M.O.M.’s Mailbox- A Newlywed with some questions

Question: I read your blog every now and then and am a fan on facebook. I have two questions that you may have already answered in a blog entry you've written or if not I understand if it takes you a while to reply.
1) Did you always know you personally wanted to adopt and did you and your husband together always know you wanted to adopt or was one person for and one opposed at first etc etc
2) How did you get STARTED with growing your own food, having the animals, making things, etc. My husband and I think about this but I am very intimidated just with where to start.
Thanks for your ministry! I am a newlywed (going on 9 months).

Answer: Yes, we both wanted to adopt prior to our marriage. There have been times when we were praying about adopting a specific child and one of us would want to when the other one had some concerns. We trusted that God is not the author of confusion and only followed when there was perfect peace. Now, that doesn't mean it was easy... it wasn't! However, we both had the confidence that we were right where God wanted us to be and He would see us through.

To answer your second question,I can really understand your feelings of intimidation! When my Joe and I were first married I didn't know how to cook, didn't know you could make things without a Betty Crocker box, and burnt almost every meal I did try to make. I was a mess! My first garden, I planted all my seeds like my mother in law told me over the phone but then got inpatient and dug them all up to see if they had sprouted. Needless to say not much grew that year. Each year we learn, every day we grow. It is a process. I am confident that God has called us to this lifestyle so I just faithfully do what I know to do. Another side note, don’t ever feel like you have to know the answer or have the ‘talent’. Ministering to our husbands keeps us on our toes. I know it does for me at least. I never know how God is going to call me to minister to Joe specifically. There have been many times I felt inadequate but I found that if I just bucked down and tacked the challenge, with God’s grace, I found great Joy! By the way, I  do read lots of books and do lots of Google searches when I have things come up that I don't know, which is often!

Thanks for taking time to write. I love to hear from each of you!

With much love,

Mrs. Joseph Wood