Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! The holiday season is upon us. In just a few short weeks, we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving and then hopping right into Christmas festivities. While many people's holiday seasons will look quite different this year, Ben and I are blessed to still be able to see our immediate families quite a bit this holiday season (while p...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! Last month, we asked for prayers for a quick decision by the deciding committee on the sibling set we submitted our family for consideration. During our initial waiting, I felt God telling me that we would hear by the end of September. And hear we did. Shortly after I posted the last blog, God answered our prayers (and your...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! I hope this update finds everyone reading it well and enjoying the start of fall! Here in Lee's Summit, Missouri, we've had some beautiful weather to kick off fall. Praise God! Last week, Ben and I were even able to take a Friday afternoon off to treat ourselves to a lunch date and afternoon at the park. It was a wonderful ...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! This month we celebrated Ben's 29th birthday! We were able to see his family and celebrate the week with some yummy food, fun games, and even delicious ice cream cake (Ben's favorite). We also had my sister, Destinee, up for a few days before she started school back up (via online classes). Today I am enjoying some beautifu...
Written by: Matthew WestPerformed by: Matthew West Welcome! I'm so excited you are checking out another weekly devotional based upon songs. In the last devotional I created, you may have noticed an excitement over the theme that Jesus is greater than the world. As I was writing that devotional, my heart started taking hold of the song that is our d...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! What an amazing month July has been! For those of you who don't know (or don't remember đ), July is our wedding anniversary. This year marked 6 years. It's hard to believe it's been that long. The time sure does go fast! We spent our anniversary weekend taking some time off work and just enjoying each other's company and so...
Song written by: Cody Carnes, Hank Bentley, Jessie EarlyPerformed by: Cody Carnes Welcome! Where to begin this week?... This song came to me very early on in the global pandemic of the coronavirus. One evening during a time to myself, locked up in the dark of my room after enjoying some time of Holy Yoga, I found myself entering a prolonged t...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! Wow, June has flown! I'm not sure if you feel the same way, but things seem to be getting back to busy. Now that quarantines have lifted in our area, we decided to travel to see family the previous two weekends in June. While we're still being careful how much we expose ourselves to the general public, we thought it was abo...
Song written by: Matt Crocker, Joel Houston, Salomon Lighthelm Performed by: Hillsong UNITED Welcome! To those of you reading this fairly close to the date I posted it â we live in such uncertain, difficult, and scary times, don't we? To those of you reading this later â think back to the times of the COVID-19/coronavirus global pandemic...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! We pray that everyone is staying safe and healthy in these uncertain times. What a time we are living in right now. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to each of you and your families. In the Lee's Summit Seidel home, we've continued to be blessed by our gracious Father throughout the pandemic. We've stayed quite busy...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! WellâŠCOVID-19 has hit our familyâŠindirectly (for now at least.) Two weeks ago, we received the expected (but not wanted) notice that the Philippines had temporarily closed the Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) offices â which effectively meant all adoption-related activity was now on hold. This is due to the travel restri...
Song written by: Stuart TownendPerformed by: Phillips, Craig & Dean Welcome to another weekly devotional inspired by Christian songs! I am so thankful you have chosen to journey another week through another song. Recently, God has laid it on my heart to do an Easter devotional. God has spoken to me through promptings of our church's worsh...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! Can you believe it's February already? For us, January just flew by! And, for so many reasons, February always seems to fly by as well. During February each year, along with it already being a short month, we celebrate my birthday, attend our church's annual marriage retreat, and, who can forget, celebrate Valentine's day. ...
Song written by: Katie Torwalt, Bryan TorwaltPerformed by: Francesca Battistelli For the very few of you who became used to my more regular(ish) weekly devotionals, let me begin today apologizing for the very lengthy delay in this new devotional. Please forgive me! Believe it or not, I've been working on this single devotional for over two months. ...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! This week we received some exciting newsâŠwe made the list! We have officially been approved by the Philippines and are on their waiting families list. This means we can now be considered for any children that become legally open for international adoption. If I'm being honest, we ended 2019 a bit discouraged. Our personal g...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! What a crazy past month it has been! We were blessed to spend time with both of our families near the Thanksgiving holiday. Ben and I were even blessed to have our nephew (Keith's son Saxon) and my sister Destinee spend a few days with us after Thanksgiving. Being an aunt and uncle is such fun! We love spoiling all of our n...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! With Thanksgiving just around the corner, each of us is, of course, reminded of all the things we can be thankful for in our lives. This past year has brought great change, big decisions, and abundant hope for Ben and me. Our family is growing! Albeit maybe at a slow pace, but a steady one nonetheless. We are encourage...
Song written by: Reuben Morgan, Ben FieldingPerformed by: Hillson Worship Welcome back to the long overdue fourth devotional! This week's song has a special place in my heart; the importance of its key principal just tugs at my heart. God has placed a special burden on my heart, maybe even a calling, that each person should truly know and experienc...
It's finally here! This past week we received the official approval letter from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). We have been approved for up to 3 children from the Philippines, ages 10 and under. I can't quite describe how excited we are to have received our approval finally. From the date of mailing our application to receivin...
Song written by: Ben McDonald, Dave Frey, Ben GloverPerformed by: Sidewalk Prophets Welcome, beloved, to our third weekly devotional! As Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 1:4, I always thank God for you. Truly, I begin each new devotional praying over each individual who may take the journey with me to grow in relationship with Jesus through these songs...
