Will You Say Yes?

BUSY!! There is no other word to describe my life right now!! With normal every day things with the boys, starting school, celebrating Ethiopian Christmas this past weekend (that gets a post of it's own because WOW what an amazing day it was spent with TONS of sweet friends and their kiddos who have all come home from Ethiopia over the last year) as well as something super special and awesome that the Lord has been orchestrating and yes that is all I can say about it right now but trust me in the coming weeks I will be sharing some big news!! (No, I haven't met my Godly husband, yet lol)

Anyway, I thought now would be the perfect time to share another guest post with you guys while I still work to find my sanity with all my school stuff this week. This post if from my friend Lindsy from http://wordfromthewallaces.blogspot.com After reading her guest post you MUST go and check out her blog and their recent awesome news that is adding another bit of awesomeness to the beautiful story God is writing in their family. Enjoy!!


I'm not a fan of adoption timelines. (You'll see why below.) But there's no easier way to share our story and journey than to lay it out timeline style so, here goes:

September 2005 – We decided to adopt during pre-marital counseling.

October 2005– We got married:-)

June 2007 –Began researching placement agencies and decided to adopt from Ethiopia. I read every adoption book ever written.

August 2007 – We found out we were pregnant with our son. We put our adoption plans put on hold.

June 2008 –Moses is born!

October 2008– I attended an adoption seminar (The first of many!) and we decided on a placement agency.

March 2009 –Officially applied to adopt from Ethiopia.

July 2009 –Home study #1 complete.

August 2009 –Dossier #1 complete.

August 2009 –We found out we were pregnant with our daughter! We put our adoption plans on hold.

April 2010 –Meadow is born! Adoption journey begins again.

July 2010 –Home study updated.

July 2010 –Dossier #2 complete.

July 2010 –William is diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. Adoption plans put on hold.

Second half of 2010 – Blur of surgeries and cancer treatments.

February 20, 2011 - My step-mom is diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer.

March 10, 2011 - My step-mom passed away.

March 22, 2011 –William is given a clean bill of health!

April 2011 –Meadow is diagnosed with calcifications on her basil ganglia (brain). We are unable to proceed with our home study update (required because of William's cancer) until a “diagnosis” is given by the pediatric neurologist.

August 2011 –Meadow is given a clean bill of health - aka God healed her and the brain calcification's were gone! Home study update #2 completed.

September 2011 – Dossier #3 mailed to Ethiopia.

October 19, 2011– Ethiopia denies our case. (cancer)

October 26, 2011– Switch to the Democratic Republic of Congo pilot adoption program.

November 2011 – Home study update #3 completed. Dossier #4 mailed to the DRC. Officially waiting for a referral for the first time in 2 ½ years!

November 18, 2011 – Matched with a 3 ½ year old little boy!

February 10, 2011 – We learn the little boy we have been matched with was claimed by his uncle and sister. One less orphan! We are back on the referral list.

March 26th, 2012 - We took in two boys through the Safe Families for Children program.

May 7, 2012 - Referral Day: Take Two
May 31, 2012 - A request has been made for the Consent to Adopt our little guy in the DRC! The first of many steps in the DRC court process.
June 7, 2012 - Our two boys transition back to their mother.
September 6, 2012 - Our two boys come back to us under very difficult circumstances.
October 9, 2012 - Our two boys officially become our foster kids!
October 30, 2012 - End of first 30 day waiting period in the DRC court process. Getting close to filing for court!
December 7, 2012 - We learned our little boy is not ours. He was returned to his family and for that we are grateful.


I share our story a lot. God spoke to us a couple years ago about the importance of sharing our story. Not because we are awesome - because He is writing it for us. Because we are simply the pen in His hand. So we share. In person, over the phone, on our blog and through speaking engagements. More than once, after sharing our story I've gotten the comment "Well, at least we know what worse case scenario looks like."


But I don't see our story that way.


Our desire has been to simply say "Yes" to what God puts in front of us. In the world of adoption, more often it is saying "Yes" to who he puts in front of us.


So we said "Yes" to adoption as an engaged couple when we were CLUE. LESS.
We said "Yes" to adoption when we were newly married and broke.
We said "Yes" to adoption when our world had been turned upside down by cancer.
We said "Yes" to adoption when we were deemed unfit to parent a child from Ethiopia.
We said "Yes" to adoption when we were scared of corruption.
We said "Yes" to two little boys in need of a home and a family because we had both.
We said "Yes" to foster care when we didn't really want to be a part of that broken system.
We said "Yes" to His will when our little Moise went back to his home in his village in his country.


Saying "Yes" is simple. And it's not. (Does that timeline above strike you as simple?!)


We've said "Yes" as best we could but it's never ended the way we expected. When you give your life away and realize you are simply a pen in the Writers hand, His story becomes your story and that story becomes far greater than anything you could have written. Not easier. Not safer. Not more fun. FAR. GREATER.


While we eagerly wait for the return of our Savior, we do our best to say "Yes" to the things and the people He puts in front of us now.


I'm guessing there is something in your life, dear reader, He has placed in front of you. Let me encourage you to allow Him to write your story. You are simply a pen in the Writers hand.


Will you say "Yes"?

My 2012 Top 10

Yes I know I should have posted this yesterday like everyone else, lol but the big party animal I am I didn't even make it to the ball drop, lol I enjoyed a dinner out with my family and then came home tucked my boys in bed and hit the hay pretty early :-)

 

I did want to document about our year though, so better late then never right?

 

For those of you who don't know me personally or haven't been reading my blog that long, you won't know that this time last year I was actually in Ethiopia. I actually rang in the new year with my best friend Lesli while flying over the Atlantic Ocean :-) Here were were preparing to leave DC for Ethiopia on December 31, 2011

 

 

One of the best moments of my life! Finally holding my little boy whose picture I had been looking at and praying over for 2 months!! January 1, 2012 was the day I met Isaiah for the first time!

 

Of course I have to give a shout out to my Kentucky Wildcats for winning the national championship!! My boys and I definitely bleed blue :-)

 

During the LONG 15 week wait to go back to Ethiopia my sweet Noah turned 7!!! Seriously, where does the time go?!?! This precious boy made me a mommy for the first time, my little miracle from God!! I am so thankful for him!!

 

After an 18 month journey full of excitement, stress, fear, bumps, joy, Grace and the Lord's Provision on April 21, 2012 Isaiah and I walked through the gates of the airport and were greeted by Noah running up to us before we could even get through the gate, lol

 The sweetest picture of my two boys, finally together!! Poor Isaiah he was exhausted, lol

 

Getting ready for his baby dedication at church. What an amazing feeling it was to be able to stand before my church and the Lord and dedicate my sweet boy to Him and commit to raising both he and his brother in the Lord's way.

 

My first Mother's Day with BOTH of my boys!!

 

It had been my prayer that Isaiah would be home to celebrate his first birthday! The Lord answered that prayer and we had so much fun celebrating with family and friends!!

 

After a crazy adoption journey and two trips to Ethiopia, it was great to get away for the day with my big boy for a day of fun at Holiday World! We had so much fun and made lots of great memories!! That was also the first day Isaiah stayed with a friend of mine for the day and he did great :-)

 

My church's newspaper contacted me and wanted to do a story about myself, my boys and my adoption journey. What a humbling experience that was. I was excited to share with others the amazing ways the Lord provided for my adoption. This is one of the pictures they took for the article. 

 

My mom, sister and I were blessed to be able to go to the opening night of The Story Tour. The first show was at our church and it was AMAZING!! If you ever get the opportunity to go, do it!!

 

After being sick for a year and being diagnosed with a condition that would have caused me lifelong problems, the Lord completely healed me!! I am still in awww and so thankful for the many people who prayed for me during that time!!

 

2012 came with it's fair share of ups and downs, but through it all the Lord was faithful. I am excited to see what He has in store for 2013 (praying it includes a husband, lol) I pray that each of you have a year full of God's blessings and that most importantly you know Him and have a personal relationship with Him!! He loves you so much and is waiting for you :-)

A Child Has Been Born

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!! May the HOPE of Christ fill your home as we celebrate the Birth of our King!!

I'm Going Back!!

 

Oh beautiful Ethiopia how I miss you! The colors, the smell, the people, the joy and peace you feel being there and so much more. I miss it all. The saying is true "I need Africa more then Africa needs me" I do!! I would be lying if I said I don't hope to go back, because I do!! I want to take Noah to see where his brother came from, I want to go and love on the people, share the love of Jesus with those who don't know Him and yes, I want so badly to adopt more children from the country that will forever hold a big piece of my heart.

 

I thought once I came home with Isaiah my heart would stop aching, but it only aches more. It aches for the faces I can't get out of my head, the precious souls who need Jesus so desperately, the children who wonder the streets begging, not knowing where their next meal will come from. My heart aches for the mothers who sadly will continue to have to make the hard decision to place their children for adoption because they know they just can not take care of them, for those who are dying of HIV simply because they are unable to get the medical care that is afforded in the states and for the children who will watch their family die off one by one as a result of poverty and sickness, only to end up alone with no one to love them and protect them. It's been almost 8 months since I stood in beautiful Ethiopia and I miss it more every day.

 

Over the last 11 months I have traveled to Ethiopia twice, battled a sickness that has kept me weak and in and out of the hospital, come face to face with the reality that those who I thought were dear friends, were merely just putting on a good act, only to show their true colors once Isaiah came home and I lost my job right before the holidays, BUT I was also completely healed by the Lord of my sickness and the Lord has taught me so much about what it means to truly rely on Him for my daily needs. To keep my focus on Him and not things of the world, including people. I am blessed that the Lord chose to place people in my life this year who have encouraged, supported, prayed and loved me and my boys through a time of transition, change and at times uncertainty. I couldn't ask for sweeter friends, even if the majority of them do live out of state, Ha!!

 

One thing that has come from this year's experiences is my desire to work with missions. I have always had a heart for missions, and that love grew during my time in Ethiopia. The Lord broke my heart for what breaks His and continues to do so everyday. After I lost my job, I began praying about where the Lord was leading me. I wasn't happy at my job for different reasons, and a couple of months ago I had actually applied for a job at my church working full time with the missions department. I felt the Lord pulling me towards missions but I wasn't sure how that would look? I continued to wait and pray and then my job loss came and I knew I just needed to be still and wait on Him. I found out I wasn't chosen for the missions job and over the last few weeks I have applied for different jobs, interviewed for them but haven't had any job offers? Yet, I have continued to pray, being open to what/where it is the Lord is leading me. Trust me when I say I wasn't expecting what His plans were for this next chapter :-)

 

 

Yep, that's right "I'm going back" to nursing school!! I found out yesterday I got accepted into the online LPN to RN bridge program that starts in just three short weeks!! The Lord continues to amaze me at how He provides, especially during times like this where I could not even imagine going back to school while being unemployed!! The Body of Christ has literally brought me to tears and left me speechless this past month as people have prayed, sent encouraging messages/cards and even blessed me with financial gifts. It has been very humbling to say the least.

 

Let me explain how I came to the decision that now was the time to go back and why? Over the last few months my mom and sister have been asking me when I was planning on going back to school, as having my RN will open more doors as far as jobs and working with medical missions!! My response was always the same "I can't go to school full time, work full time and be a full time single mom" Now of course there are those who will say "yes you can, if you really want to" and to that I say "you're right I could physically do those things at the same time", but I choose to be a mother first and going to school and working full time would hinder my ability to do that, which to me is not an option! So the idea of going back to school never really entered my mind. Around the same time these conversations were going on I was also praying that the Lord would allow me the opportunity to be home with my kids more then I was. Call me selfish, but if I had my way about it I would be a stay at home mom in a heart beat, but last time I checked you don't get paid to do that, lol so that wasn't an option. I was however praying that somehow I could be home with my kids more.

 

When news came that I was losing my job, I didn't get too upset, because I knew the Lord was in control and His plans were greater then mine. As I applied for jobs and interviewed, I also began to apply for nursing school and get necessary documents in order for that, and stayed in prayer that the Lord would make it clear the direction He would have me to go. I never heard anything from the jobs I applied for but I was getting positive feedback from the college regarding the application process. Then yesterday I received the phone call telling me I had in fact been accepted into the program. The best part is the peace I feel about things, knowing the Lord is leading me on this journey.

 

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

 

This is a verse that a sweet friend sent me in a encouraging Facebook message she sent me a few weeks ago. Little did she know the Lord would use that scripture to speak to my heart regarding the step of faith it would take for me to go back to school. I'm once again so thankful for the Lord's provision and the body of believers He has surrounded me with.

 

SO, why now? Well, for a few reasons. The first being obvious, lol and that is the Lord says so :-) but also with my heart for missions, I am hoping that by getting my RN it will allow me different opportunities to work with medical missions however the Lord sees fit, and I am also wanting to adopt again in the near future and if the Lord sees fit to not bless me with a husband (still praying he does, will you join me) I want to be financially able to adopt at least 1 more child if not two!! Noah informed me the other night I need to adopt a brother his age and a little sister :-) My heart for Ethiopia is also a reason I wanted to go back to school. I know my involvement with that beautiful country is not done and I want to be prepared for when the Lord calls me back there!!

 

My decision to go back of course came with LOTS of praying, thinking and budgeting!! I basically will be living off my tax return next year and praying the Lord provides for our needs as I venture back into school full time. The program itself is 18 months long but I am hoping to finish it in 15 months. I should find out in a couple of weeks if that will be an option. As scary as this new journey is, I know this is the best thing for myself and my boys and that the Lord is leading the way. I of course would covet your prayers for this next chapter in my life. When I found out how long it would take, I couldn't help but think of how all the big things in my life always come in 18 month time frames. Hmmm, wonder if that means anything, lol

 

Thank you in advance for your prayers for my schooling and for this new transition my boys and I are getting ready to go through. Noah is of course super excited to have Mommy home everyday! I love how the Lord answers our prayers. With doing the online program, I will be able to schedule 85-90% of my schooling for when my boys are in bed, leaving me time everyday to be more involved with Noah's homeschooling and spend more quality time with each of my sweet boys!! A big answered prayer!! I will also be able to participate in my church's bible study in February that is offered during the week in the morning. When I signed up for it, I signed up believing the Lord would work out the details to allow me to participate in the study, as it is one that I really wanted to do and I didn't know what my work schedule would look like. God is so good!!

 

As I begin this new chapter of my life I can't help but pray that the Lord continues to break me and mold me, never letting me forget what I saw and experienced. I will never be the same and a part of my heart will always be in Ethiopia!! It is my hope and prayer to always have my hands and feet there in some way, however the Lord sees fit.

 

"Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand" Isaiah 64:8

 

 

This is the start of your sweet little story. The part where your pages meet mine, no matter where your tale takes you tomorrow, our story will always read LOVE