Do you live in Central IL? Looking for something to do to help orphans?
Click on this link to read more about an upcoming orphan banquet featuring Mark Shultz!
http://www.inhishandsorphans.org/
13 February 2012
03 February 2012
WHY?
WHY are we adopting? This is a question we answer daily as we have started to really share the news that we are adopting.
Proverbs 24:12 tells us this:
Our hearts and minds have been opened and we want to make a difference; for this child, for ourselves, for our biological children, for our family, for our friends, and most importantly for our God. Adoption is something we WANT to do and we already hold this child in our hearts. We have compassion for these children that is so strong it cannot be ignored. That compassion is what's causing us to act.
Here's a quote I love:
Adopting one child will not change the world, but for that one child, the world will change.
Sure, this adoption has caused us to make some 'sacrifices' compared to the way we used to live. We're eating at home more, saving more money, watching our spending. But, through this we are realizing what's truly important, relying more on God and we are spending more quality time as a family. In the end, these are not sacrifices, but blessings. God is transforming our world, too.
The second WHY question we get is 'why a girl'
Honestly this has brought up more discussion than we ever thought it would. It's simple; we have four boys and one girl. We are out of balance. We feel like a girl will be the perfect addition to our family. Some people think it's because boys aren't available - that 's not true, there are many boys available and we could love one of them just as much. We simply feel led to adopt a girl at this point. God already knows who she is and I'm sure that he is putting that on our hearts.
Something to think about.......
What's God calling you to do? Are you listening?
Proverbs 24:12 tells us this:
Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows we know and holds us responsible to act.
Our hearts and minds have been opened and we want to make a difference; for this child, for ourselves, for our biological children, for our family, for our friends, and most importantly for our God. Adoption is something we WANT to do and we already hold this child in our hearts. We have compassion for these children that is so strong it cannot be ignored. That compassion is what's causing us to act.
Here's a quote I love:
Adopting one child will not change the world, but for that one child, the world will change.
Sure, this adoption has caused us to make some 'sacrifices' compared to the way we used to live. We're eating at home more, saving more money, watching our spending. But, through this we are realizing what's truly important, relying more on God and we are spending more quality time as a family. In the end, these are not sacrifices, but blessings. God is transforming our world, too.
The second WHY question we get is 'why a girl'
Honestly this has brought up more discussion than we ever thought it would. It's simple; we have four boys and one girl. We are out of balance. We feel like a girl will be the perfect addition to our family. Some people think it's because boys aren't available - that 's not true, there are many boys available and we could love one of them just as much. We simply feel led to adopt a girl at this point. God already knows who she is and I'm sure that he is putting that on our hearts.
Something to think about.......
What's God calling you to do? Are you listening?
05 January 2012
Home Study.......check!
We received our much anticipated Home Study approval yesterday!!! Now we are on to our next step, to obtain approval from USCIS (Immigration).
People come to adoption in so many different ways. For us, we knew that someone was missing from our family. It wasn't clear at first that it wasn't another biological child. We began this journey thinking about adding another bio child to the mix. However, something in our hearts just knew it wasn't our destiny. Things didn't seem right this time. After much prayer, tears, talking and research, we knew that God had put orphans and China in our hearts for a reason. That is where our daughter is.
Although this process has been challenging, we have experienced much joy. Many people have supported us and lifted us up during this process. We have seen God work in the hearts of friends, family & co-workers by hearing of our journey.
We've always believed in God, attended church, prayed, etc. but he really transformed our hearts through my husbands ruptured brain aneurysm in 2009. I truly believe that God pulled him through that with no complications or impairments because our work wasn't done. This is really the first time I can honestly say that we are taking a total leap of faith because He's called us to. We are putting our trust in Him. We can't do this on our own. As we have moved through the steps of this adoption, it has been very emotional for me, but there's been a real underlying peace about it, just knowing that we're on the path chosen for us. It feels right and it's very exciting!
This journey is to find our missing link, we are so excited anticipating being matched with child #6! We also can only imagine how this will impact our family. It's so important to us that our children get to play an active role in this adoption. We want them to learn what the bible says and see us live that out, showing the compassion and love in our hearts for others who are hurting. We believe there are lessons that we will all learn during this process that we can't get otherwise. This journey has already been life changing and I can't wait to look into the eyes of our little princess.
People come to adoption in so many different ways. For us, we knew that someone was missing from our family. It wasn't clear at first that it wasn't another biological child. We began this journey thinking about adding another bio child to the mix. However, something in our hearts just knew it wasn't our destiny. Things didn't seem right this time. After much prayer, tears, talking and research, we knew that God had put orphans and China in our hearts for a reason. That is where our daughter is.
Although this process has been challenging, we have experienced much joy. Many people have supported us and lifted us up during this process. We have seen God work in the hearts of friends, family & co-workers by hearing of our journey.
We've always believed in God, attended church, prayed, etc. but he really transformed our hearts through my husbands ruptured brain aneurysm in 2009. I truly believe that God pulled him through that with no complications or impairments because our work wasn't done. This is really the first time I can honestly say that we are taking a total leap of faith because He's called us to. We are putting our trust in Him. We can't do this on our own. As we have moved through the steps of this adoption, it has been very emotional for me, but there's been a real underlying peace about it, just knowing that we're on the path chosen for us. It feels right and it's very exciting!
This journey is to find our missing link, we are so excited anticipating being matched with child #6! We also can only imagine how this will impact our family. It's so important to us that our children get to play an active role in this adoption. We want them to learn what the bible says and see us live that out, showing the compassion and love in our hearts for others who are hurting. We believe there are lessons that we will all learn during this process that we can't get otherwise. This journey has already been life changing and I can't wait to look into the eyes of our little princess.
15 September 2011
Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork
Wow, no one was kidding when they said there's a lot of paperwork to adopt! Two packets later and one email and I think we probably have close to one hundred pieces of paper to complete. Making the most of it and enjoying the journey to our daughter.
13 September 2011
The suspense
I thought I had learned some patience throughout the last year+ that we've been talking about adoption - maybe not so much! Even though no news is good news, I couldn't take it anymore....I had to email our adoption agency just to be sure that they did in fact receive our application. In the meantime, we have started to research fundraising and have started to think about what activities we would like to pursue (when the time comes). We will defiantly be paying for much of the adoption ourselves, but it's quite expensive to adopt and we would be so grateful to have some additional support. We are having a little bit of a hard time thinking about fundraising as we already have five kids and we aren't sure what type of reaction we're going to get from people. We truly feel led to do this and are following through on what we've been called to do. There are certainly days where I laugh because God is funny! Five kids already and we should adopt from China? To say we are honored to be called for such a task is an understatement. There are 163 million orphans in the world today - soon there will be one less and no matter what it costs, we can't put a price on that!
06 September 2011
I stand in awe
Just mailed our application! God placed adoption on our hearts a little over a year ago. We've spent the past year researching adoption, talking and praying trying to figure out if adoption is right for us....and to make sure He was really talking to us! : ) God makes no mistakes and we've heard Him loud and clear. It all comes down to faith. Faith in our great Father, we will follow Him.
We hope you'll follow us on our journey of faith as we bring home our daughter and sister.
I've had all these things I want to say run through my mind for when I was able to start this blog, but for today; I stand in awe for He is good and makes the impossible, possible.
For our sweet little girl; we haven't seen your face or heard your voice, but cannot wait for the day you reach out to us and we can wrap our arms around you. We don't know if you're born yet or if you sit in an orphanage not knowing that you are waiting on your forever family. We will teach you the unconditional love of God, we will give you family. You are not an orphan to us, you are our daughter and sister.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you
John 14:18
We hope you'll follow us on our journey of faith as we bring home our daughter and sister.
I've had all these things I want to say run through my mind for when I was able to start this blog, but for today; I stand in awe for He is good and makes the impossible, possible.
For our sweet little girl; we haven't seen your face or heard your voice, but cannot wait for the day you reach out to us and we can wrap our arms around you. We don't know if you're born yet or if you sit in an orphanage not knowing that you are waiting on your forever family. We will teach you the unconditional love of God, we will give you family. You are not an orphan to us, you are our daughter and sister.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you
John 14:18
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