Home Study Update

     Brandon and I have scheduled our second home study interview for December 29 at 10:00. We will be going to Lifeline's home office in Birmingham. They say it normally last about an hour and a half. We have no idea what to expect. We are just excited to move forward during the holidays. I will not have to take a day off work. I am trying to save all the days I can so that I can take time off if we have to go to China during the school year.
     We have also started the mountain of paper work. We have collected some of the documents and after the holidays will move forward with the education section. We have two books to read, several websites to review, and classes to enroll in. The steps you have to take... WOW! Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Sweet Blessings

      Every year the sweet faculty at Westbrook blesses my mother-in-law with a wonderful present at Christmas time. She has received Christmas china, jewelry, and clothing over the years. This year was a little different for the both of us. They presented her with a nice amount of cash and a card. She in turn blessed us with the money to, and I quote, "bring her grandchild home!" It was very sweet how they presented it to the both of us. Carolyn Strickland wrote this poem for us and read it before she presented Mrs. Greer with her gift. It was a day full of sweet blessings.

A Chosen Child

A young couple

Decisions to make

Pray.

Pray God's will.

A chosen child

Not of their blood

But of their heart.

From distant lands

A Hope will come.

A chosen child

Chosen to complete a family.

Seek.

Seek God's Will.

To chose a child

Their desire.

Look.

Look to God's Word.

"Before you were born I knew you.

For I know the plans I have for you."

Pray.

Seek.

Look for answer.

God answered

"You did not choose a child.

I chose the parents."

When Love Takes You In

     Last Sunday we were able to share our story with our church family. It was an awesome experience! We are not public speakers, by any means, and were a little overwhelmed at first but we wanted to share what God is doing in our family. We found this video and song by Steven Curtis Chapman. It was definitely moving for us both! It's just a little touch of our heart!

Made in China

     Just a little funny story I have to share. After Cooper and Avery's Christmas program on Wednesday my parents took them home with them for the afternoon. They stopped by the Dollar Tree and were letting the kids pick out a toy as a treat. Avery was playing with a cute baton and on the side in big letters it said, "Made in China." (What a surprise!) So my dad tells Avery that the baton was made in China and she gets really excited. She told Poppie that he had to buy it for her "China Girl Sister" so she could give it to her when she gets home!! How precious. It made me so happy. When I got home she was playing with it and ran up and said, "Look Mommy! I got for our China Girl!" Too cute!

Taking the first step

     We are excited to say we have officially started our journey. We made our first payment of $2,607. God provided the exact amount needed on literally the day we wrote the check. We were able to sale wooden Christmas door hangers and ornaments as a fundraiser. With the proceeds from that as well as generous donations, we were able to make the first payment in full. It has been awesome to see God is slowly showing us His provision during this process. It is definately a faith walk.
     We are using Lifeline Children Services out of Birmingham. We have heard very postive things about this organization and so far have been very impressed with the attention to detail as well as how quickly they follow up and stay in contact with us.
     With some paper work, manuals read, and a quick trip to the jail for finger printing done, we were able to schedule our first home study phone interview. (The jail process is not something I recommend. :) Just in case you didn't already know that!) The interview lasted about an hour and ten minutes. It was a conference call with two social workers and us. It was a little never racking just because we had no clue what they were going to ask. They do ask very personal questions but it wasn't as bad as what I excepted.
     So the next step is gathering mountains of documents, filling out lots of paper work, and three home study interviews. The home study process takes about three months. It also takes about that long for us to receive clearance with our background checks.We will keep the blog updated as we move forward.
    Please pray that the paper work aspect moves quickly. Some things are out of our control and with it being the holidays, I am sure people are a little more relaxed with their work. We just want this process to move as quickly as possible so that we may have our sweet little one home for the holidays in 2012. They told us it will take around 12 to 15 months. We are Hoping for 12 months!

The Race for Hope

     God began stirring in our heart over a year ago the call for missions. Brandon and I both knew that somehow we wanted to serve Him through mission work with orphaned children. I never dreamed it would lead us to where we are today. After reading the book Radical by David Platt for the second time with our Sunday School, we both began to see life from a different angle. We began asking Him for guidance and direction for our lives more than ever before.

     I have a dear friend who is serving in the mission field in China. She is serving as a preschool teacher in an orphanage. I follow her blog and we are able to talk from time to time and I began having such a heart for the children she is working with. As a teacher myself I am sucker for kids. It doesn't take me long to fall in love with them. This, however, was somewhat different! It made me ask the question why not us. Why couldn't we adopt? But it was always followed by, "Hello, what are you thinking," with a long and list of why nots. The main one being, my husband would think I was crazy and laugh out loud in my face. But as the months went on I was drawn to idea. I couldn't go a day without thinking about it and thinking if I don't help just one, then who will. One of my other coworkers and friend has an adopted daughter from Ukraine. Seeing their relationship and the life her daughter now lives really just weighed heavy on my heart. I tried to push the thoughts out of my mind and just move on.

    One Sunday night after the kids were in bed. My husband just randomly blurts out, "I was thinking, what if we adopt a little girl from China, maybe two or three years old." It quickened in my spirit, "those were not your thoughts but MINE." He then began to explain how it had been on his mind for several weeks and he was unsure of how I would feel about it. Tears of joy filled my eyes and I couldn't stop smiling. We both began to talk and realized what God was calling our family to do.

     "Let us run the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Hebrews 12:1-2. So we begin our race of faith and HOPE. "Now faith is being sure of what we Hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 Many things are still unanswered and we have many more miles to go in our process but we have Faith and Hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hope, knowing He will see the journey which He has called us to embark through to completion. Hope, knowing we will give one little girl a chance. Hope, knowing my family will be forever changed because of our decision to follow Him.