Today we were driving through town when Tamara was checking her email and all of the sudden I heard an unusual noise coming from the passenger seat. The noise was a mix of speechlessness and something I wasn't quite sure of, so I inquired, "what wrong?" Tamara in a loud overjoyed expression said, "WE'RE ON THE WAIT LIST!!!!" We had prayed that we would get word we were on the wait list prior to Christmas, but Christmas came and went and we figured it would be sometime this week. As it turns out it seems as if it was a little bit of both. The email indicated that as of 12/22 we were officially placed on the wait list but we didn't not receive this email until today, 12/27.
Probably the most moving part about the news came when we told the kids we were officially now on the wait list, they all yelled with excitement and cheered. What a little confirmation of what the Lord is doing in our family. I treasured up that moment for the rest of the day and would imagine that I will treasure it for some time. We made phone calls to some of our friends prior to tweeting the news for the rest of the following world to get word (as if we have a large following). Excitement!
So, what now? We wait! This is after all the nature of the wait list. We know that the average wait time for families waiting on a referral for one child with similar profiles as we have are waiting about 9 to 9 and a half months for a referral. We trust the Lord in our waiting and we know that we could wait longer or we could wait much less time. We are confident in the Lord's timing and we know His timing is perfect. We are so excited to share this news with so many who have been praying for our family and asking so often of where we are in the process. Thank you for your support and prayers, please continue to ask and pray for us as we continue on in this process of expanding our family.
Blessings,
Stephen
Monday, December 27, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Progressing toward the wait
Last Thursday, Dec 9th, I made a phone call to the FBI, and in God's perfect timing I talked to Michael, who will never know what an encouragement he was to me as I called to ask about the status of my 2nd submission of finger prints for FBI clearance. Michael was able to let me know that my prints had been processed, approved, and gave me a FedEx tracking number which I followed all of Thursday and into Friday when they were scanned "delivered". Inside that FedEx envelope was 17-18 weeks of waiting...approved!
What we have learned from the waiting:
1. God's timing is perfect. We don't have to understand why we wait as we do for different things in life but we must trust that God knows and has a reason for our waiting. We can speculate as to why, some spiritual speculation and some not so spiritual speculation but nevertheless we had a peace about the waiting because we believe that God is in control of our wait.
2. God answers our prayers in so many ways. We prayed for patience and long suffering in our waiting, and God was faithful when so many would ask us if we were frustrated or even assumed we were. God provided grace to be able with truthfulness answer those questions with a reminder that God's timing is perfect and so we wait.
3. God grants encouragement at times in the most interesting ways. I may never talk to Michael again, but my heart was encouraged and my excitement overwhelming as I sat in my truck in a moment of praise and adoration to my great God and King.
What next?
Last Friday, I sent my approval to NY where it meets up with Tamara's approval letter to be authenticated and then from NY it will be sent to Washington D.C. The moment it hits the mail to D.C. we will officially be on the wait list. We are hopeful that we will have an official wait list just prior to Christmas this year. After that, we wait again until the Lord moves and all the while we seek to learn what we are to learn as we wait.
What we have learned from the waiting:
1. God's timing is perfect. We don't have to understand why we wait as we do for different things in life but we must trust that God knows and has a reason for our waiting. We can speculate as to why, some spiritual speculation and some not so spiritual speculation but nevertheless we had a peace about the waiting because we believe that God is in control of our wait.
2. God answers our prayers in so many ways. We prayed for patience and long suffering in our waiting, and God was faithful when so many would ask us if we were frustrated or even assumed we were. God provided grace to be able with truthfulness answer those questions with a reminder that God's timing is perfect and so we wait.
3. God grants encouragement at times in the most interesting ways. I may never talk to Michael again, but my heart was encouraged and my excitement overwhelming as I sat in my truck in a moment of praise and adoration to my great God and King.
What next?
Last Friday, I sent my approval to NY where it meets up with Tamara's approval letter to be authenticated and then from NY it will be sent to Washington D.C. The moment it hits the mail to D.C. we will officially be on the wait list. We are hopeful that we will have an official wait list just prior to Christmas this year. After that, we wait again until the Lord moves and all the while we seek to learn what we are to learn as we wait.
Monday, September 20, 2010
What I am Asking For This Year
As most of you know, I was privileged to spend time ministering in Haiti this past summer. My journey took me to a place unfamiliar to me in the midst of the most intense devastation I have ever witnessed. Some 6 months after the earthquake that claimed the lives of so many, our team was sent to help be part of the rebuilding effort. Our training told us that while everyone may not have lost a family member in the earthquake, everyone knew someone who was effected by the severity of this earthquake. We were there to do some rebuilding working alongside Haitians which was wonderful. What we quickly learned is in the midst of such earthly devastation, God was awakening the hearts of His people to Himself for His glory even through the tragedies of the loss of home, property, loved ones, and stability. We met Haitian after Haitian proclaiming the goodness of God to spare them their life and praying that God would use the earthquake to turn the hearts of the people of Haiti to himself. This is what I continue to pray as often as God brings it to mind.
So, how is this relevant today? While we were there, I was again reminded of the excess in which we live, of which I live. I have been richly blessed in virtually every aspect of my life and not only that, I have been blessed for a reason; for a purpose. Psalm 67 remind me that we are blessed to be a blessing as the Psalmist says, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations." Catch the significance of this passage, the Psalmist prays the blessing of God upon himself that he might make God's ways known on earth to all the nations. I am blessed and in being blessed I am to be a blessing. In recognizing the excess of my life, I have decided this year and by God's grace for years to come, to use occasions where people have the desire to give me gifts to encourage family and friends to partner with me in being a blessing to the nations for the cause of Christ in the lives of those around the world. Below are several ideas of a few things that are on my heart right now as opportunities to invest in the Kingdom of God, and I hope by making them known to you they too will become things you care about at different seasons of your life. I hope to add to this list as time permits more research and as God leads.
One Verse (http://www.oneverse.org/) is seeking to translate the Bible into languages where there are no known copies of God's Word available. How many bibles sit unused and unopened in your house? I know I have plenty that are unopened and unused while I have several that I use with regularity. Imagine not even having access to God's Word in a language you can understand? Best part, you can give a donation to help this cause as a gift and that would be a wonderful gift for me.
We are in the process of adopting children internationally and there are great costs involved in that as well. Sometimes people give money as a gift. Please know this year any money you give to me as a gift will be helping to bring home a child or children from Ethiopia and in that you will play a part in the process for which I am grateful. God's heart beats for orphans and widows in a unique way and for all those redeemed by the blood of Christ, you too were once orphaned but God has adopted you as a son or a daughter and given you the right to be a child of His.
99 Balloons (http://www.99balloons.org/index.php), a great organization started by dear friends of ours (Matt & Ginny) after the loss of their son Eliot who lived 99 days on this earth before being united with his Creator in heaven for all eternity. They are doing some wonderful work with and to families who have children with special needs both here and internationally. This would be a wonder way to give a gift knowing the invest you make has eyes that are not fixed on the temporal world but on the world that is to come in Christ.
I have been blessed and I want my life to be a blessing but for a purpose--spreading the fame and the glory of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ here and to the ends of the earth. This is one small way, but it's a start and a continuation of some of what God is teaching me as I broach my 34th year of life.
Humbled,
Stephen
So, how is this relevant today? While we were there, I was again reminded of the excess in which we live, of which I live. I have been richly blessed in virtually every aspect of my life and not only that, I have been blessed for a reason; for a purpose. Psalm 67 remind me that we are blessed to be a blessing as the Psalmist says, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations." Catch the significance of this passage, the Psalmist prays the blessing of God upon himself that he might make God's ways known on earth to all the nations. I am blessed and in being blessed I am to be a blessing. In recognizing the excess of my life, I have decided this year and by God's grace for years to come, to use occasions where people have the desire to give me gifts to encourage family and friends to partner with me in being a blessing to the nations for the cause of Christ in the lives of those around the world. Below are several ideas of a few things that are on my heart right now as opportunities to invest in the Kingdom of God, and I hope by making them known to you they too will become things you care about at different seasons of your life. I hope to add to this list as time permits more research and as God leads.
One Verse (http://www.oneverse.org/) is seeking to translate the Bible into languages where there are no known copies of God's Word available. How many bibles sit unused and unopened in your house? I know I have plenty that are unopened and unused while I have several that I use with regularity. Imagine not even having access to God's Word in a language you can understand? Best part, you can give a donation to help this cause as a gift and that would be a wonderful gift for me.
We are in the process of adopting children internationally and there are great costs involved in that as well. Sometimes people give money as a gift. Please know this year any money you give to me as a gift will be helping to bring home a child or children from Ethiopia and in that you will play a part in the process for which I am grateful. God's heart beats for orphans and widows in a unique way and for all those redeemed by the blood of Christ, you too were once orphaned but God has adopted you as a son or a daughter and given you the right to be a child of His.
99 Balloons (http://www.99balloons.org/index.php), a great organization started by dear friends of ours (Matt & Ginny) after the loss of their son Eliot who lived 99 days on this earth before being united with his Creator in heaven for all eternity. They are doing some wonderful work with and to families who have children with special needs both here and internationally. This would be a wonder way to give a gift knowing the invest you make has eyes that are not fixed on the temporal world but on the world that is to come in Christ.
I have been blessed and I want my life to be a blessing but for a purpose--spreading the fame and the glory of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ here and to the ends of the earth. This is one small way, but it's a start and a continuation of some of what God is teaching me as I broach my 34th year of life.
Humbled,
Stephen
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Gladney Approved!!!
Well friends and fam - We have received our official Gladney (stateside agency) approval for our adoption. Now, this does not mean we are on the waitlist yet. We still have to get our dossier (docs that go to Ethiopian embassy) finalized. We sent off another packet of those documents on Friday. We are waiting on the results of our FBI fingerprints and we have to call CIS (customs and immigration) and get our appointment to get that set of fingerprints done. We heard from CIS (via text, no less) that they had received our application on Friday. Wait list times are ranging from 7 months to 8 or 9 months and right now there seems to be several families wanting twins or other sibling groups, so we are going to need some patience and more patience as we wait. But, we certainly trust God's timing in all of it and we are excited to see where the Lord has us this time next year :) We are getting ready to start applying for several adoption grants, so please be in prayer for us with that -
love, tamara
love, tamara
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Slow Movement is STILL movement
This summer has been one of constant movement and many activities for our family. I ha
d the privilege of going to Haiti to serve on a mission team in July. It was a blessing for sure and I pray the Lord allows me to take a team there in the near future. I am still processing some of the implications for me personally as a result of going to Haiti where the destruction is immense, the poverty is ravaging, and the hope in Christ for those that are His is high. I plan to blog soon about some of the personal reflections and applications for me and our family. Our kids did swim lessons and and the boys played football. We won the championship (1st & 2nd grade) last Saturday night and both boys played really well. It was a lot of fun to coach them and other boys their age in a game that I love and was very helpful in my formative years in the areas of team work, authority, and doing things you weren't sure you could do.
We were told at the beginning of the adoption process there would be times that were slower than others, and it feels like we are in one of those seasons right now. We know we are making progress but it seems like slow progress with our Foreign Dossiers. It is really something to pray at night with the kids and to be praying for a son or daughters or both or two of each that I have never met and yet love already. We are excited and trusting God with all the details! Pray for us, for our children (all of them...even those we have never met), and pray that we will continue to trust God with all the details. It is amazing to know that my God knows the plan for my family and He has or will soon breath life into the child/children that will be a part of our families and your lives at His appointed time. Hopeful and Grateful for He is my Provider!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A lot can change in a year...
Imagine this, we are late in updating a blog! I mean I did post last September. What has really changed in a year? I mean if you count the kids getting older, doing more stuff, and making life changing decisions, sure I suppose you could say that an almost year long absence from posting is a lot.
For over 10 years, Tamara and I have been discussing the possibility of adoption for our family. Before we said I do, but after we were engaged we began talking about what our "ideal" family would be, and shortly after we made it known that we wanted children that never disobeyed we discussed number of children. Ok ok, we didn't really say that we thought our kids would not disobey but we really did discuss the number of children we would like to have if God would allow us and we had always said 4 or 5 and adoption was part of that equation at least in thought. Periodically over the last 10 years God has not allowed us to stop bringing the possibility of adoption back up in our hearts and minds. This year we have really enjoyed the stage of life we are in with our kids (7,6, and 3) and the freedom that has come with not having to be tied to a schedule as much or just the ability of the kids to handle some of the variables of life. God also brought back up the thought of adoption in our hearts and we spent time talking about it. This past fall we talked about adoption off and on some and covenanted to pray about it, and then the earthquake in Haiti hit in January and God shook us again at the staggering needs of orphans around the world. We went to an information meeting about foster care and adoption where we heard testimony of those who were in the process of adoption or were thinking about what adoption might look like for their families, and God was awakening our hearts for adoption and orphan care. In February we had a conference here at the church were Dr. Russell Moore was our speaker, and he took one of his sessions to talk about his experience with adoption and again God was awakening our hearts. March was extremely busy with life and adoption was still on our radar but we had not taken time to sit down and talk intentionally about it until about mid April. We had had a late night conversation about adoption and talked through some more of the logistics of the adoption and still God was awakening our hearts. At the end of that conversation we agreed to take a week to pray about where we were in the midst of what we believed the Lord wanted us to do in obedience to a glaring need He had made know to us. That night we decided that we felt the Lord was calling us to adopt children just as we are spiritually adopted by God through the blood of Christ in salvation.
Our hearts were with the children of the nations as we thought about where we would pursue adoption. We are now a good ways into the process of international adoption through Gladney Center for Adoption based out of Ft. Worth. Due to several circumstances and some leading, we felt as though Ethiopia was the country we wanted to adopt from, and by God grace by this time next year we will be adding children to our family. Yes, you read that correctly, we have been approved for 2 children and we are requesting twins (1 boy, 1 girl) but are open to non-twin siblings as well.
As this post is published (July 20, 2010) we have finished our home study and all necessary paperwork for Gladney and now are beginning the Foreign Dossier paperwork. We are hopeful that within 4-6 weeks we will be officially on the wait list to be matched with the children God has in mind for our family.
In addition to our adoption, God has continued to put orphan care on our hearts and minds and we are seeking opportunities and praying for opportunities to care for the children of the world as we are reminded they all have names and worth and there is One who knows them all. God created them, he knows them, and he loves them and so too will we purpose to love the children of the world by our actions, our words, and our opportunity to raise awareness about the staggering numbers of orphaned children in the world right now. We felt it was time for us to do something and soon will be asking you to join us in making a difference too.
For over 10 years, Tamara and I have been discussing the possibility of adoption for our family. Before we said I do, but after we were engaged we began talking about what our "ideal" family would be, and shortly after we made it known that we wanted children that never disobeyed we discussed number of children. Ok ok, we didn't really say that we thought our kids would not disobey but we really did discuss the number of children we would like to have if God would allow us and we had always said 4 or 5 and adoption was part of that equation at least in thought. Periodically over the last 10 years God has not allowed us to stop bringing the possibility of adoption back up in our hearts and minds. This year we have really enjoyed the stage of life we are in with our kids (7,6, and 3) and the freedom that has come with not having to be tied to a schedule as much or just the ability of the kids to handle some of the variables of life. God also brought back up the thought of adoption in our hearts and we spent time talking about it. This past fall we talked about adoption off and on some and covenanted to pray about it, and then the earthquake in Haiti hit in January and God shook us again at the staggering needs of orphans around the world. We went to an information meeting about foster care and adoption where we heard testimony of those who were in the process of adoption or were thinking about what adoption might look like for their families, and God was awakening our hearts for adoption and orphan care. In February we had a conference here at the church were Dr. Russell Moore was our speaker, and he took one of his sessions to talk about his experience with adoption and again God was awakening our hearts. March was extremely busy with life and adoption was still on our radar but we had not taken time to sit down and talk intentionally about it until about mid April. We had had a late night conversation about adoption and talked through some more of the logistics of the adoption and still God was awakening our hearts. At the end of that conversation we agreed to take a week to pray about where we were in the midst of what we believed the Lord wanted us to do in obedience to a glaring need He had made know to us. That night we decided that we felt the Lord was calling us to adopt children just as we are spiritually adopted by God through the blood of Christ in salvation.
Our hearts were with the children of the nations as we thought about where we would pursue adoption. We are now a good ways into the process of international adoption through Gladney Center for Adoption based out of Ft. Worth. Due to several circumstances and some leading, we felt as though Ethiopia was the country we wanted to adopt from, and by God grace by this time next year we will be adding children to our family. Yes, you read that correctly, we have been approved for 2 children and we are requesting twins (1 boy, 1 girl) but are open to non-twin siblings as well.
As this post is published (July 20, 2010) we have finished our home study and all necessary paperwork for Gladney and now are beginning the Foreign Dossier paperwork. We are hopeful that within 4-6 weeks we will be officially on the wait list to be matched with the children God has in mind for our family.
In addition to our adoption, God has continued to put orphan care on our hearts and minds and we are seeking opportunities and praying for opportunities to care for the children of the world as we are reminded they all have names and worth and there is One who knows them all. God created them, he knows them, and he loves them and so too will we purpose to love the children of the world by our actions, our words, and our opportunity to raise awareness about the staggering numbers of orphaned children in the world right now. We felt it was time for us to do something and soon will be asking you to join us in making a difference too.
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