Only in Texas...

Will you see kids swimming on Thanksgiving day!
That's right...it was so warm in San Antonio and the pool looked so inviting that the boys just couldn't resist! Every time I would ask if they were cold they would say no with their teeth just a chattering!:) Memories, sweet memories!

Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving for the Lorick crew is ALWAYS crazy but always so full of LOVE. We spent this Thanksgiving with my family down in the San Antonio area. My parents have really been blessed and happen to have a home that is large enough for all of our extended family to come as well. I think we had about 19 or 20 people all together!:)

My super fun Aunt Patti and Uncle Mike


My beautiful sister with baby Addy


Addy and Kolson...sweet babies


My mom and I with the babes (never mind the weird thing my neck is doing:)


Lots of time for Daddy to love on his boys



Of course we had to get a picture of all the grandkids. (Easier said than done)



After several attempts we finally ended up with this one that is pretty good!:)


For as long as I can remember my family has always played Wa-Hoo! We love to have tournaments when we get together for the holidays. It always involves lots of really LOUD laughing and some occasional trash talk!:)


And if you haven't guessed yet, I am a foodie and I come from a family full of foodies! Here is a look at some or our Thanksgiving favorites...

My Dad makes wonderful dressing...one of these years I am going to attempt it but for now I will leave it to the master!


Nathan's favorite is always the sweet potatoes!


I made Pioneer Woman's rolls this year


We had some sweet guests this year that brought this ham...Dorthy and Gomer you did a great job making it look so beautiful! It tasted just as good as it looks!


My mom makes the most yummy pies...homemade crust and all!



The famous Jello Salad thing that mom picked up from my Dad's side of the family...it is so good!


And of course there is always some time for napping!



My sister and I rounded out the Thanksgiving celebration by going to Wal-mart at Midnight to hit the sale. We should have taken a picture...it was CRAZY but super fun!

We have so much to be Thankful for! I hope you all had a great Turkey Day!!

Questions Answered...how the process works.

Lately many people have had questions about how the whole International adoption process works, so I thought I would see if I could answer some of those questions.

How the process works:
Step 1: Choose a country- we have felt led to Ethiopia
Step 2: Choose an agency- we have chosen The Gladney Center for Adoption out of Ft. Worth. They have been around forever and have tons of experience. They are very ethical and they get bonus points for being in Texas!:)
Step 3: Begin the application process. The application consists of TONS of paperwork, including background checks, blood tests and Dr. approvals for every family member, a sketch of our home, reference letters, proof of employment and so much more.
Step 4: The homestudy- this where a social worker from Gladney will come to our home to meet us, interview us, look around our home, talk with our children and really get a feel for our family. We are having this next Tuesday and I am SO nervous...prayers would be welcomed!:)
Step 5: The Dossier...this is a group of papers that will go to Ethiopia. Each piece of paperwork has to be notarized, then certified, and then authenticated before they are translated and head out to Ethiopia. We are currently waiting on our FBI clearance to come back!
Step 6: The wait list! Once all of our paperwork is in Ethiopia we will be put on the wait list. Currently the wait is between 8-9 months. We wait not because there are not enough children (there are over 5 million orphans in Ethiopia alone). We wait because our agency cannot bring more children out of government orphanages and into their care centers until the children they already have in the care centers are able to go home with their forever families...which ultimately depends on how fast the court is able to move.
Step 7: REFERRAL!! This is when we will receive information and pictures about our sweet girl!
Step 8: wait for a court date(about 2-3 months after receiving referral)
Step 9: Go to Africa to meet our little girl and stand before a judge.
Step 10: Come home without baby girl :( and wait for her visa appointment (3-6 weeks later)
Step 11: Go back to Africa to bring Kenziah Reigh Lorick home!!!

We are hoping a praying that all of our paperwork will come back quickly and that we can be on the wait list by the end of January. At the same time, we are also trusting that the Lord's timing is perfect!
Thank you again for your support and love through this journey! We love you!

While We Wait...

While we wait for the perfect timing...

they hope they can wait another day.



While we wait for more money...

they wait with nothing.


While we wait for a bigger home with enough room...

they wait for room in our hearts.


While we wait for others approval...

they wait with any dignity they can find.


While we wait for the ideal child....

they wait knowing they are not.



While we wait trying to decide if we can manage another...

they wait trying to manage on their own.



While we wait to see how much we have to give to them...

They are waiting to give us even more.


While we wait for God to provide...

He waits for us to take the first step so He can.

We must NEVER use 'waiting to hear from Him' as an excuse for not doing what He has ALREADY commanded in the bible for us to do... proclaim the truth, care for orphans, serve others, be His hands of justice for the poor, and show compassion.

This post was originally posted at www.buildingtheblocks.blogspot.com and man does it just grab my heart! I have no others words...Lord please make your path straight before us and show us how we can touch the lives of these sweet children around the world.

You Are Called, You Are Chosen...

Each of us as children of God are blessed with the calling to sit at the table of our King. We serve a God that is big enough to create the world, and to form the mountains. He is a God who at the sound of his voice those same mountains bow down, but we also serve a God who is personal. A God who invites us to dine with Him, to share our lives with Him. A God who knows the very number of the hairs on our heads. This is a blessed calling, this choosing of God to make us His own. So many times though, we stop right there. We are happy to sit at His table relaxing and counting our many blessings. How often we forget that God has also called us and chosen us to be His ambassadors. Sharing with the world all that we have found at His glorious table.

"You Are Called, You Are Chosen" was written by Eva Wilson and Eddie Cavazos. Eddie is a long time friend of our family who is a very talented song writer. When I talked with him about doing a new CD and told him about our plans to use it to raise money for adoption and orphan care while also raising awareness for our calling as Christians to take a stand for the least of these, his wheels started turning. Eddie contacted his writing partner Eva and shared the vision with her. Eva has two beautiful daughters who are both working in foreign countries right now. After Eva read our story on the blog and thought more about the work her girls are doing she penned the words to this special song...in one night! Eddie then added the music and a song was born!!

Later my sweet friend Teri Caswell added a video to go with the song. Please take a minute to watch and listen!

Our prayer is that God will get Glory from this CD. We pray that He will use it to bless hearts and to open our eyes to our calling as believers to care for the least of these, and to share the good news of His salvation with others.

THEY ARE HERE!!!!

The CDs are here!! Hand delivered to our door step by my sweet parents today!

We have known for a while that God was calling us to adopt. We just thought it would be later in life when things were more settled and when there had been time to save up the money needed for the adoption. But God's timing rarely matches up with our own human plans. His plan was for us to adopt now. His plan was for us to raise the money with fundraising that would allow others to be involved in caring for orphans.

We have always wanted to do another CD. There just never seemed to be enough time or the right cause. But God made it clear that this was the time and adoption would be the perfect cause.

The CDs will be available for a minimum $15 donation. We have committed that all of the proceeds from this CD will go straight towards our adoption. We have also committed that anything we raise beyond the adoption cost will go towards caring for orphans around the world.

So stay tuned...in the next week we should have them available through paypal on the side of the blog. I will also be spending some time in the next weeks giving a testimony about each of the songs that are on the CD.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers as we are seeking to answer God's call on our life!

Backsliders Welcome....

I am not sure why this memory has stayed with me all these years. I was probably in jr. high on a long trip with my family. There on the left side of the road we saw it...there was no way to miss it. A very larger church with a banner that spanned the entire length of the building. In huge capital letters it said "Backsliders Welcome"! We really got a kick out it. We laughed and joked and went on our way. But for some reason that sign and it's words have stayed with me.

I was reminded it of it earlier this week while I was reading through 1 Samuel. This summer I embarked on a journey to read through the bible. While I will admit that I am going through it much more SLOWLY than I intended, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the patriarchs, with Moses, and Joshua, and many others. So far the Old Testament has been full of backsliding. God's people, the Israelites, trust Him and seek Him with all of their hearts when they need Him, but than when things start to go their way they begin backsliding into their old ways, adopting the practices of the cultures around them, even to the point of serving other gods. But God, who is so rich in mercy, allows them to come back, to turn from their wickedness and to seek Him once again. Yes, there were consequences, like a whole generation dying in the wilderness, or a whole clan being swallowed up by the ground. But still God remains faithful to His promise and brings them into the land that is flowing with milk and honey.

That brings me to 1 Samuel. The Israelites are once again being swayed by the culture of the day. Despite the fact that God has delivered them from their enemies time and time again, they decide they want to be like everyone else.


They want a king. Samuel warns them heavily, much like I warn by boys that being too rough while wrestling can lead to getting really hurt. But like my boys, the Israelites decide that they want it their way. (BTW, Karter ended up with a bloody nose and lip from wrestling yesterday) So with God's permission and leadership Samuel anoints Saul as the new King.


But later, much like my boys, the Israelites realize that Samuel's warnings were correct. They realize that they have sinned and done evil in the sight of the Lord, when God sends a huge storm filled with lightning and thunder in the middle of the dry season. As they stand face to face with their sin and the power of almighty God, the Israelites beg Samuel to pray to God on their behalf and because of their wickedness.


This is the time when backsliding would be so easy. Why is it that in the times when we know we have failed in our relationship with the Lord and that sin is present in our lives that going back to our old way of life seems so much easier than coming to God in our brokenness and allowing His mercy to sweep over us?

These are the words in 1 Samuel that really tugged at my heart and brought me back to that sign from so many years ago.

"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil, yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of His great name the Lord will not reject his people because He was pleased to make you His own." 1 Samuel 12:20-22

Backsliders really are welcome! For even when we know that we have done wrong or failed to make God our 1st priority He bids us to come to Him, to serve Him, to seek Him, and to turn away from those other things that we have made gods in our lives. In spite of knowing all, and being able to see that we would indeed disappoint Him...He was pleased to make us His own!

Oh how He loves us!

Halloween...we survived!

I have to be honest and tell you that Halloween is my least favorite holiday. Yes, I DO love the candy and seeing my kiddos so excited about dressing up. I also love that Halloween provides a unique opportunity for our church to reach out to other families in our community through our fall festival. Our church did a great job once again this year by providing a safe and fun event for a record breaking amount of families in the area! It is always so exciting to see God's people loving on the community and really being the hands and feet of Jesus instead of just sitting in our pews.


With all of these wonderful things about Halloween there is just one small draw back...since it is a church event Nathan needs to spend most of his time mingling with people and being available to meet guests and minister to the community. He does a great jog trying to wear the daddy hat and the pastor hat! But most of the event I am on my own with k-crew....3 kids, in 3 costumes, with 3 buckets, eating tons of candy, plus about 1000 other people around = CRAZY!


I was totally nervous before we left. I remember losing Kaden at this event 2 years earlier and at that point I only had 2 kiddos. Last year I was so fortunate that my parents where in town to help wrangle the crew. But this year it was up to me! This may sound crazy but before we walked out the door I stopped and prayed...I prayed for good moods, no lost children, and that God would give me grace! I was reminded that Psalm 121 is true...when we stop to lift our eyes to our Lord He is faithful to help us!

We had a great time! There were no lost children, no bad moods, and we even made it without a stroller for the first year!

Trying to get a picture with the k-crew...



Nathan's picture came out much better!



Kolson was never without a sucker...I think he had at least 3 that night!


My little dragon was also very protective of HIS candy bucket!



Both of my "Spidies" loved the inflatables!



I love this...his sweet little curls sticking out of his mask! Karter was totally into playing his part...he only took off his mask to eat a hot dog!


Kaden was way too busy for me to get any good pictures of him!

We had such a great time I am actually kind of looking forward to next year!:/