Psalm 34

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
Psalm 34:7-9

I felt compelled to pray with a group of believers over our dossier before sending it off to Gretchen to take to Haiti at the end of the week. For the first time tonight I made my way to the Dominion House of Prayer. It was an amazing experience & I will definitely be returning. It was myself & three others. They laid hands on our dossier paperwork & called out to our Father in Heaven to open all of the doors for bringing Anchise home & that satans plans would be thwarted. It truly was a blessed experience, just praying & praising God for His goodness & deliverance.

I have to admit that I have had some down days since last week. Being in prayer tonight helped me to realize that I need to be praising God every day. He will finish this good work He has begun. He is worthy to be praised!

I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
Psalm 145:1-3

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Hallelujah...Delaney is back from Sault Ste. Marie! When she called last night to say she was an hour away I warned her to "prepare to be squeezed". It was a beautiful thing to see her sweet face.

I do have to say her going away was a good growth opportunity for us all. And while sometimes growth makes us uncomfortable, usually the end result is worth it. I think she really realized all the comforts she has at home - not having them has a way of doing that!

The trip was organized by YouthWorks. Delaney was put into the group called the "Opposums" (which is particularly amusing don't you think Cara?). Her group spent the week volunteering at the War Memorial Hospital Long Term Care Center. This was perfect as baby girl loves chatting it up with the elderly. She was absolutely tickled pink to get to spend the week with these wonderful people. Her favorite was a lady named Thelma. They had fun talking together and D even painted her fingernails for her. Delaney won bingo three times & gave all her prizes to Thelma to give to her great grandchildren. She said they even put on some music & had everyone dancing. She's asked me if she can begin to volunteer at the nursing home in our town. I will have to make some calls this week to see if they will let someone so young volunteer.

One of her favorite sight seeing things they did was going to the Soo Locks and the Tower of History. A ship happened to be going through when they were there & she was amazed. She said she was happy she didn't fall off the tower - we are too :o)

She said her most special time was when the leaders took turns washing the other leaders feet & then washed their feet & prayed over them. Sounds like the room was filled with the Holy Spirit! She said it was an amazing feeling & everyone was crying, but in a good way.

She received a note from one of the leaders: "Delaney, I loved your great attitude this week. You were so much fun to work with. You have some awesome talents, keep using them for His glory. Love your smile." Ahh, makes a momma proud!

In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for God opposes the proud but favors the humble. So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:5-7

Worth It All

...and why are you taking my picture?

Opening a Can of Worms

Yesterday was a great day...we had our fingerprinting appointment, we ate lunch together in Madison (and I didn't have to cut up anyone's food or beg them to stay seated in their highchair), we had a leisurely drive home. We even stopped at a rest area & laid in the grass under a shady tree. The breeze was nice & we enjoyed watching the beauty of God's creation in the sky. Then we got home and found the little nastygram comment in our inbox. I felt like I got punched in the gut.

And let us consider how we

may spur one another on

toward love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:24

Let me start at the beginning...last fall when it was confirmed to us that God wanted us to adopt from Haiti we sent out a letter to our family & friends from church letting them know of our plans & saying that if anyone felt led to contribute that we had a financial need. We searched several Christian websites relating to adoption & they all clearly said one thing - we should invite other believers to participate so everyone can have the opportunity to care for orphans as the Bible calls us to do. In all honesty, we weren't sure how our families would react, but we were certain of one thing - our church family would be excited. After all, we were sharing God's plan for our life & of course other believers would want to learn about that. They would most certainly rally around us & be our greatest prayerful encouragers. Right?

I can say we have had a handful of wonderful local people who were interested in our adoption, asked questions and prayed for us. For this we are grateful. Even more grateful now. For the most part, however, it was a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Questions weren't asked. Excitement was not in the air. There was no rallying to be had.

We have received a handful of donations from people who know us, but surprisingly the majority of our donations came from complete strangers or by way of fundraisers.

We tried to suck up our disappointment & move forward...after all if people could see the great things God was doing in our lives through this adoption they would most certainly come around, right? We knew God was calling us to more than just the adoption of one orphan. He was calling us to get others excited about this earthly act of His love.

For he chose us in him before

the creation of the world to be
holy and blameless in his sight.

In love he predestined us to be adopted

as his sons through Jesus Christ,

in accordance with his pleasure and

will— to the praise of his glorious grace,

which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Ephesians 1:4-6

We are sad we were unable to cultivate this calling in the place we thought. We have prayed for God to show us how we can have a greater impact on His kingdom by sharing the passion for orphans He has given us. We are open to His calling alone, wherever that may be. Although it is difficult to leave a place we have called our church home for over four years, we feel it is better to do so than to stir up discord among the members of the body.

Adoption is a difficult process, the wait is long - now more than ever we need to be encouraged by other believers & to be in a group who is open to sharing in our calling. We stand firmly in God's truth.

Thank You Anonymous

Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
Matthew 7:1-5

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
1 John 3:16-17

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Luke 6:27-28

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:31-32

God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.
Matthew 5:11

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27

If you are truly interested in learning why caring for orphans matters to God, click here. I'm praying for you.

A Long List of Prayer Requests...

Baby Girl is gone all week on a mission trip. It is her first time away for a whole week. It sounds like she's doing fine, but I don't quite think I'm doing the same. I kind of have this sick feeling in my gut.

Would you please say a little prayer for us? Pray that we all will have peace while she is away. Pray that she will have the heart of a servant. Pray that the Lord will place a hedge of protection around her and that she will be a light to all she meets.

Also, Jeff and I will be traveling tomorrow night so we can get fingerprinted bright & early Wednesday morning. If you could pray for travel mercies also, it would be much appreciated. My mom will be staying with the dynamic duo so you might want to say a little prayer for her sanity too.

Cuteness All Around

I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.
Psalm 34:1

In My Dreams...

I had the most vivid dream last night about Anchise. It was so incredibly real. When I fully awoke I had a hard time remembering if it had really happened or if it was just a dream. It was all about meeting her for the first time. I was walking over to see her, she was shy at first, but then smiled with a big grin. She let me pick her up and hold her. I could actually feel the weight of her body against mine. It was so AMAZING! Two months from now this dream will become a reality. I feel like God just gave me a "sneak peek" into what it will be like to see her. Thank you Lord for this gift!

~ and ~

For Amanda (and anyone else who's interested): I will be in Haiti for six calendar days, but the first and last day will not be full days. If I hadn't hesitated & TRUSTED more, I would have saved myself $50 on the ticket. On Monday it was $325 from Chicago, but on Tuesday (when I purchased) it was $375. That's what I get for second guessing! I am counting the days until this trip. I am beyond excited & incredibly thankful to be meeting Colleen & others adopting from Three Angels and most of all holding our girl. Praise the Lord!

Learning to Trust...Learning to Fly

“When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.”
Patrick Overton

Last night at 11:45 pm I was laying in bed praying. I had been praying for some time when I felt that I must read from the book of James.

Did I want to get out of bed? No.

Did I feel compelled to get out of bed? Yes. I had to read from the book of James.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers,

whenever you face trials of
many kinds, because you know that

the testing of your faith develops
perseverance. Perseverance must finish

its work so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,
who gives generously to all without

finding fault, and it will be given to him.
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt,

because he who doubts is like a
wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

That man should not think he will
receive anything from the Lord;

he is a double-minded man,

unstable in all he does.
James 1:2-8

So, I have stepped out in faith regarding this trip. I BOOKED MY FLIGHT! Do I have the financial piece worked out? No. Do I have all the arrangements made for my children at home while I am gone? No. But as the saying goes - faith is not something you talk about, faith is something you do. Lord, please teach me to fly!

Playing in Sandy's room

Checking out what friends are doing

Having snack with sweeties Justin & Kervens

Enchilada Casserole...A New Dossier Requirement?

I was going through the sets of copies of the dossier inserting the color copies of drivers license, passport photos and page of pictures & guess what I found? I included a copy of a recipe for enchilada casserole in all the sets of my dossier!

Do you think they would find this recipe so great that it would help speed my way through IBESR? I'm thinking NOT!