Questions people ask

This is a really long post. I will just tell you up front but, so well said and such an encouragement to those who are in any stage of the adoption process, or know someone adopting or have family that has adopted. It is worth reading to understand the picture that Christ paints of adoption of those who trust in Him.

I can completely relate to every question Dr. Moore was asked only insert "are they siblings?" for "Are they brothers?". We have been asked the same questions more times than I can count. It is strange through, before we met our children from Russia I had read posts about "rude questions" and learned some smart answers to say but, back then I never imagined how painful being asked those questions would be or how it would anger me for someone to look at Andrew and Kathlena as anything less than our longed for beloved son and daughter until it was me. Back then, I even thought what is the big deal people are just curious...I get it now. I was once a rude questioner too...I was blind but, now I see. I like Dr. Moore's answers and his worldview of adoption.

The Brotherhood of Sons

What Some Rude Questions About Adoption Taught Me About the Gospel of Christ

by Russell D. Moore

“So, are they brothers?”the woman asked. My wife Maria and I, jet-lagged from just returning from Russia, looked at each other wearily. This was the twelfth time since were turned that we’d been asked this question. This lady was looking at the grainy pictures, printed off a computer from some digital photographs, of two one-year-old boys in a Russian orphanage, boys who had only days earlier been pronounced by a Russian court to be our children, after the legally mandated waiting period had elapsed for the paperwork to be filed. Maria and I had returned to Kentucky to wait for the call to return to pick up our children, and had only these pictures of young Maxim and Sergei, our equivalent of a prenatal sonogram, to show to our friends and relatives back home. But people kept asking: “Are they brothers?”

Now Brothers

“They are now,” I replied. “Yes,” the lady snapped, “I know. But are they really brothers?”
Clenching my jaw, I coolly responded, “Yes, now they are both our children so they are now really brothers.” The woman sighed, rolled her eyes, and said, “Well, you know what I mean.”

Of course, we did know what she meant. She meant did these two boys—born three weeks apart—share a common biological ancestry, a common bloodline, some common DNA. It struck me that this question betrayed what most of us tend to view as really important when it comes to sonship: traceable genetic material.

This is the reason people would also ask us, “So do you also have any children of your own?”
And it is the reason newspaper obituaries will often refer to the deceased’s “adopted child,” as though this were the equivalent of a stepchild or a protégé, rather than a real offspring.

During the weeks that Maria and I waited anxiously for the call to return to Russia to receive our children, I pondered this series of questions. As I read through the Books of Ephesians and Galatians and Romans, it occurred to me that this is precisely the question that was faced by the Apostle Paul and the first-century Christian churches.

As pig-flesh-eating Gentile believers—formerly goddess-worshipers and Caesar-magnifiers and all the rest—began confessing Jesus as Messiah, some Jewish Christians demanded to know,“Are they circumcised?” The Gentile believers would respond, “Yes, with the circumcision made without hands, the circumcision of Christ.” From the heated letters of the New Testament, it is evident that the response was along the lines of, “Yes, but are you really circumcised, and you know what I mean.”

This was no peripheral issue. For the Apostle Paul, the unity of the Church as a household had everything to do with the gospel itself. And where the tribal fracturing of the Church was most threatening, Paul laid out a key insight into the Church’s union with Christ, the spirit of adoption.

We went to Russia and back to accomplish a task, to complete a long paper trail that would help bring us to the legal custody of our sons. Along with that, however, it jolted us with the truth of an adoption more ancient, more veiled, but just as real: our own.

It is one thing when the culture doesn’t “get” adoption, and so speaks, for instance, of buying an animal as“adopting” a pet. When Christians, however, think the same way, we betray that we miss something crucial about our own salvation. Perhaps if we understood the gospel more clearly, we would then see it more clearly in the icon of adoption. And perhaps if we were more involved—as families and churches—in adopting unwanted children, we would foster a next generation better able to recognize the gospel message when they hear it.

Adopted Identity

Before the apostle begins his discourse on adoption to the Roman church, he addresses them as “brothers” (Rom. 8:12), a word that has lost meaning inour churches because we tend to view it as a more spiritual metaphor for“friend” or “neighbor.” In many Evangelical churches, “brother” is a safe wordone uses when one has forgotten someone’s name (“Hey, brother, how are you?”) or when one wishes to soften spiritually a harsh statement (“Johnny, I love you asa brother in Christ, but I just can’t marry you”).

The churches emerging out of the Judaism of the Roman Empire, however, would have understood precisely how radical such language is. The “sons of Israel” started out, after all, not as a government entity, but as twelve brothers. Moses speaks of the Israelite king obeying the Word of God “that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers”(Deut. 17:20). The Mosaic Law speaks of Israelites as “brothers” as opposed to“strangers” and “sojourners” (Lev. 25:35–46).
To a Gentile church in Ephesus, Paul employs this precise language as he tells them they are no longer to be considered “the uncircumcised.” Instead, he tells them, “you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:11,19).

Within this household—the tribal family of Abraham—all those who are in Christ have found a home through the adopting power of God. It is not simply that they have found a refuge, a safe place, or a foster home. All those in Christ, Paul argues, have received sonship—they are now the “offspring of Abraham” (Gal. 3:29).

Paul speaks of this new household in terms of a liberating rescue, for both Jews and Gentiles. We have a unity in that we were liberated from the tutorship of the Law in the old order (Gal. 4:1–5) and from the “spirit of slavery to fall back into fear” (Rom. 8:15). Instead, as sons, we now come before God as sons, bearing the very same Spirit as was poured out on the Lord Jesus at the Jordan River, a Spirit through which we cry “Abba!”

There is a new identity found in this adoption, an identity forged in the relationship of father and son. This filial identity was easily seen by the first-century Christians. They were accustomed to seeing sons who followed in the vocational patterns of their fathers, men who were called “son of” all their lives (for instance, “Simon Bar Jonah”).

Of Israel, God once said, “Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite” (Ezek. 16:3). But this was not Israel’s identity. Through God’s adoption, they did not consider themselves sons of the pagan Terah or even sons of Abram. They were sons of Abraham; the nation was the son of the living God (Ex. 4:22–23).

In Christ, this is now true of all of those who are grafted onto the vine of the faithful Israel, Jesus of Nazareth.

All Moores Now

Now I suppose the root of my annoyance with the question “Are they brothers?” really lay here. It seemed that the good-intentioned conversationalists saw these children as somehow not quite part of our family, as though, if they were “really brothers,” then “at least they’ll have each other.” The same is true of other questions people asked us: “Have you ever seen their mother?” (“Why, yes, andyou’ve seen her too. Have you met my wife Maria?”) or
“Do you worry that their real parents will ever show up?”

This wasn’t at all the way that we saw it. It didn’t matter to us that the nurses in the orphanage across the seas still called these boys “Maxim” and “Sergei”; we had on their walls name plates reading “Benjamin” and “Timothy.” It didn’t matter what their current birth certificates read; they would soon be Moores.

This newness of identity also informed the way we responded to questions, whether from social workers or friends, about whether we planned to “teach the children about their cultural heritage.” We assured everyone we would, and we have. Now, what most people meant by this question is whether we would teach our boys Russian folk-tales and Russian songs, observing Russian holidays, and so forth. But as we see it, that’s not their heritage anymore, and we hardly want to signal to them that they are strangers and aliens, even welcome ones, in our home.

We teach them about their heritage, but their heritage as Mississippians. They learn about their great-grandfather, the faithful Baptist pastor, about their countrymen before them in the Confederate army and the civil rights movement. They wouldn’t know “Peter and the Wolf” if they heard it, but they do know Charley Pride and Hank Williams and “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder.” They are Moores now, with all that entails.

I suppose this is why the New Testament points all of us toward the Old Testament narratives repeatedly, which are given, as Paul told the church at Corinth, “as examples for us” (1 Cor. 10:6). It is not just that these accounts show us something universal about human nature and God’s workings. It is that they are our story, our heritage, our identity.

Those are our ancestors rescued from Egypt,wandering in the wilderness, led back from exile. They are our forefathers and this is our family. Whether our background is Norwegian or Haitian or Indonesian, if we are united to Christ, our family genealogy is found not primarily in the front pages of our dusty old family Bible but inside its pages, in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.

No Longer Orphans

When Maria and I first walked into the orphanage, where we were led to the boys the Russian courts had picked out for us to adopt, we almost vomited, in reaction to the stench and the squalor of the place. The boys were in cribs in the dark, lying in their own waste.

Leaving them at the end of each day was painful, but leaving them the final day, before going home to wait for the paperwork to go through, was the hardest thing either of us had ever done. Walking out of the room to prepare for the plane ride home, Maria and I could hear Maxim calling out for us, and falling down in his crib, convulsing in tears. Maria shook with tears, and I turned around to walk back into their room, just for a minute.

I placed my hand on both of their heads and said, knowing they couldn’t understand a word of my English, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” I don’t think I consciously intended to cite Jesus’ words to his disciples in John 14:18; it just seemed like the only thing worth saying at the time.

When Maria and I at long last received the call that the legal process was over, and we returned to Russia to pick up our new sons, we found that their transition from orphanage to family was more difficult than we had supposed. We dressed the boys in outfits our parents had bought for them. My mother-in-law gathered some wildflowers growing between cracks in the pavement outside the orphanage.

We nodded our thanks to the orphanage personnel and walked out into the sunlight, to the terror of the two boys. They’d never seen the sun, and they’d never felt the wind.They had never heard the sound of a car door slamming or had the sensation of being carried along at 100 miles an hour down a Russian road. I noticed that they were shaking, and reaching back to the orphanage in the distance.

I whispered to Sergei, now Timothy, “That place is a pit! If only you knew what’s waiting for you: a home with a Mommy and a Daddy who love you, grandparents, and great-grandparents and cousins and playmates . . . and McDonald’s Happy Meals!”
But all they knew was the orphanage. It was squalid, but they had no other reference point, and it was home.

We knew the boys had acclimated to our home, that they trusted us, when they stopped hiding food in their high-chairs. They knew there would be another meal coming, and they wouldn’t have to fight for the scraps. This was the new normal.

They are now thoroughly Americanized, perhaps too much so, able to recognize the sound of a microwave ding from forty yards away. I still remember, though, those little hands reaching for the orphanage, and I see myself there.

The Son's of Glory

The New Testament teaching on the adoption of believers in Christ assuring metaphor for the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Adoption does not simply tell us we belong to God. It is a legal entitlement, one we are prone to forget.

Paul warns the congregation at Rome that sharing the spirit of Christ means that we will suffer with him (Rom. 8:17). It means that we will groan right along with the rest of the creation for the “sons of God to be revealed,” for our “adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies”(Rom. 8:23).

But he fits this within the context of a legal inheritance. If we are adopted by God, if we are his children, then we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17). If we live through the “sufferings of this present time,” it is only so that we can be conformed to the image of our Christ, “in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29).

Paul identifies Jesus as the One who inherits the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. He is the One of whom it is said,“You are my Son” (Psalm 2:7), who is given “the nations as your heritage, and the ends of the earth as your possession” (Psalm 2:8).

Thus, the Jewish believers in the early Church weren’t to look to their biological ancestry for their inheritance. They were law-breakers (Rom. 2–3). This is why the insistence on circumcision in the Galatian church was anathema to the apostle. They were to look to the One in whom all the promises of God find their fulfillment. Yes: the Lord Jesus(2 Cor. 1:20).

The Jewish and Gentile congregations were to find their identity in Christ, not in the social and economic hierarchies of the Roman Empire. The churches were to long for the inheritance to come, a cosmos flowing with milk and honey, not, as their fathers before them, for the slavery from which they came (Deut. 8; Rom. 8:15).

My whispering to my boys, “You won’t miss that orphanage,” is only a shadow of something I should have known. God pronounces Israel his “son,” brings the Israelites through the baptismal waters of judgment, promises to give them an inheritance, and they long for the fleshpots of Egypt (Ex. 16:1–3).

Jesus is pronounced the “beloved Son” of God, is likewise brought through the waters of baptism, and is then tempted by the Evil One to believe that a Father who promises him bread would give him only stones. Listening to his Father’s voice, even to the point of crucifixion and apparent abandonment by God, he “learned obedience through what he suffered,” and he was heard (Heb. 5:7–8). As he disciplines us—as sons, not as illegitimate children—our Father warns us not to sell our inheritance for a mess of pottage, as ourgreat-great-great-great-great-uncle did a long time ago (Heb. 12:3–17). Why would we covet what seems important to MTV or Wall Street, when we have waiting for us mountain ranges and waterfalls and distant galaxies to rule with our Christ as the resurrected sons of the new creation?

“I know you think this terrestrial orphanage is home,” our Father whispers through prophets and apostles and our consciences and imaginations, “but it’s a pit compared to home.” Or, as the Spirit says through the Apostle Paul’s adoption teaching: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18).

Not Ashamed

A few years after we adopted Benjamin and Timothy, the infertility that had plagued Maria and me for years was suddenly lifted, and we gave birth to a son, and then another, in the more typical way. And it was time for the “Are they brothers” business again, this time from an elderly lady who approached Maria and said, in the hearing of my sons, “I’ll bet Dr. Moore is really proud of Samuel.”

Maria replied, “Yes, he is proud of all of his sons.” The lady smiled and retorted, “Yes, but I’ll bet he’s especially proud of Samuel, since he’s his.” In this woman’s mind, there was something admirable but almost shameful about adoption; the adopted children were just not quite as worthy of joy as the “real” son, the biological one.

I was angered when I heard about this, angered because, while I love Samuel and now Jonah, I don’t love them anymore than Benjamin and Timothy. As a matter of fact, I don’t think of them as“biological” children, as though they are part of some different classification. Days go by when I never think about the adoption, and when I do think of the boys as “adopted,” it is always as a past-tense verb, not an adjective.

But this lady’s question—like the ones before it—reminds me of our tendency to prize our carnality. We don’t think we were adopted. In our persistent Pelagianism, we assume we’re natural-born children, with a right to all of this grace, to all of this glory.

We think, Paul warns us right before he tells us of our adoption, that we are debtors to the flesh, so we live according to the flesh (Rom. 8:12). We’re ashamed to think of ourselves as adopted, because to do so would focus our minds on the bloody truth that all of us in Christ, like my sons, once were lost but now we’re found, once were strangers and now we’re children, once were slaves and now we’re heirs.

And yet even the flesh and blood we share—not just with our children but with all of humanity—have everything to do with our adoption. Jesus, after all, shares in human “flesh and blood” so that he might deliver those “who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Heb. 2:15).

This is because he “had to be made like his brothers in every respect” (Heb. 2:17). And, speaking of us, our Lord Jesus—the only One with the natural-born right to cry “Abba”—is “not ashamed to call them brothers” (Heb. 2:11).

According to the Apostle John, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were quite sure of their biological pedigree. They could trace it back to Abraham, and had no shady parental background as they thought Jesus to have (John 8:39–41). Jesus shockingly identified their birth father as Satan and their inheritance as that of a slave (John 8:34–38).

But John ends his Gospel with a more hopeful sound. When Jesus is raised from the dead, his message to Mary is to go “to my brothers” and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20:17). John isn’t “really” Jesus’ brother, but he shares a mother with him, when Jesus “adopts” him into the family at the Cross (John 19:26–27).

And these unfaithful and fearful disciples, quick to go back to the fisherman’s nets they had when he found them, have no reason to approach a holy “God.” But they—and we—are Jesus’ brothers, and so the Father is our God. He is not ashamed.

One More Time

We fall for all our ideological idolatries—from white supremacy to genocidal warfare and beyond—because we see our “brotherhood” only in our DNA. We engineer radical reproductive technologies that sever procreation from fatherhood and motherhood, precisely because we don’t want children so much as we want ourselves, our own genetic material living on before us. We identify more with our corporate brands and with our political parties than with our churches because we don’t understand the household into which we’ve come.

We dye our hair and Botox our wrinkles, fearing the Reaper, because we don’t really believe that a Father waits for us with a feast on the other side of the Jordan. And we live prayerless lives, paralyzed by our guilty consciences, because someone says to us, as to our Brother before us, “ If you are the son of God . . .” (Luke4:3).

I don’t think about the adoption of my boys every day. But, when I do, I try to remember the rude questions I once answered—and sometimes still answer—about them. And I remind myself that I’ve been just as far from “getting it” as the good-natured questioners I have resented.

It is difficult to see before us the day when the graves of this planet are emptied, when the great assembly of Christ’s Church is gathered before the Judgment Seat. On that day, the accusing principalities and powers will probably look once more at us—former murderers and fornicators and idolaters, formerly uncircumcised in flesh or in heart—and they may ask one moretime, “So are they brothers?”

The hope of adopted children like my sons—and like me—is that the voice that once thundered over the Jordan will respond:“They are now.”

Russell D. Moore is Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice Presidentfor Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary inLouisville, Kentucky. He is the author of The Kingdom of Christ: The NewEvangelical Perspective (Crossway). He is a senior editor of Touchstone. -the complete article can be found at Touchstone Archives and is available to print.

I am so grateful for the Hope I have in Christ and my adoption. Thank you Dr. Moore for your courage and boldness to proclaim the truth about adoption.

3 months today...time flys!

Andrew like his Dodad(a.k.a. Dewey) and Aunt Susie loves
bubbles. Wow! that is a really big one Andrew, good job!

I can hardly believe it has been 3 months since Andrew and Kathlena were officially ours. It seems so long ago yet such a short time...3 months. We are growing together as a family each day and getting to know each other deeper with every new adventure together. It is sweet time at 3 months as they are becoming so much more settled and more of their little personalities are emerging.

Andrew is now speaking many English phrases in context and beginning to speak where others-not just his family-can understand and converse with him. He still speaks some Russian sometimes; it's harder to tell if it is Russian or heavily accented English word he is trying to say. Often if he is in a hurry we will hear certain words in Russian first as it is still what comes to mind quickest.

Andrew loves trains, especially Thomas, although Diesel is his favorite. He loves to put the brio train track together with his big brother. It is great for both of them as they grow their relationship together. Andrew also loves music and is very fond of Hank the Cowdog songs...go figure when it is J.Michael"s and Emily's favorites too! He and big brother are becoming good friends. It has been an adjustment for both as J.Michael has given up a lot of his time and space for his little brother and it has been a sacrifice on his part...a good one though. J.Michael is becoming quite the good "coach" helping his brother grow and be part of the family. Andrew too is helping J.Michael to be patient and become a good teacher. How thankful I am that they have each other.

Andrew also has his Mom's and big sisters (well, all of us Shiflet's and Davis's really) love for animals...while he was terrified at first he is now a regular bug and reptile collector and mammal holder like the rest of us. (See photos below of tadpole catching in the backyard...he was so excited to see a "baby" frog). While at Nana's he caught a big toad in his bug collector (with mom's help...he says "no touchy Andrew" but liked watching him in the cage)

Andrew with a newborn kitten at Uncle
Todd's.

Introducing "Senor Whiskers" the newest addition to the barn cat clan of the Davis ranch.
Emily also loves to work with Andrew teaching him to sing hymns. I am amazed by Andrew's great interest in books. He likes to "read" the pictures and tell you the story and has begun to recognize English letters and their sounds. I think once we get his vision stable he will be reading in no time. He is so smart and has already overcome so much...he is definitely a survivor. We know that along with the survivor skill comes some hardness but he seems not to bear this mark with his sweet nature. Only time will tell how deep those marks are and we trust in our heavenly Father to heal them and give us the wisdom to help Andrew as he matures.

Andrew catching tiny "pinhead" sized tadpoles...what a great
exercise for his eye with his patch! He loves frogs too!

Everyone (well almost, Kathlena was napping) trying to catch all they
can and put in the bucket as we need the "poo wah", pool for swimsuit
as Andrew calls it.

Emily thanks for the macro tadpole pic...great job!

Andrew's catch and release toad.

Kathlena has become this ball of energy that you are just drawn into that makes you laugh and smile. Her cuteness could melt the hardest of hearts. She is truly a happy child...so different than when we first met her almost 7 months ago. Her middle name Hope embodies the Spirit of adoption. All the worries and concerns we initially had about her have now passed and all we see is this beautiful, happy, precious little gift from the Lord. She is growing and developing so quickly. She parrots everything we say...especially big brother Andrew. We continue to see much progress with her by using opposites to help her develop ( ex. Kathlena-small, Daddy-big) and it seems she is now where Andrew was verbally (English) around week 2-3. So, she is catching up quickly. She is almost potty trained again too! Although we have had some ups and downs with sleeping through the night this past month, this too seems to be going back to normal. She has only been mildly sick once so we feel she is very healthy and building up her immunity. Even after being at the State Home School Conference...no one got sick...Wow! This was a good test and we passed with flying colors.
Kathlena is Mommy's shadow and loves to do whatever I am doing. She also spends time following big sister Mimi around too. She loves to be our "helpoor" as she says. She is another home maker in training. Here is a recent pic of her and Emily working together to mop the kitchen.

Great job girls! It looks fantastic. Thank you for
how you joyfully serve your family.

Andrew and Kathlena with the baby goat,
Happy. They loved feeding him, but Kathlena
kept a healthy distance the rest of the time.

"Yeena" holding her kitty at Nana's. Mom said, "Nice

try...Emily tried the same thing but kitty's stay at

Nana's no matter who claims them!"

Kathlena with Uncle Todd...she wasn't too sure about holding the

kittens at first. She loves her Uncle Todd so if kitty's are okay with

him they were okay with her.

Here's a video of A and K feeding the goat with
their Babushka-Nana. Thanks Nana for keeping

Happy til they could come see you...I know you

are ready for him to go back to the herd.


In another 3 months I can't even imagine how they will have changed. At six months we have a post-placement report, the first of 4 over the next 3 yrs. I think we will have plenty of pictures to choose from to send to Russia!

Snake Found...Happy Birthday Daddy!

Okay, everyone can rest a little easier...especially me...the snake has resurfaced. I had pretty much resolved that this was going to be a Shiflet legacy as I distinctly remember Grandmommie telling me the story of David's snake's mysterious disappearance that remained a mystery. I suppose this is why I was not as shocked as I should have been when the snake went missing.

Poor Daddy...it is his 36th birthday and his first big surprise of the day was that he found the missing snake stretched out on the floor next to his desk in his home office. Having not even had the chance to take a sip of his morning coffee he was confronted with a tiny wiggling stick that reared its head up ready to grab its unsuspecting breakfast bug. All I know is I am so glad it wasn't me as I am sure everyone for 3 counties would have known we found the snake had it been me before my coffee. Daddy on the other hand just picked him up and put him back in his tank and gave J.Michael the good news.

Now our still nameless snake is safely back in his secured tank...slightly more secured. I keep threatening to call him Houdini if no name arises soon.

Thirty-six years ago today J. and Kathy Shiflet became first time parents of a little boy who would grow up to be the man I married and love more with each passing year. I am so thankful for J. and Kathy and I celebrate this special day with you.

Daddy(David) was serenaded by his wife and four arrows over the phone with a special solo added by arrow #4(Kathlena). Thankfully, we did not get Daddy on our first try so he has it recorded on his phone to retrieve and listen as often as he likes. We did however catch him on our second try and sang again for him live. For his birthday he requested his favorite homemade cheesecake and a quiet evening at home for dinner. Well, we can make sure he has the cheesecake but, quiet left us almost 14yrs ago. :) I love you honey! Hope your day was special.

State Homeschool Convention...Woodlands, TX

Ahhh! How I love to go to Home School Conventions. A time of encouragement, seeing old friends (almost like a reunion of sorts), and of course buying those needed resources to educate our children. We have been walking through the halls of home school conventions now for 9 yrs. I am not the same person who first timidly walked into that enormous convention hall in Arlington, TX. Not only was the exhibit hall huge but, the door of life that I had just entered was a call I trusted in faith. We have seen many changes through the years in Home School Conventions most of them though I think have been the Lord growing and changing us.

As I think back to those early years I am so grateful for those speakers, families that spoke vision to us at these conferences. In our early years the Lord led us to people like Chris Davis of Elijah Co., Steve and Jane Lambert of FIAR, Raymond Moore, and Ruth Beechick who challenged us to think outside the box. I am so grateful for their sacrifice and wisdom.

For the past 4yrs we have been attending the State Convention held in The Woodlands, TX. Even before we moved here we loved to go to this convention. We have also attended the THSC sponsored field trips. This year it was to Washington on the Brazos the birthplace of Texas. Each year the field trip is geared towards a time and place in Texas History and provides a day of fun and education for the whole family. While it was quite "warm" this year and a very new experience for us with little ones it turned out to be a great trip. Although, I think we will try to come back in the fall when it is not so hot to see the rest of the park. We did get to pick some cotton in the heat so it gave us a real flavor for what it was like long ago! By 1800's terms I would also be nearing the end of my life at my current age and after seeing how hard life was I can see why!

Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Learning about pick'n cotton.

J.Michael making a water haul.

Kathlena would have taken a long time to fill a

sack of cotton as she liked to pick a tiny bit at a

time.

Andrew thought this was so funny to find cotton

that we use for "boo boo's" on a plant outside.

We went to the evening event where we heard Dr. Jeff Myers, a great speaker and communicator talk about the importance of instilling a Christian Worldview into our children. Dr. Myer's new book Handoff: The Only Way to Win the Race of Life is inspiring families to have a multi generational vision of passing on their Biblical heritage. A book we look forward to reading.

After Dr. Myers spoke we had the opportunity to view the THSC movie Taking a Stand in Texas: The Battle of Home School Freedom . This is a well made, inspiring movie that every home schooler should watch. Leeper vs. Arlington was only 14yrs ago...the battle has been very recently won for us. This documentary was so powerful in delivering the courage and emotion of a handful of faithful parents who trusted the Lord and fought for the right to raise/teach their children at home in Texas. They are the reason that we have such freedom in Texas today and PTL for their courage and for paving the way for us today.

Day 1

Our first full day at the convention was exciting. J.Michael and Andrew attended the children's program while Emily, Kathlena and I tried to catch some speakers sessions and do a little shopping in the exhibit hall. Well, this was definitely a new experience for me. Kathlena was sure that the rules did not apply in this crowded convention hall but, she quickly found out that yes in fact they do! So, much of the first session I missed as I was doing my active parenting duty in the family bathroom. The end of session 1 proved to be much better for me and those in the surrounding rows from us. Emily and I pretty much stuck to Dr. Myers sessions and were not disappointed.
At lunch I decided that the morning had gone well enough for Andrew in the children's program that I would let J.Michael go with us as he really wanted to hear Dr. Myers speak and sent Andrew back to the children's program on his own. While at the time this seemed like a good idea and I still think it was so that I could see how we were doing I later decided that it was really best for him to be with us. So, for Sat. we decided to all stay together thus ending our time in the children's program for the weekend. Andrew loved the singing and listening to stories but, I think a little overwhelming at this point for him to fully understand enough to participate at the pace of an unfamiliar group setting. It was good though for me to see how we are progressing and what areas we need to try and work on.
Emily and J.Michael both wanted to attend John R. Erickson's talk on Christian writing. Kathlena and I did some more shopping and they were allowed to go together. I think this was really fun for them to do something together just the two of them that they really both love. They really enjoyed hearing Mr. Erickson. J.Michael was even able to have the opportunity to talk to Mr. Erickson. Emily had prepared a letter for Mr. and Mrs. Erickson. It was something she has looked forward to all year.

Our whole family loves the Hank the Cowdog series but, even more impressive than his great book series has been Mr. Erickson who has attended the THSC conferences faithfully for the past 4yrs. In fact it was 3 yrs ago at this very conference that we were first introduced to Hank the Cowdog and we have been full fledged fans ever since(the t-shirt wearing kind of fans!). Mr. Erickson not only attends these conferences performing his songs and entertaining us with his talented voices of characters while reading excerpts from his books but, he pours into his young readers his wisdom of being a Christian man in a world that tries to undermine the Christian values he grew up with. He honestly shares his story of how difficult it was to finally get his book series published and his personal journey of self publishing his books. He is a modern day hero in my book, a living testimony of what the Lord has done in the life of a man who faithfully trusted Him when everyone in the publishing world was telling him to give up his dream of the Hank the Cowdog series and writing. He is very successful and could choose to spend his time elsewhere but, he doesn't...instead you will find him in Aug. at the Texas State Home School convention encouraging the next generation to take back the mediums of film and writing good books with strong family values...Christian values. Thank you Mr. Erickson from a very grateful home school mom who loves your world of Hank but loves even more that parents and kids have Mr. Erickson the man to look up to.
Day 2

We took today at a little slower pace as Daddy had an early leadership training meeting. I decided it best that we take the morning off and wait for Daddy before we head over to the conference. We would still spend almost 8hrs at the convention today. We all stayed together and Andrew got to see the exhibit hall...he liked all the books.

Not long after we arrived we were told by some friends that Mr. Erickson had been paging Emily to his booth. He wanted to meet this young lady who had written him a letter. From a mother's and father's heart I so admire Mr. Erickson. He has such a heart for young people...and to think that he never intended the Hank series to be for kids. The Lord knew best though and we are so blessed to know this man and his wife who so graciously give back to the Home School community year after year. Mr. Erickson was very complimentary of Emily's writing and has asked Emily to keep up with him and write him from time to time. Wow! we are honored to have met and get to know Mr. and Mrs. Erickson.

It was great to see so many old friends and for them to see in person Andrew and Kathlena. We were encouraged by Dr. Myers, once again and ended the day with the annual Hank the Cowdog songs and stories. It made me feel we were sitting around the campfire out on the TX panhandle, cowboy style only we were really in the a/c with no bugs. A wonderful end to a great weekend.

Missing Snake

Never a dull moment around the Shiflet household. About a week ago J.Michael caught a garden snake in the yard and asked if he could keep it for a pet and Momma said "yes" for the sake of education of course. Our home has long been a haven for the catch and "release" program although it is not often they are released alive, but we have had many captives live long, pampered lives. So, we began our quest to learn what a racer garden snake eats and found Mom's organic spring mix lettuce to fit his liking. We tried things from the pet store like dried krill and flies but couldn't be certain he was eating these really...we forgot to count how many we put in the tank but obviously too many.

J.Michael talked to some of his friends who also have wild caught snakes on Sunday at church about how to care for his snake. So, armed with more helpful tips we were certain that this time we could sucessfully keep our captive happy.

Then, this morning the words no mother, including a very pet friendly home school mom wants to hear were ringing through the house "Mom, where is my snake?"
Mom answers, "I do not know, he's not in his tank?"
J.Michael echoed by three other interest voices, "NO, the snake is MISSSSSSING!"

We began our fruitless search for the missing snake. I quickly resolved that he must have escaped back to the wild because thoughts of him just being "loose" in my house...Oh! no, no, that couldn't be so...I was in complete denial. Fortunately, with a busy week ahead of us we would be gone most of the time to the THSC family conference so maybe he really would escape never to be seen again. I could only hope he would not turn up in something we were taking with us over the next few days...that could end any future captive snake adventures permanently.

Prayer for Russian I. A. Families

Here is the latest with the recent turmoil on Russia's border with Georgia. Please join me in prayer for the innocent lives caught in this conflict, International Adoptive families that are waiting for court dates that could possibly be delayed and for those currently in route to Russia right now to bring home their child(ren). (Especially for Paul and Jennifer who are leaving now for Russia to bring home their son.)

Georgia-Russian Conflict

Fox News Update

Bounced Back

From the pic. you can see that Kathlena has bounced back from her 1st fever. She is doing well and had no other symptoms other than the fever which in my book is a good sign that her immune system is getting stronger.

We did continue our "Yellow Ball" book in the midst of being sick. The blessing of home education is that even sickness does not hinder learning *smile*. Here are some pics from our art lessons and learning about shapes...namely circles.



Beautiful dot "circle" pictures. Great job!

1st fever

Ahh...the firsts just keep coming even after 2 months. Poor little Kathlena started to run a temperature yesterday afternoon. It dawned on me that neither children have been sick since they have been with us. On one point this is truly amazing considering their health and immune systems. We have been working hard though since the beginning to build them up. I think that they are both doing quite well.

Kathlena was running between 101 and 102 temp best we could tell with our flaky ear thermometer. She ate no lunch which was our first big tip that something was up! This child usually runs to the table yelling "eat, eat!" like the town cryer. I gave her some elderberry and yarrow and then put her down for nap.

I had actually upped her immune boosting herb intake a week ago because she has had a place come up on her face that is molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV). It is a virus that generally attacks weakend immune systems and causes breakouts on the body that look similar to a pimple. She had some of these places on her face actually surgically removed while in the orphanage but seems that didn't work very well to get rid of it since she still lacked the immune system to fight it off. I have had her taking Sovereign Colloidal Silver, Olive leaf(natural anti-viral, anti-bacterial), Echinacea and Goldenseal, grapefruit seed crush(one drop in cup of water) and bilberry (for her eyes) and cod liver oil. All of this is in addition to the raw milk, kefir, fresh organic produce and meat we try to eat regularly.

Considering we had an unreliable thermometer and not sure how she would respond to a fever I watched her closely for signs of it spiking. She mostly laid around sleeping off and on and asking to watch a "moo-ee," translated "movie" which I think this is the first time she has ever asked for this...usually she prefers to be where the action is...with Mom. Her compassionate brothers were all to quick to comply with her request and even offered to pick out the movie and watch it with her. They were quite concerned and did watch after her closely trying to keep her as comfortable as possible with blankets and juice--very sweet.

Throughout the day she did go "poo" many times so I am thinking maybe she was a little er...ummm...stopped up. I have read that sometimes in children this can cause them to run a fever and is not viral infection. I can't be sure but not to be too graphic she really cleaned out her system which i had been a little concerned about over the past week.

With another dose of Mom's elderberry-yarrow-wolfberry extract her fever seem to subside some and she felt well enough to eat dinner. IT was fried catfish night with southern cornbread--she wasn't going to miss this meal. Now she was not herself as she was very quiet and staring off into the distance between bites eventually giving way to sitting in Daddy's lap to finish up and drink her special "tea" of chamomile, yarrow, and peppermint. Then she was off to take her bath which did seem to make her feel better...didn't think of it at the time but should have put some lavender oil or tea tree oil in her bath water. Well I will try to remember that for next time. I have a great resource I refer to for using herbs with children called "The ABC Herbal" by Steven H. Horne. While I don't believe in all of his techniques I have found much of the information helpful and easy to refer to when needed.

After her bath she was ready for bed. Since this was our first time to go through her being sick we did give her a half dose of infant Motrin before bed in case she spiked a really high temp during the night. Emily had agreed to sleep on the floor next to her so she could hear her if she got up in the night and was sick. I actually woke up twice during the night and had to check on Kathlena...she was sound asleep...still with a fever but sleeping soundly. She slept all night and woke up the next morning with a low grade fever but was feeling so much better. She had a good breakfast and was ready for our walk...of which she ran her laps with brothers. No one would think that she was sick now! She continued to improve throughout the day and had little to no fever by bedtime tonight. I will keep her on the herbs especially since we have the THSC Conference next week...we want everyone well for that! It will be their first home school conference.

Goodnight Moon...learning through play

Everyone pretending to go "night, night"


Kathlena giving all the dolls kisses goodnight.


Andrew is going to be such a good "Papa" one day. He was
so loving and gentle putting the "babies" down for the night.

He would talk to them and sing them a Hank the Cowdog
song to fall asleep by. Hmmm...influenced by his older brother's
love for Hank the Cowdog possibly?

We finished up Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. What a precious book for Andrew and Kathlena. They are making some sweet memories together and taking abstract concepts and putting them into concrete practice. At over 2months home we have settled into our own night time routine but, this book helped us discuss and explore the concept of nighttime...especially the moon. I think this will be a special book for them both.
Both of them would ask for me to read their "Goodnight Moon" book to them.All week they would pretend play going through the night time routine of taking a bath, brushing teeth, turning on music, giving kisses and hugs and tucking them in their beds. I also found a board book at the children's museum called "Good Night Texas" which is so cute and is part of the Good Night Our World series by Adam Gamble.
One night as we were traveling home late from a friends house Andrew starts saying "stories, stories" and pointing out the window. He could see the stars(he calls them stories :)). It occurred to us that this is the first time he had been out this late to see the stars in the sky as we usually have him in bed before it is dark enough to see the stars and with all the trees around our house you have to go out braving texas size mosquitoes while standing in the road to see any stars or the moon. (of course we did do this one night so they could see the moon for real...and yes our mosquitoes are big enough to cast shadows in the moonlight) Every week it seems Andrew and Kathlena are learning and understanding a new concept. It is so much fun to walk along side them in their exploration of their new world. I wouldn't miss this for anything.

Andrew and Kathlena are also learning about government as Emily and J.Michael are doing a unit on Elections. We have been reading through Christianity and the Constitution by John Eidsmoe . A very well written and documented book on the founding fathers. My favorite part of this book is that it refutes the secular humanist and revisionist history that is taking place in our time point by point. It is easy to read, while quite detailed but, even Andrew is picking up on some things. He really likes to say "George Washington" with his strong Russian accent of rolling his "r's". We have also been listening to R. J. Rushdoony on George Washington and the Constitution. Wow! very meaty for us all. I highly recommend these resources for those who are interested in an accurate account of the lives of the founding Father's and the writing of the Constitution. We love to learn through audio books and messages...Andrew and Kathlena are learning about worldview issues right now that we will only know how much in the years to come. Audio books are great for weathering those stormy Texas summer days too.

This week we just started the Yellow Ball by Molly Bang...more of our adventures to come!

Kathlena's Birthday Take 2

Well I thought I would have done this sooner but, June 1st was too soon after our arrival home and July 1st got away from me so Aug 1st seemed like a good plan to celebrate Kathlena's 1st birthday with us. This was her 3yr 3mos. old birthday. We pulled out the cake from the freezer that I saved from her birthday celebration we had without her. I am still in awe that we have had them home for 2 months now.

Yesterday we read the book "Happy Birthday, Moon" by Frank Asch . All week we have been "B-4 rowing" Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown so I pulled Happy Birthday, Moon off the shelf as a go along knowing we would celebrate Kathlena's Birthday today. We actually read it yesterday and it was so cute because the book starts out the day before Bears birthday too (I had not remembered this until we read it). Andrew and Kathlena loved this book and it was so sweet to talk to them about Birthdays. They both seemed to really be excited about it. A cute sidenote for Grandmommie...this book was given to Emily by Grandmommie and PawPaw for Emily's 3rd birthday and now Kathlena is enjoying it too!

From reading the book Andrew greeted Kathlena first thing in the morning with "Happy Birthday, Kathlena" he was so happy for her. All week we have been talking about brothers and sisters--daughters and sons too. It has been so precious to see Andrew and Kathlena become brother and sister for them. Kathlena is so proud to be a sister...she would say it over and over and laugh. Andrew wasn't so sure at first but, quickly decided he liked being "brother" and began repeating it over and over with his big smile on his face. Both are growing and changing so quickly...I feel like I see miracles happen everyday in them. Here is a video from our party...your fly on the wall into the Shiflet home. Kathlena loved the blowouts more than the cake. She is not a sweet eater...what?!? yes, I know how can it be. Well, her brothers make up for it.