November

November is National Adoption Awareness Month!

This month is a time to increase awareness of the needs of foster children.

This is near and dear to my heart.

Our two precious boys came to us through foster care.
We have done respite for many other amazing kids, some of which we still have contact with.

We were so blessed to work with great social workers
and have amazing support through out the entire process.

In-case you are wondering :)
There are babies, toddlers, 6 year olds, tweeners, teenagers, special needs, healthy, sweet, lovable, scared, broken, hopeful, responsible, waiting kids going to sleep tonight praying for a forever family.

Pray for these kids, pray that God will work through what seems to be irredeemable circumstances. Pray that God will move His people to stand up and fight for these precious kids.
Pray that God himself will comfort their fears and ignite their hope.

Pray that God will strengthen those He has called.
It gets hard sometimes and fears creep in.
It is easy to put it off until tomorrow, it is easy to feel like it is just too risky.

Pray for the state workers. They are people with big hearts.
They have a very hard job!
They are not perfect, but I am thankful that they do what they do so I can do what I do.

Pray for our judges.
They carry a heavy load-deciding if a child should or should not be removed from a home.
Deciding if a child should be reunited or placed for adoption.
WOW! I cannot imagine being in that seat.

Let's not allow November to pass by without remembering the kids that would love to sit at a table this Thanksgiving and truly give thanks for THEIR FAMILY.

Over the last year God has begun to break my heart for older children waiting for families.
~~~~~~
Just before we left for Africa I had my heart broken by a 15 year old in Haiti.
Instead of laughing on her 15th birthday she cried.
She cried because she knows she is one year away from never having a family.
~~~~~~~~~~
While in Africa God showed me how even 35 year old women with children
still long for a mother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I got home from Africa we pursued a few adoption avenues.
Nothing came through and we didn't feel led to pursue it any more.

~~~~~~~~~~

Then we got a call about a child in foster care.
I didn't even give it a thought I just said "No".
Anyone that knows me probably just fell off their chair, but it is true,
I didn't even give the social worker a chance to finish.
I called Jeromy and he was like "what".
Honestly he was a little bummed that I had said no.
I just thought we weren't ready, but then I cried the rest of the day.

This brought us to a place where we really had the talk and came to the
conclusion that we were both ready to do whatever God had for us.

~~~~~~~~~~

On July 4th, after a busy couple of days we had a day to just stay home.
I checked Google Reader and watched a video posted on a blog I follow.

The video was about institutions in Serbia.
It was horrible and again I cried all day.
That evening Kaly said, Mom why do you keep crying?
I told her a little about the video, but told her she couldn't watch it.
She said what do we do?
I said we pray, we pray that God will show us how we can help
so people do not have to go into institutions like that.

~~~~~~~~

July 5th
I checked Google Reader again. (darn blogging :)
This time there was a post from an arthrogryposis blog I follow.
It was about a girl turning 16.
She has arthrogryposis and needs a family in like a week,
otherwise her future is most likely going to be spent in an institution.
I followed the link to the post on the other blog.

I saw:
A beautiful, smiling teenage girl that just wants a family.
She wants a life outside of an institution.

I called Jeromy and he was instantly on the same page.
He came home and read the blog.
We emailed the family that was advocating for her.
They emailed us back and have been by our sides the whole journey.

~~~~~~~~~

Every step of the way we have seen God prepare the way.
We have seen Him put the right person in the right place to help us out.

We got our I-600 turned in.
It took one week from the first moment we started to the moment it landed at USCIS.
It arrived the day before her birthday.

USCIS told me U was closing adoption the next week.
I said "I know".
U hasn't closed yet.
They decided to wait until it could be a quicker transition.


~~~~~~~~~

We did all of our home study paper work and home visit.
We should have the final copy in our hands this week.
If you haven't done a home study I just have to say,
it is a lot of paperwork and training to get done in less than 2 months.
It was a bit stressful but God made a way
even with us being gone for almost 2 weeks of that time.


We have been putting together the paperwork for the U side of things.
Getting paper work notarized, Jeromy's passport, dr. appointments,
new copies of our marriage license and on and on.


I have to be honest, at times it gets very overwhelming.
I look at the list of to do's and I wait for USCIS to call back concerning some paperwork they want that doesn't exist.
Usually I am at peace knowing that if this is God's will it will be fine.

Sometimes I get sick to my stomach, see we have fallen in love with a girl,
she is no longer just an orphan. She is our daughter.
I get sick thinking that paperwork could stand in the way of us bringing her home.


I know God has brought us here.
I know God can do all things.
I just do not know what His plan is.
Is His plan to bring her to our home or does he have a plan I cannot see?

I trust he has a plan for our girl.
I know he is working in her life and he is working in ours.
Our desire is that she is here with us, but
We pray for God's will.

~~~~~~~~~

We have been so blessed by the family that was advocating for her.

1st they hosted her and gave her a chance to see what being in a family was like.
She wants that, she wants a family like theirs. She wants to come to America.
They showed her a loving family and made her feel so comfortable that she didn't want to leave.

Then they prayed and advocated for her.

They answered many of our questions, got the documents translated, connected us with a facilitator, encouraged us and then they came and stayed with us over Labor Day weekend.

They have a beautiful family and a daughter and son from the same orphanage.
The daughter translated for us when we made a video of our family and houses.
She speaks Russian and I know she will be invaluable to help us make a more comfortable transition for our girl.

Oh they even brought KVAS , Eggplant paste and candy for us to try.
They brought videos of the weeks they hosted the kids and a video from the orphanage.
They brought a cd : "Hillsong's Kiev".
Christian music in Russian.

We love all of it and both Jeromy and I cried
as we watch our girl playing games at Chucky Cheese.

Her smile is contagious.

Jeromy looked up Russian churches and stores in Spokane.
There are a couple of good options.
We want to help her stay connected to her culture and
we want to learn more about Ukraine before we go there, but mostly it just helps to feel like we are getting to know her.

Jeromy is such a proud daddy, he took the videos to work to show off to his fellow workers.
He said," I am a proud daddy, hopefully permanently".

Our kids pray for their sister every day.
Gavin talks about her a lot. He is so inspired that she walks on her knees.
We have the girls' room all figured out for 3 girls and just realized a couple of days ago the connection that their window over looks the "Three Sisters" mountain.

It all amazes me.
It is amazing that God led me to Uganda to prepare my heart for a girl in U.

It amazes me that I can still doubt and worry after all He has done.
Not always but it does creep in.

It amazes me that God has prepared the way ahead of us in so many ways.
Our girl even went back to the orphanage with Christian music in Russian.
We pray that if she doesn't know Christ as her Savior that God is working in her heart that she would very soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Please pray that God will make a way when there seems to be no way.

What A Momma Means

My Mom

Always there ~A protector ~A helper ~A comforter
~ An example of Christ~



Many people in Africa cannot say that.
Many adults still desire that kind of relationship.
Grown women still want a mom.

At the Hope House in Uganda something got me.
It was not the conditions of the way people live.
It was not the fact that many of these women have had to sell themselves to survive.

It was when Maureen was beaming as she introduced her mom to the group.

It was when two grown women introduced themselves
and ended with "and I want a mom".

Then there were the little ones without mommas

In Uganda half of the population are about 15 years old or younger.
There are 2 MILLION orphans, this means 2 MILLION kids have lost either a mother or a father. Unfortunately, many of them have lost both.

In Uganda only 2% of the population are 65 years old or older.
They have no older generation to pass down wisdom learned from a long life.

We met and loved on many orphans while in Uganda.

They are precious and though many of them needed and wanted material things,
their need for attention was much greater.

Even big boys need a momma.

I pray that God will speak this over them:

"As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
and you will be comforted...."
Isaiah 66:13


Little boys need to be protected.

These little ones are loved and they know how to be big helpers.

They are in a good orphanage but yes it is just that; an orphanage.
They do not have a mommy or daddy.

I fell in love with the girl in the middle. She is so precious!
When I asked her how old she is she said, "I don't know".
She is a smart girl and she has a great education.
She has a safe place to live with great caregivers.
But she doesn't have a mom or dad to care for her
and she doesn't even know her age.

This was a great orphanage.
The kids here took a while to warm up to us.
They are bonded to their caregivers.


This was a much different picture than the first orphanage we visited.
The first one the kids would go to anyone as long as someone would touch them.
The first orphanage the mamas can get kind of mean.
The first orphanage was so hard for me that I told our group,
"I hate it and I don't want to go back".

Well guess what,

IT'S NOT ABOUT ME!

It is hard at that home.
I was uncomfortable.
I don't like getting yelled at by a momma.
I don't like seeing babies dying from something that could easily have been prevented.
I don't like seeing 53 little children age 3 and younger packed together every day of their lives.
I hate showing up and seeing a baby a couple of hours old and finding out he was just found in a pit latrine. He had maggots on his eyes and umbilical cord.

I HATE THAT I CANNOT FIX IT!

But I can do something.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (NIV)

1 John 3:17-18

I can pray~I can give money~I can give time~I can share Christ's love

~I can share their stories so they aren't forgotten~

This Mother's Day

I can

~thank God for my mom~

~and I can pray that children will be united with the family God has designed for them~

"God sets the lonely in families..."

Psalm 66:6

Who Will Love Me For Me?

I read this post yesterday and cannot get this sweet girl out of my head.
She is asking on her 15th birthday "who will love me for me?"
I pray someone can be her mom and dad, someone can show her God's love.
I pray she will no longer feel ignored and abandoned.
I pray by her 16th birthday she will feel loved and cherished.

This is her cry and the cry of so many orphans, prisoners, and lonely wives.
I pray that God will pour out His love through me to encourage and love His children big and small.



video and song by JJHeller

Curious Minds Want to Know!

I have had a lot of questions about our upcoming trip to Uganda, so here is the scoop, the whole scoop and nothing but the scoop.

When: April 4-16th


Where: Kampala, Uganda

For great maps of the location:
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/ug.htm

Kampala is the capital of Uganda. It is on the north side of Lake Victoria.
It is said to be a safe place and quite beautiful. We will be there during the rainy season and it looks like it should get up into the 80's Yippee! Notice we are just above the equator.


Why: We are going to love on orphans. Some in orphanages and some that live on the streets. We are doing this because these children need people to love them and we feel it is our turn. We are God's hands and feet. It is His heart that these children are cared for. We know we will only be there a short time and I feel maybe we won't even make a difference. When we leave they again will need food and love. I pray this trip is one that will change eternity for someone.
I pray that through these stories maybe someone will feel God's call to adopt a child with no hope. I pray that someone will feel called to go long-term and serve where I don't feel I can. I pray that this will be the beginning of going as well as sending funds to assist these sweet children. I know there are kids around the world that need God and love and food. I pray that this will be a little flame that will help to begin to make a fire roar. A fire that can be felt and seen by "All the Children of the World".


Who: I am going with 2 of my friends from church, Terah and Kaylee. Both had only 24-48 hours to commit to the trip. Terah hadn't really planned on a journey like this but her and her husband have seen God leading this direction for their family so she is following God's lead. Kaylee has been ready for missions and has just been waiting for God to show her when and where.

We are going with a team lead by Linny and Emma. They are the wife and daughter of Senior Pastor of The River Church.

The River Church website if you are interested.
http://www.iriverchurch.com/

As you already know, I have been following Linny's blog for some time now. She loves the Lord and loves the orphans, and when you put those two passions together you get a dynamic ministry.
http://www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/

There are 19 of us on the team!

How: I saw the post on Linny's blog inviting crazy ladies to join her. I sent for an application and here we go. It was really a simple process. Linny and whomever she confers with said I could go. Yippee! So thanks to some wonderful friends and family and a nice tax return we will send in the money for the trip and off we go. My passport is in process and I still need to get my Yellow Fever shot. Maybe this week. :(

And the kids will be in good hands. While Jeromy is at work, my mom will have the kids. She does great with all of their needs and Jeromy is a super dad and can handle diapers, therapy, meds. and setting Gavin up on the Wii. The girls are great at helping with laundry and dishes and some sweethearts from church are helping with meals for the family while we are gone. So really I don't think they even need me, but I need them so I promise I will be back.

We do ask for your prayers. We pray that this will not just be a time of meeting physical needs but ultimately a time to meet spiritual needs. Maybe our true mission will be in the airport or on the plane, but pray that we can lovingly share the hope we have anytime the Spirit leads. Pray for us as I know it will be hard to be away from our own families and babies and it will be hard to leave babies in Africa with no mommies. Please pray for our children. God is working in the hearts of our kids. Little Gwen already has a heart for the orphan and Kaly and Ayla want to go with us. I know this trip is not just about this trip, it is giving these kids a passion at a young age to want to make a difference in this world to serve God and help others.

Thank you all for your support we could not go without hands and feet here in Idaho supporting us and helping us and our families during this exciting journey.

"Slow Obedience is Disobedience"

This saying has been going through my head so much over the last 6 months and I am reminded of it daily. I am reminded every time I need to put the dog in the kennel. I say, "Lucy, kennel" and she looks at me and begins to move as slowly as possible to the kennel. I again say, "Lucy, kennel" and she continues on in the slowest possible manner. She is in no hurry to obey and I know if I walked away she would turn around and go bark at something again. It isn't really obedience, it is more like discipline prevention.

So, last night I read one of my favorite blogs and I love this blog post I just want you all to read it if you haven't already. I could not say it in such great words.

God is working among His people, He is calling disciples, He is calling us. He is calling us to obey, to follow, to lay down what hinders us and run the race He has set before us. What race is He calling me to today?

I want to obey immediately. I want to follow at once.

Just in case the race God is calling you to is ministering to the orphan, ( I think that includes all of us) here is another great blog post to read.