We are just a little over one week away from being two months into our waiting time! We have so much to be thankful for! Since our last post, we have seen God do more miracles in our lives through this adoption. He has affirmed and re-affirmed that this is His plan for us! We are struggling of course with the wait time. There is an empty place in our hearts and home. Some days we wonder if it's for real! For a pregnant woman, they see the physical growth and progression and know when the end is when they will get to see their beautiful baby! For adoptive parents, we only have a general idea of when, and pray that there are no setbacks, country closings, etc. to stand in the way of meeting our beautiful baby. Please continue to pray for us emotionally as we await what is going to be one of the greatest days of our lives!
We are blown away by how God has provided money for the adoption. When we first started the process, we had little to no savings. We had already spent several thousand on infertility treatments before we felt Him lead in this direction.It has been a constant daily choice on my part to give it up to God. My morning prayers over the last nine months usually have consisted of "God, I know you asked us to do this and this is your plan to build our family, so I'm asking for a miracle. I am trusting you completely to bring in every penny, and I can't wait to see how you do it!".It has truly been amazing to see His hand at work. Through jewelry parties, yard sales, our tax return, scrimping and saving,and donations from friends and family (and even through people we don't know!), as of a few weeks ago we were pretty close to meeting our goal of $16,000. We have already paid around $13,000 and the adoption can total between $25-30,000. Two Sundays ago, Shane was giving a report to our church in second service about how God has supplied almost everything we need, and that we were just about $1-2,000 away. We invited everyone to come out to Chic-Fil-A on February 19th to participate in a Family Night fundraiser to help with the remaining costs...
After the service (a man whom neither Shane nor I had met) handed Shane an envelope with $1,000 cash in it and said that it was for our adoption, and not to mention his name to anyone. WOW. I met him this past Sunday, but I still believe that he is an angel! God must've told him to take that money, not knowing what it was for, and once Shane spoke God touched his heart. I am so blessed by his generosity, his obedience to God, his heart for adoption, and his humility.
This is just one of the miracles God has performed in our lives this past year! Pray for us as we continue to fundraise in obedience, knowing that God will bless. We have the fundraiser this Saturday night, and then a yard sale in March. We will continue to raise, as the price of flights can dramatically increase and other unexpected expenses can arise.
God has also really been working us over about Africa. We both feel passionately about reaching the lost and hurting of Africa! Sunday in church after praise and worship time, Shane wrote a note to me on his bulletin- "I feel restless. All I could see while we were singing was a crowd of African people singing in worship". My heart is burdened for the children over there who contract HIV during birth. If not adopted, they WILL die. We don't know what to do with all of this passion or how God is going to use us there in the future, but we are willing. We will hopefully get to stay over in Kenya for a few weeks with some missionaries (who are there with Campus Crusade)after our first trip over to Ethiopia.
What is God burdening your heart for? Do you have room in your heart and home for an orphaned child? Can you give some of the money you have been blessed with to a christian organization that builds wells in a country that has no clean drinking water so that they can also hear about the Living Water and "thirst no more"? Is He asking you to go on a short-term mission trip, or give to someone who is? When giving to the Lord's work, it's not a matter of should I give, but yet a matter of how much. If God has burdened your heart for adoption, don't let money stand in the way. He CAN and WILL provide - we are a living testament! If you ever have any questions about adoption or the process, please contact us!
Dossier
This is the package that carried our hearts through Paris, Dubai, and on to Ethiopia :)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Today we are officially one month into the waiting process! Our dossier is now in Ethiopia in the right hands, so we just pray that they find our little one soon. We are so excited to be done with what's called the "paper chase", and now in the waiting phase...although the waiting is tough! We have been busying ourselves with painting his room and getting things ready which has been fun. We are trying to pace ourselves though so that we don't run out of baby projects before we have a baby! It seems to make the waiting easier to have things to do. You may find us wandering aimlessly around Babies R US just looking at things, but I'm thinking that's probably normal, right? :)
I love to read, and I just started a new book called One Million Arrows (Raising your children to change the world) by Julie Ferwerda. I would encourage anyone who is a parent, is expecting a child, or wants to be a parent in the future to read this book! I have only read the first five chapters, but so far it talks about how it is nobody's responsibility to raise our children but our own - not the pastor, youth pastor, teacher, or sunday school teacher. We have a very short window of time to impact our children's lives for eternity, and we must be intentional about it. I want to raise a world changer! In chapter 5, the author quotes a (famous) father:
"If I could get my kids to the age of twenty-five knowing and serving God, and having character that pleases God, then I knew God would be happy and I would be happy. The only way I could do that was to do it myself - commit to God that this is my job. Our goals weren't just typical goals. I tried to give him a vision early that if he worked hard and became a successful quarterback, he would have an amazing platform for Christ." - Bob Tebow
A few of the principals that the Tebows employed in their parenting were teaching them to memorize scripture daily, encouraging them to pick heroes who modeled good character such as humility, teaching them at an early age to care about the problems and needs of others, and using smaller problems to teach them how to deal with bigger ones. I think they did a pretty good job, don't you?
I love to read, and I just started a new book called One Million Arrows (Raising your children to change the world) by Julie Ferwerda. I would encourage anyone who is a parent, is expecting a child, or wants to be a parent in the future to read this book! I have only read the first five chapters, but so far it talks about how it is nobody's responsibility to raise our children but our own - not the pastor, youth pastor, teacher, or sunday school teacher. We have a very short window of time to impact our children's lives for eternity, and we must be intentional about it. I want to raise a world changer! In chapter 5, the author quotes a (famous) father:
"If I could get my kids to the age of twenty-five knowing and serving God, and having character that pleases God, then I knew God would be happy and I would be happy. The only way I could do that was to do it myself - commit to God that this is my job. Our goals weren't just typical goals. I tried to give him a vision early that if he worked hard and became a successful quarterback, he would have an amazing platform for Christ." - Bob Tebow
A few of the principals that the Tebows employed in their parenting were teaching them to memorize scripture daily, encouraging them to pick heroes who modeled good character such as humility, teaching them at an early age to care about the problems and needs of others, and using smaller problems to teach them how to deal with bigger ones. I think they did a pretty good job, don't you?
Sunday, January 9, 2011
"Why aren't you adopting a child from the U.S.?"
"Why aren't you adopting a child in the US?" is a question that we have been asked many times over the last seven months. Some just out of curiosity, and some out of disagreement in our choice. Maybe many of you have wondered "why Ethiopia" yourselves. First of all, I will start by saying that an orphaned child is an orphaned child no matter where they are located in the world. The issue shouldn't be the where, but instead the why [are there so many orphans]. Second, we should guard ourselves against an "us and them" mentality. We are all created and loved by God. The United States and Ethiopia are very different countries located on different continents, but we are all part of the human race and this big and wonderful world that God created! Third of all, if we all just adopted within our own countries, the children of Africa would be without hope. Most of these children are orphaned because of the AIDS crisis and poverty. They may have extended family members who they could go to live with, but most of these family members cannot afford to take care of another child, leaving them orphaned. Furthermore, God told us to adopt from Ethiopia, so we are. You don't argue with God!
God has put such a love in our hearts for Africa. My heart is burdened for Africa. On top of the millions dying of AIDS over there, there are also people dying by the hundreds of thousands of curable diseases (such as malaria and tuberculosis). They need clean drinking water, they need better medical care, they need health education and prevention, they need they need they need! Be praying about how you can be Jesus to the people of Africa. We are praying about ways that God can use us now, as well as how God can use me there once I finish getting my R.N. degree. Children get bit by mosquitos in their sleep and contract malaria - buy a mosquito net for a family for $18 and save a life, or purchase seeds so that they can grow food for their family(Worldvision.org). Ask God to show you how you can help.
"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. We have refused to be instruments of love in the hands of God to give the poor a piece of bread, to offer them a dress with which to ward off the cold. It has happened because we did not recognize Christ when, once more, he appeared under the guise of pain, identified with a man numb from the cold, dying of hunger; when he came in a lonely human being, in a lost child in search of a home." -Mother Teresa
God has put such a love in our hearts for Africa. My heart is burdened for Africa. On top of the millions dying of AIDS over there, there are also people dying by the hundreds of thousands of curable diseases (such as malaria and tuberculosis). They need clean drinking water, they need better medical care, they need health education and prevention, they need they need they need! Be praying about how you can be Jesus to the people of Africa. We are praying about ways that God can use us now, as well as how God can use me there once I finish getting my R.N. degree. Children get bit by mosquitos in their sleep and contract malaria - buy a mosquito net for a family for $18 and save a life, or purchase seeds so that they can grow food for their family(Worldvision.org). Ask God to show you how you can help.
"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. We have refused to be instruments of love in the hands of God to give the poor a piece of bread, to offer them a dress with which to ward off the cold. It has happened because we did not recognize Christ when, once more, he appeared under the guise of pain, identified with a man numb from the cold, dying of hunger; when he came in a lonely human being, in a lost child in search of a home." -Mother Teresa
Saturday, December 18, 2010
It Is Well With My Soul
The year 2010 will soon come to a close, and this week I have found myself thinking a lot about the events of this past year, and what it held for Shane and I. I guess six words sum up how I feel: it is well with my soul. I wouldn’t trade a single moment from this past year – not a tear, not one moment of bad news or disappointment, not a single piece of gov’t paperwork, not a minute. This year my faith was tested and strengthened, my relationship with God deepened, and my worldview broadened. He taught me things that I would never have learned had I not “been through the valley”.
There are several specific things that I have learned this year. One, I need God – each and every second of every day. During our fertility battle with all the pills, tests, procedures, and disappointments, I could not have gotten through a day without precious moments in God’s Word and tearful prayers. I journal my prayers…I look forward to reading them to my kids many years down the road. During the last six months with our adoption journey, I have depended on God so much. I depend on Him to take care of our finances, to take care of our son and his birthmother, and to give me peace each day knowing that soon I will be a mother. God has never let me down. He is so good.
Two, I have learned that it’s not all about me. There is a whole world out there full of hurting and hungry people that need their physical and spiritual needs met. Before this year I wanted to save money so that we could buy a nice house…now we are praying about downsizing from our comfortable rental home so that we can have more to give. Compared to how the rest of the world lives, we live in a mansion – we live in luxury (the dictionary reference of a luxury is “the enjoyment of comforts and pleasures in addition to those necessary for a reasonable standard of well-being”). I’m not saying this to puff us up, I’m just trying to be transparent about the change God has made in our hearts. Allow Him to change yours too. Do you need the latest and greatest things? Does God call us to climb the corporate ladder, drive nice cars, buy a nice house, have only our “own” children, save every extra penny for extravagant vacations, and take “love your neighbor” only as being nice to the person who lives directly next door to us?? No.
Three, I have (naturally) learned so much about adoption. God put a love for adoption in my heart as a teenager, but it wasn’t until this year that the love truly grew. Soon after love grew in my heart, it started to grow in Shane’s as well. Shane found this statistic on the Grace House web page and read it to our church on National Orphan Sunday: “There are as many orphaned and vulnerable children in Ethiopia as there are people in greater NYC.” (Follow this link to more heartbreaking statistics of orphans here and around the world http://gracehouse.info/?page_id=655) So, what are we supposed to do about this? God tells us in the Bible. In James 1:27 it tells us “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you”. Not everyone is called to adopt, but everyone IS called to care for orphans. You can do this by praying for the orphans of the world and for families to be raised up to adopt, pray for families who are already in the adoption process, go on a missions trip to help meet the needs of orphans and orphanages around the world, become a foster parent here at home, or give of your financial resources to help a family adopt (as many of you have already done for us, and we are so grateful). There are many ways to be obedient.
God put two different books in my life this year that have really been an integral part of opening my eyes and changing my heart. Besides the Bible, nothing has stirred my heart more. I fully recommend these books – read them and let them change you. Let them strengthen your faith in Christ and change your desires. One is Radical by David Platt, and the other is True Religion by Palmer Chinchen, PhD. Before I started writing this post, I was reading a chapter in True Religion. I love this:
“If there is a way to a stronger heart for God, what is it? How do I have it? The way to a strong physical heart is not to rest it. Sitting on the couch watching too many episodes of Family Guy will atrophy your heart. Your heart is a giant muscle, and the only way to a ferociously strong heart is to work it out, exhaust it, make it beat hard. Climb a mountain. Do something so difficult your heart feels like it’s going to beat right out of your chest. I believe it works the same way spiritually. When you get up and get out and live your life for Christ, your spiritual heart beats stronger. I know this has been true in my life. My most difficult moments have been the moments that have shaped my heart most for God. They are heart-aching, heart-breaking moments I wish I could take back, but I know they have made me large-hearted and brought me closer to heaven. All I can tell you is what I know: When your heart begins to feel like it is a hundred miles from heaven, give your life away - mentor, serve, give, share, hold, encourage, love…and let God grow your heart.”
There are several specific things that I have learned this year. One, I need God – each and every second of every day. During our fertility battle with all the pills, tests, procedures, and disappointments, I could not have gotten through a day without precious moments in God’s Word and tearful prayers. I journal my prayers…I look forward to reading them to my kids many years down the road. During the last six months with our adoption journey, I have depended on God so much. I depend on Him to take care of our finances, to take care of our son and his birthmother, and to give me peace each day knowing that soon I will be a mother. God has never let me down. He is so good.
Two, I have learned that it’s not all about me. There is a whole world out there full of hurting and hungry people that need their physical and spiritual needs met. Before this year I wanted to save money so that we could buy a nice house…now we are praying about downsizing from our comfortable rental home so that we can have more to give. Compared to how the rest of the world lives, we live in a mansion – we live in luxury (the dictionary reference of a luxury is “the enjoyment of comforts and pleasures in addition to those necessary for a reasonable standard of well-being”). I’m not saying this to puff us up, I’m just trying to be transparent about the change God has made in our hearts. Allow Him to change yours too. Do you need the latest and greatest things? Does God call us to climb the corporate ladder, drive nice cars, buy a nice house, have only our “own” children, save every extra penny for extravagant vacations, and take “love your neighbor” only as being nice to the person who lives directly next door to us?? No.
Three, I have (naturally) learned so much about adoption. God put a love for adoption in my heart as a teenager, but it wasn’t until this year that the love truly grew. Soon after love grew in my heart, it started to grow in Shane’s as well. Shane found this statistic on the Grace House web page and read it to our church on National Orphan Sunday: “There are as many orphaned and vulnerable children in Ethiopia as there are people in greater NYC.” (Follow this link to more heartbreaking statistics of orphans here and around the world http://gracehouse.info/?page_id=655) So, what are we supposed to do about this? God tells us in the Bible. In James 1:27 it tells us “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you”. Not everyone is called to adopt, but everyone IS called to care for orphans. You can do this by praying for the orphans of the world and for families to be raised up to adopt, pray for families who are already in the adoption process, go on a missions trip to help meet the needs of orphans and orphanages around the world, become a foster parent here at home, or give of your financial resources to help a family adopt (as many of you have already done for us, and we are so grateful). There are many ways to be obedient.
God put two different books in my life this year that have really been an integral part of opening my eyes and changing my heart. Besides the Bible, nothing has stirred my heart more. I fully recommend these books – read them and let them change you. Let them strengthen your faith in Christ and change your desires. One is Radical by David Platt, and the other is True Religion by Palmer Chinchen, PhD. Before I started writing this post, I was reading a chapter in True Religion. I love this:
“If there is a way to a stronger heart for God, what is it? How do I have it? The way to a strong physical heart is not to rest it. Sitting on the couch watching too many episodes of Family Guy will atrophy your heart. Your heart is a giant muscle, and the only way to a ferociously strong heart is to work it out, exhaust it, make it beat hard. Climb a mountain. Do something so difficult your heart feels like it’s going to beat right out of your chest. I believe it works the same way spiritually. When you get up and get out and live your life for Christ, your spiritual heart beats stronger. I know this has been true in my life. My most difficult moments have been the moments that have shaped my heart most for God. They are heart-aching, heart-breaking moments I wish I could take back, but I know they have made me large-hearted and brought me closer to heaven. All I can tell you is what I know: When your heart begins to feel like it is a hundred miles from heaven, give your life away - mentor, serve, give, share, hold, encourage, love…and let God grow your heart.”
Monday, December 13, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Adoption Stories
Follow this link to our adoption agency's website, where you can read stories about adoption, the process, bonding, etc. It was after reading the article "The Adoption Gene" that I realized I "carry" it. I remember saying to friends and family as a teenager that I wanted to adopt, and that there were so many children already here on earth that needed parents. Although the process to get here has been painful, I thank God for bringing this desire as a young person full circle in my life.
www.awaa.org/stories
www.awaa.org/stories
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