"It's not about you."

Rick Warren's book, "The Purpose Driven Life" begins with chapter one title, "It all starts with God." That chapter starts with the words, "It's not about you."

The first paragraph reads, "It's not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose."

It's not about me. It's not about you. It's about Him.

40 Days of Orphan Advocacy

*40 posts for 40 days to contribute to the awareness of the Orphan in our World. Please share this blog or specific posts with friends that you interact with on the internet who may be interested in the Mi...
Chck Out at

http://voicefortheorphan.blogspot.com/

Kathy

Same Shirt......spurred on by Donna T.

Lily's Gotcha Day.

Sarah's Gotcha Day.

I felt like blogging a little bit today, but I wasn't so sure what to blog about. I thought about writing something about faith, writing about praising God in the storms, adoption related topics, I even thought I'd write about the need of orphans in Vietnam that I am working with this month. I just couldn't get into writing. I then popped over to some of my favorite blogs. There were writings on faith, adoption topics, needs of the poor, and minitries to orphans. I guess I'm in a less spiritual mood and was caught by Donna T's photos. I'd hyperlink her blog, but quite frankly, I don't know how to do it! Donna's husband wore the same shirt on both of the Gotcha Days with their daughters. I posted this before, but am going to do it again. Here is is....Tom wore the same HAT, the same SHIRT with the same camera over his shoulder. Only difference? Different girls in different parts of China! And this was not planned! Me, I would have worn the same thing if I hadn't grown out of my "Lily Sized Clothes" by the time the "Sarah Sized Clothes" came along!

Can I also comment on his facial expressions? With Lily he was filled with excitement. With Sarah it seemed to be, "Lord help me, I now have five children!" I have the best guy........I really do! I don't know a more humble, faithful guy!

Dane

It is hard to believe that Dane turned 13 on February 11th! I am now offically the other of three teen-aged boys and two preschool girls! Yeah, I live in extremes! Two weeks ago I was teaching one to drive a Barbie jeep in the morning and one to drive a Ford in the evening!

I am really proud of Dane! He brings a lot of joy to this house/home. He's smart and I do not have to get on him about school....ever! Well, except on the nights he is memorizing Scripture for a Bible test. He gets way too anxious! But, he pulls through and gets great grades. He loves to play sports and plays with a heart bigger than anyone! He is phenominal at playing the violin, but I do wish he would practice more! He cracks me up! If you have ever seen any of his videos on youtube, you would certainly crack up, too! I have to mention some of his videos. I love an early one where he was recording Tyler lip-sycing "Three Wooden Crosses" but Ty wasn't faking it to Randy Travis, he was faking it to the sound of Dane Alexander singing behind the camera! I also like the one where he attempts to play his violin at the same time he spins a plate on a stick! I then crack up on the shortest video that was recorded after several attempts at that skill when he says, "I have no talents." Of course, the most recent posted video makes me laugh as he plays basketball in the kitchen and trash talks to the camera as if he is talking to LaBron James, Alan Iverson and Kobe Bryant! If you want to check them out, you can find them on my youtube page sevenalexanders.

Dane is a wonderful big brother to LIly and Sarah. The girls love Dane! I enjoy hearing Ty and Dane do devotions at night with a small light on in their room. I'm thinking Dane is going to really miss Ty in a few years when he goes off to college. He asked if we would consider adopting a boy his age so he wouldn't be alone. At this time, he needs to learn to be alone! My quiver is quivering! Dane also has a sensitive heart for others......gotta love that! Plus, although he isn't one to show me too much affection in public, he can seldom walk past me at home without hugging me.....gotta love that! Shhh, don't tell him I posted that!

Anyway, Dane had a great day turning 13! What did we get him? It was a miniature camcorder.....since he likes to make movies. The only problem is that he took my memory card!

Where is He calling you?

"Where the world's deep hunger meets your deep gladness is where God calls you." Where is He calling you?

Blogging thoughts.....

I will either go to a private blog or close this blog down in the next month. I'm just a bit concerned that people are accessing my pictures through Google Images. If I go private and you want to still follow along, send me your email address to kalexand@columbus.rr.com and I will send you an invitation. I'm also on Facebook so you can keep in touch there if you desire.

Kathy

Phil Wickham in concert!

Fairfield Christian Church
1965 N. Columbus St.
Lancaster, Ohio 43130

http://www.fairfieldcc.com
http://www.bringmehope.org

TICKETS: $8.00 at door
Benefits orphans in China through the work of Bring Me Hope.

Sisters Stick Together

In the craziness of my life, I find a lot of joy AND enjoyment in my two girls. Sometimes I just sit and watch them play! Most of the time they do really well together. I love to watch them watch "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and "Diamond in the Castle." The actually act out the movie while they watch it! I also enjoy watching them play school and cooker's (Chef's in the play kitchen.)

These photos show them at one of those moments that I found joy. In was late on a snow morning when they were watching public television. They wanted some dry cereal...yeah, I know....looks like dog food! Anyway, love this shot! It reminds me of the miraculous God we serve! Only God could orchestrate two little girls from different parts of China to be adopted into the same family....to be sisters that stick together! The joy! The enjoyment!