Tuesday night, after we attended our second class to adopt through CPS, Carla and I just were not feeling a peace about things. We originally felt called to adopt internationally, but when I heard about the cost of it, I leaned toward the local adoption road. Carla, being the good wife that she is, followed my lead and we started the process of local CPS adoption/fostering. I had been feeling a sense of guilt for abandoning the international adoption route that I originally felt God leading us, but since we were still adopting, I felt like that was ok. All the time we were preparing for classes, sitting in classes, and discussing the aspects of local adoption, I was still not having a peace about it. But since it seemed like Carla was so excited and working so hard, I kept my mouth shut. Finally though, I couldn’t keep quiet any more.
On our way home from class Tuesday night, I finally expressed to Carla how I was feeling. Thinking that she might be a little frustrated with me, I was a bit scared! But as soon as I told her that I was still feeling led to go international, she immediately said she felt the same way! So, after wrestling back and forth, we both feel the peace of God with our decision. We both feel like weight has been lifted and that we are finally doing what God has led us to do.
With all of that said, we are now on a journey to bring home our child. Wherever he or she may be in this huge world, we are furiously pursuing to bring our child home, at whatever the cost! We are still in the beginning stages of this adoption, and we have already been looked at like we are crazy. We have had both friends and family think we have lost our marbles! I know that they just don’t understand it yet, but it is still really hard to hear all of the negative comments. For those of you who don’t understand why Carla and I are adopting a hopeless child in need of a mommy and daddy, this is why…
Christ furiously pursued me and saved me when I was hopeless. When there was nothing I could do to save myself, Christ loved me enough to come and give me that hope and life. He loved me even when I was an enemy of God! He saved me even when I was saturated in self righteousness and sin! He adopted me into his family and made me His own! Why would Christ do that for me?! Because He loves me! Even though He doesn’t NEED me, He loved me enough to adopt me! This is the reason I am adopting! Even though my life is already crazy, busy, complicated, and NOT perfect, I want to share the love that Christ showed to me. I want to give a hopeless child hope! I want to pour the gospel into a child that may otherwise never hear it! I want to help give a child with no identity an identity! I want to be a daddy to a child who has no daddy! I want to LIVE OUT THE GOSPEL!!
This journey is not going to be easy! We will need lots of patience and grace from God. We are really going to have to trust in God’s sovereignty! We will have many hurdles to overcome before we can bring our child home! We have barely started the process and we have already been faced with the first hurdle. Just to begin this process, we will have to send in nearly $7,000! For a family whose bank account isn't necessarily flourishing immensely, this is a good sized hurdle! But we know that if this is truly God’s plan for our family, then He will provide. So if you are reading this, please pray for us as we go through this journey! Jesus is good and is by our side through thick and thin! I pray that He will be glorified in everything we do during this process!
- Matt
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Lifesong!
Faith. Family. Home.In caring for orphans, our hope is to instil faith, family and a sense of home deep into the hearts of every child we are blessed to serve. Please enjoy this month's Mission Moment highlighting the fruit of God's work through us.
Baptism has always been a powerful symbol of Christianity. This symbol is especially notable in this culture because through this outward testimony of faith, children are publicly turning away from false gods to rely only on Jesus! Witness the baptism of the girls from one of our homes below. Learn more about Lifesong India >>
Please continue to pray for safety and wisdom as construction continues. Learn more about Lifesong Guatemala: Village of Hope >>
Planting Spiritual Seeds in Liberia -- Our aim is to help children develop a personal relationship with the Lord and to keep that relationship growing. Read Full Story
Mehesh, A Life Changed -- "I don't want to think about what my life would be like if I didn't have the opportunity to live at that home (Chitty Memorial Home in Lifesong India)..." Read full story
Baptized in the Name of the ONE True God...
In a country where the worship of many gods is commonplace, lives of children are being changed and transformed by the working of Jesus Christ, the ONE true God. Lifesong India provides homes for almost 600 children who are all being exposed to the gospel of our loving, merciful and kind Father God."Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts 2:38
Building Children's Home in Guatemala
It's exciting to see the progress of our new orphan care initiative in Guatemala. Construction has started on the family homes that will one day invite orphans with special needs into their doors to give faith, family and a future to children in need. Thanks to many of you for your support in this exciting new project!
Read more about Faith, Family & Home...
Orphans in Ukraine Find Forever Families -- Through Adoption with Borders, like-minded families and churches in the USA connect with Christian families in Ukraine who are seeking to adopt. Read Full StoryPlanting Spiritual Seeds in Liberia -- Our aim is to help children develop a personal relationship with the Lord and to keep that relationship growing. Read Full Story
Mehesh, A Life Changed -- "I don't want to think about what my life would be like if I didn't have the opportunity to live at that home (Chitty Memorial Home in Lifesong India)..." Read full story
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Orientation
In order for us to be a certified adoptive family, there is a myriad of classes that the Amazing Mister and I have to take. While they seem a bit tedious, I know it is the best interest of our agency that we know how to adequately love and care for our child that will be placed in our home.
I was a tad nervous about the class. Going in, I was afraid I might leave feeling frightened to adopt or discouraged. However, quite the opposite occurred. (Seriously, who wants to buy our family an awesome little compound to house about 20 kids?)
We left our 3 young'uns in the loving care of an amazing friend, who, not only came over to watch them ALL evening after a hard day at work. But, also brought them their favorite fast food dinner, bathed them, and tucked them into bed for the night. I know. You want friends like mine! They. Are. AWESOME!
My excitement and anticipation grew as we neared the facility where the meeting would be held. You see, I kind of am counting this like those birthing classes they offer at hospitals to help you prepare to have your baby. (Well, except, I never took any.) I am preparing to care for this precious child who has been through probably so much more than I will ever go through in my life. It's bringing us one step closer to this precious guy who we will call son!
Since the first class was an orientation, we spent most of the time getting to know what our agency is about, statistics, and the history of Foster Care. We briefly discussed requirements, the process leading to adoption, and some things you may encounter when adopting. (Did you know there was a SPCA before there was an organization to look out for the well-being of children?! Did you also know that there are roughly 4000 children in the greater Houston area in the foster care system?) Y'all. I nearly lost it. 4000 children... right here, within maybe a few hours drive in every which direction that need a loving, stable home. 4000 children, who have experienced some pretty traumatic things. 4000 children whose parents literally can not care for them. 4000 children without the stability of a steady rhythm in life.
My heart hurts for these children. My heart hurts for the parents who can't take care of their children. I just want to take all the pain away. I want to remove the hurt; I want to mend all these broken families! But, I can't. I can't fix this. I can't erase the trauma these precious little lives have been through; all the things they've seen, all the horrendous things they may have been subjected to.
I was a tad nervous about the class. Going in, I was afraid I might leave feeling frightened to adopt or discouraged. However, quite the opposite occurred. (Seriously, who wants to buy our family an awesome little compound to house about 20 kids?)
We left our 3 young'uns in the loving care of an amazing friend, who, not only came over to watch them ALL evening after a hard day at work. But, also brought them their favorite fast food dinner, bathed them, and tucked them into bed for the night. I know. You want friends like mine! They. Are. AWESOME!
My excitement and anticipation grew as we neared the facility where the meeting would be held. You see, I kind of am counting this like those birthing classes they offer at hospitals to help you prepare to have your baby. (Well, except, I never took any.) I am preparing to care for this precious child who has been through probably so much more than I will ever go through in my life. It's bringing us one step closer to this precious guy who we will call son!
Since the first class was an orientation, we spent most of the time getting to know what our agency is about, statistics, and the history of Foster Care. We briefly discussed requirements, the process leading to adoption, and some things you may encounter when adopting. (Did you know there was a SPCA before there was an organization to look out for the well-being of children?! Did you also know that there are roughly 4000 children in the greater Houston area in the foster care system?) Y'all. I nearly lost it. 4000 children... right here, within maybe a few hours drive in every which direction that need a loving, stable home. 4000 children, who have experienced some pretty traumatic things. 4000 children whose parents literally can not care for them. 4000 children without the stability of a steady rhythm in life.
My heart hurts for these children. My heart hurts for the parents who can't take care of their children. I just want to take all the pain away. I want to remove the hurt; I want to mend all these broken families! But, I can't. I can't fix this. I can't erase the trauma these precious little lives have been through; all the things they've seen, all the horrendous things they may have been subjected to.
But what I can do, is I can love- for now- 1 of these sweet little things. I can pour my unconditional love out on him. I can spoil him with a comfortable home, loving siblings, all the nutritious food he will ever need, a man to call Daddy, clothes that fit just right, and most of all- show him Jesus. I can do all of these things, because Jesus first loved me. When I had nothing to offer, but my own baggage. When I was 1 of roughly 7,038,044,500 people in this world, Jesus LOVED me. He loved me enough, to come to this Earth over 2000 years ago. Jesus lived a perfect life. Died a wretched death. And He rose again. He loved me, He sought after me, He rescued me from my own orphan-hood and calls me Daughter.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Sanctification through my kids
I absolutely love that my husband has said "Yes" to the calling on his life, and has surrendered himself fully to Jesus. One small part of this means that he is the worship leader at our church, and is responsible for getting there pretty early each Sunday morning. However, in the midst of trying to get 3 small children up, fed, dressed and out of the house each Sunday morning- oh and all by myself- sometimes I lose sight of that just a little bit.
As it goes on many a Sunday in our home, I was racing around frantically to gather this or that. And as usual, somebody has lost a sippy cup in that black hole that seems to swallow everything we need when we are trying to make a mad dash out the door. Someone else remembers they have to go potty, and like NOW, before we can think about stepping out the door. Yet another one has hair that looks like some field mice tried to make a nest in whilst she was sleeping. But alas, we seem to make it to the car, if not for the minor injuries we may have sustained in getting there. (Our poor littlest fella tripped on his way out and skinned his toe up pretty badly. He has proudly shown off his "bobo" every moment since.)
After the crazy of the storm (or getting ready/dressed- call it whatever you will), there is the calm (you can also refer to this as the first few minutes of our car ride to church). I try my hardest to not look at the clock during this time, because, inevitably- I'm late.. again. Instead, I prepare my heart and my mind for worship. And sometimes, this includes apologizing to my sweet little blonde-haired cherubs for the cray-cray lady they saw 5 minutes earlier trying to shoo them into the car. However, I'm interrupted.
"Mom, I wish we had lots and lots of money so we could go do fun stuff whenever we wanted!" (Yes, me too! Well, hmm.. sort of. Ok, Ouch, not really.)
And this. This is what I love about being a Mom. All these little moments. The ones that can too easily be swept under a rug. The ones, that if you blink, you miss 'em. It's sentences like these, out of the clear blue, that I capture and remember. Hash out the heart issues that lie underneath them, and save it all up for a rainy day.
Oh mylanta, did that precious thing know what she was doing when she spurt forth that sentence?
I shared with her my heart on the matter, and what we believe. Yes, I too struggle with wanting to spend money on lots of frivolous things. Lots. But, those things, ultimately will not bring glory to God. Yes, my sweet baby, I love spoiling you and all of us having fun as a family and spending on fun things sometimes. But is this the way God would really want us to spend the money He has blessed us with? What if we could use our money for lots of other great things? Like, helping someone who may need it more than us. We already have a safe home, plenty of food, clean water, clothes.. anything we could ever need and lots of stuff we want. But there are others who don't!
We had a brief discussion in my hopes of sharing with her that our joy isn't in money; that our joy is in Jesus.
"Mom, on the weekends, lets find all the money we can and give it to people who need it most!"
As it goes on many a Sunday in our home, I was racing around frantically to gather this or that. And as usual, somebody has lost a sippy cup in that black hole that seems to swallow everything we need when we are trying to make a mad dash out the door. Someone else remembers they have to go potty, and like NOW, before we can think about stepping out the door. Yet another one has hair that looks like some field mice tried to make a nest in whilst she was sleeping. But alas, we seem to make it to the car, if not for the minor injuries we may have sustained in getting there. (Our poor littlest fella tripped on his way out and skinned his toe up pretty badly. He has proudly shown off his "bobo" every moment since.)
After the crazy of the storm (or getting ready/dressed- call it whatever you will), there is the calm (you can also refer to this as the first few minutes of our car ride to church). I try my hardest to not look at the clock during this time, because, inevitably- I'm late.. again. Instead, I prepare my heart and my mind for worship. And sometimes, this includes apologizing to my sweet little blonde-haired cherubs for the cray-cray lady they saw 5 minutes earlier trying to shoo them into the car. However, I'm interrupted.
"Mom, I wish we had lots and lots of money so we could go do fun stuff whenever we wanted!" (Yes, me too! Well, hmm.. sort of. Ok, Ouch, not really.)
And this. This is what I love about being a Mom. All these little moments. The ones that can too easily be swept under a rug. The ones, that if you blink, you miss 'em. It's sentences like these, out of the clear blue, that I capture and remember. Hash out the heart issues that lie underneath them, and save it all up for a rainy day.
Oh mylanta, did that precious thing know what she was doing when she spurt forth that sentence?
I shared with her my heart on the matter, and what we believe. Yes, I too struggle with wanting to spend money on lots of frivolous things. Lots. But, those things, ultimately will not bring glory to God. Yes, my sweet baby, I love spoiling you and all of us having fun as a family and spending on fun things sometimes. But is this the way God would really want us to spend the money He has blessed us with? What if we could use our money for lots of other great things? Like, helping someone who may need it more than us. We already have a safe home, plenty of food, clean water, clothes.. anything we could ever need and lots of stuff we want. But there are others who don't!
We had a brief discussion in my hopes of sharing with her that our joy isn't in money; that our joy is in Jesus.
"Mom, on the weekends, lets find all the money we can and give it to people who need it most!"
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Why I'm *not* adopting...
We're not adopting because I won or will win a Mother of The Year Award. But we are adopting because I am a mom and he's a dad. I love being a mom. I love taking care of my sweet kids, and would love nothing more than to have an extra set of feet stomping through the house. How sweet would it be to hear a few extra giggles and "I love you's" through the day?
We are not adopting because we have tons and tons of cash lying around that we have no idea what to do with. We are adopting because in the grand scheme of things, money doesn't REALLY matter.
We are not adopting because we know it will be a super easy process, with no hurdles or emotional struggles to go through. We are adopting because when you want a child, you will do incredible things to bring that child home. While having our 3 children "the old fashioned way", I regulated my diet, slept a certain schedule, and did some things I wouldn't normally do. My body was put through the ringer to bring those sweet babies into this world, and I wouldn't say it was a necessarily easy process. Having (and raising) children is not an easy process.
We are not adopting because we are this super awesome family who's perfect and have everything figured out, and will provide a Cinderella story to some kid who needs a happy ending. Well, we kind of are. But we aren't perfect. We are pretty awesome, but maybe not the most awesome family ever in the existence of all families everywhere! We might not be able to have a perfect little packaged Cinderella story with our adopted one... or even our biological children for that matter. While we hope and pray we provide that for our child, the world will not come to end if it doesn't. We didn't decide not to have children for fear that they may not be perfect. We didn't decide not to put our children in sports, music, or even school for fear that they would not be the best or excel exceedingly at each and everything they do.
We chose to adopt because when you get right down to it we are a family. A family that knows there are children who need families. Children who would love to have a Mom and a Dad. Children who would love to have sisters and a brother- to play with, to hug, to have movie nights with, to fight over the toys with, etc.
We chose to adopt because we are adopted, through the work of Jesus on the cross, His burial and His resurrection.
We are not adopting because we have tons and tons of cash lying around that we have no idea what to do with. We are adopting because in the grand scheme of things, money doesn't REALLY matter.
We are not adopting because we know it will be a super easy process, with no hurdles or emotional struggles to go through. We are adopting because when you want a child, you will do incredible things to bring that child home. While having our 3 children "the old fashioned way", I regulated my diet, slept a certain schedule, and did some things I wouldn't normally do. My body was put through the ringer to bring those sweet babies into this world, and I wouldn't say it was a necessarily easy process. Having (and raising) children is not an easy process.
We are not adopting because we are this super awesome family who's perfect and have everything figured out, and will provide a Cinderella story to some kid who needs a happy ending. Well, we kind of are. But we aren't perfect. We are pretty awesome, but maybe not the most awesome family ever in the existence of all families everywhere! We might not be able to have a perfect little packaged Cinderella story with our adopted one... or even our biological children for that matter. While we hope and pray we provide that for our child, the world will not come to end if it doesn't. We didn't decide not to have children for fear that they may not be perfect. We didn't decide not to put our children in sports, music, or even school for fear that they would not be the best or excel exceedingly at each and everything they do.
We chose to adopt because when you get right down to it we are a family. A family that knows there are children who need families. Children who would love to have a Mom and a Dad. Children who would love to have sisters and a brother- to play with, to hug, to have movie nights with, to fight over the toys with, etc.
We chose to adopt because we are adopted, through the work of Jesus on the cross, His burial and His resurrection.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Adoption
There isn't a specific moment that I can pinpoint to say "That's when we decided to adopt; that's exactly when we knew that's what we were going to do."
As a teenager, I would spend several weeks out of my summers overseas on mission trips. I remember going to an orphanage in Latvia and being utterly heartbroken over the amount of children in need of parents and a family. From that moment on, I kind of had a feeling I would adopt some day.
Years passed, a handsome young man proposed, a marriage began, and shortly thereafter- so did the babies. Between serving in our church, parenting our biological children and life, adoption wasn't on the forefront of our minds. However, in the past year or two, it seems as if we have been surrounded by adoption. From close friends and even acquaintances adopting, to random blogs surfacing about adoption, to reading a best-selling book about a young missionary in Uganda- which unbeknownst to me is also a book about adoption. And so it seemed to begin. Our hearts were opening to adoption.
As time passed, I couldn't get enough about adoption. A friend sharing a video here on Facebook, another friend organizing a 5K to benefit the orphan, adoption books, stories of people adopting.. everything adoption!
Before I knew it, my busy days of mothering my little tot's and filling sippy cups were interrupted with thoughts of.. "I wonder what our son is doing right now." Each tickle fight with a little person would bring such joy at getting to lavish such sweet love on my littles, and yet leave me with a little pang of sadness. "I wonder if our son, wherever he is, has even had so much as a hug today?" At times, I would feel overwhelmingly sad and a little distraught over the thought of our child hurting. (Even though we haven't a clue who he is at this time.) God, in His GOODness, has been so kind to remind me that He is sovereign. That HE loves our child, and that our son isn't forgotten. It is all going according to His plan!
And then something as silly as our schedules and the rhythm of life all slowed a little and opened up. So, next month, we will officially begin our adoption journey. I am so thrilled, and feel almost like I did at the start of each of my pregnancies; a little scared, but mostly excited!
Will you please pray with us?
As a teenager, I would spend several weeks out of my summers overseas on mission trips. I remember going to an orphanage in Latvia and being utterly heartbroken over the amount of children in need of parents and a family. From that moment on, I kind of had a feeling I would adopt some day.
Years passed, a handsome young man proposed, a marriage began, and shortly thereafter- so did the babies. Between serving in our church, parenting our biological children and life, adoption wasn't on the forefront of our minds. However, in the past year or two, it seems as if we have been surrounded by adoption. From close friends and even acquaintances adopting, to random blogs surfacing about adoption, to reading a best-selling book about a young missionary in Uganda- which unbeknownst to me is also a book about adoption. And so it seemed to begin. Our hearts were opening to adoption.
As time passed, I couldn't get enough about adoption. A friend sharing a video here on Facebook, another friend organizing a 5K to benefit the orphan, adoption books, stories of people adopting.. everything adoption!
Before I knew it, my busy days of mothering my little tot's and filling sippy cups were interrupted with thoughts of.. "I wonder what our son is doing right now." Each tickle fight with a little person would bring such joy at getting to lavish such sweet love on my littles, and yet leave me with a little pang of sadness. "I wonder if our son, wherever he is, has even had so much as a hug today?" At times, I would feel overwhelmingly sad and a little distraught over the thought of our child hurting. (Even though we haven't a clue who he is at this time.) God, in His GOODness, has been so kind to remind me that He is sovereign. That HE loves our child, and that our son isn't forgotten. It is all going according to His plan!
And then something as silly as our schedules and the rhythm of life all slowed a little and opened up. So, next month, we will officially begin our adoption journey. I am so thrilled, and feel almost like I did at the start of each of my pregnancies; a little scared, but mostly excited!
Will you please pray with us?
- We are required to take a number of classes to be qualified to adopt through the Foster Care system. Please pray for us to learn a lot, for the brave people who will be watching our sweet little Cherubs while we attend said classes, and for the timing of the classes.
- Please pray that our, including our precious children, hearts would be so tender in loving the child who will be a part of our family.
- Pray for us as we start the applications and home study. It doesn't take a whole lot just to have a biological child. But there's a hefty amount of paperwork, interviewing and some inspecting (of your home) before you are approved to adopt. I am a little apprehensive about this.
- Please also pray for the funds to be available to adopt.
Thank you friends!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Hello there!
The time has come for this Momma to start blogging again! The past two years half been such an incredible whirlwind. Days filled with adventures in diaper changing, little people growing, sippy cups being emptied, a certain Momma's mid-section swelling beyond recognition to bring forth a bouncing baby boy, and life changing decisions have gone by leaving little room for a blog. So, please excuse the cobwebs and dust bunnies, and let's just dive right in!
Our precious girls have spent the better part of the past two years growing by leaps and bounds in almost every way conceivable. They have brought so much joy to our home and have kept us on our toes! They've also been busy adoring their precious baby brother. Josiah made his entrance into the world in July of 2011, and has kept us captivated ever since! We have had so much fun running after this little fella and doting on him! And I've been living in this absolutely wild fairytale world where I get to play dress-up, master architect of block buildings and reading forts, and star chef to a growing family all day every day.
The Amazing Mr. also made the fearlessly bold and courageous decision for our family to step out in faith with some dear friends of ours in planting a church in our area. What a thrilling (almost) two years it has been in our new church! Jesus has been so GOOD and NEAR, and it would take me days, if not months, to recount all the wonderful things that have been happening in our church. What a gift it has been to see the work of God and to be such a tiny part in it.
I can't wait to share so many tidbits of this fantastic life we are living! From the mundane to the absolutely extraordinary, I hope you'll enjoy learning about our little clan and the inner-workings of this busy Momma!
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