Intoducing a New Robinson to Be

It is with great joy that I introduce to you the newest Robinson to Be! Seth proposed to Mallory on Wednesday night and she said YES! We are so happy for them. They have walked out their relationship in such a God honoring way for the past 4 years! Seth did a great job preparing for the evening. He made her an amazing meal and proposed in a classic "Seth" way. The best part about it was his dancing to All the Single Ladies by Beyonce. So it looks like we will be having a wedding in Florida in June followed by a reception here in Ohio. The great thing is that we will be busy with wedding planning which will help make the time go faster in waiting for a referral of our next Robinson addition. Let the wedding planning begin:)

Cookbooks are Here!

So our cookbooks are in and I have 200 to sell:) Each cookbook contain almost 150 recipes. These are easy family recipes! All of the recipes for the different soups that I make are included! You can purchase the books one of two ways. If you have a PayPal account, you can go to your account and click on the link to send money. Then click on the personal tab. My email for Paypal is robbiesfam@juno.com. The amount for the book is $10 and then $2.50 for shipping. I will do bulk shipping if you have others who would like to purchase them. If that is the case please let me know how many cookbooks that you would like and I will weigh them and charge exact shipping. All of the money goes towards our adoption. If we sell all 200, we will have enough money to purchase one airline ticket. If you do not have a paypal account just send me an email and I will give you my address to mail a check to. Thanks so much! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Boundary Lines

Psalm 16:6
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

God gave me this scripture 15 years ago when I was first diagnosed with fibromyalgia. He is once again bringing it back to me. This past week and a half of being very sick have been quite a challenge. It has been years since I have been in bed this sick for this long. Being the rebel that I am, I really struggle with boundary lines. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to push and test them. It was through much wrestling with the Lord that I learned about the pleasant places that God had for me as I walked within those boundary lines. I have experienced a great freedom in Christ as I have walked in them. When I was really sick there was so much that I had to say to no to. This is very hard to do unfortunately in most "Christian" cultures. There is this unspoken pressure as a Christian woman to be able to do and handle it all. Dealing with an illness on top of trying to be the perfect Christian women about drove me crazy. I now look back on this time and my illness with such gratitude. God really used my illness to set me free from so many things... things such as fear of man, pride and the craving of man's approval. It also shattered the lies that there are "perfect Christian women". I have learned through all of this that my standing before God is totally based on Jesus Christ and the perfect life that He lived for me. As much as I would like to believe at times that I can have it all together, the truth is that He is the one who holds it all together for me.

So how does this connect with my illness now and our upcoming adoption? Well, I was quite surprised this morning when God began to reveal to me that I am pushing my boundaries once again. It all started last Friday with a call that our agency had twin 2 year old boys that might possibly be available for us. I immediately went to trying to figure out how to make this happen. I rationalized in my mind that since we had prayed for twins, this must be our boys. I started contacting different organizations to try and get things moving quicker in regards to help financially. From the beginning, we have believed that we are not to go into debt in any way to bring our child home. The truth was that in order for this to happen with these two boys, that would be the case. I tried rationalizing that it is a no interest loan but a loan is a loan!! I have said with my mouth that I am totally fine with it being only one child but this morning the Lord began to expose something deeper going on. I really began to see that my desire for two in some ways is Godly. I mean when there are 4.8 million orphans in Ethiopia, why couldn't we take two. I also know that when we get there and I see the children who still do not have a family my heart is going to break for them. The Lord has continued to remind me that he knows my frame. I believe that I have led a very selfish and closed life for the past several years. I believe that God is calling me to enlarge the place of my tent. I do believe though that He can do that with one child. I am recognizing that some of things that have driven me in the past were beginning to drive me again. I have had a sweet time of fellowship with the Lord as I have repented and once again found delight in the boundary lines that He has drawn for me. As much as I would love to bring home two children, God is going to have to provide in a very clear way in order for that to happen. Do I believe that He can do that?? Absolutely and even if he chooses not I can say with all my heart that my boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places! Thanks so much for your continued prayers as we walk this journey. I will leave you with a quote that a friend posted from a man named Dan Cruver:

What orphans need are churches that are full of people who wake up each morning hearing and rehearsing these amazing words that are declared over them. “You are my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased. Yes, you were once without hope and without God in this world, but I have brought you near, embraced you, by the blood of Jesus. Live in my love as you move out in mission.”

If you are a Christian, God declares these amazing words over you. He doesn’t speak them over you because you have earned them. You could never do enough to earn these words of love. God speaks these words over you because of who Jesus is for you.

This is what God used to expose that I was trying to earn God's acceptance and love through pressing into something that may be outside of the boundary lines of what He has for us.
I am realizing now that loving these children and caring for orphans can only come from a place of understanding how much we have been loved by God. Any other reason that drives us to love them will come up short and not sustain us through the tough unlovely times.

So last night was........

A total success and had God written all over it! From the beginning of the planning till the end of the event, God carried us through. We are amazed by God's kindness to us. He just continues to prove that adoption is straight from His heart. We have so many people who donated their time, money, talents, etc.. just to make our night a success. It was so exciting to hear today from people God has divinely set up to pursue their dreams to adopt. We do hope that He was glorified and magnified and that the passion that He has caused to burn so bright in our hearts would be contagious. So the big question is, "How much?" and the answer is $2300!!! Everyone asked if we had a goal and the truth is no. From the very beginning we have been completely aware that God knows exactly how much this adoption is going to cost. Because of that we have complete confidence that He will more than provide for all that we need. I am headed to bed because I have unfortunately caught what has been going around but I wanted to just give a short update. I am hoping for Doug to share a little of his message that he preached yesterday. He unpacked how our vertical adoption should impact our views of horizontal adoption. So here is a list of all the people who helped make last night a huge success:
Parma Park Church of God
New Life Community Church-you guys rock!!You have covered us in prayer and support since day one of this journey!
State Fair
Ryan Wilkins
Eric Bernier
Jacob Wadenpfuhl
Lozano Family
Elya Starek
Darrell Scott
Williams Family
Sarah Romain
Brianna Adams
Donna Schuster
Julie Williamson
Renee Barker
Newshutz Family
Linda West
Laurie Muniak
Jenny Duncan
Paul and Sharon Janos
Toni Maynard
Holly Terei
Coakley Family
Caleb Schuster Photography
Five Star Gymnastics
JK Kang Tae Kwon Do
Sbevis Designs Jewelry
Insurance Center of Akron
Masters Pizza
Indian Bear Lodge
Bam Bams Pizza
To anyone else I may have missed. May God bless the works of your hands!!

Do you have plans on Sunday?

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Sunday November 8th is National Orphan Sunday. We are having a night of celebration and awareness. We are celebrating all of the children that God has already placed in families. We are also believing that God is going to ignite this fire in other peoples hearts! Please join us. This is also a fund raiser for our upcoming adoption:)

The cost is $10 per person with a $30 family cap. You will get one raffle ticket with your admission and 3 raffle tickets with your family admission. We will also be selling them 10 for $10. We also have many amazing silent auctions. Bounce houses, face painting, worship and live music!! What more could you ask for.

Date:	Sunday, November 8, 2009
Time:	5:30pm - 9:00pm
Location:	Parma Park Church of God
Street:	12000 Huffman Road
City/Town:	Parma, OH

Calling All Prayer Warriors

I am calling all prayer warriors! If you read this and think...well that is not me, I want to challenge you that it is! I have never been much of a prayer warrior. I have realized that it is mostly because of self-sufficiency and pride. I needed to repent. A couple of weeks ago, I was worrying about adoption stuff and God challenged me to change those worries into prayers. I am amazed at how sweet my communion with God has become. I am amazed by His strength. He is most strong when I am most weak. Let me tell you, I am learning what weakness is through this process.

We are right now under a full attack from the enemy. God's word says, "God sets the lonely in families" Psalm 68:6. We know that anything that God does, Satan tries to destroy. There is nothing that Satan wants more than to cause us to shrink back and fail. BUT my Jesus says that IT IS FINISHED. I know that the battle is already won! This is where we need you to pray for us.
Please pray:

1. Pray for complete healing of Faith and that nobody else gets sick.
2. Pray for Doug and my marriage. It never fails that when there is a lot going on that that is the first thing that is attacked. It also doesn't help that I am where I am hormonally:)
3. Pray for our other children. No need for details here but PRAY
4. Pray for our event. Pray that God would be Glorified! Pray that peoples hearts would be open to adoption. Pray for the Lord to pour out His blessings for us financially.
5. Pray for safe travels for our friends who are coming in from North Carolina! Cant wait to see them!!
6. Please pray for Ethiopia. The drought is just getting worse there and the orphanages are seeing unprecedented numbers of children coming into care. Please pray for these children and their families.

Thanks so much for all of your support and prayers.

To all of you who have posted about my last post. Sorry I have not responded yet. Faith has been so sick and it has not allowed me time to do much. You can post your bid right in the comments section. The bidding will end on Saturday night at 10pm est. I will contact the highest bidder. This is a one of a kind piece. I think that she may make more at a later date.