Ranch Glimpse

You can't go anywhere without forcibly being confronted with the affects of drought all around us. Here is a little glimpse of our neck of the woods...



This is where Barton Creek used to flow freely. The water level was anywhere from 5- 10 feet. Now it is merely dust and twigs. The fish are gone. The turtles aren't anywhere to be found. The swimming hole is now a sand box.



Lets join together and ask for God's sweet mercy and steady rain to fall upon us. I'm especially praying for this little corner of the earth.

In other news, the horses have arrived this week. After months of prepping the land for their arrival: clearing, fencing, clearing, fencing, paddock building, clearing...they have arrived.

I drove in the other morning and looked across the pasture to see them galloping through the grass and dirt. It took my breath away. We have been reunited with our long lost friends.



The cute little one in the middle is my nephew. He's precious, isn't he? He is also the b.e.s.t. baby I have ever been around in my life (and you know I have been around some good babies in my day).



Okay, okay, I won't forget you guys either...



The donkeys are back too.

Work Out Gear...Check!

Austin Top 10 Continues:

7. If you like to exercise then there is no better apparel than lululemon . They have a location that is 20 minutes from my house and I could do some serious, serious damage there. Basically, I try my very hardest never to go. The couple of things I have gotten from there have persevered beautifully through the running and sweating. Thank you lulu, thank you very much.

Java love

I'm going through my Austin faves. Its early in our hill country adventures so this list may be premature but thought it would fun to chronicle.

Growing up our only choice to drink was water. I specifically never drank coffee. I thought it tasted like dirt. I even survived college all-nighters without coffee. I worked 70 plus hours on a political campaign without coffee. I even taught junior high at a private school without coffee.

After I got married, I was working in Dallas and it was a particularly cold winter. There was a Starbucks on the way and usually once a week it would call my name. Since then I have been growing as a connoisseur.

Living near College Station for the last couple of years and all of its coffee experts didn't help either.

If you would like a good drink recommendation I get an iced soy sugar free vanilla caramel macchiato with easy ice :)

So for #8 my favorite thing about Austin is a coffee shop and it is without a competitor. Mozart's. It is a gem. Wonderful for date nights. Great for conversation with old and new friends. Even better for a date with my Bible.

Grub love

For a better link to the photo credit from last post, see here for more information on all the beautiful creations Kate Stafford has in her repertoire.

9. Local restaurant. Local are the only kind that would make my top ten. Our favorite local, organic restaurant closed down last month. So sad. Its not because we didn't give them business because oh by golly we did. In lieu of our dining tragedy, I will have to go with a new local, favorite (drum roll please)....Magnolia Cafe. . Magnolia cafe is an Austin classic and their food never disappoints.

For all you South siders, then Thyme and Dough is such a treat. They have a precious place that is surrounded by a plant nursery. Their decorations are eclectic and shabby chic. The food is exquisite, local, and organic. They have gluten free options and an espresso bar to boot! It definitely feel like "home away from home."

The Bergstrom

Photo credit: Kate Stafford

We have officially been residents of the atx for 6 months now. Whew! I honestly can't believe it. The last time I lived here, it was 10 years ago minus husband and children, and I lived on the north side. Now that we are living and lovin' the south side I thought it would be fun to give you a little taste of a few of my favorite things. Really, lets be honest, this is just my op-ed on all things Austin.

10. Austin Bergstrom. The airport? Yes, the airport.

Growing up we always flew out of Houston Intercontinental. When you get home from a trip there is nothing worse knowing that once you touch the ground you have to taxi forever, wait ages for your lugage, pretty sure it will be damaged, then make the trek to your car, and lastly navigate your way out of the maze....now add kids on top of all of that. That place is a beating and has lots of memories of vomiting (we won't go there) and other madness.

For the record, our 2 years in Dallas, the DFW gets a B minus rating.

On the other hand, the Austin airport is beautiful, clean, has quirky Austinish stores and food, and best part of all... you can get in and out in less than 10 minutes. It just makes me want to travel. Can we get a halleluyah!?!

For all of my BCS loves, please always choose Austin. For the rest of you, its worth the trip too.

Now if we can get Austin to have more direct flights then it would completely seal the deal. Might be worth driving from Oklahoma ;)

Stay tuned for more local faves.

my messes

Somewhere between here...



and here,




I completely lost it- not in a sound mind, not joyful and lacking peace.


How could I go from waking to His mercy, to enjoying heaping bowls of steaming hot oatmeal with my beloveds, to walking in on my precious 3 year tugging with all of his might because he wanted to make my bed to.... drowning in fear of man, impatience, and self pity?

Then, sweet Grace threw me a life preserver as I read this post and was undone.

Manifesto for Joyful Parenting

1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer.
I will pray at set times. And I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.
2. Today, I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.
3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies! Only amateurs hurry.
4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude.
My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling!
5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.
6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I will create daily ceremonies because everyday we are CELEBRATING the gift of now!
7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child’s behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child.
8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals — because children’s hearts feed on touch. I’ll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible — the taller they are, the more so.
9. Today, my priorities will be all Things Unseen.
10. Today, I will laugh! And I will let the little children laugh! I will create a culture of JOY!

As I was contemplating how dreadfully far from the mark I continually am yet He has rescued me, then I glanced back in the back seat to see our promised one with his head tilted back, eyes closed, and worshipping his little heart out.



My mess is part of His plan.

hope you're hungry

Deep breath.

I have wanted to write about this for some time to hopefully help others who are navigating the tumultuous waters of international adoption. I have imagined that reading this will be like going to one of those restaurants where your meal is free if you eat the whole cow.

So, hope you're sitting down and hungry ;)

When we were engaged, we believed that God would use adoption as an avenue to one day grow our family. We laid that desire and calling before the Lord trusting His timing and direction.

While I was pregnant with Elyana we both felt a stirring and the desire growing. We did hours of research and asked unending questions from those who had experience.

Our first hurdle: International or Domestic?

God has a unique, ordained plans for each of us. For us, we felt drawn to Africa. One of the reasons is the vast need. The millions of orphans without a chance and destined for the slums is one of the undeniable reasons for us.

Also, there are many African countries where there are no adoption laws in place in order for someone to adopt. There are some people who have resulted to "alternative" types of adoptions in order to rescue children out of horrific situations. Uganda is a relatively "adoption friendly" African country. At last official count, there are 2.5 million orphans in Uganda, 45 percent of which due to AIDS. Uganda has laws that make the process fairly clear and even some of the judges in their country are pro-adoption. (There are some that are not and we are joining others in praying for their hearts.)

Second Hurdle: Independent or Agency- lead?

We found that there were many people who had done an independent adoption from Uganda. What that essentially means is that you don't go through an agency, but rather do all the leg work, make the contacts, and hire a Ugandan attorney to handle the legal papers.

Joe enjoys a challenge, doesn't mind travel arrangements, and I like to make contacts so he thought it would be best for us to go out on our own. We also thought we could save a few thousand dollars doing it ourselves. We found an attorney who had several positive references. The contacts were unreliable, the information sketchy, and the way in which you locate your child was heart wrenching and labor intensive.

In the midst of that process, we attended the Together for Adoption conference. If you are wondering how to be involved with the global orphan crisis or about adoption then I recommend their national conference. This year its in Phoenix. It addressed so many of our questions, fears, challenges, and ponderings in a safe, gospel-centered environment. While we were there we met representatives from Generations Adoption agency. They had recently refined their Uganda program and had a lot of encouraging relationships in country.

Joe was still set on going independently. I just sat back and prayed wanting God to work and lead our family.

A month later we went on a family vacation to Colorado still chewing and processing on the next steps for our family. We didn't discuss it much but there were lots of long, comfortable silences. Time spent together with our Bibles open, mouths shut.

Nine days later we pulled out of our condo parking lot, and Joe non-chalantly says, "Lets contact Generations when we get home." I am thankful for his leadership.

Generations has been one of the most precious blessings to our family. Their staff is courteous, professional, loving, kind, considerate, prompt to respond, and desires God's best for each family. (They also do domestic adoptions too if you headed that direction and I have heard the same reviews from people who have adopted with them domestically).

We also love their contacts in Uganda, their babies home is under the umbrella of a healthy, local church that is involved with orphan care and prevent. We also appreciate the way they run their babies home. They have continued, quality communication about the children within their care. They have full disclosure with whatever information they have regarding each child. They are also committed to ensuring that each one of their adopting parents is as equipped and fully prepared as possible. Such a blessing!

Hurdle 3: Paperwork and Training

January 2011 we began the process and by March, we had finished our training. We were really hoping that by the end of 2011 we would be holding our baby.

Then in March we moved to Austin. You don't realized how rooted you've become until you're uprooted. The move was much more disruptive than we anticipated.

We were still set for having our home study in May.

As the day grew closer we both felt more and more unsettled. Between Joe's new job, adjusting to our new home, building our house, leaving our BCS community/family, getting engaged in our new church, challenges our children were having with the new place, and the fact we didn't think it would be wise to do the home study twice... we are waiting. Waiting until our house is finished to move forward with our home study then onto the next steps.

So that's where we are. Waiting.

Where we all are, in some way, right?

But every day I have to lay it down.

Lay down my control. Trust Him. Lay down my timing. Trust Him with the day at hand. Lay down my desires. Trust Him with my current children. Lay down my unbelief. Trust Him with my children I don't know yet. Trust Him.

All is grace. I'm focusing on what God is doing in my and our children here preparing us for the work among our family and ministry in this community.

So thankful for all of you encouraging and loving us along the way. We can't wait to meet our baby and to get to introduce the precious soul to you too.

If you have any questions or if you're going through the process and I can pray for you in any way, please contact me melissa at heartlinesranch dot com

Bless you!