Drought

I know I've been rather silent this month. I'm sure you are all eagerly waiting at the edge of your seats to hear the announcement that we have passports. I'm sorry I don't have any news to give.

It's been extremely dry here. The tender shoots of corn have recently appeared and we were starting to worry if we didn't have rain soon, a lot of farmers would be in trouble.

So it's summertime and our kids aren't home yet. Part of the reason I haven't written is I haven't really had anything good to say. It's very difficult to go weeks on end and hear absolutely nothing about our progress. I've tracked several families that were a bit behind us in the process and they have sped ahead. Not that this is a race by any means, but the feeling of standing still is disheartening.

Stephen is done with school. He has his new assignment for next year and has a positive outlook. In our minds, the perfect time for Lydie and Samson to be home is right now. We had it all planned out in our heads. Stephen would have the whole summer off to be with the kids.

Usually by this time we hear the words, "it's all in God's timing."

Mankind has a tendency to blame God for everything that doesn't go their way. Try to tell two sets of adoptive parents who were matched with the same child that this was God's plan. I'm sorry, that's just not going to fly with me. This child was not from our orphanage. 

The world is corrupt and broken. Plain and simple. And as much as I love Haiti, the country has it's fair share of corruption just like we do. We are fighting a battle. That's why prayer is so important.  Please remember to pray for Pierre, he is on the front lines in his difficult battle.

Don't get me wrong, I know that through the battles and heartbreaks that we face God uses those to mold and shape us. He has taught us so much through this. His promise is to carry us through. Our job is to be faithful to Him, despite the hardships. And please know that I am not writing off the importance of God's timing. God has appointed specific times in scripture for specific things. But to tell an adoptive parent that "God's timing is perfect"when they have been waiting for years for their child to come home, comes off as low-budget encouragement and feels like we don't know God is able.

He is faithful. He is. And the rains will come. This has been a season of drought. But the Lord is gently leading us through.

The rain finally came this week. I took this with Stephen's iPad driving 70 MPH down the interstate. The rainbow was very faint, but it was a good reminder to me about what God promises.

"Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you or abandon you".

Soon.

Tidbits

Have I told you how amazing our friends, Ron & Lora are? Well, I'm going to say it again, they are HUGE blessings in our lives. The more time we spend with them, the more we love them. They visited their girls at Maison for the first time last week. They were so gracious to take loads of pictures and video of our kids. Last night we got together at Panera and talked about their trip. It's an amazing journey we are on. God has put these 2 families together and I just can't wait to see our lives unfold!

Here are my favorite pictures and a video I knit together late last night from their trip. Enjoy!

A little story about faith

(Matthew 13:58) And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.


(Matthew 15:28) Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is
granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.


(Matthew 17:20) He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."


(Matthew 21:21-22) Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. {22} If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."



Stephen and I were married 5 days before Christmas, 1997. He had rented an apartment almost exactly one hour each direction from both of our parent's homes. We didn't know a soul in our new town.

We enjoyed honeymooning after our wedding and came home Christmas day to celebrate with our families. After the holiday festivities were over, we came back to our new home, a small one-bedroom apartment. The first night in our new place we were so exhausted we actually fell asleep on the living room floor and couch.

Around midnight, we woke up to loud banging on our front door followed by our neighbor yelling "FIRE." We were both confused and disoriented. Finally, Stephen woke up enough to realize this was real and not a bad dream. We bolted upright and out the door and down the stairs. Yep, our apartment complex was in flames! It was so cold that night, I believe it was around -20. As we stood outside, we watched the firefighters spray water that almost instantly turned into ice. All we had was our keys. We had no identification and just the clothes on our backs. We had to make a decision. We couldn't stay there, we didn't know anybody. The best thing to do would be to drive to one of our parent's houses.

We thought about our new apartment with all of our belongings in it. Then Stephen, spoke these words. "If Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego can go into a blazing furnace and not even smell like smoke, God can do the same for us." We left that night standing on the promise that God could, and would protect our place.

We weren't allowed back in our apartment for several days. We had heard there was smoke damage throughout. Four apartments were completely destroyed. We later found out the fire sparked from the laundry room. Finally, they let us back in. We opened the door to our section of apartments and we could instantly smell smoke in the main hallway. We walked up the stairs and opened the door to our place and took a big sniff. No smoke. Not even a hint of it. We quickly shut the door so as not to let any smell in from the hallway and we began to rejoice in the fact that God protected our place. He was faithful. Our neighbors across the hall, beside us, and below us all had smoke damage. Figure that one out.

It's healthy to remember the times God did the miraculous. We have so many examples in scripture of how God moved because of the faith of his people. This adoption is a battle. There is a myriad of obstacles in this journey from bad weather, occasional impassible roads, civil unrest, to actual organizations who make it extremely difficult for adoptions to even happen, i.e. UNICEF.

We are choosing to stand in faith yet again. We have decided if anybody asks us how long, our response is and will be, "Soon!." No more excuses, no more doubting that this might not happen. They are coming home and it will be soon. Would you stand with us in faith, without doubting? Dear friends, we would love it if you would.

One of my friends has our family picture on her desk and next to it is a sand timer. It indicates that time is up. I love that. Her little son and daughter pray every day that Lydie and Samson would come home. The thought of them praying brings me to my knees.

Here is your reward for reading all of this! New pictures of our gorgeous kids. Thanks for standing in faith with us. We love you!

My sweet boy

Love

Oh, my heart.

God's gifts to us, Ron and Lora Mayland holding our babies!

Such a big girl!

I'm so happy Lydie doesn't appear to be afraid of strangers anymore

Lora showing us how big Samson's hands are

This one made my year!! Beautiful smile!

Three left!!

The response has been tremendous! I am overwhelmed by your generosity, dear friends. 

I need your help!

Lydie was really attached to this nanny when we visited in March last year.

The nannies at Maison have and will always have a special place in my heart. They love on our babies, pray over them, instruct them, wipe their tears, change their diapers, do unbelievable amounts of laundry, cook countless meals and on and on. In the days and weeks after the earthquake, they were the ones to make sure our little seven-month-old Lydie stayed alive. They have sacrificed so much to care for our children. They are true gifts in our children's lives and we are eternally grateful for them.  Here's a recent story of how one nanny touched the lives of 3 boys found living on the streets.

The truck the babies of Maison stayed in after the earthquake.
The nanny in the foreground has toothpaste under her nose
because of the stench of bodies outside the orphanage walls.

My friend, Kelly, founder of The Oak Project, has asked if we would be willing to participate in selling "Rubble-Wear" that will directly support the nannies at Maison.

Here is the story of how Rubble-Wear got started.

You could have a direct impact in helping the lives of these beautiful women of God.

Would you consider purchasing a Rubble-Wear necklace? It's a beautiful reminder of how God makes something beautiful out of the ashes.

Here's a great video that describes the relationship between Maison and The Oak Project.



Each necklace is $25. I am willing to mail anywhere in the United States. Please message me and I will be happy to send your Rubble-Wear to you! Thank you so much!

1--Sold!

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14--Sold!!

15--Sold!

Fear

It came back. That pesky hair on my shoulder that grows to an obscene length. Thankfully, it's blonde so nobody else notices it, but I swear on a breezy day I can feel that thing waving in the wind. It's not my friend. I pull it out the second I notice it.

Another foe of mine is fear. I battled fear for too many years. Unexplainable fear, panic, worry. This fear I experienced was a family trait, passed on to me from my grandmother. (Be careful parents and grandparents to what traits you are modeling in your family. It can have consequences beyond what you ever imagined--sorry grandma, I love and forgive you).

When I was a little girl I didn't like slumber parties. I was so afraid of something happening to me. I envied my younger sister who could go anywhere with anybody and be perfectly happy. I desired stability, predictability, and the familiar. We all have battles. We all struggle with things. I knew the fear I had didn't honor God. It was sin.

Then, something broke in me. God miraculously delivered me several years ago. It's something I really can't even explain, but I knew this battle was finally over. And like that pesky hair that shows up every couple months, there is a tendency to slip back into the old sin nature and let the flesh take over. Recently I've wondered how we will ever get Lydie and Samson home on the plane. Will they have a major meltdown? Will they even let us out of the country with them? Will we ever get the call to come get them? Will our family ever been reunited? Do you see where I'm going? It's a dangerous path of self-destructive thought.

But this time it's different. The questions pop in my head, but they are beat down immediately by the Spirit inside me saying "I'm in control. I will fight your battles. Just walk with me." Maybe it's you praying for me. It probably is. And I thank you for that. This is a battle. It truly is.

So far it's been a week of discouraging news. Some of our adoption friends have been dealt some serious blows. There are situations closer to home that have been extremely painful to witness and honestly, I don't know how God is going to have the victory. My heart aches. The only thing I know to do is cling to His promises.

...Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone.

Random accumulation of thoughts

It feels things are coming together, sort of.

We don't know where Stephen will be or what he will be doing next school year. The district is closing down his building. We aren't worried about job loss as he has too many years in the district, but we are praying that he will be moved to a place that's is the perfect fit for him. With our children coming home, hopefully in the near future, we want work to be as stress-free as possible. He's just finishing up a wonderful two-week spring break because he works in a year-round school. Stephen has spent many hours during the past two weeks prepping our house for their arrival.

My boss and I have had several conversations about my future. Good conversations. I'm extremely blessed to be where I am. We've recently hired someone to take my place and my role will become more of a personal assistant of sorts. It's been so hard to make any definitive plans because we don't have a timeline. When our little ones arrive, I will only go in to the office one day a week and the rest of my work will be done at home.

In the meantime, I've developed a huge fear of paper. Yeah, that's right. I've received several massive paper cuts recently. Think....filet-o-fish. I don't know if I will ever be normal again. Part of it is my fault. I never lotion my hands. They are as dry as the Sahara.  Want to scare me next halloween? Come dressed as a ream of 20-pound Georgia-Pacific.

I really enjoy watching people dance. It's kinda funny don't you think? The other day I enjoyed dance-cleaning my house. My cat took one look at me and bolted. Hurt my feelings. I really hope our children have rhythm, cause they aren't going to get it from their parents.

We do enjoy cranking the tunes in the car and "dancing" in our seats. I love David Guetta's, "I can Only Imagine." Stephen can't stand it so it's only played when he's not around. The only way to listen to that song is to turn it up so loud that it rearranges your hairdo. Trust me.

Another favorite as of late is Coldplay's "Paradise." I was already hooked on the song when Rachel introduced me to the video.

Have a good night and don't be afraid to crank up the tunes and dance a little. I won't kill ya, but it just might scare your cat!