First Home Study Meeting

Hello, we have completed the first half of the home study. We met today in Breck, MN and had a good time sharing with Mrs. Ness about our childhoods and life up until now. She knows all the details because I'm not one to tell a condensed story!!!!(big smile) I have a bit of trouble not including many, many details when I tell anything. Kevin almost ran out of time but he is a man of fewer words than me so he was able to finish. Of course, I helped him answer a few times. I honestly have a hard time if someone doesn't answer before I know the answer:) And of course she had to sort out fact from fiction with Kevin. He likes to tease:) We went to the jail and got fingerprinted so now we will have an FBI check? I think. Thankfully we have lived very quiet, normal lives in our Smalltown, USA. We also signed 4 forms for background checks from various other agencies. Next "step" is to go to the training in Spokane in July. I'll keep plugging away at our passports and little things. Monday, I plan to apply to Christian World Adoption for their part of the process. The paperwork will begin again but hopefully it is similar to what we have just completed.

Nehemiah 8:10b ...for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Paperwork Pregnancy

My friend Laura is going through this process and she calls this stage a paperwork pregnancy. By the end of all the paperwork you will have a child or children in our case. Hers, too. She is adopting two beautiful boys from Haiti. Well, today I was able to complete all but 7 of the 22 items on the checklist. The most one check received was 13 sheets of paper. The least one got was 2. I have a thick folder. We have check-ups for the whole family and then two more will be gone and also tomorrow at the meeting we have with the home study coordinator one more will be gone when we pay the first check!:) I went online to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and found out what we will need to consider before traveling to Ethiopia. It is a very thorough site with a link to every country and links to every possible sickness you could come in contact with. I made my list and now know what we will do before going over there. Tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. is our first meeting with God's Children Adoption Agency from Fergus Falls. Pray we completed the paperwork correctly. I'll let you know tomorrow how it went.

Galations 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

The Hand of God

Good evening! Through most of my daily experiences I like to think; "What is God teaching me through this or showing me through this experience?" I believe he may have done that this past weekend. Thursday night Isaac was bit under his eye by a mosquito or gnat (not that we know for sure but he didn't even notice it so I think it was not a bee or wasp). He swelled up a bit the next day but on Saturday when he woke up a good part of his face was swollen and had a rash. I took him in to Urgent Care. I got to talking to the doctor and he told me of his allergies and where he worked from and he specializes in treating people from other countries, refugees and such. I talked to him about our adoption and bringing the kids to see him when we get them home. He was very positive he could help us through any possible issues. I'm very encouraged to have a resource in this area. Isaac asked why God didn't just heal him since we had prayed for that and maybe God wanted us to meet this doctor!?! Then, when I was getting a certified copy of our marriage license at the courthouse I met a lady who adopted a 4 and 6 year old from South America many years ago now. We chatted for bit (sorry to my children who had to wait while I did this:). She was encouraging in that her children spoke no English and within a month had a good grasp of the language and were speaking it! How wonderful that is. We believe our children have English in the school they attend so how much better for them is that! I started the photocopying marathon. We have 7 of 22 items on the list checked off. And I have to say that one check on the list was about 10 sheets of paper. God Bless and talk to you later.

Thanks a million!

I was so excited to check the blog and have some comments already. I wasn't sure if it was "ready" for viewing yet. We were waiting until we actually sent in our application for the home study. Our first meeting is going to be at our church Friday the 29th of June. We received the first packet of paperwork to be completed. Wow! The list is near two pages long. I do a similar thing each year when I renew my daycare license so it will be OK.

Cute saying from one our our darling children: "Don't you think seven is enough?"

Thank you to those who emailed encouraging notes. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Philippians 4:6 Tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for his answers.

We are on a journey!

Greetings! We are announcing the exciting news that we are working towards adopting. Kevin and I had thought about it before we were married. We had Jordan in '93 and didn't think much of it for awhile. We seriously considered it again in '96 when we thought we couldn't have more children but then there came Emily '97, Isaac '98, and Caleb '99. Then we were just busy! Along came Rebekah Jan. '02, Gideon Dec. 02, and Moriah '04 and life was busy again. Now our baby is three. In the last year, we have had the strongest desire to adopt and it is not going away. We are looking into adopting a sibling group from Ethiopia, Africa. We believe we are called to this for different reasons; We want to give children a home who do not have one. Psalm 68:6 "He sets the solitary in families." We want to pass on a heritage to our children. What if all of our children adopted too? How many children without a home would find one then? Also, we want to because we desire to follow God's plan for us. One may say we have enough children already, why would we do this? Psalms 127 has been a favorite verse of our family, it says in verses 3-5 "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them." We named our blog adopting arrows. They won't be from my womb but they will be from our heart. We do not believe our quiver is as full as God would have it.

We are calling on friends and family to share in this life changing experience. Please pray for us whenever you can for God's hand to touch those involved in this process. We are bringing this before God's people to do a great work.

Pray:
*God would keep working in our family to prepare us for this experience.
*God would provide what we need for the home study, travel costs and the final adoption.
*God's protection on the children he has planned for us.

Matthew 21:22 "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Please send this on to anyone whom you know would pray for our family. God Bless You!