guest post #5, given to love

Have these been the best guest bloggers ever? I've never liked reading my own blog more! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you to 

Jhen, Danielle, Layla, Rachael, and now KATIE!

Katie blogs over at Given to Love and she is also the BRILLIANT mind behind Faithblogs, which you should check out right now if you haven't. I think she is incredibly visionary and also incredibly passionate and incredibly wise. And I like her hair. 

Katie, THANK YOU! 

1. What do you blog about and why?

Oh, I blog about the cute/weird/wonderful things that my kids do and say, about the things that God is teaching me in this life, and the things that are close to my heart, like adoption, and orphan-care. I blog as a creative outlet, a way to share my faith and my life and hopefully (mostly) to bring glory to God.

2. What is the most terrifying possibility in life? 

The death of anyone of my children, or the possibility of them loosing me/us too soon. It scares the crap out of me. On this planet, they are my everything, and at this place in time, I am theirs. But when I think about what it really means to loose them, I realize that loosing them to an early death would not be nearly as terrifying as loosing them for eternity. What I mean is, I want to be the kind of mama that teaches them the way to the Father. That in my life or in my death, He will be glorified in a way that will leads my children to life eternal with Him. And I often pray that no matter the cost, I will one day have the great joy of spending all of forever in Heaven with my Maker, and each one of my little treasures. This is what I live for.

3. How did you meet your husband? 

In eighth grade, (mid-90s) I was a mega-dork (big ears, stringy hair, super-awkward) and he was mega-cool (decked out in adidas, rockin' the bowl-cut. Maybe that was just cool in my town?) Anyhow, I was in all of his elective classes: art, home-ec, gym. I did his art projects, sewed his quilt square and impressed him my ability to Sweat to the Oldies with Richard Simmons.Okay, the last part is probably not true. I may have sweat, but no one was impressed.

Good and bad, by the time we were out of high school, a lot had changed. I had watched him date plenty of girls, always secretly wishing it were me, but we had become really close and had been through a lot together, as friends. The kind that held hands at the movies. Only a couple more years passed before we were married. I still tell him that I always knew he was the one for me. (interject here, this is Jessi. Katie, Nick and I have a similar story and we always laugh about our hand-holding-for-months-in-movies-before-dating-ways. Thank goodness for high school secret PDA. 

4. What's an issue/topic/idea that makes your heart beat faster and makes your face get hot and makes you incredibly passionate?

Every part of me wants to type something witty/sarcastic here, something like "matching socks." If only to avoid the subject. But, if I am honest, the only thing that comes to mind, well it's pretty heavy. While I care deeply about the orphan crisis, hunger, people without love.... the one thing that gets me really worked up is abortion. I try not to think about it too much in a way that consumes me or makes me crazy, but I am just plain upset about the whole industry. Please understand that this does not mean that if you've had an abortion, or several, that I think any less of you. I know in my heart and soul that you are the beautiful daughter of a King, and I pray that you know Him too, along with all of  His abundant goodness and sweet mercies. 

5. What is something you do every single day? Screw up

6. What do you most want people to come away from you knowing? That I am the worst person I know, with the greatest Savior

Thank you SO much Katie. (And all guest bloggers)

Semi-normal blog life may (hopefully) (we'll see) resume tomorrow. (maybe)

I sure like you guys and I miss you! 

...............................

Two quick things: 

a) I'm still incredibly encouraged and spurred on and burdened by all the responses that are still coming from this blog. I feel so much encouragement from hearing other women need a space to grieve. Mostly, I wish I could make my blog into a house - invite all of you in that have experienced loss, and hear all your stories. And give God all the glory for how He has met you in it. And preferably, if we're going to to be crying our eyes out, it would be nice if there was coffee and pretty throw pillows involved in this fantasy. 

But for real. Women in my actual-physical-life have been incredibly encouraging, but the truth of the matter is that I'm a stay at home mom, sharing a car with her husband, trying to walk through the process of grieving a baby while raising three kids and sometimes an email from ya'll or a comment really truly meets me in a way that physical people can't in this season. And I'm thankful. 

b) our friends, the Ladds, are in Ethiopia getting their son right NOW! They bring him home this weekend and we are seriously overjoyed for them! Also, we've been so blessed by how many of you have bought their print, which 100% of the proceeds go to their fundraising. They are still actively fundraising to finish paying for this leg of their trip, and we'd so love to just shock them with a massive check with they get home. 

ok. Connolly out. happy Wednesday ya'll. 

help us get a former-orphan home

Hi sweet friends.
I'm going to be away from the interwebs all week to be with my husband at a church planting conference and to have some time away with my sweet kiddos and I have a star-studded line up of guest bloggers to entertain & excite you while I'm gone. 


Before I go though, I have an urgent plea.
If you've looked around on this site at all or if we know each other in real life, you know this is a big chunk of my heart. Orphans. It's the issue of this world that keeps me up at night, that makes my heart beat faster. I think about it when I see my sweet kiddos face first thing in the morning and when I kiss them goodnight. So many children don't have this. Wait. 
TWO HUNDRED AND TEN MILLION children don't have this. 
And as the church, as His children who've been adopted into His family, there is no getting around the fact that it's our job to take care of them. James 1:27 puts it so incredibly clearly. 

The problem is, it's daunting. What can I do? What can I do today? Maybe you're not married yet or maybe it's not the season for you to take in an orphan or maybe it won't ever be that season for you. But there is something you can LITERALLY do TODAY to bring an orphan home to his specific-God-appointed family and I'm honored to share it with you. 


Our friends, the Ladds, have been in the process of adopting from Ethiopia for years now. For two and a half years they have prayed, sacrificed, waited, prayed, cried, and waited some more for the Lord to move their adoption forward and now they are in the final steps of bringing their legally adopted son home from Ethiopia. They are in the home stretch of fundraising and only need approximately $3,500 more to make their last and final trip to bring their four and a half year old, A, HOME. Today is their first day of being considered on "high alert", meaning they can receive a call ANY DAY to come get their son. In that event, they will only have days to get their sweet selves to Ethiopia and bring him back. 

I feel quite certain that the Lord could get sweet A home any way He saw fit, but I feel like it's such a blessing to be a part of it. A portion of all Naptime Diaries blog/shop profits are going to his adoption, but I have a special promotion going on right now for each person that buys this James 1:27 print. 100% of the profits from the sale of this print will go directly to the Ladds to pay their final expenses. Also, if you don't like my prints, you can buy one of their t-shirts for just $24 over on Leigh's blog. Moreover, it's my prayer that some of you would just donate to their cause, shoot - maybe the Lord is calling one of you to just cover the whole rest of their adoption. That would be incredibly beautiful, amen? 


But could we rally around them this week? 
Would you buy the James 1:27 print? Or a t-shirt? Or just donate? 
You can donate directly to the Ladd's adoption on Leigh's blog. 
Let's bless their socks off. 
Let's bless sweet A and help get him home to his mommy & daddy.
I'm so thankful for ya'll and so expectantly excited for what the Lord is going to do. 

anniversaries, date nights, and orphans

Last night, we went on our fifth anniversary date. Woo-hoo!

Also, I should preface it with saying I was half asleep because my alarm clock has gotten set way off so I've been waking up at like 4:something in the morning and not realizing it till it's too late to go back to sleep. So I was half-asleep or half-awake (you decide), looking a little disheveled to say the least, and generally feeling very-un-date-night-esque. However, we had a good friend to watch the kids and off we went.

Nick knows date nights are hard for me. The first three minutes, I have small little panic attacks on top of panic attacks about our kids. They were in great hands, but I just feel this intense control-freak-selfishness that worries if I'm not there to put them to bed, will they be ok? EVERY night Glory rides my back to her bed and pretends to be Jesse from Toy Story. What if I'm not there? EVERY night Benja stands up in his crib waiting for me to kiss him and say, "goodnight prince". EVERY night Elias gets my lecture about not coming out of his room and we almost every night he comes out of his room doing something funny and instead of scolding him, I die laughing because it is HILARIOUS to hear what he has to say.

After my three minutes of fear, I'm fine. I know they'll be fine. We go on with our dates.

But datenights make me think about the 210 million orphans.

Who is tucking them in and making them feel loved and safe and protected?

What can I do to help?

So I'm going to keep writing about adoption, friend's who are adopting, fundraisers for adoption, and anything I can write about for now to do my part. Remember my friend Leigh and her great tshirts from last Friday? If not, check them out! Here are some questions she answered for me about currently being in the adoption process from Ethiopia.

Why Ethiopia? This is one of the hardest/easiest questions to answer. There is said to be around 5 to 6 million orphans in Ethiopia alone and while that number blows my mind there are hundreds of million of children all over the world that are waiting for their parents to take the leap of faith and begin this journey. For us it's really as simple as this: God called us to Ethiopia, it was never a country we had discussed and suddenly I couldn't shake the feelings that my children were Ethiopian. After a few weeks of praying Gray felt it too and we have never looked back, it was the right decision for us.

How many babies/kids are you adopting? We started off the process adopting a baby girl under the age of 36 months. I never felt right about that decision and always felt like we were supposed to be adopting siblings. Gray, the more practical of the two of us, wasn't convinced but thankfully after attending an amazing adoption conference, Together for Adoption, God changed his heart and we are now adopting two children of either gender under the age of 4. Just writing that makes me so excited (and a little dizzy)!

What is most exciting to you about this process? I am most excited about the normal mom-to-be things, I can't wait to see them, I can't wait to find out if they are boys or girls or one of each, I am so ready to decorate their room, buy their first outfits, simple things like that. I am also really excited about traveling to Ethiopia, we will go twice and I can't wait to get to know their country better!

What is the most frustrating part right now? Oh wow. hm...truthfully? The reaction we have gotten from some people from family members to strangers who happen upon my blog. We believe that this is what God has called us to and it's very hard when people refuse to support us on this journey for whatever reason. Of course it's harder when it's family or close friends but I have to say I do not love the mean emails from strangers either. As a disclaimer: most of our friends and family have been unbelievably supportive and amazing during this time. God has also blessed us with the greatest friends that are walking or have walked this same path to starting their family and we would be lost without them!

So there is a small little glimpse into Leigh & Gray's process of adoption. If you haven't already, go check out the t-shirts from last week and DEFINITELY check out their blog -

www.leigh-onedayatatime.blogspot.com

But first, in honor of my 5 year anniversary,

check out this awesome picture of Leigh dancing with me at my wedding.

(she's second from the right)

shirts for sweeties

If you've been hanging around the blog for any amount of time, you know we love adoption around here. Nick and I worked for a non-profit ministry that served unwed teen moms and saw some really beautiful adoptions up close that ignited our hearts for the whole idea. It seems very simple, and becomes clearer with each biological child I have... these babes, these bodies and souls who need love and care, have me. And while I'm not supermom, I love the junk out of them and would lay down my life for them. So the fact that there are a reported 210 million orphans in the world today makes me just want to lose it. 210 million kiddos who need desperately to be held and fed and loved and told some good news.

It's a little staggering.

So, it's a big part of our future, our family's future in some way and we're trying to listen to the Lord about that. But for now, we want to do what we can to help others walk toward adoption - either domestically or internationally. Our friends, the Ladds, have been in the process of adopting from Ethiopia and are now selling some sweet little tshirts to help fund their adoption. They're a beautiful teal with the words "hope" and the amharic (official ethiopian language) word for hope. On the back is a picture of Africa, along with Matthew 12:21.

But hey, no need to tell you about it. Here they are:)

makes a cute toddler dress:)

sizes for mamas too (and daddies)

the back

For reference, in these pictures Elias & Glory are wearing a size "youth medium" and I'm wearing an "adult small". Benja is not wearing any because he is a little too grubby & I worried he's mess one up.

The point is... buy one. They're $20, plus $3 for shipping. You can follow this paypal link to donate to their adoption or buy a tshirt. And then I'll ship you one!

Minus the sweet bebe in it.

Youth & adult sizes!

Let's help bring two of the 210 million home.

email me at jessi@naptimediaries.com for more details.

**** update: apparently my paypal for the Ladd's isn't working, so head over to their blog and us the paypal located on their sidebar to pay. Then you can comment over here (or email) to let me know your sizes needed and address!
www.leigh-onedayatatime.blogspot.com

Ready? Set? Giveaway!

Tomorrow morning our sweet friends Leigh & Gray are hosting their first online giveaway to raise money for their adoption. It works by you donating $5 per item that you want and posting your name, the thing you want, & your contact info in the comment section on their giveaway blog. I am SUPER SUPER SUPER excited to see the amazing things she is giving away! I'm also excited because my new little adventure is donating a custom blog header or baby logo to help get her sweet baby home. My little custom blog header may be the least exciting thing on there, but I'm super excited to help Leigh & Gray, because they are going to be amazing parents. 

Check it out! And check it out again! And get some great stuff!

not worthy

So last night I woke up at 4am, because that's what I do when I'm pregnant. I was psychotically checking Nick's email because we're waiting to hear back from one of our supporters that is trying to help us get back to the East Coast for a little visit with family in January.

The whole time I was awake I was thinking, "Lord - I really would appreciate this donation, I really would appreciate to go home & see my family. But even if we get the donation, I think I'll feel uncomfortable - we really don't deserve it." I usually don't mind living off of support because our job is hard & I know what a blessing it is for us to give to others so I know it blesses others to help us out too. However, last night, I was just feeling really really unworthy. We just don't deserve the stuff we have like our kids and our health, much less spending money for coffee and plane tickets.

Today was like a massive day of craziness in response. First, we got a massive box from great friends of ours - Leigh & Gray Ladd, who had gotten friends & family to donate a massive Christmas surprise. Gifts for our kids, gifts for Lauren & Beulah, gifts for Nick and I, maternity clothes, baby clothes, & individual gifts for the girls living with us. Is that for real? Each thing I pulled out, I became more and more in shock.

Later, we got a sweet unexpected gift to help us get home and then Debi & Miles FOUND some more Victorian Christmas money we earned, all equaling almost most of what we need to buy plane tickets. Is that for real?

Tonight, I was cleaning and baking and wrapping presents and just felt really comfortable in my unworthiness. I don't deserve Christ and His everlasting life. I don't deserve this husband I have - who is my best friend & hero. I don't deserve these kids - who are too much & are my absolute joy. My friends, this house, extended family, none of it. I am completely unworthy of it all and I'm just supposed to find peace & a further pursuit of righteousness buried in that.

So, here is a quick thank-you video for Leigh & Gray. We love you guys & we cannot wait to hug your necks in January.

my luh

I really like all the women I know - I learn so much from them.

I've written this blog like sixteen times in my head and I still won't do her justice, but here goes. When Nick and I were in college, we worked for a youth ministry as the intern (me) and the worship leader (him). Long story short, it was a daunting job - in that I was only six months out of high school and found myself suddenly employed by a church with very little knowledge and absolutely no experience. We faked our way through it, probably too well. From day one, there was one girl I knew by common sense that I had to win over. She really knew Christ but she affected other girls and if I could just make her like me... I'd be in.

Somehow it worked and quickly Leigh became less and less a girl in the youth group and more and more - a sweet sister in Christ. I wanted to be like her in so many ways, and her simple exuberance for life was inspiring in a lot of ways. She didn't stop amazing me when she won the heart of a man who is sold out for Jesus and loves life as much as her. I know Nick not only likes, but greatly admires Gray and we love spending time with the both of them.

One characteristic of my sweet Luh is her Christ-given other-worldly maturity. I was her youth leader and wanted to be like her, her future husband was her small group leader and saw something in her that he would later fall in love with. She surpasses normal standards for people her age, and women of Christ - in general.

Nothing proves this more to me than this adventure her & Gray are embarking on right now. I don't know a ton of people who have perfectly healthy fertility, have been married only months, and look at the daunting fact that there are five million orphans in Africa and know they must respond in some way. Do they want biological children? Of course. Do they enjoy spending time together and want to build their marriage? Definitely. But they feel the urgent need to respond to a call and I'm just in awe of their obedience.

I'm not just blogging about them to praise Christ in them, but to ask you to pray for them and their journey. They're at the very beginning and I just know it would be a sweet testimony for this to all be quicker, easier, and more simpler than anyone could ask or imagine.

I love you, Luh. I love that you are still the girl I first met - changing the hearts of people around you by the way you love Jesus and his people.

So....

I'm feeling a little sentimental. Today is a special, extremely special day for FOUR dear people in my life. On the East Coast, Leigh Hood & Gray Ladd are getting married and here in Puyallup - Jimmy & Faythe will be united. Let's start with one couple at a time:).

While she is now so much more - I met Leigh when she was a youth & I was her youth leader. I immediately loved her spunk and recognized that if I could get her to think I was cool, the rest of the Shandon Youth Group might follow. I'm not sure if the others ever caught on - but Leigh and I became almost mildly inseparable pretty quickly. During college, I'd spend a lot of nights at her house - watching Law & Order and talking baby talk to her bed, which is quite possibly the greatest bed in America. I grew to love her family, her spunk, her heart for Jesus, and her high-strung nature that made me laugh for hours. During the most type-A years of my life, knowing someone that was more intense than me was really helpful. The thing is - Leigh does EVERYTHING intense... this wedding, her Jesus, and loving others. I've learned a LOT from her and I'm dying not to be there.

When she told me her & Gray were dating - it all made perfect sense. He had helped lead her small group when she was in high school, so to some the age difference threw them off... but I totally understood. Only Gray can meet Leigh's intensity with extreme love & sensitivity. Only she can be so passionate to express to him what an amazing guy he is. From the minute they started dating, I was so glad to know they'd definitely get married - and their union is one that I intend on learning a good deal from.

I met Faythe when Nick and I were out here interviewing for this position. Debi, Miles, and all the Musicks were anticipating her visit greatly and so I knew she was something special. We only spoke a few words that day - but a few months later when I saw her for the second time, sitting at Debi's kitchen table, God spoke to my heart and told me that she really needed to be our assistant. I was back at my house next door, on the phone with my sister, when Debi walked in and I jokingly said, "So do you think Faythe would ever move in here and be our assistant?". Debi only looked mildly surprised when she replied..."That's exactly what she just told me she wants to do".

Over the past three months, I've come to grow intensely thankful for this couple. Faythe - with her passionate heart for Jesus and people, and Jimmy - quite possibly the nicest man alive. My favorite memories with them include laughing at our girls, watching them dance together, Jimmy coming over every morning and making Faythe get dressed, Jimmy telling us that we didn't know anything about dance & he really did, Faythe explaining to me what a true 'wanker' is & the first time I called Jimmy one. Tonight at the wedding, the memories only expanded: First, they walked out of their ceremony to a DC talk song. Then, as I was dancing with Faythe at the reception - she quietly informed me that Jimmy had asked her to meet him in the restroom. I love it.

Anyhoo - I'm so thankful for these four people. The world is richer for having them, my life is better for knowing them, & the Kingdom is advance because of their obedience.