http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=4PcL6-mjRNk
Nacho wants one of these for Christmas this year~! Check it out!

I received this today from my Father-in-Law and thought I should share it. The message certainly gives us peace in our adoption journey.

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that He had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered,
"Oh, that's easy," "When I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

This is Matt. I came home from work today and had a large package waiting for me from Lucasfilm. They sent me a resin statue of Darth Maul, my favorite new character from the Star Wars prequel trilogy. I had mentioned in the interview that I loved the look and presence of Maul and they sent me this beautiful work of art in the pictures here. Very cool. This whole experience the last few weeks has been pretty amazing!

Referral Update:

We recently received news that CCAA (Chinese Center Adoption Affairs) referral cutoff date for this month is January 4, 2006. (Finally in OUR LID year!!)

of the referrals our agency received, they were all girls and one set of twins! The children ranged in age from 6 1/2 month to 8 1/2 months. Also, the children in this referral group are from the following Provinces: Jiangxi and Hunan. Congratulations to these families!

http://www.starwars.com/community/news/family/f20080303/index.html

The official fan site interview is up... check M out!

March First
============

march v. To proceed directly and purposefully. To progress steadily onward;
advance. To be arranged in an orderly fashion that suggests steady,
rhythmical progression.


Giving advice is easy. Giving really good advice is harder.
Providing an example is hardest but is usually the most effective way of
influencing both youth and adults. After all, adults are simply older
youths who were influenced by someone's example early in life.

Our walk or march through life is the greatest teacher that we will provide
for others. Even Paul in the Bible said, "Follow my example, as I follow
the example of Christ."
(1 Cor 11:1 NIV)

Today is the beginning of the month of March.

Perhaps today should also be the beginning of a new walk.
A walk of direction and purpose. A walk worthy to follow.

March first.

Then advise.