God did it again

As you know we turned in our application last week. We were so thrilled to have finished that part and felt one step closer. But that concern or worry is still there about the financial aspect of adopting. We are a single income homeschooling family who lives out in the country on a farm. I guess we are not the typical people you would think that would be considering an international adoption. But that is the coolest part about all of this. I'll get to that in a second. So we turned in our application and waited to hear back from our coordinator. Not 2 days after we turned in our application with the attached fee we got a letter in the mail. It was from a dear friend of mine whom I have not seen in about 7 years I'm guessing. She said she just wanted to stand with us and so she decided to give financially towards the adoption. That was such a blessing!!!! But when we opened up her check can you guess by now how much it was for. The cost we had just in faith paid out to the agency for our application!!!!!!! God knows our needs. He is faithful. I'm so thankful that He only gives us what we need when we need it. Like the Israelites in the wilderness. He was faithful to provide for their needs each day. And they were to trust Him each day by only collecting what was needed for that day. Some times I wish that He would just give us everything we needed for the road ahead. But then we wouldn't be trusting Him would we? This has truly been a step in faith. And as always He is more faithful than we could or will ever know. Thank you to my dear friend who decided to stand with us! We are so blessed. I pray each one of you will heed the call the Lord has on your life and take that step in faith you feel He is leading you towards. As Lucy from Chronicles of Narnia says. Each year we grow we will find Him bigger than before. So grow in the Lord. He is much bigger than you can ever imagine!
(PS. Sorry for the grammer mistakes and terrible writing skills...I'm writing from my heart so I just let it flow out=)

Step #1 DONE!!!

We finally turned in our application to adopt from Ethiopia today!! The kids and I ran to the Dr. for a few signatures and then headed to BCS (Bethany Christian Services). We met again with the adoption coordinator Leah and gave her all the paperwork that we have been working so hard to get together.

She said that we should be hearing from her in the next week or so to set up our homestudy!!! I'm so excited if you can't tell=) So now I have only to go get my passport which we really are not in a hurry to get. But I want to try and get as many things as I can accomplished now, while we are just waiting.

?????Questions?????

Well since we have shared our news of starting the adoption journey we have had many questions. But the one that seems to be asked more than anything is why? It's a totally valid question. There are many reasons why not to. But there is one reason why we are. So here is a kind of run down on what lead us to our decision to adopt.
Well it started back in 2008 when we thought we would not be able to have any more children as the Lord had closed my womb for over 2 years, so we explored the idea of adoption. It was then that adoption was knit into our hearts and I knew one day we would adopt (maybe more than once!). Well in January of 2009 we found out we were expecting in August of that year! We were so excited , but realized at that point that adoption was going to have to be put on hold indefinitely. Well Bethany was born August 18th 2009 and we couldn't have been more excited. Our first baby girl!!

She was so sweet and as I sat nursing her at only a few weeks old I couldn't get out of my mind all those babies with no mommy or daddy. No one to sit with them in the wee hours of the morning while they filled their tummies. No one to know their likes and dislikes. No one to comfort them when they are scared. No one to dote over them and how precious they are. Well the tears came and came and came. It was at that point that I started asking the Lord why it was that I couldn't get this thought out of my mind. Why when I looked at my sweet baby I always thought of all of the orphans in the world? Well after a few weeks of this when the thought was still there (as were the tears) that I started to pray that if this was God's will in our lives that He would speak to Stephen. I knew that if I brought up the subject of adoption that Stephen would think I was crazy. After all we JUST had a baby. We don't have the money. We want to buy land since we are just renting. It seems like a really bad time to be thinking about doing this. But never the less I started praying on a Monday. Well little did I know but that day at work a man just HAPPENED to come up to Stephen and started talking about how his daughter works for this adoption agency. And Stephen talked about our heart towards adoption.

Then on his drive home he just HAPPENED to take my Steven Curtis Chapman CD and was listening to it on his way home. Well the CD got to the song, 'All I want for Christmas' and he teared up (which is not like Stephen). So he came home that night and came up to me and said, “Have you been praying for me about adoption?”!!! I was floored. But I held my composure and asked “why”?...He explained his day and at that point I answered yes I have. So after discussing how strange the happenings of that day were ...we kind of put it in the back of our minds and went on with life. Not long after that we were again discussing adoption ( which stephen brought up) when Stephen said “Christa now is just not the time” and then proceeded to give me all the reason I previously gave. I agreed but I also challenged him to trust God for big things. If He was calling us to adopt that He would provide the funds. I then gave him the story of our pastor Mark. He tells this story of how when he first became a Christian that he knew he needed to tithe but he didn't have the funds for it. Not didn't have enough for tithing and going out to eat and movies. He didn't have enough to eat or pay rent. But he knew it was God's will for him to tithe so in faith he started to tithe. Well the Lord (as He always does) answered by providing for Mark in supernatural ways. So after we talked about that I just dropped it and again committed to pray for Stephen if it was God's will He would speak independently to Stephen. Well the next day was Sunday so we headed off to church as we always do. I was in the back with Bethany but I could see Stephen through the glass.

So Mark started his teaching and you'll never guess what it was on. TRUSTING GOD WHEN HE CALLS YOU TO DO SOMETHING BIG!!! I looked through the glass and caught Stephen's eye and was like, you have to be kidding me!! Then to top it all of he used the exact same analogy that I had used the previous night. Well that drive home was very interesting. I know Stephen was a little freaked out. He was trying to process all the things that had happened. But once we got to talking we agreed that the Lord was leading us to start the adoption process!! I could tell Stephen knew the Lord had lead us but still felt a little unsure about it all. So I continued to pray for him that he would have a peace. Well the next morning he headed off to work and around 9 I get a text from him... “so...you need to listen to 'come to the table'..don't ask why just do it please”...so I jumped on the computer and stream it from Calvary's website. And once again my prayers were answered ASAP!! Mark was teaching on Jonathan and his armor bearer and the message was about being afraid when God has called you to do something. That we need to have faith to trust God for big things and be obedient to his call. So now Stephen knew that he knew that God was calling us. Again it goes against human wisdom to do this at this point in our lives...but praise be to God that we can trust His leading!!

We talked with the boys about all that was going on and they are so excited. They asked us if we could stop and pray right then for their soon-to-be little sister(s). Their prayers were so sweet. And as I rocked Bethany to sleep today I couldn't help but think how special a frienship they will have being so close in age.

Please pray for Haiti...this is a blog post from a family living and serving there


The Morning After - Earthquake Haiti 2010


The sun is about to come up. The aftershocks continue. Some more noticeable than others. There is no way to even begin to share the things we’ve heard and seen since 5pm yesterday. To do so would take hours that we don’t have to give right now. Some of them feel wrong to tell. Like only God should know these personal horrible tragedies.

The few things we can confirm – yes the four story Caribbean Market building is completely demolished. Yes it was open. Yes the National Palace collapsed. Yes Gov’t buildings nearby the Palace collapsed. Yes St Josephs Boys home is completely collapsed. Yes countless countless - countless other houses, churches, hospitals, schools, and businesses have collapsed. There are buildings that suffered almost no damage. Right next door will be a pile of rubble.

Thousands of people are currently trapped. To guess at a number would be like guessing at raindrops in the ocean. Precious lives hang in the balance. When pulled from the rubble there is no place to take them for care Haiti has an almost non existent medical care system for her people.

I cannot imagine what the next few weeks and months will be like. I am afraid for everyone. Never in my life have I seen people stronger than Haitian people. But I am afraid for them. For us.

When the quake hit it took many seconds to even process what was happening. The house was rocking back and forth in a way that I cannot even begin to describe. It felt fake. It felt like a movie. Things were crashing all over the house. It felt like the world was ending. I do not know why my house stands and my children all lie sleeping in their beds right now. It defies logic and my babies were spared while thousands of others were not.

There are friends and co-workers that are missing. People whom no-one can account for. People we work with and love. There are more than I can name, but in particular we wait on one single friend who lived near the Hotel Montana – which has reportedly collapsed.

The horror has only just begun and I beg you to get on your knees – I truly mean ON YOUR KNEES and pray for the people of this country. The news might forget in a few days - but people will still be trapped alive and suffering. Pray. Pray. Pray. After that - PLEASE PRAY.


Tara for all of us
http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/

FINALLY....after lots of phone calls and waiting I have been able to track down all of the boys medical records. So now I'm able to make well visit apt. for all three of them. Although I had to break it to them last night that they would be getting shots at this next appointment. Which they were none to happy about. See we have been on a VERY delayed vaccination schedule with them really only getting 1 at each appointment. And I know that vaccinations can be a very controversial topic but we had total peace about doing it this way. But now things have changed. I still hate the idea of giving my babies these vaccines, but I have peace that it is the right thing to do. Just to be safe. Traveling to another country poses some new challenges that we have to respond to. So we all have to have up-dated vaccines. Although we still want to go slow with the vaccines doing them one at a time. Making sure there are no reactions. So this next appointment should be interesting with all three getting shots! The boys crack me up when I have to get my blood drawn for my thyroid checks, they think I am just the most brave mommy out there=)

Stephen got me an ergo for Christmas that I have been wanting FOREVER! I had read that it is the top of the line carrier and doesn't hurt your back. I had been using the moby which I love but wanted something that I could use on my back now that Bethany is older. And I must say I am impressed with the ergo. It really doesn't hurt your back at all and feels very comfortable. Bethany loves it too. I pop her into that when she is getting fussy or wants to be held and I'm still able to go about my housework. Plus I love having my babies near me. It's such a short time that they are this small and goes by MUCH too fast. Also this should be a nice thing to take along when we travel to Ethiopia!

Boy is it cold here today! The boys spent the better part of the morning playing in the snow while Bethany and I watched from inside. We were busying cleaning in the kitchen and Bethany was excitedly watching mommy from her princess seat (as the boys call it=). We did get snow but not as much as we were hoping but are thankful that it will stay for a while due to such low temps (high in the 20's!). There is no sign of our dog Sago=( So we have finally resigned ourselves that he is not coming back. That dog and I had our differences but I really started enjoying him when we moved out to the country. I guess we will never know what happened to him but hoping some family just took him in. (He's the black on in the picture).

We are working on getting our physicals done and then we are going to our state fingerprinting appointment. Besides these two things we only need a copy of our 1040 to send with our paperwork and then we are done with step #1 !!!!!!!!!!
Then we are on to our home study which should be a lot of fun and exciting to have yet another thing under our belt and one step closer to our official LID (logged in date). I stand in amazement at what the Lord is doing in our hearts and our lives through this adoption. It has challenged me in more ways than I can say.

Back to Reality

Well after 3 weeks off of school and our schedule we are finally back to a normal homeschooling week. We had a great time visiting with both of our families, celebrating christmas and Isaac's 4th birthday. Our trip to Florida went by so fast that I can't believe it's all done with already! The kids enjoyed seeing their cousins and having Izzy's birthday party. We enjoyed meeting our new niece and nephew. But we are happy to be back home now and back into the swing of things. Although it was nice being off and having lots of time to devote to gathering all of our adoption paperwork and scheduling all of our appointments that went along with it. So now I find myself trying to balance house work, schooling, and adoption paperwork. It's quite overwhelming at times but I have prayed and asked the Lord to show me how to prioritize my responsibilities so that I can get done everything He wants me to each day. It's just goes against my personality to not jump in with both feet and consume myself with getting this adoption stuff in and working on the next step. But we know this is going to be a long road and I believe the Lord is helping me to pace myself so I don't get worn out quickly. Yet I am so excited!! Every step we take brings us nearer to the kiddos the Lord wants to add to our family. I have even started dreaming in color=) Sometimes my babies are white and some times they are black and I haven't even met them yet! I know it sounds corney but truly I can feel them growing in my heart already. I always want to hurry hurry hurry to the end of something so I can see how it all turns out but I want to try and enjoy this period of waiting, if that's possible=) Stephen has come up with some great ideas of ways we can try and raise money this summer. He is planning on trying to get his name around for doing some lawn work (since he is really good at it) and I am planning on making lots of cloth diapers to sell and some other household stuff. I know it won't bring us to what we need. But we truly believe that we are supposed to be wise stewards and that God will show up in ways we never even believed possible to bring our kid(s) home to us! Well on a sad note...not two days after coming home our first dog Sago ran away and has now been gone for almost a week. We are almost certain that he is gone for good with how cold the weather has been and the fact that our other dog came home without him=( It's a sad note to end on. He was a fiesty dog when we lived in a subdivision but ever since moving out here to the country he has been so nice to be around. So he will be sorely missed=( But we are planning on getting a new puppy right around the time our baby chicks are to arrive. So the spring should be a fun time here on the farm!