Starting off our trip with a bang

Well, it's 9:30 and we were going to try to leave at 8am. We're getting a late start to our morning, due to an unexpected visit from EMS and a trip to the ER. Micah has had a cold, but last night he was coughing so much that I was afraid he was not getting enough oxygen. I gave him a nebulizer treatment at 8pm and he stopped coughing after that. At 2am, he started again, so I have him another one. This time, the treatment did nothing for him and his cough worsened. At 2:45am, I called our nurse advice line and she heard his cough in the background. I was advised to call 911 and have him checked out. This scared both of us, but we did it. The EMS workers said his lungs were clear and he looked good, but thought that it was probably due to the nebulizer treatment. They were concerned that he might worsen once the meds wore off, so they advised he go to the ER and be checked out. Because he was stable, they gave us the option of taking him in ourselves or going by ambulance. We decided that I would take him in while John stayed here. His oxygen levels varied a bit and his pulse was high while I was there, causing his monitors to start beeping, but overall they were not too concerned. He had a chest xray to make sure his lungs were clear and then we were discharged. They said he has an upper respiratory infection. I was so exhausted by the time I got home at 5:30am and I had not had any sleep yet. John was up while we were gone. He tried to rest, but you can only rest so much when your wife is gone to the ER (driving in snow and on black ice) with your baby. So we slept a little later than planned and are both tired. We would appreciate your prayers for Micah for healing and for us as we drive to MS over the next two days.

Going out of town again

We will be gone from Tuesday, 12/22, until late next Wednesday, 12/30, for a trip to Mississippi. We will be spending our first Christmas as a family with John's side of the family. We are looking forward to making some wonderful memories and ask that you keep us in your prayers as we travel. Pray also for healing for my boys, who have colds. We don't want to get anyone sick.

I have no adoption news, but my social worker has my cell number and John's parents' number. She is not expecting anything to happen before early next year, but will call if something comes up.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I have no news.

I have no news. Just wanted to update the blog so you didn't think I had forgotten about you all. Of course last time I made a post like this, we got a call the next day. Here's to praying it happens again! :)

Open Adoption

I have had a few questions about open adoption lately. Yes, we are open to an open adoption and we told them that several months ago. Yes, it scares me a little, but I prayed about this and have peace with this decision. It doesn't bother John at all. We are also fine with semi-open and closed adoptions. We didn't tell them we had any preference between the three. Our concern is first for our child and then for the birthparents, not ourselves. If the birthmom does not want any contact, that is fine, we respect her wishes. But if she'd like to hear from us or see her child sometimes, we can certainly understand that. Our agency does require that a yearly update (with photo) be sent in to them. So they have that on file if the birthparents want to see it. We are not wanting to be completely open. We do not want to give out our address or phone number, but we are fine with setting up an email address just for the birthmom to contact us with that wouldn't have our last name on it. We don't want her to come here, but we are fine with meeting up at an outside location, like the agency's office. We understand that this is a gut-wrenching decision for her and she may want to see Hannah sometimes just to know she made the right choice. If at some point, Hannah decides that she isn't comfortable with meetings, we'd stop. I think it might be nice to be able to ask questions, should we need to, especially those of a medical nature. It could also be a venue for ministry to the birthmother. We are just trusting that God in His sovereignty will bring us the child/situation that He wants us to have. And whoever that is and whatever the details are, He has a plan for it all and we want to be a part of it.

Quick Update

This will be short because it's late and I want to go to bed. I just wanted to give everyone a quick update. I prayed and I know several of you did as well, and I felt very strongly that I needed to be open to a direct placement. John was already open to it, so we talked and then I let the social worker know that we would still be willing to do it. It's kind of scary, but I am going to just trust God to do His thing, even if I don't always understand it.

Wisdom

I'd like some prayer for a decision we need to make this week. Our social worker was reviewing our file and we had said that we were open to a direct placement. That means we would take a baby home right from the hospital, knowing we would be risking having to give her back should her birthmother change her mind. When you go that route, you have to meet the birthmother twice before she delivers. Sometimes the birthmother even invites you to be there when she delivers. In the beginning, this is what I wanted. I want to meet the birthparents and get to talk to them, if I can. I would love to be there when my baby is born and be the first to see her. I would love to be with her from the beginning. Of course, you take a really big risk when you do that. Having already been through a failed placement, I am a little scared to have that happen again. Last time, we had not even met the baby and it was painful to lose her. It would be a lot worse if she had been in our house for 7 days and then we had to give her back. So the social worker wants to know where we stand now on this issue. John said he is still open to it. I would have thought I'd say no, but even though it's scary, I don't know that I want to close that door. I know a day will come when my daughter will have questions about her adoption and her birthmother. I would love to be able to answer some of those questions and tell her that I met her and what she looked like. But I don't want to have to go through another failed placement. It is not unusual to have this happen to you more than once. I just need wisdom and would appreciate your prayers. Thanks!

Giving thanks

We were blessed to be able to share in song in both services at our church yesterday. We had been asked to sing last month, before the baby excitement happened. We had originally picked a song and one of the pastors just wasn't feeling it for that week and asked if we could pick something that fit with Thanksgiving. So we wound up choosing "Thank You, Lord" by Hillsongs instead. It's a praise and worship chorus, and the entire song is just thanking God for all that's He's done and is going to do. It was definitely much more fitting and I really think God wanted us to be singing that instead of our original choice. When he asked for a song of thanksgiving, neither he nor us knew what was about to happen in our lives. When we got word that our baby had been born we thought it would be wonderful because we were going to sing a song of thanks on Sunday and then pick up our baby on Monday (today). It was perfect! Then we found out that she wasn't going to be our baby after all. And you know what? The song was still perfect. God is worthy of our praise no matter what we go through. He hasn't brought our daugther to us just yet, but He has done so many other wonderful things in our lives and we are thankful for those things. And we are thankful that He will be bringing us a daughter, in His perfect timing. After our sound check yesterday morning, the pastor asked us if he could share with the church what had just happened in our lives and we said he could. He wanted them to know the place we were coming from as we sang this song. I had to really hold it together as he shared or I wouldn't have been able to sing, but I am a firm believer in sharing what God is doing in your life. God uses openness like that to minister to others and I have no idea who was in the congregation that day that really needed to hear it. I pray it ministered to people, especially those who may be going through something difficult right now. He shared and then prayed for both us and the offering, as we were going to sing while they collected that. I was truly blessed by what he shared and by the church joining together to pray for us. I went into this praying for God to minister to those who heard the song and for God to be blessed by our praise, but God surprised me by blessing us as well. He's cool like that.

We're ok

I just want to thank everyone for their encouraging words and prayers. They really mean a lot to us. We are ok. I thank God we hadn't held her yet. Never thought I'd be thankful for the flu, but in this case it saved us from even more emotional heartache. I loved her already. It makes me treasure my boys all the more and I have a new compassion for people who go through this who do not have any babies to snuggle after receiving a call like this. I know that there is a reason for everything that happens. I am glad that a mommy realized she can parent her child. I pray it saves them both from the pain that many adoptees and birthparents go through. I will continue to pray for them, even after we have our own daughter. Maybe God brought her into my life because He wanted me (and some of you) to be praying for them. For now, we have let this go and are moving on. We are working a little more diligently to get everything in order. We are mostly ready, but not completely. I think we'll be all set in a week or so. We need to finish up with Micah's rooms and move him in there (and out of hers). Then we need to find a dresser for her room and put the finishing touches on it.

We are back on the waiting list with our agency. The agency is having a 25th anniversary dinner tomorrow night and we are going to attend that. I am looking forward to it. Free dinner, free sitter, wonderful stories, and encouraging words.... can't go wrong!

Baby went home

Just got word that the baby's mother did come get her today and take her home.

Everything went well for Micah

Micah's surgery went well this morning. It was really fast and we were out of there by 8:40. He was infected in both ears, so he should feel a lot better later today. The fluid in his right ear has become the consistency of glue. The ENT said that means it's been there for awhile and had started dehydrating. I'm thinking that the hearing in that ear had to have been affected. He has a prescription for some antibiotic drops and can have motrin or tylenol as needed. Micah went willingly into surgery, but was not a happy camper when he woke up. He screamed for about an hour and a half and is very clingy, which is understandable. We finally got him to calm down and now he's crying on and off. I am told this is very common as the anesthesia wears off, plus it probably hurts some. The ENT said he'd be fine by the afternoon. Thanks for all the prayers. I am so happy for him that we won't have to deal with all these infections anymore.

All the boys are well now. They've all been fever free for a week (more than that for two of them). They were doing much better last week, but I had read that you are contagious for a week afterwards, so we stayed home anyhow. But now that timeframe has passed as well so we should be good to go.

I have asked my social worker to let me know when the birthmom picks up the baby. My brain just needs to know that for closure. We (the social worker and us) have decided that it might be better for us if she doesn't call us next time until we are three days out from the end of the revocation period. That way, we'll have a little notice, but the chances that a birthmom will change her mind are much slimmer after already being 7 days into it. I'll let you know when I hear from her later.

Micah

In the unexpectedness of yesterday, two things that happened yesterday went unmentioned that I was going to tell people. The first was that we had found out in the morning that the baby was not full African-American as we had originally been told. She is biracial. There had been some miscommunication somewhere. The birthmother is white and the birthfather is black. We had thought that was pretty cool, since our boys are biracial as well. Unless the birthmother changes her mind again, this really doesn't matter anymore, but I wanted to share it anyhow since I had made a comment about her light coloring.

The second is that Micah will be having surgery first thing Monday morning. Many of you are aware of the high number of ear infections my poor baby has had. When he got healed of the breathing problems and the allergies back in June, I had hoped the ears were included in the healing as well. And at first it seemed that perhaps they were. He didn't have an ear infection for six weeks after that, which is the longest he had gone in 8 months. But even though the frequency was reduced (he had been having them every few weeks), he has still been having them. He's had 4 since we went to see the ENT at the end of May, and he has a double ear infection right now, so 6 in 6 months, on top of the many he had already had earlier this year. On Tuesday, I scheduled an ENT appt for Friday (yesterday). I just wanted the first available doc so I could get him in as quickly as possible. The ENT confirmed what we already knew. He needs tubes. We have tried absolutely everything else, including allergy testing, homeopathic remedies, and regular visits to the chiro and nothing is working. They said they could have it done within 2-3 weeks and I told them we were going to be picking up an infant on the 23rd (this is right before I got the call that we weren't going to be picking up a baby anymore). I asked if there was any way we could get it done before we had a newborn and they said they could get us in Monday morning. So we got that all set up and I got him pre-registered at the hospital. Of course, then things changed with the adoption, but I'm just going to leave the appt where it is. I am glad that in only two more days, we won't have to deal with this anymore. The ENT thinks that Micah's speech has been affected by the fluid in his ears and noted that Micah mumbles. I hadn't really noticed; just chalked it up to him being only one, as they are sometimes hard to understand. He has been hearing through fluid, which muffles things. Kids in this situation mumble because they are just repeating what they hear. He said we are going to notice a big difference in his speech in the next few weeks and that he will be less clumsy as well. So please keep him in your prayers for Monday morning that his surgery will go well with no complications and that he will have a speedy recovery. Pray that his brothers will be quieter than normal (they are loud children, despite my efforts to make them quieter). The ENT said things are going to be loud to him as he will be hearing things clearly, perhaps for the first time. I'll update you on him after we're back. I should only be gone a few hours, and the procedure itself should only take 15 minutes.

Friday Update

This is a post I don't want to write, but we need your prayers right now. I received a call a little while ago saying that the birthmother has already changed her mind. She misses her baby too much, which is understandable. I am very sad, of course, but I know that God is still in control of our adoption. Due to legalities, the birthmother will not be able to get her baby back until Monday. That leaves two and a half days for God to make His will clear. Many things lined up with this adoption and it was enough to make me feel confident that this was our baby. The social workers did not expect her to change her mind, but they can never know for certain. I trust the Lord in this situation, but I am not really sure how to pray right now. I just know I need to pray and I need you to pray as well. It doesn't feel right to pray for God to take a child from her mother, if her mother wants to raise her, so I cannot do that. So please just pray for us and pray also that the Lord will do whatever He has in mind to do and that His will be done in this situation. The social worker does not want us to get our hopes up, but since the birthmom can't get the baby back until Monday, she will have time to think over the weekend. Pray for her to have clarity of mind and realistic expectations as she thinks this through. Pray for God to speak clearly to her about what she should do and for her to have the strength to do whatever she needs to do. Parenting this child as a young unmarried woman takes strength too.

Pray for us as well. I am glad that we hadn't told the boys and gone to meet her. This is really hard, but that would have made it harder. Pray for God's comfort and peace. Pray for the Lord's will to be done in our family and that He will bring us the baby He has for us.

I know that as you read this, many of your hearts will break right along with mine, but I want to ask you not to call me right now. I need some time to process this. We will be ok (John is home today). We know that God has a plan for us, for this baby, for the birthmom, and for whatever baby He does have for us, and that He will bring His will to pass. Please just pray and we will do the same.




Lamentations 3:21-26

21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

The boys and more pics

What do the boys think?

We have not told the boys yet. I am not sure that they will understand why we have a new sister, but she doesn't live with us or that she's ours but not really ours yet. They also do not understand how long ten days is, although I guess we could make a countdown chain like we do for Christmas. I will be preparing them even more, but we've already been talking about adoption for awhile now. They are already excited for a sister and have been praying for God to give us one. Luke and Nathanael understand that sometimes a mommy can't take care of her baby and she gives her baby to someone else and then that family makes her their family. They understand that God is going to give us a baby in that manner and that she will be our baby sister. We studied Moses in our homeschool and I explained that Moses was adopted. I explained that his mommy loved him very much and had to make a very hard choice so she could do what was best for her baby. We have a friend who recently had a baby girl, so I've been telling them that when our baby sister comes, she is going to be very small like that baby and she won't be able to sit up or play with us for awhile. They don't remember Micah as an infant. They were too young. We haven't really decided when we will tell them, so we could change our minds and tell them tonight...who knows? If any of my readers have been in this scenario, I'd love some advice.



And just in case you need another Hannah dose......

(Click to see the full sized pic)







The stuffed animal with the little blanket attached is something her birthmother bought for her and wanted her to have.

Hannah Renee

We just received the pictures!!!! When they told us she was full African-American, we were expecting a little brown baby, but it looks like Hannah will be very close to the coloring of her big brothers.

Here is our baby girl!! I don't know why it cut off the side of this pic, but if you click it, you can see the full pic, I think.

Thursday Update

I spoke with the social worker this afternoon. She had just come from dropping Hannah off at the foster mom's house. Everything went well with Hannah's discharge from the hospital. Her birthmom had some family there to support her as she faced the very difficult task of saying goodbye to her baby. She had a few items she wanted Hannah to have and we will receive those when we pick her up. I'm sure they will mean a lot to Hannah one day. Please keep the birthmom in your prayers. This is probably the hardest day of her young life. The social worker said she took a ton of pictures for me and that she'd send some when she had access to a computer. The rest she will burn to a cd for me and give me later. I have not received the pics yet and am trying not to go crazy while I wait. She said I could post them here when I do get them. The birthmom did allow her to take some pics of her and Hannah together. We will not be sharing those pics with anyone, but I am really happy to have them. I know that one day Hannah will probably want to know what her birthmom looks like and I am glad that I will have something to show her.

I will post the pics once I have them, but I am afraid that since it's already after nine, we may be waiting until tomorrow. The social worker is also going to send me the foster mom's number so I can call and get updates on Hannah.

The post you've all been waiting for!!!!!

Our baby girl was born this morning!!!!! We had no idea the birthmom had even seen our profile or anything, so when we got the call this morning it was a surprise to us. She just contacted the agency a few weeks ago. She saw our profile last week and liked us. She gave birth this morning and choose us!! The baby will be going into interim care (like foster care) until the waiting period is over. The waiting period is 10 days in VA, but since that falls on a Saturday, we have to wait until Monday to pick her up. So we will have our little girl on the 23rd, as long as the birthmom does not change her mind. Once the waiting period is over, the birthmom cannot change her mind. Once we pick her up, she is ours forever. She will be 12 days old and she will be with us in time for Thanksgiving!!!!!

Her name will be Hannah Renee. The Lord told us to name her Hannah and the birth mom asked that Renee be incorporated into her name somehow because that name has special significance for her. Here are her stats:

born today 11/11 at 7:16am
5lbs 14 oz 18 inches long
She is perfectly healthy as far as they are aware.
She is fully African-American and she is in Virginia.

I want to go meet her so badly, but 4 out of 5 in my house have the flu right now. I am the only well one. John and I would like to go meet her together and he just came down with the symptoms so it will be several days before he is better. So we will probably not get to see her until we pick her up. I did ask them to explain this to the birthmom because I don't want her to think we are not excited. The social worker is going to take some pictures for me tomorrow when Hannah is discharged and send them to me. So I will have those up for you as soon as I can.

Birthmom knows this is what she wants to do and birthfather is on board, so the social worker does not expect her to change her mind. Birthmom is young and lives with her parents and they are also supportive of her decision.

We are down to needing $2,500. The money will be due the day the baby is placed with us (12 days), so please pray that the Lord brings in the last part of the money we need. If you have been thinking about supporting us, we could really use your help now!

I've been giddy with excitement all day! God's timing is just amazing. I prayed about 2 weeks ago and asked the Lord to spare us from the flu, but then I told him that if it wasn't His will to do that, could he please just let us get it and get it over with before we had a newborn in the house. One week and a few days later, 4 out of 5 members of my house had the flu. As I cared for my sick children, I questioned whether or not I should have prayed that prayer. And then I got that call today and it all made sense. I said, "Lord, you knew!" He honored my request and we will all be over that and have our immunity for the season before Hannah comes home.

The Lord is good and we truly have much to praise Him for this year!

No news

Many people are telling me they have been checking the blog and haven't seen anything and they are asking what's going on. If you don't see a post in awhile, it means nothing is going on. I have not forgotten that I have blog readers who are waiting to hear something. I'm waiting to hear something too! We haven't gotten any phone calls or been matched with anyone, so nothing really happens until either a birth mom wants to meet us, or we get a call that there is a baby already born whose birthmom has chosen us. I will definitely let you know if something exciting happens. Until then, please keep praying.

As far as wanting to breastfeed goes- The pumping I've been doing is starting to yield some results, albeit very small results, so keep praying that the Lord gives me a full milk supply! I am encouraged to be seeing changes this quickly.

Nursing an adopted baby

Induced Lactation...the concept sounds crazy to some people and others have no idea such a thing is even possible. Anyone who knows me should know by now that I am not very mainstream when it comes to my kids, so it should come as no surprise that I want to do this. Although some aspects of breastfeeding are very challenging, I really enjoyed nursing my boys. I nursed all three of them almost exclusively (meaning we used very few bottles). The first two nursed until I got pregnant with the next baby and lost my milk ( 8 months for one and 9 for the other). Micah nursed until he was 14 months. I have a very strong desire to be able to nurse my daughter. Apparently, there are different ways to go about it. There are some methods of inducing lactation that include taking medicine and hormone supplements. We are not quite comfortable with this idea, but it's supposed to be the method that brings in the most milk. Many women who try to induce lactation are able to get some milk in, but how much you will get varies and there is no way to know whether you will only get an ounce of milk or a full supply. Obviously, I would like to get a full supply in. I have several factors in my favor, including the fact that I have done this three times already and it's only been 7 months since I did it last. (Even women who have never been pregnant or nursed have been able to induce lactation and nurse adopted babies.) Still, there is no guarantee that I'll even get an ounce. However, my experience with God thus far has been that He delights in giving us things not necessarily needed, but sometimes things we would just like to have. I do the same for my children. My Father knows it is my heart's desire to nurse my child and I have asked for him to bring in a full milk supply by the time I need to have it (which only He knows at this point.) I am asking him to do it without the need for drugs and hormone supplements. So please join me in praying for this. Pray for me also, that if He chooses not to do this, that I will be ok with it and just trust that He knows what is best. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Zumba Pics

Here are some of the pictures from the Zumba fundraiser. My friend Jasa would like to be more involved in photography, and she offered to photograph the event for me free of charge. Thanks, Jasa!

Zumbathon Fundraiser

Wow!

Have you seen my updated total of what we still need over on the right side of the page about half way down? Wow! Praise the Lord!!! It's coming in.

Updated Zumba total

The updated Zumbathon total is $362!!

It's official!!

We're approved! I heard from our social worker today that our homestudy has been approved by her supervisor. What this means is that we can now have a baby any day. From here on out, it's just a waiting game. We're supposed to have the money the day we are placed with a baby, so please pray with us that God provides the rest of the money by the time he brings our daughter along. What happens now is that our profile will be shown to any moms they think we are a good match for. When one chooses us, we either wait for her to deliver her child or if the baby is already born, we go get our baby! It's a very exciting milestone. With the exception of $4,200, we are ready. Her room is ready enough, we have clothes, a carseat, etc. So please pray that God will bring her in His timing and that we will be able to wait patiently until then.

Still waiting

I haven't forgotten you all! We haven't heard back on the supervisor's approval yet. I don't want to be a pest and bother them everyday, so I'm trying to be patient. I will let you know when I hear something.

Where are you at now?

I've had several people ask where we are at with the homestudy approval, so I figured I'd better update everyone on that. Our social worker has finished writing up our homestudy and has submitted it to her supervisor for approval. Once she gets that approval, we're official! I will definitely let you all know when I hear back from her. Hopefully, it will be very soon!

Zumbathon Update!

Thanks to everyone who came out today! I had so much fun, but I am worn out now! Two hours of Zumba...that's like 1600 calories, right? I am now going to enjoy a brownie sundae guilt free! We had about 30 people come out to the gym. Lacey lent me some Zumba wear, and it made me feel official. Officially what, I don't know, but it was fun to wear. We Zumba'd for an hour before taking a little break. Several people donated door prizes for me to give away, so we gave those away at that time. John brought the boys by and we were able to thank everyone as a family. I meant to thank all the people who donated door prizes and Jasa for taking pictures, but I got all emotional and only thanked the instructors. Sorry!

These people helped make today happen:

Jasa W. - Event photography and handcrafted door prize donation (www.http://jasawolfrey.blogspot.com/)
Stefanie S. -Creative Memories door prize donation
Tracy M.- Handmade baby gift set door prize donation
Cheri- At Home America door prize donation
April A.- Scentsy door prize donation (www.scentsy.com/aprilaurand)
Jennifer J. - Zumba instructor
Angela E. -Zumba instructor
Stephanie C.- Zumba instructor

A very special thank you to:

Andrea B. -She is the manager at Sport and Health. She has been very helpful to me every step of the way and very supportive. No matter how many people wanted to come, this could not have happened without a venue.

And a super special thank you to:
Lacey - Lacey (www.golaceygo.com) is the instructor that helped me put all this together. I had the idea, but she helped me make it a reality. She put a lot of time and effort into this, and I really appreciate it.

The total is incomplete right now. But as of this moment, the total for this fundraiser is $344! There is some more donation money coming, and when I receive it, I will update the total. One of my friends took pictures and will be giving me a cd of them at Tuesday's class. I will post most of those to facebook, but will share a few here as well. I'm sure there is something else I should say right now, but I am so tired and my brain has shut off for the day, so I'm signing off for now.

Thanks again, everyone!

Zumba Fundraiser Today

The day for our Zumba fundraiser has finally arrived and I am stoked!!! It's going to be great! I hope to see a ton of you at Sport and Health today at 2pm!! We're going to have door prizes, a raffle, an appearance by some very adorable little boys, and LOTS OF FUN!!

All the details are here:
http://www.mixedwithlove.net/search/label/Zumbathon%20Fundraiser%20%289%2F26%29

If you can't come, but would like to help us bring a baby home, donation information is on the right hand side of this page under the heading "Would you like to help?" We appreciate donations of any size.

I will update you later this evening on how it went.

Radio Interview Pt II

I did tape the interview yesterday. He wound up airing it that same day, instead of today, so I wasn't able to get the word out in time. It was not the station I thought it was, but it was a sister station, that airs on the AM side of the dial (1230AM, for local folks). The station on the AM side is a talk radio station. I am very thankful for the opportunity to talk about what we are doing and to get the word out. I do need to clarify something for anyone who happened to hear the short version of the interview yesterday. I was not trying to say that we are the only people interested in adopting minority babies. It sounded like that's what I was saying in the short version. I mentioned that I was the only Black person trying to adopt through our agency at this time and that's why things were moving faster than we originally expected them to. I talked about the process, where we were in the process, the cost, why is it so expensive, and the fact that our agency is a non-profit and they are not getting rich off the fees. I talked about our fundraiser on Saturday and explained what Zumba was and what we were doing and how people could help us or come to the fundraiser. Most of that didn't make it into the shorter version, however the man who interviewed me did mention my website and put a link to it on the radio station's website. A longer version aired today and that one had more information and focused on our fundraising efforts. That one can be heard below.

Radio Interview

I am going to be on the radio talking about our adoption and also our Zumba fundraiser on Saturday. I am so thankful to God for this opportunity and I ask you all to pray that God will speak through me and guide my words and that this interview accomplishes whatever plans he has for it. Maybe someone will hear me speak about adoption and be moved to pursue it for themselves. Maybe God will speak to some who are listening and have them support us or attend the fundraiser. We're going to tape it on Thursday morning and it will air on Friday. I don't know what time yet, but I will get that information after we're done taping the interview. It's going to be on B 101.5, for those who are local and I will see if you can listen on online, for those who are not local. If you can, I will post the info on how to do that on Thursday when I let you all know what time it will be on.

Yard Sale Update!!

Wow! We had so many donations from friends for our yardsale today and were blessed with fabulous weather. Our house is in a prime location for traffic, so we had lots of people stop by. We sold all of our big ticket items, with the exception of my wedding dress (which someone is coming back later to try on). Thank you so much to all my friends who helped out with this!! You all are amazing and I am just overwhelmed with all the love and support you have shown to us. I know everyone wants to know the total, so here it is:


$501.75!!!

Isn't God good?? Thank you, Lord!

A surprise fundraiser

Our HOA is going to be having a community wide yard sale this weekend. I found out about it two days ago when I drove past a sign, but didn't really think much about it. But this evening, I ran into a friend at the grocery store (who doesn't even live in this development) who asked if I was participating in the yard sale and said she would be willing to give me some of her stuff to sell to help with our adoption. I told her I didn't know, but as I thought about it, I felt like it was a good idea. So I posted on facebook and on my mom's group and several people have offered to donate items for us to sell. I was a little surprised, since the sale is on Saturday, but I am excited now to see what God will do through this. Please keep it in prayer for us.

We're back!

We are back from our trip down south. It was a good trip, but parts of it were definitely not fun! The night driving thing went well, with the exception of Micah not being on board with the plan. Luke slept from 10:30 until 7 and I couldn't believe it. Nathanael did really well too. We had lots of fun on our trip that included the reunion events, as well as a trip to a local children's museum and a Labor Day family get together. One of John's cousins owns two horses and she let the boys (and mama!) have rides at her house. It was a first for Nathanael and Micah and they all enjoyed it. All of John's siblings were at his parent's house with us, so we got to have big family meals and spend some time with them outside of reunion events. Of course, it went by really fast, so we didn't get as much time as we would have liked, but we will be back down at Christmas. I have vacation pics up on my facebook page.

Nathanael wound up getting a stomach bug, and then he shared it with Grandpa Karl and Micah. Micah came down with it on our first of two days at the beach, so John had to stay back at the hotel with him while I took the other two to the beach. That wasn't so much fun (esp. with no washing machine!), but at least it was a one day deal for him and we were all able to go to the beach the next day. The beach was fabulous and I wish we could have stayed longer. But, I thank God that we got to go at all. I know it was a total blessing from Him.

I have been in contact with our social worker today and yesterday and she now has everything she needs for our homestudy. When we left, she was awaiting our references and the results of our fingerprint check. She said she is about halfway done writing up our homestudy and plans to be done with it by Friday! So at that point, we'll be officially approved. Woohoo!

On the financial front, God has been bringing in some large donations. We are down to needing $5,945!!!!! THANK YOU,LORD! I am amazed. God's hand has been all over this. I have a little box on the right about half way down the page that will show how much we still need, for anyone who would like to keep track. I know of some places that I can apply to to be considered for an adoption grant once we are approved, so I will be doing that as soon as the homestudy is official.

A fundraiser kind of just fell in my lap today. I'm going to tell you about that in a separate post.

Going out of town

We will be headed south from 9/2 to 9/12. John's homeschool group is having a reunion (which I think is awesome) and we've decided to attend. I don't know most of the people that will be there, but I was homeschooled too. I am very familiar with the "culture" and feel like I'll fit right in. All of John's siblings will be there, and there are som fun events planned, so it should be a full but great weekend. We'll be staying with his parents until Tuesday, at which point we're headed to the beach in AL. We thought we wouldn't be able to afford the beach this year, but God has blessed us. John discovered he had enough hotel points for three free nights at a hotel not far from the beach in Gulf Shores, AL. There is a micro-fridge unit in the room, so we will be able to eat cheaply in our room most of the time. I'm a beach girl, so I'm really excited about that too! I won't have internet until we get to the beach hotel. John's parents are on dial up, so I'm not even going to bother trying to get on.

Our social worker will also be on vacation while we're gone, so I don't think a whole lot will be happening while we're gone. When she gets back, she is hoping she has the reference letters back and the results of our fingerprint check. As soon as she has those things, she can write up our homestudy.

I will update you when I return if anything happens. Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Her room is practically ready!

I've been working to prepare a room for this little girl and I've made some great progress this week. My goal was to have it mostly set up before we leave for Mississippi on Wednesday. This week, we were able to get the walls smooth and fill in the holes (I think they must have had a dart board in that room or something). Then I primed and painted. John hung up the curtains last night and I set up most of the bedding. There are still some things left do, but it is mostly finished now and if we were to get a surprise phone call, we'd be ready for her. Here are some pictures! I wanted to do an accent wall with the hot pink color from her bedding. I plan to paint flowers on this wall that match the flowers on the quilt (only in white and light pink). Click to see a larger image.

My Baby Wishlist

I have been asked by some people if there is anything I need or want for the new baby. So I've put together a little list.

Fuzzi Bunz Cloth Diapers (one size diapers in any girlie color)
http://www.kellyscloset.com/FuzziBunz40R41-One-Size-Cloth-Diaper-3rd-edition-with-Hip-Snap-_p_3666.html

Micah is in cloth diapers in case you are wondering. I have found it to be a lot cheaper in the long run. When this baby arrives we will have two in diapers and one in pull ups at night and that adds up really quickly! I have some already, but I need 12 more.


Recliner Cover in khaki so my lazy boy doesn't clash with the new nursery decor
http://www.surefit.net/shop/categories/wing-chair-recliner-and-ottoman-slipcovers-recliners/la-z-boy-stretch-honeycomb-recliner.cfm?sku=36518&view=0


I have enough clothing for now. She is so small that she is still not anywhere near wearing 0-3 clothing yet and I think I have enough of that for the moment. so I want to wait and see what season it is when she's ready for 3-6 before I get anything else. I'm not sure if it will still be summer or if it will be fall by then. It all depends on how fast she grows.

Our next fundraiser - Zumbathon!!

I guess I posted this on facebook and forgot to put it on here.

I am so excited to announce that we will be having a Zumbathon to raise money for our adoption! What is a Zumbathon? It's two hours of pure Zumba, baby!! Zumba is an aerobic workout that uses Latin dance moves and music to give you a really great workout. It's popularity is soaring around the world because it's just so much fun, and it works. I lost an inch and a half off my waist the first month I did Zumba. My Zumba instructor ROCKS and our classes are a blast!!

This event will take place on 9/26 from 2-4pm at Stafford Sport and Health. You DO NOT need to be a gym member to attend. Tickets are $10 before 9/20 and $12 afterwards (members need to buy a ticket too). If you want to come, I would advise you get your ticket early. Zumba is really popular around here and the classes I go to always fill up early and have to turn people away every week. There are only 110 spots available for this event, but my Zumba instructor has several hundred people on her mailing list. Act fast!

Get your tickets here:
http://golaceygo.com/2_hour_zumba_party_926_for_the_wilcox_family

Want to see Zumba? Check out this spot the today show did:


DISCLAIMER:
Because Zumba is based on Latin dance moves, there is a lot of hip swinging and booty shaking involved. I know that some of my more conservative friends will not enjoy something like this so I wanted to let you know in advance.

Cici's Follow Up

I know some people are waiting to hear how things went tonight. We had a really great turnout. It was so awesome to see so many people who love and support us there tonight. We had some who drove quite some distance to come. I wanted to cry at one point when I looked around and realized that I knew most of the people there and I knew they were there for us. Cici's gives 15% for fundraising events and the amount we got to keep was $107. We also had $13 in our donation box, so the total for tonight is $120. This brings our need down to $9,600. Thank you so much to everyone who came out tonight. It really means so much to us and I'm praying God blesses each one of you!

Cici's Pizza Fundraiser Today!

I have no idea Today is our Cici's fundraiser! I've got fliers in several major stores around here. I also promoted it on Facebook and I emailed about 20 churches in the area and asked them to announce it in church yesterday. I don't know if any of them did it or not, since no one wrote me back, but I pray they did. A friend also offered to hand out fliers for us at an event he was participating in yesterday. So I tried to get the word out. Please pray with me that God brings in a lot of people. Please pray that He brings in more support than I ever could have imagined. And if you come and it's packed and there is nowhere for you to sit and you are local, don't forget that take out is also an option. Just make sure you put your receipt in the bucket so your tab will be counted in the total. Also, please remember that Cici's does not take credit cards.

If the Lord is leading you to support us beyond eating at Cici's, I will have a table set up with some adoption information on it and also a donation box. I will be at Cici's the entire four hours and the rest of my family will be coming sometime between 6 and 6:30 for dinner and staying as long as the boys can handle. If anyone has any suggestions on what might be good to include at my table, please let me know. Please tell everyone you talk to today about our fundraiser and invite all your facebook friends. Thanks and hope to see you at Cici's tonight!

If you need the address please click on the link on the right side of this blog entitled "First Fundraiser."

Follow Me!

I added a followers widget to the blog. You can sign up to be a follower of the blog now so that you don't miss any updates I make.

Another great visit

This morning we had interviews 3 and 4 in the homestudy process. Those were for my visit with our social worker and the home inspection. Everything went really well. The only thing she said about the house was that we needed to have a fire extinguisher. I had to go to Target today anyhow, so I've already picked one up. I turned in our profile books to her and she thought they looked great. Today she will be mailing out reference letters to those we listed as references. That was supposed to have happened awhile ago, but got overlooked. She will need those to come back and she is also waiting on the results of our fingerprint/background investigation. Once she has those things, she will write up our home study and we will be all set. She had wanted to have us done by the end of the month, but now she will have to wait until she receives the letters back so it may still be a few weeks. If you get a letter about me, please complete and return it quickly. We need to be approved before I can start applying for grants and I'd like to get started on that as soon as I can. Pray that the background investigators send their reports back quickly as that can sometimes take awhile.

Next up for us is our fundraiser on Monday evening at Cici's Pizza. If you need more info on that, click the link at the top right side of the page entitled "First Fundraiser." Please pray that God really uses it to bring in a lot of financial support. I'm praying that he will move some people to support us beyond eating there and I will have a donations box out. I will be at the event the entire four hours and John will bring the boys around 6ish for dinner. They will stay until the boys need to go home. Hope to see several of you there!

Adoption Profile

I've spent most of the day working on our profile book. This is like a scrapbook of what life is like in our family. It is shown to the birthmoms for them to choose a family from, so it's very important. I've gotten all the questions we're supposed to fill out completed and I've written the letter to the birthparents. Now I just have to decide what pictures I want to put in our book and how I want to print it and it will be done. Friday morning is our home visit and I still have a few things to do around the house in preparation for that. This weekend is Nathanael's third birthday (and party) so I also need to find time to make a police car cake and get party favors together. It's going to be a busy next three days!

On being pro-life

Just heard this quote and it really spoke to me.

"In order for the church to really say that it's pro-life, it's got to be pro-child. And it's got to be willing to embrace these 4,500 that the world is throwing away every day. Until we're willing to say that we'll take them, we have no right to say they we're pro-life." ~Randy Bohlender

Wow! Talk about conviction! This guy and his wife have an awesome ministry. You can check them out at www.thezoefoundation.com. The 4,500 he's referring to is the number of babies aborted in the this country every day.

Loan Update

I just found out that we are approved for the $10,000 adoption loan! That leaves $10,500 to cover the rest of the adoption. Of that amount, we currently have $750. Please pray God blesses our fundraising efforts and brings in the remaining $9,750. Of course, we'd love his help in paying the loan off as well, so you can pray about that too. :)

Bedding!

I'm so excited! Someone has purchased the bedding I posted about for our little girl! I cannot wait to start putting her room together this week.

A possibility

Well, we may have the $5,000 soon after all. There are places out there that will give adoption grants to people who need them. Every place I'm aware of says that you have to have an approved homestudy first. So I have been planning to apply, but I was wondering what to do about the five grand that I needed before I could get to that point. Apparently, there is a special adoption loan available that we can apply for before our homestudy is done. The limit on this loan is $10,000 so it won't cover the whole adoption, but it would cover what we need next week and leave another five for the next chunk of money that is due. The day we receive a baby, the remaining $15,500 is due, so this would take us down to needing $10,500. Perhaps I will get some grants to help with the remaining part, plus there will be money from our fundraisers to go towards that too. So I'm about to go to the website and print out the loan application stuff. Pray that this is something we'll be eligible for, that we get approved quickly, and that they can disburse the money quickly too!

The latest

We had two of our interviews yesterday. The first was our joint interview and it was followed by John's solo interview. I think our interview went really well. I had been so nervous, but I really enjoyed talking with our social worker. It was a nice time and it didn't really even feel like an interview. She really surprised us when she told us that she was hoping to have our homestudy done by the end of the month. Yeah, the one that is only two weeks away....that end of the month. We had originally been told it could take several months to have our homestudy completed. I asked when she wanted to meet with me for my solo interview and said next Friday would work for me. She suggested that she meet with me at our house and conduct my interview and then do our home inspection. I kind of stuttered for a minute and she asked if that would work. I told her that the only problem was that we didn't have the $5,000 yet. She said she can't approve us until we give her that money, which we knew. I let her know we have a fundraiser scheduled for the 24th. I knew we'd need it soon, but I didn't realize we'd need it next week!! So we did schedule the appointments for next week. It is totally stepping out in faith that God will provide. She said we need to work on getting the rest of the money together as well, because she'd hate to see us lose out on an opportunity because we didn't have the money together yet. She does not think we'll wait long. She also said that we needed to start working on our family profile book and gave us the instructions on how to do that. So I will start on that this week. My head was spinning when I left. It just seems like it's all happening so fast! We are totally cool with that; we just need God to bring the money in.

I now feel like it's time to prepare for her arrival. Last weekend, someone gave me a few girl clothes and someone else is bringing me some more things next weekend. I was also given some brand new stuff today and I wanted to cry. I have longed to have little pink onesies and dresses for so long. I want to start setting her room up. We already have a second crib and changing table, since the boys came so close together, so I have the major stuff. I would like to do her room in pink and green. I am not spending money on new bedding when we do have bedding (however it's not girlie) and we need all extra money to go towards the adoption itself, but I'm praying that God will provide some pink and green themed stuff. I know some of you like to know the little details, so here is what I'd love to do eventually: http://www.tinytotties.com/baby-girl-crib-bedding/Flower-PK-GR-9.htm?&src=shopwiki. I think I'd probably paint the room green, but I'm not sure. Ok, I digress. It's just so much fun to think about this stuff!!

And as if that's not enough....today God sent a message to us through a friend that our baby is coming soon.

Prayer Requests

Pray hard with us that God will provide the $5,000 within the next week or two. Please pray that our fundraiser is a huge success.
Pray that God guides us as we put our profile together and that the birthmom knows we are the family for her baby when she sees our book.
Pray for the social worker to also know which birthmom and baby God has in mind for us.

Beginning the interviews

We will be doing two of our four interviews next week. One is our joint interview and the other is John's solo interview. Please keep these interviews in prayer. By the time we have the 4th interview, we will have to submit $5,000 so please keep that need in prayer!! Thanks!

First adoption fundraiser planned at Cici's Pizza

We are going to be having a fundraiser at CiCi's Pizza in north Stafford on Monday, August 24th, from 4-8pm. Please come join us for dinner and help give a loving home to a little girl at the same time! Cici's will be giving us a portion of the night's profits, as long as you put your receipt in the fundraiser box. (They will only count receipts in the box for their total.) Please help us get the word out! Invite everyone you know and tell any groups you are a part of. There will also be a donation box if you would like to help us beyond eating there. Cici's doesn't take credit cards, so come prepared. We hope to see a ton of you there!

Cici's is located at:
50 Dunn Dr (across the parking lot from Giant and Home Depot)
Stafford, VA 22554

Frequently Asked Questions

I've been getting a few questions about our adoption, so I wanted to take some time to address some of the most popular ones, in case others might be wondering the same things. I'm sorry some of the answers are so long. I don't know how to be short winded; just ask my husband. No, seriously, I felt that to accurately explain somethings, some answers required more detail.

Why is it so expensive?
This is probably the most common question we get. There are a lot of things that go into the high cost of adoption. One thing I want to stress is that you are not paying for the child and the birthmother is not getting any money for her baby. That is illegal and unethical. Another thing I want to stress is that our agency is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency. They are not getting rich off of this. You are covering the expenses the agency incurs to make your adoption happen. In our case, we are going through a private agency. This means that they are not funded by any major church or the government. An agency run by a particular denomination would receive funds from that denomination (ie a Catholic agency is most likely receiving funds from the Catholic churches in their area.) A state run agency receives government funding. This helps them to be able to charge less for their services. Private agencies are responsible to come up with all the money that they need. Each adoption actually costs our agency $35,000. They charge their clients based on their income level and the difference is made up by private donors. There are many legal aspects to an adoption and anyone who has had to work with an attorney and the court system knows that it is not cheap! Everything has to be done properly or the adoption could wind up null and void. The prospective adoptive family has to be thoroughly investigated to make sure the child is going to a safe and loving home. Sometimes the birthfather has to be searched for. Sometimes there might be several potential birthfathers and they all have to be searched for. There is counseling, medical care (childbirth is expensive), and training for the birthparents, as well as training and counseling for the adoptive parents. The social worker also has a salary and the agency has overhead expenses. There are pre and post placement visits to the adoptive family's home. Birthparents do not pay a thing to place their child for adoption. The adoptive parents cover it all. I am ok with that because if birthmoms had to pay their share of the costs, there would be a lot more abortions and we do not want that to happen. This is part of the ministry aspect of adoption.

Why are you going with a private agency?
The short answer is that this is where God is leading us. I checked into several different agencies and was dismayed to discover that we were not eligible to adopt from many of them. Many agencies are not willing to work with people who already have children (or more than two children), because they have so many couples who don't have children yet waiting to adopt. Many agencies are also not allowing their clients to specify the gender of the child they are seeking to adopt. We are specifically seeking a girl and we have three children already, so many places were not an option to us. There was one other agency around here that seemed like it might have worked, but when I called they told me they were not taking new applications at this time because they had so many people waiting already and they did not know when they would start taking them again. When I checked with our state, they were only doing adoptions for special needs children, unless you went through the foster care system. Neither of us feels called to be foster parents. We want to be permanent adoptive parents. So that wasn't an option for us either.

Why are you asking people to help you pay for this?
I know some people don't understand why I am asking for help. As you know, adoption is expensive. We don't have $22,000. The ideal would be to save up a lot of money and then proceed, but that is not what the Lord is leading us to do. He is leading us to adopt now. There is a specific child that he wants to make a part of our family and she is coming soon. I really feel in my spirit that this child has already been conceived and two other people who are praying for us have said they felt the same thing. This puts an urgency in my heart, because her birthmother will only be pregnant for so long. We know that God has a plan and that when he calls you to do something, He will make a way for it to happen. So we are stepping out in faith and asking Him to provide and trusting that He will do so.

I believe that adoption is very special to God. It is symbolic of what of He does for us, as Christians, when we begin a relationship with him. He finds us and takes us into his own family and makes us his own children. We even become his heirs. There are many places where this is referenced in the Bible and we are repeatedly referred to as sons and daughters or children of God. I believe that earthly adoption helps us to better understand our spiritual adoption. For more on this, please read my post entitled, "Adoption as a form of evangelism." There is a great video on that post by John Piper. There is also a great article here: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/2007/1991_Adoption_The_Heart_of_the_Gospel/.

Adoption is so much more than a family getting a baby. As a Christian, I believe that adoption is a ministry. There are women who cannot parent their children, for whatever reason. They are faced with two remaining options- abort the child or place the child for adoption. We are very much pro-life and do not ever want someone to feel like abortion is their only option. In order for them to have another option, there need to be people willing to adopt. There are also children who need a loving family. If every Christian family adopted one child, just think how many less children there would be in foster care and orphanages! These children would also be raised to know about God and prayerfully, would come to accept Him as their Savior too. God calls His people to care for those who are helpless and in need. I believe it is the duty of the church to do so.

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Of course, not everyone is able to adopt a child. There are many ways that you can help care for children in need. You can fund ministries that care for these children, you can do volunteer work, or you can sponsor a child, among other things. Or you can help a family who is willing to take a child into their home be able to do that. If you help us or any family trying to adopt, then you too are caring for that child. You are helping to give that child a loving permanent family and I believe that this makes God happy.

So why am I asking others for help with something we are trying to do? Because God has called us to do it and we need help to make it happen. Because it's not just about us having a daughter; it's much, much bigger than that. Because if you are a Christian, God has also called you to care for children in need and I would like to ask you to pray and see if this is one way God might have you to do that. If it is, we totally appreciate the help. Our child will be raised to know the Lord so you will be making an eternal difference in a child's life. If it isn't, please ask Him where He does want you to help. There are so many in this world who need to know that God loves them and He wants to do it through you!


What is a homestudy?
I addressed this in the last post I wrote, so check there for the answer. It's dated July 30th.

What are the steps in the adoption process?
For our agency they are: info meeting, preliminary application, interview, formal application, two day training seminar, homestudy, profile creation, placement of a child, three post placement visits, and then after 6 months you can finalize the adoption. Creating a profile involves making a book ( like a srapbook) where you try to convey what life is like in your family. These books are shown to the birthmoms and the birthmoms choose the family they want to place their child with based largely on what is in your book.

Where will the baby be from?
We are seeking to adopt from within the United States. I have no idea how everything will play out, so our baby could wind up being from any state.

Is there a specific child you are trying to adopt?
No there isn't a certain child we are seeking. Our agency usually places newborns through their domestic program. Our profile will not be shown until we are approved and we have not completed the homestudy process yet, so we can't be chosen just yet. The birthmoms usually do the choosing, so we wouldn't really be able to seek a specific child. We can only say what we are looking for in a child (ie race, gender, health).

Let the homestudy begin!

It's done! I turned in the paperwork to our social worker this morning. The boys and I had a nice visit in her office and we wound up staying for almost two hours. The next thing we need to do is get fingerprinted and fill out a form to get approved by CPS (child protective services). Then there will be a series of interviews. John and I will have a joint interview, and then we will each have separate interviews. After that, someone will come to our home and make sure that is a safe place and suitable for another child. During this time, they are also running our background checks and reviewing the state of our finances, marriage, and health. They also requested information about our family life growing up. This is all part of what's called a homestudy. A homestudy is a report our social worker will write up stating the things she's learned about us (in all areas) and whether or not she thinks we should be cleared to adopt. This process can take up to 6 months and is required by law in most states.


When they come to our home to do the home inspection, we will need to give them $5,000, so this is our next financial need. The remaining money will be due the day we are placed with a child.

Woohoo!

In two days, the Lord has provided everything that we needed to be able to turn in the paperwork. I have an appt to give it to my social worker tomorrow morning at 9:30. I'm so thankful for God's provision and for the prayers of our friends and family. Thank you, Lord! Thank you also to those who are supporting us financially in this and to those who are supporting us in prayer. It really means a lot to us.

We need your help!

We need to raise another $100 before we can turn in our paperwork to the adoption agency and start on our homestudy. We have completed the extensive paperwork and reading requirements but need that money in order to turn it in. Please pray with us that God provides that within the next few days, so we can move on to the next step.

Adoption as a form of evangelism

I just read this about adoption and I had to post it here. Let me know what you think in the comments section.

“The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans,” said Pastor John Piper, in an article titled “Adoption: The Heart of the Gospel” at www.desiringgod.org.
“And this act,” he continued, “is not part of His ordinary providence in the world; it is at the heart of the Gospel. Galatians 4:4-5 is as central a Gospel statement as there is: ‘But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.’”

“There are so many scriptures [Romans 8, Galatians 4, Ephesians 1] that inform our horizontal (human) expression of God’s love through adoption as an outflow of the Gospel,” said Jordan Thomas, pastor-teacher of Grace Church in Memphis, Tennessee (www.gracechurchmemphis.com).
“To make the understatement of the ages, we did not choose to be adopted by God. He chose us. He loved us with an everlasting love in Jesus,” Thomas explained. “And every Christian longs to see others know God’s adopting love.
“Evangelism is a necessary outflow of a true relationship with Christ,” he added. “We feel that adoption is one of the strongest pictures of the love of God and is also one of the most conducive imaginable environments for evangelism (with your own children).


-taken from onenewsnow.com. The full article is available here:http://www.onenewsnow.com/Journal/editorial.aspx?id=256008

Testimony and song video

Thanks to some help from some fabulous friends and my daddy, I now have the video to post here. This is video from the first service, so the line I changed in the second service isn't in it. I am sorry that the testimony is a little hard to hear. It's a video of a video because my church wanted to tape it and show it on the screen. The song part skips in two places, but other than that you can hear it ok. If you can't understand what I'm saying in the testimony, let me know and I will try to get it written out.

Coming soon to a blog near you........

The video from the day I shared the testimony about Micah and then sang will be coming soon, hopefully. I am having technical difficulties getting it uploaded. But I have a friend who is going to take a look at it for me in a few days. So check back next week and prayerfully, it will be here!

Almost there!

We are getting closer and closer to being done with all our paperwork. My goal is to have it done by the end of next week. I know it seems like we should be done by now, but there are so many things going on in our lives right now. In addition to the normal tasks we do each day, the house has needed a lot of work, the children have been children, and we are now launching a new Bible study (we call them life groups) at our church. We are co-leading it with another couple. We all previously attended the same group, but the old leaders have moved away and through a series of God-lead events, the entire group has morphed into a totally different group with a different focus. We will be teaching the Alpha course to our group. We are both really excited about our role in the group and also the people in it and I think God is going to do really good things in the coming weeks and months. Please continue to pray for the adoption process and the funds needed to make that happen. I will update you next week and let you know that we reached our paperwork goal.

Sunday follow up

Well, yesterday at church went really well. My dad filmed the song, but he is having issues uploading it to his computer. I might be able to post the Youtube link, once he figures out what is going on with his camera. I did not see our social worker there, so I guess something came up. But so many people were really blessed by the testimony and song. One man came to me in tears and said that he really needed to hear that song that morning. I have no idea what is going on in his life, but I have committed to praying for him every day this week. There is a line in the song that says, "with his blood He has saved me. With his power, He has raised me." During the second service, I changed it and sang, "With His power, he healed my baby." I lost it at that point, but I was able to recover and finish the song. A lady came up to me after the first service and told me that she felt like the Lord wanted her to tell me something. The message was that because I shared our testimony (the Lord had told me to share it with the church and then sing and He told me which song to sing), He was going to pour out blessings on us. That lady had no idea we are trying to adopt. I let her know that we were awaiting another miracle and I told the Lord I would receive whatever He wants to give us!

Excited for Sunday

On Sunday, John and I will be sharing the testimony of Micah's healing with our church. After the testimony, I will be singing a song of praise to God as a thank you for what He has done for my child. I am excited about this on many levels. Today, I had the thought to invite our social worker to attend the service, so I did. Part of her job is to get to know us as best she can, so that she can make good decisions regarding our adoption. I figured if she was there, she would get another glimpse into our family, one that she won't see in interviews or on paper. My parents and my brother's family will be there, so she can meet some of our family as well. Anyhow, I wasn't sure what she'd think of the invitation, but she called me not long after I emailed her and sounded so touched that I had invited her. It made me happy that I had. She is going to try to be there. We're adopting through a Christian agency and our social worker is already a Christian, but I'm praying that the Lord ministers to her through the testimony and song in whatever way she needs and that she leaves feeling blessed.

The Journey Has Begun!

John and I have started the process of adopting a little girl. This is something the Lord has been laying on our hearts for awhile now. The Lord has shown us that this is the time to start pursuing that adoption. The timing doesn't seem to make total sense from the world's point of view. We have three little ones already and we just spent a good chunk of our savings on the purchase of our first home (which is requiring quite a bit of fixing up). However, God's ways are not our ways and we trust in his sovereign wisdom. We are excited about the possibility of having a daughter soon. I have been wanting a little girl for years, and John would also like to have a daughter. We have already been to the informational meeting and met with our social worker for our first interview. At the interview, we talked for quite a bit about the process of adopting a child. We were given an impressive stack of paperwork to fill out, which includes everything from background checks, fingerprinting, and medical exams to detailed financial information, an autobiography of our lives, and some required reading on adoption. There is a lot to do and fill out! We also attended a two day seminar that was training for being adoptive parents. We are about 80% done with the paperwork now. The biggest thing we have to do now is finish the two books that we are required to read. Once the paperwork is done, we will have a series of interviews at the agency and begin what is called a homestudy. One will be a joint interview and then they will interview me by myself and John by himself. They will also inspect our home to make sure it is a safe and loving environment that is suitable for another child. Once all that is complete, we will put together a profile book. This is a short book that pretty much portrays who we are and what our life is like. The profile books are shown to the birthmothers and that is how they choose the family they want their child to go to. After that, we wait to be chosen and then we wait for the baby's birth. Our journey has definitely begun! I will be using this blog to keep you up to date on the status of our adoption and to share our prayer requests and praise reports. One day soon, I hope to share a very special picture as well....a picture of our little girl!