My Tender Hearted Boy......

This past week I had the opportunity to speak to our local MOPS group about my adoption experience- as an adopted child, an adoptive parent, and a child adopted into the Kingdom of God. It was such a great opportunity and I was so thankful for the experience. I pray God used something I said to speak to the wonderful ladies.

At the end of my presentation, I played the Chapman (Steven Curtis and Mary Beth) family's adoption story. If you have ever seen this video, you know at the end it includes SCC singing "When Love Takes You In" and it also includes the music video for this song. We noticed Caleb really watching the video, and at one time, his back was to us as he was completely engrossed in the song and video. When he turned around, he had tears rolling down his cheeks. I immediately asked him what was wrong, and he replied, "Sad." I asked him why he was sad, and he said, "Movie sad". We were in awe and I almost started crying myself! He was so touched by the video! I have been praying that God would give Caleb a compassionate heart and that he would love others the way God loves. Thank you Lord!

Happy Easter....& An Open Door?

We had a great couple of days we have had! Papaw and Nana (Zack's parents) and Micah and Erin (Zack's sisters) came to visit the weekend and we all had such a great time! The weather was beautiful and we had lots of fun playing outside. And what a beautiful Easter day it was! God really blessed us with gorgeous weather to celebrate the Risen Christ. Caleb also received a nice surprise from the Easter bunny- he was pretty excited about that :)

In adoption news, it appears that God has opened a door to us that we thought had been closed (this was one of the situations we were playing through). To make a long story short, a very reputable Christian agency is offering an amazing opportunity! They have recently began a orphanage ministry in the African country of Uganda, and are seeking 10 families to begin the program. The amazing part- the families selected to be a part of the pilot program in Uganda will only be responsible for their travel and immigration costs- the agency is not charging any fees! This is absolutely an amazing thing! There is an application process to be accepted into the program, and then the ten families are chosen by the agency's board of directors. The applications are due in a couple weeks, and then the board will meet. We are not quite sure when we will know something for sure, but we feel like it will be sometime in May. Needless to say, this would be a true blessing to our family financially, and to be involved in the ministry this agency is establishing in Uganda would be even more awesome! There are around 2.5 million orphans in Uganda, and HIV is a huge issue. Uganda is also a smaller adoption program and not as well known as Ethiopia, so we feel this would be a great opportunity to spread the word about adoption from Uganda. Just keep us in your prayers.....we will keep you updated! Either way, we will be going to Africa to bring home our second child. Awesome!

God's Glory......

Hello? Caleb managing the office :)
Enjoying one of his favorite meals....chicken and french fries

The Pose....what else can be said about this one??

Today Zack and I held an America World seminar at our church. As America World Associates, we have done a few of these in the past, and each time we are so blessed by them! It is our honor to help tell others about the miracle of adoption any way we can. So far, we know of at least three families that have submitted applications to America World after attending a seminar. That is at least four children who most likely will be adopted! Praise God!!! He moves hearts in awesome ways!

The seminar today went awesome! God really showed up in an awesome way, and counting Zack and I and my parents (who always try to come for moral support), there were 17 people! That is the best turn out by far!! We were able to speak with many of the families personally after the seminar, and we believe that more children will be adopted! Again, praise Him!

Zack and I have often talked about how we never could have imagined how God would use our adoption to bless so many people and to open so many doors for us to speak about adoption. We are humbled and honored to be able to be used in such a way. It is such a blessing!

In the last post I wrote about feeling as if God was leading us to wait a bit before we made any decisions, as we were waiting to find out about a few different situations and circumstances. In the past week, God gave us an answer for each of them! So, we feel confident to move ahead in our decision to adopt from.......Ethiopia!!!! We have a strong peace in moving forward with this decision. We will be requesting a child ages 6-18 months of either gender (which will most likely result in a boy- a brother or Caleb!! yay!!!! ) that is HIV positive. Because we are requesting a child that is HIV positive, our referral could come as soon as 1-3 months after our paperwork reaches Ethiopia! We are not quite sure when our dossier will reach Ethiopia (we haven't even submitted it to our agency yet), but we are estimating it could be there by the end of May. It is crazy to think about bringing home a child this year, but I guess it could happen!

We are now going to commit ourselves to preparing as much as possible and learning as much as possible about HIV and how to give the best resources and care to our child. We have already done quite a bit of networking in terms of medical care and getting to know other families who have/are adopting children with HIV. We trust God will continue to lead us in this way as we seek to show His love to our new child!!

It's March Madness and that can only mean one thing......Break out your blue and cheer on those Kentucky Wildcats! As you can see from the pictures above, Caleb is already a full fledged Wildcat fan! We raise them right in Kentucky :)

In adoption news.....well, no concrete decision has been made in regard to country, still. We just feel like the Lord is asking us to continue to explore some very specific scenarios and situations, and this means....more waiting! Trust me, I don't want to wait. I want to just go, go, go! Especially since we have all our paperwork ready to submit for our dossier! It is so different than our last adoption- we had to wait and wait on paperwork. This time, we have all our paperwork completed, and our social worker is basically just waiting on us to decide the country so she can write our home study. But, we wait. It is hard. But, with God's grace and help, we wait.

What has been the most exciting thing to me the last couple of weeks is to see how God has used our previous adoption to lead so many people to adoption, even if it is just to peak their interest. I stand in awe of God's glory and sovereignty. Just a couple of weeks ago I ran into an old high school friend at the post office. She knew of our adoption and she asked me how Caleb was doing. She also expressed to me that she and her husband were interested in adoption and that they would be traveling this summer to do mission work in another country, and would really be interested in adopting from that country. I tried to encourage her as much as possible, and I also gave her our blog address. I took down her email and sent a few links regarding adoption. Long story short, she is now signed up to attend the upcoming adoption seminar and we are having lunch soon to talk more about adoption- so awesome!!! Then, just last night we were at the park with Caleb and we ran into a young couple who has not been able to have children biologically. I had spoken with the young lady many months ago about adoption, but hadn't heard anything from her. After speaking with them last night, she seemed very interested in attending the adoption seminar as well. God is at work, and we praise Him for that!

Being able to play a small role in helping others along the path of adoption has helped our anxiousness and waiting with our own adoption pass more quickly. In the meantime, we continue to pray and look for opportunities to speak to others about the awesome plan of adoption!

Caleb Goes Cruising!

As you will see from the pictures below, we just returned from the most awesome family vacation! We took a cruise to Mexico for the week! It was a blast! Caleb had the best time and he made many friends on the ship- what a guy! He loved the beach, especially the sand, which he said "tickled" his feet. It was so special for our families to be able to enjoy each others company while visiting such a beautiful place and in such a fun atmosphere- if you haven't gone on a cruise, you need to go !!! I loved watching Caleb experience so many new things- it was a blast! He did great and was such a trooper, even on the long days. Here a just a few of the highlights from our week at sea......

In adoption news, we are scheduled to have our final home study visit this week! Wow- we are still undecided as to what country to go with- yes, I know, we need to decide! We are actually inquiring at this time about a little girl in Thailand. Depending on what we find out, our decision could be made :) If Thailand does not work out, we have opened our hearts to the idea of adopting a boy from Ethiopia, as we were recently informed of the huge need for boys with HIV to be adopted. If we do decide to go that route, we most likely will request a boy younger than Caleb, anywhere from 1-18 months of age. Caleb will be a great big brother no matter what, and we will be a blessed family. The last couple of weeks (minus vacation) have been stressful due to some unexpected news that has made our future less clear than it was before.....but we are so thankful that God is in control, that He has our best intentions in mind, and that most of all He loves us beyond measure!

A Treasure Chest Overflowing....

This evening we had our first home study visit! It was exciting to think that we are really beginning the process once again! Our next visit will take place at the beginning of March, and then we will be ready to send it off to USCIS and wait for our approval! In the meantime we will begin working on our dossier. And while we thought we would definitely be adopting again from Ethiopia, a child most likely 1-3, another country and age range has entered the mix- Thailand! Our agency also offers an HIV program in this country, and it is an option we are seriously considering. We are also considering adopting a child that is maybe 4 or even 5. How did this come about? Honestly, we just kind of overlooked this country as an option, but the more we looked into it, the more excited we became. We love Ethiopia and we will never forget this country or the impact it has had on our lives. We also feel that God may be desiring to expand our family not only in number but also in geography :) So, we will just wait and see.....

As we have been trying to seek God's will on which country to go with and what age range to request, I admit, I have been a little anxious and have had some trouble sleeping over this decision. Some very gracious and helpful families discussed with me via email their experience with adopting children in the age range of 3-5. They were so helpful and encouraging! One amazing woman offered this observation- I don't think she would mind me sharing it:

When we sat at the National Adoption Center in Ukraine across from a representative who passed us a 3-inch stack of orphan files, I felt overwhelmed. How would we ever choose a child from all those needing families? Immediately, an image came into my mind: a treasure chest overflowing with jewels of brilliant colors, sparkling and glittering. It was like God said to me, "These are my precious jewels. Just choose one and be blessed."

Wow! This image has caused so much peace to come over me regarding our country and age decision. This wise woman is right- just choose one and be blessed. Amen.

This is Our Prayer....

About a week ago we had one of the biggest snows we have had in several years! The snow was beautiful. Caleb loved sleigh riding. But it was so cold that the poor little guy was freezing in no time...his long eyelashes were iced over :) It was fun while it lasted!

As we continue to gather the needed paperwork for our adoption, the questions and anxieties of pursuing a child with HIV come and go. At the same time, the Lord continues to remind us of just how much he loves us and that he only wants good for us. His love is amazing! He continues to remind us of his faithfulness and of the fact that we are more than conquerors through Him! He continues to challenge us to live out our faith in a real way and leave the rest to Him.

This song beautifully describes what our prayer to the Lord is at this time- heal my heart and make it clean.....open up my eyes to the things unseen.....show me how to love like you have loved me.....break my heart for what breaks yours......everything I am for your Kingdom's cause....Hosanna!