This one might be hard to write...

Let's start with a little miracle!

Through the incredibly generous gifts from friends, family, and those contributing to the half marathon fundraiser led by Claire and Liz, combined with the money Kyle and I have saved and will save from my teaching paycheck each month, we are actually going to have enough money for the first part of the adoption journey!!  When it comes time to pay the roughly $13,000 that will be due upon completion of the home study and dossier, we will actually have the money!!  God is so generous and when we crunched the numbers and discovered that he had blessed us in this way, we couldn't believe it!!   

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!!  We feel so humbled by your gifts.  I wish I had a more creative way to say it!!  Thank you, so very much.

Now we are trembling in our boots as we consider the mountain that lies ahead.  During the second half of our journey, we will need at least twice as much money as we need during this first stretch.  We do not doubt that God will provide what we need, just as he has always provided.  We wait on the Lord with a feeling of expectancy, knowing that He will provide in the way He chooses.  I am a control freak, though, and it is difficult for me to look at our bank account and know that there is an impossible task ahead.  I also KNOW God will provide.  But HOW???  My controlling side just wants to know!!  Anytime I begin to feel that the God of the universe, creator of ALL THINGS owes me an explanation, the Holy Spirit directs my heart to these verses in Isaiah 55:8-9


⁸ 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
neither are my ways your ways,"
declares the LORD
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts..."

And so we wait on Him, trembling, to see how He will provide.

In other news, we are in Virginia for Christmas this year.  We went to Birmingham last weekend to watch my youngest sis-in-law get married to a fabulous guy and celebrated Christmas with both sides of the family that same weekend.  

We have the house decorated and the stockings hung.  The Christmas gifts are beneath the tree.  This has been such a wonderful Christmas Eve.  A sweet family from our church took Matthew for a few hours to play.  Kyle is finishing wrapping all of Matthew's gifts.  Earlier today I finally made it to the Post Office to apply for a passport (yay!!).  A friendly lady helped me though the process.  She was wearing a santa hat that said "nice."  I was very excited to see some snow flurries as I left the Post Office to head home.  In a few minutes we will load up and head to Spotswood to enjoy the Christmas Eve service and to focus in on the miracle of Christmas.  But for now I am sitting at the kitchen table, sipping my hot cocoa (Thanks Kourtney!) and looking at this sweet sight:

Did you notice?  We have four stockings this year.  We know that our family is a family of four.  One of my dear friends from high school is pregnant right now...I'm sure she understands this feeling, along with many of you.   As surely as Sarah knows she has a child in her womb growing each day, I know that I have a child somewhere...even though he or she is not here to open gifts.  We will celebrate Christ's first coming as a child tomorrow as we open gifts with sweet Matthew.  We will laugh as he see's allll of the fun Thomas things he will receive.  We will enjoy food with friends.  We will have fun watching movies.  We will eat hot chili and snuggle under blankets.  We will read the Christmas story and explain the gospel to little Matthew.  It will be a fantastic day.  However, underneath it all, in the hidden places in our hearts, we will be thinking of another sweet child.  We will be wondering who is holding our little one.  We will be wondering how long it will be before we can hold both of our babies at once.


Will you say a prayer for our little one tomorrow?  And while you are at it, will your pray for my little sister, too?  My parents are in the process of adopting an older child from Russia.  We don't know her name or face yet either.  And, if I can be bold enough to ask for one more, pray for my brother, Jason, in Afghanistan and his wife, Rachel, in Alabama as well.  This is their first Christmas together...or rather, apart...as a married couple.

As you go, listen to this song by Third Day.  It speaks our hearts this Christmas.

Thankful...

for a Father who gave His son,

for the Son who lived perfectly to save me,

for the Spirit who helps me daily.

for a husband who loves me and gets me water at night so I don’t have to get out of bed.

for a son who lights up my life and makes me laugh,

for the humbling experience that parenthood is each day.

for parents who love me enough to drive 12 hours just to spend a few days with me, and  who love the Lord enough to rescue a child from an orphanage in Russia and make her part of the family someday soon.

for my big brother who is serving us all as he works long days in Afghanistan.

for my niece who is so sweet despite it all.

for my 4 sisters-in-law, I always wanted a sister, and with these I hit the jackpot!

for my in-laws...I couldn’t ask for a better second set of parents.

for my Church and its pastors,

for the way they follow the Lord with diligence and humility.

for friends across the miles who never forget and know the whole story of my life.

for friends across town who hold me accountable and make me laugh until my sides hurt.

for my job where I get to work with committed teachers and administrators, students who are eager to learn, and for the money it brings.

for the provision and blessings the Lord has given us,

for a home,

a yard,

cars,

clothes,

food,

for meeting our needs and wants in such a way that we can be a part of meeting the needs of others.

for the holy mission he has given us: to adopt a child from Azerbaijan,

for the blessing of another child to love and raise,

for those who have already come alongside us to provide emotional and financial support as we adopt.

But please understand.  I am not simply thankful to the universe.  I am not only thankful in my heart.  I KNOW who gave me these blessings.  I know that there is a person who holds my life in his hands.  He holds the good, the bad, the ugly.  He is the giver of all good gifts.  He is the one who sustains us though the difficult times.  He is the Lord, yesterday, today, and forever.

Father in heaven, please hug our little one today, wherever he or she is, whatever he/she is doing.  Since I can’t hold my sweet one, please do it for me.  As we play with Matthew and enjoy the holiday with him, comfort my sweet child.  And tell my little one that Mommy and Daddy are coming.

Slowly but Surely

It has been a while since we have updated everyone, so sorry!

We signed 60 pages worth of an Adoption Agreement with our agency and mailed a nice big check to officially begin the process about a month ago.  The next big step is to find a home study agency and begin the home study process.  I have been playing phone and email tag with a couple of agencies, and I think we have settled on the one we will use.  We will have to fill out more paper work with this agency and send them money to begin that process as well.

God has been so faithful to us!  About a month ago we were beginning to feel the pressure of life and bills and thinking about alllll the money we want to save/spend in the next year.  Just as we were starting to feel overwhelmed, God sent us a reminder through the mail that HE is in control and HE called us to this journey.  In fact, over the course of about 2 weeks, we received money 3 separate times that was totally unexpected!  Claire and Liz have also been working hard to raise money for our adoption through their upcoming half marathon in Thailand.  The last numbers I heard brought our total for the fundraiser to around $300!  Isn't God fabulous?!  If you are interested in contributing to the fundraiser, check out Claire's blog and Liz's blog.  The half marathon is on November 18th.

If I could describe our current state of mind when it comes to this adoption, I think I would simply say "peace."  I know there will be moments in the upcoming months where we will feel things like doubt and panic, but right now we are comfortably relying on God to provide what we need to adopt our sweet child...whomever he or she is!  Now...if only I had patience!  Kyle is better at that one that I am!  I want to rush and run and race to get through everything...but God has given us more plates to balance than only this adoption.  We spend our days and weekends working and doing ministry, and of course loving our silly Matthew.  We try to spend a little time in the evenings taking care of various projects around the house that will help us prepare for the home study.  We are getting there slowly but surely!

We pray each day for our little one.  We don't know anything about our child...boy, girl, infant, toddler, not yet conceived...but we know that one day we will be able to claim this child as a part of our family forever...the same way Christ's sacrifice allows us to become a part of God's family forever.  And the same way God knows each of us, even when we don't acknowledge Him, he knows this child, even if he or she is completely unaware that we are coming to bring him/her home!  Our prayer each morning and night is that God will protect our little one and guide us along His path as we take this journey.  We beg Him that all of our children (however many that will be) will come to understand their need of a relationship with Jesus.  And we ask Him to show us how to bring glory to His name through all that we do.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Money, Money, Money

Money.

Right?!  I know.  It makes me sick to think about it too.

Adoption Ark sent me this fabulous document that explained all of the expenses we will have to cover to bring home our little boy or girl.  Some of the items are set in stone (like the $10,000 translation fee).  Other expenses they gave an estimate (for things like travel for three trips to Azerbaijan, hotel stays, etc.)

I made a fancy spreadsheet with all of the numbers.

It was alot of fun until I finished and had the fancy spreadsheet do the math for me to tell me how much money we could expect to spend.

Feeling sick yet?

Over $60,000.

Now, before you panic (oh, is that just me??), we need to remember a few VERY important details.
1. God sent me back to work so that I could contribute to the adoption fund with my paycheck.
2. We don't have to pay all of that money at once.
3. This was GOD'S idea, so He has to provide.

Phew.  I feel better now.

(Can you tell I worked 12 hours today?  I am a little fried.  Today was Back to School Night at school.)

ANYWAY...

I was freaking out about this several weeks back and prayed about it with a group of friends, and gave it up to the Lord.  So the next morning He responded through two sweet college students we know from Church!

Claire and Liz are serving as foreign missionaries in Thailand for a year, living among, working with, and ministering to Thai people.  You can read more about them on their blogs, which are linked to their names above. :)  Claire came to me via skype to talk about an idea they had come up with.  They wanted to do something to help us raise money for the adoption, even though they are half a world away!  There is a half marathon coming up on November 18th in Thailand.  Claire and Liz have decided to run this half marathon and raise money for each kilometer they run!

That's where you come in.

Claire and Liz will be running 21km on November 18th.  We have set up a page on YouCaring to accept donations.  However, right now we are just asking you to pledge.  You can pledge a flat rate donation or a certain amount per kilometer (21km in a half marathon).  If you are interested in being a part of our adoption in this way, please send me a personal email (rebeccafkelley@gmail.com) with your pledge!  I will forward your email to Claire and Liz so you can receive their pre and post race updates.  When the time comes, you can go to our YouCaring website to contribute.

We are trying to raise $13,000 by the end of 2012 to cover the initial costs to begin the adoption process.  This will include our contract fee, home study costs, medical exams, dossier preparation, and adoption education.

We truly appreciate any and all help we will receive.

Two weeks ago I was sitting in church listening to my pastor talk to us about the importance of sharing the good news about Christ with my neighbors.  To be perfectly honest, I don't remember his exact points...and I'm not even sure I could tell you what passage he was using from the Bible...and yet God changed my life.

I was a little distracted that morning...thinking about how little I had seen my little boy that week.  School started Tuesday, Wednesday was another school day plus church that night (I saw him for 1.5 hours the whole day), and after school Thursday Kyle and I had to leave town for a trip that had been planned for quite some time, so I didn't get to see Matthew at all after I left for work that morning.  We didn't get back until Saturday afternoon...and here it was Sunday and I had my precious boy in the nursery!

So there I sat...thinking about what a terrible mother I must be and how I couldn't believe I thought going back to work was a good idea.

When I expressed that thought to my friend Mistie the week before she said "Bec, you have been a Christian for many years and you know your Lord's voice.  He told you to do this."

I knew she was right.  I know that I heard His voice...but that's not what I was thinking about that Sunday morning.  I was only thinking about missing my boy...and generally feeling sorry for myself.

But as I sat there, listening to WHY I should share the good news...it suddenly occurred to me!

There is a child out there somewhere.

I don't know if it is a boy or girl.

I don't know if he/she is still in his/her birth mother's womb or in an orphanage.

But that child is out there.

And that child doesn't know the good news.

And it is incredibly unlikely that anyone is going to tell that sweet child that there is good news!

And that child...is mine!

I am the mommy...Kyle is the daddy, Matthew is the brother!

My child.

And I want that child to find Christ just as much as I want Matthew to find Christ!

Those of you who are parents will understand this, I think:  you know how even after you find out you are pregnant, you don't feel like it is true?  Even when your pants get tight and you eat everything in sight and throw up everyday...you don't really feel like it is true.  And then!!  That day comes when you FEEL that baby MOVE!  And you know that child is there!  You realize that child is REAL, and you are the mommy!

That's what happened to me.  God moved in my heart, and now I can see that I'm making these sacrifices so that our child can have life!  Life that is filled with GOOD NEWS!!

Becca

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PS
I don't want to let this post get any longer than it is right now, but I know you guys are curious about where we are in the adoption process.  I am working on another post which will hopefully go up later this week.  It will give you the full update along with an exciting announcement (no, I'm not pregnant, so don't go there :P)!!

The Journey Begins

Well, here we go!

When it comes to international adoption, one of the hardest things is figuring out where to adopt from.  This part has been hard for us.  When you look out at the world and realize just how many orphans there are in the world that need to be rescued, it breaks your heart.  And it breaks your heart even more that you can't rescue every single one of them.

 So we have spent the past few weeks praying and seeking God's Will about where we will find our future child.  We have spent time over the last few months reading through Operation World to learn more about countries around the world.  Kyle's primary passions in selecting a country to adopt from are:
1. A country where the child has little or no hope of hearing the gospel.
2. A country where orphans experience a lot of hardship if not adopted (for example, girls who are taken into sex trafficking).

We have had to take other factors into consideration, such as:
1. Whether the country allows foreign adoption.
2. Whether the country allows Christian parents to adopt.
3. What the parent requirements are (for example, some countries don't want you to have any children other than the one you are adopting, some require both parents to be 30).

So!  We have narrowed the list down to 2 countries!

Our top choice after all this research and prayer is Azerbaijan (yes, we did have to youtube it to figure out how to say the word properly...you should too!).

Azerbaijan borders Russia and Georgia on the north, Armenia to the west, Iran to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the east.  The primary religion is Islam, making up almost 88% of the population.  A little less than 10% of the population are "non-religious," and a mere 2.74% are Christian.

Azerbaijan has recently moved in the direction of religious freedom, which is why we are even allowed to adopt from there.  Many predominantly Muslim countries don't allow you to adopt their orphans unless you proclaim yourself to be Muslim.

Our second choice (we've been told it is always good to have two choices) is Kazakhstan.  Kazakhstan is across the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan.  It borders Russia on the north and China and Uzbekistan on the south.  About 54% of the population is Muslim, 34% claim no religion, and 12% are Christian.

We found one adoption agency that has programs in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.  I have been talking with a consultant from Adoption ARK, and today we submitted the pre-qualification form.  Once the agency has reviewed our pre-qualification, we will be able to talk more about their different country programs.

That's all the news we have right now.  Not terribly exciting...but we are one step closer!

Becca and Kyle

The Newlyweds are back...except we aren't really newlyweds anymore, and we aren't in New Orleans anymore, either...

Remember when we were newlyweds?  Remember when we were living in a hotel in New Orleans?  Remember when I (Becca) got my first job?  Remember when the hurricane came?  Remember when I had 32 students?  Remember when Kyle was diagnosed with diabetes?

A lot has happened since then!  We moved to Fredericksburg, Va. in July 2010.  Kyle got a job as a Middle School Pastor at Spotswood Baptist Church.  I wish we had kept up the blog in those days, cause once again, God proved sovereign in our lives.

For example, He got me a job against all odds.  I taught a year at Riverview Elementary School.  I was hired to teach 4th grade, but it changed to KINDERGARTEN at the last minute :P  It was a blast, though!

I found out I was pregnant on the 3rd day of school that year...oops!  Matthew Dean Kelley was born May 3, 2011.  He is now 1 year old, walking, and saying a few words.  Time sure does fly...

We bought a house!  Yikes!

We have made some wonderful friends in Virginia.  God provided them, too.

And now, God has taken us back to the beginning.  Back to that place where we have to rely on him.  It's kind of funny, actually.  I went back to the very first post, $40, and laughed when I saw that the verse at the end is the same verse God is using in our lives right now!  James 4:13-15.  Look it up!

Anyway...the reason I am starting to blog again is because God is taking us on another journey, and we want you, our family and friends, to come along.  We want to praise His name through it, and we want to bring Glory to Him...and we want YOU to see how awesome our God is.  So here goes nothing...

Kyle and I have said since before we were married that we wanted to adopt "someday."  You know...someday?  When we are rich.  Or at least have a little extra.  AND we figured someday we would know how to keep the whole house clean all the time?!  And...SOMEDAY when we had some extra time on our hands?

"Someday" seemed like a safe time to adopt.  But, as usual, God has other plans for our lives.

See, we were reading through Crazy Love (by Francis Chan) with some friends, and God started putting these crazy thoughts in our heads.  Thoughts about adopting.  Thoughts about loving God in a radical way right now.  Not someday.

He kept asking me the same question, week after week.  "What are you waiting for?"

"Well that's pretty obvious, isn't it?  Money."

"I will supply what you need."

Yeah.

"We need more time...we are so busy."

"I will supply what you need."

Um.

"So...what did you have in mind?"

"What are you waiting for?"

Sigh.

And He is right, as usual.  So, I tried to "pray" about how he wanted us to find all this time and money. Have you ever used prayer as a way to put off what you already know God is calling you to?

It didn't work.  The first time I sat down to ask Him the question, he answered before I finished asking!

"I made you a teacher, remember?"

"Yeah, but, what about Matthew?"

"I made you a teacher."

"Sure, but, my baby!"

"You have another baby out there who needs to be rescued."

Are you getting the idea of where this is headed?  So, I called Kyle.  That conversation was fun, too.

"Hey, Honey...Umm, I think God wants us to adopt."

"Yeah, I know"

"No, I mean, right now.  And he wants me to go back to work."

"Uh, I'll have to pray about that."

I'm not sure exactly what happened between Kyle and his Savior, but I know that it took less than a day.

So, here we go.

The funny thing is, when I left my teaching position last year, I was planning to officially quit--you know, the whole letter of resignation thing?  But my principal convinced me to do a leave of absence instead.  To simply take the year off and decide later whether I would come back or not.  I did the leave of absence, thinking all along that I would never go back.

I had to let them know by April 15th that I was returning, otherwise I would have to interview all over again.

God got a hold of us the first week of April.  He has good timing, right??

We have barely begun the process.  We need to decide where we are adopting from, what age the child will be, and whether we want a boy or a girl.  Or more than one...?

So, thank you for joining us.  Pray for us whenever you think of us!  And we will keep you posted :)

Becca