When we first began praying about adopting again...when we found our little boy with the big brown eyes and could not forget him - I heard this song over and over again. The lyrics are amazing!
Here they are:
You hear me when I call
You are my morning song
Though darkness fills the night
It can not hide the Light
Whom Shall I Fear
You Crush the enemy
Underneath my feet
You are my Sword and Shield
Though troubles linger still
Whom Shall I Fear
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of Angel Armies
Is always by my side
The one who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of Angel Armies
Is always by my side
My strength is in Your Name
For You alone can save
You will deliver me
Yours is the victory
Whom shall I fear
Whom Shall I Fear
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of Angel Armies
Is always by my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of Angel Armies
Is always by my side
And nothing formed against me shall stand
You hold the whole world in your hand
I'm holding on to your promises
You are faithful
You ar Faithful
And nothing formed against me shall stand
You hold the whole world in Your hand
I am holding on to Your promises
You are faithful
You are Faithful
You are Faithful
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of Angel Armies
Is always by my side (x2)
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of Angel Armies
Is always by my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of Angel Armies
Is always by my side
The God of Angel Armies
Is always by my side
They're by Chris Tomlin -
I love the "God Defender" picture coupled with the assurance that He is my Friend. He is so big and yet willing to meet me...be my Friend.
There's this one and another song that I can't remember right now that continue to reassure me of God's promise of safety...He didn't promise I would be comfortable...but I will be safe. He didn't promise me it would be easy...but He will be there. He didn't promise me that I could see a purpose in the moment, but that everything He plans is for my good.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
April
I'm finding that to narrow your thoughts to fit in a blog is difficult. You have no idea how lucky you are as I have typed this entry many times...and you would have had to wade through SO much extraneous information...
Here's a condensed glimpse...
Our April is always busy! Isaiah and Eva share the very same birthday - it's so neat! Our oldest and youngest both born on the same day - 6 years apart.
Very different circumstances - Isaiah's being born meant struggle - the angels of Heaven were sent to surround him in a unique way as he fought to breathe, never ate independently until 12 months, was poked and prodded and labeled, hospitalized repeatedly and given up on by all human standards. His smile is a miracle - his life is blessed.
Eva -- no less blessed - she came into this world knowing that she was wanted...I was there and she was more than a little upset about the whole process - she held onto my finger so tightly, nearly causing it to lose feeling. She had a "princess" mentality even then. Her coming into our family was anticipated by all -- celebrated - rejoiced over immediately.
When you think of children who will be born tonight...pray for the ones who are not wanted. Pray that they will experience, as we believe Isaiah experienced, a complete peace that is God-given. Jesus cries with these babies, He hurts for them, He loves them and He holds them close so that they are not alone. In their brokenness, they were created for a purpose.
I always end up thinking along these lines in April - Isaiah loves sharing his birthday, by the way - that's one of the questions we are often asked. And they do SHARE it...in every way. Some have wondered if we have separate parties for them. No, if God had intended us to do that, He would have had them born on different days. I'm sure there's a neat reason behind this connection. For Annie, April is a lesson in patience -- and us constantly reassuring her that even though it isn't her birthday she is not forgotten.
In addition to all the birthday preparation, we were preparing for our home study. That meant lots of cleaning and organizing. Our home study visit went well. If you're unfamiliar with the process, a home study is mostly characteriozed by transparency. Eric and I both answered 56 autobiographical questions such as: how do we resolve conflict, our discipline approach, our financial situation, our friends, family, histories...the Social Worker knows many things about us!
Tonight, Eric is finalizing a list of what needs to be completed for our dossier. The sooner we get it in the better. Our son is waiting on us. That thought alone propels us into action. We have a little boy waiting on his family to come and get him and take him home.
We are looking at August-September as our possible travel months if things keep going as smoothly as they are so far. That's exciting! I keep imagining this time next year and another little boy running around - such nice thoughts.
Here are some specific ways you can pray for us:
For our little boy waiting....pray that God will surround Him with safety. I have known some real moments of anxiety over his safety. We don't know if he's been moved to the adult mental institution but that would be a bad thing when you're 5. The typical moving age from the baby house is 4...we pray he has been overlooked thus far. Also for him, pray that God is preparing his heart to receive us. When you're an orphan with no hope for the future, it's hard to all of a sudden accept that change into your life gracefully. No matter how bad your "normal" is - some children cling to it as it is known.
For us, our family has experienced spiritual attacks since we began this process - do you know what Satan hates even more than us raising our biological children to know and love God? It's bringing orphans into the mix....if you think about it, Satan has got orphans right where he wants them, desparate and without hope, unwanted and broken. When Christian families seek to change that, he fights. We are praying for God's powerful protection on our family.
On a sweet ending note, I got a message from a friend of mine that her daughter is selling strawberry plants to raise money for our adoption. Isn't that neat? Thank you, Ella!
Here's a condensed glimpse...
Our April is always busy! Isaiah and Eva share the very same birthday - it's so neat! Our oldest and youngest both born on the same day - 6 years apart.
Very different circumstances - Isaiah's being born meant struggle - the angels of Heaven were sent to surround him in a unique way as he fought to breathe, never ate independently until 12 months, was poked and prodded and labeled, hospitalized repeatedly and given up on by all human standards. His smile is a miracle - his life is blessed.
Eva -- no less blessed - she came into this world knowing that she was wanted...I was there and she was more than a little upset about the whole process - she held onto my finger so tightly, nearly causing it to lose feeling. She had a "princess" mentality even then. Her coming into our family was anticipated by all -- celebrated - rejoiced over immediately.
When you think of children who will be born tonight...pray for the ones who are not wanted. Pray that they will experience, as we believe Isaiah experienced, a complete peace that is God-given. Jesus cries with these babies, He hurts for them, He loves them and He holds them close so that they are not alone. In their brokenness, they were created for a purpose.
I always end up thinking along these lines in April - Isaiah loves sharing his birthday, by the way - that's one of the questions we are often asked. And they do SHARE it...in every way. Some have wondered if we have separate parties for them. No, if God had intended us to do that, He would have had them born on different days. I'm sure there's a neat reason behind this connection. For Annie, April is a lesson in patience -- and us constantly reassuring her that even though it isn't her birthday she is not forgotten.
In addition to all the birthday preparation, we were preparing for our home study. That meant lots of cleaning and organizing. Our home study visit went well. If you're unfamiliar with the process, a home study is mostly characteriozed by transparency. Eric and I both answered 56 autobiographical questions such as: how do we resolve conflict, our discipline approach, our financial situation, our friends, family, histories...the Social Worker knows many things about us!
Tonight, Eric is finalizing a list of what needs to be completed for our dossier. The sooner we get it in the better. Our son is waiting on us. That thought alone propels us into action. We have a little boy waiting on his family to come and get him and take him home.
We are looking at August-September as our possible travel months if things keep going as smoothly as they are so far. That's exciting! I keep imagining this time next year and another little boy running around - such nice thoughts.
Here are some specific ways you can pray for us:
For our little boy waiting....pray that God will surround Him with safety. I have known some real moments of anxiety over his safety. We don't know if he's been moved to the adult mental institution but that would be a bad thing when you're 5. The typical moving age from the baby house is 4...we pray he has been overlooked thus far. Also for him, pray that God is preparing his heart to receive us. When you're an orphan with no hope for the future, it's hard to all of a sudden accept that change into your life gracefully. No matter how bad your "normal" is - some children cling to it as it is known.
For us, our family has experienced spiritual attacks since we began this process - do you know what Satan hates even more than us raising our biological children to know and love God? It's bringing orphans into the mix....if you think about it, Satan has got orphans right where he wants them, desparate and without hope, unwanted and broken. When Christian families seek to change that, he fights. We are praying for God's powerful protection on our family.
On a sweet ending note, I got a message from a friend of mine that her daughter is selling strawberry plants to raise money for our adoption. Isn't that neat? Thank you, Ella!
Saturday, April 6, 2013
The first entry
Here is my first ever blog post. Since we have decided to adopt again, there may be some people reading this who don't know us very well...it's likely that you may be reading this thinking you know me too well...bear with the introduction. Eric and I have been married for going on 9 years...I had to think about that for a minute...we have experienced many things in those short years and sometimes it seems like it must be longer... I don't say that in any way but positively...I married my best friend...these experiences we've had we're/are God-planned...I'm just glad He gave me someone like Eric to journey through them with...that may be the one of the most grammatically incorrect sentences ever. Oh well.
So, we have adopted twice--our older children -Isaiah and Annie- began their lives in foster care....their stories, they are their own...they are amazing...they are living testimonies of God's individual care of children-living examples that Father God will go to great lengths to rescue just one little lamb. They are just 7 months apart and act like twins. We homeschool them and love that. It works well for our family. We began he adoption process without much knowledge; just an understanding that first Isaiah and then Annie needed our family- that they were designed to be ours. Since then, we have learned much about attachment, attachment disorders and all the other things that come along with adoption. Isaiah came into or home when e was 15 months old and Annie came a year after when she was 2.
Our little baby Eva was born to us nearly 2 years ago. She and Isaiah share the very same birthday- exactly 6 years apart. Many people have asked us if we adopted because we didn't think we could have children biologically. Nope, that was not our reason. For us, we simply saw children in need. Baby Eva...she very much enjoys her role as the "baby" in our home. She's beautiful and strong-willed. Like the other two, she fits well into our family and we don't know what we'd do without her.
She makes the most amazing cat sound and loves to tell you about cows. She will be 2 on Thursday so aha getting some extra practice in asserting her own ideas...just so she's ready for her birthday.
So, we are adopting again. This time from a far away land. We saw this little boy on Reece's rainbows and couldn't stop thinking about him. It's amazing how quickly you can feel the beginnings of attachment to a child you have never met. I have his country on my phone so I can check the weather, I know what time it is for him there. I worry about him and wonder about what he is doing to fill his time; is he warm?; well fed?; healthy? I'm afraid that the answer to most of those questions is not favorable and so I want him to be here. I picture what our family will be like with another boy...it's a good picture.
We are looking at doing a fireworks stand this summer to raise money to help with the expenses. If you think you can help us with that would you let us know? We might need a little help.
We watched the final 4 game tonight....by "watch," I mean we DVR it, pause to get food and drink and change diapers, pause to remind the kids how to quietly play or watch the game PLEASE!!!! And then fast forward through all the commercials so we can make the most of our evening...it's hard to watch anything with three kids! Oh well, we got the idea...my alma mater lost.
Ok, I'm getting the idea of the blog...Eric designed it, didn't he do a good job? I will keep you updated on our adoption and if anything else exciting happens to us!
So, we have adopted twice--our older children -Isaiah and Annie- began their lives in foster care....their stories, they are their own...they are amazing...they are living testimonies of God's individual care of children-living examples that Father God will go to great lengths to rescue just one little lamb. They are just 7 months apart and act like twins. We homeschool them and love that. It works well for our family. We began he adoption process without much knowledge; just an understanding that first Isaiah and then Annie needed our family- that they were designed to be ours. Since then, we have learned much about attachment, attachment disorders and all the other things that come along with adoption. Isaiah came into or home when e was 15 months old and Annie came a year after when she was 2.
Our little baby Eva was born to us nearly 2 years ago. She and Isaiah share the very same birthday- exactly 6 years apart. Many people have asked us if we adopted because we didn't think we could have children biologically. Nope, that was not our reason. For us, we simply saw children in need. Baby Eva...she very much enjoys her role as the "baby" in our home. She's beautiful and strong-willed. Like the other two, she fits well into our family and we don't know what we'd do without her.
She makes the most amazing cat sound and loves to tell you about cows. She will be 2 on Thursday so aha getting some extra practice in asserting her own ideas...just so she's ready for her birthday.
So, we are adopting again. This time from a far away land. We saw this little boy on Reece's rainbows and couldn't stop thinking about him. It's amazing how quickly you can feel the beginnings of attachment to a child you have never met. I have his country on my phone so I can check the weather, I know what time it is for him there. I worry about him and wonder about what he is doing to fill his time; is he warm?; well fed?; healthy? I'm afraid that the answer to most of those questions is not favorable and so I want him to be here. I picture what our family will be like with another boy...it's a good picture.
We are looking at doing a fireworks stand this summer to raise money to help with the expenses. If you think you can help us with that would you let us know? We might need a little help.
We watched the final 4 game tonight....by "watch," I mean we DVR it, pause to get food and drink and change diapers, pause to remind the kids how to quietly play or watch the game PLEASE!!!! And then fast forward through all the commercials so we can make the most of our evening...it's hard to watch anything with three kids! Oh well, we got the idea...my alma mater lost.
Ok, I'm getting the idea of the blog...Eric designed it, didn't he do a good job? I will keep you updated on our adoption and if anything else exciting happens to us!
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