Adoption update...

I have been asked questions like "When will you get your baby?" or "Do you know what baby you are getting?". The answer is we do not know, we are waiting. The way it works is we are going to turn in our applications to adoption agencies with in several states and we could be matched within 3-6 months. That means a birth mother has selected our family to raise her baby girl and we also agree that she is to be our baby. Then we wait for the BIG DAY and go to the state/city she will be born in. Our prayer is that we will be a the delivery and hold our baby immediately. We then stay in that city/state until the courts release us and the birth mom has sign the release. I am sure there may be a few things I am leaving out, but as we walk along this path, I will update.

So once again we are in the throws of paperwork! We have downloaded several adoption agencies applications and are in the process of filling them out. It can be a little intimidating because they are rather large and ask soooo many questions. The apps contain similar quesions that we have already answered for our homestudy and for CAC. I would think it would make it easier, but it is just a lot. One agency I researched had a 44 page application! WOW! So if you think of us, please pray for the paperwork process to move smoothly.

Another testimony...I did get our finished homestudy in the mail (awesome!) and with it a bill...I forgot that we would pay more once receiving the completed hs. So we already paid $ to CAC at a discounted rate, so it left me wih $250 for any more adoption cost to come. The bill for the hs was $450. I was short! Oh no! I prayed and asked the Lord for more $ and left it at that. Two days later, someone came to our home and gave us $500!!!! Praise Jesus! He heard me...again. His faithfulness is amazing!

If you are praying please include our little girl, her birth mom and family. Here's a few things you could highlight: baby to be healthy, whole, complete, lacking nothing, birth mom to have a understanding of the Lord's love and delight for her, safe delivery, etc.. Thanks!!

Thoughts...too beautiful not to share

Anger is a condition in which The tongue works faster than the mind .
You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present By worrying over the future !
Love...and you shall be loved.
God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.
All people smile in the same language.
Everyone needs to be loved... especially when they do not deserve it.
The real measure of a man's wealth is what he has invested in eternity.
Laughter is God's sunshine.
Everyone has beauty but not everyone sees it.
It's important for parents to live the same things they teach.
Thank God for what you have, TRUST GOD for what you need.
If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.
Man looks at outward appearance but the Lord looks within.
The choice you make today will usually affect tomorrow.
Take time to laugh, for it is the music of the soul.
Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
Love is strengthened by working through conflicts together. . Harsh words break no bones but they do break hearts.
To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it.
We take for granted the things that we should be giving thanks for.
Love is the only thing that can be divided without being diminished.
Happiness is enhanced by others but does not depend upon others.
For every minute you are angry with someone, you lose 60 seconds of happiness that you can never get back.
Do what you can, for who you can, with what you have, and where you are.

In His Face: part 2

So as I am reading this book I have decided that throwing it across the room would not be the right way to handle my feelings, therefore I put it down for a day, processed what I read and returned this morning ready to read on. Here are my nuggets:

~Mat 11:15
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

The gospels were meant for us to simply hear what God is saying.

~Those who say they can't hear God are not in His word. (That may bring on debate in many hearts) We fill our time with other things: TV, movies, music, busy work.

~Jesus wanted on thing from his disciples..."that they might be with Him" (Mark 3:14) also check out Luke 10:38-42

~If you think of it, it doesn't resemble God's thoughts...unless you received it from Him.

I have been thinking that all of these nuggets are rather irritating! Why I wonder...because they are true and have pierced my flesh to get to my heart. I am rejoicing at the truth being spoken in this book and I am going to press on in reading the remainder of it.

Be blessed in th journey!

Dating my man

Matt & I were able to go on date last night and we had a wonderful time. The weather was great so we headed for the plaza. Our drive there was on a road that is housed with homes that I only have dreamed of! On the plaza we wondered and laughed at the outrageous cost of pretty items. Our thoughts came out in whispers... I just cannot believe that a bed comforter cost $175 on a 75% off table! It was a beautiful one and I would have bought it for less. Okay I'll stop now...it just does not seem right. Think~ in heaven we will not have to purchase. It will be given by the Lord! He is already preparing a place for us. And the beauty will be unlike anything we see here. All that said we continued on to dinner and ate at the Cheesecake Factory--yummy--then walked around longer...arm in arm. There is something special about being close to my man and being loved on by him. After that we took a drive to a pretty little lake in Blue Springs, Mo. A great fishing hole I hear. From there we went to see a movie--Indiana Jones. It was pretty good and had a few weird parts but overall an awesome evening out dating my man.

In His Face: Part 1

The timing of the Lord is truly perfect. I am reading the book called: In His Face by Bob Sorge. I got the book about 2 months ago, started it, put it down and now have picked it back up again. The book is a "prophetic call to renewed focus." The focus: Jesus. Being in His face, learning who He is, knowing your identity before Him and trusting His goodness, faithfulness & leadership.

Following are a few nuggets I have enjoyed and am pondering thus far. (for more detail you'll have to get the book!)

~God wants us to have passion, purity, and perseverance.

~The more time we spend with the Lord in His word and in His face, the more we will be like Him.

~God desires us to have passion for Him and for His church body. Psalm 42:1-As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.

Psalm 69:9-for zeal for your house consumes me...

~The biggest disease of American Christianity is apathy. It means: NO PASSION!

~We must have passion with purity... moral purity.

~In emotional and dark times we can turn to other things to fuel our hearts. If we give into the temptations we can fall to false moral compromise.
Isa 50:10-11-Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant?
Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.

~We must have perseverance! God is not in a hurry or on our time table! From pg. 32 of book:
"The New Testament word "perseverance" describes the capacity to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat."

Isa 30:18-Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

Isa 49:23-For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.

I am in the process of waiting on the Lord, learning how to be still and above all I desire to have passion, purity, and perseverance.

Be blessed in the journey!

Some fun pics of loved ones

Great Grandpa Dick w/Alex & Noah

Papa, Mama & Alex


Grandma Bea, (mom) & Lisa


Got you, Alex


Friends L-R:Matt & I, Desta & Eric, Nathan & Kristi


One of my favorites!


Noah Isaac


Brothers!

waiting is the hardest

On to the next leg of the journey. We turned in our paperwork yesturday to CAC and now I will be gathering the many applications and paperwork needed to give the adoption agencies. It is definatly stretching my patience muscle! Oh, I know that waiting is the hardest part, but I think that the uncertainty of how it will all look at the end is hard. The Lord has called us on this journey and in doing so, we wait. I have so many what if's and questions that as soon as I leave the Lord's side-even for a moment, I lose my peace. I desire to wait on Him and trust His leadership. As I am wiriting this here is what I am reminded of:
Jer 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Pro 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Pro 3:6
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct* your paths.

There are thoughts I have about the sin in my own heart that may prohibit me in parenting a child not of my own flesh. I know that my own strength is false and I can only lean upon Jesus for help. Will I love our baby girl the same? How will I treat her compared to my other kiddos? Will I be able to defend her and show her she is wanted and desired in our home. Can we show her heritage and help teach her where she came from. We will always point her to the cross and the one true love who will never fail her. I am sure He is able to help me with all these things and I must rest in the shadow of His wings for my help and refreshment. For now waiting is the hardest part.

He did it again

Each time I ask Jesus for His provision for our adoption and that I may "see" His work He has shown up and done it!

As of last week we needed $60 to turn in our paperwork to CAC to continue our journey for our baby. I prayed and last Thursday Matt called and said he just was given $30 for our little one. Yesturday I asked for the rest and in the mail came $30 with a note saying, "I pray this will help in God's plan for our baby girl!!" Thank you Lord for hearing my prayers and being so faithful. On May 31st, we had a fund raiser to raise support for the adoption costs and God showed up! It was a night we had been eagerly awaiting and all the ideas I had about how it would be went out the window. The Lord was in contol, not me! Originally, it was planned fo a venue at a church and we had invited about 150 people. Then after a small response we moved it to our home. Through that transition, Matt and I disussed what we really wanted the night to be about. Our conclusion was that we needed PRAYER! So we all gathered, all 16 of us and prayed for our baby girl, our family, the birth mom, and for the Lord's will to be done. He is so kind and the prayer time was sweet--we even had it recored for us to hear in the furture. On top of that we receieved many monetary gifts that helped us get enough $ to turn in our papers to CAC! I rejoiced in the Lord's faithfulness and love for our family. He did it again...he showed up and loved all over me!!!!