Waiting

Dear Child,

You seem so anxious these days. You need to stop planning & wishing and look to Me. I can give you the very best. My plan is so amazing that you cannot imagine it's greatness.

I love you so much. I wish you spent as much time thinking about me during the day as I did you. I know everything about you. I know your fears & insecurities. I know your favorite ice cream. I'm happy when you're happy & I'm sad when you're sad.

And when you think no one is listening or that no one cares, please know that I do hear you. Just look & listen for the little ways I like to show you I'm here for you - they may not be obvious at first.

And when you're concerned because you don't have something that you really really want, just keep looking to Me. I've been excitedly planning something really wonderful for you and just when you least suspect it I'm going to reveal something far better than you could have dreamed. I'm personally handling all the details of your big surprise - nothing is too good for you! Let's talk again soon, my door is always open.

Love,

Dad

We're Gonna Be on TV!

WAOW TV 9 came today at 11:30 to interview our family to do a story about the adoption. The kids were very excited (and we were too). B cozied right up to Cami - in fact I think he would have gone home with her if he could have.

We are so thankful for this opportunity to share the joys & challenges of being in the process of adoption. We pray many other families will be moved to explore this option of building a family. Even though the financial barriers seem insurmountable at times, we believe it will all come together eventually for His glory.

On another note, we set up an account Friday at Pioneer Bank for our adoption funds. Thanks to Pastor Mike for his help in facilitating this! If anyone feels led to contribute to our expenses they can be sent directly to:
Pioneer Bank
Salzwedel Family Adoption Fund
1700 N Central Ave
Marshfield, WI 54449

We thank you all for your prayers & financial support - we could not move forward without them! We still need to raise about $13,000 to complete this process, but move forward in faith trusting God will supply all of our needs. Whether you've given $5 or $100 we sincerely appreciate every contribution.

Love is not something you talk about,

love is something you do...
Faith is not something you talk about,

faith is something you do...

Extravagant Grace

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Once again God has led us to another one of His children. As you may have read, my last attempt at scheduling a psychiatric evaluation did not go so well. Two separate people gave me another name to try and I just received a phone call to discuss an appointment.

Once again, God has poured His extravagant grace on us! He has done exceedingly abundantly above all that we could have asked for. A service that should be costing us anywhere from $200 - $800 is going to be FREE! That's right, I said FREE!

We have truly been blessed according to His will. Thank you Lord for your extravagant grace!

$378.00 + $47.35 + $27.26 = 1 Step Closer to Our Baby Girl

Erin called me tonight & the grand total from our Tastefully Simple Fundraiser was $378.00. A huge thank you to everyone who purchased these yummy products. We will be having another TS fundraiser in the fall when their new products come out.

We're getting ready to have a flower bulb sale from Dutch Mill Bulbs (we get 50% of the profit). If you live in our area & love to garden, please let me know and I can get you a brochure. If you don't love to garden, but know of someone who does, please e-mail or call me & I can get a brochure to them. Also, if anyone is interested in asking around their office on our behalf I would really appreciate that as well.

Items being sold include begonias, hanging & everbearing strawberries, caladiums, gladiolus, hosta, tiger & stargazer lilies - just to name a few.

Also, I made $47.35 from the last Avon order. I'm also excited to report I will be getting my first ever dividend check from our online mall for $27.26. You can shop lots of online stores with the link on the right side & we earn money from your purchases.

Hooray for being $452.61 closer to bringing our baby home. Thank you Lord for this blessing!

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them.

“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed,

you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’

and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.

Matthew 17:20

Trusting in His Perfect Plan...

There is only one way to live this life - and that is operating under a full and complete surrender with the Lord - where He is now the One who will be leading and directing your life in the specific direction that He will want it to go in. And the one thing that will kick this full surrender into full gear is your conscious choice to fully trust God with every single area of your life - holding absolutely nothing back from Him!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but her leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit."
Jeremiah 17:5

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass ... Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him ..."
Psalm 37:4-7

"Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon His God."
Isaiah 50:10

"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever."
Psalm 125:1

"He trusted in the Lord God of Israel ... For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments ... The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went."
2 Kings 18:5-7

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength."
Isaiah 26:3

http://www.bible-knowledge.com/Trust-in-the-Lord.html

Praying for Clear Direction

Lord we pray for clear direction as we move forward in our calling to serve you.



I will praise You Lord my God
Even in my brokenness
I will praise You Lord
I will praise You Lord my God
Even in my desperation
I will praise You Lord

And I can't understand
All that You allow
I just can't see the reason
But my life is in Your hands
And though I cannot see You
I choose to trust You

Even when my heart is torn I will praise You Lord
Even when I feel deserted I will praise You Lord
Even in the darkest valley I will praise You Lord
And when my world is shattered and it seems all hope is gone
Yet I will praise You Lord

I will trust You Lord my God
Even in my loneliness
I will trust You Lord
I will trust You Lord my God
Even when I cannot hear You
I will trust You Lord

And I will not forget
That You hung on a cross
Lord You bled and died for me
And if I have to suffer
I know that You've been there
And I know that You're here now

Even when my heart is torn I will trust You Lord
Even when I feel deserted I will trust You Lord
Even in the darkest valley I will trust You Lord
And when my world is shattered and it seems all hope is gone
Yet I will praise You Lord

I Have No Words...

100 Files Signed Out of IBESR

IBESR has signed out 100 files (including families with bio kids)! This is a huge movement & something to be very grateful for. If you've had the Haiti adoption process in your prayers I believe this is the direct result of that...praise God!

http://adoptivemomhaiti.blogspot.com/2008/03/ibesr-signs-out-100-adoption-files.html

We're Favorable! Hooray!

We received the draft homestudy approval today! Hooray! I can't believe we actually have these papers in hand. I will be checking it over & sending any corrections/changes to Judy yet this week so we can get the final report.

One change of note would be that we are asking to be approved for two children instead of one (just in case God reveals such a plan to us). We want to be open & prepared for whatever He has in store! He leads - we follow...it's worked well for us so far!

I pray you will be open to the plans He has for you today! Blessings...

Faith is not something you talk about, faith is something you do!

I'm an Auntie Again!

Welcome baby Kane!

Gage is a big brother!

March 17, 2008

7 lbs. 11 oz.

Picture Time

Twins???

Prim & Proper

Missing My Teeth...

The Little Leprechaun

There are No Accidents with God

God has really revealed himself to us recently. And while some would call it coincidence, luck, or chance - I firmly believe the people we have been put in contact with through this adoption have been put in our path by the hand of God. Each of His children hand selected with loving care to encourage us, inform us, share experiences & help us along the way.

Sara ~ Judy ~ Katy ~ Cara G. ~ Dominique

Kristie ~ Cara B. ~ Angela ~ Jennifer

Jane ~ Shawn & Katie

The is just a small sampling of a list that goes on & on. Thank you God for the people you have put in our path!

We were blessed last week to be contacted by Jane who has graciously agreed to host a Stampin' Up/Uppercase Living open house extravaganza for us! I think this could turn out to be a great fundraiser and is a work in progress. I'll post more as plans are finalized...

Also, we just returned today from completing our adoption education in Madison. The classes were given by our home study provider, Judy (who is wonderful by the way). It was very informative & we had some great discussion. We were blessed to be introduced to Shawn & Katie who have done several mission trips to Haiti & are now adopting a son. They gave us a beautiful Haitian sculpture of a mother & child from one of their trips. We really enjoyed our time with them & Judy.

Please continue to pray that we will soon have the funds to pay our $4,000 agency fee. We want so badly to begin work on our dossier so we can receive a referral. We continue to move forward in FAITH, believing in God's provision. Praise God for His faithfulness, even when we are not.

Praying for the Lord's Provision

Lord, I know You are at work in my life and circumstances…even when I don’t see Your hand. I know You are working all things together for good. Help me fix my heart on You no matter how long I must wait to see a bigger picture. I believe You will bring all things around for Your glory.

Well Said!

I hate to be a copy cat, but I saw this over on http://steppingoutoftheboat.blogspot.com/ & really appreciated this view on adoption. I'm always trying to find the words to help people understand why we are adopting and I think this is really well said.

The Fun Before the Fall

We had a great day yesterday celebrating the marriage of Q & M. My darling hubby looked so handsome (dare I say sexy) in his tuxedo! When he was standing at the front of the church I couldn't help but think about the day we were married. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful closeness with my best friend in this day of disposable marriages.

We all had lots of fun dancing the night away. D, K & B boogied down with their many cousins all night long. B crashed around 10, although I don't know how with the music blaring. The reception was held at our local Holiday Inn, which seemed to be a great place (key word "seemed").

It was a little after 11 and we decided it was time to head out. So after the many "aw, do we have to's" we managed to get our little people out the door. There was an older couple walking out the exit in front of us only to find the entire sidewalk to be thick ice. The couple navigated their way down the sidewalk and then offered us a hand, helping us one by one off the last step down. J was carrying a sleeping B and sure enough on the last step his feet went right out from underneath him. He landed flat on his back & B went flying face first into a snow bank (talk about a rude awakening). J was clearly sore & B had multiple tiny lacerations on his face from hitting the hard snow. After everyone was determined to be somewhat OK, we headed to the lobby so inform them of the treacherous sidewalk & injuries.

The girl at the desk said, "Oh, I'll go salt that" and walked away. She did not ask if we were OK, she turned & was gone. We stood there a little taken aback & another person appeared. I asked if there was an incident report we could fill out (assuming this would be required if someone was injured on their property) and she informed me she was new so she didn't know about that. OK, now I was getting irritated. I informed her that although she was new, it didn't mean she didn't need to know what to do in this circumstance so maybe now would be a good time for her to learn. She managed to wrangle up a form for me to complete only after I started reading it, it became clear to me that she was the one who was supposed to be filling it out. I asked for a copy of the form & took the general managers business card. Not one time did either person working ask if we were OK or offer an apology for having exit areas that were completely unattended to. Apparently they haven't taken a class in good customer service recently!

Needless to say J is quite sore today. B has survived, but both times we went outside today he says "no slipping" as soon as we get in the doorway. It was a great day, but certainly had an unexpected & unfortunate ending.

Tons of Food Aid Rotting in Haiti's Ports

My mom sent me this news article from today on the port situation in Haiti. Please join me in praying that this situation will be resolved. This country desperately needs to be lifted up in prayer...

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4403186

Food & Fundraising...A Good Combination

Saturday we had a Tastefully Simple party as a fundraiser for the adoption. I think once all of the outside orders come in we will have raised around $300 towards our agency fee. We also received a $200 & a $40 donation this week. We thank God for these blessings & for the people that have blessed us with these gifts.

I'd also like to thank everyone who has purchased Avon products from me. All profits from these sales also go towards the adoption. We are moving in the right direction slowly, but surely. We continue to pray for God's provision for our adoption expenses. Thanks to everyone for their support & prayers & encouraging words.

$4,000 - $540 = $3,460 to go!

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.

Let the whole world know what he has done.

Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.

Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.

Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.

Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.

Remember the wonders he has performed,

his miracles, and the rulings he has given,

you children of his servant Abraham,

you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

Psalm 105:1-6