He loves 'Dukes of Hazard' and cartoons. He has also kept us on our knees. No, he is not perfect. We spent many sleepless nights during his teens and early twenties praying, seeking God for his wisdom on how to help Andrew. Through much fasting and prayer we now see the fruits of God working in Andrew's life.

Today Andrew is serving the Lord at a local church, has a great job, the most beautiful little daughter and living a respectable, happy life.

I am sure I could fill up a book with Andrew stories but I'll save those for later posts. Today I'll just add that Andrew is a treasure and a joy. I hope someday you have a chance to meet this wild and crazy guy with a heart of gold.

Until next time, Cindy