Lend Me Your Ear

Here I sit at work, having a cup of coffee, missing my family desperately. There is a clipboard sitting next to me with my half done autobiography on it. And only a rough draft at that. Writing this blog is actually a stall tactic if truth be told.I still have the parenting, religion, reasons to adopt, and the last section called "general" which is really the section that's about me to do. I mean the real me. My personality,strengths,weaknesses,my fears, likes,dislikes, etc.Self examination is a really strange thing. Most people don't enjoy looking inside and examining the bits and pieces that make us who we are. Isn't it easier to look at others and their shortcomings instead of ours?You can look at just about any sitcom and see people doing foolish things and looking like an idiot.Why is that funny? Because it makes us feel better about ourselves.And while I'm on the subject men, lend me your ear. There is something seriously wrong with television today and the way people perceive men. Look at all the popular sitcoms today. Family guy, Everybody loves Raymond, King of Queens,the list goes on. The men in those shows look like morons and like they are completely inept.What happen to the days of men being strong leaders in our homes?Being respected by their children instead of the kids making snide comments and walking away only to ignore what their parents say?Most kids that grow up to be disfunctional adults are that way because their dads were not present. You can live in the house and still not be present in your childrens lives. It takes more than just DNA to be a dad. Pray AND play with your family.Respect your wife and treat her as an equal. She is a child of God the same as you. Look your children in the eyes when they are talking to you. Why should they listen to you when you talk, if they feel like you're not listening to them? Respect is a two way street. Think about it.So I got off the subject...sorry. I'm down off my soap box now.The whole point was that this homestudy is tough. It's our first big hurdle.

So yes...homestudy...big hurdle...got it! But God gave me a scripture this week. A promise to claim when the frustration comes or the fear of the unknown. This adoption is a very big deal in our lives, but we serve a very big God. I was driving in the car with Caden and heard this scripture in a childrens song on one of his cd's.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him
And He will make your paths straght.

Proverbs 3:5-6


The alarms went off in my head. God was telling us to trust Him. We have had alot of anxiety over the fund raising and the travel we'll have to do. Two trips to Ethiopia is way out of our comfort zone. Let me tell you something. God has put some amazing people in our lives. We have a group of people that are some of the most generous, loving,and selfless friends anyone could ask for. We are gathering alot of things for our garage sale fundraiser and much of it has come from our friends. I got another fundraising idea from a blog written by a woman who has adopted from Ethiopia.

We are going to sell pieces of this puzzle and whoever buys a piece can sign there name on the back. We can show our new little all the people who helped bring them home to their forever family. Praise God for His promises. His Word is truth. Watch and see the amazing things God is going to do in our home. Thank you Lord.

Our Own Personal Nightmare!!

So I told myself I was going to blog regularly so I could keep all those who care up to date on what's going on in the adoption process Right now we are faced with writing an autobiography.Not just any autobiography mind you...but eight to ten pages of our life and everything personal or important to us, put down on paper. Not an easy task. It is very overwelming to say the least. We of course have nothing to hide, but it is awkward giving all that info to people we don't even know. And as luck would have it, we are trying to get all the homestudy stuff done with all our day to day stuff still to do at the same time. The kids are back in school so that might help us find extra hours during the day.

I feel alittle guilty complaining about the homestudy,(but I still do of course). I was reading a blog today from someone who has already adopted from Ethiopia.She had some heart wrenching and humbling stats.

*Only 24% of households have access to clean
drinking water.

*82% of the populaton survives on less than
a dollar per day.

* One in ten children die before their first
birthday.

* One in six will die before age five.

I want so badly to go and rescue all of the children in danger.They are in danger!
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the father, is this:to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27

This is what God has called us to do.So I will claim this when I start to feel sorry for myself and complain.There is no other way I will make it thru this process without claiming God's promises. I cringe and sometimes feel like I can't do what's required of us in this adoption.But, God tells us we are "more than conquerors"Rom 8:37, against the things of this world.So please pray for us. That God would be present and give us the strength and patience to do what needs done.

We know there is a little one waiting. They are so far away.

God, please keep our little one safe until you bring them home to us.Amen.

The New Adventure!

Man it's been a long time since I blogged. Not alot has changed, but the things that have changed are pretty important. For awhile I felt like crap all the time. I was tired and my body ached all the time.I knew it couldn't be just because I just turned 39 yo.So, I finally went to the doctor and ended up on thyroid medication. It took about 3 wks to feel better, but I got rid of some of the weight gain, and I don't feel as sluggish.Hopefully this doesn't seem ridiculous. I don't know the TMI rules for blogging.
Anyway, I'll get to the good stuff.We have been certified to adopt in Arizona since October 2010. We have't been matched yet, which in and of itself is not a surprise, but we were feeling impatient.I felt like we were really limiting ourselves by sticking only to Arizona. Of course we were always in prayer and giving God complete control over all that happens with the adoption.I don't understand God's ways nor am I expected to, so I don't know what God's plan has been for us over the last year. I may only know in looking back. I was looking for something unrelated when I came across a link for adoptions from Ethiopia and started to surfe around alittle. The more I looked, the more interested I became. I came across a site for International Adoption Net.I read that Ethiopia is less restrictive, and this agency is considerably less expensive than others.The total fee is $14,000. (That doesn't include the visas and air fare.)I talked to Katy about the site and we prayed over it for several days. We really were very nervous about it, but really felt God pulling us to this country. It is sooo outside of our comfort zone. God is good!!! He gave us a peace about it at the same time. One way to judge if something is from God is to ask yourself if it furthers His kingdom. I always pray that God will be glorified in all He does in my life and this is no exception. So how will this glorify Him? God tells us to care for orphans and widows in His word. Teaching a child we bring into our home about the gift of salvation, and Jesus love for us. And last, teaching our children through it all how blessed they are, and teaching them to care for others. My prayer is that God would prepare the child he has for us, and prepare our hearts to witness his grace and glory first hand. Glory to God!!!

So, that being said, we are also preparing ourselves for the enormous cost. We are trusting God to provide in one way or another. We will be setting up a paypal account on a website we will create. We will be asking for donations in the weeks to come. Please pray and ask God to place an amount on your heart to help us bring our little one home. We are beginning the home study process this week. Thank you for your prayers and generosity.

Brian