Happy Birthday Bubby!!

Today is our son Seth's 21st Birthday. We are so blessed to have him. He is a compassionate, determined, opinionated and strong young man. We are so proud of the man that he has become. We are looking forward to celebrating this next season of life with him as he marries his childhood sweetheart! We couldn't have hand-picked a better wife for him. We look forward to seeing how God uses him in this next season. Seth, may God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you. As you get married, you are going to find that you need Jesus more than ever:) I pray that you are surrounded by people that are racing hard after Jesus! Thanks for being our boy! We love you!

Does He Know Its Christmas Time??

Last night I took Faith to the mall to do a little shopping and have dinner. One of her favorite things to do during this season is to ride the train. As she was riding, I began to cry. I was enjoying watching my little girl enjoy something so simple. I was imagining what my life would have looked like without her in it. I can never thank God enough for the joy that He has given me through this little girl. I was thinking about our little guy a continent away and wondering what Christmas will look like next year with him home!
This year we have taken a different approach to Christmas. We have slowed the pace way down. We have decided to be intentional in our focus. We bought an Advent wreath and candles and have been joyously anticipating the coming of our Savior. It has been so fun watching Faith see Christmas for its true meaning. I have asked myself if I wait for Christ return with as much anticipation as I wait for my son to come to America.
In the midst of all of the joy of the season a part of my heart is missing. It is on another Continent thousands of miles away. It is with a little boy who doesn't even know yet that he has a mom, dad, brother and sisters who can't wait to get him here! Does he know that his next Christmas will be completely different? Please pray that a court date would be granted soon!
I will leave you with one of my favorite Christmas songs. When this video first came out I loved it. Not because of its meaning but because most of my favorite singers at the time where in it! Little did I know that as I sang this song for so many years, that I would be adopting from the place that they were singing about. So enjoy!

How is it possible???.......

How is it possible to have so much love for a child that you have only seen in pictures?? I am amazed by this. I feel so much love for him that at times I think my heart might just explode! As I think about horizontal adoption, I am led then to think about my vertical adoption. God's word says: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.Ephesians 3:16-19. To know this love that surpasses knowledge.....So could it be that I am beginning to understand this verse at a heart level and not just head level?? How amazing is it to know that God who knows everything about us, yes every thought, even the ones that you would not want anyone to know, loves us like this?? This is what leads me to fall on my face and worship!!! If you even have the slightest conviction to adopt, I say do it. The amazing thing about this is not what our son receives from this adoption(although that is important) but more so how much more I get to know and understand the love of my heavenly father! As I begin to get a hold of this love, the more I desire to be like Him!

We said YES!

We have accepted a referral for a little 3 year old boy. We are so excited. The people who have just traveled have described him as "sweet". The past several days have been very difficult and we are learning what stepping out in faith is. God has been so kind to continuously confirm each step that we take. He has brought people from all over the US to encourage us and pray for us. Please pray that we would get our court date soon. We are hoping to travel around the beginning of April. Thanks for all of your support and prayers! Can't wait until he is officially a Robinson so that we can share pictures of him.

6 years ago......

So this morning I woke up thinking that it was December 5th only to realize that it is the 6th:( You see December 5th is the day that Faith officially became a Robinson six years ago. So today we will celebrate like it is the 5th because her daddy will be home from work and that will make the celebration even better! My heart is so full as I reflect on our journey that led us to our baby girl! I am amazed at our God's mercy. You see I don't deserve any of this. In 1994 my life was a mess, my marriage was over and then God stepped in. Not only did He save me and heal me, He restored my marriage!! Then as if that wasn't enough, He promised to add children to our family. It was a seven year journey to Faith. I knew that He had promised us a child, actually a son who would look nothing like us, is what I believed in my heart. It was seven years of praying, fasting, repenting, and laying my desires at the foot of the Cross. Little did I know when that phone rang on October 4th letting us know that they had a baby and would bringing her to us, the joy that she would be. The fifteen months leading up to her Gotcha Day were some of the hardest yet sweetest days. I learned more about God's love for me through that time than any other. I learned to walk in a greater dependence on the Lord. I began to understand my adoption in Christ in an even greater way. Leading up to the time that Faith came to live with us, I thought so much about what we would be doing for a child. Little did I realize that it would become more about what having her has done for me. So today we celebrate God's gift to us. We remember the courage of her birth mom to realize that she was unable to parent! We thank God for all of the joy, laughter, tears, and fun that have been added to our home because of Faith. Well I have tried to add a picture and after 5 time of my computer crashing, I have to stop and get ready for church. So Happy Gotcha Day Faith!! We love you and are so glad God chose you to be ours!!


By the way, we now only need $2670 to accept our referral! Woohoo! God provided $425 in two days!

Possibly Introducing Another New Robinson

Well friends, I want to update you on what is going on with our adoption. After much prayer and conversation, we really have had peace with just bringing one child home. The Lord knows our frame and also knows the other crazy stuff that is going to be happening all during this time. That being a wedding in June in Florida! Woohoo! So all that to say, our adoption coordinator emailed us on Monday about a little guy who is 2.5 years old. She wanted to find out if we were set on bringing two children home or if one would be ok. We also talked about what the time frame would be if we accepted a referral right now. Our concern would be that our travel would interfere with the wedding. After checking the calendar, we realized that we would be traveling probably in April. How cool would it be to have the entire Robinson family at the wedding? She then began to tell me about him. I spoke with Doug and we decided to go ahead and see his picture and info. Our intial reaction in seeing him was fear. All of a sudden it really hit us that we were bringing another child into our home and life as we have known it was going to change. We had to remind each other of why we were doing this. We went back to what God has spoken to us from the beginning about adoption. The rest of the evening was spent talking with our children, looking at his picture, reading about the area he is from and praying. Let me just tell you that he is the cutest little guy. When Seth saw him, he said, "he looks sad". That is one thing that I have noticed about every referral picture. The children look so different after they have been placed in a family. It has really challenged me in how I look to others. Does my countenance reflect the reality of my adoption in Christ? He comes from an area that is hardest hit by the drought in Ethiopia. Only 22% of the water is drinkable. The great thing is that he is a chubby little guy and looks very healthy. We passed his medical information on to a friend who is a doctor to review. With the little information that is given, he said that everything looks great.

So what happens next? We have two weeks to officially accept his referral. At the time of accepting his referral, we will need to give the agency $6915. We have $3870 in our adoption fund. We are short $3045. As we have walked this journey, we have continuously stated that this has to be all God. It is easier to say that than to walk it out. We have applied for many grants and are waiting to hear about them. One of the grants is a matching grant that we were hoping would match the money in our fund. We are also looking at doing some kind of event in February. Not sure yet if it will be a spaghetti dinner or a trivia game night.

Here is where we need your help. The first thing that you can do for us is to pray! We only want to say yes to what God has said yes to. If this is our son, our God WILL provide! Please pray that we would clearly hear from Him during this time. The second thing is I have 200 cookbooks that need to sell. That would give us $1400 which is half of what we need. We do have the rest in savings so that would be amazing! If you would like a cookbook, read the previous post on how to do that. If you would like to sell some cookbooks for me, let me know and I will get them to you! Lastly if after reading this you feel lead to contribute to our adoption fund, you can do that by writing a check to New Life Community Church. Your contribution will be tax-deductible. I hesitated in adding this but feel that I would be disobeying God if I didn't. James 1:27 tells us that we are to care for widows and orphans in their time of need. I do not believe that everyone is called to adopt but I do believe that as Christ followers, we are all called to care for orphans. Sometimes that means just being able to help another family bring one home. As you read that please do not feel motivated by guilt to participate just be moved by grace. Also pray that God would move upon the hearts of the people reviewing our grant applications. Please pray for our little guy. Pray that God would continue to keep him healthy. Pray that if this is not our son that God would provide a loving family for him. Pray for his birth mom who had to bring him to the orphanage because she had no way to provide. She will forever be a hero to me. How much courage and love it must take to be able to do that. Thanks so much for your continued support and prayers!

Intoducing a New Robinson to Be

It is with great joy that I introduce to you the newest Robinson to Be! Seth proposed to Mallory on Wednesday night and she said YES! We are so happy for them. They have walked out their relationship in such a God honoring way for the past 4 years! Seth did a great job preparing for the evening. He made her an amazing meal and proposed in a classic "Seth" way. The best part about it was his dancing to All the Single Ladies by Beyonce. So it looks like we will be having a wedding in Florida in June followed by a reception here in Ohio. The great thing is that we will be busy with wedding planning which will help make the time go faster in waiting for a referral of our next Robinson addition. Let the wedding planning begin:)

Cookbooks are Here!

So our cookbooks are in and I have 200 to sell:) Each cookbook contain almost 150 recipes. These are easy family recipes! All of the recipes for the different soups that I make are included! You can purchase the books one of two ways. If you have a PayPal account, you can go to your account and click on the link to send money. Then click on the personal tab. My email for Paypal is robbiesfam@juno.com. The amount for the book is $10 and then $2.50 for shipping. I will do bulk shipping if you have others who would like to purchase them. If that is the case please let me know how many cookbooks that you would like and I will weigh them and charge exact shipping. All of the money goes towards our adoption. If we sell all 200, we will have enough money to purchase one airline ticket. If you do not have a paypal account just send me an email and I will give you my address to mail a check to. Thanks so much! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Boundary Lines

Psalm 16:6
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

God gave me this scripture 15 years ago when I was first diagnosed with fibromyalgia. He is once again bringing it back to me. This past week and a half of being very sick have been quite a challenge. It has been years since I have been in bed this sick for this long. Being the rebel that I am, I really struggle with boundary lines. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to push and test them. It was through much wrestling with the Lord that I learned about the pleasant places that God had for me as I walked within those boundary lines. I have experienced a great freedom in Christ as I have walked in them. When I was really sick there was so much that I had to say to no to. This is very hard to do unfortunately in most "Christian" cultures. There is this unspoken pressure as a Christian woman to be able to do and handle it all. Dealing with an illness on top of trying to be the perfect Christian women about drove me crazy. I now look back on this time and my illness with such gratitude. God really used my illness to set me free from so many things... things such as fear of man, pride and the craving of man's approval. It also shattered the lies that there are "perfect Christian women". I have learned through all of this that my standing before God is totally based on Jesus Christ and the perfect life that He lived for me. As much as I would like to believe at times that I can have it all together, the truth is that He is the one who holds it all together for me.

So how does this connect with my illness now and our upcoming adoption? Well, I was quite surprised this morning when God began to reveal to me that I am pushing my boundaries once again. It all started last Friday with a call that our agency had twin 2 year old boys that might possibly be available for us. I immediately went to trying to figure out how to make this happen. I rationalized in my mind that since we had prayed for twins, this must be our boys. I started contacting different organizations to try and get things moving quicker in regards to help financially. From the beginning, we have believed that we are not to go into debt in any way to bring our child home. The truth was that in order for this to happen with these two boys, that would be the case. I tried rationalizing that it is a no interest loan but a loan is a loan!! I have said with my mouth that I am totally fine with it being only one child but this morning the Lord began to expose something deeper going on. I really began to see that my desire for two in some ways is Godly. I mean when there are 4.8 million orphans in Ethiopia, why couldn't we take two. I also know that when we get there and I see the children who still do not have a family my heart is going to break for them. The Lord has continued to remind me that he knows my frame. I believe that I have led a very selfish and closed life for the past several years. I believe that God is calling me to enlarge the place of my tent. I do believe though that He can do that with one child. I am recognizing that some of things that have driven me in the past were beginning to drive me again. I have had a sweet time of fellowship with the Lord as I have repented and once again found delight in the boundary lines that He has drawn for me. As much as I would love to bring home two children, God is going to have to provide in a very clear way in order for that to happen. Do I believe that He can do that?? Absolutely and even if he chooses not I can say with all my heart that my boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places! Thanks so much for your continued prayers as we walk this journey. I will leave you with a quote that a friend posted from a man named Dan Cruver:

What orphans need are churches that are full of people who wake up each morning hearing and rehearsing these amazing words that are declared over them. “You are my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased. Yes, you were once without hope and without God in this world, but I have brought you near, embraced you, by the blood of Jesus. Live in my love as you move out in mission.”

If you are a Christian, God declares these amazing words over you. He doesn’t speak them over you because you have earned them. You could never do enough to earn these words of love. God speaks these words over you because of who Jesus is for you.

This is what God used to expose that I was trying to earn God's acceptance and love through pressing into something that may be outside of the boundary lines of what He has for us.
I am realizing now that loving these children and caring for orphans can only come from a place of understanding how much we have been loved by God. Any other reason that drives us to love them will come up short and not sustain us through the tough unlovely times.

So last night was........

A total success and had God written all over it! From the beginning of the planning till the end of the event, God carried us through. We are amazed by God's kindness to us. He just continues to prove that adoption is straight from His heart. We have so many people who donated their time, money, talents, etc.. just to make our night a success. It was so exciting to hear today from people God has divinely set up to pursue their dreams to adopt. We do hope that He was glorified and magnified and that the passion that He has caused to burn so bright in our hearts would be contagious. So the big question is, "How much?" and the answer is $2300!!! Everyone asked if we had a goal and the truth is no. From the very beginning we have been completely aware that God knows exactly how much this adoption is going to cost. Because of that we have complete confidence that He will more than provide for all that we need. I am headed to bed because I have unfortunately caught what has been going around but I wanted to just give a short update. I am hoping for Doug to share a little of his message that he preached yesterday. He unpacked how our vertical adoption should impact our views of horizontal adoption. So here is a list of all the people who helped make last night a huge success:
Parma Park Church of God
New Life Community Church-you guys rock!!You have covered us in prayer and support since day one of this journey!
State Fair
Ryan Wilkins
Eric Bernier
Jacob Wadenpfuhl
Lozano Family
Elya Starek
Darrell Scott
Williams Family
Sarah Romain
Brianna Adams
Donna Schuster
Julie Williamson
Renee Barker
Newshutz Family
Linda West
Laurie Muniak
Jenny Duncan
Paul and Sharon Janos
Toni Maynard
Holly Terei
Coakley Family
Caleb Schuster Photography
Five Star Gymnastics
JK Kang Tae Kwon Do
Sbevis Designs Jewelry
Insurance Center of Akron
Masters Pizza
Indian Bear Lodge
Bam Bams Pizza
To anyone else I may have missed. May God bless the works of your hands!!

Do you have plans on Sunday?

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Sunday November 8th is National Orphan Sunday. We are having a night of celebration and awareness. We are celebrating all of the children that God has already placed in families. We are also believing that God is going to ignite this fire in other peoples hearts! Please join us. This is also a fund raiser for our upcoming adoption:)

The cost is $10 per person with a $30 family cap. You will get one raffle ticket with your admission and 3 raffle tickets with your family admission. We will also be selling them 10 for $10. We also have many amazing silent auctions. Bounce houses, face painting, worship and live music!! What more could you ask for.

Date:	Sunday, November 8, 2009
Time:	5:30pm - 9:00pm
Location:	Parma Park Church of God
Street:	12000 Huffman Road
City/Town:	Parma, OH

Calling All Prayer Warriors

I am calling all prayer warriors! If you read this and think...well that is not me, I want to challenge you that it is! I have never been much of a prayer warrior. I have realized that it is mostly because of self-sufficiency and pride. I needed to repent. A couple of weeks ago, I was worrying about adoption stuff and God challenged me to change those worries into prayers. I am amazed at how sweet my communion with God has become. I am amazed by His strength. He is most strong when I am most weak. Let me tell you, I am learning what weakness is through this process.

We are right now under a full attack from the enemy. God's word says, "God sets the lonely in families" Psalm 68:6. We know that anything that God does, Satan tries to destroy. There is nothing that Satan wants more than to cause us to shrink back and fail. BUT my Jesus says that IT IS FINISHED. I know that the battle is already won! This is where we need you to pray for us.
Please pray:

1. Pray for complete healing of Faith and that nobody else gets sick.
2. Pray for Doug and my marriage. It never fails that when there is a lot going on that that is the first thing that is attacked. It also doesn't help that I am where I am hormonally:)
3. Pray for our other children. No need for details here but PRAY
4. Pray for our event. Pray that God would be Glorified! Pray that peoples hearts would be open to adoption. Pray for the Lord to pour out His blessings for us financially.
5. Pray for safe travels for our friends who are coming in from North Carolina! Cant wait to see them!!
6. Please pray for Ethiopia. The drought is just getting worse there and the orphanages are seeing unprecedented numbers of children coming into care. Please pray for these children and their families.

Thanks so much for all of your support and prayers.

To all of you who have posted about my last post. Sorry I have not responded yet. Faith has been so sick and it has not allowed me time to do much. You can post your bid right in the comments section. The bidding will end on Saturday night at 10pm est. I will contact the highest bidder. This is a one of a kind piece. I think that she may make more at a later date.

Silent Auction

Here is the charm my friend made for us to auction. All money goes towards our adoption. If you would like to place a bid, just let me know. The bidding starts at $25 and goes up in increments of 5. It is sterling silver. You can check out the rest of her jewelry here.

Update on our journey

Just wanted to give everyone an update on what is happening with us. We have been very busy getting everything together for our fund raiser. We have so many amazing baskets to raffle off. We also have several very nice items to use for our silent auction. I will be listing those next week and anyone who would like to bid on them can let me know. Some of the jewelry pieces, gift certificates for jewelry to be made, and overnight stays can be used by anyone even if out of state. We also will have cookbooks for sale that will be available before Christmas. They are $10 each and shipping is $2.50. Also if you are a coffee drinker, our store is now up and running. You can purchase coffee and $5 of each bag goes towards our adoption. Here is the link.

We are not on the waiting list as of yet but were told that we are the only family that is waiting for siblings. So it looks like we will be number one on that list. We are not sure where we will be on the infant boy list but we think it will be around number five. We are just waiting for our home study to be signed by our social worker who then has to mail it to the home study agency. After it is notarized, it will then be sent to our adoption agency in Colorado. At that point we will be able to apply for grants and a no interest loan that would be very helpful if we get a referral before we file our income taxes for next year. I am still shock that we are only 2 months into this process and are almost ready to be on a list.

God continues to amaze me through this process. In fifteen years of walking with Him, I have never appreciated His grace and mercy more than I do now. My heart though has been very heavy these past several days. We have heard that orphanages are seeing record numbers of toddlers being dropped off to them. I can't imagine having only the choice of having my child starve to death or be placed in an orphanage. This has kept me awake at night in prayer. I know that my joy comes from another woman's pain. That is hard some times. I pray that I will be faithful to care for that in which God entrust me with.

Thanks to all of you for your support. We have been blown away by your kindness to us. Thanks to all of the men who unselfishly served us and helped get our roof on. We so look forward to November 8th and having you all there to celebrate the gift of adoption with. Please continue to pray for us as we walk this journey.

Opportunities for God to show up

Today I was reading another blog and came upon a devotion written by Steven Curtis Chapman. Please read it and allow God to speak to your heart:

It wasn't until our second adoption that I understood what God was doing with my family through adoption. I walked into church on September 1, 2002, wholeheartedly convinced that we were not going to adopt a second time. During that service, our good friends, the Coley family, who have four biological and five adopted children, were brought up on stage for the dedication of their latest adopted child, a boy with special needs.

What happened next was almost as if God lifted my chin, and as clearly as I've ever heard Him speak to my heart, He said, "I've heard you sing the song 'Open the Eyes of My Heart', and I've heard you pray, 'I really want to know You and experience You.' I know you mean that." Then He showed me this family on stage, and He said, "There it is; that's my heart. That's your story; that's my story. This is a picture of the Kingdom of Heaven. There it is, in front of you."

And it was this family with whom we've walked through some of the darkest parts of adoption. We've gone with them into treatment centers; we've shed tears together. They knew exactly what they were getting into, but still, here they were, saying, "This is what God has called us to do. We know it's messy; we know it's uncomfortable, and it's going to turn our lives upside down, but this is God's heart."Yet God didn't stop there. He said, "I delight in setting the lonely in families, so I'm going to keep pouring out my love for orphans, and I'm looking for hearts to pour it into. I'm looking for people who really want to do what I'm doing."

He didn't say, "If you don't do this, I'm going to be disappointed with you." Instead, it's as if, as a Dad, God put His arm around me and said, "You don't have to do this, but I'm inviting you in, because I want you to know Me, and I want our relationship to go deeper. If you really want to see Me show up, I want to take you on another adventure."

So I broke the news to my family and told them, "I think God wants us to bring another child to stand under the waterfall of grace." I just pictured God pouring out His grace, inviting us to bring another child to stand under it. God was saying, "I'm going to bring them into my family, but I want to invite you to be a part of that. I'm going to glorify myself through this."

That's why there are so many waiting children; those are opportunities for God to show up and reveal His glory. They are each an invitation from God's heart, saying, "Come and know Me. And I will make myself known through you, members of my body, the church, as you experience the miracle of adoption."

Am I willing to follow God wherever He may lead so that I might more fully know Him and make Him known?

Give me your eyes

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

The first time I heard this song, I was undone. I remember singing and praying that God would give me His eyes to see. Sometimes I think I carelessly pray for things and then when He answers, I realize what I really prayed for is bigger than I ever imagined. When I first heard this song, Africa was nowhere on my radar screen. Adopting from Africa was even farther off of it. Yet here I am waiting for the last piece of information to get to my agency so we can then begin the wait for our child. I can tell you now that I am so grateful that I prayed that prayer and God answered it. I have changed so much in the past several months. The level of intimacy and dependence I have with God is amazing. I have been a Christ follower for over 15 years yet in so many ways, I feel like a new believer. There is a done side to this prayer. The down side is that when your eyes are opened to what God sees, your heart will break. I am haunted at night by what I have seen. Families starving, children dying from treatable diseases,and children being drowned because they are considered "mingi"(unclean). Now that my eyes have seen, I am responsible. At times I think what difference is my adopting one or two children going to make. I then remember that the God who created everything out of nothing is the one whose idea this is. So I still don't know the answer to that question but I do know that God does.

So here is where we are in the process. We are waiting for our home study to be sent to our agency to be proofed. As soon as that happens, it will be signed and notarized and sent to our agency and immigration. We will then be issued an I-171h and be put on the waiting list. The list has been growing so I am hoping that this happens sooner rather than later. Depending on how long referrals are taking we should travel sometime in the summer or early fall. Everything is moving along with our fund raiser. We just found out that our friends from Charlotte are coming in for it so we are even more excited! I will be listing all of the silent auctions here in the next week so that those of you who can't attend but want to bid will be able to. Also, one of my friends is making a piece of jewelry with Africa on it. I can't wait to show it to all of you. I did tell her that she was going to have to make more for the rest of you adoptive mommies! Thanks again for all of your support and prayers.

Update on Our Progress

I wanted to give all of you an update on what is happening with our adoption. Yesterday we finished everything that was up to us to finish. I will be mailing our dossier(minus our home study) to our agency today. Our home study should be to us in the next several weeks. It will then get forwarded to our agency and also to immigration. Immigration will then issue us a I-171h. At that point we will officially be able to accept a referral. We did receive information yesterday about a toddler boy. After praying through it, we have decided to not pursue him at this time. Because of where we are in the process, it would be at least several weeks maybe even a month before we would be able to get assigned a court date. We felt that it would be unfair to him to keep him in the orphanage any longer than necessary. Our thinking is that if there is a family that is ready right now and could get a court date soon, he would be out of the orphanage sooner.

Things are progressing with our fundraiser on the 8th of November. We have quite a few raffles and then several very nice prizes for our silent auctions. If you are unable to attend but would like to participate in the silent auctions or raffles, please let me know. We have enough money right now to move to the next step. It is at that point that we really will need to see God move. Depending on if we accept one or two children, we will need $6,000-$11,000 dollars. We are also doing a cookbook fundraiser. I have gift certificates if you would like to purchase one. The cookbooks are $10 each and will be ready before Christmas.

I am truly amazed at how much grace there has been on this entire process. We have had such a peace through each step. It has also been amazing to me as to how often I have been able to share my love for Jesus as I have walked this journey. I have shared the Gospel with more people in the past 2 months than I have my 15 years of walking with the Lord.

Please continue to pray for our journey in the following ways:1. That God would be really big and that we would be really small! This is for His glory and not ours! 2. In our excitement, the reality is that there has to be pain for some one else. A mother, father, or grandmother etc, has to place a child in order for us to receive one. Please pray for comfort for the family of our little boy(s). To this day, Faith's birthmom is my hero. Her sacrifice brought us great joy. It reminds me so much of Jesus sacrifice for me. 3. Please pray for protection for our little guy! Please pray that he has nourishment. 4. Also pray for financial provision for us. I have no doubt that God will provide for this! We will be applying for several grants and an interest free loan as soon as our home study gets here. Our church does have an adoption fund set up for us in which you can make a tax deductible contribution to our adoption fund. 5. Pray for Doug as he shares with our church on November the 8th. If you are local, we would love to have you join us at our church for our Sunday morning service.

Thanks again to all of you who have supported us through this journey. We couldn't do this without your love, prayers, care and support.

Our Friends The Weimers

This is a video about our friends who have adopted 6 children from Ethiopia. Actually we have never met them but their story is what inspired us to move forward with our adoption. We have since become Facebook friends and Heidi is such an inspiration to me. I do realize that she is 11 years younger but I hope to be like her when I grow up!!

So enjoy! here

Rivers of Mercy

Today is one of those days when I am so aware of how much God is in this adoption process. I am amazed at how things continue to fall into place. I am amazed at the friends He has put into our lives to help us during this time. It has been so cool to see people using their giftings to bless us. One of my friends has been working on items for our raffle. Today in doing that she also secured a bounce house for the night of the fundraiser. Another friend makes amazing jewelry and is donating a piece for the raffle. Here is her website. Check out her work! Several other people are doing baskets for us. Thanks so much dear friends!! We love all of you dearly and can't wait to introduce our boy to his extended family! Thanks also to our church family who have adopted us. Our pastor and his family have been a great support to us and we will be eternally grateful.

Tuesday we got all of the information that was needed to put our dossier together. For those of you who don't know what that is, it just means a crap-load of paper!! Not only does it have to be filled out by everyone and their brother, it all has to be notarized, certified and authenticated. That means just a bunch of running around. I was going to have to pay someone $75 to meet me at our doctors office to have his paperwork signed and notarized. After doing some research, I found out that there was a notary in the building and now we have to pay nothing! As a matter of fact, the paperwork is there and ready for me to pick up tomorrow. Woohoo! All this means is that we are just one day closer to being able to cuddle with our boy(s). Please continue to pray for God to show us exactly how many children we are to bring home this time. I say this time because I know in my heart that this is just a first trip for us. Also, please continue to pray for our fundraiser. We are really believing God for a great night of fun, worship, and great music.
We are putting our roof on next weekend so if you have any time and would like to help please let us know!!

Lastly I do want to bring praise and honor to my heavenly Father! I am continually blown away that He choose me. I was such a mess 15 years ago and in some ways I still am but now I am just messed up for Him! It is my privilege to be His daughter and I look forward to the day that I will bow at His thrown. I am overwhelmed and undone by my FAITHFUL GOD!!

1st Homestudy Visit Done

We had our first home study visit last night! It was amazing. Our social worker was fantastic and it soon felt like we were just chatting with an old friend! I am amazed at the peace that I have as we are walking this journey. Yesterday we got a call from our agency to ask how quick we could be ready to accept a referral because there was a possibility of children that fit our request. Most of you who have known me for any length of time know that life with me can be a roller-coaster. Because of my passion, I can soar to great heights one minute and the next be in the depths of despair. I knew when we began this process that this was something God wanted me to mature in. The scripture that He gave me was Isaiah 26:3, You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you. Before this process began, I would have been going crazy yesterday but there was this steadfastness in my spirit that shocked even me. I did talk to the social worker and it looks like everything will be into USCIS by the middle of October. It should take only a couple of weeks from that time to get our I 171H. Once we have that, we will be able to accept a referral. That means that by the end of October we will be ready. It also means though, that the money will be needed asap. In my quiet time yesterday I was reading a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. He said, "But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through." By speaking to our church on Sunday and even just taking the steps to walk in faith concerning the finances of this adoption, we are putting ourselves in a place that HE has to come through! I know for a fact that every other time in my life, He has done just that. Because of that knowledge, it is easier this time. Thanks again to each of you who continue to encourage and support us.

We do have a venue for our Orphan Sunday event on Sunday November 8th. We are so excited to see what God does that evening. One of my favorite worship leaders is coming in from Columbus to lead. Can't wait to hear her amazing voice and be lead into the presence of God. Ryan Wilkins has also agreed to come and play. We love him and his family. He will also be bringing information concerning Blood Water Mission that he supports. You can check out more info here We will be having quite a few raffles (one night stay at Indian Bear Lodge cabin, corn hole game, Outback gift cards, gift baskets, etc.) It you are unable to attend but would like to purchase raffle tickets just let me know. Thanks again for all of you support.

Update and Prayer Request

I wanted to give you all an update as to how things are moving along and also how you can pray for us. First, we will be sharing this Sunday at our church about how we came to this place of realizing God wanted to stretch us in a new way. We would love to have you join us if at all possible. Church starts at 10:45.
This week has been probably one of the more difficult weeks since starting this journey. There have been several very dark days for me. I am not surprised by this because the truth is that we have an enemy who seeks to kill, steal, and destroy what God has put in our hearts. I have had several friends who have been faithful to speak truth to me during these times. This has been helpful. Yesterday in talking to Doug, he really challenged me that what needed to happen was for me to surrender everything to the Lord. After crying out to the Lord and placing all my thoughts, plans, concerns, and challenges on the altar, I really experienced His peace!
One of the things that I realized this week is that we are not just jumping from the frying pan into the fire during the adoption process. This will continue for the rest of our lives because we are now becoming a trans- racial family. Unfortunately racism is alive and well. The saddest part is that it is alive and well in the church!! How this must grieve the heart of the Lord. Please pray for us as we walk out this part of our story. Please continue to pray for the body of Christ to see that there is NO room for racism in God's family.
Now for the good news. God is continuing to provide for us as we continue to step out in faith. Our church is setting up an adoption fund. We were totally blown away when Scott our pastor approached us about how the church could help us out. This is a way that people can support our adoption and it will be considered a charitable contribution for them. I will add our church's address at the end of the post. Please make the checks payable to new Life Community Church and in the memo, write adoption fund.
We are also having a fundraiser on November 8 at 6 pm. This is also National Orphan Sunday. The main thrust of this event will be to bring awareness to the plight of orphans globally. We are really praying that God would put a burning desire in more people hearts to adopt. The gift of adoption that I received because of Jesus Christ death on the cross is the greatest gift I have ever received. To be able to show that in a practical way to a child is an awesome privilege that each one of us can have whether that be through adopting or helping to other families to be able to bring children into their homes. We will be having a time of worship, prayer, testimonies and a couple of bands will be ending the night. We also have some really cool raffles. One of them is an overnight stay in one of the cabins at our favorite place to stay. The place is Indian Bear Lodge. If any of you have any contacts for other raffles, please let us know.
Here is how you can pray.

1. Pray for our sweet boy's birth mom! Pray that she would have nourishment during this pregnancy. Pray that God would comfort her during this time.
2. Pray for our sweet boy or boys. We really do need to hear clearly from the Lord if is to be one or two.
3. Continue to pray for all of the orphans. Pray that God would raise up people to take part in the amazing journey of adoption.
4. Pray for continual financial provision for us!
5. Pray for protection from the schemes of the enemy during this time.
6. Pray for our fundraiser. Pray that God is glorified through all that we do.

Our church address is:
New Life Church
5404 Center Road (SR303)
Valley City, Ohio 44280

From a journal entry

Came across a journal entry of mine from January 2008 that I thought I would share. God was just beginning to stir things in my heart at that point, having just left the church we called home to destinations unknown. Here is just a taste:

...What is it, as I look to the days/weeks/months ahead, that I dream about, yearn for, have an insatiable appetite for? When I ponder "church", what is it that the Spirit in me desires? What is it that God desires for the lives of His children, His body, His bride? What would that look like.....?

....To be part of a community, a fellowship, a movement of people whose common ground is hearts set ablaze by Jesus Christ. To walk with people who have received new hearts and minds by rebirth through the Holy Spirit that lives/dwells/resides within them. To live in the authentic reality of the power of God to transform a person, a family, a community, a whole region! To be a people who are not simply hearers of the word of life, but doers of it. To hear and see the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel message that releases God's power into the lives of the saved and unsaved. To be a people known to be disciples of Jesus, followers of "the way" being equipped for works of service, maturing, so that in unity we may all grow in the fullness of Jesus Christ....

And so the quest continues. My hope and comfort come from the fact that God is infinitely more committed to what His church will look like than I will ever be. God, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Allow me to interject

As you can plainly see, Monica has done all of the posting so far, and doing a great job I might add. But every now and again, I will be jotting down a few thoughts, adding my 2 cents, ranting, whatever you would like to call it. Though the main content of this blog has been to chronicle our journey through the season of life we are in, particularly bringing home the next child (or children) God has for us, I will probably depart from this specific strain of thought to explore some bigger issues. Several months ago this blog (Because of the Gospel) was set up for me to have an outlet to express all that God was doing in my heart. In a nutshell, I spent about a year plumbing the depths of the gospel. The result was a deep conviction and growing appreciation and gratitude for the good news that IS Jesus Christ. During this time I actually drafted several posts but never got around to finishing the thought. So, no posts, until now. The decision to use this blog for our adoption journey seemed, dare I say, almost prophetic. Of course Because of the Gospel. The answer to the question "why adopt?" is found in and through the answer "Because of the Gospel".

So, here is a bit of the sampling of one of the posts I had thought about back in May of this year. Just a peek into the madness that is my thought process as I seek to know and follow Jesus Christ with all that I am. Consider these questions and leave your thoughts if you are so inclined:

Can we stop for just a minute? Good, now take a step back (figuratively speaking of course). Ok, maybe 2 steps back. Now take a long, slow look at the landscape of your life. What do you see? What do you see as you look at the day to day within yourself, your home, your neighborhood, your workplace, your church, your "life"? What is unmistakably present, even dominant? Is there anything strangely absent? What is clamoring for attention? What is "not-so-silently" draining your resources? What informs your sense of purpose? Is there a definable trajectory, a discernible direction that all the "stuff" of life is moving you toward? What (or perhaps who) seems to be the motivating force? Seriously, take a few moments and think about this.

Well? What's that look like?

Faith Like Potatoes

This weekend was our 23rd wedding anniversary. Because of the adoption expenses, we decided to do a very low cost anniversary. To say that it was perfect would be an understatement. I became so overwhelmed by God's mercy and grace to us as a couple. Who would have thought fifteen years ago when we were on the road to divorce that God would move as He has? I cried most of the day in the complete awareness of God's amazing grace poured out on us. I kept telling Doug that this was my gift, just a total awareness of God's unmerited favor!!

So this is how our day started. It ended by watching a movie called "Faith Like Potatoes". I would highly recommend it. Here is what Christianity Today had to say about it: Here's the thing about potatoes. You plant them, and cover them with dirt, then pray like mad for rain. With most crops, you can see what you're going to eat—the fruit of your labors, so to speak. But potatoes incubate in the ground, silent and mostly unseen, while you hope for harvest. Only a farmer-turned-evangelist would know how apt a metaphor potatoes are for a life of faith in Christ Jesus, making Faith Like Potatoes the perfect title for a biopic based on the true story of Angus Buchan.

Angus tells his wife that he is to be foolish for Christ and every seemingly crazy choice he makes yields a miracle pointing back to the glory of God. Ever since we started this journey, I have told God that we need another BIG story. You see our marriage is a big story that points only to God's glory. Our adoption of Faith is a big story that only points to God's glory. God has not allowed us to take any credit for any of it and I would not have it any other way. I want His glory to shine through all of this in hopes of leading others to Him. I want Him to be the only way that this can happen. I want people to scratch their heads as they hear our story and come away with the only answer. GOD!!

You see though that this is where the problem comes in. I try to take things into my own hands and make it happen. I try to figure out how God is going to bring us the money. Kind of funny isn't it when all the money is his anyways. I always think that I have it figured out. This week we heard about a possible job in which Doug could make about $1500. I had that money spent in my mind before even knowing all of the details. I felt the Lord whisper to me, "What if this isn't how I am going to provide?". I struggled with that. It seems like the perfect answer to me. One of the things about Angus in the beginning of the movie is that in he didn't believe in anything but the toil of his own hands. As I have reflected on the movie, I have become completely aware of my tendency to do the same thing. Doug called me yesterday with Proverbs 3:5 In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. I listened but in my heart thought it was just a spiritual band-aid being slapped on my heart. I mean everyone even most unbelievers have heard this verse. This morning though in the quiet, the Lord began to expose that this verse was not just a band aid but the very word of God. So once again I have repented and filled my mind and my heart with the truth. I still want the BIG story and believe that it is going to happen but now I am leaving the details up to the One who wrote this story of our lives before time began!! Well, at least at this very moment I am. Check back later and who knows:) By the way, we planted our "potatoes" this weekend. We mailed a check to our home study agency that was rather substantial and then another large check to USCIS to begin the paperwork to bring our boy home. Please continue to pray for us. We have to now have $2150 to send to our placing agency. This I what I know. We have been called to be fools for Christ, so HE will provide.

I will end with this verse:

You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 25:3

Why We Are Adopting From Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, approximately 1 in 10 children die in infancy, and nearly double that number die by their 5th birthday, due to infections, tetanus and diarrhea. Ethiopia is considered the 3rd worst place in the world to be born, better only than Burkina Faso and Djibouti. Of the children who survive, many will lose their mother in childbirth and many more will lose one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.

As more and more parents die, the capacity of extended family members to take care of orphans shrinks. Ethiopia has reached the breaking point where orphaned children are now forced into the streets, into difficult working conditions and/or into heading their households.

In 2001, 13.2% of the population, 3.8 million children, were orphaned. In comparison, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda resulted in 500,000 orphans and the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia resulted in 10,000 orphans. In 2006, only 731 orphans were adopted by American parents. 3,799,269 orphans remain vulnerable.

(courtesy of www.ethiopianrelief.org)

Prayer Needed

I will go before you and make the
rough places smooth:
I will shatter the doors of bronze,
and cut through their iron bars.
And I will give you the treasures of darkness,
and hidden wealth of secret places,
in order that you may know that it is I,
the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
Isaiah 45:2-3

This is the scripture that the Lord gave me as we began this journey. This morning I am really struggling to continue to leave the financial part in the Lord's hands. I believe him for the child because I have Faith to look at each day and see how God knew that she would be my daughter before time began. Even as I type this God gently reminds me about his financial provision concerning Faith. I am reminded about how crazy it is that I get an adoption subsidy for a perfectly healthy Caucasian little girl. I am reminded about how we went through our entire savings to follow God's call on our lives to move to Ohio from Virginia Beach. Again I ask who does that?? That is almost as crazy as this new adventure. In going through our savings, I saw no way possible to pay to adopt but God had a bigger plan. So now He pays me to have the desire of my heart. Who am I that I should not trust him!! I weep as I write this because He has and will always be faithful. These orphans that I cry for every night are all of his children long before they are any of ours. How His heart breaks for them!! This awareness reminds me that HE will do everything to bring our son home to us. So please pray continue to pray for perseverance as we walk this road. Also, we need clear direction concerning our home study agency. A few things came up concerning them so we are praying to make sure that we choose the right agency.

And so it begins

Today is the day that hopefully the check and application to our home study agency gets put in the mail. I was mailing it out yesterday but wanted to make sure that I had included everything that I needed to before mailing it. We are also hoping to get the application for our agency in the mail soon. We have to include a check for $2150 so we are waiting until all of the money comes in from Doug's mowing accounts that I just billed for.
Those who know me know that I am not good about waiting. This time is not any different except for the fact that I have been able to rehearse the times that I have tried to make things happen and the consequences of that. I do not want an Ishmael. I also remember when we were becoming foster parents. We were licensed in August and I was pushing for us to get a placement immediately. Had I gotten my way, we would have missed out on one of our greatest blessings. You see Faith was not born until September. I am so thankful that I am not the one in charge! God knows what is best for me and our family. The great thing about all of this is it keeps me totally dependent on Him. His word continues to propel us forward on this journey of faith.

Please continue to pray for us. Our greatest need for prayer right now is that our home study agency would be prompt and begin moving us along. In order to apply for any of the grants, we need to have our home study finished. So this is an important piece of the process. Pray that through this process we continue to be sensitive to the Lord's leading and refining. Pray for financial provision. Please pray for the people of Ethiopia especially the orphans. Lastly pray for our future son's birth mom. I found out that the day that we began to pray for Faith's birthmom was the day that Faith was conceived.

For those of you that are local, we will be speaking at our church, New Life Community in Valley City, on the 20th of September. We will be sharing with our church family about the journey that we are on. We would love to have you join us.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it! Amen

Here We Go Again

This is the beginning of our adoption journey to Ethiopia! This is where we will keep you updated as to how the process is going. Please pray for God's provision as we move forward. More to come soon.

Here are some facts about Ethiopia:

Ethiopia has approximately 4.8 million orphans and that number continues to rise.

One in six children do not live to see their fifth birthday.

Diarrhea kills 250,000 children a year