It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I can't believe this year is really almost over. Thanksgiving was wonderful. My parents came here and my husband fried a delicious turkey ( isn't he the cutest. The turkey and Robert). Me, my mom, and Bank left on Friday morning headed to Atlanta with our church to work in a warehouse for Operation Christmas Child. It is such a blessing to be the last to touch those shoe boxes before the children get them. While my parents were here, my mom took our Christmas pictures. Our dog is such a camera hog, or maybe I have just trained him enough to know when it's time to co-operate with me for our Christmas cards! He just sat perfectly still and looked right at the camera. He is so funny. I hope that your Thanksgiving was wonderful and I pray that your Christmas be filled with joy and happiness! No stress! God bless, April

Paperwork-check!

We've finished! We mailed off our application today! I am super excited to get this process really going. I'm not sure how long the next part will take, but it is such a relief to just get something done and going. It is amazing to look back and see how God has brought us to this point and the changes He made in our hearts. I would have never considered older child adoption three years ago. Now, I can't imagine anything else! What a blessing to feel as though you are in the center of God's will! I have never had such a peace and I am so grateful that God has chosen us to be a part of this journey. Please begin to pray for us and the children God has for us. I know they are somewhere waiting, and I can't wait to bring them home! : )

NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH

I know I am so new at this adoption thing, but when we went for our interview with MS Families for Kids Thursday, our caseworker informed me that November is National Adoption Month. As I begin to think about the children that will soon be ours, I think about the ones that are still left behind in the foster care system. What if one family in every church adopted a child from foster care? So many of these children are going to live the rest of their lives feeling there was never anyone who truly cared for them. Our caseworker told us there are 18 year old kids who still beg to be adopted because when and if they go to college they have NO ONE to go home to during Christmas, Thanksgiving, Spring Break, or Summer. There is no family support there at all. Can you imagine? Pray about how God can use you to impact the life of a child. I truly believe that for Robert and I, this adoption is an act of Worship for our King. He only asks us to be available. He will provide the rest. Pray about your role in adoption.

Getting Started

Well, our first meeting with the adoption agency is next Thursday at 3:00. Please be in prayer for us! We've really been praying for God's direction in all of this! We are currently heading in the direction of foster care adoption. As I have previously posted, we truly feel these are the children who are left behind and forgotten! I am so excited, but I for sure do not want us to be out of the will of God. Please pray for us and the child or children God has in store for us!

Catching Up

It's been a while! Bank is doing great in school. I beleive he is very popular amongst the kids at school which is such a relief. I was very worried he wouldn't fit in, but he is great! Football hasn't really been his thing. He does dress out, but never plays. He has started soccer practice this week and I am so anxious to see him in action. He is a great kid with a good heart! I think God put him here with us so that he will really and truly appreciate the life his parents afford him in Thailand. I hope that while he is here, we can share with him the love of God. We will see.. Keep us and him in your prayers!

On to other news. We are begining the adoption process! I can't tell you how excited I am!
Over the summer I read a book called Adopted for Life and it talked about how adoption is the true picture of what Christ did for us! He gave HIS life so that we may be sons and daughters to God. We are now adopted into the family of GOD! What a blessing. After reading that book it really sent me into a time of prayer, asking God what was His will for this whole adoption. I have for so long wanted an Asian baby that I haven't really asked God what He desires for us. How selfish! So, I began to pray and seek God's will in this. He began to open my eyes and heart to the need of older child/foster care adoption. As I started to research, I was broken hearted to see the need for adoption here in our own country. I can't imagine living all of my life feeling like I was forgotten. And that is what these kids have become, forgotten. I have so changed my view of adoption. It really shouldn't be our "last hope" or our "final resort" to complete our families. It should be our first choice to expand our families in a true way that God expands HIS! I am so excited to see where God is going to take us with this process. I know there will be challenges, but I am so confident that God is in control. Please pray for us as we begin this process. Pray that God will lead us to the child or children we know God has chosen for us.
"I knew you before you were born. In your mother's womb, I created you"

Foreign Exchange

Well, he is here! Our exchange student from Thailand made it Friday. He is very soft spoken (for now), and seems to be a good kid. It has been such a busy weekend that until now, I haven't really thought of how strange we must be to him! He started 11th grade at KHS today, and I have worried all day about him! He will be fine, I know, but that motherly instict has kicked in. This is someonelse's child. He is halfway around the world! I can't imagine what my parents would have felt had I left for a year's worth of education in a foreign land! I am so happy he is here. What an experience for Robert, our families, and the kids at church! And really, what a mission field this could be. In our own home. God is amazing in the ways that he works. In the ways that he created us all so different in appearance, but He desires to love each of us the same! What an awesome God we serve!

Goodbye Summer .....

Well, my summer is officially drawing to a close. We have to be at the High School for a district wide meeting in the morning. I am excited to see my few friends from my school, but so not looking forward to the day to day getting up and getting back into a routine.

In alot of ways this has been a weird summer. I've spent alot of time at home doing alot of thinking. There are days when I can't get my brain to just turn off. Last night I laid in bed with a song from a camp Robert went to replaying in my head. Part of the song says "Lord, deliver me from me. Lord deliver me to you. Grant that I may seek to love and comfort rather than to be loved and comforted. Deliver me from the need of being noticed and appreciated." I could not for the life of me get the song to go away and just get some sleep. So, I began to sing it as a prayer. What a life that would be if we would just get out of our desires and into God's will. I've prayed alot about my pride this summer and for God to just SHOVE me out of the way. Most days, that is what I need the most is a good SHOVE! I am a work in progress.

I pray that song will be my prayer as the days become long with work and home. So many times I get so wrapped up in ME that I can't see what God could be doing in certain situations. This is my prayer for this new school year! We shall see.