Seriously!?

First of all let me say this:

We have NEVER experienced the body of Christ like we have over the past week.

Some of you have written letters to Lily, sent prayers for her, spent time writting me to and sharing such sweet encouraging words!
We've been given a gift for her and yet NONE of you know her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It amazes me that you can love someone so much you have never met before.

Sort of like being pregnant, because in MANY ways, this is like being pregnant.
Except for the gestation term of an elephant, two years.

When we got our acceptance from our agency it was like "POSITIVE!" Your pregnant!!!
I instantly literally felt my body change. Emotions went crazy, sick to my stomach, nervous, excited etc.

We've gotten lots of questions so I thought I would address them here all at one time :)
I'm trying to keep all of this lingo in my terms, bc I'm simple minded.

When will you get her?!
This entire process could anywhere for 18-24 months.

How old will she be?
We are requesting a girl between the ages of 2-3 yrs old.

Do you have a picture of her?
No. Not yet. Here's the process:

Apply to an adoption agency.
Acceptance in to the agency.
Complete homestudy.
Homestudy approved.
Complete paper work for Ethiopia.
Approval from Ethiopia.
Wait for our referral. ( This means we are "in line" waiting for a little girl between the ages of 2-3)
Matched with referral. (this is probably when we will see pictures!!!!)
Then all of the travel arrangements begin. Court dates are set. Etc.


How much is this going to cost?
approx $25,000

Do you have a question for us? Please ask, I'd love to share :)


I told you I would share the boy's reactions!!!!!!!

Let's start with Cameron :)

So first of all Cameron is a Believer. He has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

We were riding down the road, bc that's when I've found it's best to talk, and I began to explain to him that first of all, what the Lord has asked us to do this.
And just like we ask you to do something we expect you to obey. You trust us, you know we love you and have your best interest at hand.
Same as with Daddy and I and the Lord. We want to be obedient!
I also began to remind him of Ashley and Asher's stories and how now they live in a Christ centered home with sisters who love them more than anything and a momma and daddy that cherish them so!!
And that because God's Word tells us to. James 1:27

I also wanted to make him aware that she would be African American.
I asked him what he thought about that.

To which he replied: "That doesn't bother me, there will be pink stuff and barbies everywhere!"

I'm gonna be REAL HONEST HERE..... Cameron is/was my biggest concern.
He is the oldest. The one who is most aware of the situation & understands more.
My BIGGEST desire if for Cameron's heart to be WON OVER by this precious little girl.
All of the pictures I have seen of families who adopt almost ALWAYS the oldest son is holding the adopted younger daughter. And it melts.my.heart!!!
But you know what? All I can do is pray for him. And ask the Lord to slowly turn his heart for Lily. That the "pink" and "barbies" would be the last thing he thought of when he thinks of his sister. That he would see her and Jesus sees her! So that's what I have been doing. Praying.
His most recent comment:

"Momma, can Lily sit beside me at the table"

It's happening. He's thinking about her.
I'm still praying and won't stop :)


On to Malachi.....

He asks' when we are getting his sister every.single.day.
Malachi has no concept of time.
So as of right now it's "We are getting her after Christmas." Once it's starts getting closer to Christmas, we'll give another land mark! ha!
He's so precious talking about her. And really we've just had short to the point conversations.

God has a sister for you!! We are bringing her home from Africa! Her name will be Lily.

I did want to prepare him for physical appearance difference. I literally googled images of girls from Ethiopia and pointed to different ones and told him that she might look similar to them.
Here's how that conversation went:

Chi: momma, she's black
Me: Yes she is
Chi: it's ok
Me: Yes it is because you know what? God made her just like He made you! And He loves her just as much as He loves you!
Chi: He did?
Me: Yes He did.
Chi: yeeeeaaahhh I'm getting a sister!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So you will probably hear Malachi say "we are having a sister coming from Africa America", he hasn't quit gotten the "African American" down yet <3

Let me just tell you this little boy is THRILLED about his sister. Like is ready to go buy her a bike so they can ride bikes together thrilled!

And finally Elim.

I love to hear him say her name....... He's not as vocal but honestly doesn't really have the chance if Malachi's around :)

He talks about her and that they will share a room together <3

So that's where we are! Moving right along.
Fixing to get ready to start on our Homestudy.
Still super excited!!!
Still expectant of the Lord!!
And seriously our hearts are over flowing from the love we have felt!


May the things of Earth grow strangely dim... in the light of His glory and grace,

Kim

{BIG} NEWS!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, I don't even know where to begin.

This is going to be long, well because I we have a lot to say!!

I need to tell you that when you say to the Lord: "We want to be used by you Lord. Whatever that means, use us,"  you better HANG ON!!!!!!!!!

That was our prayer last year at ReFresh in September of 2010.

In January of 2011, we stepped out in obedience and I left the comfortable consistent paycheck of my full time day job to be a stay at home momma & full time photographer.

EXTREMELY difficult thing for me to do!!

I spent more time with my bank family than I just about did with my own family. People I have known most of my life, friends that were/are very close, a GREAT job. I did not complete college so for me, my position was something I was very thankful for!!

That drive home from my last day at the bank I will never forget.

Lots and LOTS of tears.

In all of that, we KNEW that this was the Lord's calling for us.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,
"This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21

Trust me, we clearly heard.

And obeyed.

Even though it was hard.

Didn't add up on paper.

And our family was concerned.

But you know what?

THE LORD HAS BLOWN US AWAY!

I'm not necessarily talking from a financial standpoint.

I love my children more. I know no other way to explain it.

When you realize that this life you have  been given is to glorify the Lord and in every aspect of your  daily life decide to walk and live that out, your desires change......

Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4.

Delight: Great pleasure; joy. Something that gives great pleasure or enjoyment

We began seeking out our pleasure and joy in the Lord. Asking Him to give us the desire for things that pleased Him.

ALL of our needs have been met since Janurary.

The One who calls you is faithful , and He will do it. 1 Thess 5:24

We can testify to this Word!!!!

SO.... then the "NEXT" as I affectionatly call it came.....

I'm fixing to be really honest here.

The thought/consideration/idea/prayer/conversation about adopting a child has never come to my mind.

We have had the privilege of loving 2 precious children from China adopted by our friends. Watching their stories unfold before our very eyes. Seeing the Lord do things that could only be done by Him! 

But ME? No way.

That's was something people with lots of extra money, bigger cars, bigger houses do and that was NOT US!

But He did it for our friends! Why couldn't He do it for us?!

This picture of adoption.

People who are willing to obey to Lord's call and make this journey to bring these children home and raise them in a Christ centered home that will love them. That WANT them.

It's the perfect picture of what Christ has done for us!

When you believe that God sent His only son Jesus to die on the cross for your sin and that He rose 3 days later and lives right now with His Father in heaven. And you ACCEPT that! When you ask Him to come into your heart and forgive you of all this sin that seperates you from Him, you become part of the family!!!! You are His forever!! Because He loves you and died for you! He CHOOSE you! He WANTS you!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love  he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—  to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Eph 1:3-6

Well, remember, when you tell the Lord you are willing to be used by Him, "whatever that means" use us, that mean WHATEVER He wants.

His desires, our desires. And guess what:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep onesself from being pollutted by the world. James 1:27

This is a very popular verse. But for us, it took on new meaning and we began to pray about what the Lord would have us do.

Roger and I have both had an eagerness to be in the Word more. The Bible. God's Word. That never changes. Is not an emotion. And can be counted on!

We wanted a word about this!

Something we knew was for us in regards to adoption.

So, He gave one to Roger, the man, the head. Out of the book of Ruth.

Really more about Boaz than Ruth. I encourage you to read the book of Ruth. It's short :)

But very powerful.

Ruth was a foreinger, a female foreigner, that Boaz took compassion on, took under his wing and as his wife. There is LOTS more to the story Roger will explain.

Roger here..... Adoption has always been something I mentioned and thought it was a neat idea. Though it is so much more than just a random idea. To think God has a child waiting for me in another country is just amazing. I have thought a lot about how to explain the word I recieved. To be honest I can't narrow it down to just a verse. For me it was the whole book of Ruth. To try and be specific for you though I can kinda narrow it down to:

*********

Ruth 2:15-16 ~ As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders th his men, "Let her gather among the sheaves and don't reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her"

I still have my writing from that day as I read the entire book of Ruth. ***To be like Boaz. Obey the law (Lev. 19:9-10, Due 24:19-22) To show kindness to a stranger and use your position of wealth, power, blessing to bless others. What have I left out for the widows, orphans, and strangers. Or have I gathered all for myself out of greed? Sometimes we have to leave out the extra for those who can not feed themselves. Even with the leftovers I have to be willing to humble myself and bend down and pick up what was left behind. I have to be willing to serve to receive the blessings. If I am not humble and bend down to pick up the extra then they will just wast or someone else will see the value I can't. How humble are we? The leader, the servant, and the stranger?

********

So after writing that and reading Ruth I realized. I am Boaz. I have been given much and have leftovers. But I haven't left anything for anyone else. Why has God granted my family all of these blessings? What have I given back? This then hit me deep in my heart as I started to see how the world see's orphans. As the leftovers. That someone didn't want. Waiting for their time to just waste away. I started to pray asking God why did you send me to the book of Ruth?  I clearly heard. "For you have much and they have little. Bend down and pick them up. There is a Ruth waiting for you."

Sometimes He whispers, sometimes he holds up bright flashing signs. We got the flashing sign! I would encourage everyone to read the entire book of Ruth. The foreign girl who dedicated her life to someone else.  Who left her country to serve someone else. Who then humbled herslef and took up the leftovers to provide for her new family. The she was redeemed and brought fully into the family and given a full blessing.

Back to me :) The Lord confirmed that our child was to be a girl.

The foreigner aspect came from Ruth as well and this heart of mine for Africa and was confirmed one night during ReFresh as the speaker referenced Acts 8: 26-40. I mean seriously, the passage is titled "Christ is preached to an Ethiopian". Ok Lord, we got it!

So, there it was. A word from the Lord confirmation, whole 9 yards..............................

SO NEXTTTTT here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's going to be hard.

Doesn't add up on paper.

Our family is concerned.

.......... I'm seeing a pattern.

The good thing about this pattern is that we have experienced it before and we KNOW what He is capabale of!!!!!!!

The first step has been completed!

We were approved by our agency, Small World, last Tuesday, hence the "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" as my Facebook status :)

Moving on to our homestudy!!

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trust in you.

Isaiah 26:3

This peace we have is very abnormal and unexplainable but I know exactly where it's coming from, our mighty trustworthy soverign Lord.

If you would have asked me 2 years ago where I saw us,  "stay at home momma, full time photographer, adopting a precious daughter from Ethiopia" would have NEVER came to my mind.

I'm loving every second of this hard core, deep end, life that is so UNCONFORMTABLE it's crazy and we are delighting in the One who is worth giving up everything for for His name sake.

I'm praying that through Lily's story lives will be changed, literally, as ours have been through others' stories.

That the Lord is honored and get's all the glory! And that if one person is saved through this or a life has been changed it has all been worth it.

It's getting to the point where knowing Him more is becoming the reward.

I can't wait to share more things!!! The boy's responses etc.

I want you know to know excited and just plain ole' giddy this momma is!

Kim