Wednesday, January 26, 2011

How It Went...

Our home visit was yesterday and honestly it went wonderful. Peyton and Paige are such neat kids and no I am not saying that just because they are mine. They really are (well except for when they are fighting over little debbie snack cakes or whose turn it is to feed the dogs). The social worker who was so nice talked to both of them and I actually almost started bawling at how sweet their responses were. Paige gave her a tour of the house and showed her where a little sister would sleep, where a little sister would put her clothes, all the toys she could play with. Peyton of course said if he had a brother that would be awesome to him.

I knew the kids were excited and open to welcoming another sibling but to hear them talking about it to someone else made me so proud of what awesome little kiddos they are.

At one point the social worker said "what if mom and dad brought home TWO children?" Peyton looked at her with a smile (as he was shoving pudding into his mouth with a fork) and said "that would be great!"

I think Peyton is lobbying for a brother also. What do you think?

Our last interviews are tomorrow, I checked on the status of our fingerprints and they are being processed, we are going to go ahead and schedule our medicals and have a few little odds and ends to take care of but we are moving along (not sure that should have all been one sentence!)

Now we need to focus on some major fundraising and start all that paper chasing for the dossier. AAAHHH! $25,000 isn't too big for God!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Please Pray

Friends...please go to this post NOW, read and pray...

Created Just Right

Praying for the full armor of God to envelop these families. "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having gird your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints"

Pray with these families as they STAND before the one who will decide each of these children's future.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Company is a coming...

Anyone who knows me in person knows I have a slightly odd sense of humor. This warped sense of humor rears its head more when any level of stress arises.

The home visit is tomorrow but our social worker coming is not what is causing me stress.

It's my house.

And I can't seem to wiggle my nose like Bewitched to get it all in order.
The laundry has a mind of it's own and I believe it is breeding in the laundry room when I close the door.
I need to have a serious talk with the garbage as well. I think it is on steroids.
Don't even get me started on my 11 year old son's bathroom. Can you say gas mask?
So.
To distract myself in between wrestling laundry and making those little scrubbing bubbles do the job they are supposed to be doing in the shower I have compiled a list of quotes about having guests come a visiting.
We look forward to our home visit and having a very special guest peek through all the rooms of our home however I had to insert a little humor.
Enjoy...(or not) completely up to you.
Visits always give pleasure - if not the arrival, the departure.  ~Portuguese Proverb

Santa Claus has the right idea:  Visit people once a year.  ~Victor Borge

We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We labor to make a house a home, then every time we're expecting visitors, we rush to turn it back into a house.  ~Robert Brault

 Fish and visitors smell in three days.  ~Benjamin Franklin
Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were.  ~Author Unknown

Wish me luck with the laundry and scrubbing bubbles. Off to febreeze every square inch...
*Update! I am happy to report the bathrooms are done, dusting is done, floors are done and I think the kid's rooms are semi-clean! Now for the laundry and a tiny prayer request - please no SNOW. If we can get through this week all our appointments will be done!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

147 Million Wait

147 million.
Just one estimate of the number of orphans out there in the world today.
The number is staggering but it is just a number...until you begin to match tiny little faces to those numbers.
Tiny Faces. Tiny Hands. Sweet Smiles.
And they are waiting. Time is against them. Around the age of four many tiny children will be transferred out of the safe places they have known.
Children like these....
They Wait.

And Wait.

And wait.
And wait more.

And More.

Waiting.


Waiting.


Waiting.
They Wait For Someone To ACT.

 Today, I want to challenge each and every person reading this post to action. 
You CAN make a difference in these children’s lives.
 DONATE. PRAY. OR ADOPT.
DONATE - It costs upwards of $25,000 to adopt internationally. You can support a family by donating to their adoption. Any amount is huge and you are directly helping bring a child home.
 
PRAY - For the families currently pursuing adoption and for families whose hearts God is working in to get to the point of saying "yes, we will go." If you feel a tug at your own heart, ask God to reveal to you what it is you are to be doing. Ask Him to show you His heart for orphans.
 
ADOPT - You may feel God really is tugging on your heart, telling you that one of these precious little ones belongs in your family. You may be scared, overwhelmed, confused and full of questions. But taking that first step out will suddenly seem the most right thing in the world to do when you say "yes" to adoption.
 
So, I leave you with this challenge… DONATE, PRAY or ADOPT. Would you take some time to pray about what God would have you do and then would you commit to ACT?
                                              
All of the children in the pictures above are in need of a mommy, a daddy, a family. They need hugs, kisses, to be tucked in at night. To know they are safe. To know they are
Loved.
 
"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do.
God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to ACT."
Proverbs 24:12

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Wherever You Are...

I pray you are safe. I pray someone, anyone, will tell you how precious you are today. I pray for the Lord to overwhelm us with guidance in each and every single step it will take to get to you.

I pray any closed doors we encounter will crash to the ground.

I pray the Lord is preparing your little heart to meet the ones who long to call you little one. To give us wisdom, and endurance for a road which will be long.

We love you little one. We pray for you every day. For your safety, your health, your future.


You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.
Psalms 10:14,17-18

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Opportunity

Thank you to everyone who has left supportive comments and sent emails, especially in regards to the reaction (or lack thereof) we have had to our adoption news. While we have peace in our hearts and know beyond any doubt God is FOR us, it does also help to know others have walked similar paths and faced some of the same circumstances.

Through it all we are seeing opportunities we can use to teach our children about love, God, grace, and helping others...these opportunities are everywhere. After our daughter passed away we started a foundation to help families who have had children pass away or have a child with a life threatening illness. Our children have helped other families and seen things most children never see. I have watched our son step without hesitation or fear over tubes and wiring from a ventilator, gently pat a little girl with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) on the head and whisper "Happy 2nd Birthday." With tears in my eyes we have listened as our daughter prays for sick children and their families. I have thanked God over and over for giving our family both heartache and joy. For each has stretched my image of what is truly important in life.

As we continue on our road to adoption the P's are learning more about love and God's heart for ALL His children. I am so thankful to be on this journey. In one week we have our home visit appointment for our homestudy. This is both exciting and makes me nervous. Why I have no idea but it does. The homestudy is really preparing us for welcoming another child into our family. We have been reading, doing required education, collecting tons of documents, pouring out our entire autobiographies,and  answering MANY deeply personal questions all the while preparing the P's for another sibling. We have always been very open with the P's and welcome their questions or concerns. Having a sibling pass away has created many opportunities for us to talk to them about things most children never encounter. We approach everything age appropriately and with love. Because of all they have walked through we see amazing little people with compassion filled hearts. But they are still typical children and siblings who get grumpy, argue, tease and generally annoy one another on a daily basis.

I mentioned our church in my last post - I am blown away by the support we have seen. I am humbled, grateful and thankful for all the prayer, support and offers of help we have seen in both our church family and some of our friends/family. We will be making an official announcement to our church congregation this coming weekend. I can't stand talking in public. I get all shaky and nauseated but over and over God places me in situations where I have to get in front of crowds and speak. Viewing them as opportunities to show how God is working through our lives is the only way I don't pass out.

I may break out in hives and possibly throw up but I will keep y'all updated. This week we are finally getting more of our home study things done. The snow has melted and we are on a mission to get it all FINISHED!

This year we will meet our newest child...and we couldn't be more excited about all God is weaving for His glory. Follow us there!
**Yeah! We don't have to talk at church! Our preacher is going to make the announcement!

Monday, January 17, 2011

The Gloves Come Off...Re Post

We have been shown sincere support from many in our church family since we began telling people of our adoption plans. Sitting in church last Fall I recall several sermons on caring for widows and orphans. God used the words of our pastor to begin preparing my heart. I see something in our church which is different from others we have attended. A church which believes people are the church and not the building or the lighting effects. WE are the hands and feet of Jesus. I see a church which wants to do more to help widows and orphans. I was not sure what role our church would play in this. I did pray we would be surrounded in support and prayer. I have fully expected for Eli and I to slowly amass the money we need through fundraisers, saving, selling and prayer.
But...WHY should the church...any church..help widows and orphans? Why should the church...all of them...support families adopting?
I am speaking of ALL churches. And I am not speaking of helping in just a financial manner. I read many adoption blogs and have heard wild stories of people getting no support (emotionally, prayer, or financial) from the churches they have been members of or attended for years. This is appalling to me. I am re-posting from a wonderful, sweet lady's blog who believes heart and soul in caring for orphans. Here you go...to get to the original links in Lu's post please go directly to her blog. She puts it quite bluntly. But maybe that is the way it should be.

The Gloves Come Off

 I am sitting here on Sunday afternoon after watching church on the telly since we can't go in person. Some of the biggest churches in the world are on the telly. Not just on Sundays either. I watch TBN and the God Channel often. Most nights it is on whilst I work.


So, why is this titled 'The Gloves Come Off'?


Here is why... the messages I'm hearing from these BIG churches are about seeking God's face, how to enrich your life, how to be prosperous, how to live the Christian life, how to really PRESS into worship... but NOTHING about the orphans, the fatherless, the ones without a voice. NOTHING. 




I know I just posted about feeling conviction for saying things about ministers and the money they spend on clothing and the price of their worship centres. I did and I do feel conviction for that. It is unproductive to just criticise.


So what has happened since then, less than a week ago? I will tell you.


Since that post I have learned that THREE (possibly 4) of the precious children waiting for families on Reece's Rainbow, the children I work for, have been transferred to institutions. Whatever you have to say about the orphanages' care of these children, compared to the institutions those will seem like they mollycoddle the kids. Their lives, which were already insignificant, have turned to a nightmare.


Whilst I do NOT trivialise the plight of ALL orphans, the ones I work for are the least of the least of these... disabled orphans in the third world. There is simply not a lower 'class' than that. There is simply no one more least than these.


Church! DO YOU HEAR ME?


I don't think you do.


You ask why there are so many orphans in the world but God is asking US why there are so many!


WHAT do you think James 1.27 means?


WHAT do you think Matthew 25.40 means?


WHAT do you think Jesus talked about when he was here?


WHO did he spend his time with whilst he was here?


The churches are FULL people, church attendance is at a high... mega churches are many and minted! People all around the world are 'pressing in' in worship. But the orphanages are also full! This shouldn't be...



What are those churches' focussing on? 'Seeker sensitive' churches. Seeking out people in their community to 'get them into church' so they can hear the Gospel!


Don't get me wrong, I am a Christian and I will NEVER give up God. HE is faithful and just and righteous and worthy of all our praise.


The church... is failing. The church is only teaching part of the gospel... the part that talks about what WE get from it... not what is expected of us. They don't live the Gospel.


How long can the 'church' live on milk?


How long must child after child be discarded and sent to institutions where 85% die within the first year and honestly, they are the fortunate ones. The ones that 'live' are merely existing. Shells of a human being, their bodies don't grow and when they do they grow twisted from being left in beds and cots too small for a person of their age.



This is UGLY is it HARD TO LOOK AT but let me tell you something...

The most beautiful gift God EVER gave me was in the form of a little girl that the world would label defective and throw away. Had she been born in Eastern Europe she would have been thrown into an orphanage and if she survived that she'd have been put on a bus for her 4th birthday, a day which would hold no significance to her since they do not celebrate birthdays in these places, and carted off to an institution where her food would be scarce and shoved down her throat by a 'carers' fist whilst she gasped for air. She'd be left in a room with other children and older people all who have been institutionalised for varying amounts of time, months to years. They likely will be many who have what is known as 'institutional retardation' because they are never taught, never encouraged, only left to their own defences and that isn't much.


 This gift God gave me has been the one thing I could NEVER give up if asked. I could NEVER go back to the person I was before her. I could never go back to not knowing God's heart and touch and feeling His heartbeat. I could never go back.


Yet in the US and UK, you know, the civilised countries who point and shake their fingers  of scorn at Eastern Europe and shake their heads with disgust and condescension,  90% of the people in these civilised places INCLUDING THE CHURCH/CHRISTIANS, when they find out they are being given this precious GIFT that I hold in my arms every day, terminate them. It is what it is... death.  Just as much as it is for the kids in these institutions that will likely die from neglect, just slower and dragged out, it is comparatively the same thing.



And the church just sits back and prays and seeks new members, buys a new stage for their worship performances (yes, I'm hitting with those words to, it isn't worship, it is a performance - in some churches even includes a light show) and we LET THEM DIE.


WE ARE RESPONSIBLE for the lives of ALL of these kids.

WE ARE TO BLAME.


Why are these countries discarding their children? Because we aren't telling them not to. How can we say 'don't kill them it is wrong' when we have a 90% termination rate for the same kids?


THE CHURCH IS FAILING.


WE ARE FAILING.


And these kids are the ones who pay the consequence.



These are the kids who die at our hands...


In Loving Memory of Margarita & Katarina (above)
 and Anne Marie (Ukraine)

I knew NOTHING of this growing up... because I was never told of it... the church didn't tell me... no one did.


Then God gave me a gift... my child. She is the most perfect example of Christ's love that I've ever witnessed in anyone. The most Godly people I've ever met pale in her shadow... and she's only 4 years old.

What man considers the least of these, God gives them the place of most importance at His table.

And this little child led me and gave me the strength to look. Not just to see and be appalled but to look and see that these children were just as precious as she. They are Jesus on earth. They are the weak, the ones with no voice of their own. They are neglected and abused and unloved... by man. When we are in Heaven one day, we will realise how wrong we were for they will be the ones seated nearest our Saviour.


This is why  I am up until the wee hours of the morning literally falling asleep doing my work to help the people who will go to rescue these children. Because God has allowed me to feel a glimpse of His heart... for these children and for the mums and dads who are being lied to and made to think their children need to be discarded.


It is why the church should also be propping those families up. Those who are willing and able to follow God's call to ALL of us to care for the orphans shouldn't need to do endless fundraising to get the money to go bring these children home, the church should be paying their way.

The church is failing.


So, how can the church sort this?

How can the church rectify what is nothing short than an embarrassment to Christ's church?


Simple.


Read this:
  27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27, New King James Version)


and this:
  40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’   
(Matthew 25:40, New King James Version)


and this:
27  Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,   
      When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
       (Proverbs 3:27, New King James Version)
 11   Deliver those who are drawn toward death,   
      And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. 
       12  If you say, “Surely we did not know this,”   
      Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?
      He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?
      And will He not render to each man according to his deeds? 
       (Proverbs 24:11-12, New King James Version)
 
Then, 

teach your congregation about it.
 
  • There are 147 million orphans worldwide.
  • If even 4-5% of those people worldwide who claim to be Christians stepped forward to adopt these children, there would no longer be any orphans.
  • There are families (MANY just in our yahoo group alone) who are willing and qualified to adopt these children, they just don't have the extra funds for the costs involved with overseas adoption.

The church should be helping these families to adopt. 
The church should be encouraging families to adopt.



AND for those who can't adopt...


God doesn't expect you to give everything away, go hungry and become ill yourself. He DOES expect you to give what you can... do what you can.


If you can help promote someone's adoption or the Angel Tree via twitter or facebook or your blog, then you should be doing that!
 Twitter Facebook 

If you can help by donating to their adoption fund or to the kids on the Angel Tree, then do it! Even if you have to make a sacrifice... I'm not saying you should go hungry, but I am guessing most people could forego their Starbucks coffee once a week and give that money to the orphans, who incidentally do go hungry.


If you are a minister or have a business or anywhere you can be a voice, then you should be. Healings and worship are wonderful, they draw people to the church, but once they are there, you should be telling them about the orphans and widows. You should be TEACHING them how to care for them.


If you have a way to tell the nations about the value of the life of these children 
SO THE ORPHANAGES CAN BE EMPTIED FROM THE OTHER SIDE... 
meaning, they don't get filled in the first place!

Then DO IT!


If you have room in your home and qualify to adopt, THEN DO IT!


The church IS failing...

                        but we don't have to...




Wednesday, January 12, 2011

No More Snow..No More Snow

For the love of all things good and right. NO MORE SNOW. It's been beautiful, fun for the kids to play in. Tons of memories....but 8 - 10 inches of snow in Alabama makes everything close down! For days we have enjoyed the white stuff. It's been insane wonderful. When will it go away??? There are sheets of ice on side roads, parking lots, and schools have been out for days. An owl flew into power lines and we lost power for a short while. That was exciting. Let me tell you. Middle of the night searching for the flashlights, kids yelling in their rooms. Everyone piled together in our bed. Think we are going to need a bigger bed for more children. Do they make a bed that spans the entire length of a wall??

People, this is serious. I don't have enough chocolate in the house.

Maybe we should have taken it more serious when people were lining up at the store stocking up on bread and milk. Maybe I should have bought a secret stash of Snickers. Maybe I am losing my mind. We had so many things to get done for our home study this week.

I think this God saying "your plans?" HA!

Is this a tractor clearing our roads?? Is this normal? You don't have to answer that. Praying for rain.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Just Numbers to Some

As many of you know, our eyes were opened to the millions of orphans needing homes because of a little girl named Julia. A good friend of mine, also mommy to a cockayne child, sent me a simple message one morning "there is a little girl with cockayne on a website for adoption."
And so it began.
My eyes were opened to staggering statistics, heartbreaking circumstances, desperate stories, and in the midst hope.
Hope as God was showing me His love
For Orphans.
Families by the hundreds welcoming children into their homes.
But my heart was breaking for what breaks His.
To be burdened is hard stuff.
It is looking at your life, what is important, what REALLY matters in a whole different way.
What really matters?
It's not the American dream.
It's saying "yes" to God. Not turning your eyes away to the reality that IS orphans.
Children should not be just numbers or statistics.
But millions are.
We have said "Yes" to adoption. Why wouldn't we?
But my heart has felt both joy and sadness over the reactions we have had.
Some family and friends are incredibly supportive. Some are semi-negative. I am actually okay with these because it gives us an opportunity to answer questions.  But the ones which have hurt the most?
 Those who won't even ACKNOWLEDGE our adoption.
I have to wonder, if we were having a child biologically would they be acting different?
This child we are praying for, raising money to adopt, loving already will be our child no matter how she comes into our family.
This from the book "Radical" by David Platt...."The idea of billions in poverty or twenty-six thousand children dying from starvation and preventable disease before we lay our heads on our pillows tonight seems hard to imagine. Millions of orphans in Europe, Latin America and United States. As overwhelming as these numbers were, they were still just numbers before we traveled to get our son.We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. It is easier to pretend they are not real before you hold then in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.
"We can let these numbers remain cold, distant and almost imaginary. Or we can open our eyes and our lives to the realities that surround us and begin considering the faces that are represented by these numbers."
Little One is real. As are the 147 million orphans needing homes around the world.
Little One is not just a number to us.
God willing, she will someday know herself as "daughter, sister, granddaughter,beloved child of God "
God alone has placed this child on our heart and we won't turn away.
We are seeing even more fully God's heart in heartbreaking situations.
Living with eyes wide open is a good place to be.
Have your eyes been opened? What will you choose to do?


Friday, January 7, 2011

Well it's a work in progress

And boy does it need alot of progress! But my brain doesn't get HTML or anything technical related to buttons, headers, backgrounds. And so on. I have developed an eye twitch from working on this blog background and header!

But I have good news! I know the paperwork I sent made it to a far away land - well I know someone picked it up. That's about it. Apparently, UPS places a 24 automatic HOLD on all things being shipped to that area. Would have been nice to know in the very beginning. I am learning to keep a secret stash of chocolate for emergency situations.

Bakers semi-sweet just doesn't cut it.

More good news, our first home study appointment was yesterday and it went really well. I think. I hope. I pray. Except that SOMEONE involved in this adoption ( great idea husband) ate chili at 7am for breakfast. With jalapenos. 
Our social worker seems very nice and supportive. Especially considering I FORGOT my checkbook to make the first payment for the home study. Our home visit will be near the end of the month and then we will just have our individual appointments left! And we have to also factor in waiting for all the background checks to come back. Hurry up and wait...it seems to be a common theme.
You know, a person is never supposed to pray for patience right? Instead, I am asking for prayers of support and that God will continue to open doors.
AND if we meet a closed door we will be fully able to accept that.

I want to say THANK YOU to those who have donated! I know first hand from working with non-profits that every little bit helps...
We are so very thankful and want everyone to know your generosity is amazing to us.
Have a blessed weekend friends....here in the South we are expecting more snow!

Hang in there....

with me until I get this blog header figured out!!!

More to come...we had our first home study visit yesterday!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

First Fundraising and Postal Woes Part 2

I love coffee so when I saw this fundraising opportunity I wanted to try it out! Go to our family page and browse the site! Portions of the proceeds will go toward our adoption. Every little bit helps!!


   http://www.justlovecoffee.com/thehousers

Thank you for your comments on my "postal woes"! I am afraid they haven't ended...the UPS place called this morning and said they couldn't send it for some reason! They are still attempting to figure out just why they haven't been able to mail our documents. They did however suggest perhaps I fax the documents. Through gritted teeth I politely explained no I could NOT fax confidential, original, notarized, apostilled documents to a far away land.

I then proceeded to eat the only chocolate left in the house - semi-sweet bakers chocolate.

"The Joy of the Lord is your strength" Nehemiah 8:10

Holding onto the Joy of the Lord....

Monday, January 3, 2011

Postal Woes

You gotta have a sense of humor. Really. We are just starting on our adoption journey and already are realizing the LOOOOG road ahead.

If there is a mountain, a bump, an anthill to climb it will park itself right in front of you as soon as you say "Yes" to adoption. Will we let it get us down? NO! Hence, needing to hang onto a sense of humor through the process. Enter...postal woes.

Last week I had our first tip of the ice burg paperwork notarized and sent to be apostilled in our state. I walk into the mail place (not the post office) and explain I need the documents overnighted (four hours away). The lady prints up the prepaid stamp and I tell her I also need a self addressed stamped envelope placed inside. She gives a big sigh and huffs "I wish you would have told me that!" I look around, was she talking to someone else??

Nope. Just me. She proceeds to explain how she can't "let postage leave the facility."

I look around again thinking maybe I have stumbled into a sandwich shop. I see Fed EX, UPS, mailboxes. Pretty sure it was a mail facility. She asks me if I have stamps with me. Ummm. No. That is why I am here I explain. "Don't you sell stamps?" I asked her.

"We don't sell stamps here. We couldn't keep them in stock." I am becoming more baffled. I know I am living in the south but this really isn't making sense.

"So. I need to go over to the grocery store and buy stamps to put on the envelope?" I ask and she says yes. At this point I think I could have had more luck in the mail facility ordering a turkey sub on wheat, toasted.

I explain it is for an adoption and she gets emotional, places $2 worth of postage (guess she found stamps?!) on the SASE and sends it on its way. I paid over $50 to send something overnight and the very same documents came back to me perfectly apostilled in that $2 SASE less than 48 hours later.

Today I went to mail the same documents all pretty and apostilled to a far away land for $116. I stood there with my mouth hanging open when she gave me the price. I asked her if that was the least expensive option.

"Ma'am, we can't make the plane fly any slower. It will be there in two-three days. That is the only option."

Yes friends, a sense of humor is a must. How much is the going rate for "old gold" these days???

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Moving along...

Sending off our first batch of apostilled paperwork to a far away land tomorrow. We first thought we were to have a home visit this past week but plans changed and we are now having our first home study appointment this coming week!! As we begin 2011 we are praying for God to continue showing us His plan and walk according to his agenda. It is so odd beginning this journey and being filled with peace yet knowing so many hurdles will come.

I am researching ways to fundraise so any input is greatly appreciated! This post is short and sweet - thank you to everyone who has showed us so much support. We are truly thankful for each of you, family, friends and friends we have never met!

Some thoughts on adoption to end...when Eli realized this was the path God had placed us on, this was what God placed on his heart...."He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—" Ephesians 1:5 (NIV)

Truly there is peace in our hearts knowing adoption into His family was always God's plan for each of us.