I didnt realize how long it has been since I have posted on our blog. Life has been crazy and busy to say the least.
I started back to work on Aug 1st. The first week of so was busy trying to get things ready for the kids to come back to school. My first full week with students was crazy and full of drama to say the least. I am very grateful that things have calmed down and everyone is back in the swing of things. Choir is back in full swing and I am loving every minute of it.
Sean has started a new position within our church (and I couldnt be more proud of him!!!). He is the creative director of children's worship. Aug was a slow month for him, but this month has been absolutely busy for him which is great.
I have to say in our house right now the Lord is teaching us to trust in Him and to have hope. I am not at a point where I can elaborate on this yet, but it has been hard. We have prayed harder and longer than we have in a very long. We are very grateful for close friends and family who are walking through all of this with us. We continue to ask you to pray for us as we make decisions about what the Lord would have us to do. We are still hoping to adopt sometime in the near future. At this point we are saving as much as we can and waiting on the Lord to show us what direction we need to take.
I know this is a short update, but I will try and post more later!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Summer Update
Well, I didnt realize that it has been 2 months since I have updated the blog. I guess I spend more time on facebook and updating our lives there than I do here. I will fill you in on our summer as well as adoption news.
Sean and I started out planning on having a nice quiet summer at home, and just a couple days in we realized that would not be the case. My 2nd day of summer break started with my car failing inspection. So, that started a week and a half of my car being in and out of the shop. We dropped a large sum of money and my car passed inspection. Then, I think that the hardest part is over and that it will be a piece of cake to get my tags. Wrong again! I needed to have my title. Even though we paid off my car last summer Nissan never mailed the title. I call Nissan to a) get the title and b) have my maiden name changed to my married name b/c I never got it changed. Nissan tells me that they never released the title from the vault, but they will send it out and I should have it within 7-10 business days. They also tell me that they cant change my last name.
For our 3rd anniversary Sean and I spent a very relaxing day at Fall Creek Falls State Park. Sean and I ate a picnic lunch and then headed to the falls. We spent a great deal of the afternoon sitting in our chairs reading. The sun was out and for a little while we actually most of the place to ourselves. Later that afternoon we packed up our stuff and headed out of the park. Sean decided to treat me to a little bit of shopping at the Outlets of Lebenon and then onto dinner at Outback Steakhouse.
As I am dealing with all of the car stuff, I get an invite to be a substitute chaperone for a mission trip to Miami, FL. I was excited and nervous about the trip. So on bright and early on a Sunday morning I board a plane with the senior high students from West End United Methodist. We served for a week through the DOOR organization. We slept on the floor of a Methodist church there in Miami. We would do service projects during the day and then in the afternoon we would go to a public pool to swim and then shower. (The church had NO showers). On Monday served lunch to about 250 homeless men and women at Missionaries of Charity. On Tuesday we led recreation for a group of kids through a poverty initiative group. On Wednesday we spent the day working on a Habitat for Humanity Home. That night we went to see Tampa Bay take on Miami in baseball. Thursday we went to Camillus house and served about 350 homeless men and women lunch, bagged popcorn and wrapped about 1000 sporks in napkins.
So, while I am off in Miami with a group of teenagers Sean is back here working like a dog. He had a ton of gigs and got very little sleep. When I came home Saturday night, the poor guy was exhausted.
The next day I get in my car and head north to MI to my sisters. Sean joins me on Wednesday night after a very exciting lightening filled flight. Flights had been delayed and cancelled because of a very large storm system. He flew from Nashville to Cincinnati and then into Grand Rapids. His flight from Cincinnati to Grand Rapids had to be re-routed to fly around the storm. Meanwhile my sister and I are sitting in the airport in Grand Rapids waiting for him to fly in. Eventually he made it in and we had a wonderful rest of the week. On Fri we spent the 4th of July at my brother-in-laws parents house on Hutchins Lake. Sean was brave enough to get on the wave runner with me again. I only almost knocked him off a couple of times. He was also brave enough to allow Matt to pull us around on the tube. That night we enjoyed a dinner of hotdogs, macaroni salad, chips, salsa and several types of desserts.
While we were in MI, I recieve an email from Nissan stating that they would place a lien on the title (reporting that it was paid for) so that I could change my last name. After we get home I take all of my paperwork along with a copy of our marriage certificate to T-dot and was finally able to get a TN tag. The next day I was able to get a TN drivers license and register to vote in our county.
The day after we returned home it was time for VBS. Sean and I taught the second grade. We had a wonderful group of kids. VBS on the whole was wonderful. The music was the best it had ever been. There were several kids that week made decisions for Christ which is the sign of a successful week of VBS!
We a week of downtime and being able to caught up with things here at the house. Then last week we spent the week doing Youth Super Summer. We had a wonderful week working with the youth. It was a time of great fellowship and worship. Watching the youth be totally free in their worship was an incredible experience and one that I was grateful to be able to witness. I also had the opportunity to hang out with some other adults in the church that I didnt know that well and develop some new friendships as well and strengthen some other friendships.
In the midst of all of this, Sean and I have been working to put more money into savings so we can fulfill our dream of adopting and expanding our family. Sean has also been called to be the Children's Worship Director at our church and he is spending time working on making that a wonderful ministry for the children of our church in hopes that the come to a saving relationship with Christ and the ones who have that relationship strengthen their walk.
On the adoption front there is really no new news to report. We are trying to decide between Mercy Ministries here in Nashville and Glandey Adoption Agency in Fort Worth, TX. We are so ready to move forward with this, but we are realilzing that this takes more time and preparation than we we thought. We want children like yesterday, but are trying to wait on the Lord to move us forward and lead us in the right direction. We ask the people continue to pray for us in this process.
We hope you have a wonderful start to fall. Sean is working hard and I start back to work tomorrow.
Sean and I started out planning on having a nice quiet summer at home, and just a couple days in we realized that would not be the case. My 2nd day of summer break started with my car failing inspection. So, that started a week and a half of my car being in and out of the shop. We dropped a large sum of money and my car passed inspection. Then, I think that the hardest part is over and that it will be a piece of cake to get my tags. Wrong again! I needed to have my title. Even though we paid off my car last summer Nissan never mailed the title. I call Nissan to a) get the title and b) have my maiden name changed to my married name b/c I never got it changed. Nissan tells me that they never released the title from the vault, but they will send it out and I should have it within 7-10 business days. They also tell me that they cant change my last name.
For our 3rd anniversary Sean and I spent a very relaxing day at Fall Creek Falls State Park. Sean and I ate a picnic lunch and then headed to the falls. We spent a great deal of the afternoon sitting in our chairs reading. The sun was out and for a little while we actually most of the place to ourselves. Later that afternoon we packed up our stuff and headed out of the park. Sean decided to treat me to a little bit of shopping at the Outlets of Lebenon and then onto dinner at Outback Steakhouse.
As I am dealing with all of the car stuff, I get an invite to be a substitute chaperone for a mission trip to Miami, FL. I was excited and nervous about the trip. So on bright and early on a Sunday morning I board a plane with the senior high students from West End United Methodist. We served for a week through the DOOR organization. We slept on the floor of a Methodist church there in Miami. We would do service projects during the day and then in the afternoon we would go to a public pool to swim and then shower. (The church had NO showers). On Monday served lunch to about 250 homeless men and women at Missionaries of Charity. On Tuesday we led recreation for a group of kids through a poverty initiative group. On Wednesday we spent the day working on a Habitat for Humanity Home. That night we went to see Tampa Bay take on Miami in baseball. Thursday we went to Camillus house and served about 350 homeless men and women lunch, bagged popcorn and wrapped about 1000 sporks in napkins.
So, while I am off in Miami with a group of teenagers Sean is back here working like a dog. He had a ton of gigs and got very little sleep. When I came home Saturday night, the poor guy was exhausted.
The next day I get in my car and head north to MI to my sisters. Sean joins me on Wednesday night after a very exciting lightening filled flight. Flights had been delayed and cancelled because of a very large storm system. He flew from Nashville to Cincinnati and then into Grand Rapids. His flight from Cincinnati to Grand Rapids had to be re-routed to fly around the storm. Meanwhile my sister and I are sitting in the airport in Grand Rapids waiting for him to fly in. Eventually he made it in and we had a wonderful rest of the week. On Fri we spent the 4th of July at my brother-in-laws parents house on Hutchins Lake. Sean was brave enough to get on the wave runner with me again. I only almost knocked him off a couple of times. He was also brave enough to allow Matt to pull us around on the tube. That night we enjoyed a dinner of hotdogs, macaroni salad, chips, salsa and several types of desserts.
While we were in MI, I recieve an email from Nissan stating that they would place a lien on the title (reporting that it was paid for) so that I could change my last name. After we get home I take all of my paperwork along with a copy of our marriage certificate to T-dot and was finally able to get a TN tag. The next day I was able to get a TN drivers license and register to vote in our county.
The day after we returned home it was time for VBS. Sean and I taught the second grade. We had a wonderful group of kids. VBS on the whole was wonderful. The music was the best it had ever been. There were several kids that week made decisions for Christ which is the sign of a successful week of VBS!
We a week of downtime and being able to caught up with things here at the house. Then last week we spent the week doing Youth Super Summer. We had a wonderful week working with the youth. It was a time of great fellowship and worship. Watching the youth be totally free in their worship was an incredible experience and one that I was grateful to be able to witness. I also had the opportunity to hang out with some other adults in the church that I didnt know that well and develop some new friendships as well and strengthen some other friendships.
In the midst of all of this, Sean and I have been working to put more money into savings so we can fulfill our dream of adopting and expanding our family. Sean has also been called to be the Children's Worship Director at our church and he is spending time working on making that a wonderful ministry for the children of our church in hopes that the come to a saving relationship with Christ and the ones who have that relationship strengthen their walk.
On the adoption front there is really no new news to report. We are trying to decide between Mercy Ministries here in Nashville and Glandey Adoption Agency in Fort Worth, TX. We are so ready to move forward with this, but we are realilzing that this takes more time and preparation than we we thought. We want children like yesterday, but are trying to wait on the Lord to move us forward and lead us in the right direction. We ask the people continue to pray for us in this process.
We hope you have a wonderful start to fall. Sean is working hard and I start back to work tomorrow.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Holding Pattern
Hey ya'll,
Just a quick udate for the month of May. There is nothing really to report. We are not sure if we are going to go through the agency we picked. They are very expensive and we arent sure we could come up with that kind of money any where in the near future. So, it is back to the drawing board. We are now looking at other agencies again and hopefully the Lord will work out something for us soon. Please continue to pray for us as we go on this journey. I can tell you that this is not at all where I thought we would be once Sean and I picked an agency. I was hoping to officially be parents in waiting at this point. Pray that we would not lose hope and that when all is said and done Sean and I will look back on this and say only the Lord could have worked things out and that HE recieves all of the glory!
As for our summer plans.
-I am headed to Chatanooga to the aquarium the first weekend in June with my mother.
-Sean and I are celebrating our 3rd anniversary on June 11th!!! (I LOVE him so much!!!!)
-Sean and I are meeting friends in Gatlinburg June 20-22nd.
-At some point we will head to my sister's in MI for a week or so.
Have a wonderful and blessed summer!!!!
Just a quick udate for the month of May. There is nothing really to report. We are not sure if we are going to go through the agency we picked. They are very expensive and we arent sure we could come up with that kind of money any where in the near future. So, it is back to the drawing board. We are now looking at other agencies again and hopefully the Lord will work out something for us soon. Please continue to pray for us as we go on this journey. I can tell you that this is not at all where I thought we would be once Sean and I picked an agency. I was hoping to officially be parents in waiting at this point. Pray that we would not lose hope and that when all is said and done Sean and I will look back on this and say only the Lord could have worked things out and that HE recieves all of the glory!
As for our summer plans.
-I am headed to Chatanooga to the aquarium the first weekend in June with my mother.
-Sean and I are celebrating our 3rd anniversary on June 11th!!! (I LOVE him so much!!!!)
-Sean and I are meeting friends in Gatlinburg June 20-22nd.
-At some point we will head to my sister's in MI for a week or so.
Have a wonderful and blessed summer!!!!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Adoption News!!!
Round One of the adoption paperwork is in the mail!!! It should be to our adoption consultant in about 3 days! I am hoping and praying that we will be able to move things forward a little faster now that it is in!
1)Please continue to pray for us as we walk through process.
2) Pray that we can "hurry up and wait"
3) Pray that the Lord will provide the finances
4) Pray for the birth mother and that we will be chosen by the right one
5) Pray for our little blessing. We don't know if he or she has even be conceived yet.
6) Pray that Sean and I would be the parents that we need to be.
As I sit here and type this I realize that I am filled with mixed emotions. I so excited to see what the Lord is going to do in the life of Sean and I and how He is going to expand our family. At the same time I have feelings of sadness and loss. Tomorrow (4/15) would have been my 3rd due date. Sean and I should be sitting on the couch waiting for the arrival of our 3rd blessing and here we are with no children and no longer pregnant. I don't want it to seem that I am not excited about adopting because I really and truly am, its just that its hard to acknowledge how we got here. We have 3 angels that we were never able to meet. I know that one day I will see all 3 of my beautiful children.
I also know that many people do not accept or acknowledge a miscarriage as a loss. We are probably the most overlooked group in the church. Watching the growing bellies of expectant mothers and the arrivals of the new babies is hard. A good friend of mine should have given birth last week and I should be this week. Yet, here we both are with empty arms (my friend does have an adorable little 2 yr old). At Mother's Day and Father's Day I am reminded that while people cant see our children it doesn't make Sean and I any less of a mother or father. We ARE parents.
So, as Sean and I take this journey that the Lord has us on, know that it is one filled with mixed emotion. I know that as time goes on and even when we bring home our little blessing, the 3 little ones we never met will never be far from our hearts. I cant wait to meet our little blessing the one we will be privileged to call son or daughter!
Thanks for reading our blog and joining us on this journey!
We love and appreciate all of you!
1)Please continue to pray for us as we walk through process.
2) Pray that we can "hurry up and wait"
3) Pray that the Lord will provide the finances
4) Pray for the birth mother and that we will be chosen by the right one
5) Pray for our little blessing. We don't know if he or she has even be conceived yet.
6) Pray that Sean and I would be the parents that we need to be.
As I sit here and type this I realize that I am filled with mixed emotions. I so excited to see what the Lord is going to do in the life of Sean and I and how He is going to expand our family. At the same time I have feelings of sadness and loss. Tomorrow (4/15) would have been my 3rd due date. Sean and I should be sitting on the couch waiting for the arrival of our 3rd blessing and here we are with no children and no longer pregnant. I don't want it to seem that I am not excited about adopting because I really and truly am, its just that its hard to acknowledge how we got here. We have 3 angels that we were never able to meet. I know that one day I will see all 3 of my beautiful children.
I also know that many people do not accept or acknowledge a miscarriage as a loss. We are probably the most overlooked group in the church. Watching the growing bellies of expectant mothers and the arrivals of the new babies is hard. A good friend of mine should have given birth last week and I should be this week. Yet, here we both are with empty arms (my friend does have an adorable little 2 yr old). At Mother's Day and Father's Day I am reminded that while people cant see our children it doesn't make Sean and I any less of a mother or father. We ARE parents.
So, as Sean and I take this journey that the Lord has us on, know that it is one filled with mixed emotion. I know that as time goes on and even when we bring home our little blessing, the 3 little ones we never met will never be far from our hearts. I cant wait to meet our little blessing the one we will be privileged to call son or daughter!
Thanks for reading our blog and joining us on this journey!
We love and appreciate all of you!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Praise God anyway...
Well March has been a month of ups and downs...
The first of the month, Sean and I got excited at the thought that we may be pregnant. I took 2 pregnancy tests and they both came back neg. This is not an unusual thing for me. With all 3 pregnancies to date, the tests didnt come back pos until later. During all of this a good friend had her 3rd miscarriage. The day after that reality set in that I was not pregnant.
The next week a couple from church gave birth to their first child Kaylee. This couple was told that they could not have a child naturally and the Lord blessed them inspite of the doctors!
The next week was spring break. My wonderful husband booked 2 nights in Gatlinburg for us. We were able to connect and talk. I came home for a couple of days and then headed to Dallas for a wedding of 2 two friends from the recreation ministry staff at First Dallas. I also was able to enjoy a 5 mile hike the day before the wedding with some friends from SWBTS.
I came back to work last Mon to a day in the office and staff activity. Tues 3/25, I recieve an email that a college classmate lost her battle to cancer. Thurs night Sean and I missed a call from Mike (a good friend of ours). Fri morning Mike got a hold of Sean and told him horrible news. Our friend JJ from Dallas was no longer with us. Sean and I got in the car and headed to Dallas about 2 hrs after that call.
On that same Fri another couple from church had their little girl. I am still waiting her name and all of her stats. But mom and baby are healthy!
Let me tell you a little bit about JJ. She is the oldest of 2 girls in a wonderful Christian family. She was married to Scott and has a beautiful little boy named Jonathon. She was a teacher and basketball coach at a private Christian school in the Dallas area. Her husband Scott is the Dean of Students at this same school. JJ touched may lives while here. She was active at the private school as well as at the church. She was never above helping anyone. Her family became our family away from home while we lived in TX. She loved life and the Lord and it showed in her words and her actions. JJ was 7mos pregnant and lost her little girl (Tonya Renee) Wed (3/26) and then a couple hrs later she was gone.
When Sean and I met with the family on Sat, their whole attitude was praise God anyway. They continued to say that God is good. The funeral was a celebration of JJ's life. The music was nothing I had ever heard at a funeral. We sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "Victory in Jesus." The choir sang "Isnt He Good" and "Jersualem." The floor of the sanctuary at First Baptist Dallas was full and there were people in the balcony. The choir loft was full as well. The choir filled the loft and spilled over into the balcony. I was really touched when the choir was singing "Jersualem" and Scott and JJ's parents stood up and started praising God. I was moved to tears by this one action.
During the funeral Sean and I sat with a couple has 2 little children. Ella who has cerebral palsy and Will who is only a couple of months old. In the midst of everything they have been through with Ella, this couple has also chosen to say Praise God anyway.
I am amazed sometimes by the people around me who no matter what comes up choose to say Praise God anyway. My friend who miscarried has said this all through her blog. There are times that I know that is what I should be saying, but I cant always make myself say it. This weekend I have tried to keep that attitude. As a Christian I know that the Lord is in control and nothing catches Him off guard. He knew what this month would hold. He knew that there would be many ups and downs. He knew what all of us would be feeling and experiencing as we went through this month.
During the funeral on Sat, something our pastor says all the time kept playing over and over again in my head... Bro. Jerry says "There is nothing so certain as death and nothing so uncertain as the time." No one would have expected to bury a 32 yr old wife and mother, especially one who had been healthy just the day before. It made me think about the urgency that we should all live our lives. We should be sharing the Gospel with those around us. How many chances to share the Gospel do we miss on a weekly basis b/c we dont ask the Lord to show us? Do we tell our family and our friends that we love them like we should? Do we live a life that is pleasing to the Lord? Are there things in life that we say we will do one day and have yet to do any of them? What are we putting off? Are there people in our life that we need to make ammends with? We always assume there will be a tomorrow and there are no guarantees. As I am sitting here typing this I am not saying that I am doing all of these things, but these are things that I have been thinking about and praying about since that phone call Fri morning.
During the next couple of weeks take time to tell your family and friends how much you love and appreciate them. Let them know that you are praying for them. If there is someone in your life with whom things are not right, pick up the phone and call them.
I am not always sure who is reading my blog, but I do know that there are many good friends who read it. I hope all of you know that Sean and I love you very much and we are very appreciative of the love you have shown us through the years. Ya'll have been there to celebrate with us as well a cry with us. We are very blessed to have so many wonderful, godly friends!!! Thank you for being you and being willing to love us!!!! We pray for ya'll and hope that the Lord blesses all of you in a very special way!
Adoption note: We have almost all of round one of paperwork filled out. As soon as Sean completes our taxes we will get the last part of it filled out and into the mail. From there we will hopefully have a tentative homestudy date set!!!
Thanks again for your love and support. Remember that whatever comes up in your lives... Praise God anyway!!!!!
The first of the month, Sean and I got excited at the thought that we may be pregnant. I took 2 pregnancy tests and they both came back neg. This is not an unusual thing for me. With all 3 pregnancies to date, the tests didnt come back pos until later. During all of this a good friend had her 3rd miscarriage. The day after that reality set in that I was not pregnant.
The next week a couple from church gave birth to their first child Kaylee. This couple was told that they could not have a child naturally and the Lord blessed them inspite of the doctors!
The next week was spring break. My wonderful husband booked 2 nights in Gatlinburg for us. We were able to connect and talk. I came home for a couple of days and then headed to Dallas for a wedding of 2 two friends from the recreation ministry staff at First Dallas. I also was able to enjoy a 5 mile hike the day before the wedding with some friends from SWBTS.
I came back to work last Mon to a day in the office and staff activity. Tues 3/25, I recieve an email that a college classmate lost her battle to cancer. Thurs night Sean and I missed a call from Mike (a good friend of ours). Fri morning Mike got a hold of Sean and told him horrible news. Our friend JJ from Dallas was no longer with us. Sean and I got in the car and headed to Dallas about 2 hrs after that call.
On that same Fri another couple from church had their little girl. I am still waiting her name and all of her stats. But mom and baby are healthy!
Let me tell you a little bit about JJ. She is the oldest of 2 girls in a wonderful Christian family. She was married to Scott and has a beautiful little boy named Jonathon. She was a teacher and basketball coach at a private Christian school in the Dallas area. Her husband Scott is the Dean of Students at this same school. JJ touched may lives while here. She was active at the private school as well as at the church. She was never above helping anyone. Her family became our family away from home while we lived in TX. She loved life and the Lord and it showed in her words and her actions. JJ was 7mos pregnant and lost her little girl (Tonya Renee) Wed (3/26) and then a couple hrs later she was gone.
When Sean and I met with the family on Sat, their whole attitude was praise God anyway. They continued to say that God is good. The funeral was a celebration of JJ's life. The music was nothing I had ever heard at a funeral. We sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "Victory in Jesus." The choir sang "Isnt He Good" and "Jersualem." The floor of the sanctuary at First Baptist Dallas was full and there were people in the balcony. The choir loft was full as well. The choir filled the loft and spilled over into the balcony. I was really touched when the choir was singing "Jersualem" and Scott and JJ's parents stood up and started praising God. I was moved to tears by this one action.
During the funeral Sean and I sat with a couple has 2 little children. Ella who has cerebral palsy and Will who is only a couple of months old. In the midst of everything they have been through with Ella, this couple has also chosen to say Praise God anyway.
I am amazed sometimes by the people around me who no matter what comes up choose to say Praise God anyway. My friend who miscarried has said this all through her blog. There are times that I know that is what I should be saying, but I cant always make myself say it. This weekend I have tried to keep that attitude. As a Christian I know that the Lord is in control and nothing catches Him off guard. He knew what this month would hold. He knew that there would be many ups and downs. He knew what all of us would be feeling and experiencing as we went through this month.
During the funeral on Sat, something our pastor says all the time kept playing over and over again in my head... Bro. Jerry says "There is nothing so certain as death and nothing so uncertain as the time." No one would have expected to bury a 32 yr old wife and mother, especially one who had been healthy just the day before. It made me think about the urgency that we should all live our lives. We should be sharing the Gospel with those around us. How many chances to share the Gospel do we miss on a weekly basis b/c we dont ask the Lord to show us? Do we tell our family and our friends that we love them like we should? Do we live a life that is pleasing to the Lord? Are there things in life that we say we will do one day and have yet to do any of them? What are we putting off? Are there people in our life that we need to make ammends with? We always assume there will be a tomorrow and there are no guarantees. As I am sitting here typing this I am not saying that I am doing all of these things, but these are things that I have been thinking about and praying about since that phone call Fri morning.
During the next couple of weeks take time to tell your family and friends how much you love and appreciate them. Let them know that you are praying for them. If there is someone in your life with whom things are not right, pick up the phone and call them.
I am not always sure who is reading my blog, but I do know that there are many good friends who read it. I hope all of you know that Sean and I love you very much and we are very appreciative of the love you have shown us through the years. Ya'll have been there to celebrate with us as well a cry with us. We are very blessed to have so many wonderful, godly friends!!! Thank you for being you and being willing to love us!!!! We pray for ya'll and hope that the Lord blesses all of you in a very special way!
Adoption note: We have almost all of round one of paperwork filled out. As soon as Sean completes our taxes we will get the last part of it filled out and into the mail. From there we will hopefully have a tentative homestudy date set!!!
Thanks again for your love and support. Remember that whatever comes up in your lives... Praise God anyway!!!!!
Friday, February 22, 2008
We picked an agency!!!
Well, I wish I had more to update. I know many of you have asked when I was going to post new news. We have chosen an agency. It is the Adoption Network Law Center. Here is what I know at this point. I talked to the agency this afternoon. We cant set the dates for the homestudy until we get in a round of paperwork. We dont have this paperwork yet. We should have it by the end of next week. They are going to send us a packet of paperwork as well as a video and some other information related to adoption. We will get everything filled out as quickly as we can so we can get the date for the homestudy set. The homestudy takes 2-3 mos. It is good for one year. If it is complete by the end of May, we will more than likely bring home our little blessing between Feb and March of 09 give or take.
I was told by our adoption consultant (AC) that they will place a healthy baby with us. They do an intensive screening on the potential birth mothers. For those of you who have done this before, this agency does about 300 placements a year. (Some of the other agencies we looked at only did anywhere from 27 to 130 placements a year). The AC says they get about 30-40 calls from potential birth mothers every day. There is also a very good chance that our new little blessing will not be born in the state of TN. We could be matched with a birthmother pretty much anywhere in the country. We were asked if we preferred a boy or a girl. Our response was as long as the baby is healthy we dont have a preference.
The most scary part is the cost. It is not what we thought it would be. When all is said and done we are looking at 30-40 thousand dollars. Yes, you read correctly 30-40 grand!!! So, for those of you who are prayer warriors, please pray that the Lord would drop this money in our laps, like manna from Heaven. Our God is a very big God and this is a drop in the bucket for him. I am struggling with how we are going to do this. We have no choice but to look to and trust the Lord to handle the financial side of things. Sean and I are making changes in our lifestyle. There are things that we love to do that we will have to sacrifice for the time being. We are cutting back almost quitting eating out. If you invite us to go out to eat, we may so no. Please know that we are not being stuck up, but we are trying to be good stewards of what we have and saving to bring home our little blessing. I get an adoption credit through work. We will also be applying for every grant that we can find. For those of you who have been down this road we would love to hear from you on how you financed your adoption(s). If at all possible we would like to avoid having to take out a loan. We realize that this is putting a great deal of faith in the Lord, but we know He is the ultimate provider.
There are some things that Sean and I are trying to take care of and work on now...
1) Trying to save as much as possible every month
2) Cutting back on eating out and shopping
3) Working on getting the scrapbook done (if any of you are blessed in this area I would love some help!)
4) Trying to get the house ready for a home visit. (Getting what would be the baby's room cleaned out, baby proofing our house. If any of you know where we can get a screen for the front of our fireplace for cheap, please let us know)
5) We are praying like we have never prayed before. We pray for the birthmother and our unborn baby. We pray that the Lord would provide the finances to cover all of the costs. We pray that we would be the parents that we need to be. We also pray that the Lord would allow us to see our little blessing grow up to accept Him as Savior.
I wish I knew what else we needed to do at this point, but like I said in the last post it is hurry up and wait. If there is anything that you would like to know that I havent answered in this post please feel free to ask. I love hearing the adoption stories that many of you are sharing. Please feel free to continue to share! I have had many people ask if they can give our blog address to other people and our answer is a resounding YES!!! We would like as many people to see our blog as possible. I have read comments from total strangers and I love it!!! I have also had many of you give my email to others and they have emailed me their adoption stories. Please keep them coming. Above all I ask you to please pray for Sean and I. This a huge lifechanging thing we are doing. We believe that the Lord has led us on this journey. We pray that we would continue to seek HIM in all that we do and that HE would lead the way!!!
I hope ya'll have a wonderful and blessed weekend!
I was told by our adoption consultant (AC) that they will place a healthy baby with us. They do an intensive screening on the potential birth mothers. For those of you who have done this before, this agency does about 300 placements a year. (Some of the other agencies we looked at only did anywhere from 27 to 130 placements a year). The AC says they get about 30-40 calls from potential birth mothers every day. There is also a very good chance that our new little blessing will not be born in the state of TN. We could be matched with a birthmother pretty much anywhere in the country. We were asked if we preferred a boy or a girl. Our response was as long as the baby is healthy we dont have a preference.
The most scary part is the cost. It is not what we thought it would be. When all is said and done we are looking at 30-40 thousand dollars. Yes, you read correctly 30-40 grand!!! So, for those of you who are prayer warriors, please pray that the Lord would drop this money in our laps, like manna from Heaven. Our God is a very big God and this is a drop in the bucket for him. I am struggling with how we are going to do this. We have no choice but to look to and trust the Lord to handle the financial side of things. Sean and I are making changes in our lifestyle. There are things that we love to do that we will have to sacrifice for the time being. We are cutting back almost quitting eating out. If you invite us to go out to eat, we may so no. Please know that we are not being stuck up, but we are trying to be good stewards of what we have and saving to bring home our little blessing. I get an adoption credit through work. We will also be applying for every grant that we can find. For those of you who have been down this road we would love to hear from you on how you financed your adoption(s). If at all possible we would like to avoid having to take out a loan. We realize that this is putting a great deal of faith in the Lord, but we know He is the ultimate provider.
There are some things that Sean and I are trying to take care of and work on now...
1) Trying to save as much as possible every month
2) Cutting back on eating out and shopping
3) Working on getting the scrapbook done (if any of you are blessed in this area I would love some help!)
4) Trying to get the house ready for a home visit. (Getting what would be the baby's room cleaned out, baby proofing our house. If any of you know where we can get a screen for the front of our fireplace for cheap, please let us know)
5) We are praying like we have never prayed before. We pray for the birthmother and our unborn baby. We pray that the Lord would provide the finances to cover all of the costs. We pray that we would be the parents that we need to be. We also pray that the Lord would allow us to see our little blessing grow up to accept Him as Savior.
I wish I knew what else we needed to do at this point, but like I said in the last post it is hurry up and wait. If there is anything that you would like to know that I havent answered in this post please feel free to ask. I love hearing the adoption stories that many of you are sharing. Please feel free to continue to share! I have had many people ask if they can give our blog address to other people and our answer is a resounding YES!!! We would like as many people to see our blog as possible. I have read comments from total strangers and I love it!!! I have also had many of you give my email to others and they have emailed me their adoption stories. Please keep them coming. Above all I ask you to please pray for Sean and I. This a huge lifechanging thing we are doing. We believe that the Lord has led us on this journey. We pray that we would continue to seek HIM in all that we do and that HE would lead the way!!!
I hope ya'll have a wonderful and blessed weekend!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Hurry up and wait!
First I want to say congratulations to Joe and Andrea on the birth of their son William Cutler born Jan 29th at 7:51pm. He was 21 inches and weighed 7lbs and 10 oz. He was also welcomed by big sister Ella. I pray blessings on your new family!
OK, here I am 3 weeks after Sean and I officially decided to start our whole process. We still dont have the money we need and we still dont officially have an agency picked out. We are seriously considering going through Adoption Law Network Center. Everything we have read and heard about them is great! We are getting paperwork together and even have a folder to put it all in!
Mom and I went to Hobby Lobby last weekend and bought our scrapbook, the paper and some other things that I think I may need. I did call my sister, the scrap-booking queen, to ask questions. I have been going through pictures and trying to decide what to put in the book. (It was fun taking a trip down memory lane). Sean and I have many facets that make up our lives. We want the book to show all of the facets, making sure our personalities shine through. So far, we have some pages picked out. There will be a performing arts page for both of us. There will be a friend page for both of us as well as one that shows us with mutual friends. Sean will have a work page. I cant b/c of what I do. I will also put in pictures of our engagement, wedding, honeymoon and anniversaries. These are the pages we know we want for sure, but beyond that we dont know.
In choir we have been singing 2 songs that really have spoken to my heart. I was embarressed 2 weeks ago in choir b/c I started crying. It was like I could hear God asking me, "Do you really believe what you are singing?" I had to be honest and answer no. The song is "My life is in your hands." The phrase "With Jesus I can make it, with Him I know I can stand, no matter what may come my way, my life is in your hands" really got to me. There is so much more to this song than just that line, but it was the one the stuck out to me. Do I really believe that with Jesus I can stand and walk through this whole process? Do I really believe that I my life is in His hands? Do I believe that He will work all of this out for Sean and I? The second song is "My God is a Mountain Mover." Do I believe that my God can move mountains? (I feel like I am asking Him to move Mt. Everest for us). Do I believe that He would for Sean and I?
In my heart of hearts I know that God can do whatever HE wants! I know that He will give us the child we need and expand our family as HE sees fit. The problem comes in that in my heart I know these things to be true, but my head doesnt always think that way. I am a very black and white person, with very few shades of gray. My head looks at where things stand with this whole process and doesnt see how this will all work. I have trouble making my heart knowledge head knowledge, by moving it up 8 inches. (If any of you know my salvation experience, you know that I had to make head knowledge heart knowledge). As a believer we sometimes have to move information up instead of down.
So, here we are at the end of Jan and I am feeling very impatient. I am so frustrated that things have not worked themselves out NOW! I want to be a mother like yesterday. I want to make Sean a father! I want to give our parents grandchildren. I want my sister to finally have a niece and/or nephew from me. I want to be able to tell Hannah and Logan (my neice and nephew) that they have a new cousin(s). I want to be able to talk with friends about raising children and really understand where they are coming from. I know in a way this sounds very selfish and very much I,I,I... but I am inpatient. I WANT a child (actually several) to love and raise.
So, we are raising our money. We are cutting back on eating out. I am cutting back and pretty much cutting out on shopping. Sean is cutting back on Starbucks. Sean is trying to take extra gigs. We have our references picked out. I am getting the letter that I need from work. We are taking baby steps. Yes, they are steps in the right direction. I am at the point, where I am ready to RUN, not take baby steps, not even walk at a brisk pace, but RUN full speed ahead so that we can hold our little blessing.
Sean and I are praying for the birthmother. We dont even know if she is pregnant yet. If she is, she may just be finding out. I read on an adoption board (one lady talking to another one) that our baby may not be ready for us yet, or we may not be ready for our baby just yet. I pray that when all is said and done, that we have our child, the one the Lord intended for us to love and raise!
I guess I throw all of this out there to ask that you continue to pray for Sean and I. Please pray for the birthmother and our baby. Pray that the Lord will open the doors that need to be open. Pray that in all of this Sean and I are able to keep our focus on HIM. Pray that when everything falls into place, that we will give the Lord all of the glory and remember He chose to give us that blessing.
I hope ya'll have a wonderful and blessed weekend!
OK, here I am 3 weeks after Sean and I officially decided to start our whole process. We still dont have the money we need and we still dont officially have an agency picked out. We are seriously considering going through Adoption Law Network Center. Everything we have read and heard about them is great! We are getting paperwork together and even have a folder to put it all in!
Mom and I went to Hobby Lobby last weekend and bought our scrapbook, the paper and some other things that I think I may need. I did call my sister, the scrap-booking queen, to ask questions. I have been going through pictures and trying to decide what to put in the book. (It was fun taking a trip down memory lane). Sean and I have many facets that make up our lives. We want the book to show all of the facets, making sure our personalities shine through. So far, we have some pages picked out. There will be a performing arts page for both of us. There will be a friend page for both of us as well as one that shows us with mutual friends. Sean will have a work page. I cant b/c of what I do. I will also put in pictures of our engagement, wedding, honeymoon and anniversaries. These are the pages we know we want for sure, but beyond that we dont know.
In choir we have been singing 2 songs that really have spoken to my heart. I was embarressed 2 weeks ago in choir b/c I started crying. It was like I could hear God asking me, "Do you really believe what you are singing?" I had to be honest and answer no. The song is "My life is in your hands." The phrase "With Jesus I can make it, with Him I know I can stand, no matter what may come my way, my life is in your hands" really got to me. There is so much more to this song than just that line, but it was the one the stuck out to me. Do I really believe that with Jesus I can stand and walk through this whole process? Do I really believe that I my life is in His hands? Do I believe that He will work all of this out for Sean and I? The second song is "My God is a Mountain Mover." Do I believe that my God can move mountains? (I feel like I am asking Him to move Mt. Everest for us). Do I believe that He would for Sean and I?
In my heart of hearts I know that God can do whatever HE wants! I know that He will give us the child we need and expand our family as HE sees fit. The problem comes in that in my heart I know these things to be true, but my head doesnt always think that way. I am a very black and white person, with very few shades of gray. My head looks at where things stand with this whole process and doesnt see how this will all work. I have trouble making my heart knowledge head knowledge, by moving it up 8 inches. (If any of you know my salvation experience, you know that I had to make head knowledge heart knowledge). As a believer we sometimes have to move information up instead of down.
So, here we are at the end of Jan and I am feeling very impatient. I am so frustrated that things have not worked themselves out NOW! I want to be a mother like yesterday. I want to make Sean a father! I want to give our parents grandchildren. I want my sister to finally have a niece and/or nephew from me. I want to be able to tell Hannah and Logan (my neice and nephew) that they have a new cousin(s). I want to be able to talk with friends about raising children and really understand where they are coming from. I know in a way this sounds very selfish and very much I,I,I... but I am inpatient. I WANT a child (actually several) to love and raise.
So, we are raising our money. We are cutting back on eating out. I am cutting back and pretty much cutting out on shopping. Sean is cutting back on Starbucks. Sean is trying to take extra gigs. We have our references picked out. I am getting the letter that I need from work. We are taking baby steps. Yes, they are steps in the right direction. I am at the point, where I am ready to RUN, not take baby steps, not even walk at a brisk pace, but RUN full speed ahead so that we can hold our little blessing.
Sean and I are praying for the birthmother. We dont even know if she is pregnant yet. If she is, she may just be finding out. I read on an adoption board (one lady talking to another one) that our baby may not be ready for us yet, or we may not be ready for our baby just yet. I pray that when all is said and done, that we have our child, the one the Lord intended for us to love and raise!
I guess I throw all of this out there to ask that you continue to pray for Sean and I. Please pray for the birthmother and our baby. Pray that the Lord will open the doors that need to be open. Pray that in all of this Sean and I are able to keep our focus on HIM. Pray that when everything falls into place, that we will give the Lord all of the glory and remember He chose to give us that blessing.
I hope ya'll have a wonderful and blessed weekend!
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