Broken Dreams

Yesterday we received a package from my cousin Brittany. She had packed it full of little clothes and big dreams tucked beside newborn diapers, little socks and shoes that belonged to my little cousin Carter.

My heart broke again as I imagined a different ending for that day back in September. I imagined Carter wearing the tiny boots in the little keep sake box.The little outfits on a growing little boy.

My heart breaks for those broken dreams. Why is it that the one who lost so much gave so much for a little one she has never met? My heart breaks for my own family and the broken dreams that lay in our hearts. My heart breaks for my eleven siblings I didn't get to grow up with. I was to little to understand when we lost them. All I knew that my mommy was crying and I didn't understand why.

But as I got older I understood. That one day I will get to meet all those siblings I always wanted. The ones I would cry for because there were only five of us around the dinner table. We never named those eleven. I think it was just too hard. Except for two. They were twins, my mom was going to name them Hope and Faith. They passed though heavens gates on Good Friday.

This year when it warms up my mom and I have decided to make stepping stones and write each of their names onto them and place them in our garden. Recently a friend invited us to her church, she introduced us to the pastors wife then stepped aside to get us all some hot chocolate. The pastor's wife asked if we were the only two children in our family. Brianna answered for us. But it wasn't the right answer but how do you explain "No there are thirteen of us but the other eleven you will never meet" ? How do you explain that no we aren't the only ones?

How do you explain your broken dreams to someone who has never walked your road? How do you answer are you the only children in your family?

(If you do not know Carter Lee's story I encourage you to visit his mommy's blog Twinkling Stars & Forget-Me-Not's . You can also read The Other Side Of The Waiting Room which is where I tell a little bit of his special life.)

Adventure Room

 Well, here it is at last.  We have announced on our FB page that we have joined a ministry that helps women that are pregnant and their children.  Sometimes this ministry helps older children too and this was the case here.  We were notified about a little boy and they asked everyone to pray for him and mom and the entire situation.  We prayed about it and this little one was on our heart so we contacted the ministry and said that if things went through with this little boy (let's call him Gabriel) we would be interested in helping him.  We don't know if we will be chosen but we are off to prepare.  So off we went to brainstorm on a room design for a little boy of 6 that would make him feel special and make every night special.  We thought about an "Adventure" themed room, sort of like Indiana Jones looking but not cartoonish... like a real adventure.   Like you are out in the field, under the stars and searching for treasure.   We found a globe at a yard sale and we loved the colors in it.  Soft and muted like the desert.  We used that for our color pallet and then gathered things that were in that color family.

We loved the colors and so we took the globe pictured below with us to the local Lowes and took (forever) in the paint swatch section looking for the right color.

Here is a view from the other side of the room. 

We  decided that you can't go on an adventure without a suitcase right and these just were perfect.  They were a nice vintage suitcase set that a great friend gave to my mother knowing we love vintage.    You need cameras to catalog your finds, right?  Here are some vintage cameras that make it picture perfect.  Don't forget our globe and a great old map of the Holy Land.

We chose the colors of sand which may or may not be totally blurry in this picture *he he*

We thought about being on a journey and you would have to sleep in tents under the stars so we built a permanent tent over the bed with a heavy duty dowel rod and some rope attached to the ceiling.  We then used a canvas painters tarp from Lowes and draped it over the rod.  It looks so amazing (if I do say so myself... would that make me be talking to myself... hmmm).  Here it is below.

The curtains are awesome tab curtains that are pretty heavy but look great I think (found at a yard sale for a dollar for each panel... great price).  The frames on the wall we got at Ross for about $4 each and I drew some butterfly species in one and mushroom species in another.

Here is a view from the doorway.  We are not done with the linens yet.

Here is the room from another angle.   We have a homemade volcano that we are going to make into a lamp, some electric lanterns, some old hats, some hieroglyphic writing, suitcases and a great old key.   We still need to finesse it and I am going to be making bedding for this bed, but I just love it. Can you think of anything else this room needs?

Ok, I can... a little boy.

Pray for him, will you?  No matter what home he ends up in. Pray that he is safe, pray that he feels special and loved.

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27

Orphan Care, interior design, women, incarcerated, decorating for a boy, adventure, bedroom design, children's bedrooms, tent, sand, Egyptian, map, camera, photo, globe-trotting, travel, archaeology, bible, family, foster care, love, calling, outreach, nurture, mom, mother, open arms

Sweet Dreams

Sweet dreams...

For most people my age, when you have a dream people pat you and say, "Well that is a nice dream honey" but that is not what happened in my family. I had this amazing dream for my future, our future and they were excited about it. We prayed about it and the family embraced it and now we prayerfully seek and wait on the Lord to make this dream, His dream  come true.

 We wait and search for Shiloh.  God put it in my heart to have a place where those hurting could find restoration and the love of God and his fellow man and that horses that have also been abused could come and find a new life, love and restoration.  He gave me the name Shiloh for this place of love and healing.  Shiloh means peace and also can mean abundance in the bible it is a word that is a picture of the coming Messiah and can mean he who is to be sent or the seed.

 It is a place of rest.  How fitting is that?  Where this place is I am not sure, but I know that there is a place that God has prepared for his hurting ones and that one day he will lead us there.  Will you pray for us?  Pray that we will find this place and that we will be ready and that the people we need to help with this big job will be sent and that we will be able to do all that he has set out for us to do.

I know that the world seems so dark right now.  I know that at times it seems hopeless, but I believe in my heart that this is the time for Shiloh and the need for it is so great.  Not only is the need great, but the dream is great.  It is a huge dream a dream that is way bigger than little me, but I believe that if God wants this done, it will be done.  I have faith that He will bring this thing about.

"The seed" reminds me of the story in the bible of the mustard seed?  Do you remember that story?  Jesus is speaking and he talks of the people's lack of faith.  Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."  

We would love your prayers.  This is a big dream and we can't do it without our prayer warriors praying with us.

We love you guys.

The Rosevine Cottage Girls