406. when frustration had really set in, encouragement birthed and restored my ability to keep waiting
407. quiet mornings with God, coffee, my dear friend's blog and emails with encouraging words, thank you G!
408. good peopel, they are still out there!
So lets get to it, I never expected to be so frustrated with waiting on a child to adopt. I thought to myself, I have 2 biological children, I am not yearning for a child to love, I have been blessed with 2 to love. Waiting won't be that bad....think again! It is hard to know you are a mom to a child that you don't yet know and that you don't know how they are doing! I trust God is taking care of them while we are unable to, but it doesn't mean its not hard to wait to show that child your love! I do want things to move faster. I want our homestudy to actaully be submitted, it still has not happened and we have been told several times "it will be done this friday" I'm thinking I don't know if I can honestly trust that phrase anymore in any sense. I have an automatic response of okay I will believe it when i see it in terms of those words now. Anyway you get the point, we are frustrated!
This Saturday I was at a vendor show with my good friend Lora and we had our jewelry table all set up and I had my painting up for people to put their thumb prints on and we were chatting with the photographer lady vendor next to us. A lady who loves lia sophia jewelry came up and said her jewelry lady no longer did it and she would love to have a party with us! Woo success we were excited. She learned of how my family is adoping and she was very excited to help us. I was happy we had a party and met a lovely person who seemed to have a lovely heart!
Later Lora was away from our booth and I was chatting again with the photographer lady (me talking to people, crazy right :) when this woman who booked a party with us came up to me and told me: "I wish I could do more to help, but I really do want to help with your adoption so here take this" as she handed me a wad of cash. I struggled not to cry and I stammered out words of thanks and I don't know what to say and you are just so sweet! I hugged her and sat down astounded. I later counted she had given me $70 and I really felt Jesus in that moment. Not only was the photographer lady watching and I don't know that she was a believer, and she seemed to be touched, but I was shown that even though we are waiting and frustrated, God is with us and for us. Even though the caseworkers are not moving right now and getting things done for us, God is always working and He is moving and making things happen. He provided funds for our adoption by the act of a simple servants loving heart! I am honestly so thankful and blessed to have met this woman and for the Lord using her as a tool to touch my heart and restore it a bit in my frustration!
As if that wasn't enough this lady emailed us to set up a date for the party and in her email she said that she really felt like God was calling her to help Amber and her family with their adotion so she wanted to do whatever she could to help out! wow!
As if that wasn't enough, Sunday we went to church and we ran into someone we have not really hung out with, but we always say hello and exchange pleasantries and Nick has rode bikes once with her husband. They are sweet people we enjoy talking to basically. She told me she needed to talk to me. Oky great I thought she was trying to set up a time for us to get together and let our kids play as we have mentioned doing that before, awesome! She told me that she wanted to help us with our adoption, but she doesn't wear jewelry because it doesn' stay on her with 3 little boys at home. I had sent out invites for our adoption fundraiser on April 6th so she was referring to that. She said that if it would help us more to buy jewelry she could do that or if it would help more she could just give us money for our adoption. They do what we have done the last couple years in that you take a percentage of your tax return and use it to bless others, to show others Christ, to go towards the kingdom in some manner. She said her and her husband had discussed what they would do with their percentage and that our names had come up and as much as they would love to adopt themselves, it was not something they could do right now. She said that they want to do their part to care for the orphan as we are all called to do in some way and so she wanted to give us a check for our adoption. I was floored! How lovely are their hearts that they would desire to honor God with what they were given and to care for the orphan and that they would bless our family in their willingness to serve the Lord!
I spent most of worship with my eyes and mouth closed and tears just streaming down my cheeks pouring onto my shirt. I was so incredibly touched by God in this moment because not only did He show us that He was working in our waiting one time, but He did it again the very next day--as if He knew I would be quick to get frustrated again and He really wantd to pour on His blessing! So though we don't have any news yet of our child, we are still waiting.....we are encouraged by others hearts for the orphan and by Christ's love for us to reveal what He is doing right now to us, and He doesn't have to do that, He could have kept silent and had money come at the exact moment it was needed, but because He loves us, He wanted to bless us and encourage us right when we needed it most! We serve an amazing Lord and I am so greatful right now for His heart to care for the orphan and for His love for His children and for the people He used to show me Him!
If you are currently in the place I was, take hear and know that even if man does not appear to be working for you, Jesus is always working for you and He is moving!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
weird
I'm used to being called weird, crazy, silly, etc. well I'm about to drop a bomb on the weird category to some, others may think its awesome (as I do).
First let me back up by saying that our adoptive child is just as much our child as our biological children are. Just as we are just as much God's children as Jesus is God's son! In light of that I want what is best for all of our children!
So what others may think of as weird I think of as doing what is best for our children. Some people think its weird to homeschool, we think it is what is best for our children so there you go.
Ready, I know you are anxious to know what weird thing I am talking about. Well now I feel like I've built it up too much and the more I think about it, it is not weird to me, it is precious and important in giving the best to our children.
If we do adopt a baby, as my husband desires to do, I won't feel right about giving them formula, if I am able to give them breast milk. If we adopt a 3 month old baby lets say, maybe they already have had formula, so what, I have an awesome pump and I would be happy to try and power pump and take fenugreek to increase my milk and do what I can to give our child the best!
How much would it freak people out if say we adopt a hispanic or black baby and I nursed him/her? Here is the thing, I don't care what the world thinks! Jesus knows my heart and my desire is to simply give the best to all of our children. The best may be formula, but if I am able I would rather it be breast milk, even if it is only for one meal (if that is all I am able to pump).
I don't know what will happen, if we will end up adopting a baby or not, but it is one of the first few things I thought of when Nick mentioned a baby that I would want to somehow give the baby breastmilk so we will see what happens and will keep you posted as we have information. Our homestudy has not been written up yet and we are now going to submit our application with the agency that did our homestudy as well (they deal with babies primarily).....til we know more
this is the hubs with kenni, feeding her my breastmilk, we could see a dejavue....can you tell this man loves babies!
so does big boy (as kenni lovingly calls Tanner). We asked what he prefered and he said a boy at first, when a baby became an option he said he would rather adopt a baby. I said but you can't really play with a baby. Tanner responded with a laugh in his tone "you can play with babies mom, just different playing" -so wise our boy is. I asked kenni the same question though and she said "no baby, big kid" so the house is divided for sure!
First let me back up by saying that our adoptive child is just as much our child as our biological children are. Just as we are just as much God's children as Jesus is God's son! In light of that I want what is best for all of our children!
So what others may think of as weird I think of as doing what is best for our children. Some people think its weird to homeschool, we think it is what is best for our children so there you go.
Ready, I know you are anxious to know what weird thing I am talking about. Well now I feel like I've built it up too much and the more I think about it, it is not weird to me, it is precious and important in giving the best to our children.
If we do adopt a baby, as my husband desires to do, I won't feel right about giving them formula, if I am able to give them breast milk. If we adopt a 3 month old baby lets say, maybe they already have had formula, so what, I have an awesome pump and I would be happy to try and power pump and take fenugreek to increase my milk and do what I can to give our child the best!
How much would it freak people out if say we adopt a hispanic or black baby and I nursed him/her? Here is the thing, I don't care what the world thinks! Jesus knows my heart and my desire is to simply give the best to all of our children. The best may be formula, but if I am able I would rather it be breast milk, even if it is only for one meal (if that is all I am able to pump).
I don't know what will happen, if we will end up adopting a baby or not, but it is one of the first few things I thought of when Nick mentioned a baby that I would want to somehow give the baby breastmilk so we will see what happens and will keep you posted as we have information. Our homestudy has not been written up yet and we are now going to submit our application with the agency that did our homestudy as well (they deal with babies primarily).....til we know more
waiting.......and some news
404. waiting, adoptive families have said there are great things that happen in the waiting. For me the waiting is so different from a mom who is unable to have biological children. Bottom line, waiting is not easy, but it is a gift.
How can it be a gift? well what do we do in the time spent waiting? We pray! We pray each night for our family (not yet complete) and we pray for our adoptive child(ren) that they would be safe and start healing and that God's hedge of protection would surround them, that they would feel peace and comfort from Him while we are unable to do so. We pray for Kenni and Tan man's hearts to be prepared to be a big brother and sister to this child(ren). That they would be good examples of Christ's love and that they would be ready to share in our family.
My husband prays for our child(ren) and it makes me smile, he never forgets to pray over them even though we don't even know who they are yet.
405. My man who prays diligently and thoughtfully for our family!
Waiting gives us an opportunity to show others our faithfulness in God to provide for our child while we can't. It shows people that we are not worried because that is not of God. It encourages others to be able to wait too.
In other news my hubs is a funny man. I love him so much for his heart! We were at the mall at the end of January and we took the kids to the little play area as we usually do when we visit the mall (not often). We were sitting right beside the changing table in the play area watching Tanner our command man show other children a new game and take charge while his sister took command of herself. She was climbing the wall and saying "see, me" as in (I got up here bymyself).
There was a woman changing her baby probably a 4 month old and when she was done she sat the baby up on the table and the baby bobbled her head while she reached for her toes. I caught my hubby out of the corner of my eye while cheering Kenni on as he was staring at this baby girl. This was our conversation:
Me: "wow you are staring at that baby, what are you thinking?"
Hubs: "What's wrong with having a baby?"
Me: "Are you crazy, who are you talking to?"
Hubs: "Well I do a lot of it anyway, I get up with them and help out a lot!"
Me: "yes you do, but what about when you are at work for the majority of the day?"
Later, I caught him staring again as the daddy to this baby girl was holding her up in the air and bringing her down to blow raspberries on her tummy.... Then my hubby decided that's it we should adopt a baby! He gave me all kinds of reasons and basicaly it boils down to this: my man loves babies! I told him that I would be open to it just like he is being open to adopting siblings.
Holy cow, I really thought we were done with babies, I was done with all that babies entail, we gave away a lot of baby stuff (not that God wouldn't provide whatever we needed to care for a baby). I am just like okay well whatever God wills for us is what I want so I guess we will see what that entails!
handy helper boy working on momm's cabinet
How can it be a gift? well what do we do in the time spent waiting? We pray! We pray each night for our family (not yet complete) and we pray for our adoptive child(ren) that they would be safe and start healing and that God's hedge of protection would surround them, that they would feel peace and comfort from Him while we are unable to do so. We pray for Kenni and Tan man's hearts to be prepared to be a big brother and sister to this child(ren). That they would be good examples of Christ's love and that they would be ready to share in our family.
My husband prays for our child(ren) and it makes me smile, he never forgets to pray over them even though we don't even know who they are yet.
405. My man who prays diligently and thoughtfully for our family!
Waiting gives us an opportunity to show others our faithfulness in God to provide for our child while we can't. It shows people that we are not worried because that is not of God. It encourages others to be able to wait too.
In other news my hubs is a funny man. I love him so much for his heart! We were at the mall at the end of January and we took the kids to the little play area as we usually do when we visit the mall (not often). We were sitting right beside the changing table in the play area watching Tanner our command man show other children a new game and take charge while his sister took command of herself. She was climbing the wall and saying "see, me" as in (I got up here bymyself).
There was a woman changing her baby probably a 4 month old and when she was done she sat the baby up on the table and the baby bobbled her head while she reached for her toes. I caught my hubby out of the corner of my eye while cheering Kenni on as he was staring at this baby girl. This was our conversation:
Me: "wow you are staring at that baby, what are you thinking?"
Hubs: "What's wrong with having a baby?"
Me: "Are you crazy, who are you talking to?"
Hubs: "Well I do a lot of it anyway, I get up with them and help out a lot!"
Me: "yes you do, but what about when you are at work for the majority of the day?"
Later, I caught him staring again as the daddy to this baby girl was holding her up in the air and bringing her down to blow raspberries on her tummy.... Then my hubby decided that's it we should adopt a baby! He gave me all kinds of reasons and basicaly it boils down to this: my man loves babies! I told him that I would be open to it just like he is being open to adopting siblings.
Holy cow, I really thought we were done with babies, I was done with all that babies entail, we gave away a lot of baby stuff (not that God wouldn't provide whatever we needed to care for a baby). I am just like okay well whatever God wills for us is what I want so I guess we will see what that entails!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Homestudy or questions questions and more questions
399. Jeannine Floores our case study worker doing our homestudy! She is aweosme, funny and upbeat and real, very real! I highly recommend her to anyone who needs a homestudy! Her heart is in it to win it and I very much enjoyed our time with her last night during our first interview!
400. Praying friends-thanks to those of you who pray for us and thank you to Jenn and Marylee for texting yesterday to remind me that you were praying for us!
401. space heaters, we always use them anyway instead of turning on the heat, but our heat is not currently working in our house so i would definitely call space heaters gifts at this point!
402. my hubby brought my newspapers in this morning for me so I didn't have to go out in the rain, he is too sweet!
403. Tanner's brain, the way he thinks is truly a special gift to us!
Last night we had our first interview and it went very well! She is a hoot and we enjoyed talking with her (even if we spent most of the time answering questions, some easy, some harder. She made them all easier by helping us and sharing her own personal story of adoption. She was late so we only had a short while with our kids up and her there, but we had warned Tanner that she might talk to him and so she went ahead and did his interview last night while we played with Kenni in her room.
She is going to send me some of the funny comments he made (we obviously can't have a copy of the homestudy, but she will send the key funny quotes). I can't wait to hear them and I will of course post them on here as well as make them part of the adoption scrapbook. From what I remember that she told us I will say he is one smart cookie and we are so blessed God gave him to us! He will be an amazing leader and man someday!
We had to discuss the worst part, which is, what are you willing to adopt and what are you not willing to adopt? It was hard to say no to certain things, but we have to do what is best for our whole family including our biological kids and I pray that kids with those backgrounds are adopted by someone who is called to do so!
She asked us if we read and pray together as a couple and it was very sad for us to say no, not since we were newly weds. I read on my own as does my husband, but we have been missing out on reading together, or praying as a couple. We pray with our kids each night we put them to bed, but not with just each other. So last night we decided that trying to read through the entire Bible in one year is just not realistic for us, but in two years we are confidant we can do it, so we started over and read Genesis 1 and 2 last night. It was nice and I'm looking forward to spending this time with him each day!
We meet again next Tuesday, she had to reschedule due to her college son leaving on Thursday to go back to school and we totally understand so now I have to get a list of both of our addresses from the last 10 years together for her as well as us discuss a few things we were't sure of last night...
sorry I tried to post a picture, but it wouldn't let me browse my pics so I am unable to....
400. Praying friends-thanks to those of you who pray for us and thank you to Jenn and Marylee for texting yesterday to remind me that you were praying for us!
401. space heaters, we always use them anyway instead of turning on the heat, but our heat is not currently working in our house so i would definitely call space heaters gifts at this point!
402. my hubby brought my newspapers in this morning for me so I didn't have to go out in the rain, he is too sweet!
403. Tanner's brain, the way he thinks is truly a special gift to us!
Last night we had our first interview and it went very well! She is a hoot and we enjoyed talking with her (even if we spent most of the time answering questions, some easy, some harder. She made them all easier by helping us and sharing her own personal story of adoption. She was late so we only had a short while with our kids up and her there, but we had warned Tanner that she might talk to him and so she went ahead and did his interview last night while we played with Kenni in her room.
She is going to send me some of the funny comments he made (we obviously can't have a copy of the homestudy, but she will send the key funny quotes). I can't wait to hear them and I will of course post them on here as well as make them part of the adoption scrapbook. From what I remember that she told us I will say he is one smart cookie and we are so blessed God gave him to us! He will be an amazing leader and man someday!
We had to discuss the worst part, which is, what are you willing to adopt and what are you not willing to adopt? It was hard to say no to certain things, but we have to do what is best for our whole family including our biological kids and I pray that kids with those backgrounds are adopted by someone who is called to do so!
She asked us if we read and pray together as a couple and it was very sad for us to say no, not since we were newly weds. I read on my own as does my husband, but we have been missing out on reading together, or praying as a couple. We pray with our kids each night we put them to bed, but not with just each other. So last night we decided that trying to read through the entire Bible in one year is just not realistic for us, but in two years we are confidant we can do it, so we started over and read Genesis 1 and 2 last night. It was nice and I'm looking forward to spending this time with him each day!
We meet again next Tuesday, she had to reschedule due to her college son leaving on Thursday to go back to school and we totally understand so now I have to get a list of both of our addresses from the last 10 years together for her as well as us discuss a few things we were't sure of last night...
sorry I tried to post a picture, but it wouldn't let me browse my pics so I am unable to....
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
two posts in one day you say
our little little enjoys her jewelry :)
As this is the first day of 2013 I wanted to add another little note. I am very thankful for 2012 and all that God did for and with our family last year! I'm very much looking forward to this year and what God has in store for us!
Stick with me if you can: I brought home my catalog as I always do to show my hubby before deciding on what to buy with my spending money. I showed the hubs the items I liked and asked his opinion, he ended up taking the catalog and looking all through it and picking out pieces for me that he liked. Then he read the back of the catalog which said you can start your own business for only $149 (you can also start selling from your own hosting show and apply free product amount towards your start up cost amount). He said you would be good at this you talk to everyone and are comfortable with strangers and you could just wear the jewelry while you coupon and when people compiment it offer your business card and to host a show for them to earn free jewelry. I thought he was a little crazy, I always say not interested whenever I go to these parties as far as becoming a consultant goes. I don't like sales I hve done it before and I was not good at it (seas lawn and garden and fitness equipment). I said well I will ask Lora about what all it entails and we will pray about it.
Got some info, started praying...one night I was laying in bed with the hubs and he said you really should do Lia Sophia, I really think you should. I was still not sure and asked if he had really prayed about it, he said he had. That was the 1st real glimmer of me thinking I might do it. I was not getting any info from God as to go ahead or not, but my husband was so who knows....then i read the book "adopt wihtout debt" great book lots of great info on fundraising. I read a section on getting a part time job temporarily to help with the costs of adoption and suddenly I realized this was what God was planning for our family to help provide for the cost, I would go back to work. There are a lot of things I won't sacrifice for the sake of money-even if it is to pay off debt, or help fund an adoption. I am a stay at home mom, I homeschool our kids and I really feel this is what God intends for us so I will not budge on that! With selling Lia Sophia I don't have to give any of my mom duties up! I still get to be home with our kids and teach them. Also I don't want to work every evening or even 4 or 5 nights a week and have our family miss out on vaulable family time. With Lia Sophia I don't have to answer to someone else's idea of my schedule, I get to create my schedule with my husband in a way that works for our family. I don't have to be a salesperson, I get to wear beautiful, affordable jewelry and offer others to get it free when they approach me (the product thus selling itself) by hosting a fun party with their friends. The product is guranteed for life which is important to me, it will last and is quality jewelry!
The part that most excites me about selling this jewelry is that I get to share my story with as many women as God allows at their parties. Why did I decide to start selling jewelry? I'm glad you asked I wanted to help fund our adoption while not sacrificing precious time with my family. Then when people ask my why we are adopting of have adopted I get to share the most precious part of my life and that is my Lord and savior Jesus. Because God adopted us and first loved us, we are able to love and adopt our 3rd child. Short sweet and too the point. All glory to God and what a fun way to share Him with others! I feel like God has been preparing us in so many ways for this year and I am very excited to see what He does and how He uses our family to do His will....
If anyone would like to host a show please let me know. Another awesome benefit of buying from Lia Sophia is that you get to buy 2 items at full price then get up to 4 items at 50% off and the best part of that is that the 2 full priced items are your cheapest items. Where else can you get that deal? I have never seen anywhere offer a deal this awesome! email me at bigace3@hotmail.com
Thank you in advance for your support and prayers as we walk through this process and trust God with 2013!
finally a litlte concrete
392. setting a date for our home study to start (Jan. 8th and 10th)
393. skyping with family on Christmas morning
394. cold weather in Texas finally
395. emails from Gretchen
396. celebrating holidays with friends when you can't be with family
397. Nick finally having time off and getting to have him pretty much all to ourselves!!!
Those are the current gifts I am thinking on, but here is the adoption update for those who don't know:
We had a lot of back and forth and misunderstanding over the price as well as who would do our homestudy and finally after the uncertainty of it being $700 or $1000 we have been given our answer that the homestudy will cost $700. We are blessed that I am a saver when it comes to our monthy allowance and birthday money because I have that amount currently (God has provided and we are so very thankful--see this is why it pays to save--literally) I will pay for the study and then when we get our tax return I will get my spending money back and will be buying a .38 special revolver called the "body guard" which I am also very excited about :)
So we have our homestudy scheduled and the money is already in place to pay for it I feel like it is the 2nd big thing to check off the list in this whole thing. (1st one being the paperwork being turned in). Yes I am a list maker!
Emotions: as soon as the date was set for the study I freaked out. It was my first real freak out in adopting. I admittedly started to get think "can we really do this? Am I really capable of teaching and training another child-especially one that is likely going to have other issues aside from the normal kid issues of energy and craziness?" Then i remember that God called us to it, it won't be easy, but with Him it will be possible! I am going to fail our 3rd child just as much as I will fail our 1st 2 children and I am covered by God's grace in this and He will walk with me through it. Jesus has provided exactly the grace, people, money, patience, calm, words, etc. that I need to walk in faith through this adoption process and once we are finally able to bring our child home, He will be with us through that too. I am excited and thankful for the amzing God I serve and amazing husband He gave me to walk through this with! My friend G said "may you be a blessing to someone in 2013" I liked the way she put it and I liked that I can say we are going to be a tool God will use to bless someone in 2013, our 3rd child that will get a forever home and parents that love them. We are not perfect parents, some days I don't even feel like a good parent, but God is the perfect Father and He knows exactly what He is doing and so we will be the exact parents this child needs and this child will be the exact child we need as parents!
Tanner really wants a boy, Nick really wants a girl, I honestly don't care so long as we pray and discern the child that God intends for us (or children). It's weird to have no burning desire for more children, but to have a burning desire to bring home our 3rd child because they are ours and belong with us! I hate to think of not being able to protect them or provide for them while we are apart, but then that is where faith comes in and I have to trust that as we pray for our child's safety and wellbeing and health and healing that God is indeed providing all that our child needs. I'm praying for a super natural and tangible presence in our child's life that is felt and evident to our child and the people caring currently for our child. That God's hedge of protection would be surrounding our child and that their precious little hearts would begin to heal and prepare them for becomming part of our family. There is much faith in adopting, trusting God to care for your child while you can't, trusting God to provide the funds, trusting God to reveal the child He intends for you to you clearly, trusting the sleeping situation and car seat situation, the babysitting situation when required, not having family nearby as support so trusting God to provide the friends to help out like family would, and then just waiting for His time which is perfect.
These are the siblings to our 3rd child, can't wait to be able to put up our next child's picture!
can't wait til our child knows that we are thier forever parents!
393. skyping with family on Christmas morning
394. cold weather in Texas finally
395. emails from Gretchen
396. celebrating holidays with friends when you can't be with family
397. Nick finally having time off and getting to have him pretty much all to ourselves!!!
Those are the current gifts I am thinking on, but here is the adoption update for those who don't know:
We had a lot of back and forth and misunderstanding over the price as well as who would do our homestudy and finally after the uncertainty of it being $700 or $1000 we have been given our answer that the homestudy will cost $700. We are blessed that I am a saver when it comes to our monthy allowance and birthday money because I have that amount currently (God has provided and we are so very thankful--see this is why it pays to save--literally) I will pay for the study and then when we get our tax return I will get my spending money back and will be buying a .38 special revolver called the "body guard" which I am also very excited about :)
So we have our homestudy scheduled and the money is already in place to pay for it I feel like it is the 2nd big thing to check off the list in this whole thing. (1st one being the paperwork being turned in). Yes I am a list maker!
Emotions: as soon as the date was set for the study I freaked out. It was my first real freak out in adopting. I admittedly started to get think "can we really do this? Am I really capable of teaching and training another child-especially one that is likely going to have other issues aside from the normal kid issues of energy and craziness?" Then i remember that God called us to it, it won't be easy, but with Him it will be possible! I am going to fail our 3rd child just as much as I will fail our 1st 2 children and I am covered by God's grace in this and He will walk with me through it. Jesus has provided exactly the grace, people, money, patience, calm, words, etc. that I need to walk in faith through this adoption process and once we are finally able to bring our child home, He will be with us through that too. I am excited and thankful for the amzing God I serve and amazing husband He gave me to walk through this with! My friend G said "may you be a blessing to someone in 2013" I liked the way she put it and I liked that I can say we are going to be a tool God will use to bless someone in 2013, our 3rd child that will get a forever home and parents that love them. We are not perfect parents, some days I don't even feel like a good parent, but God is the perfect Father and He knows exactly what He is doing and so we will be the exact parents this child needs and this child will be the exact child we need as parents!
Tanner really wants a boy, Nick really wants a girl, I honestly don't care so long as we pray and discern the child that God intends for us (or children). It's weird to have no burning desire for more children, but to have a burning desire to bring home our 3rd child because they are ours and belong with us! I hate to think of not being able to protect them or provide for them while we are apart, but then that is where faith comes in and I have to trust that as we pray for our child's safety and wellbeing and health and healing that God is indeed providing all that our child needs. I'm praying for a super natural and tangible presence in our child's life that is felt and evident to our child and the people caring currently for our child. That God's hedge of protection would be surrounding our child and that their precious little hearts would begin to heal and prepare them for becomming part of our family. There is much faith in adopting, trusting God to care for your child while you can't, trusting God to provide the funds, trusting God to reveal the child He intends for you to you clearly, trusting the sleeping situation and car seat situation, the babysitting situation when required, not having family nearby as support so trusting God to provide the friends to help out like family would, and then just waiting for His time which is perfect.
Monday, November 19, 2012
answering a call
389. my adoption into Christ's family! I'm so very thankful for the immense blessing of being adopted as daughter to Christ, that I get to share in His family and be heirs of His kingdom! What a truly special gift!
390. adoption-the act of making someone who was born of another family a part of your family. I'm thankful that it is possible to adopt children who have no family and make them your own.
391. classes, seminars, books, and all other education to help with adoption!
.....so this call I am referring to is the one from God on all believers to care for widows and orphans. In James 1:27 we are told that the most pure and undefiled worship is caring for the widows and orphans and actually meeting them in their affliction. We are all called to play a role in the care of orphans and it looks different for many people, but for us it was distinct that the call was to adopt.
It started on Easter in 2011. Church was at the Frank Erwin Center (for my Oregon peeps reading this, it is like the Rose Garden). Worship was starting and out walked a choir from Uganda of little kids that came to worship with us. Our adoption story does not begin with a sad story, we didn't hear a tragic story or abuse or neglect and feel bad. Our story starts with seeing joyful children sing and worship Jesus genuinely in such a way that I was moved. Not because of myself, but because God used this precious group of children to change my heart, to open my heart to something I never ever wanted to do.
Everything so far that I have said I would never do, God has laughed and said "we'll see about that." I never wanted to marry a military man, move away from Albany, Oregon or adopt, or have 3 kids. I wanted to stay in my hometown and have 2 kids and a dog and never leave.....well here I am, married to an amazing man who happens to be a Marine, we live in Pflugerville Texas, and are about to have a 3rd child through the process of adoption. God is funny, but He sure does know best! He is a God of providence and we trust and know we are here exactly where we are because it is where we are meant to be!
Saturday we went to the adoption seminar and too many things were said to ignore God's calling us to adopt and NOW. We as people tend to mistake peace from God as the kind of zen peace where you sit and feel calm. Jonah was going to "not Ninevah" or against God's will for him to go to Ninevah and there was turmoil in his ship and it was the craziest storm the men had seen and Jonah was sound and peacefully asleep completely disoebying God. Clearly he was not doing what he should have been, and yet he felt pretty peaceful. In Luke chapter 22 we see Jesus so distressed he is literally sweating blood and yet He is obeying God in the hardest thing ever imaginable, He was headed to be crucified and die on a cross for our sin. He probably didn't feel very peaceful, and yet He was obeying and He didn't let the hardship and stress and all the other horrible feelings He was having turn Him from obeying God the Father.
I think we were waiting for a zen peace, we were waiting for the right time, to buy a house and settle down and then we would start the process, that is what the world would say to do, it makes sense to the world, but God doesn't ask us to obey when it makes sense to the world and He doesn't ask more of us than what He is willing to help us through. I can't even fully explain all the details that revealed to my husband and I that the time was now, but finally it was like we couldn't go on saying not yet, when we felt like God was saying "how many more signs can I show you before you obey Me now?"
We know full well that what we are about to do doesn't make sense to everyone, that is will be immeasurably hard, that we we struggle, we will fail, we will do and say the wrong things, we will hurt, but we know that we won't suffer alone, we have God in this and He will draw near to us while we draw near to Him.
WHY ADOPT?
We didn't decide oh we need another kid, we want 3, (welll my hubby apparently did want 3 kids once I was preggo with Kenni) but I was very content with just 2. We don't have a burning desire to have more kids. We are called to adopt, to care for the orphan in this way. God loved us first and adopted us into His family and He sent His son to suffer and die on a cross for us, to save us, to make us His own, that is the beautiful picture of the gospel. Adoption is a beautiful mirror of adoption, we are going to bring a child into our home and love him/her like Christ first loved us and we are going to teach them that we are not perfect, but we serve a perfect God and that Jesus loves him/her and will never fail our child like we probably will. We are going to make this child our own and we are going to struggle with our child and rejoice with our child for every step of healing that they take. We are not ourselves cappable of healing our child's hurt, but God is and we will be praying for our child.
We could have had a 3rd child biologically for free since we are military, we could have just decided to expand our family and paid for a birth certificate and that would have been great too, but we instead listened to what God wanted for us and we are growing our family this way, by loving one of His children who were not able to stay with their biologic parents.
Help us:
Please pray with us for our child, for their safety and nourishment, for the process to go smoothly, for discernment for us as we are referred to a child-that we would say yes to the child God has in His plan for us. Pray for the financial needs to be met as they come. We emailed the lady today at Breath of Life and are waiting for the next step to adopt domestically here in Texas a child that is at least 3 years old. We are going to be a mixed family and we appreciate your support and prayers!
390. adoption-the act of making someone who was born of another family a part of your family. I'm thankful that it is possible to adopt children who have no family and make them your own.
391. classes, seminars, books, and all other education to help with adoption!
.....so this call I am referring to is the one from God on all believers to care for widows and orphans. In James 1:27 we are told that the most pure and undefiled worship is caring for the widows and orphans and actually meeting them in their affliction. We are all called to play a role in the care of orphans and it looks different for many people, but for us it was distinct that the call was to adopt.
It started on Easter in 2011. Church was at the Frank Erwin Center (for my Oregon peeps reading this, it is like the Rose Garden). Worship was starting and out walked a choir from Uganda of little kids that came to worship with us. Our adoption story does not begin with a sad story, we didn't hear a tragic story or abuse or neglect and feel bad. Our story starts with seeing joyful children sing and worship Jesus genuinely in such a way that I was moved. Not because of myself, but because God used this precious group of children to change my heart, to open my heart to something I never ever wanted to do.
Everything so far that I have said I would never do, God has laughed and said "we'll see about that." I never wanted to marry a military man, move away from Albany, Oregon or adopt, or have 3 kids. I wanted to stay in my hometown and have 2 kids and a dog and never leave.....well here I am, married to an amazing man who happens to be a Marine, we live in Pflugerville Texas, and are about to have a 3rd child through the process of adoption. God is funny, but He sure does know best! He is a God of providence and we trust and know we are here exactly where we are because it is where we are meant to be!
Saturday we went to the adoption seminar and too many things were said to ignore God's calling us to adopt and NOW. We as people tend to mistake peace from God as the kind of zen peace where you sit and feel calm. Jonah was going to "not Ninevah" or against God's will for him to go to Ninevah and there was turmoil in his ship and it was the craziest storm the men had seen and Jonah was sound and peacefully asleep completely disoebying God. Clearly he was not doing what he should have been, and yet he felt pretty peaceful. In Luke chapter 22 we see Jesus so distressed he is literally sweating blood and yet He is obeying God in the hardest thing ever imaginable, He was headed to be crucified and die on a cross for our sin. He probably didn't feel very peaceful, and yet He was obeying and He didn't let the hardship and stress and all the other horrible feelings He was having turn Him from obeying God the Father.
I think we were waiting for a zen peace, we were waiting for the right time, to buy a house and settle down and then we would start the process, that is what the world would say to do, it makes sense to the world, but God doesn't ask us to obey when it makes sense to the world and He doesn't ask more of us than what He is willing to help us through. I can't even fully explain all the details that revealed to my husband and I that the time was now, but finally it was like we couldn't go on saying not yet, when we felt like God was saying "how many more signs can I show you before you obey Me now?"
We know full well that what we are about to do doesn't make sense to everyone, that is will be immeasurably hard, that we we struggle, we will fail, we will do and say the wrong things, we will hurt, but we know that we won't suffer alone, we have God in this and He will draw near to us while we draw near to Him.
WHY ADOPT?
We didn't decide oh we need another kid, we want 3, (welll my hubby apparently did want 3 kids once I was preggo with Kenni) but I was very content with just 2. We don't have a burning desire to have more kids. We are called to adopt, to care for the orphan in this way. God loved us first and adopted us into His family and He sent His son to suffer and die on a cross for us, to save us, to make us His own, that is the beautiful picture of the gospel. Adoption is a beautiful mirror of adoption, we are going to bring a child into our home and love him/her like Christ first loved us and we are going to teach them that we are not perfect, but we serve a perfect God and that Jesus loves him/her and will never fail our child like we probably will. We are going to make this child our own and we are going to struggle with our child and rejoice with our child for every step of healing that they take. We are not ourselves cappable of healing our child's hurt, but God is and we will be praying for our child.
We could have had a 3rd child biologically for free since we are military, we could have just decided to expand our family and paid for a birth certificate and that would have been great too, but we instead listened to what God wanted for us and we are growing our family this way, by loving one of His children who were not able to stay with their biologic parents.
Help us:
Please pray with us for our child, for their safety and nourishment, for the process to go smoothly, for discernment for us as we are referred to a child-that we would say yes to the child God has in His plan for us. Pray for the financial needs to be met as they come. We emailed the lady today at Breath of Life and are waiting for the next step to adopt domestically here in Texas a child that is at least 3 years old. We are going to be a mixed family and we appreciate your support and prayers!
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