"YES"

Our family began an adoption journey nearly 2 years ago.


When we answered the call to adopt, we said "yes", but definitely set our own guidelines for the process. WE chose to adopt a girl. WE chose Bulgaria. WE chose the age range. WE chose the agency. For all this time we have been waiting - not always patiently for God to fit into our what WE chose.



Last month, I had the opportunity to attend my second Created For Care conference in Atlanta. It is a weekend long getaway for adoptive moms. While I was there God definitely worked on my heart to show me that my "yes" wasn't really a yes. I wanted to be obedient, but on my terms. Over and over, the words from Hillsong's 'Oceans' played through my mind. ---Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger--- If was going to sing those words, I needed to be willing to live them out too.



Kirk and I talked and prayed about our situation and decided we needed to be open to whatever God has for us, broaden our guidelines and see what happened. We contacted our social worker and began the process of changing our paperwork, which was due for an update. Kirk mailed the new home study on March 4th out on March 6th we got a phone call that will change our lives forever. 

We had been planning all this time for an international adoption, but God had been planning something different. You see, there is a 8 year old girl in Memphis, who desperately needs a loving home - NOW. After countless emails and phone calls and counseling and obviously LOTS of prayers, we agreed to pursue her adoption.


Our family made a trip to Memphis last weekend to spend some time with "K" and get to know her.  We were instantly captivated by her smile and laughter.  She lights up a room!  She drew immediately to our boys and began to throw a ball and play "Monkey in the middle" with us all.  We spent time at the park and Chuck E Cheese before she had to return.  On Saturday, we spent most of the day with her and again, we were amazed by her. 


The next few days will be filled with many emotions for her as well as our family.  We cannot wait for Saturday, our "Gotcha Day"!  She will be FOREVER a part of our family. 


There is still so much to pray over so I am asking you to please lift up our family over the next few days in these specific ways:
Please pray for "K's" heart to be open to the changes she is about to experience. Pray for God to surround her and protect her heart while her life is turned on end. Pray for peace for her little heart as she is handed over to a family she barely knows.
Pray for Kirk and I as we make radical plans for me to take an extended leave from work to be able to be home with her, homeschool her, LOVE HER BIG. Pray for wisdom to understand when she cries out in anger that she is crying out for LOVE.
Pray for our boys, while they are excited, there is still an apprehension to the unknown. Pray that their hearts are softened to understand her pain and that they will be able to love her in amazing ways too.
Pray for the funds we still need to secure in a very short amount of time. We know that God will provide for our every need, down to the penny.
We are praising God for this amazing blessing and opportunity to pour His love into a life that is broken and hopeless. We are humbled.

Oceans

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown, where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep, my faith will stand

 And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours, and You are mine

 Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed, and You won't start now

 So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours, and You are mine

 Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

 I will call upon Your name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours, and You are mine
I am Yours, and You are mine
I am Yours, and You are mine
I am Yours, and You are mine

Read more: Hillsong United - Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Lyrics | MetroLyrics

A New Year, a New Outlook

         

If you know you me at all, you know I LOVE music.  

 

I believe this can attributed to my dad.  He also loved music.  As young kids he tortured  introduced us to many different genres of music.  Family vacations would include long hours in the family station wagon listening to artist like Marty Robbins, Kenny Rogers, The Statler Bros,  The Platters, John Denver, Bill Monroe, Crystal Gayle,  The Baldknobbers, Fats Waller....and of course, at least once we were treated to "their song", Waltz Across Texas by Ernest Tubb.

 

While those artists may not be my favorites today, the love of music dad developed in me still remains.   Thankfully, my sweet hubby knows of this obsessions and is willing to fuel the fire.  For Christmas he added to my CD collection. (I know, we are still behind in the technology club, don't judge!)   

 

After several hours of listening to my new tunes on repeat, I realized I found a song whose lyrics scream my hearts cry for this new year.  Here goes (try not to imagine me singing this in my kitchen , slightly off key, with a wooden spoon as my microphone.....you'll enjoy it more).

 

PRESS ON

Philippians 3 - 12:14

 

When I'm alone, when I'm afraid

When I have had all I can take

Losing my grip, I start to slip away

When I can hear the voice of doubt

Inside my head screaming loud

Strengthen my faith and help me say

Today, today

 

I will follow, I will press on

Even when the walk feels long

Your hands hold me together

You love is with me forever

Through the broken, through the victory

I will praise you through it all

And run hard to race it done

I, I'm gonna press on, press on

 

How many storms have I been through

How many have led me straight to You

You are using the pain, the hardest days

For my good, my good

So what do I fear

God you are with me

Guiding my steps today

Through the mountains, valleys, sun and rain

Lord lead the way, lead the way

 

I will follow, I will press on

Even when the walk feels long

Your hands hold me together

You love is with me forever

Through the broken, through the victory

I will praise you through it all

And run hard to race it done

I, I'm gonna press on, press on

 

One step in front of the other

No looking back, no looking back

One step in front of the other

I'm gonna press on, I'm gonna press on

 

MANDISA

 

 

Now, go listen to Mandisa belt it out in her amazing voice and be encouraged to "Press On" in 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

My Heart's Desire this Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Our family enjoyed an un-stressful, un-eventful Christmas today and for that I am thankful.  I truly mean that.  No presents had to be pre or post assembled.  No worries about not having the right size batteries.  Thanks to a generous gift certificate to Honey Baked Ham, I hardly had to do any cooking. 

Our day starts with the usual Christmas traditions I grew up with.  Once everyone is awake, and surprisingly teen age boys can wake up early at least once a year, we pass out the stockings.  Just enough of a Christmas treat to keep everyone occupied until we finish breakfast.  We gather on the couch and read the Christmas story together and pause to remember why we celebrate this day.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David,

a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." 

Then the presents! We try to prolong the day as much a possible by only allowing one person to open a gift at a time and everyone watches and ooohs and ahhs over their new treasure.  Today was no different.  As the wrapping was ripped off and the surprised faces were caught on camera and posted to social media we laughed and enjoyed the splendor of the morning. 

Today, though, my heart didn't swell with the usual fulfilled feeling that Christmas brings.  Instead, I found my thoughts drifting to a face I have never seen and a place I have never been.  I  found myself wondering if the little girl God has chosen for us had presents to unwrap or a camera anxiously awaiting to capture her precious smile. Was their a hot meal to warm her little belly? Did anyone tell her the true meaning of Christmas?  Did anyone hear her hearts desire for a family to love her forever?  
Among the hardest parts of being a "waiting" adoptive mother is that you do not have a due date to look forward to! We continually are asked by friends and family if there any updates or new news and we repeatedly smile and say "We're waiting".  My heart aches every time I say those words. 

Praying for our little girl that this is her last Christmas to be with out her forever family.  Praying, believing God to bring her home in 2014. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I Sure Could Use a Little Good News Today

Without much news to share, we haven't been diligent at updating our blog.  After 19 months of "being in the process" all we can say with certainty is that we are waiting.   Waiting on a foreign government to put the needs of orphaned boys and girls as a priority and work quickly to match them with forever families......families who are waiting with anxious and longing hearts to see their faces and hold them in their arms. 
We've been told that the matching process could take up to 2 years and we have officially only been in the Bulgarian system for 9 months.  Our wait could still be a while longer. 


God has been faithful to us in the waiting.  We have been able to build a house that allows her and our boys to have a room of there own. Her room is almost ready and is just missing the little girl who will call it home. 

 

 

While we continue to wait on God's timing, we've been able to see how the process is molding our family, both immediate and extended, into the family who will love her as our own.  I am confident that when the wait is over, it will have been worth every month, day, hour spent longing for a little girl whose face we have yet to see. 

 

To those using our Amazon and Just Love Coffee links - Thank you! To those who pray for our family - Thank You!    We are grateful for your support. 

 



I Go to Prepare a Place for You...............

"Let not your heart be troubled, Believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that  I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am you may be also." - John 14:1-3 (NSV)

This verse has been on my mind a lot lately.  Until recently I didn't fully understand how much the scenario described in this passage was replicated in our adoption.  You see, Jesus is our adoptive Father if we have trusted in him. He has chosen us to be called His sons and daughters. He is busy preparing a forever-home for us in Heaven while he waits until an appointed time to bring us home. He has made a promise that He WILL come again.  I wonder how anxious He is to be able to sound the trumpets and call his children home. 
I don't want to diminish the fact that our heavenly home will be so much greater than anything we could possibly imagine here on earth.  I do, however, see similarities on our journey through adoption. Through God, we have chosen to bring a little girl into our family.  We are anxiously awaiting the day when we can bring our daughter home to her forever-family.  While we wait, we too, are preparing a home for her.  God has opened many doors that have allowed us to give her a home we wouldn't even allow ourselves to dream about.  We are making a promise that, YES, we are coming for her - we just don't know yet when that day will be.  We do know that it will be glorious!

Now for the specifics on the process.  We have changed our age range with our agency.  Originally we stated we would like a little girl between 3-5 yrs old. However, because the process is so much longer than imagined and our boys are getting older too, we opened our age range to 8 yrs old.  With that, we should be able to get a match much quicker. Children over the age of 6 or 7 are considered "older" children and can adopted more easily than those who are younger.   The Bulgarian government, along with most of Europe, shuts down for vacation in August.  Nothing official happens during that time. Then, of course, they need time to "catch-up" once they come back in September.  So basically, we are on a definite hold until the fall.    Frustrating, yes, but God is keeping us busy with the "preparing a place for you" phase of the process.

We are continually amazed at how God is working through this process.

What can you do, you ask? 

Pray - Waiting is difficult.  Pray for the little girl who will one day be introduced to this crazy family.

Remember to use our Amazon and Just Love Coffee links when you make purchases through those websites. We earn a percentage of each purchase toward our adoption expenses.  Every item purchased helps, no matter the cost.  Our percentage increases based upon the items purchased, not the dollar amount.   

O*B*E*D*I*E*N*C*E is the very best way..........

Does anyone else remember this old Sunday school song.....

 

"Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe. Doing exactly what the Lord commands, doing it happily. Action is the key. Do it immediately. Joy you will receive. Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe....and you spell it O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E....Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe."

First time obedience is a concept we've tried to instill in our boys since they were old enough to walk. While we haven't always been successful, we understand that repeating this to them over and over again will eventually pay off.

What we didn't expect was for this lesson to be one we would be living out in front of them.  When God asked us to adopt, we struggled over it.  The head honcho was on board first, and reluctantly I agreed. More so, because I felt it necessary to be obedient to my husband's leadership than God's desires.

From the time we said "yes", God has shown up and rewarded our willingness to be obedient to what he has asked.  He has met our needs, for the adoption, and elsewhere, in ways we could have never imagined.

Recently, we've been overwhelmed by His goodness to our family. First a new job that allows the head honcho not only better pay, but also much more time with the family.  A second car was necessary for the job transition.   As God often does, He provided exactly what we needed at a price we couldn't turn down. Then, "a check in the mail" from a class-action law suit that we didn't even know we were associate with until a few weeks ago.  These are just the BIG ways. There have been so many little details where we have seen Him working in also.  

I don't write this to brag about my family. We are not the story here. I write to give God the glory for His goodness to me. Only because of His perfect love for me and His shed blood on the cross am I able to know Him intimately. It is through that relationship that He spoke to my heart about adoption. The very first step in spiritual obedience is to accept his invitation for salvation.


 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:28
If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land. Isaiah 1:19

 

Is there something God is asking you to do?
Something difficult or tiring?
Something that will take you out of your comfort zone? 
Will you be OBEDIENT and say "YES"?

HOPE

Hope

noun A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. "Hope" is seen 130 times in the King James Version of the Bible Job 11:18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; Ps 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; Ps 33:22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. Ps 38:15 For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. Ps 39:7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee La 3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD Ac 2:26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Ro 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it Why all the fascination with HOPE?  Yesterday, we recieved a letter in the mail that we had been awarded a grant from Show Hope, an organization that raises and distributes money to families who are adopting.  We had applied for this grant back in December of 2012 and quite honestly, had forgotten.  Atleast it wasn't on our immediate radar.  We are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude at the many ways God chooses to bless this adoption and remind us that when He calls us to something, He WILL provide a way for it to be accomplished.  As I have thought about it today, it brought me to wonder about HOPE.  What is HOPE?  What does the Bible say about HOPE? Clearly, God's word has much to say about HOPE.  HOPE misplaced can lead to failure.  HOPE correctly placed in God will lead to blessing. Our HOPE is that God will use our family to bring HOPE to one little girl.  Our HOPE is that God will use our faithfulness to His calling in our lives to cause others to be open what God has for them.  Our HOPE is to see every boy or girl without a forever family placed in loving home.  Our HOPE is to be able to be a blessing to other adoptive families and help them on their journey.  Our HOPE is that God would be glorified in all that we say and do.  Because of Christ, we HOPE.