1 - A little Intro of Sorts

This year will be the start of a new blog series on the Thrive ministries page - Knots in the Tapestry ….It will be a blog written specifically about our family….while I will always work to be sensitive to the individuals in our family, I feel strongly that the ups and downs of some of our experiences may be an encouragement to someone out there. It will be written mostly from my mama's perspective :)

The Lord has faithfully used many blogs and stories from other’s experiences to strengthen, inspire and uplift me just when I needed it and I hope to do the same! You won’t find perfect grammar or punctuation….I will use a lot of ……… because I like to! I am desperate to share the things that the Lord is doing in and through us. The real stuff. The hard and sad stuff. Writing has always been a comforting thing….dare I say cathartic! I don’t always have a lot of time for it, but I love to be able to highlight the things that God is doing even when its hard. I also love to then look back and see what the Lord has done, it can be so helpful and encouraging.

Again, if your looking for polished work this will not be your jam but I pray that Jesus will be HUGE and that if you are in a place of mess or grief…maybe a bit of chaos as well you will find your not alone.

So why Knots in the Tapestry??

The Lord has used the idea of “Tapestry” for our family for a long while now. I always picture a beautiful seen woven with beautiful thread, displaying the most amazingly perfect picture. Each thread being different kinds to the making of something wonderful…I think each member of our family is like a beautiful thread, each being used to create something amazing, something that after a lot of effort will look beautiful. I want our family to always be beautiful, and I believe that it is….after all our kids are pretty darn cute and my husband….well he is pretty handsome if I do say so myself. If I’m honest I like to focus on that beautiful picture thing - its the finished product that I strive for! It’s victory and a job well done right?

Yeah right.

As we enter 2018 Jesus is faithfully showing me that a tapestry complicated and its made up of many different threads with many different colors and textures. The very last concern I am to have about it, is the final product. That beautiful picture is a promise and a certainty BUT its not for me to obsess over. I know now for certain that I will never see or understand the full measure of the picture that the Lord is creating in and through us….and it is most certainly HIM creating it. He is the designer and the one who knows exactly what picture is going to be displayed on the end. We are just the tools, working under the Masters hands. Tapestry work is laborious and there are many knots along the way….

Knot - A complication of threads, a union of cords by interweaving; as a knot can be difficult to untie, A cluster, a group, a bond of association or union; as the nuptial knot.

To me this perfectly describes what it’s like to be a blended family. There are 10 of us, all individuals….some naturally born in and others grafted in along the way. We all have a story and perspective and putting it all together is a challenge to say the least. Something that we realize lately is how impossible it is to be at an even keel here. Our family is made up of today’s buzz words - Special needs, Adoptive, fostering…transracial …..these words and descriptions are everywhere! While I say buzz words I mean NO disrespect - I say it that way because in the beginning we really jumped into this life as I think many do with a perspective of "this is a great calling, sign me up"! Hopefully I'm being clear, we are naturally blessed with special needs children in our home and we have been blessed by special needs children in our home via foster/adoption. We are made up of -typically (whatever that means) developing children, Fetal Alcohol and other Neurobehavioral children, a child who has Down's Syndrome and we are made up of many different ethnic backgrounds. For more on how we began check out “our story” on the Thrive website :) In society and all over social media we see and hear about fostering and adoption so much more now than ever before and this is SO IMPORTANT! I believe that if your not called to foster or adopt yourself then your called to be supporting someone who is ( I might be yelling now)! Anyways! We could go on and on about that.... but not right now :) The fact is its not a fad or an easy step #foster/adoptisNOjoke

This life is hard but its rich...rich with blessings and treasure that you can't know or recognize unless your doing it. That may sound elite or exclusive - its absolutely meant to. As will all things, all ways of life, every single path has its own blessings and its own hardships. Thats what this blog will truly be about - the treasure and the hardship all mixed together.

And so...... we begin this year as many others do remembering and reflecting on last years events…. For us we captured 2017 with the word WORK….and boy was that a truly appropriate word! We have had many changes to embrace, new skills to learn, new realities to embrace and understand (we might be still working on that!) Our agendas have been completely altered…life and ministry have truly meshed together and become one - this might be the thing I’m thankful for the most! We turn towards 2018 with hope and yes a little fear for whats coming but grateful beyond measure for the family and friends that we have.

This year’s word is OVERSHADOWED…..yup this word is really a prayer for us as we begin a new year. We pray that we would become more and more overshadowed by Jesus in the midst of whats happening and what is coming.

Here we go….Thanks for reading!

Thriving in Him - Knots and all,

Summer

Knots in the Tapestry

SH

Knots in the Tapestry : Magnitude

Knots in the Tapestry : Details

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

A Call to Rise

Honest Confession

His Smile is like Christmas Morning