Adoption news

We found out recently that the N. government has set a deadline for themselves to finish the referrals from 2009 by March. Of course, I was saddened to hear that our file will not be reviewed until March, but I am burdened for the families that have been waiting for a referral since the early part of last year. One of the ten families has had their referral for their little boy since September and still have not traveled to get him. You know the waiting has to be tougher for them. The good thing is they are believers and are trusting God! One of the waiting families sent an email that gave me a different perspective. She said as hard as it is for us, just think about the kids in N. that want a family to love them and do not have suitable living conditions and are living in poverty. Think about how hard their life must be. Again its not about us but about them! Please pray for the government to start making progress with these referrals and issuing travel approvals! Pray for the kids to be loved, comforted, and protected by the Father as they wait!

*You may have noticed that I started abbreviating our kids' home country. We were told to be careful what we post in our blogs because the country is very private about their adoptions. When we receive a referral I will start a private blog.

Jessica

Christmas 2009

Hello everyone,

Jessica here. I have been meaning to blog since Christmas. Been pretty busy! I wanted to tell you some of my favorite times from Christmas week. I took a week of vacation and we went home to Louisiana to visit friends and family. These pics help tell my story. I wanted to make this Christmas special for my nephew since we will likely have kids of our own next Christmas. He and I painted Christmas ornaments and decorated a gingerbread train(so cool). My mom, myself, Kayle, Grace, Emma, and Will also went to one of the local nursing homes to sing Christmas carols and deliver cookies to my aunt and some other residents. We had a really good time and Kayle told me later that Emma prayed for the people we met at the nursing home that night. That made it worth the trip for sure...to show the kids that we should think of others at Christmas and not just worry about what gifts we're getting!

My dad surprised me by helping me roll the ginger cookies! Sweet time! I love him. He was pretty proud of himself! It was funny. I pray I don't take for granted times like these that I have left with my parents. Since we've moved away from family, it makes me view the time I spend with them in a different light. I enjoyed going to Jackson with my mom and sister to do some Christmas shopping.

Well I'm getting teary just thinking about all of this. We had a wonderful Christmas and I am praying and trusting that our kids will be home with us for the next one. I can't wait to start our Christmas traditions with them.

like Q-bert

Everyone keeps asking if we've heard anything new and the answer continues to be not yet. But don't stop asking, because sometome the answer will be "YES!!!" We're excited for that time.

Most recently I have decided to sit down with some different men that I respect and quiz them about parenting, spiritually guiding my home, etc. When we were home this past week, I had the opportunity to have lunch with our pastor, Waymond Warren, aka Brother Waymond. It was difficult for me to stay on topic because we so rarely get to talk. I jumped around from topic to topic like Q-bert. Brother Waymond is a leader. He makes the tough calls in his family and for the church. Both are blessed to have him. One day he will stand accountable for that which God has given him. And I will stand accountable for mine. Thats' heavy.

I also got to sit down with Dr. Thomas White. I won't recap our enitre conversation because...well...just because. For those of you who don't know who Dr. White is, he is the vice-president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, professor, author, adoptive father, and great man of God. I'm quite certain he would order thos differently. Probably exactly opposite of the way I did. Anyway, it was a great conversation. I will share one thing that he told me: bring everything back to the Gospel. He shared a few examples of watching a thunderstorm with his daughter, their Christmas traditions, and marker on the walls.

We should all look for things in day to day life that point people to Christ. The first step is to pray that God would give you the wisdom to see these opportunities. Once you begin seeing them, then start applying them.

I plan on sitting down with several other great men and will pass the wisdom. Until then...



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I'm thankful...

I'm thankful...
That my wife wife is more beautiful today than the day we married.
That my brother Clint is with us for Thanksgiving.
That this is the last Thanksgiving we will spend apart from our kids.
That we've been blessed to adopt.
That we are spending Thanksgiving in a warm home with wonderful friends.
That my sweet wife just came in and told me that I have to finish the pie, the cake, and the yams. Did I mention I'm already doing the turkey? So I gotta stop now.
For such great friends, I am especially thankful. And as always...


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grace our blog!

So, as many of you know THE SHIRTS ARE IN!!! We are asking for a minimum of $15 (cash, check, or PayPal). We have S, M, L, XL, and XXL. We are seeing about getting kids sizes. Please leave us a message if you would order a child's shirt. All of the proceeds will go to help fund other adoptions. More to come on that...

Here is my beautiful bride sporting her stylish new N. shirt. She's so cute!

Please send us pictures of you and your loved ones wearing their shirts; we would love to have your presence grace our blog!

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Adoption is not...

A few of you have told me that we should post more often. The problem is we don't have any new news. All of our paperwork is in N. waiting for January to come so it can be processed. Then approximately 3 months later we will recieve a referral. This will include pictures and whatever information they have on our children. So that will be around March, give or take. About 3 months after that will have clearance to travel to N. to pick up our kiddos! We will spend about 2 weeks there. The first week we will visit them in the orphanage and the second week they will come stay with us at the hotel and be with us from then on.

We're really excited.

We interupt this irregularly scheduled blog with a confession from its sponsor: I'm really only writing this repetitive update because I wanted to try out this new Blogger iPhone app. Now back to the program.

We are extremely grateful to Brother Waymond Warren for allowing us the opportunity to speak to our Fair Park family this past Sunday about adoption. For those of you that don't know, November is Adoption Awareness month (or something like that). Since we have yet to complete the entire process we decided to talk briefly about what adoption is not. Jessica gave me the majority of mic time because she knows I love talking into a mic and in front of people. Well, really I just like talking. Anyway, I want to breifly recap what adoption is not.

1. It is not natural. It is the result of the fallen world in which we live. It is however our call as Christians to love and care for orphans and widows.

2. It is not a back up plan. It is the great commission. God has called us to make disciples of all nations. Is there a better way than to bring a child into a loving home?

3. It is not for individual couples. It's for the mission-minded church. If we believe that God has adopted (grafted) us into His family why would the church not be excited about doing that for others? Dr. Russell Moore says, "If we believe God in heavenly things, we will follow Him in earthly things."

4. It is not shameful. I grew up hearing very little about adoption. It was only talked about in hushed tones, the same way one speaks of cousin Frank's meth problem or the rumor that daddy took a mistress. Adoption should not be whispered about; it should be celebrated! It is a beautiful picture of the Gospel, maybe the clearest of all.

I'm done rambling.


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Oh the anticipation...

Well, hello folks,

Ryan here. Just wanted say a few things. Pick up a copy of Adopted For Life. Be it from the library, bookstore, or friendly neighborhood superhero. Read it. Pass it on. This book by Russell Moore is eye-opening.

As he does in his book, I've tried to compare what the process is like to what I think the process might be like for...gosh I'm at a loss for words...a couple doing this biologically, or naturally. I, at first, hesitated to say "naturally", but it's true adoption is not natural in the sense that God created it that way. It is the result of the fallen world in which we dwell. It may not be God's original intention, but it is God's call for our lives now. Not just mine and Jessica's life, but ours in a collective sense. Anyway, I think the comparison is like we're pregnant. We are anticipating the arrival of our children. We wonder what there names might be and imagine their little faces, and what games they might enjoy. So, it's like we're pregnant.

We just had our immigration approval notarized and dropped in the mail. Hurry up and wait. That seems to be the theme for the adoption process. Hurry up and get everything done so that you can sit on your hands in anticipation of receiving the referral. I guess the referral will be like the ultrasouund only our ultrasound will show more than a fuzzy shape on black backdrop. Anticipation.

I got an idea from some friends of ours. They adopted two beautful children from Haiti. They had t-shirts designed and printed. I didn't ask about what they used the proceeds for, but I know their hearts and I'm sure it went to the cause of adoption in general, probably Haiti specifically. We just recieved our shipment of shirts! We will have a picture up very soon so you can see what you're buying. Ha! You like the way I slid that in there? I'm only half serious. We do have N. shirts for a minimum of $15, but we don't expect that everyone will buy one. We are not keeping records of who does and doesn't. The proceeds will be used for adoption in general, but probably donated to another adoptive family that needs financial support. We love you all and know that you support us in a multitude of ways.

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement, prayers, love, and friendship throughout this exciting time in our life.


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