Wordless Wednesday!!! :)

I love it!!!!!!!!!!!! :) hahahaha.

My cup runneth over....

I know I do a lot of writing on here and not many pictures!!! I usually do my posting at work and don't have pictures on that computer. So, I thought I would do a photo post of things I love. :) Enjoy.

My sweet and beautiful friend Hannah!!

Prov. 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

My sweet Manny

Jaime :)  

1 Timothy 4:12
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

My big boy Gunner :)

This beautiful family: Brad (best bro-in-law EVER), Callye (great big sis) and Gracie (the most precious neice ever!)

This crazy boy Eric

The joy on this face

Psalm 19:8
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The way we don't take life too seriously :)

Again, how we don't take life too seriously :)

John 10:10 I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

These crazy boys (Chris Trammel and Doug Compton)

I travel with these two alot. 

This precious family that brings so much joy to my life. Not to mention laughter!

Job 8:21
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

Sweet Sweet Jessie who has such a joy in the Lord. :)

This is Kenneth. He is the sweetest. :) He represents all my school kids. I can't post them all!!!

Sweet nap-time at JuJu's house

Luke 22:46
"Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

Oh, how I love these girls!!!

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.

Fun times at Souled Out!!! :) This represents ALL of my Souled Out friends. They are simply the best. Sure will miss them this year!

These precious eyes on this baby in Nicaragua. I love Nicaragua and all the babies I love there. 

3 John 1:4

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

This is "my little brother". This kid totally has my heart. And he knows it! 

This is my new room-mate. Ann :)

 Psalms 68:5 A father to the father-less, a defender of widows is God in His holy dwelling...

:) Kayla and Hilary. Love em!

My sweet sisters who are also my bestest friends! 

My mom and her hubby, Jason. :) 

Acts 10:2
He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

 My daddy and his girls :)

I love when I can do these posts!!!

My mom and I are prayer warriors for a couple of sweet girls on Reece's Rainbow. It is a FREE way to support and pray and be a part of a child on this site. I so wish I could adopt one from there but impossible for me as of now.

I checked the RR site the other night, as I randomly do, only to see sweet Darla on the *New Commitments* page!! I almost jumped out of my seat!!!!! That is my mom's prayer angel. :) :) :) I immediately took a picture of her on the internet and sent it to mom and asked her if she knew what that meant!! Mom was so so so excited!!! She couldn't go to sleep. (I forgot to mention that this was after 11 pm one night) :) We are so happy to know that someone has stepped up and decided to bring Darla home. We will continue to pray for her and her new family. For there is a long way to go before Darla will be home. Mom's first question was "Where do they live?" California. :( We were hoping it was closer because we SURE would love to meet her when she gets home. :) But as long as she's HOME and not in an orphanage, we can't complain.  It makes me so happy. I just wish I could see dozens and DOZENS of kids on the new commitment page EVERY time I got onto RR. Wouldn't that be wonderful!?!?

Here is a picture of darling Darla!! :) Isn't she precious!! If you'd like to donate to her adoption fund go here.

I knew I named this blog right!

It's been a few days since I have blogged. Not that I haven't been following all my favorites!!! :) I love blog world! haha. I just wish I had something cool to blog about everyday. Like cute kids, an adoption journey, or if I were overseas updating my friends and family!!! Which I follow blogs of all of these categories. But I can express my heart on here. Even if no one reads it!!! I will have it later to read myself. :)
If you don't already know, I've moved out!! :) Yay for me for growing up a little!!! But, it wasn't quite the situation that I had in mind. :) I am living with an amazing man whom I married on the best day of my life an old lady.  :) And when I say old, I mean OLD. She's 92. haha. She lived at my mom's facility for over 3  years. We all have loved her since we met her. She's never been married nor had kids. She has no one to really care for her other than a few close friends and neices and nephews. All of whom, can't or live too far away to take her in. The situation is that she has run out of funds to live at the Etheridge House. Which meant the nursing home for her. Well, If you knew her you'd realize that she is FAR from nursing home material. Her mind is GREAT and she functions pretty well independantly. So, Mom asked me about possibly getting an apartment or duplex with her. I thought and prayed about it that day at work and everytime I did the verse from James popped in my head. It says: Religion that God our Father finds pure and fautless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress... Ok, That verse had been on my heart for weeks but all I ever heard was the orphans... not widows. Coincidence? I don't think so. I knew that was my answer. I told mom the same day that I would. Skip a few weeks of talking with her neice, moving, buying stuff and now we got moved in this week. :) She's been sick and worried about everything that I have to do for her. She's asked me a million questions about a million things. But, I know she is just trying to get settled. :) It has really helped me to slow down, be patient, listen, and be responsible for things I'm not normally responsible for. I really believe that this will be a blessing for me as much as her. She told me last night that she wished she had a million dollars to give me... Aw. But I told her if she had a million dollars she wouldn't have to be moving in with me!! She's so sweet and it's so good to be able to love on her like no one ever has. (other than family)
Also, this has answered many questions about why the Lord didn't want me to go to Nica or Souled Out. :) I get it now. I am still going to El Salvador, though, in July. My sister will stay with Ms. Ann. I know the Lord called me to missions and I feel like Ms. Ann is my first one! I'm excited to do for her and love her like Jesus would be.

Sidenote: I have been following a handful of blogs who are overseas waiting to meet their chlid, overseas waiting to get over the 10 wait, overseas waiting on flights to resume, and here waiting on the day to come to go meet their child. Also, a couple who have recently made it home with their child. I am so intrigued by each step of this journey. :) It excites me and honestly makes me check their blogs like 2971 times a day!!!  And pray for them more than I do myself. I still know that one day I WILL adopt. :) Can't wait.

2 Posts 1 Day

I am sorry to post again but I was on Reece's Rainbow today (imagine that!!) and I saw this picture. I've seen it a few times and this little boy just keeps catching my eye!! He's so darn cute! :) And I noticed today that he has NO money in his adoption fund! :( So, if you're in a giving mood just click here and click on donate! And make sure you put in the memo line for Luke (Russia)! :) How could you NOT love that little face?!?! I wish I could bring him home! Maybe YOU can!! ;)


Here is his info: Luke was born with a minor ASD. There is suspicion of optical atropht (some vision concerns), but this is common in children with Down Syndrome. He was born at 37 weeks with the corn wrapped around his neck, but look at how he glows!! That smile is SO SO sweet! Click here for more info!!

And here's another pic of him just because he is SO SO cute!!! :) He needs a FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funny Things :)

As most of you know, I work in an elementary school. There are many different things I hear that just crack me up!! I thought I'd share a few and also put them in writing so I don't forget them!! :)

• One day while talking about volcanoes...the teacher in our room mentioned the "Ring Of Fire" (the volcanic ring that goes through South America) and C said "hey...Johnny Cash sings the Ring Of Fire! It's on my brother's Ipod." haha. Yes, he does!!!
• Manny has a ton of funny sayings... One day while in my room at home, Jessie and Manny busted in... Jessie said "it's the FBI!!" Manny said "It's the CPR!!" hahaha. I said "The CPR???" he said "I meant to say the FBI!" Yeah, I'm sure you did!! haha.
• Another day at my house (with all the Torres Kids)  we were all eating supper and Manny disappeared for about ten mintues. Figuring he had gone to "take the Browns to the SuperBowl", as he calls it, Jaime asked him if he stunk it up and Manny's reply was "Yeah, I think you need some air-conditioner in there!!" Air Conditioner?? Don't ya mean air freshener?!?! haha. :)
• One of the little boys here at school has my heart! His name is Rolando (yea, you figured it out, he's hispanic!!) I love him! He's precious. And I call him my brother... He agrees that he is but the rest of the kids disagree. One day I called him my little brother and one little girl said "You can't be his sister, cause you're not BROWN!!!" haha. SO???? I can still be his sister! :)
• In our 3rd grade classroom one of the little girls had a magic 8 ball type thing... She asked me to ask it a question so I did.... Then another girl asked it if Ms. Merany had a daughter... the kids' replies were "she doesn't have a daughter...she's not married!" then another little boys yelled "she doesn't even have a BOYFRIEND!!" why, thanks for the ego-boost today!!! :)

I am sure there are more but can't think of any right now! I may add some more later!! :)

All but the burning bush!!!

So, this will probably not come as a surprise to many of you, but I finally surrendered my life to the ministry/missions. :) :) I have felt this calling for quite a while now... I have not really ignored it but just not done anything about it or told many people. The Lord has been placing that on my heart for a while now. I have blogged about it but other than that I've not talked too much about it. The last few weeks, though, it has been super heavy on my heart. Not only that but the Lord has been telling me through other people that this is my calling for life!!
One example is Doug. Although Doug doesn't really count because he is always telling me what I'm gonna do with my life. haha. :) But, he is usually right. Another person is Dana from work. I walked in last Friday and she looked at me and said, "Merany, I was thinking about you this morning and the Lord told me that you just need to go ahead and surrender to the ministry and be a missionary overseas!!" Hello, God! :) I was a little caught off guard by that! Later on Friday, I was chatting with Ms. Darylon Poe. She stopped me and said, " You seem to really have a heart for missions. You should be a missionary. And some people talk like they want to do that but you, I can see really doing it!" Hello again, God!! :) On Saturday I was at the HOP (House of Prayer) in Union City. We were worshipping the Lord and just singing and such. Then, Mr. Gorton got up to pray but first he said that the Lord had laid it on his heart to tell us that the Lord was speaking to one of us in there. That He was calling us to make a decision... to pick up our cross and follow Him! I felt the Lord speaking to me yet again! I prayed again that night and to myself I surrendered to the ministry. After the service, Gareth asked me if I felt the Lord speaking to me during that time. Of course, I said yes. Because He was. LOUD AND CLEAR!!!!!!!!! Garerth said that he had prayed for me during that moment. I talked to mom and Hilary about this when I got home. They weren't surprised since I had been talking about this for some time now. And last night at revival, Bro. Steve was preaching on decision making. And how some decisions mark the rest of your life. Not only that but they affect the lives around you. Your family, your friends, people you will meet. At the end, he talked about how some of us were being called to make the decision of surrendering to ministry. I felt God talking again. He let the invitation be for anyone making any type of decision. For salvation, recommitment, surrendering your life to ministry, deciding to be a better spouse in your marriage, etc. I knew that I had to make it public last night! I was torn because NO ONE in my family was there. I had almost convinced myself to wait til Sunday when they'd all be there and as soon as I did, Bro. Steve said "some of you are trying to convince yourself to wait til next week or whenever!" OK!!! I HEAR YOU!!! :) haha. So, I went forward, talked to Bro. Jerry then Bro. Eddie. Bro. Eddie said he was not surprised at all! But he made me tell the church and make it public. I did that and everyone greeted me afterwards. It was such clarification that EVERYONE'S reaction was that they were not surprised!!! haha. :) I did it. Now, I'm gonna be held accountable. Now, people will pray for me on the where/what/when. I have no idea what's next!! But, I know God will tell me when He's ready for me. :) I told Gareth and Mom that God did all but send the burning bush to tell me that's what I needed to do! Here am I, Lord! Send me!!!

21.3.10

I am being a 21.3.10 Warrior for precious little Jessie. She has down syndrome and is in an orphanage across the world. She's there with no one to love her or take care of her!!! This month I am sponsoring her and praying for her and asking YOU to donate $21 to her adoption fund!! A family will be more likely to adopt ...her if she has money already in her fund! So, please consider sacrificing $21 for sweet little Jessie. And maybe just maybe you would pray about her belonging to your family!!! :) Just go to my chip on the side and donate to sweet Jessie!!! :)

Jessie is darling!!! Brown hair and brown eyes, and totally healthy. Perfect age to benefit from early intervention, and to join her new family! 

Every year, on March 21 (to honor the 3rd copy of the 21st chromosome presented in Down syndrome), the world comes together to raise awareness and advocate for people living with Down syndrome. Because Reece's Rainbow has an international focus, we are doing our part to further the recognition of this very special day!

Donate to Jessie!!!! :)

Hearing God's Voice

Ok, so this past weekend at Outback, they talked over and over about how important it is to be in relationship with God. That the more we conversate with Him and read His Word, the more we will know His voice. I prayed that I would know God's voice. That is so important because in the Garden of Eden there were 2 trees... One tree of Life and the other which was the Tree of Knowledge of GOOD and evil... Not just evil. This is dangerous because a lot of times in our life we choose what is good. Just because it is good. The tree was not called the Tree of Evil. So, it is super important to know God's voice so that we know what tree is the Tree of Life. (Just for the record, I didn't come up with that on my own, although I'd like to take credit. Another Outback story) God has proven that to me this week... Ask and you will receive, right? Right. So, I've began to hear Him. And what I've heard Him say is that maybe I'm not supposed to do Souled Out! What?! Are you serious?! I have to do Souled Out?!?!?! But as much as I argued, ignored, insisted on me thinking that was Him and it not being, the feeling of His voice continued and intensified. Ok, I asked God to hear His voice and He spoke. Now I have to obey!! I asked for it, right? Yea, I did. But that is not what I had in mind for Him to say!!!
So, I've been wondering, praying, and thinking about what I am supposed to do instead! Maybe stay home, go somewhere else, what? I have no clue. And Souled Out is kinda like Nicaragua. I didn't pray about it... I just said I was going. I didn't ask to make sure that was God's will for me. I didn't ask Him if that is where He wants me. Maybe He is just making me step back and pray about it. Pray and make sure that is what He wants me to do. Maybe it is. I kinda hope it is. BUT, I know if it's not then there is something better and bigger for me to be a part of. It may not seem better and bigger to me, but I am sure it is to the Kingdom. So, I've learned my lesson on asking and receiving!! I don't want to battle with God. I want to hear Him and obey. No questions asked. But it is a difficult thing to do!! Like in my last post, I want to stay out of His way. I have to die to myself so that He may live through me.