Changing a Life with Your Change

   The cost of an adoption at first seems completely overwhelming and unattainable when you first hear the total cost of the entire process. This was definitely something that David and I both struggled with when we both felt a call to adopt even 7 years ago. When David heard that it would cost over $25,000, he decided to not pursue it any further. We had only been married a couple of months at that point and we were not even thinking we were ready to start a family then. Then, the Lord renewed this calling to adopt this last year and I automatically went back to the fear of how we could afford to adopt. It was amazing because David did not share this fear this time. He was completely at rest and trusted the Lord to provide. Over time, I thankfully fully gave this fear over to the Lord and can now rest fully in Him!
   The Lord has provided in so many ways in order for us to afford our adoption of Grace. God has given us such a sweet peace and we know He will be faithful to provide for each payment. He provided a new job for me which has been such a HUGE blessing! We had a garage sale in the Fall on a whim and made a great profit thanks to the help of many people donating items for the sale. Now, my bible study girls have planned a new fundraiser for our family. We have collected a ton of baby bottles. Each girl took home a bottle to fill with their loose change and took extras to pass on to others who would do the same. In two months, we will collect all the bottles and see how the Lord can multiply with the amount we each give.
  We still need to find a home for several bottles.

If you would like to start saving your change to help bring Grace home, we would be ever so grateful! 

The WHERE to our Story

   So now we know we will adopt, we know the child will have some special needs, but we still don't know what country. We continued to pray and talk to the girl from our adoption agency that worked with Central America. We were discussing with her on speaker phone a certain country in Central America and David still could not get a peace about this specific country. We had shared our desire to adopt a child that had special needs. God had confirmed that in our season of life with 2 other young children, that we should pursue an adoption of a child with a correctable special need. Our contact at our agency was so patient and listened to all of our questions and concerns. Then, David asked her to compare the Central American country to China. I chimed in and reminded David that she was here to answer questions about the Central American country. She laughed and replied that she actually could help because she was transferring to the China program in a few days and was very familiar with the program. (What a God thing!) She was able to help us see the characteristics of each of the programs and we were excited to see how China was a great match for our family. So on September 5, 2011, we turned in our application to America World to adopt a little girl through the Special Needs program. We can't wait to have Grace Elizabeth home!

The Name Grace

   As I said before, the process of where to adopt was a longer part of the process than I had imagined. We explored all of the South and Central American countries but we could not get a peace about any of them for different reasons. I was beginning to feel a sense of discontentment and disobedience in this time of waiting. I was ready to charge ahead but God had a plan that required us to wait. I attended a ladies conference at our church. It was a simulcast of Priscilla Shirer. I had done one of her studies before and was excited to get to hear her, but I never expected to hear so clearly from the Lord. She began the conference with a time of prayer - asking the Lord to truly come and speak to us. During the quiet moments, I begged God to give us clarity in our adoption. (God is so good and faithful!) Before she began on her topic of Life Interrupted based on the life if Jonah, she highlighted a ministry where women in Uganda are given aid by plastic surgeons as they have been mutilated by soldiers in their country. In their present physical state, they would be outcast in society. With the help of doctors, these women are given their life and dignity back. I was amazed at this beautiful ministry, but I was also shocked at how hard it was to look at these women who had been so wounded. As I looked at the images, the words of my favorite song came to my mind...  "Who you love, I'll love." I believe that God loves these women and so I was ashamed with my initial reaction of how difficult it was to look at them with their wounds. I asked God to give me such a great love like he has for all he Has created. God had already spoken to me and taught me so much and Priscilla hadn't even started teaching. Amazing!
   Then, Priscilla began her teaching time and she asked us to open to Jonah 2:8 which says, "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." She read that verse and my heart stopped. The Lord confronted me with His truth in a personal way and I knew he was speaking to me. The worthless idol in my life was not something I had ever really thought about before. I just always assumed I would have a perfectly normal, healthy family. But it was not just that thought, it was the fact that God said the result of holding on to worthless idols would be to forfeit grace. Grace was the name God had given me a long time ago for an adopted little girl. It was then that God showed me that I would miss out on the "Grace" He had planned for our family if I was not open to adopting a child with some form of special need. While I was not sure what that looked like, I knew I wanted to be obedient.  I gave God my "yes" right then. Jonah 2:9 says, "But I, with a song of Thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord." I knew that I wanted this to be my response. The rest of the time confirmed this word to me and was an amazing time of worship!
   I remember driving home that night and thinking how in the world I was going to explain this all to David. David asked me how the night was as soon as I got home and I just spilled everything the Lord had told me. He was so amazing! He was not shocked, but was actually very supportive. He believed that if God told me this, then he would be praying about it too. I really thought this would be a bigger discussion but I believe David really trusted the Lord in this situation.
   I'm so thankful to have a God that is so intimately involved in our lives. I pray you sense His nearness and direction in your life!

Go Prep!

This basketball season has been exciting for sure! We have had more dunks this season, for that matter in one game this season, than in all David's years of coaching leading up to this year. His team is so fun to watch and they are really good kids as well. Tuesday night David had a great win against a local rival. It was his first win against this rival since coaching at Prep. We were thrilled for him and his team. Looking forward to many more exciting games just like this one! Go Prep!

The next steps in the Process

You say YES to adoption and it seems like it should be easy from there. We hear that there are so many orphans in the world so then you should just take one home and start loving them as the sweet gift from God they are. I know that day will come but there is a process to this amazing journey and it must be followed. First, we were so fortunate because in April our church began an adoption class that helped us with some of the research that is necessary to begin and gave us many amazing resources to help along the way. After completing three preliminary applications for different agencies, we felt America World was the agency for our family. (The same one we had gone to a conference for over 3 years before!) Then we began the process of deciding domestic or international. We felt very strongly called to international adoption because of visiting the orphanages in Guatemala. Next, the decision for where and this was the part that I thought would be easy but turned out to be a longer part of the process. We have such a heart for Central and South America and the country that we always go to on mission trips, Guatemala, is currently closed for adoptions. It was at this point that we talked to our agency, listened to information about all the countries available that were a fit for our family and truly prayed and asked the Lord to show us where He had our child.

The WHEN to our Story

   So we always knew we would adopt but we just didn't know when God would begin this process. (A busy and long process I might add!) On a visit to Orlando in 2007, we attended an informational meeting on adoption at my home church. We were introduced to the adoption agency America World. We heard beautiful stories of adoption and continued to sense God's call to adopt. We left still not sure what to do with the knowledge we gained but God was continuing to use this to mold us to be in a position to fulfill His plan. Fast forward several years, a job change, a move back to Jackson, 2 incredible sons being born, and me staying at home. A lot had changed but our heart for adoption was still present. I would often wonder if we would ever be strong enough to take this leap of faith. If I would let my fears scare me away from the God size dream of adoption or if I would trust the Lord to complete His plan for our family. 
   Our church began a movement to Outlive our Life in January of 2010. During this time, we were asked to examine our lives and begin to seek the Lord to discern what He desired for us to to do to outlive our lives. We were to Grow, Go, and Give over the next 2 years in a way that would move us beyond ourselves and outside of what was possible on our own strength. David and I sensed the Lord presence and felt Him move us to obey in walking out the process of adoption. We were sure now was the time! In March 2010 we gave God our YES to adoption! 

Hello Friends and Family!
   Thank you so much for checking out our blog. I'm so excited to get to share with you the journey we have begun to bring home our daughter, Grace Elizabeth. I hope this will help you feel a part as we so desire you to join us on this exciting journey.
   Don't you love how God writes a story for each of us personally! In His Word we hear this promise in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Thank you Lord for this hope and future! If I set out to write my life story, I fully believe that it would not be as full as the life God has given me!
   Throughout my life, I have been intrigued by adoption. I always felt that one day I would adopt. This belief really became a strong desire the Lord gave me within our first year of marriage. The first year we were married, David and I took a group of students to Guatemala on a mission trip. During the trip, we visited an orphanage for two days. I remember holding the babies and sweet children and not wanting to leave! David fell in love as well and God opened his heart to the call of adoption. (He even called the orphanage after we got home to a hear a little bit about the process of adoption. He was shocked by the amount it cost so I believe that slowed him down from pursuing adoption right then.)
   We never forgot this trip or our desire to adopt. The question from then was WHEN? 
   This is a picture of David at the orphanage in Guatemala in March 2005. What precious girls!

I'll tell more of the story in the following days...