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!