Five has become a very important number in the Dunlea house as of late. We have decided to add one to our brood. Now many of you are shocked, many not surprised at all; I fit in both categories. Dennis and I always talked about adoption as something we were interested in doing. Long before we had a house of 4 wonderfully, energetic boys, we knew international adoption was something that was on both our hearts. We have been blessed with so much (not necessarily monetarily, however compared to the world we are wealthy), with family, community, education, the list goes on and on. To those that have much, much is expected. Besides, we just felt like our family had room to grow.
When Dennis and I started seriously talking about it, I said that I would pray about it. He, of course, was ready to adopt twins:) I think as Christians sometimes we say we are going to pray about guidance and often fail to take action that the Bible so clearly tells us to do. "Take care of widows and orphans." There is no ambiguity in that sentence. I don't need to pray to see if that is right. Is it right for us now? Do we have the capacity? What about our boys? All important questions, and things that have been the topic of many prayers to our Lord. The overwhelming peace we get is God telling us "Yes, I am in charge. Trust Me."
And so we are taking the leap. Just starting the Home Study phase, we are far from bringing our little girl home. Yes, I did say little girl (at least that is our plan). It is exciting, scary, fun, crazy, and exhilarating. We are adopting from Ethiopia. For some reason in all our reading that was were Dennis and I were both drawn. We are adopting for selfish reasons, for our family and for our enjoyment, but also maybe we can make a difference in the world in just a small way. So please pray for us as we go about this wonderful adventure. Pray for our little one who may or may not be born yet. Pray for guidance and wisdom.
As I close I leave you with these Ethiopian numbers.
4.3 million orphans
One in six children die before they turn 5.
I have had a few people say "Wow, you will have 5 kids!" It is true and slightly crazy, but that is not the number 5 that stays in my head. 1 in 6 children die before they are 5. Now, that will stay with you!
"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes Me..." Mark 9:37
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Haying, Napping and 4 boys
We (mostly Dennis) farm alfalfa hay and some grain, but hay is our main crop. We try to raise high quality alfalfa, selling it do dairy farmers. The high protein hay helps the dairy cows produce more milk, therefore they get better yields, and we get more money.
In one summer, we usually get 3 cuttings of hay (meaning we will cut each field 3 times). The process works something like this, cut the hay, few days later it is raked, and a few days after that baled. The baling part of the process is really where the point of my story comes into play. Alfalfa needs to be baled when it is not too wet, or not too dry. It must have the right amount of moisture to keep the leaves on the stems, but not so much as to produce mold or even worse burn. Burn can actually catch the hay on fire, catching your barn on fire and causing a great amount of damage and money loss. SO, most of the time the hay is baled in the middle of the night when the dew is just right.
Well, that makes for one tired farmer as 1st cutting comes to a close. Three weeks of sleeplessness is pretty tough on a guy. My poor husband tries to catch a few z's when he can. Often times, he comes home mid-afternoon, eats, and sits in the recliner for a power nap. The boys are usually playing outside or even in the toy room. However, the moment Dennis falls asleep their "bother daddy" radar is turned on and they swoop in for the kill. He could be sitting in that chair for 25 minutes and not one of the 4 will say a word to him or touch him in anyway. But, the very second he goes to sleep Connor is ready to play catch, Grady needs help reading his book, Kellen wants to change his clothes for the 4th time in one hour, or Keagan wants to sit in his lap. Many times when they are requesting his assistance, I am no more than 15 feet away. They never ask him to help with things when I am cooking dinner and he is reading the newspaper. That is when they always come to me. If he is asleep, that is the very second they need him and only him to help.
This is not something Dennis is making up. I have seen the very phenomena in action. Unbelievable but true. Haying is tough on any guy, but when you have 4 little ones in the house it is a bit rougher than normal.
In one summer, we usually get 3 cuttings of hay (meaning we will cut each field 3 times). The process works something like this, cut the hay, few days later it is raked, and a few days after that baled. The baling part of the process is really where the point of my story comes into play. Alfalfa needs to be baled when it is not too wet, or not too dry. It must have the right amount of moisture to keep the leaves on the stems, but not so much as to produce mold or even worse burn. Burn can actually catch the hay on fire, catching your barn on fire and causing a great amount of damage and money loss. SO, most of the time the hay is baled in the middle of the night when the dew is just right.
Well, that makes for one tired farmer as 1st cutting comes to a close. Three weeks of sleeplessness is pretty tough on a guy. My poor husband tries to catch a few z's when he can. Often times, he comes home mid-afternoon, eats, and sits in the recliner for a power nap. The boys are usually playing outside or even in the toy room. However, the moment Dennis falls asleep their "bother daddy" radar is turned on and they swoop in for the kill. He could be sitting in that chair for 25 minutes and not one of the 4 will say a word to him or touch him in anyway. But, the very second he goes to sleep Connor is ready to play catch, Grady needs help reading his book, Kellen wants to change his clothes for the 4th time in one hour, or Keagan wants to sit in his lap. Many times when they are requesting his assistance, I am no more than 15 feet away. They never ask him to help with things when I am cooking dinner and he is reading the newspaper. That is when they always come to me. If he is asleep, that is the very second they need him and only him to help.
This is not something Dennis is making up. I have seen the very phenomena in action. Unbelievable but true. Haying is tough on any guy, but when you have 4 little ones in the house it is a bit rougher than normal.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Just another night on the farm
Every now and then our dog Rambo barks at something in the middle of the night, a deer, an owl, neighbor farmer checking frost on his spuds, the list goes on. Many times we hear barking and then smell the memorable odor of a skunk and know right away what he was chasing.
Last night I heard him barking like he was just about to get ahold of whatever was in his sights. As I walked to the back door I smelled that wonderful smell and knew. The problem was he was in the garage barking like a crazy man, and when I opened the door I could hear a scuffling of some sort. Not wanting to walk around the car to come face to face with a skunk, I climbed on the hood of our Expedition to look on the other side. (Picture that, PJ shirt, glasses, crazy hair on top of the car). Sure enough there in the corner was a baby skunk. Right then Dennis got home from baling hay (it is about 3:30am) to find his wife coming to greet him with news of a skunk in the garage. We pulled out the car, rolled balls toward it (the thing is 2 feet from the large, open garage door, but won't go out) nothing was working. Not want I wanted to be doing at 4:00am, but I knew the dog would not leave it alone if we just went to bed. Finally, after much poking and prodding we realized it had no spray left, so Dennis got a broom and pulled it out of the corner and pushed it out the door. Thank God, now I gewt to go back to bed.
However, once in the house the smell seemed to stay with me. Oh, yes it was with me alright, on my shirt, in my hair, on my pillowcase. So, I hopped in the shower at 4:15am. Thankfully that seemed to work. Finally, I was going to get some sleep (if you know me well, you know that I love and need sleep). Just as I was dozing off at 5:00am, in comes Grady with a bloody nose. Poor kid and poor mama. No sleep for me.
Last night I heard him barking like he was just about to get ahold of whatever was in his sights. As I walked to the back door I smelled that wonderful smell and knew. The problem was he was in the garage barking like a crazy man, and when I opened the door I could hear a scuffling of some sort. Not wanting to walk around the car to come face to face with a skunk, I climbed on the hood of our Expedition to look on the other side. (Picture that, PJ shirt, glasses, crazy hair on top of the car). Sure enough there in the corner was a baby skunk. Right then Dennis got home from baling hay (it is about 3:30am) to find his wife coming to greet him with news of a skunk in the garage. We pulled out the car, rolled balls toward it (the thing is 2 feet from the large, open garage door, but won't go out) nothing was working. Not want I wanted to be doing at 4:00am, but I knew the dog would not leave it alone if we just went to bed. Finally, after much poking and prodding we realized it had no spray left, so Dennis got a broom and pulled it out of the corner and pushed it out the door. Thank God, now I gewt to go back to bed.
However, once in the house the smell seemed to stay with me. Oh, yes it was with me alright, on my shirt, in my hair, on my pillowcase. So, I hopped in the shower at 4:15am. Thankfully that seemed to work. Finally, I was going to get some sleep (if you know me well, you know that I love and need sleep). Just as I was dozing off at 5:00am, in comes Grady with a bloody nose. Poor kid and poor mama. No sleep for me.
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