What a year! I will always remember the year of 2010. Why? Cause this is the year that God has changed my life! I have always been a Christian, growing up in a Christian house with a wonderful extended Christian family. However, this year was different. This year God took some of the blinders off of my eyes that I had on. He has allowed me to see more clearly! My daily prayer has been to "see things as Jesus sees them." As the months have rolled by it has actually gotten harder to pray that prayer. It has gotten harder because it is changing my life. Sometimes, I lie awake at night heartbroken for the lost, the hungry, the orphan. At times it aches me and it is all I can think about. But this has been the best thing that could have ever happened. The more I learn about Christ the more I want to know. I would never want to go back to where I was. Once I started to really taste and see the glory of God there is an overwhelming desire for more.
I am starting this new year as a completely different man than who I was a year ago. Yeah, I look mostly the same, maybe a couple of more gray hairs.
But mentally I am different.
My thoughts are different.
My prayers are different.
The way I read my bible is different.
The way I give my money is different.
The way I spend my money is different.
My conversations are different.
My concerns are different.
The way that I lead my family in Christ is different.
I want my life to count.
I want to live a radical life for Christ in light of the fact that there are billions that do not know Him, and billions living in desperate poverty.
I don't want to waste my time anymore.
There are too many important things to do now.
I am not normally a new years resolution type of a guy, (except for when I gave up soda at work.) This year, my goal is to
BE INTENTIONAL! I want to be intentional about everything that I do.
What an awesome year this has been. I so look forward to seeing all that Christ is going to be doing through this next year.
I hope that you have an incredible year. I will end with a prayer. Ephesians 1:15-21
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may five you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance of the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Now that is one long sentence:)
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
We are so very blessed
WOW!
We spent the day with family celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. All of our kids are fighting some sort of illness, which makes for a long night and day. By the time that we pulled into our driveway to recoup, so that we can celebrate again tomorrow we were beat, and tired. We put the kids to bed, put the presents under the tree and brought the mail in. In the mail today was a stack of Christmas cards, as usual. However, one of these cards had an amazing present in it for us. Somebody sent us a check and a little card with it. What a mood changer! The card said that they had been watching us as we have traveled along on this adoption journey and they have been encouraged and challenged by it. WOW! We don't really even know what to say but Thank you God. All the glory is His!
It is very humbling to know that God is choosing to use us to challenge and encourage others to the point that they give so sacrificially.
We are grateful that God has put this journey before us. We are blessed beyond belief. Back in April, when we started this adoption, we felt God telling us that HE is taking us on a journey. This is only the start of our journey and we just need to trust in Him, follow Him, and he will be with us. So, that is what we are doing. Since then God has taken off blinders that we had on and we see Him more clearly. We pray that God will allow us to see Him.
Our God is good!
Have a Merry Merry Christmas.
We spent the day with family celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. All of our kids are fighting some sort of illness, which makes for a long night and day. By the time that we pulled into our driveway to recoup, so that we can celebrate again tomorrow we were beat, and tired. We put the kids to bed, put the presents under the tree and brought the mail in. In the mail today was a stack of Christmas cards, as usual. However, one of these cards had an amazing present in it for us. Somebody sent us a check and a little card with it. What a mood changer! The card said that they had been watching us as we have traveled along on this adoption journey and they have been encouraged and challenged by it. WOW! We don't really even know what to say but Thank you God. All the glory is His!
It is very humbling to know that God is choosing to use us to challenge and encourage others to the point that they give so sacrificially.
We are grateful that God has put this journey before us. We are blessed beyond belief. Back in April, when we started this adoption, we felt God telling us that HE is taking us on a journey. This is only the start of our journey and we just need to trust in Him, follow Him, and he will be with us. So, that is what we are doing. Since then God has taken off blinders that we had on and we see Him more clearly. We pray that God will allow us to see Him.
Our God is good!
Have a Merry Merry Christmas.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Field trip
Today we took a field trip. I was thinking that it had been a little while since we had used our pass to the SF zoo so we needed to make a trip of it. These kind of days are always the best there. It was cold, cloudy and completely deserted. it is on these days in the winter that it seems like the animals actually move around cause nobody is really watching them. I think that we were the only people at just about every exhibit. We then decided to take the girls for a walk on the Golden gate bridge. We were supposed to do this after Thanksgiving and the girls were kind of bummed when we didn't. To top the day off we watched the sunset at the beach while the girls were napping. (Everybody but Capri, she actually kept pulling their hair. yeah they have it coming.) Then we went to get some Gyro Pitas. All in all, it was a great family day.
Still nothing happening on the adoption front. Pray that the courts start moving people through and the embassy starts clearing children to leave the country. It is causing a back up of children and so no new referrals have been sent out in a long time.
Still nothing happening on the adoption front. Pray that the courts start moving people through and the embassy starts clearing children to leave the country. It is causing a back up of children and so no new referrals have been sent out in a long time.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Rocket ship
Today marks the 3 month mark of being DTE (dossier to Ethiopia.) The average wait time for a baby boy is 4-6 months and 7-9 months for a girl. So I would say we are somewhere in the midway point to getting our referral and being able to find out who our new baby is going to be. We are starting to get more and more anxious as time goes on.
We have some great news to share. We have been denied the grant that we applied for. This is the only one that we thought that we might qualify for. I know, you are questioning why this is great news. Let me explain. First, this means that there are tons of other people out there that are in the process of adopting. That in itself is really encouraging and awesome. It is also encouraging to know that others that are in the process have a greater need for the grant and are going to be getting it. Second, God is going to allow us to raise the money needed by other means. He could have chosen to let us get this grant, instead He has chosen more personal ways for us. Just this week we were given a huge amount of money by some family who are choosing to live sacrificially. God is good. Finally, God has gotten us this far, why would we ever begin to doubt that He won't provide the rest of what we need? It is encouraging to see the marvelous wonders of God as He takes us on this journey.
What else have we been up to? Well, we are having a party for our Sunday school class at our house on Sat. I am excited, we are having a smoked ham. This "ham" was just running around in our yard a couple of weeks ago. Today, the girls and I made a rocket ship. Why a rocket ship? Well, they had made the space helmets the day before, but this way we can travel the world.
Remember to slow down this Christmas season and reflect on what it is all about.
We have some great news to share. We have been denied the grant that we applied for. This is the only one that we thought that we might qualify for. I know, you are questioning why this is great news. Let me explain. First, this means that there are tons of other people out there that are in the process of adopting. That in itself is really encouraging and awesome. It is also encouraging to know that others that are in the process have a greater need for the grant and are going to be getting it. Second, God is going to allow us to raise the money needed by other means. He could have chosen to let us get this grant, instead He has chosen more personal ways for us. Just this week we were given a huge amount of money by some family who are choosing to live sacrificially. God is good. Finally, God has gotten us this far, why would we ever begin to doubt that He won't provide the rest of what we need? It is encouraging to see the marvelous wonders of God as He takes us on this journey.
What else have we been up to? Well, we are having a party for our Sunday school class at our house on Sat. I am excited, we are having a smoked ham. This "ham" was just running around in our yard a couple of weeks ago. Today, the girls and I made a rocket ship. Why a rocket ship? Well, they had made the space helmets the day before, but this way we can travel the world.
Remember to slow down this Christmas season and reflect on what it is all about.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
My heart is breaking
I guess I should preface this by saying that a few weeks ago in my Bible study group, I asked people to pray that I would begin to develop a bond for our baby.
Okay, so when Adam and I started talking, praying, and wondering if we should start the adoption process, our pastor began a sermon series in the book of James. We believed that this was not a coincidence, but that this was very timely. We have finished studying James, but we still find that many of the sermons feel relevant to us, in our adoption process.
Well, todays sermon was no exception. The passage was Matthew 9:36-38. He talked about the good news of the Bible, and how we often do not act like we really believe it IS good news. We shy away from telling our friends about Christ, we do not go seek the lost. We are content to live in our comfortable house, with our comfortable family and have a comfortable life. But, Jesus never said that we were sent to this earth to live comfortably.
In the sermon, the speaker described horrific conditions for people living in various parts of the world. People using their toilet water to cook, wash clothes and dishes and bathe, and children being sold into sexual slavery. And here we are living our comfortable life. I of course began to cry. I thought of our child, our baby, not being properly taken care of. Not being cared for as well as we care for our dog! (Which trust me, isn't even all that much anymore). I began to think about when we were wondering whether or not God was calling us to adopt. And then I laughed at myself for having even questioned that. Because of course He is! He doesn't care that I don't have it all together. He doesn't care that we are upside down in our finances. He is asking us to trust Him, that He will take care of us and provide for our EVERY need!
After todays sermon, I feel like I have taken a huge step in building a bond with our child. I can't explain it except to say that my heart is breaking that our baby is living on the other side of the world and not being well taken care of. God has answered my prayers though. I can't even talk about our baby without crying anymore but I couldn't be happier :)
Okay, so when Adam and I started talking, praying, and wondering if we should start the adoption process, our pastor began a sermon series in the book of James. We believed that this was not a coincidence, but that this was very timely. We have finished studying James, but we still find that many of the sermons feel relevant to us, in our adoption process.
Well, todays sermon was no exception. The passage was Matthew 9:36-38. He talked about the good news of the Bible, and how we often do not act like we really believe it IS good news. We shy away from telling our friends about Christ, we do not go seek the lost. We are content to live in our comfortable house, with our comfortable family and have a comfortable life. But, Jesus never said that we were sent to this earth to live comfortably.
In the sermon, the speaker described horrific conditions for people living in various parts of the world. People using their toilet water to cook, wash clothes and dishes and bathe, and children being sold into sexual slavery. And here we are living our comfortable life. I of course began to cry. I thought of our child, our baby, not being properly taken care of. Not being cared for as well as we care for our dog! (Which trust me, isn't even all that much anymore). I began to think about when we were wondering whether or not God was calling us to adopt. And then I laughed at myself for having even questioned that. Because of course He is! He doesn't care that I don't have it all together. He doesn't care that we are upside down in our finances. He is asking us to trust Him, that He will take care of us and provide for our EVERY need!
After todays sermon, I feel like I have taken a huge step in building a bond with our child. I can't explain it except to say that my heart is breaking that our baby is living on the other side of the world and not being well taken care of. God has answered my prayers though. I can't even talk about our baby without crying anymore but I couldn't be happier :)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thanksgiving week!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Every year as the smell of turkey fills the kitchen on Thanksgiving we try to remind ourselves to be thankful for the blessing that we have. Sometimes, even on the day designated for giving thanks we forget.
As Christians, we are called to give thanks continually in all things. It is hard to give thanks to our Lord in hard times. My question is this. Is it even harder to remember to give thanks when all things are going "well?" I know that for myself it is harder to give thanks when things are good due to my own selfish pride. Thinking that it is of my own doing that things are well.
I come from a wonderful Christian family with a great heritage. I am truly blessed. Each year we have a wonderful Thanksgiving meal celebrating together. We have great food, lots of people, so much talking that you better be on your game if you want to get a word in. This year I hope to be different. I want this year to have purpose. I want us to come together as a family in a deeper way as we grow closer to the One who loves us.
So this was my challenge...
I have asked my family to join us in another rice and bean fast for the next week until Thanksgiving day. We start in the morning. I pray that God will use this next week to really draw our family closer to Him. Most of my family is going to join us in this fast. Some will be doing different variations of it. However, we are going to take the money that we all save on food for the week and donate it to Amazima Ministries.
To the family... let's remember to keep each other covered in prayer for the week.
1 John 3:16,17
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the worlds goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Every year as the smell of turkey fills the kitchen on Thanksgiving we try to remind ourselves to be thankful for the blessing that we have. Sometimes, even on the day designated for giving thanks we forget.
As Christians, we are called to give thanks continually in all things. It is hard to give thanks to our Lord in hard times. My question is this. Is it even harder to remember to give thanks when all things are going "well?" I know that for myself it is harder to give thanks when things are good due to my own selfish pride. Thinking that it is of my own doing that things are well.
I come from a wonderful Christian family with a great heritage. I am truly blessed. Each year we have a wonderful Thanksgiving meal celebrating together. We have great food, lots of people, so much talking that you better be on your game if you want to get a word in. This year I hope to be different. I want this year to have purpose. I want us to come together as a family in a deeper way as we grow closer to the One who loves us.
So this was my challenge...
I have asked my family to join us in another rice and bean fast for the next week until Thanksgiving day. We start in the morning. I pray that God will use this next week to really draw our family closer to Him. Most of my family is going to join us in this fast. Some will be doing different variations of it. However, we are going to take the money that we all save on food for the week and donate it to Amazima Ministries.
To the family... let's remember to keep each other covered in prayer for the week.
1 John 3:16,17
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the worlds goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
2 months DTE!
Well, as of today we have been DTE (dossier to Ethiopia) for 2 months! We are moving along in this waiting period quickly! I can't believe that we have been done with our paperwork for 2 months. We still have a few more months of waiting to go before we hear anything from Ethiopia but we are moving along. I really don't expect to hear anything at all until after the new year.
God has been good in the waiting. Our sunday school class at church has been going through Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. This has been a great thing for our class and I am excited to see what God is going to do through it. I think that reading this book a year ago was one of the catalyst that led us down the road we are on right now (to Ethiopia!)
Also, God has continued to provide money for us though we have not really been actively doing fundraisers. One of the ways that we have come up with more money is that we decided to "fast" from grocery shopping for a month. We have 2 days to go. We only bought staple items, sugar, flour, milk, cheese, etc. We have been living out of our freezer and pantry for a month now cleaning it out. Heather has been baking bread and snacks like crazy! (which I love) We have spent about $35 on groceries for the month allowing us to save what we normally would spend. In cleaning out our freezer I have pulled a ham from our pig that we slaughtered a few months back. I can't wait to eat it in a few days.
That is all the news from us right now.
I was able to see both the sunrise and sunset today. Praise God for His beauty! God is Good.
God has been good in the waiting. Our sunday school class at church has been going through Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. This has been a great thing for our class and I am excited to see what God is going to do through it. I think that reading this book a year ago was one of the catalyst that led us down the road we are on right now (to Ethiopia!)
Also, God has continued to provide money for us though we have not really been actively doing fundraisers. One of the ways that we have come up with more money is that we decided to "fast" from grocery shopping for a month. We have 2 days to go. We only bought staple items, sugar, flour, milk, cheese, etc. We have been living out of our freezer and pantry for a month now cleaning it out. Heather has been baking bread and snacks like crazy! (which I love) We have spent about $35 on groceries for the month allowing us to save what we normally would spend. In cleaning out our freezer I have pulled a ham from our pig that we slaughtered a few months back. I can't wait to eat it in a few days.
That is all the news from us right now.
I was able to see both the sunrise and sunset today. Praise God for His beauty! God is Good.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Christmas ornament fundraiser
We are selling handmade Christmas ornaments, just in time for the holidays!! We can customize the ornament, if you would like to have your child's name added it or would prefer different wording! They are $10 for locals, and $13 with shipping.
If you would like to place an order, email us at heathernadam@yahoo.com
Friday, October 15, 2010
Good friends!
God is good all the time, even in waiting!
I really feel like that is all that needs to be said cause that is where we are:)
Since starting this adoption process we have been blessed to meet some new friends, Art and Briana Hori. We did not even know them at all when the summer started. Now, they are some of our biggest supporters and closest friends. They have been there with us for all of our fundraisers helping us sell things and taking care of the kids. It really helped at our garage sale having a spanish speaker. Art sold a ton!
The newest thing that Briana is doing for us is making these flowers for us to sell. Up above is an example. Here is her description of them. You can email us and we can send you more pictures of them.
Support Adam and Heather's adoption by buying a handmade flower. 100% of the proceeds will go to helping them bring their baby home! The flowers look amazing as hair pieces, headbands, pinned to your favorite sweater, or to a purse...The possibilities are endless! Send me a message... I can even customize a flower just for you with your favorite colors and styles. Hair clips and headbands: $8 Pins: $7
If you would like to buy one let us know. You can send us a comment or email us @ heathernadam@yahoo.com We would be happy to ship them as well.
Meanwhile, we will continue to wait on the Lord and trust in His provisions for us.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
10 year anniversary
Today marks the 10 year anniversary for Heather and I. I just want to put it out there that I am a blessed man. Heather is a gorgeous wife, beautiful, full of passion and grace. She is a wonderful mother to our three children (soon to be four) and is always a giver. We have had grown closer and closer each and every day. She is my best friend. I couldn't imagine tackling life's hurdles without her. She is always striving to have the heart of Jesus. She is my support. I love you Heather.
Adam
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Fast: Last day!
We are coming to the end of our rice and bean fast and what an amazing experience it has been.
God is GOOD.
He has taught us so many things over the week. We have learned to rely on Him more.
God provides.
We have been eating roughly 1100 calories daily, and maintaining our "normal" life. I have rarely been hungry. Though, now at day seven I can feel myself losing some energy I know that God is providing me with what I need.
Changing my eating routine has been one of the hardest things for me. The other hard thing has been that I am REALLY bored with rice and beans. Yet, I have the luxury of getting to eat something different tomorrow. A HUGE majority of the world does not have that luxury that you and I have. They look forward to rice and beans today (hopefully), tomorrow (hopefully), and a year from now (hopefully).
This week God has laid it on my heart to read all of the passages in the Bible that relate to the poor and the hungry. This took a while as there are a LOT!) You know what it means when something is repeated over and over again. IT MUST BE IMPORTANT. Let me share a few of these with you.
Proverbs 21:13
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
Proverbs 22:2
Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.
Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. Notice the command in there. It is not an option for us as followers of Christ.
Isaiah 3:14
The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses." This judgement is against His own people. We are His people as well, let us take this to heart.
Matthew 25:40
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Luke 4:18
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Also found in Isaiah 61:1-2. This is the scripture that OUR Jesus used to describe himself and to proclaim His ministry. If we are to be Christians and to follow Christ, we should follow his example.
I pray that these will change you.
They have been changing me.
What is really important in this life?
We are the rich ones in the Bible.
Let us be openhanded towards the poor and needy.
It is not easy.
Following Christ is not supposed to be easy.
God is GOOD.
He has taught us so many things over the week. We have learned to rely on Him more.
God provides.
We have been eating roughly 1100 calories daily, and maintaining our "normal" life. I have rarely been hungry. Though, now at day seven I can feel myself losing some energy I know that God is providing me with what I need.
Changing my eating routine has been one of the hardest things for me. The other hard thing has been that I am REALLY bored with rice and beans. Yet, I have the luxury of getting to eat something different tomorrow. A HUGE majority of the world does not have that luxury that you and I have. They look forward to rice and beans today (hopefully), tomorrow (hopefully), and a year from now (hopefully).
This week God has laid it on my heart to read all of the passages in the Bible that relate to the poor and the hungry. This took a while as there are a LOT!) You know what it means when something is repeated over and over again. IT MUST BE IMPORTANT. Let me share a few of these with you.
Proverbs 21:13
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
Proverbs 22:2
Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.
Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. Notice the command in there. It is not an option for us as followers of Christ.
Isaiah 3:14
The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses." This judgement is against His own people. We are His people as well, let us take this to heart.
Matthew 25:40
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Luke 4:18
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Also found in Isaiah 61:1-2. This is the scripture that OUR Jesus used to describe himself and to proclaim His ministry. If we are to be Christians and to follow Christ, we should follow his example.
I pray that these will change you.
They have been changing me.
What is really important in this life?
We are the rich ones in the Bible.
Let us be openhanded towards the poor and needy.
It is not easy.
Following Christ is not supposed to be easy.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Well, day three of our rice and beans fast is done!! We are almost half way there. The past few days have been challenging, to say the least. But, in a good way. I think that not being able to run to the refrigerator when hunger pains strike or exhaustion sets in has allowed me to be completely dependent on God. I'm experiencing first hand that He is our ultimate provider! It's really incredible. This afternoon I was completely spent. I had gotten past the hunger, but just felt drained of all energy. But as I began praying, and asking God to sustain me, and fill me up with HIM, I felt a surge of energy coarse through my veins, and I was no longer tired. In fact I find myself running to Him throughout the day, almost as though we are having a running conversation.
This fast has definitely had it's challenges though. For one, feeding my kids is beyond difficult! The smell of pancakes and syrup this evening had my head spinning and my mouth salivating. Plus, there have been a couple of times where I have almost forgotten all about the fast and (almost) licked my fingers after making the girls peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Some of you might be wondering what we have been doing with ourselves during our fast week. Well, for me it is virtually impossible to "relax". Relaxing to me means kicking back with a homemade frappe. But, since that's not happening, I find it difficult to sit down. Adam started his weekend at the beginning of our fast (on Wednesday) and in that time we have been on a canning frenzy! We have picked peeled and canned over 160 jars of apple pie filling, apple cinnamon syrup, pizza sauce, grape jelly, salsa, tomato paste, and stewed tomatoes. We plan to sell most of this at our next produce sale (Sunday Oct. 3). Please continue to keep us in your prayers over the next 4 days as we continue our fast!
This fast has definitely had it's challenges though. For one, feeding my kids is beyond difficult! The smell of pancakes and syrup this evening had my head spinning and my mouth salivating. Plus, there have been a couple of times where I have almost forgotten all about the fast and (almost) licked my fingers after making the girls peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Some of you might be wondering what we have been doing with ourselves during our fast week. Well, for me it is virtually impossible to "relax". Relaxing to me means kicking back with a homemade frappe. But, since that's not happening, I find it difficult to sit down. Adam started his weekend at the beginning of our fast (on Wednesday) and in that time we have been on a canning frenzy! We have picked peeled and canned over 160 jars of apple pie filling, apple cinnamon syrup, pizza sauce, grape jelly, salsa, tomato paste, and stewed tomatoes. We plan to sell most of this at our next produce sale (Sunday Oct. 3). Please continue to keep us in your prayers over the next 4 days as we continue our fast!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Fast- Day One
We are coming to the end of the first 24 hours of our week long fast eating only rice and beans. What an experience we are in! It is so awesome to rely more on God, feel the prayers of others and struggle though something that is really not easy.
Let me answer some of the questions that we have been getting.
Heather and I felt God tug at our hearts to do this fast independently. We then came together a couple of weeks ago with the same idea that eating rice and beans would be something that we could do to save some money for our adoption. It is amazing how God works! We had just finished reading another blog that has inspired us so much. Check out the blog Amazima on the left.
One of the really cool things is that we are not doing this by ourselves. God was tugging at the heart of one of our friends to take this journey with us. How awesome is that!
Why are we doing this? It is threefold really. One, God asked us to do it. Two, to give us a glimpse into the lives of others that are not as fortunate as us. Three, to save some money to help bring our baby home.
What have we leaned after one day. Rice and beans plain sucks! Black beans are not quite as good when they are not wrapped in a burrito smothered with guacamole. The hardest thing for me is to change my habits. I snack all the time and I love sweets. The hardest thing for Heather is knowing that the next meal is going to be the same.
Yet, we know that there is an end in sight. There are millions living in this world right now, eating less that we have been. There is no end in sight for these. As Christians we are called to feed them. We need to be doing more of this. We are filthy rich compared to others. We need to start comparing ourselves with those less fortunate than us rather than comparing ourselves to those that have more than us.
Heather had a great quote as we tried to eat our lunch. "We are eating to LIVE, rather than living to EAT!" It is a different thought process. We live in a society that revolves around indulging ourselves with food. How often do we buy more than we can eat or cook more than we need? We need to stop doing this. I love good food and I believe that it is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us. However, we need to be liberal with our giving and limit our wasting.
Okay we are done preaching for the night, but stay tuned. Wait until I have gone 5 days with only 1000 calories a day!
Let me answer some of the questions that we have been getting.
Heather and I felt God tug at our hearts to do this fast independently. We then came together a couple of weeks ago with the same idea that eating rice and beans would be something that we could do to save some money for our adoption. It is amazing how God works! We had just finished reading another blog that has inspired us so much. Check out the blog Amazima on the left.
One of the really cool things is that we are not doing this by ourselves. God was tugging at the heart of one of our friends to take this journey with us. How awesome is that!
Why are we doing this? It is threefold really. One, God asked us to do it. Two, to give us a glimpse into the lives of others that are not as fortunate as us. Three, to save some money to help bring our baby home.
What have we leaned after one day. Rice and beans plain sucks! Black beans are not quite as good when they are not wrapped in a burrito smothered with guacamole. The hardest thing for me is to change my habits. I snack all the time and I love sweets. The hardest thing for Heather is knowing that the next meal is going to be the same.
Yet, we know that there is an end in sight. There are millions living in this world right now, eating less that we have been. There is no end in sight for these. As Christians we are called to feed them. We need to be doing more of this. We are filthy rich compared to others. We need to start comparing ourselves with those less fortunate than us rather than comparing ourselves to those that have more than us.
Heather had a great quote as we tried to eat our lunch. "We are eating to LIVE, rather than living to EAT!" It is a different thought process. We live in a society that revolves around indulging ourselves with food. How often do we buy more than we can eat or cook more than we need? We need to stop doing this. I love good food and I believe that it is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us. However, we need to be liberal with our giving and limit our wasting.
Okay we are done preaching for the night, but stay tuned. Wait until I have gone 5 days with only 1000 calories a day!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Fundraiser
We need prayer!
We have come up with another way that we can save some money ourselves and put a little bit more into the adoption fund this month:) We are SUPER excited about this but a little anxious as well. Here is what we are going to be doing. Starting next Wed, for one week, we will only be eating rice and beans two times a day. We are going to take the money saved from our normal grocery bill and put it towards our adoption. It has been on our heart to do this for a while now and we are looking forward to being able to fast in this way. The reason we choose rice and beans is that it is a staple for poorer people throughout the world. We are going to allow ourselves one luxury though....COFFEE! (Coffee or tea is a staple throughout Africa as well:)
The reason that I am posting this right now is because now that it is out there in internet world we are a LOT more accountable to it:) We ask for your prayers to help us get through the week, especially while I (Adam) am at work as I think that that will be the hardest for me.
We are having another fundraiser veggie/bake sale this Saturday at our home from noon to 4pm. Today, we were very busy making 12 batches of marinara sauce, and tomorrow we will be making pizza sauce as well to sell. We have tons of tomatoes, a huge variety of veggies, as well as cookies for sale. Another new item that we have for sale are some t-shirts. I will post a picture of them soon, but they have the picture of Africa on the front and the definition of Adoption on the back.
We want everyone to know how much we appreciate the support that we have been receiving. It is AWESOME seeing how God has been working through friends, family and strangers.
We have come up with another way that we can save some money ourselves and put a little bit more into the adoption fund this month:) We are SUPER excited about this but a little anxious as well. Here is what we are going to be doing. Starting next Wed, for one week, we will only be eating rice and beans two times a day. We are going to take the money saved from our normal grocery bill and put it towards our adoption. It has been on our heart to do this for a while now and we are looking forward to being able to fast in this way. The reason we choose rice and beans is that it is a staple for poorer people throughout the world. We are going to allow ourselves one luxury though....COFFEE! (Coffee or tea is a staple throughout Africa as well:)
The reason that I am posting this right now is because now that it is out there in internet world we are a LOT more accountable to it:) We ask for your prayers to help us get through the week, especially while I (Adam) am at work as I think that that will be the hardest for me.
We are having another fundraiser veggie/bake sale this Saturday at our home from noon to 4pm. Today, we were very busy making 12 batches of marinara sauce, and tomorrow we will be making pizza sauce as well to sell. We have tons of tomatoes, a huge variety of veggies, as well as cookies for sale. Another new item that we have for sale are some t-shirts. I will post a picture of them soon, but they have the picture of Africa on the front and the definition of Adoption on the back.
We want everyone to know how much we appreciate the support that we have been receiving. It is AWESOME seeing how God has been working through friends, family and strangers.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
As of Friday the 3rd, we are officially DTE (dossier to Ethiopia!) Our dossier is currently flying right now over the Atlantic enroute to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:) Our next step is to wait, and wait and wait. During the waiting process we will continue to do some fundraising, applying for grants and getting our babies room ready:) Thanks for your continual support and prayers.
Monday, August 30, 2010
This week in my quiet time I have read this passage over and over. I think that it is incredibly powerful and thought that I should share it.
Pause and let it speak to you.
1 John 3:17,18, 23
If anyone has material possessions (yes that is all of us here in America) and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (18) Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (23) And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
Adam
Pause and let it speak to you.
1 John 3:17,18, 23
If anyone has material possessions (yes that is all of us here in America) and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (18) Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (23) And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
Adam
Sunday, August 29, 2010
We had a VERY busy weekend!! We spent all day Friday getting our garage sale stuff sorted and folded so that Saturday morning we could be ready to go. In addition to our garage sale, we had a produce stand along side, where we sold our homegrown veggies, homemade jams and pickles and our handmade ornaments! Adam began getting everything out onto the lawn at 6:00 am, and within minutes, people were already making purchases! It was CRAZY! It was a lot of work, but the day turned out to be a HUGE success! We made $1,487!!! PLUS, we still have some "big ticket" items that we have posted on craigslist! God has completely blessed us, and we are AMAZED!!
We could not have gotten thru the day without the help of our family and friends. Thank you so much; Jim and Sandy, Art and Briana, and Sarah!! You guys are AWESOME! ALSO, we want to thank everyone who donated to our garage sale! What a HUGE blessing you have been to us!
Along with Friday being "garage sale" busy, we also had our dossier that we really wanted to get submitted. We needed to have our last form notarized, and then Adam had the HUGE job of sorting everything, copying everything (four times) and then sorting it all again, and making sure that each and every piece that was needed was actually there and correct. Somehow, we got it all done, and mailed off our dossier Friday afternoon around 1:00. Hopefully it will arrive at our agency in Virginia on Monday!
So, now that our dossier is complete, we begin the wait!
We are thrilled that our paper chasing is behind us, and that we are also thru with our garage sale. We are only just beginning to think about our next fundraiser (in September), but we are pretty sure it will include our homegrown tomatoes again, as well as some homemade marinara!:)
We could not have gotten thru the day without the help of our family and friends. Thank you so much; Jim and Sandy, Art and Briana, and Sarah!! You guys are AWESOME! ALSO, we want to thank everyone who donated to our garage sale! What a HUGE blessing you have been to us!
Along with Friday being "garage sale" busy, we also had our dossier that we really wanted to get submitted. We needed to have our last form notarized, and then Adam had the HUGE job of sorting everything, copying everything (four times) and then sorting it all again, and making sure that each and every piece that was needed was actually there and correct. Somehow, we got it all done, and mailed off our dossier Friday afternoon around 1:00. Hopefully it will arrive at our agency in Virginia on Monday!
So, now that our dossier is complete, we begin the wait!
We are thrilled that our paper chasing is behind us, and that we are also thru with our garage sale. We are only just beginning to think about our next fundraiser (in September), but we are pretty sure it will include our homegrown tomatoes again, as well as some homemade marinara!:)
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Well, the first leg of our adoption journey is finally coming to an end. We received our final piece of paperwork today that is needed for our Dossier! (For those who have forgotten, our dossier is our Huge pile of paperwork that we have been compiling together for the past four months)! This is HUGE people! Four months of getting paperwork like letters from our doctors that we are healthy. Only, not just any letter, but very specific form letters. It has all been worth it though, because in the end, we know we are getting a baby that God has hand-picked just for US! Needless to say, we are so excited to be celebrating this very monumental day.
So, what is our next step? Well, Adam will be getting everything photocopied tomorrow (we have to make four copies of everything to send to Ethiopia). Then, we will be sending it via fed ex to our agency, and from there it goes to Ethiopia!
Amongst all this excitement, we have been VERY BUSY planning our Garage Sale/ Produce Sale Fundraiser. We have never had a garage sale before, so you can imagine the amount of stuff that we have accumulated in our almost TEN (yup, that's right:) years of marriage! We have gone through every closet, box, drawer, bin, basket, and cupboard! We have also gotten quite a few donations as well! We are SO excited to see how God blesses us on Saturday!
So, what is our next step? Well, Adam will be getting everything photocopied tomorrow (we have to make four copies of everything to send to Ethiopia). Then, we will be sending it via fed ex to our agency, and from there it goes to Ethiopia!
Amongst all this excitement, we have been VERY BUSY planning our Garage Sale/ Produce Sale Fundraiser. We have never had a garage sale before, so you can imagine the amount of stuff that we have accumulated in our almost TEN (yup, that's right:) years of marriage! We have gone through every closet, box, drawer, bin, basket, and cupboard! We have also gotten quite a few donations as well! We are SO excited to see how God blesses us on Saturday!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Our God is AWESOME!
Have you ever just sat and just been in awe of God? That is what I am doing right now. It is incredible. What an AWESOME God we serve.
I have a cup of coffee.
I have a campfire.
All the kids have been sleeping for 2 hours.
I have worship music on.
All of this and God has been showing me his shooting stars, and owls!
This has become a frequent nightly ritual for Heather and I. The only difference tonight is that Heather is out with friends.
I look forward to these nights all day long, today has been no exception. I would encourage everybody to get out of the house and enjoy God and all the beauty He has given us. Come to our house if you need it:)
We have had a busy day today. We cleaned out our garage in preparing for our garage sale coming up on the 28th. It is nice to have a clean garage again. We went through everything! Even the boxes that we just stowed away right when we moved in to this house 2 years ago.
(Maybe it is a good thing Heather is not here tonight. I am burning old financial stuff, found in the garage today. The wind just picked up, blew embers and started to catch a bush on fire. It is a good thing that I know how to take care of it I guess:)
Coming up this Sunday, the 22nd we are having another veggie and back sale. It will be after church at our house. We would love for everybody to come. Here are some of the items that we will be having.
Also, we have some ornaments for sale. They are $15 total (including shipping). We plan to put a little link to them on our blog soon, but for now you can email us with your information and we can send you one.
Thank you to everybody that continues to support us. God has provided SO MUCH to us. We still have a long ways to go, but we have all the money that we need to send our dossier in as soon as we can. We know that not everybody can adopt an orphan themselves, but we love seeing God work through His body. Remember, WE are HIS hands and feet.
Now, I need to throw more paper on the fire:) Yes, I am serious, I am a slow learner.
Adam
I have a cup of coffee.
I have a campfire.
All the kids have been sleeping for 2 hours.
I have worship music on.
All of this and God has been showing me his shooting stars, and owls!
This has become a frequent nightly ritual for Heather and I. The only difference tonight is that Heather is out with friends.
I look forward to these nights all day long, today has been no exception. I would encourage everybody to get out of the house and enjoy God and all the beauty He has given us. Come to our house if you need it:)
We have had a busy day today. We cleaned out our garage in preparing for our garage sale coming up on the 28th. It is nice to have a clean garage again. We went through everything! Even the boxes that we just stowed away right when we moved in to this house 2 years ago.
(Maybe it is a good thing Heather is not here tonight. I am burning old financial stuff, found in the garage today. The wind just picked up, blew embers and started to catch a bush on fire. It is a good thing that I know how to take care of it I guess:)
Coming up this Sunday, the 22nd we are having another veggie and back sale. It will be after church at our house. We would love for everybody to come. Here are some of the items that we will be having.
Also, we have some ornaments for sale. They are $15 total (including shipping). We plan to put a little link to them on our blog soon, but for now you can email us with your information and we can send you one.
Thank you to everybody that continues to support us. God has provided SO MUCH to us. We still have a long ways to go, but we have all the money that we need to send our dossier in as soon as we can. We know that not everybody can adopt an orphan themselves, but we love seeing God work through His body. Remember, WE are HIS hands and feet.
Now, I need to throw more paper on the fire:) Yes, I am serious, I am a slow learner.
Adam
Monday, August 9, 2010
Fingerprinting: DONE!!
We went to Salinas today to see about doing our fingerprinting a few days early. It went SO great!! We just walked right into the office, told them we had an appointment on Thursday, but wondered if we could get it done today because Adam works Thursday (trying to preserve all the sick time he has:)! And they were so great! They were like "Oh, definitely, that's not a problem at all." After we finished up there, we took the girls to the Aquarium:)
It feels like we are getting sooooo close to being DTE!!! For those of you who don't know, DTE means Dossier To Ethiopia. Once we get our Dossier (ALL of our paperwork) sent, we just wait for the referral of a BABY!!!!!
We are working on getting all of our paperwork together tonight, because tomorrow night we will be getting everything notarized!! CRAZY! Then once we get our fingerprinting paperwork back, we are hoping to take a little trip to Sacramento (to our state capital:) where everything will be getting certified!! Then we send that in, and VOILA! DTE!!! Can't you just feel it?? It's SOOO CLOSE!
It feels like we are getting sooooo close to being DTE!!! For those of you who don't know, DTE means Dossier To Ethiopia. Once we get our Dossier (ALL of our paperwork) sent, we just wait for the referral of a BABY!!!!!
We are working on getting all of our paperwork together tonight, because tomorrow night we will be getting everything notarized!! CRAZY! Then once we get our fingerprinting paperwork back, we are hoping to take a little trip to Sacramento (to our state capital:) where everything will be getting certified!! Then we send that in, and VOILA! DTE!!! Can't you just feel it?? It's SOOO CLOSE!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
We are so excited!! We have received our date for our biometrics fingerprints. We are scheduled to be in Salinas on Thursday the 12th, but are hoping to get it done a few days early on Monday. This way Adam will not have to miss work. Hopefully this will work out well. We mailed off our first application for a grant as well today. We trust that God will provide, and maybe this might be an avenue that He will use.
We had a fabulous weekend camping at Lake Tahoe.
London and Geneva had a blast! London rode on a jet ski for the first time with Adam. She loved it!
Geneva was content to play in the sand, but wouldn't even put one toe it the water!
Capri did GREAT sleeping and crawling around in the dirt all day:)
London turned four years old today! We can't believe how fast the time has gone!
We are looking forward to our next couple of fundraisers. On Sunday Aug. 22nd we will be having another produce/bake sale from 1:00-5:00. And, on Saturday Aug. 29th we will be having a garage sale. Adam and I have been busy cleaning out our closets, looking for stuff that we might be able to sell. If you have anything that you would like to donate, we would LOVE to take that off of your hands:)
Thanks for all your prayers and support. God is good and has been teaching us how to be fully reliant upon Him!
We had a fabulous weekend camping at Lake Tahoe.
London and Geneva had a blast! London rode on a jet ski for the first time with Adam. She loved it!
Geneva was content to play in the sand, but wouldn't even put one toe it the water!
Capri did GREAT sleeping and crawling around in the dirt all day:)
London turned four years old today! We can't believe how fast the time has gone!
We are looking forward to our next couple of fundraisers. On Sunday Aug. 22nd we will be having another produce/bake sale from 1:00-5:00. And, on Saturday Aug. 29th we will be having a garage sale. Adam and I have been busy cleaning out our closets, looking for stuff that we might be able to sell. If you have anything that you would like to donate, we would LOVE to take that off of your hands:)
Thanks for all your prayers and support. God is good and has been teaching us how to be fully reliant upon Him!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
One more step completed
Since our last fundraiser we have been keeping very busy. We have completed one more step in our adoption process. We submitted our paperwork to the USCIS (United States Citizens and Immigration Services) department. We had to complete our home study prior to sending this application. Now, we wait to hear from them so that we can get an appointment to get fingerprinted (again.) This is an incredibly important step though, as this is the paperwork that will give the baby citizenship when we bring him/her home. This is a lengthy process and will likely take a couple of months.
In addition to this, we have started applying for grants to help us pay for the adoption. We won't get any confirmation on grants for a few months as well.
Our garage sale fundraiser is coming up quick (August 28th) and we have been busy collecting donations.
Two days ago we decided to go camping. Our church has reserved about 40 spots at beautiful Lake Tahoe. We were lucky enough to be able to snag one of the last spots and we are leaving in 2 days. So we are quickly trying to get our three kids ready to go camping. We love going to Tahoe as it is something that we have been doing every year for almost our entire lives. It is such an amazing and beautiful place. God's beauty is everywhere.
Here are some ways to pray for us....
1. Pray that we all do well camping, especially our sweet little Capri who is only a year. When we had Geneva camping at a year I almost packed us up at 2 am and drove home it was so miserable.
2. Pray that we can complete our grant applications and that God will continue to provide for us financially.
3. Pray that our USCIS application, and fingerprinting will go quickly so that we can move on to the next step.
4. Pray that God will help us to keep our eyes fixed on Christ, and use this adoption as a way for us to bring glory to Him.
In addition to this, we have started applying for grants to help us pay for the adoption. We won't get any confirmation on grants for a few months as well.
Our garage sale fundraiser is coming up quick (August 28th) and we have been busy collecting donations.
Two days ago we decided to go camping. Our church has reserved about 40 spots at beautiful Lake Tahoe. We were lucky enough to be able to snag one of the last spots and we are leaving in 2 days. So we are quickly trying to get our three kids ready to go camping. We love going to Tahoe as it is something that we have been doing every year for almost our entire lives. It is such an amazing and beautiful place. God's beauty is everywhere.
Here are some ways to pray for us....
1. Pray that we all do well camping, especially our sweet little Capri who is only a year. When we had Geneva camping at a year I almost packed us up at 2 am and drove home it was so miserable.
2. Pray that we can complete our grant applications and that God will continue to provide for us financially.
3. Pray that our USCIS application, and fingerprinting will go quickly so that we can move on to the next step.
4. Pray that God will help us to keep our eyes fixed on Christ, and use this adoption as a way for us to bring glory to Him.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Fundraising Success!
Well, our first fundraiser is done! What a HUGE success! God totally blew us away. We went into this fundraiser hoping to raise a little bit of money, but mostly to feel encouraged and supported by our family and friends. Well, we accomplished both. We raised a lot of money, $912 dollars, to be exact! But, even more encouraging was the love and support we got today! What a blessing that was. We were even encouraged by strangers who didn't even know us, but just wanted to support us. God is so Awesome! We truly feel like this is a journey that we are not traveling alone. We feel like you are walking this with us, to help us bring our baby home! So thank you to everyone who came down today, even in 100 degree heat, and showed your support! We are truly grateful!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Upcoming Fundraising event!
Come on down to the Farm! This Saturday July 17th from 12:00-5:00 we are having a fundraising event to raise money to help us bring our child home. We will be selling fresh picked squash, zucchini and apricots. We also will have homemade jam, Christmas ornaments, and baked goodies to buy as well.
At the end of August we will be having a garage sale to help raise funds for our adoption as well. If you have any items you would like to donate, we would be happy to take those off of your hands.
Thanks for your support!
At the end of August we will be having a garage sale to help raise funds for our adoption as well. If you have any items you would like to donate, we would be happy to take those off of your hands.
Thanks for your support!
Monday, July 5, 2010
I am weird
Tonight I lie in bed wide awake, unable to sleep with thoughts and prayers circling through my head. I can't concentrate to pray and so Lord, my prayer goes out.
THANK YOU Lord for the blessings that you have provided for me in my life. You have poured blessing after blessing on me. Thank you for my wife, for her unwavering love and for the wonderful mother that she is. Thank you for entrusting me with Your three girls to raise as they constantly bring a smile to my face. Looking back a few years, who knew what you had in store for me. Thank you for my job and a shelter over our heads. Thank you for giving us a little land to care for. Thank you for a supportive and loving family. Thank you Lord for allowing Heather and I to follow your lead with this adoption. Thank you for stretching me and growing me in ways that I never knew. Thank you for expanding my world view. Thank you for drawing me closer to You.
FORGIVE ME Lord for keeping my eyes closed for so long. Forgive me for being selfish for so long. Forgive me for not wanting to see the world for the way that it is. Forgive me for expecting others to change the same way that You change me. Forgive me for not spending money wisely in the past.
Lord, you are a BIG God with much bigger plans than I can grasp. 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia alone!!!! I know that right now you are calling us to adopt a baby. What about the rest? I was asked the question today, "why are you adopting? Isn't that expensive?" Lord, help me find a good answer to this question that allows me to focus on You and spread Your kingdom message. Right now, people just think that we are weird. We are the weird christians that do not have a TV anymore, and try to be as "green" as possible. We are the weird ones that adopt from overseas. We are the weird ones that grow a bunch of our own food and hang dry our laundry. We are the weird ones that think that homeschooling might be a good option for us. We are the weird ones that have not seen a new movie in years.
I accept being the "weird" one Lord if I am given that label for living for kingdom principles. You were "weird" Lord. You were not about trying to fit in, but you were about the widows, the orphans and the poor. You were about building your kingdom.
Speak through Heather and I Lord. Speak through our actions and speak through our mouths. Give us the right words to say when people ask why we do what we do. Lord to You be the glory. Let us be an instrument for you.
HELP me Lord to focus on You. Help me to cast my cares upon you. Help me to spread your Word. Help me to remember that You work in every believer in different ways. Help me not to judge others. Help me to be your hands and your feet.
James 1:27 says this. 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. Help me Lord from being polluted any more by the world and to consider others above myself.
I know that You are caring for our child in Ethiopia. I know that You are going to help us find ways to finance this adoption as we have no idea how we can do it on our own. I know that You don't expect perfection from us, but a heart that strives to be more like Yours. I know that you are working in our lives and ask that you continue to work in us. I ask that you continue to use us for Your glory. And when asked, that we will have the courage to continue to follow, even if that makes us weirder.
Lord, I love you, use me.
Amen
Now I can sleep. (after a midnight cake snack)
Adam
THANK YOU Lord for the blessings that you have provided for me in my life. You have poured blessing after blessing on me. Thank you for my wife, for her unwavering love and for the wonderful mother that she is. Thank you for entrusting me with Your three girls to raise as they constantly bring a smile to my face. Looking back a few years, who knew what you had in store for me. Thank you for my job and a shelter over our heads. Thank you for giving us a little land to care for. Thank you for a supportive and loving family. Thank you Lord for allowing Heather and I to follow your lead with this adoption. Thank you for stretching me and growing me in ways that I never knew. Thank you for expanding my world view. Thank you for drawing me closer to You.
FORGIVE ME Lord for keeping my eyes closed for so long. Forgive me for being selfish for so long. Forgive me for not wanting to see the world for the way that it is. Forgive me for expecting others to change the same way that You change me. Forgive me for not spending money wisely in the past.
Lord, you are a BIG God with much bigger plans than I can grasp. 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia alone!!!! I know that right now you are calling us to adopt a baby. What about the rest? I was asked the question today, "why are you adopting? Isn't that expensive?" Lord, help me find a good answer to this question that allows me to focus on You and spread Your kingdom message. Right now, people just think that we are weird. We are the weird christians that do not have a TV anymore, and try to be as "green" as possible. We are the weird ones that adopt from overseas. We are the weird ones that grow a bunch of our own food and hang dry our laundry. We are the weird ones that think that homeschooling might be a good option for us. We are the weird ones that have not seen a new movie in years.
I accept being the "weird" one Lord if I am given that label for living for kingdom principles. You were "weird" Lord. You were not about trying to fit in, but you were about the widows, the orphans and the poor. You were about building your kingdom.
Speak through Heather and I Lord. Speak through our actions and speak through our mouths. Give us the right words to say when people ask why we do what we do. Lord to You be the glory. Let us be an instrument for you.
HELP me Lord to focus on You. Help me to cast my cares upon you. Help me to spread your Word. Help me to remember that You work in every believer in different ways. Help me not to judge others. Help me to be your hands and your feet.
James 1:27 says this. 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. Help me Lord from being polluted any more by the world and to consider others above myself.
I know that You are caring for our child in Ethiopia. I know that You are going to help us find ways to finance this adoption as we have no idea how we can do it on our own. I know that You don't expect perfection from us, but a heart that strives to be more like Yours. I know that you are working in our lives and ask that you continue to work in us. I ask that you continue to use us for Your glory. And when asked, that we will have the courage to continue to follow, even if that makes us weirder.
Lord, I love you, use me.
Amen
Now I can sleep. (after a midnight cake snack)
Adam
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Police Station Visit
Things are moving along for us in this long and tedious process. We have gathered all of our necessary paperwork for our home study, and have our home visit on Tuesday the 29th of June. We are so excited that this leg of our journey will be finished. The visit on Tuesday will be a lengthy one to say the least. Our social worker will arrive at noon, and visit with us and our three girls as well. This portion will take approximately 30 minutes. She will then spend the next three and a half to four hours meeting with the two of us. Not sure how much there will be to talk about, but apparently that's how much time she needs! I guess we will find out
Gathering all of our paperwork for the home study as well as for our dossier (the BIG packet that eventually gets sent to Ethiopia) has been fairly comical. Adam and I and all the girls went to our local Sheriff's station here in San Martin to get fingerprinted. To call it a station is a bit of a stretch though. Let me just say, mobile homes in a dirt parking lot. Yeah, we are pretty ghetto out here in hick town:)! Our next field trip took us to the Sheriff headquarters downtown. With kids in tow, we went down to get our clearance letters. Unfortunately, we had to get our letters notarized, so we had to hire a notary to come to the station. The girls did great and planted pretend banana trees outside on the grass. When we left though, I think they were wondering why we made such a big deal about the police station. It definitely did not live up to the fire station that they are accustomed to visiting.
We are really looking forward to the day that our baby joins our family. Please join with us as we pray for our child, that God would keep him/her safe, free of illness, and that emotionally and psychologically he/she would be ready to be loved by our family. We are reading books on attachment issues, and this seems to be the biggest hurdle that adoptive families face. We also would appreciate your prayers and support for our upcoming fundraiser. We will be selling our fresh produce at our farm on Saturday July 17th from 12:00-5:00.
Gathering all of our paperwork for the home study as well as for our dossier (the BIG packet that eventually gets sent to Ethiopia) has been fairly comical. Adam and I and all the girls went to our local Sheriff's station here in San Martin to get fingerprinted. To call it a station is a bit of a stretch though. Let me just say, mobile homes in a dirt parking lot. Yeah, we are pretty ghetto out here in hick town:)! Our next field trip took us to the Sheriff headquarters downtown. With kids in tow, we went down to get our clearance letters. Unfortunately, we had to get our letters notarized, so we had to hire a notary to come to the station. The girls did great and planted pretend banana trees outside on the grass. When we left though, I think they were wondering why we made such a big deal about the police station. It definitely did not live up to the fire station that they are accustomed to visiting.
We are really looking forward to the day that our baby joins our family. Please join with us as we pray for our child, that God would keep him/her safe, free of illness, and that emotionally and psychologically he/she would be ready to be loved by our family. We are reading books on attachment issues, and this seems to be the biggest hurdle that adoptive families face. We also would appreciate your prayers and support for our upcoming fundraiser. We will be selling our fresh produce at our farm on Saturday July 17th from 12:00-5:00.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Working Hard
Well, we just thought we should give you a little update as to where we are at in the adoption process and what we have been up to.
In our "spare time" we have been trying to get all of our home study paperwork completed, as well as scheduling various appointments and completing online adoption courses. Luckily, we don't have a TV, or really anything better to be doing in the evenings, so I think we are getting through the paperwork process relatively quickly. Plus, as most of you know, when Adam and I decide to do something, we like to dive right in and get it done! Hopefully by Wednesday of this week we should have most everything done for our home study packet that we can do, and hope to be able to have our second home visit. Since we have already adopted before, we didn't need to do the first visit, so we are already one down, and three to go!
In addition to completing piles and piles of paperwork, we have joined a yahoo chat group for families adopting from Ethiopia thru our adoption agency, America World Adoptions. This has been exciting for me, as it is a great way to meet other families in or finished with the process. It is a huge source of encouragement to be able to "talk" to other families doing the same thing, and hearing how God has provided. I can already tell, this year is going to be an awesome year of spiritual growth, and learning to completely rely on God's mighty power. Thinking about this gets me completely excited!
Adam and I have also been trying to come up with various ways that we can fund raise this summer and fall. If you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear them!
In our "spare time" we have been trying to get all of our home study paperwork completed, as well as scheduling various appointments and completing online adoption courses. Luckily, we don't have a TV, or really anything better to be doing in the evenings, so I think we are getting through the paperwork process relatively quickly. Plus, as most of you know, when Adam and I decide to do something, we like to dive right in and get it done! Hopefully by Wednesday of this week we should have most everything done for our home study packet that we can do, and hope to be able to have our second home visit. Since we have already adopted before, we didn't need to do the first visit, so we are already one down, and three to go!
In addition to completing piles and piles of paperwork, we have joined a yahoo chat group for families adopting from Ethiopia thru our adoption agency, America World Adoptions. This has been exciting for me, as it is a great way to meet other families in or finished with the process. It is a huge source of encouragement to be able to "talk" to other families doing the same thing, and hearing how God has provided. I can already tell, this year is going to be an awesome year of spiritual growth, and learning to completely rely on God's mighty power. Thinking about this gets me completely excited!
Adam and I have also been trying to come up with various ways that we can fund raise this summer and fall. If you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear them!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Just when we thought our family was complete...
Adam and I were sure that Capri would be our last baby. But, God has other plans in mind. April 13th Adam and I began to seriously discuss the idea of adopting a baby (again) but this time, from Africa! We have always had a connection with East Africa, and quickly learned that Ethiopia has one of the highest orphan populations in the world, at roughly 4.3 million! Our hearts broke.
We believe this is something God is calling us to do, and we have two choices. We can either choose to ignore God, and continue living life content with our family the way it is. Or, we can choose to listen to God, walk through the doors that He is opening, and see what amazing things He has in store. For us, the answer is obvious!
Even though we know that we are in God's will, it still seems overwhelmingly scary at times. God is good though, and he is putting just the right people in our lives to lift us up and encourage us at just the right times.
One of the scariest things for us, is the cost that is involved. Adoptions are very expensive, and Ethiopia is about $30-$35,000. God has already started providing, and we are trusting that He will continue to do so.
The adoption process takes about 12 -18 months, and right now we are in the very beginning stages, just starting to fill out the insurmountable pile of paperwork. They call it the "paperwork pregnancy"! We are so excited to welcome a new member into our family!
Thanks for Praying!
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