Easter Partying!

Yesterday was a fun day. Kaylee and Lily both had Easter parties at their school. Madison's grade is old enough that they don't have parties anymore. :( LOL!

Here's Kaylee in her pretty Easter dress:
And, Lily in hers:
Lily had lots of fun finding her eggs and then they had a party in their classroom.
Kaylee also had an egg hunt and party.
I love Easter weekend! Good Friday marks the anniversary of my adoption being finalized (33 years ago) and so it is always a special day for many reasons! Easter Sunday will be the 2nd year anniversary of my family going to church together! The Lord has done so many wonderful things in my life and blessed me so much and I can look back and see how He has always been right there leading and guiding me.

We will be going to church Sunday and then heading over to my MIL's house for lunch and our annual Easter egg hunt with the girls and Zoey. It is so nice to have today off with no school or dance! I think I better use this time to get some packing done! One week until moving day!!!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!!!

Logo Designs

I have been having so much fun learning how to use Photoshop Elements!! It really is addicting, but kind of overwhelming too. I was looking through all of these digital scrapbooking kits online and found a couple that I really liked. I bought them just so I could play around, but I don't think I can really use them for my business, since they are not for commercial use.

Here is the first header I made, using a kit. I thought it was cute. :) I have been using hot pink all this time with my old business and I'm kind of tired of it and wanted something bright and colorful for my new business. Then, after I saw this one, I thought the colors worked because when you think of primary colors, you think of kids anyways (since I'm going to be making dollies). I also want something that will capture people's attention when they see my button, etc.
Well, I got to looking around and there are some kits you can use that will allow you to use their graphics on websites, as long as you pay an extra fee. So that may be a good option for me. The whole point of going with big cartel and getting photoshop is so I don't have to pay someone to design my website for me, so I'm just learning as I go. Ha!

I have known about Broken Box designs for awhile and I have always loved her work! The best part is that she allows you to use her designs on websites, business materials, on things you make and sell, etc. I actually bought this "crafty girl" design a long time ago and have put it on here before. I just think she's so cute! I'm not sure if I'll keep her as my "brand", but I really like how the "hope handmade" came out and I think I'll keep it. Not sure about the colors yet though. Comparing it to the other design above, I think they need to be a little darker/vibrant. I found the fonts over at Kevin & Amanda's free fonts blog. They have some really adorable fonts!

I put the little house at the end for a very specific reason. When I was trying to think of a new name, I kept looking at this outfit that my Mom framed for me and trying to think of something that would go along with it. It has a little red house on it with a bright blue roof.


This outfit is so special to me. I was wearing it when my story of hope first began to unfold! This picture was taken when I was 9 months old and that is my Mom holding me. Only she wasn't my Mom yet....she was just keeping me. Little did we know that just four months later, she would be my Mom and my new life that God had always planned from the beginning would begin! So, that little house at the end of "handmade" truly does symbolize so much to me!! It means family, hope, and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

I'm sure my logo will keep evolving as I continue to play with it. It sure has been fun! I really appreciate any feedback you might have too. I want my new look/identity to be fun and be something that would make someone want to visit my shop! Now, I can't forget that I actually have to MAKE something for my shop! Haha! That's going to be a whole other design process! :)

My First Gussy and my Birth Mom Decision

I was SO excited this week, when I found a package from my BFF Veronica on my porch, and inside was my very first Gussy!!!! As Gussy says, "Yeow!!"

If you know who Gussy is, you know why I am SO excited! If you don't know who Gussy is, get over there to her blog and meet her!! She truly inspires me, as a handmade business owner.

Veronica first asked me if I had been to her blog several months ago and I stayed up way late reading it. What I love most about her is that she loves to support handmade businesses and she loves to give advice on what has worked for her.
So, this was just such an awesome gift to get in the mail! Gussy is just so inspiring, and super fun, and a great blog to read!

On a different note, the past few days I have been under attack. When I got Ver's package, it was actually a bright spot in my day, a much needed one! Y'all know I advocate for adoption and I believe it is one of the most beautiful things. I still believe that. However, it is not always a fairytale. I debated on whether to even talk about it, but I think it's important to keep it real on here. I have been getting the ugliest, nastiest, most vile and vulgar text messages on my phone from my birth mother. Messages that I literally had trouble reading because they used words that I won't even repeat. Seriously. It came completely out of the blue and without provocation. Y'all know I have always had nothing but a kind heart toward her, and have never hated her for her choice. I have always been incredibly grateful for being given up for adoption!

So, when I got the first message, telling me how I needed to forgive her and stop hating her, I promptly let her know that I have never hated her and I am so glad that she made that decision. Well, I won't go into further details, but it just made me realize how God has been looking out for me my whole life. He took this sick, malnourished infant, that surely would have died without proper medical care and he placed me in the hands of my Aunt Barbara, who knew that I needed a family and a home. You all know the rest of the story, that I was given to my parents (blood relatives) and raised with nothing but love. I just never really knew the extent of how important it was that God placed me in a family that could shelter me (emotionally) from everyone and give me hope and a future.

I was shocked to be so attacked by someone that you all know I would have given a chance. But, she is not mentally stable and she is blaming me for the fact that I was given up for adoption. I was an infant! I have never been spoken to by anyone in that way ever in my life. I will not apologize for the fact that I loved my Mom, Dana (my adopted mom), dearly with all of my heart. You would think that my birth mom would be thankful that I had such a wonderful life, but she is actually mad that I did and she didn't.

Literally, the only contact I have ever had in my life with her is once at a funeral and that one visit at Aunt Barbara's. So, she does not know me and I do not know her. I used to wonder if I might feel guilty later in life for not getting to know her better. Now, I actually have no desire to ever speak to her again. I will never wonder if I should have gotten to know her or feel guilty for not. I forgive her for her ugliness.......I know that was just an attack from the devil to try and cause me pain. But, I would be too fearful to ever speak with her again and I will have to change my number if her harassment continues.

It is a really odd position that I never expected to be in. I have never been one to hold grudges, but for my own safety, I cannot and will not speak with her again. Today, as I prayed to God to erase the thoughts of those messages from my mind, I clicked over to Amy's blog and her post was exactly what I needed to read. I love when God does that, when He speaks to us through other believers. It's almost like a direct response to my prayer! Then, my Aunt Barbara called just to check in with me and see how I was doing. Aunt Barbara is my birth mom's sister. Their mom, my grandmother, was also over there to offer her support.

I certainly am not writing this to bash on my birth mother. I just think I would not be keeping my adoption story honest if I pretended that it turned out all fairytales and roses. I have also always known that God has been holding me in the palm of His hand my entire life, but it just made me realize the extent of how amazingly He brought every detail together to give me the best life possible. It just makes me that much more thankful that I grew up with such loving parents, that most of all taught me to trust in Him. It also makes me realize how differently it could have all turned out. I don't know what kind of person I would be today, if it had. It truly is one of those things that will have me praising God for as long as I live (even though I would have anyways!). The one thing I will ask is that you might say a prayer for my birth mom, for her to be released from the torment that the enemy clearly has over her.

I have thought very hard about this decision and I have decided to change my business name. Most of you know that Summer Suzette was my birth name. I originally decided to use it because I thought it was cute and when asked, I could bring adoption awareness to others by explaning the meaning behind it. Unfortunately, this whole thing has tainted that name for me and I can no longer be proud to use it. It makes me feel like I am bringing honor to my birth mom and dishonor to my real mom. I haven't decided what to change it to, but I am certainly open to suggestions! I would love a shorter name (two words max) that is cute and goes along with the handmade dolls that I plan to make. Maybe I can take a poll on here once I have it narrowed down to a few. That would be fun!

I just feel like this year is a year of changes, positive ones that I am looking forward to!

A Letter, A Divine Burden, and Band!

I've been meaning to post about this for awhile. One day, I was gone shopping and I came home and found this letter:
Evidently, the cotton ball on Lily's poodle skirt I had made her fell off. I just thought it was hilarious that Madison wrote me a letter and put in on my sewing table, along with the skirt. LOL!! I just wanted to make sure and post about it, so I can look back on it. Kids are so funny!

I have SO much to do this week, but I am tired!! LOL!! Luckily, we have no more dance this year and the girls don't really have any homework this week. I still have teacher gifts to make and goody bags to make and someone at Madison's school had a bright idea to have them wear "colonial style" clothing to school on Wednesday for Colonial Day...........right here before Christmas! I really have tons to do and going around trying to figure out what kind of skirts they wore during colonial times was not exactly what I had on my agenda. Ha!! I always try to look at the bright side though, and so I thought this will give me a great reason to shop at our pregnancy center resale shop.....so really it will be a chance to make a donation by purchasing a skirt there. Let's pray they have some kind of long colonial skirt. :D

This year, our church has some members who are going to be traveling into Mexico for Christmas, so we are donating lots of things so that they can drop them off at Lily of the Valley orphanage in Chihuahua, Mexico. I was so excited, because one of my resolutions this year was to figure out my "divine burden". Your divine burden is what God has given you a passion for, what breaks your heart, what He has placed upon your heart and called you to care about. Well, my divine burden is the orphans/adoption, so to find out about this opportunity was just like a huge blessing! I went shopping today and I had to stop myself several times from just crying in the middle of the hair goodies aisle at Target. I was just looking at all the pretty things and picturing a little girl putting them in her hair, and hoping and praying that she will know that she is loved and that someone here in Texas cares about her.......that Jesus loves and cares about her. It just made me realize how much I take for granted. Every day I hurry through brushing and fixing my little girls' hair, putting pretty bows and clips in them, hugging them and giving them a kiss and telling them to have a great day. How many sweet little girls don't have that? Oh, it breaks my heart.

I have thought a lot about my business, Summer Suzette Couture, and I have decided to shut it down for awhile. I'm donating the remaining things to the orphanage. I just do not have any time at all right now to focus on it and you just can't run a successful business when you don't have time to devote to it. I may open it up again in a few months, if I can streamline my products into things that aren't quite so time-consuming.

Today, Kaylee came home with a letter saying that she was being invited to be in the new primary school band! Evidently, her music teacher was awarded a grant for this project and they are going to practice on Mondays (our one free evening.....thank goodness it didn't conflict with her dance!) and will be learning to read music and focusing on mainly percussion instruments. Doesn't that sound so neat?! They've never had this before, so I am honored that Kaylee was chosen. She is really coming into her own and blossoming with her own unique talents. I love that!

Whew! Busy, busy, busy............and lovin' it!

Elijah's Adoption Video!

I'm sure most of you know and read Amy's blog. They just brought Elijah home from Ethiopia not too long ago and I wanted to share their video with all of you, just in case you haven't seen it yet! It is such a beautiful story and at the end, she asks, "What story will you allow God to write through you?" That's such a powerful question!

Our Journey to Elijah Mihretu - Ethiopia Adoption from Amy @ Filled With Praise on Vimeo.

I can't remember if I ever shared this on here before, but if you watch at the end, you can see the shirts I got to make for their airport homecoming. :) I was so honored to make them and to be a part of such a wonderful and amazing thing!
I am looking forward to watching Elijah grow up and seeing how many other families are led to adopt because of his story!

Orphan Lullaby

I totally found this video/song the other day on youtube by accident. I was watching a video on someone's blog or something, I can't even remember, and it was one of the videos that popped up and I decided to listen to it.

This is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard! Have y'all ever heard it before? It reminds me of something my Mom might would've sang to me when I was little. Makes me want to cry, seriously. There's just something about music that brings out every single emotion inside of me.

I really wish I knew how to play the guitar and write songs. I would love to sing this kind of music! So beautiful!

What's Been Going On

We are getting much better over here!! Kaylee came down with a fever/sore throat and stayed home on Tuesday, but was better by Wednesday and was able to go to school. Lily's bumps are slowly fading and going away too.

Easter Sunday, here we come!! Thank you for all of your prayers!!!!

Yesterday, Lily was dancing around in the kitchen and she always ends with a fancy pose on the floor. Well, it cracked me up yesterday when she said, "Wasn't that amazing, Momma?!" LOL!! I said, "It sure was baby girl, it sure was!" :D
Today, the girls had Easter parties at school. My MIL watched Lily for me and I went to Kaylee's party and Morgan went to Madison's, since they were scheduled at the same time.

Don't you love these peep toe shoes?!! Payless!!!! (My favorite store for their shoes!)

Sweet sisters! I wish I had a sister growing up!

Searching for eggs. They got to put 8 eggs in their basket and the thing this year was that each egg had to have a different number, so that they would end up with a 1,2,3,4,5, etc... It just made it a little bit more challenging for them!

I love her smile!

Madison's school didn't do an easter egg hunt, since they're 4th graders, but they did a water balloon toss. She said it was fun!

It was a busy day. Madison had dance and then Kaylee had a game. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow!!

Good Friday is also the 32nd Anniversary of my adoption being made final! Isn't that neat?!! The Lord has been looking out for me my entire life and I just love Him so much!!

We will also be having our first service at our new building on Easter Sunday. Needless to say, I won't be seeing Morgan much this weekend, as they will be furiously working to get everything finished before Sunday!! Actually, I haven't seen much of him at all for the past 5 weeks. He has been working his normal 40 hour/week job and then literally about 25 hours/week at the church.

Say a prayer for them that time will stand still a little bit in our building, or that a couple of hard workers will show up at the door and ask how they can help. Haha!!! Either one will work, as long as they are able to get finished. LOL!

Flip Flops to Adopt and Church Update!

I've been meaning to tell you about these super cute flip flops that I ordered the other day! Amy, who is adopting Elijah from Ethiopia, told us about Melanie on her blog one day. Melanie is a teacher at Amy's kids' school and they have decided to adopt from Ethiopia too! God is doing some amazing things over there in TN!!

In order to raise funds for their adoption, Melanie is making these cute flip flops in any color that you want. I ordered mine in hot pink (surprise, surprise, huh?!). And they come with a really cute fluffy scrunchy to match! The girls and I have been loving that scrunchy! It's so soft and gentle on our hair and really cute and fluffy.

So, I thought I would tell you about them so that you could order some too! Who doesn't love a super cute pair of flip flops?! And don't forget that by ordering some, you are helping to bring her child/children home!! What could be better than that?

*****************

Well, the construction at the new church building is going well so far. Morgan worked out there all day Saturday and most of Sunday afternoon. I was surprised that only a few guys volunteered to help. Even so, they got almost 2 rooms framed and are making great progress. If you could pray for them, I know those who have volunteered must be getting very tired. Hard manual labor will just take everything out of you (I'm assuming.....y'all know I know nothing about that! Ha!) Anyhow, this week is crucial because all the framing has to be completed so that the electrician can do his work by Sunday. Sunday, we have a team from Waco coming in to do the sheetrock, so everything else has to be done by then!

Hope everyone has a great week!!

Scared to Death

Woo hoo! Today, I was finishing up a book and decided to see if the new Beth Moore book was available to download to my Nook yet, and it was! I almost bought it at Walmart the other day, but put it back because it was $20. I was able to get it on my Nook for $9.99. Hooray! It's called "So Long Insecurity". I think this will be my 11th or 12th book to read this year already!

Also, work has already begun on our new church building. Morgan was telling me that the concrete that needed to be knocked out has been done and building materials are getting delivered tomorrow. Awesome!

Okay, on to more serious issues. I have been dealing with something that I need prayers for. In praying about whether or not adoption is God's will for us, I have realized something. I have realized that it is so easy to trust God, when everything is pretty easy, comfortable, and predictable. But, the minute that something major comes up that scares me to death, I have realized that I am not trusting Him in the way that I thought I did.

Here's the deal. I am completely FOR adoption. Morgan is for it. The money doesn't scare me. I know God will provide. The paperwork doesn't scare me. I am a very organized person by nature and love to have a good challenge. The home study is a little intimidating, but I know it will be fine. But that 14+ hour flight?! Scares.me.to.death........

And here's why:

Well, first of all, I have travel anxiety in general, no matter if it's by car or by plane. And there's the loss of patience that I have acquired since Mom died. I have zero patience when it comes to things taking hours. I can't stand being stuck somewhere either. My first reaction is to want to flee, to get some fresh air and I'm good. So, you can already see how being stuck on a 14 hour flight might be distressing. But, that's not even the worst part of it.

The plane could crash. Now, I'm not afraid of dying. If it's the Lord's will for me to go in my mid-30's, then obviously that is the right decision. Here's where the trust issue comes in though. Everyone will say to just trust the Lord to protect and take care of me. If I have faith, He will keep that plane in the air, right? Well, I'm not so sure. I have experienced first-hand that horrible things happen, no matter how much faith you have. It could very well be His will that the plane crash.

So, I trust that His will is always perfect, but I also feel like maybe I will just be in control of this whole situation and just eliminate that risk. I mean, I can't die on the flight if I'm not on it. And this is when I realized that although I say I trust Him, I really still feel like I can somehow be in control. I still have not surrendered my fears so that I can fully trust in Him. I just can't do it. I can't take the risk of leaving my girls without a Mom. As if I really have any control over that at all! I know logically, I'm only alive right now because God chooses for me to be. But, I still cannot take that leap of faith in this area. And I really need prayers for that!

I have looked at this two ways:

Perhaps, we are not supposed to adopt internationally at all. Maybe the travel issues exist because God has a child right here in the US for us.

Or, maybe He wants to get the glory for this when I do make that flight, because let me tell you.......if I do, it will not be from my own strength, that is for sure!

I would love to hear your advice on this!! That's also a big reason why I was so excited that our next series at church is on Fear.....I really don't think that is a coincidence! I just love that this blog allows me to talk about the things that are on my mind too. It really does help just to get my thoughts out there, however jumbled they may be!

A Sign?

You know how I was saying I often wake up and I'll be singing a song in my head, like I just keep hearing the song over and over? It's no surprise, since I do love music so much. This morning was no different. I was laying there, after pushing snooze about 3 times (LOL!) and I was singing:

"In the end we're all God's children now......we gotta learn to love"
"In the end we're all God's children now......we gotta learn to love"

Just singing it over and over. I knew it was a Leeland song, because I was hearing Leeland sing it, but it is not one that I normally listen to. You know how when you have a favorite CD, there are always a few that you usually skip over? Well, this is one that I almost always skip over. I don't know why, because it's actually a pretty good song. It's just not one of my favorites. I even had to look it up to see what CD it was off of and what the actual title of it is.

I did think it was kind of weird that it would be the one going through my mind, until I actually realized what the words were that I was singing. Then, it was another one of those moments that could easily be dismissed as coincidence (which is exactly what Morgan did), but I just know better, because I was praying about something very specific last night and told God that He was just going to have to give me a sign about it or something, because I have no idea if it's His will or not. I still don't even know.

You see, it's something that I have always known that I wanted, since I was a little girl, and then life just happened and it got pushed aside. And then I thought it just probably wouldn't ever be possible, but that was before I learned that with God, all things are possible. It's something that I've always been passionate about, because it's something that has blessed my life so much. It's not a decision to be taken lightly though, and of course, it's not just my decision to make. It's one that I expect most of our family won't "get". I also realize that it may not be God's will and there may be other plans He has for us to do that will fulfill His purpose better, and I'm excited about whatever those plans are for our family.

So, as I lay in bed last night, praying that God would help me understand His will for our family regarding adoption, I just told Him that I know if it's meant to be, that it will fall into place, but if He wanted to give me a sign or something, that would be great too. Ha! And then when I woke up singing,

"In the end we're all God's children now........we gotta learn to love,"

it was hard for me not to think that it might just be that sign that I prayed for, because All God's Children is the adoption agency that I have been researching. I don't know if it was a sign or not, but I just wanted to document this, in case it does turn out that we take that journey one day. It will take lots of prayer, but I know that if this is what God has planned, He will show us the way.

Bloom Where You're Planted!

Last night, we watched "Facing the Giants" and it was such a great movie!! One part really spoke to me. It's the part where Mr. Bridges tells Coach Taylor that he still has an open door and the Lord is not through with him yet. He says the Lord has placed him here, and until he moves him, he is to bloom where he is planted.
I loved that so much!! That's going to be my goal for 2010, to bloom where I am planted!
I hope if you haven't seen the movie, you will watch the clip I am talking about. Fast forward it to 2:30 and you can see it. It's really good!

Well, today it is time to see how much money was raised for Amy for Elijah's adoption fund! When I told her I wanted to do this, I told her it probably wouldn't be much, but I have faith that the Lord will take this money and multiply it! The final total raised was:

$119.25

Yay! Thank you so much to everyone who helped by buying something from my website! I have a special surprise that I have been feeling that the Lord wanted me to do. The other 50% that was raised will be given to Lauren for Tucker's adoption fund. So, if you were one of those who did purchase something from me between October and December, just know that 100% of what you spent is going to help these two families bring their little boys home! Just to make it easy, I'm going to send $125 to Amy and $125 to Lauren.
Happy New Year everyone!!! Oh, and if you could say a prayer for Amy's daughter, Ryann, she has pneumonia and is not feeling very well. :(

Adoption Awareness Month

I have been so excited to follow Amy's journey to bringing Elijah home from Ethiopia! They just got their number on the waiting list......#26! What's amazing is that Amy's family is not just helping one child. There has been a ripple effect and others are being led to adopt too! God is amazing in that way, isn't He? It's easy for us to think, "what can I really do......how can I make a difference just by myself?" But, the awesome thing about God is that He will take what we can do and He will multiply that in ways that we can't even imagine!


I wanted to introduce you to my new friend Lauren. Her and her husband have decided to adopt from Ethiopia too! Amy and Lauren are blog friends and Amy decided to pray for them and God's will for them to adopt. At that same time, Lauren and her husband began to feel that God was leading them to adopt and she had no idea of Amy's prayers! You can read the amazing story here and you can visit Lauren's blog by clicking on their button:

It may not be in my future to adopt (trust me.....I've mentioned it several times to Morgan.....LOL!), but I can help others who are and then watch and see how God multiplies what little I can do into what amazing things He can do! I heard that November is also adoption awareness month, so if you feel led to help these sweet families out, I think that would be awesome!

A Mohawk and a Tire Swing

Remember this post the other day, when I said I secretly wished I could pull off a mohawk?




Well, look at what I found...........................







Oh yeah! That's me when I was 13 1/2 months old. Do I look super awesome with a mohawk, or what? LOL!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't that so funny!!!! I forgot all about this picture. I was digging through some old photos and found it! Hahahaha!!! =D I'm not sure my Mom knew how far ahead of the times she was when she gave me that hairdo. I'm not quite sure what she was thinking. Hee hee!


Another really neat picture I found was this one:

Remember how I told you that my Mom, my Aunt Barbara, and Susan (my birth mother) used to play together when they were growing up? Well, here is a picture of them playing on the famous tire swing that I've heard so much about over the years. If this doesn't speak volumes about the awesomeness of God's perfect plan, then I don't know what does! Here they are, having tons of fun, having no clue how their lives would all turn out. Amazing!!!

That's my Aunt Barbara pulling the swing, Susan on the swing, and my Mom up front. I just couldn't have written a better story if I tried!!!

The Gift of Family

"He declared that from that day forward, you would be known as Kristin Denise Long, then hit his gavel........Baby, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind or your Dad's, that the Lord had this all planned from the very beginning." --Dana Kay Long

Lynnette asked us the other day if we had any photos that we might like for her to enhance or make look better. I remembered this photo and told her it would mean alot to me if she could see what she could do because this photo represents such a wonderful day to me. This was the day of my final adoption hearing, the day God's perfect plan came true to give me the most precious gift there is on Earth.......the gift of a family!

Here is the before picture. It was a scanned photo and starting to darken and yellow from age.

Here, she made the colors so much more vivid!

Here is a black and white version.

And a little bit different color version.


Thank you so much, Lynnette! I will definitely be printing and framing one of these! I just love them!!

Adoption is such a beautiful blessing. I think about my friend Amy, and that one day she will have her own family adoption picture with Elijah! If you haven't stopped by her blog lately, she has an Etsy shop, is selling ornaments, and has a coffee fundraiser going on now too, to help raise money for Elijah's adoption fund.

I'm still donating 50% of my sales to her fund too. Several people have asked me how long that will be going on, and I really don't have an answer for you. Ha! I don't have any plans to stop anytime soon. I'll probably just keep doing it until the end of the year. I know my shop is starting to look a little bare again, and I do have plans to add new things.......I've just been a little busy lately. I'm planning to add red and green bows for Christmas and I'm going to work on some Christmas signs too. If there's anything specific you would like, just let me know and I'll try my best to make it and add it to my shop! Thank you so much to everyone who has been so encouraging and supportive! Being able to help in some way gives me purpose.

Summer Suzette Couture

I have been so excited for this week at Kelly's Korner so that I could participate!
I love making cute things for babies and girls, and Summer Suzette Couture is my way to do that. At first, I just wanted to make things because it was fun, but then I really began to feel that my business could also have a more meaningful purpose, if I used it to help others. It all started when I decided to make note cards to raise money for my baby cousin, Zachary, who spent his first two months in the NICU at Texas Children's Hospital. Now, I feel like this is the whole reason for Summer Suzette Couture. If I can have fun making things, and help others in the process, I feel like I'm accomplishing what the Lord wants me to.


I would love for you to stop by my website and have a look around!

You can read more on there about how my business got started and see what kind of things I like to make.

I am currently raising money for Amy's family, from Filled with Praise, to help bring home baby Elijah from Ethiopia that they are adopting. I am adopted too, and it has been such a wonderful blessing in my life.
50% of everything I sell will go to their adoption fund and shipping is free!

P.S. I am in the process of editing and uploading more products, so please stop back by my website often to see my new things =)

How Could I Not Give it Away So Freely?

Lately, I've been thinking alot about helping others. It seems alot of other people have this on their mind too, because several of my blog friends have posted on the subject too.
I'm finding that every day, I'm presented with different opportunities to encourage, give to, and pray for others. Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed because I want to help everyone and I just don't know how. It's funny how I used to never really think twice if I would see a homeless person on the side of the road. Now, my mind goes to racing about how I can help them or whether or not I have something to give. What I've realized though is that I don't have to save everyone all by myself. Like Denver said in "What Difference Do it Make?"......all I have to do is be a blessing, and God will take care of the rest.
I think the important thing to remember is to be a blessing in the first place. I think sometimes we don't even make it that far. It can be tempting to want to keep everything that we earn for ourselves, or to feel like it's really not that much that we have to give, so why bother? But, I believe that those are just things that the enemy wants us to believe to keep us from loving others.
I love the song, "Follow You" by Leeland/Brandon Heath because I think it answers the question of why we should help others in need. I love how the song says, "All my needs You have supplied. When I was dead You gave me life. How could I not give it away so freely?" I saw an interview with Leeland where he talked about how this song is really about how love is an action.
When I started Summer Suzette Couture, I just wanted to make cute stuff to sell that people would like. I thought it would be a good way to boost my confidence. Hey, I'm just being honest! I have been feeling the Lord gently steering me in a direction that I never expected with it though, and that is to really make the main purpose of it to raise money for different causes. This week, I am working on lots of new things to add to my website to raise money for my sweet friend Amy, from Filled with Praise, to help bring Elijah home. This is my way of trying to make a small difference. I'm hoping to have everything posted and ready to go on Friday. 50% of all sales will be given to Elijah's adoption fund. I have decided to offer free shipping on all orders too. I won't be doing custom orders this time around, simply because with 3 little girls, I just can't always find the time. I work when I do have free time and that's not always guaranteed.
I also want to bring to your attention another family that I heard about from Lynnette, who could really use our prayers and whatever financial support we might be able to offer:

Danielle has stage IV liver cancer and her doctors have told her that it doesn't look like she has much time left. She has two small children, ages 5 and 7, and her daughter Arwen has special needs. If you click on the button above, Lynnette has listed many different ways that we can reach out in love for this family.

Another prayer request that I have is for my very best friend, Jennifer's, Mom. Remember, I asked you to please pray for her because her doctors thought she may have breast cancer? Well, the biopsy concluded that she does have breast cancer in both breasts and in her lymph nodes. We are very fortunate to have the best cancer treatment centers right here in Houston at M.D. Anderson. I believe that our prayers will make all the difference in her recovery, and I would be so grateful if you would pray for her in the weeks and months to come.

I've said before that I believe God is using this group of Christian bloggers to really make a difference in the world today! From the biggest, most popular bloggers like Angie and MckMama, to the smallest ones like me............we can all make a difference when we do things with love through Christ!

Thank you

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read my Mom's story that she wrote to me. I know some of it probably didn't make much sense, as you were probably wondering who all the people were that she talked about. I resisted the urge to explain things along the way though, because I just wanted to put it on here exactly how it was written to me. It did give me lots of hopes and dreams though, about what I could develop it into, if I really sat down and took the time to put my own thoughts, her words, and other family member's perspectives into it.

I remember when my Mom gave me that story, I couldn't read it right then, because I knew I'd break down and bawl like a big ol' baby! We could hardly even look at each other that day, and think about what was inside of those pages, without tearing up. I can't even put into words how deep the connection between my Mom and I always was.

It makes me very happy to know that I was able to share her story with others. My Mom wrote so many beautiful letters, cards, and stories to me. She also had a journal that asked different questions and she answered them, specifically to give to me. What made that so special is that alot of what was said at her funeral was in her own words.

I thought I would share a few pictures, which I've all posted on here before. I have many more, but it would take me awhile to go through them and scan them in.

This is the outfit I had on the first time my Mom saw me and babysat me. It was the one that she mentions was one of the few outfits I had when she got me.
This was us outside the courthouse, the day my adoption was final.

In the story, my Mom talks about her Mother, my Meme. Her name was Bennie.

She also talks about Aunt Ella, who was the one who suggested Susan let them adopt me. Aunt Ella was Bennie's sister. Aunt Ella was also Susan's Granny and my Great-grandmother. So, my adopted grandmother (Bennie) and my biological great-grandmother (Ella) were sisters and that is how it ended up that my adopted family was actually related to me.

I feel like I need to draw a family tree chart. LOL!

It's funny that I remember being a little girl, and my Mom never visited her family without taking me by to see Aunt Ella. But, every time Aunt Ella would see me, she would say "Your Granny loves you so much!" And that never made sense to me, until I learned about my adoption and that Aunt Ella was really my Great-grandmother.

I never saw my Aunt Barbara much (Susan's sister who had me when my Mom came to pick me up to adopt me) until my Dad's job moved us closer to her.  Once we moved here, I was able to get to know my Aunt Barbara and her and Susan's Mother, Dorothy. In fact, I mentioned that just last week I met with Aunt Barbara and Dorothy at Red Lobster for lunch.

It is amazing how the Lord brought us closer to that part of my biological family, because I don't know how I would have survived losing my Mom if it hadn't been for Aunt Barbara and Dorothy. They are the only family I have left nearby. They even sat with my Mom in the hospital. They are very special ladies, and I treasure them.

Here's a picture of my wedding day, with my Mom and Dad, and my Aunt Barbara and Dorothy.

My Mom always said, when she died, that somebody better make sure that my Aunt Barbara's version of "When He Was on the Cross" was played! My Aunt Barbara has a beautiful voice and she had the song recorded and we played it at Mom's funeral. That was very special to me.

I also have to mention my Mom's best friend Linda. Linda is the one who gave them all her daughter's baby clothes when they first got me. Then years later, we moved to the same town where Linda lived. She was a dear friend to my Mom through everything and was such a source of comfort to me when Mom died. She is a very special lady, and I don't get to talk to her very often anymore, but she's one of those people that I know is always there for me, no matter what.

I just want to say to all of you.........tell your family what they mean to you. Write it down in your own words. Tell them your last wishes and what you would like done at your funeral. It's not easy to do. But, my Mom always told me what she wanted at her funeral, where her important papers were, that I was to make sure and support my Dad if he chose to remarry, that she did not ever want to be on artificial life support or be resuscitated...........all the things that are so hard to know what choice to make as a family member if you don't have specific wishes from your loved one. When the time came, I did not have to agonize over what to do because she had left me specific instructions. As much as I tried to tune her out every time she would try to talk to me about those things, I listened and I'm so glad that I did. And because I have her very own words written to me, even though I can no longer hear her tell me that she loves me, I can open my story any time I need to, and I can read her words and feel like she is right here with me.

Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments to me. They really meant so much to me. Throughout my life, the Lord has always made sure to place people near me to support and encourage me, to love me, and I believe that you all are here for just that reason and that gift truly is priceless!

Live Passionately

Today would've been my Mom's 61st Birthday, and today has been a great day so far!

The church message was awesome, as always, and I was very excited to wear my shirt to church today that I got from my friend, Amy, to help bring Elijah home! I just hopped over to Amy's blog to copy her blog address for my post and saw that she has added more items to her Etsy shop. Let's all help her bring home that sweet baby boy!!



I went upstairs to help Lily get a movie to watch and Bella was running up the stairs like a crazy dog and I captured this picture of her. It just cracks me up! She looks so funny! She knows she's not supposed to come upstairs, so she was being all frisky. She's really the sweetest little dog.

I took Bella outside earlier and decided to snap some photos of Morgan's driveway project.

He's extending our driveway back behind the fence so he can park back there. His truck is just too big to park in the garage and we've had problems lately with kids messing with it in the middle of the night.

One night, he forgot to lock it and they stole a few things out of it. We know it must be kids because they've been hitting only unlocked cars. They won't physically break a window to get in. Then, on our Anniversary night, they put all kinds of disgusting things all over his truck and left a nice little note! Oh my.......he was furious! But, I know kids do these kind of things. Probably a dare or a football initiation, something like that. I told him he can't take it personally.

I'm so proud of him though. He and two of his guys from work did all of this yesterday. They got dirt, spread it around, built the forms, put the rebar in. Very impressive, I think! He's very good at what he does and even though he's the boss, you won't find him sitting on the sidelines, bossing people around. He gets right in there and helps get the job done. He is a very hard worker, no matter what job he has to do.

So today at church, we talked about living passionately. Having passion for life moves living to a whole new level. I can attest to that because ever since I've had passion for the Lord, my life has been awesome and it truly does feel like I've been born again!! Mark 12:30 says, "So love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy." Passion makes you come alive. We have to make sure we keep our spiritual fervor, serving the Lord (Rom 12:11) and not lose our passion for living for God.

Sometimes in order to live passionately, we have to do something drastic. Sometimes we have to create a bigger margin. Margin is the difference between your load (what you're dealing with) and your limit (the most that you can deal with). When your margin shrinks, your stress goes up. These days, we allow overcrowding in our schedules to shrink our margin to the point that we cannot live without being stressed out constantly. We talked about the story of the friends who brought their paralyzed friend to be healed by Jesus in Luke 5. They knew they needed to get their friend to Jesus to be healed, but the crowd was so heavy they couldn't reach Him. So, what did they do? They realized what was important and they removed the obstacles. They got up on the roof and lowered their friend down to see Jesus!

They knew they had a limited opportunity and they were determined to do what it took. Sometimes we get stuck on the roof worrying about things that don't matter. I think I've been stuck on the roof for the past five years!! We have to be like these guys and remove those obstacles! We have to expect the unexpected and create space for God!

(By the way, these thoughts came straight from our sermon today.....I want to give credit where credit is due!) Our Pastor said we will fall apart if we don't seperate ourselves from the overcrowding in our lives. When we do this, we will find clarity in what is important. We also should keep a constant reminder to seperate ourselves, because our natural tendency will be to slip back into our old ways. Our lives here on Earth are just a vapor. We have to add margin to our lives and live passionately for the things that matter most!

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday so far! In honor of my Mom's Birthday, I think I'll be back later to post some of my adoption story that she wrote. It's a beautiful tribute to what a loving and wonderful woman she was!

An Etsy Shop, Lifegroups, and an Aha Moment!

I mentioned my friend Amy the other day, from Filled with Praise, and that they are raising money to bring home Elijah from Ethiopia. 

Here are some of the new Christmas ornaments they are selling, if you know anyone that has adopted from Africa.  Aren't they so beautiful?!!

They also have a really cute Etsy shop now, with baby burp cloths and some beautiful fall floral arrangements.  Go check it out by clicking on this link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8030999

Here is her blog link, where you will find all of the information in greater detail :)

Remember that when you buy something from them, you are helping to shape this precious little boy's future!

Last night, we had fun at our lifegroup (small group Bible study).  It was us and 2 other couples.  We ate when we got there and then sent the kids upstairs to play.  We had bible study materials and a video on the same series that we're starting at church on Sunday, called "One Month to Live."  We were just talking about how that would change the way you live your life, if you found out you only had one month to live.  Everyone decided though, after watching the long video on this study, that we will pick a different topic to study.  We're already doing this topic at church, and so next week we are going to play some games to get to know each other better, and then start a new series the following week.  One of the couples that was there, just had a new baby Isabella, and that is who I gave the onesie to that I posted yesterday.

So, last night we were telling each other what we would do if we had only one month to live.  I said that I would probably just be so sad, knowing that I would have to leave my girls, and would probably cry alot.  Real uplifting, huh? It's the truth though!  I guess I have a different perspective, because I actually do think about death alot.  I would not be worried for myself, because I know exactly where I'm going when I die, but I would be worried for my girls, because I know how incredibly hard it is to live without a Mom.  I would probably spend lots of time writing things for them and maybe even doing lots of videos, and of course, trying to create fun memories for them to remember before my time was up!  I thought about this more, after I got home, and I honestly think I would also use that time to go out and tell people about the Lord because I know that just the fact that I was dying would really get their attention.  It would be my hope that I could convince lots of people to give Him a try!  That's what I would love for my legacy to be........that others would come to know Him because of my testimony.  Not for my sake, but for theirs!!

My first instinct yesterday, was to talk about how sad I would be to be leaving my girls behind without a Mom, but actually I've been thinking lately something that I think the Lord is trying to show me.  If something were to happen to me, and the girls were placed in the position of having to grow up without me, as hard as that would be on them, I know that it was always the Lord's plan for their life.  He knew before they were even conceived exactly how long they would have me, and if He chooses to have them grow up without me, then obviously there is a very specific reason for that.  Who knows how that would change their lives, how many people they may influence because of their story, etc. 

Something else I've been thinking about lately is this........I have spent much of the last 5 years thinking that I could not survive or be happy without my Mom here.  I kept thinking that she's not here to talk to, she's not here to make things better, she's not here for me to rely on for advice, she's not here to be my friend anymore, she's not here to help me raise my family, she's not here to

SAVE ME

and then I said to myself, "Wait a minute!  Don't I already have a savior?  Um, yes I do!!!!"  I think that's a huge, major lesson that the Lord has shown me this week.  He did not place my Mom on this earth to be my savior.  I was not meant to worship and idolize her and I'm sure it hurt His feelings that I kind of forgot along the way that He WAS put on this earth to be my savior!  I am meant to worship and idolize him and if I let Him, He will be all those things that I felt I was missing by my Mom not being here with me.  He is always here for me to talk to, to make things better, to give me advice, to be my friend, to help me raise my family, and most of all........He died and became my savior so that I would not perish, but have everlasting life with Him (and my Mom)!!  Oh my goodness, how I love these "moments" when He teaches me these things!

You're Part of Me

I was sitting here checking on my favorite blogs and this song by Barlow Girl came on the Gospel Music Channel. It's called "Never Alone" and it's one of those days where everything I hear and read is exactly what I needed to hear and read! Do you ever have one of those days? I don't believe they are a coincidence. My favorite part of the song is when she says, "We Cannot Seperate because You're part of me." I LOVE that part of the song!!! I get so excited when songs speak to me like that. Also, right now "While I'm Waiting" is on..........I LOVE that song too! I love the Gospel Music Channel!!

I've recently started reading Amy's blog, Filled with Praise, and if you haven't visited it yet, you must go over there and read what the Lord is doing in their lives! They have decided to adopt a baby boy, Elijah, from Ethiopia and they are doing everything it takes, including putting up her wedding rings for sale, just to bring him home! How many of us would be willing to do that? Her post today spoke straight to my heart. She was talking about not fearing the unknowns and not worrying. If I could learn these two things, my life would be dramatically changed! She also said, "we are not meant to live in a comfort zone." I just have a feeling the Lord knew these things are exactly what I needed to hear. It's like He sat me down, and gave me a little talk, through her blog.

I hope you will go visit her. They are selling bags, hats, and t-shirts to help raise money for their adoption and they are really cute! I just bought a pink t-shirt and I can't wait to get it. On the back it says, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves." You all know how much adoption means to me and I thought to myself, what if no one had spoken up for me when I was a baby? What would've happened to me? What kind of person would I be? Adoption is truly a beautiful thing.

Head over and visit Amy's blog! Hope you have a wonderful day!!