Child abuse and adults who cover up needs to stop-Yeah for the NCAA

In light of the Penn State affairs in the news lately I decided to express my feelings about what is going on and the penalties given to Penn State by the NCAA. My response all came from a status posted on fb this afternoon. I could not just let that go without my comment and now I feel more obliged to share :

Paul and I have been adopting now for over 27 yrs.. Most of our children whom we adopted have suffered greatly under the supposed care of a loving caregiver...either a parent, a foster parent, other family members , orphanage workers and their very own gov'ts.. I have been open about many of the abuses that they have suffered and have seen them overcome much...but there is always a constant feeling of grief, anger and out right disgust that comes from within me when I let myself dwell to much on these adults who prey on children- most of them are never held accountable for their actions and this sin always has a rippling affect. It has caused many issues in the lives of these children and for some they may never get over the harm that was done by a supposedly loving caregiver....

Now when I first heard about Penn State and the Sandusky abuse I was again troubled by yet another story of a "supposed person who really cares " that has abused the trust of the children in his care...not only that he created a group to help and instead we now know the "help" he provided for his own sexual pleasure...disgusting at best and I don't even want to spend more of my words on this monster...but when I read about where it took place and for how long and that the administration of a respected and well run sports machine were aware of it then I am even more disgusted. I am not a football fan at all and my feelings about that are saved for another blog post . I will say though that in America I believe it is a GOD and not one that I believe should be given the amount of hype and money that it does...( all I will share for now).

I shared my feelings on the fb comment and knew I would get some upset. I respect the opinion of the original author and even some of the comments but one was written in capital letters and I felt like they could not respect my opinion as I wish to do with theirs- if shared in a mature way...( again another blog post) . Now for me I feel the sanctions placed upon Penn State were good...I think the bold and strong statement that the NCAA will not tolerate this sexual abuse or the knowledge of it by people who knew and did nothing is what I wanted to hear....I am sorry that the players now will be affected by this sin but that is what happens when there is sin- It ripples out to many other innocent victims. I was even challenged that Joe P did not know about it...my decision was not based on that at all...He should have known as other adult caregivers in my own children's lives should have-and it should have been reported and yes I am outragged about the issue of some did report and nothing was done about - Adults need to make sure someone does something to stop it...This was going on for 14 yrs at least.
  So I am one who feels very good about the message the NCAA sent today with the sanctions given to Penn State...I want my children to know that some do care about child sex abuse and will take a strong stand against even the knowledge of knowing it is happening and do something about it. Amen to the NCAA.

Cucumber bounty means lots of dill pickles :)

All of my children love dill pickles ....So when we get a bumper crop of cukes you know what we are making. In this picture the amount is just 2 days worth of cucumbers. Now in a family that is as big as ours it is great because I can not always say, "Eat whatever you want to". They love the fresh vegatables. Our tomatoes are just coming in...fresh salsa, tomatoe sandwiches, and green fried tomatoes are on the horizon.

We are home and here is a view at the consignment sale of all sales

I am like a child in a candy store.....

This was one of my finds...it is like a stair walker. It is a favorite of everyone. It actually is great for many of them who need to experience with movement and coordination. As you can see it is perfect and even we put Andrew on it. He was not sure at first but we put him on it again and he was beginning to enjoy it.

Some of the kids got the hang of it quickly and others needed to practice a bit...even Jesse and Judah were able to coordinate their body and do it. If you live in the Raleigh/Durham area there are 2 more days for this consignment sale...and Sunday is half price day.

Of course it was very good to visit with Jenn, Jeremiah and our precious grand babies- Ella, Ezra, Eli and Zoe. It was a quick trip but great to see them.

What can you do with 13 pool rings ?

 This was taken yesterday when it rained. This shot was taken when the sun was also shining. It was a weird weather day but the kids had fun in it.

Wednesday I am headed down to NC to visit Jenn and her family :) We will also be going to that super huge consignment sale...I feel like a kid in a candy store when we go...We spend the whole day there because there is so much to see and do....this time we are bringing Ava, Mya and Ella to the sale with us. They will love it I am sure. See you when I get back.........

Swimming in the rain is one of the highlites of our day today

It began to rain while we were swimming today. There was no thunder or lightening so I let the kids continue to swim...and they loved it.

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A life planted in our family is alot like our garden.....

These were our plants in our veggie garden the first day we planted them.....

Look at them now...huge, lucious and producing fruit...lots of healthy veggies for us to eat....So much that we have plenty to share with others even with our mega family size.....

Canteloup, tomatoes, cucumbers, egg plant, zuchinni, yellow squash , peppers and I grow parsley to attract monarch butterflies....

Seedless green grapes

Then of course there are my flowers...don't these sunflowers and black eyed susans just smile at you ?

I love the contrast of the first picture with the garden picture now...with a little care, water, fertilizer, and sevin to keep bugs away...and TLC we are reaping what we have sown.

I see the lives we have invested in sort of in the same way....Some of the children who we have adopted come from some pretty tough backgrounds...they are smaller than they should be, not very strong or healthy because of poor nutrition or not enough food, abuse and neglected...but we give them what they need to grow and blossom ...we share the knowledge of God's truth and His love with them and then we watch them as they grow into the person God created them to be. We begin to see the benefits of our daily love, and care given to them and what a blessing it is to see a life changed.Just like in our garden that was dry and barren at first and then full of the fruit of our labor and love- we reap what we have sown. Not always do we reap what we think we will sow....sometimes our veggies are bitter, or rot before we pick them and we have to not use it for a salad but it is good to fertilize the soil....God has a plan for all the lives of my children. My desire is that they all will choose the life of following Christ as believers ....that they all have the personal knowledge of knowing Him and that their relationship is real to them. Sometimes this is not on my time table and I have to relax and let God. I have lots to share about this and hope to very soon...but releasing your child to the world has been one of the hardest aches for me but I have learned so much thru these times .

Just a small peek at our day....

This swim cap came with a pair of goggles and the kids have had fun with it...as you can see. Goofy kids :)

Don't you just love this guy ?

My Olympic swimmers- Ava and Mya

Enjoying snack at swim time....

A nap before work

Volleyball anyone- you play and get hot then jump in the pool.

Sadie , Emma and Willi hanging around with us....

It was hot for a week...so hot we only were outside to swim. The past few days it was cooler so we were outside enjoying being outside. I think we are the only family who goes out ever around here . Our kids are active and play sports. We used to join the rec. league and participate in soccer, and basketball. Since we have so many kids in our family we have our own teams and they play together...sometimes we join another family and play soccer but usually it is just us...Even our dogs are slim and healthy from all of the exercise they do.