iF:Gathering in Lebanon

Today I am going to gather with women from out my community to think over the question If God is real, then what? 

This event is taking place in Austin, Texas and we are participating in the simulcast here at First Baptist Church.  I am excited and nervous and anxious and seeking all at the same time. I know this weekend is going to be a time of reflection and vulnerability. Shedding off my outward appearance and working on who I am as a daughter of Christ. Joining with ladies in the raw and brokenness of our lives. We each have things we deal with, things we hide and things we struggle with that only HIS grace can change. 

"We exist to gather, equp and unleash the next generation of women to live out their purpose"

      -Jennie Allen. 

So why am I doing this? 

      For one because I am a doer. I have a natural flaw for overworking and over committing myself but in that I find solace. I am a continual grower and some of the women speakers have been a vital role in that process. Two, I am seeking answers. God moved big in my life and know I am searching and praying for what those next steps are going to look like and I hope this conference will help me with some of that. Three...because I love my fellow women and I want them to experience this growth and transformation too. 

How is this going to work? 

     We are meeting at First Baptist Church today at 4pm and going to join together to watch the simulcast. We will break for dinner and conversation around 6:30 (or whenever our stomachs start to growl) and will then join back into the simulcast until we call it quits. 

Then we will meet again Saturday at 9am, break for a lunch around town about noon and then rejoin for the afternoon sessions until about 4/5. 

 Will all the technology work together-who knows! I hope so and I am praying for it, but ultimatly it's up to him and our Internet connection! 

How do you prepare? 

   Pray, humble yourself and be prepared to be real, authentic time together. Each women is bringing a soup or a snack on Friday. Make sure you bring a bible, some type of item to journal with and wear your yoga pants as we prepare to lay it all out there! 

I am going to be utilizing #ifgathering to share our weekend and I hope you join us too or find a if:gathering near you! 

     -Amanda 

Siblings

I am an only child. My idea of siblings came from idolizing my cousins when we were all playing together and watching TV shows like Little House in the Prairie and Full House. I thought for sure that if I had a little sister I would have taken care of her just like DJ did with Michelle and we would have had matching outfits {complete with awesome hair bows}and tea parties together. This reality quickly was dashed when Gene and I were married and became a blended family and both J and S would play the "She's touching me"..."No, I'm Not"; "Shes looking at me"...."No, I'm Not" game {you know this game too???} But that was short lived and now these two are like two peas in a pod. Seriously, they are each-others best friends.

Fourth of July 2004...what cuties!

Showing off their matching blue Niagara Falls Jackets! 

 Well, I sometimes wonder if N had the same dream like thoughts about siblings as I did. You see, N came into our family being an only child. He does not have any siblings but what he did have was 20 and then later 50+ children twenty four hours a day, seven days a week surrounding him in the orphanages.  He knew how to interact with others but he had no idea how to be a sibling. Life in an orphanage had taught N to rely on himself and to fight for his needs to be met.I don't know if he wanted to have brothers and sisters or what his idea of them was. {Maybe he too wanted a sister like DJ too}

(This should have been our first sign) 

What that did mean though is that he came to our home ready to fight for anything and everything. He did not understand what sharing was. Because he had not had any toys he wanted everything. He is really into fairness and equality. Our youngest daughter K is seven years younger than the older two. She too had not really had to share all that much and was use to having all the toys to herself as she has gotten older. This made life very hard in the beginning. N's natural instinct was to grab anything he wanted because he may never get the chance again. That meant, even if it was a bubble gum wrapper, he wanted it and he wanted it then. If someone got in his way, so sorry for them. We had lots of tears and frustration on both the Little's parts as far as sharing and taking turns. But slowly, we are making strides. We role played and prompted over and over and used the same statements time and time again to help the kids adjust. We used timers and practiced constantly. If they threw a fit, we would re-do and try it again. This was not with out tears and yelling {many times on my part} but, we started to see a change.

Our first short and sweet few minutes of dreamlike introduction...

 Are we there yet, looking like a modern Little House on the Prairie? Absolutely not- we still have arguments and are using that consequences jar I told you about in the last post- thank you Courtney!  But, we are getting there. Now N and K can play outside together with out me having to intervene and regulate. They can build a tower of Lego's together and are even starting to read books together! In fact, they get along so well sometimes they have started pulling one-overs on us. I foresee some mischievous years ahead!  

{Insert amazing sibling pictures I have taken the past 4 months that

 disappeared with my phone-alas, these will have to do... }

Did we fall of the end of the Earth?

 I realize that I have not blogged in well over a month, several of my most recent blog posts have been about faith/poverty/Noonday, so that means you all are probably ready for a little family update.I have to cut myself a little slack, we are a family of six with two full time working parents [we are insane] that have two busy teenagers and two cuddly little kids...oh, and a dog and 4 chickens...cant forget the chickens {again-we are insane] But I digress.....


Well,  It has been 5 months since this day...

Wow- to watch that again. Remembering how scary and exciting it was for him all at once. It feels like it took us forever to get here and yet other days I think we just brought N home. I seriously can not believe the progress we have made in such short time. In the beginning the days were so very hard and he was grieving so much, but now with the ability to talk and communicate he is able to share so much more with us. Now, we still have age appropriate temper tantrums and pouting but afterwards he apologizes and we move on. Gone (hopefully for good) are the days of "No white mom", "No America" and "Diaper Donkey" - although for the record diaper donkey is going in the life book!

Its the little moments where he can now share memories and thoughts and perceptions with his new found language ability. Sometimes the statements he makes are so profound I am just amazed at our little man's understanding of the world and his ability to see things. Yesterday as he was eating his new found favorite snack (Hawaiian King bread with berbere spread on it) he told me:

        "Mom- I love America food. In Ethiopia me so hungry, no dis (points to fridge)
           or dis (point to stove) or dis mom (points to microwave). Mom- we no dis either
           (the pantry). Just little food mom [in Ethiopia], now me get food anytime I hungry. I love you
            Mom. You so good. Mmmmm"

I mustache you a question! 

When your a mom of a child from a hard place and things are going well, it can be so very hard to remember where they come from and who they were. He is still the same boy with the beautiful smile and the mischievous personality but he is beginning to feel safe and loved and at home which makes this woman one happy mommy.

This month I think we finally started really learning how to just breathe. No longer are we in survival mode or even really exhaustion We are a family and we work together. Life is doable now and the hubbs and I don't feel {as} overwhelmed most days. Hopefully I will do better at keeping our blog updated and sharing some of these "firsts" with you. Until them, from our family to yours...Happy New Year {23 days late but who's counting!}

(our posed picture and the only one where all four kids are smiling and have eyes open). 

Were sisters....[insert lyrics from White Christmas]

Amazed every day at the bond of these brothers!

My two high energy kids here...playtime buddies!

Wherever you go I will follow.....will you??????

Today I was so inspired as I read several posts from a few of my girlfriends. They are attending a conference for Christian women who had the same heart for injustice and Jesus as I do. Reading their comments brought up the passion that I have found these past few years. I struggle in my day to day walk and choosing to purposefully share my faith and my conviction for helping where it is needed but today I was reminded ! 

With this renewed sense of purpose, I persued the blogs of my favorite author and speaker, Jen Hatmaker, I came upon a conference I would sacrifice Starbucks coffee for a year to attend (seriously).  This 2-day gathering will address the question IF God is real... THEN what? How do we live? How do we unify and dream for the name of Christ in our generation from our unique places? They are bringing diverse voices and artists together for a conversation focused on Christ. If:gathering praying this conference will satisfy a longing to return to what is deep and simple and pure about life and faith."  It is February 7th and 8th and has an star collection of women speakers and authors (who may or maynot be on my friend crush list-women who I imagine could be my best friends whenever I hear or read about them but in reality they may not even know I exists) 

 However, not only is this conference in Austin, but it booked a mear hour or so after registration opened. But...there is a way to still be part of the conference! 

The IF team wants women around the world to be able to participate. They are going to make the IF: Gather a simulcast where women around the globe can gather together to listen and grow together.  Simple, pure, deep and humble are the words used to describe the conference and we can do it here in Lebanon! 

I want the women of Lebanon to hear God speak to each and every one of us in this event. I see a group of women from various life paths, in different stages of life, members of different churches coming together no bars hold, to flat out worship Jesus and change their hearts to seek his will. 

So I'm asking you, will you join me? Are you ready to gather your girlfriends, invite your co-workers, ask your MOPS group to come and join me in finding out what God is asking of you? Leave me a message below this post, message me on Facebook or email me collinshouseof6@gmail.com if you too want to know If God is real....THEN what? 

               

Random love and a little fair trade

So you all know I love me some Jen Hatmaker. Well, I was pursuing her blog and came across this blog post and was so excited to see the first thing on her loving list...Noonday!!! Hey ya'll my pretend BF loves noonday too! Just thought I needed to share that. 

Her is her blog post if you want to check her out:  Jen Hatmaker - Things I'm Loving

Tomorrow is fair trade Tuesday in celebration of the holidays. Although we at Noonday consider ourselves "ethical trade"  we follow the fair trade principles state that artisans receive a fair, living wage, a good working condition, and a reasonable path out of poverty. But, we want to go beyond fair trade. In many instances, the artisans are part owners in the companies. Your purchases enables our artisans to put their children in school, buy chickens, or even expand their own business so they can employ their local community.

I hope you will be inspired to look a little beyond the corporate stores and shopping malls. For me living in rural America,  I may not be able to escape the corporate stores entirely but I can still purchase with a purpose and I hope you will too. You can check out #FairTuesday on twitter or http://FairTuesday.org to find over 150 sustainable brands to choose from. 

As always, I would love to host a Noonday trunk show to help share the stories of our artisans with you while styling you along the way or you can check Noonday out at http://amandacollins.noondaycollection.com

Thanks for listening, 

         -Amanda

              Style{made with love} 

A little thankfullness (and reflection on last thanksgiving)

Since thanksgiving seems to be a time of reflection and contemplation I thought I would jump on the band wagon and take some time to look back a year ago. Honestly, sometimes I'm afraid to look back to deep. Last year this time was hard. My grandpa was very sick and we were going through changes in our family. I was so focused on adoption I think I overlooked a lot of things and some days forgot to be thankful for the things I did have. I couldn't see past the waiting list and the urge to know who are child was. Then I got the call that my grandpa had made the decision to stop all medical assistance and would pass very soon.

I still get teary when I think about those few days, both in sadness and in adoration. You see my family may appear on the outside as "The crazy Hobbs" but we are also amazingly connected. 



All of my aunts uncles and cousins descended upon Quincy and loved on each other. We all took turns talking with grandpa, telling him stories and listening to him slowly relive some of his life memories under mild pain meds. My grandpa was an amazing man and in his death I saw the beauty of life and family.



We all worked together to help bring both grandma and grandpa home where grandpa could have his last few hours in a place of comfort and familiarity. I was able to be with him when he died, surrounded by many of his family as we all told him we loved him and would see him again. I think God was able to use those days of grief and sorrow to remind me how valuable family is. You see, when we began helping grandma through her things in the house we found files of grandpas. They were clearly labeled for each of his children and grandchildren. Now my grandpa had 6 children and 14 grandchildren (if I'm counting correctly) and he had a file for each one. With in those files were newspaper clippings and photos and letters. He had saved any printed material about our accomplishments and just us. This still impacts me today as I think of the love and adoration he and my grandma have for each one of us that has now been passed down generation to generation.

This year as I gather with my family again to celebrate the holiday I am reminded again of families and all that I have to be thankful for. In the prayers of my father, the giggles of our children, a babies call for Na-na, in the thankfulness of our children, face-time conversations oceans apart and my grandma watching us knowing that life does go one. It may not be the same, it certainly is not easy at times and can be very very hard but yet life still goes on.

 

So what is Noonday?

I shared with you why I choose Noonday but I wanted to show you what the Noonday Collection really is.

It's about people like this in Uganda ...

          That make jewelry like this.....

                             

                 

 Or women like this in India...
 

Who make jewelry like this.....

 

 

It can be about hosting a trunk show to help someone do this 

                                   

Or just to have a fun time like this

 

                   

 

                            

 Each piece is hand made by an artisan who because of your purchase gets to make a change in their life.

 

Want to find out more about The Noonday Collection and owning your own piece while making a difference to someone else? 

Check out my new website 

             http://amandacollins.noondaycollection.com 

 

Thank you for letting me share a little of my new found passion with you!

                         

     -Amanda