First Step

We've made our first step! We have officially applied with an adoption agency.  In some ways it feels like a baby step. The first of about a million and one to get us to the end. In other ways it feels like a giant leap! Like we've jumped head first into the deep end of our crazy new life.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - That's the night we officially decided on what agency to use. It's a pretty in depth application and took us awhile to get it finished. Tyler was working on the finishing touches this morning. And as he was working at the computer I felt like I was pacing back and forth and hovering over him. :) I decided I'd better distract myself or I might drive him crazy. A few minutes later he found me and said he'd actually submitted the application. That was something I'd pictured us sitting at the computer doing together... but instead of pushing the "back" button, he had pushed the "submit" button! Oops. :)

And now the waiting begins. We will not find out if we have been approved until after the 4th of July. I am going to learn a LOT about patience through all of this. Thankfully I have a few things that will be keeping me busy.

One thing will be a garage sale to begin fundraising. We haven't ever attempted to do a garage sale on our own before. I'm sure it will be quite the experience. We have already been blessed by a few families who have donated some items. The other thing will be getting our house ready for our home study. We are still basically "child proof" but I'm sure there will be things we need to work on.

Keep those prayers coming! Pray for our children that are growing in our hearts. Pray for our three we already have. Pray for our finances (yikes!). And pray as we face long waits and unexpected things that our faith will be strengthened.

Keeping up with the Jones'

Life is pretty great. I really have no complaints. I am blessed and I truly know it. Here's the kicker though: I am not content. There. I admitted it. 

The strange thing about being blessed and not being content has been the restlessness I feel. It's like I should be trying harder to just settle in to the life I have. To comfortably live in my 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house in the small, family friendly town we live in. To help out in my kids classrooms, shuttle them to and from sports practice and serve in my church. I thought all I wanted was to live a peaceful, comfortable life.

But then there's that restlessness...

I know what it is. It's that gentle nudging. That quiet voice whispering to me. Oh Lord, why do you ask me to do things that are seemingly so difficult! 

That's when I am reminded: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor. 12:9-10

God is asking my husband and I to do something that will be difficult, something not everyone will understand. We are not capable of doing this on our own, but with God's power I know it can be.

So what is it that God is calling us to??? Adoption. From Haiti. And not just one child, but two!! That's right... we will have 5 children and become a family of 7! 

Our hearts have been open to the thought of adoption for about 4 years now. We have tried being a family that provides respite care for children in crisis in our community and we have tried becoming a foster family. But each time God has either given us a closed door or an unsettled heart about serving in those ways. And yet the verse in James keeps coming back to our minds. A call we cannot ignore: "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." James 1:27

And so now we begin this new journey. We begin to feel our hearts grow in love for our children that we have yet to meet. We search and pray for the right agency, knowing they will be walking through this life changing journey with us. We are very close to settling on an agency and the excitement is building!

For now, for those of you reading this, I ask for your prayer! We will be needing all kinds of support through this, but for now:

Pray