JUNKING

If you are an adoptive family, you might discover that your kids might hoard. Hoarding does not just apply to food, it can apply to anything at any given time. It is a security issue and can takes years to overcome. The other issue that can be a NORMAL part of your life is what I call "JUNKING" - The ability not to know how to care for your stuff and you let it junk up and/or let it get ruined.  Taking ownership of your space or stuff is a hard concept to comprehend.  HONESTLY, It is a never ending frustration on my part but I am much more relaxed about it than I used to be.  (One time, a few years ago, I cleaned out 8,  33 gallon garbage bags out from under my son's TWIN bed!!! ( I am not exaggerating!)  I found stuff I had been missing for months!! Most was trash.

MYSELF- I LIKE SIMPLICITY AND I LIKE NICE THINGS. In my book, I don't need much of something but quality and beauty are important to me. I don't like Junky things and if I have something nice, I take care of it. ( I am a thrifty shopper though and do love a bargain) My kids.... well, they like large quantities and like junk. So... somewhere,  we have to compromise..... We do clean outs 1-2 times a year, they have to give up old clothes to get new ones, Trash is trash, throw it away.  etc.... They gripe and complain and sometimes the older ones have temper tantrums like the young ones do.... BUT they pass. :)

BUT WHEN I SEE SOMETHING GETTING OUT OF HAND..... I have to step in beyond our compromise.

EXTREME JUNKING
When my kids rooms get overly cluttered and they are not following the boundaries that have been set up for keeping their space tidy, it is usually accompanied by other issues.
 I  tend to see a correlation to their minds being cluttered, their spirits being overwhelmed, emotional trash starts to clutter up their lives. attitudes become less lovely and confusion seems to visit more often.
And this always seems to hit in spurts and everyone joins in except maybe one or two.  Its sorta like a planned mutiny.... LOL!

So what do I do???
I used to scream and yell! I used to cry. I used to do a lot of things that never worked. They only ended with mad attitudes everywhere. Then defeat and overwhelmingness would set in. Now that the kids are older and we have more of them, they sorta look at me wide eyed with dumbfounded looks as if to say.... You seriously think this is a problem? What smell? I don't smell anything? Food? We can't bring food into our rooms? When did that start? You want me to pick up MY stuff off the floor??? You mean stuffing it under the bed is not storing it???

Now,  I am clever... I don't yell. I just have to figure out how to be creative.  This time, I gave a verbal warning with a deadline.
Then I left CUTE notes.

KYLO - Keep Your Love On

Clean or dirty?? who knows

There has got to a place to put this stuff. The white drawer that it is on--- is empty

When those signs didn't do what they were supposed to, I sent another verbal warning that doom is inevitable.  With some this is all it takes. With others, They smile and go on their happy, junky way.

Then came the last and threatening warning.... 

CUTER SIGNS 

The girls room is VERY SCARY! 

Two of the boy's room

Either Angels' wings shed or his feather pillow has a hole

I organized these shelves a few months ago

He says hes sooooo busy! 

This boy's room is half decent because I've already attempted cleaning

This room keeps most of their stuff put away!

 If this doesnt work, then I will move to Phase 3. I will spend my hours purging and then haul off stuf to the garbage or Goodwill and then I will send an invoice for my maid and organizing services.  I'll keep you updated.  

A VERY EASY DAY

The Carter (United) Nations had a fairly uneventful day yesterday- (Only a couple of drama filled incidents) One unnamed son had to be convinced to put his spare tire back in his car even though he claimed it gave him 5 more mpg. I told him to unload his 10lb back pack and clean out the trash or lose weight to get the same results. He wasn't sure if I was kidding or not. I wasn't. Others complained I froze them out of the house! No.... I did not blast the airconditioner, All I did, was to open doors and windows and turn on the attic fan to air out the smells that boys and girls can bring into a home. We had the most beautiful Californian day yesterday with a breeze constantly blowing in the upper 60's and sunshine and beautiful clouds and I was going to take advantage of it. oh, and completely off subject, Why do kids think that their thighs and forearms are substitutes for paper and the only thing that they can find to write with is a sharpie? Oh, and... I cut out an ingrown toenail, popped out an infected thorn in someone's foot and doctored up several scrapes AND CLEANED out my art studio! See..... very easy day.

I'm Traveling the World!

I know, I know..... I've all of a sudden been traveling a lot!  After a 3 year hiatus of no traveling this missionary blood filled girl (my parents are missionaries)  is finally back on

airplanes and doors are opening to minister in ways I have dreamed about for years. Growth and Patience have been hard to develop but now I am so excited that God is allowing me to break forth and do amazing things. Like my friend Bob Johnson says, there really is No Box when it comes to God. I've been stretched and pushed outside my box and when I have obeyed, God steps in and does amazing things.
I have an amazing husband, who sees me and my gifts and is always encouraging me to go for it even if it costs him something.

Ministering to the women of Uganda

I can close my eyes right now and as a young girl, I see my daddy preaching  and I hear him saying,  "People, Attempt Great Things for a Great God, Expect Great Things from a Great God."  Well, All my life I have quoted that to myself, it's what has reminded me that God is faithful through everyone of our adoptions. On these trips it still rings true,  I Attempted many things, that I have never done before, expecting God to show up and He is Faithful to complete the good work. In Faith, believing MY GOD is the SAME yesterday, today and forever, I've seen people healed emotionally, I've seen them delivered from demons, I've touched blind eyes and saw them open, deaf ears , to hear and people come to know a Jesus they have never known. And I stand in awe daily that he lets me be his hands and feet.

Jesus restored this lady's eye  sight so she could see!!!!!! 

That being said, My son, Graham and I have been asked to join Bob and Kimberly Johnson with Idignify on a team to several  South African cities and Mozambique with Heidi Baker at the end of July.  We will be gone for a month.  Graham's school has graciously granted him permission to miss the first week.
I stand amazed at how God funded the other two trips through my friends. I trust Him to do the same for this one.  Each of my other trips has been incredible and life changing for me as well as the ones we went to serve.  I went to minister and in return got ministered to by others and by God himself.
If you feel led, to donate, you can donate a tax deductible gift  through Idignify to the link below towards our trip. We need to raise out plane ticket money by the 19th of June. 
  IDIGNIFY- MELISSA AND GRAHAM CARTER -SOUTH AFRICA TRIP

Thanks so much to all of you who have prayed for me and donated to my trips. I pray God's blessings abundantly on you.

A little boy at Destiny Rescue- Prevention Home

In Uganda May 2013

Though i haven't even gotten started on blogging about my trip to Asia, i am posting about Uganda. 

Monday, may 6,2013 in Uganda

Here I am on the Guest house upper porch,close to midnight, watching sheet lightening shoot out across the Ugandan sky revealing colors of pink, yellow,blue and white,  I'm eating one of Esther's incredible cinnamon rolls while at the same time  a gecko on the wall keeps me company.  As I sit here, in the quite of the night with the crickets chirping, and the local dogs howling, (which actually does not make it so quiet, overwhelmingness (not sure if its a word) engulfs me. I am overwhelmed at God's goodness. I am overwhelmed at where I am today.  

About 3 years ago, I got rocked by God in this very same country.  God met me where I was and offered me a deeper relationship with him. I accepted not knowing what I was getting into, but he knew right well! Lol

Tears come to my eyes as memories flood my mind walking through this guest house. ~That spot is where I held Allenni in my arms, many nights as she clawed me and beat me out of extreme fear until she realized she was safe. ~ right there is where Isaiah took his first step. ~ and right there is the window where I had a complete meltdown in front of God as I handed him the last straw of Hope that I had of taking my kids home.  I could go on and on.... What incredible faithfulness I experienced from my God.  More than just the rescue of my kids was completed,  He rescued me from myself. What intense love He showed to me. When you have been loved like that, how can you do anything but want to stay in His arms?

Since those days, four years ago, so much has happened that I could write a book.  This spiritual journey has had many twists and turns and has been really crazy at times. I sit here with happy tears streaming down my face as it hits me that this week a dream, several prophetic words and a promise are about to begin their fulfillment. 

Though I'll keep those things undisclosed for the moment,  I can't deny God's hand in preparation for this all while I had not much clue!

As it is storming now and the lightening gives way to thunder and strong wind, all I know is that for the sake of the world, I ask God to light a fire in me. So others may know his Love. 

LAST DAY IN ASIA IS TOMORROW

Good Thursday Morning America! As I end my Thursday in Asia, you are just starting yours and let me tell you, it is going to be an awesome day! We finished our last ministry today and will head out tomorrow evening to South Korea where we will have a pretty long layover. I look forward to sharing so much more with you about my trip but that will have to wait. I have felt like I have have had a spiritual growth spurt on this trip and I will either cry on the plane home or when I get home as I process what God has done personally in my life as well as what he has done in others we met on this trip!!! Today we were in villages and it was just incredible. Just incredible. Wow! Just when I think I have a favorite day, God moves us up a level. our leadership has been incredible to thrusts us into our giftings and outside of our boxes and idea. I want to give a shout out to Leigh Michelé Brett on this trip who did an incredible job arranging everything about this trip and even denying herself ministry time so she could serve us. I have come to love this incredible woman of God and look forward to a lifelong friendship with her! I hope to blog more when I get home! We have over 6000 photos and it will take some time to sort them out! :)  There are so many stories and wonderful things to tell! 

VIDEO BLOG- VISITING A REHAB CENTER- VIETNAM

THE LEAST OF THESE- HIV HOME - VIETNAM PART 3

Our third stop for the day was at an HIV/Orphan home and the atmosphere there was the greatest. Father Joseph just glowed with Jesus' love for these kids.  He has 3 homes that are comprised of about 80 kids total. The one we went to today has about 50 small kids.  The kids are on meds for their HIV and are doing well. He said they have only lost 7 kids in 7 years.  They are in need of another nurse, if you all want to spread the word. It would mean moving to Vietnam. :) 
The kids loved the balloon animals and at first were scared of the face painting but once they figured out what it was, they wanted everything!  Father Joseph and the staff were just filled with joy to watch these kids have fun!  Mary Ellen and I were sitting on the floor doing the face painting and we had kids in our laps, behind us and hanging on us. It was very challenging to get the painting done.  Mary Ellen had this one little girl who refused to get out of her lap and we had to be diligent about keeping paint brushes out of her hands!  Mary Ellen finally gave up and by the time we were done this little girl had almost every face painting pic on her body!  Haha!! This one little boy, did not want any of the designs I had but kept motioning with his hands what he wanted. It looked like this: 

As I was laughing and we were doing this back and forth, I assumed he wanted a yellow dinosaur. My dino did not turn out as I wanted and so I wiped it off. He still made the same gesture and I sat there trying to figure out what to paint since he was so set on it, I looked at his shirt and saw power rangers. When I pointed to the yellow one, he was very happy for me to paint that! When I added blue lightening strikes, I became the hero of that little boy!  Whew! 
 We left there with those kids all happy which made my heart happy.

THE LEAST OF THESE- VIETNAM CANCER WARD - PART 2

Our next stop was at the Cancer Ward for Children at the Govt. Hospital. That was a fast and furious visit!  As I have been it international hospitals before the impact was not so much a shock for me as I believe it was for some others on our team.  As we arrived , We divided up into 6 teams and had snacks, milk, clothes and over 100 stuffed animals. We had to divide up most of the stuff outside of the bus and gathered a crowd as all these Americans were doing something!   As we hit the ward, each team taking a small room or two and the hallway where people were lined up on mats, It was like heaven came down! The person in charge of the floor was very protective of us and the kids and as word spread through out the hospital that we were handing out stuff, he screamed at them all to go away! It was just for the kids! 
As we walked into each room, giving out the things mentioned above, there really wasn't any walking room. In a room much smaller than most of our Master bedrooms were 6 beds. Kids with mats under the beds and parents that  were there with their. There were at least 24 people living in each room.  Just as fast as we got in,  It had seemed that we had brought so much but 200lbs of items seemed like nothing as we got going.  The joy and delight on the kids faces as we handed them a milk and a stuffed animal was worth every mile we traveled to get there. Unfortunately, we got ushered out as soon as we finished handing out everything, so hugging on kids was not really an option, so smiles and the love of Jesus was what we left behind. Bob's motto is just ooze Jesus and it is enough. The power of Heaven and Jesus' healing is in his hands.   But an amazing thing happened.  Bob lagged behind with Ari, his 2 year old and all of a sudden people requested that Bob and Ari bless them. They loved Ari!  She has the sweetest smile. So with her daddy, she went through the ward and they got to lay their hands on every kid and pray over them!!!!! I can't really explain publicly why this is great that Bob got to do this but it is!!!  This same little 2 year old wanted to hold an 8 year old at the medically fragile home and so her mama let her. It was a precious sight to see her sit on the mat and lovingly hold the other sick child way older than her.  This little girl already has the heart of Jesus and has just been a joy on this trip. 

It was off to lunch after that and we went to some gorgeous gardens by the River where I ate some delicious Vietnam food including a fried fish. (Served with the head) Some of my team mates had a problem with that! hehe. 

The LEAST OF THESE PART 1

Even though our day was long, it was an amazing day!!! We went to 3 places with in the city. The first was the medically fragile home run by the Catholic church. These kids all had some kind of physical and/or mental handicap and had been abandoned. They ran to greet us when we got there.  At first we just walked in and started playing with the kids and it was a little overwhelming.   I didnt know which child to sit down and play with. As I walked around stopping to pat some and talk to them, I asked God which one did I need to touch the most?  As I walked into an adjoining room, I saw him.  There he was all cuddled up in a corner.  He looked like he must have been around age 9 or 10. We will call him Saang.  He just sat there playing with a little block toy, flipping it around in his fingers. I slid to the floor to sit beside him and noticed his eyes were crossed somewhat. He didnt really notice me until I said something to him. Though he couldn't understand what I was saying, he turned his head towards me. I scooted in closer, continuing to talk to him telling him what a wonderful kid he was and that Jesus loved him. Not knowing how much he could see, I touched his face tenderly. He seemed to like it and I took his hand in mine and there we sat, very close together. Not really feeling like I needed to say much, he just held my hand and you could tell he was trying to see my face.  During this time of my holding his hand and talking quietly to him, I had another very little down's syndrome girl climb into my lap. She proceeded to lay her head on my chest and pat me! Hehe! Then evidently, she has uncontrollable urges to hit and I got side swiped  right in the front of the face before I could catch her. Man! was that painful!  Without letting go of my little friends, hand, I managed to grab hers to stop the beating and quietly spoke the word Peace, Peace.  She immediately stopped and I was so glad. She did this a few times unexpectedly,  but each time I would pray Peace, she would stop. She then decided that that it was time to get off my lap and move on and play. All this time, I had been holding on to Saang's hand.  I felt Jesus just wanted me to sit with him.  I turned my full attention back to him and everytime I had tried to pull away my hand, He just found it again to hold. I then decided to see if he would let me draw him close to hug on him. When I reached my arm around him, He immediately cuddled up to me and settled in for a long stay. Laying his head on my shoulder, he tilted his head up to hear everything I was saying and wrinkled his face as if he was trying to understand my words. As I spoke words of life over him, My heart cried out to Jesus for his salvation from his diseased body. As I sit here typing this my clothes sorta reek of his smell. Though that smell is not so lovely, I know he is lovely. He longs for love and a destiny just like the rest of us.  Fighting back tears, I smiled and loved on him as he continued to snuggle in close.  The rest of the visit was sort of a whirlwind in my mind but it was pure joy to see the children light up when I painted their faces with paint.  But Saang will forever be imprinted on my heart. 

TWO ORPHANAGES and MINISTRY TO DESTINY AFTER CARE GIVERS IN CAMBODIA