October Baby

Jesse and I watched October Baby at a Saturday matinee this past weekend. We heard a good bit about it before hand, knew the story and we looked forward to seeing it. But we were surprised by it's quality, story, acting and production which was all excellent.

Notes from October Baby facebook page:
"As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before she can utter her first lines, Hannah—unscripted—collapses in front of the stunned audience.
After countless medical tests, all signs point to one underlying factor: Hannah’s difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to what she then learns from her parents: she was actually adopted … after a failed abortion attempt.
Bewildered, angered, and confused, Hannah turns for support to Jason, her oldest friend. Encouraged by his adventurous spirit, Hannah joins his group of friends on a Spring Break road trip, embarking on a journey to discover her hidden past … and find hope for her unknown future.
In the midst of her incredible journey, Hannah finds that life can be so much more than what you have planned."

Hannah writes in her journal that she doesn't want to live, that she doesn't feel like she belongs. She didn't know she was adopted, let alone had an abortive procedure done to her. Her line in the movie is that she needs to find her birth mother, her real mother, to find who she is.
Jason invites her to go with him on a road trip with his girlfriend and other college buddies. They are headed to New Orleans by way of Mobile which is where she thinks her birth mother is. Hannah's dad is concerned about the trip after her medical issues and tells Jason that he put him "in a bad position."
Hannah finds the nurse, an older woman, who tells her the whole story of meeting Hannah's mom at the abortion clinic and how she was conflicted about the abortion. The abortion failed and the doctors recommended that the mom return to have it done a second time. When she returns to the clinic the next day, the nurse immediately recognizes the signs of labor and takes her to a hospital. The nurse stays with her the whole time since the mom had no one else. Hannah finds out that she was a twin and her brother was born first, though very sickly and mutilated from the failed abortion - his arm was torn off. Hannah was born second and though she was weak, she hand't suffered nearly as much. The twins were adopted immediately by Hannah's parents and the brother, whom they named Jonathan, died in the hospital 4 months after birth. Hannah lived.
The nurse tells Hannah that her birth mother is an established lawyer and tells her where to find her. She meets her mother, but the mother can't deal with the situation and dismisses her.
Hannah returns home feeling like she failed in "finding" herself. She now knows more about her life story, but hasn't found the reconciliation she needed. She visits a church and while she sits in the pew telling her story to the priest, she finds God. She says that she hates herself for living when Jonathan died and she hates her birth mom for trying to kill her and she hates her parents for hiding all of it from her. The priest tells her that since she is a Christian, she has Christ. And He forgives her sin - her hatred - and now she must forgive others too.

The first thing that jumped out at me is the men. Her birth mother didn't know the man that got her pregnant. Hannah's adoptive father was trying to protect her, but wasn't good at understanding her. Jason was a great friend and gentlemen, but it wasn't his job yet. Jonathan, the son of Saul, is David's friend. A King's friend. The twin brother took the brunt of the abortion and protected his sister by giving her a chance to live. He stood in the hard place as every man must. The dad was right when he said he was put in a hard place, but that is exactly his place to be. At the end of the movie, the birth mother is showed with her husband and young child and she is telling her husband about her abortion. Hannah's father apologizes and they repair their relationship. Jason is encouraged to move forward with Hannah and takes her on a date. There is reconciliation between the men and the women they are charged to care for.

The second thing that I noticed was the sin of hatred. "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment." Matthew 5:21-22 He who hates his brother commits murder. Abortion is a material form of hatred and selfishness. You cannot serve two masters and live. If you love yourself over God, you will ignore His law, His creation, His commandments and set yourself above His image. Killing a fetus at any age, whether surgically or through a form of medication, is murder and a destruction of life who, like all men, is created in the image of God.
If Hannah could not forgive those around her and herself, if she couldn't let go of her hatred and use love instead, she was no better than an abortionist.

Lastly, there is a lot of talk in the adoptive world about "finding yourself" or if you adoptive trans racially, not "losing your heritage". Yes, we should be confident people who know who they are and a heritage is indeed something to treasure. But our heritage and definition as individuals is found corporately in the body of Christ. We are all adopted into God's family as Christ's brothers and sisters. And that is our home, our foundation, and where we find ourselves - in the word and at the sacraments.

The movie was well written with a good story. The beginning stretched the realm of disbelief a bit, but the ending was sound. Movies are a great place to show the story, instead of telling it like a book would and this movie did pretty good. The acting was great! Superb job on the main actress part! An extremely well done movie at Hollywood production standards.

The movie opened over the weekend and became #8 in the nation, even though it had a limited release in less than 400 theaters. Other top ten movies were released in thousands of theaters.

Dairy Free & Egg Free Recipes

Orange Muffins
makes 1 dozen

1/2 Cup margarine
1 C sugar
3/4 Cup sour cream (substitute 1/2 cup vanilla pudding)
2 Cup flour
1 tsp B. Soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp grated orange rind
and...
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup orange juice

Cream margarine and sugar together. Mix in sour cream/vanilla pudding. Mix in dry ingredients. This should be a stiff batter by now. Gently fold in orange rind. Fill greased muffin tins about 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 mins. Mix sugar and orange juice to make a thin glaze. While still warm, dip tops of muffins into the glaze and let cool.



Raspberry Pastry
A Callihan family favorite often made for a birthday breakfast
makes 1 pastry enough to feed 6 - 8 people

Mix the following together until crumbly:
2 Cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup margarine

Blend in:
3/4 cup milk (substitute almond milk, soy milk, etc.)

Knead the dough 8-10 times. Roll into a 12" X 18" rectangle. Turn onto greased baking sheet. Spread 1/2 cup raspberry jam down the center of the dough. Make 2 1/2" cuts at 1 inch intervals on long sides of dough. Fold strips over filing.

Bake 425 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes.

Drizzle with icing:
1 Cup powder sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 - 2 tablespoons water


Cinnamon Rolls
ingredients for Cinnamon Roll dough

Mix together:
1 1/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup margarine
2 cups cake flour (all purpose is fine too)

Add:
2 1/2 Cups water
2 tablespoons yeast

Mix in:
4 - 6 more cups of flour (til it makes a round dough)
1 tbsp salt

Knead on a board. Let rise about 1 hour. Roll into rectangle, spread melted margarine, brown sugar and white sugar on dough and sprinkle cinnamon over all. Roll dough together and slice 1" sections. Freeze or bake immediately at 350 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes.

To reheat: Thaw frozen rolls in oven at 195 degrees for 30 minutes. Then rest on top of oven as it pre-heats to 350. Bake as normal.

Asking No Questions

"Now concerning things offered to idols: we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies." 'Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one." "However, there is not in everyone that knowledge: for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God: for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse." "Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for consciousness sake. But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols", do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you and for conscience sake." "But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks? Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

1 Cor 8:1, 4, 7-8, 10:25, 28, 30-31

French Rolls

for bread machine

1.5 Cups warm water
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4.5 cups flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1. 5 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon yeast

Mix in bread machine on dough cycle.

Divide dough into 18 pieces and shape into miniature french loaves. Place on *well greased cookie sheets. Using a sharp knife, make two slashes across the top of each roll. Brush on a mixture of 1 egg white and 1 Tablespoon of milk (water is okay too). Let rise.

Bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes, brush rolls a second time with egg mixture and then bake 8 minutes more, or until golden brown.

Smells good, tastes good, but they'll never be anything like my moms!

* the eggwhite really sticks and bakes onto the cookie sheet so having it well greased to begin with is a must.

Faith Adeline

Today my sister, my youngest sister, celebrates her twenty-second birthday. Happy Birthday!!

There are 4 sisters in my family. I am the second child and Addie is the fourth. Dad called me 'seconda', which is Latin for second and he called Addie 'chiquita devita delegre' which is Spanish for Little Party Girl. Those names have been very fitting, even from our younger years. I was always the one to follow the first child, although I was Little Miss Loudmouth and the child that Grandma remembers praying that I would live through my third birthday. A little sweet, a little bold, a little 'color in the lines'. That was me.

And while everyone can quickly see that Addie resembles me in some things, it's also apparently that whatever she did, she did better. Much sweeter, much bolder, and she knows exactly when to "NOT" color in the lines. Keeps the rest of us on our toes, ya know. About 6 years ago, she grew up. A tall sixteen year old with gorgeous long hair and a winning smile, and yet she still needed to grow into herself, as they say. She took to working outside the home better than me. She became fast friends with all her co-workers and was invited to parties with them. I always thought that was odd, but she lived it up, wherever she was. "Not enough evers", was her motto.

After I got married, we had a year or two when our friendship needed adjusting. She was learning how to be diligent and content with being single, after that rush of a year when the older three were married within nine months of each other. And I was learning how to remember what it was like being single. We've become so close over the past couple of years. Whenever my husband is out of the house for a meeting, she'll be over 'in a jiffy'. And we call each other on the phone frequently, even though we live in the same town. But I'll be sure and call her on her next birthday, since she'll not only live in a different town, but in a different state.

So, happy birthday, little sister. The twenty-second year is our match up year. I got married when I was twenty-two and I told you, you would get married in four more years, did I not? You should have been my older sister so I could look up to you, but age doesn't matter so much anymore and we can be best friends as we learn to love each other and encourage each other in the years to come.

A Chapter...

Apparently someone hasn't kept her blog up to date! Can you believe it? Not one post since October - almost 5 whole months have gone by! Well, there happens to be a very good reason for being distracted, actually. Early in the Fall and Summer I wrote a line or two about adoption and commented on open adoption vs. closed adoption. Yes, Jesse and I have decided that we would like to adopt and we've been working with an agency in Boise toward that end. We spent July, August and the beginning of September working on our home study and the rest of September and October were spent ironing out a hiccup in the paperwork.

During the time we were busy with paper work, background checks, medical records, finger printing, etc., the Lord was working elsewhere on our behalf. The story below is what we sent to our church and family in updates as things progressed. If you read between the lines, you can see the times when I was really excited about the possibility of adopting so soon, as well as other times when we didn't know what would happen next.

From December 1, 2011

Dear Church Family,
Kate and I wanted to give you an update on our adoption plans. We have recently finished our home-study and have been talking with a Texas agency who knows of a birth mother who would like us to adopt her child. The child is due at the end of January. Kate and I are planning to go down to Texas this weekend to meet the birth mother and talk with the agency. Two prayer requests: first, we would appreciate your prayers for our travel and the time that we have down there. Second, the birth father might be contesting the adoption and so we would ask you to pray with us that he would not contest it but rather be open to the adoption. It seems that he is coming around to the idea, but if he contests, it could drag out the adoption for several months and that would also make it more expensive. Thank you for your prayers thus far; it is encouraging to know that you all are praying for us. We will keep you posted on how this all develops. "

Blessings,
Jesse and Kate

---
From December 12, 2011

Dear Church Family,

Thank you for your prayers. Kate and I arrived home late Wednesday night from our trip to Texas. Everything went very well. We got to meet the birth-mother and the agency; both meetings went very well. We also got to meet the birth-father which was very positive and encouraging. At this point, he still needs to agree to the adoption, but everything is heading in the right direction. We are hoping to hear from him soon. We are planning to fly down to Texas around the beginning of February when the child is due. Please continue to pray that the birth-father would agree and make his decision soon. Please also pray that all the other details on our end would come together.

Blessings,
Jesse and Kate

---
From January 10, 2012

Dear family,

We wanted to let you know about our adoption status. The birth father seems to be contesting the adoption and the agency wants to make sure he isn't bluffing us. They sent papers to him the week after New Years stating that the birth mother's desire is for the adoption with us. He needs to respond by saying "yes" or "no" to the adoption by the week of January 23rd. The paper work proves that he has been informed of our plans and puts the pressure on him to make his decision now. The baby is due about 1 week after we hear from him. We are pretty sure that he will say no.

*Please pray for the birth father, that he would agree to the adoption and that God would move mightily in his life.
*Please pray for the birth mother, as things are still undecided and for her bodily comfort in the next few weeks.
*Please pray for us as we seek to honor the Lord in what we say and do and think. Please also pray for us as we work with the agency and others who are encouraging us in this adoption.

Love,
Jesse and Kate

---
From January 30, 2012

Dear church family,

You may remember that we were working with a birth family down in Texas. The birth mother had chosen us as adoptive parents for her unborn child and the birth father, while he did meet with us, showed signs of hesitancy. About two weeks ago he filed for full custody of the child. After a long phone call with the birth mom, we all decided that at this point adoption wasn't the best choice for all involved, but particularly for the child. The birth mom has retained a lawyer to help her keep custody of the child. Also, we know that she is in a good church with good teaching and good friends. Please pray for that church as they minister to her.

God has called us to a ministry of adoption through our desire to have children. We have been learning that adoption isn't just about having children and so we are thankful for the opportunities He gave us to love this woman who is essentially a widow caring for an orphan. We know that children are a blessing and we pray that this child will rise up and call it's mom blessed. As far as our family is concerned, we will be putting our name back into the hat, so to speak, and we look expectantly to what God has for us.

Please pray:
*for the birth father that he would confess his sins and come to the Lord in faith
*for the birth mother, who is looking at delivering this baby any day now, caring for the baby as a new mom, financing an expensive legal battle and returning to full time work about 8 weeks after birth
*for Kate and me as we seek to do His will in all things

Thank you again for your support and prayers through this time.

The Lord be with you,
Jesse and Kate Sumpter