Baby Room: Part 2

Instead of using the wall decor that can be purchased with the bedding, I decided to make our own wall decorations. Pictured above is the bed skirt that served as the inspiration for the background of the wall art.

It is truly a deep desire of ours for our future child(ren) to know about Jesus and come to know Jesus. What better foundation for a child than to start learning God's Word at an early age! We selected several verses that have impacted us that we would like to share with the baby to come.

Eric recently ended a college Bible study series that examined who God is. The backdrop slide had God spelled out in baby block letters. This sparked the idea for the lettering. Then he later spoke about different attributes of God and names of God. This inspired me to include in the baby's room words that say what God and Jesus mean to us. The idea continued to develop. I took pictures of the baby bedding critters. Then I wrote down the names of the critters and what word went with each letter. It certainly wasn't difficult to come up with words, but it was hard to narrow the words down to just the letters I had. I could have gone on and on.

I wanted the pictures to be high-quality print, so I had them printed at Staples. You and I both know that these pictures got read. :) The lady who printed them told me they were cute and she liked them. I know she was encouraged by the words and verses. I know I am encouraged by the words and verses every time I enter the baby's room.

If you know of a shorter name for a dragon fly, let me know. I feel like this picture appears a little cluttered, but the longer the critter name, the more names of Jesus I can put!

We added a large area rug to the baby's room. This is a treat even for us because our house has wood floors, so carpet is a luxury (sounds opposite of what some think, but it's true for us). Going into the baby's room and reading each word and verse really makes the room feel like a safe haven - a sanctuary if you will. Some people have special prayer closets in their homes, and that's kinda what this room is for me. I normally spend my time with Jesus in our guest bedroom, but lately I have found it enjoyable to have my time with Jesus in the baby's room. Aside from the fact that I like to pray over the baby's room, the baby, and the birth mom, I also like how I can pray on the floor - face down before God Almighty! God and I have already had some great time together in that room.

Check back later to see where these pictures were placed.

Who is God to you?

Message from Covenant Care Services

Dear Friends,

All of us at Covenant Care Services hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the final week of 2011. We've been privileged this year to see 24 children adopted into two-parent, Christian homes. Our work continues as we are expecting several birthmothers to deliver in the first few weeks of 2012!

As the year comes to a close, will you consider a one-time, year-end gift to support adoption ministry through Covenant Care Services? You can give online by clicking here.

We have been praying that God would provide for our needs with $75,000 in new donations before the end of December. Your online gift of any amount will help us move one step closer to that goal. 

You can also drop your check in the mail. As long as it's postmarked on or before December 31, it will be counted for 2011. If you'd like your gift to be used for our work in a certain region of the state, just note that in the memo field.

Covenant Care Services

State Administrative Office

3950 Ridge Ave.

Macon, GA 31210

All gifts are tax deductible, and a receipt detailing your giving for the year will be provided by mid-January.

Thank you for all you to do support this Gospel-centered adoption ministry.

Happy New Year,

The Staff at Covenant Care Services

The Baby Room: Part 1

Eric's parents blessed us with the gift of a baby crib! We wanted to have the entire room set up before submitting our portfolio, but we were at least able to have the bed ready for the portfolio. Eric and his dad put the crib together.

During another visit to see us, Eric's mom took us on an excursion to locate the perfect baby bedding. We first went to this boutique place that was 45 minutes away! Cute bedding, but ugly prices! Our second stop was the safe choice of Babies R Us.

It's obvious from the cart that we found what we needed! We left the store with a baby mattress, 2 mattress covers, and baby bedding! We all had fun finally being able to pick out baby decor and supplies! I kept saying that I did NOT want any baby bedding that had animals on it. I wanted to have something more modern and contemporary. Guess what we left the store with? Animals! I was really surprised that I actually found critter bedding that I thought was cute!

After we arrived at home, we had fun assembling the crib decor!

Stay tuned for more baby room pictures!

Mis-excitement

I was sick yesterday so I wasn't thinking well. I was feeling so bad that I literally stayed in bed until I moved to the couch at about 8:00 p.m. While I was in bed upstairs, I heard Eric talking to someone on the phone. Then he came in the bedroom with a big smile and said, "So, what do you think?" For a split second I was excited, and then that excitement quickly turned to sadness when I realized what he was smiling about. He was really only wanting to talk to me about one of my Christmas presents. I thought that he had just gotten off the phone with our case worker. I felt so let down. I was so expectant of receiving the call that I overlooked what Eric's smile meant. That is the exact reason our caseworker said she would try not to call us so that we would not get our hopes up. This was just another reminder that God is in control and has perfect timing. I can't wait until Eric's face really does say, "So, what do you think about going to get our child this week?" It sure does make it all worth it to be able to rely on God and His best for us!

A New Perspective

Many people are curious: "What's the latest?" "Have you heard anything yet?" "Any news?" . . .

Our answer is still the same: "We're one day closer than we were." :) It's still not God's time yet. God knows the exact day and time for us to receive news of a match or adoption placement, but He knows that it's not time to reveal that day and time to us yet . . . but He will later!!!

This adoption waiting time gave me a new perspective on Christmas this year. The coming of the Messiah was prophesied a long, long, long, long time ago. People were anticipating the arrival of Jesus for years and years and years! I wonder what it must have been like knowing that the Messiah would come, but not knowing when. I know that we are currently awaiting the Lord's second coming, but I'm on the other side of His first coming. Even though what we are waiting for is different than waiting on our Savior to come to the earth the first time, we have at least been able to have a small sampling of what it's like to await the coming of a child. God kept His promises then, and He keeps His promises now! I'm thankful for a promise-keeper!

Be a Gift to Birth Mothers

PLEASE READ - AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM COVENANT CARE SERVICES (the adoption agency we are using): 

At Covenant Care Services we believe that loving ministry to our birthmothers in the name of Jesus is one of the most important parts of what we do. 

 

This Christmas, we invite you to be part of our Birthmother Pajama Drive. Will you help us share the love of Christ by donating one or more pairs of new pajamas for us to bless our birthmothers with?

Christmas is a great time to find pajamas packed as a gift set at a reasonable price. Why not pick up one or two pairs for a CCS birthmother? Maybe your Sunday school class or youth group could even make this a project over the next few weeks!

You can deliver the pajamas to our State Office during normal business hours before Christmas, or mail them to us at:

 

Covenant Care Services

3950 Ridge Ave.

Macon, GA 31210

 

We'll share these gifts with our birthmothers in December and over the next few months. Help us show these women that we love them and care about them!

 

Serving Him,

 

The Staff at Covenant Care Services

The Waiting "Game"

One of our all-time favorite games to play is Settlers of Catan. In fact, we don't get to play it enough! One of our least favorite games is Waiting!

Although the "waiting game" is not our favorite, it brings more fulfillment than any board game we could ever play. Actually, waiting is not a game at all. Waiting is the patient endurance of confident expectancy and trust - for us, trust in God. I've heard it said that 3/5 of faith is in wait, and that is so true. Times of waiting and hoping in God is when faith can flourish.

Most adoption cases involve times of waiting, whether they be minimal or extended. Our 1st adoption journey began two years ago. This current adoption journey began eight months ago when the 1st journey concluded. Waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting . . . and more waiting is an adoption norm. The stage we are in now is nothing but waiting - no paperwork, no mandatory meetings, no nothing (except for continuing fundraising, baby room decorating, and praying). There's nothing to do that can speed up the process - it's all in God's hands and His timing. God already knows the end of the story, so we know it will be a good ending! Sometimes people think that God is late. He's never late . . . He's right on time, even if the time our prayers are answered is not OUR time. This is much easier said than done, but it's true. This trust in Him gives us peace, confidence, and encouragement in times of waiting. Other instances in our lives have given testimony to this truth.

Although waiting is tough, one of the blessings of this adoption process is that we don't know anything and can't do anything. This makes US get out of the way and depend completely on God - there's nothing else to do but depend on Him. That's where God wants all of us to be all the time in everything. Our case worker may know for a birth mom's entire pregnancy that we are the couple chosen for an adoption plan, but is not able to tell us until the 10-ten revocation period is over. That means that we could get a call one day and then go to Macon for a placement two days later. Since there's no way of knowing the date of our placement, because God alone is all-knowing, we just have to keep our faith in the wait.

October 14th Adoption Meeting Update

It's the holiday season, so imagine having encouragement, knowledge, overwhelming emotion, and relief all packaged together in three hours with a nice red Christmas ribbon to seal the gift. That's what October 14th was for us.

Covenant Care Services requires two mandatory meetings be attended before a couple can even turn in a portfolio. These are three-hour informational meetings. At least 15 couples were in attendance this time (less than the first meeting).

October 14th meeting schedule:
- director of the agency spoke about the process overview and adoption details
- another agency worker spoke about the Biblical meaning of adoption
- adoptive family testimony
- birth mom testimony
- question/answer time for adoptive family and birth mom
- meet with case worker

The adoptive family testimony was a true encouragement. The couple that spoke lived out in the sticks in a really old trailer with chickens in the yard. They already had biological children, too. They thought that no one would pick them, but they said that them being chosen just shows that where you live doesn't make a huge difference. In fact, the birth mom that chose this family for her adoption plan of her twins liked the chickens pictured in the portfolio. This couple was very honest and transparent. They shared about the challenges and joys of the adoption process. Waiting was the hardest part for them, which is the part we are in now. It is hard! The wife suggested finding other adoptive families to stay in contact with for support and encouragement. This couple was so sad that they had not received a placement phone call by their six month waiting point, but it turns out that that was actually the date their adoptive kids were born (they did not find out until several months later). Their testimony was truly an example of God's perfect timing and perfect plan!!!

The birth mom testimony was extra special and insightful. Some people have the misconception that with an open or semi-open adoption that the birth mom will change her mind. Although this does happen sometimes, this birth mom expressed that receiving pictures and information about her children actually reassured her that she made the right decision in making an adoption plan for her girls. Receiving periodic pictures allows the birth parents to see that their child is being well-taken care of and loved for life. We definitely gained more confidence through her testimony. Having a face with a story makes a huge difference because many people have negative ideas about birth moms. Regardless of the situation that led a birth mom to make an adoption plan, she is a beloved creation of God who shares the same needs as the rest of humanity.

There are various perspectives about adoption. Some people see adoption as Plan B when they cannot have their own children. Others see adoption as waiting for God to bring along a child. For others, adoption is a desire acquired within one's heart to parent those without the current state of family, regardless of fertility or infertility. Some view adoption as a calling. One perspective shared at the meeting is that adoption is ministry. It is about the adoptive family being available to receive a child in a time of need or crisis. Adoptive families are also available to reach out to the birth parents. Unfortunately, birth parents are often left by the wayside. Thankfully, Covenant Care Services supports birth parents well after a placement has been made. 

Erin signing the agency financial form.

Although the meeting was extremely informative, our awaited time came after the meeting was over. The close of the meeting meant that we were able to meet with our case worker. That is when we signed our financial form in agreement of the adoption fees. The signing of this notarized form was followed by the surrender of our portfolios that you have viewed in previous posts. This was a BIG deal, because we were told in early June that we had to wait to do anything until the 1st meeting in August. Then we were still not able to begin our portfolio until after we met with our case worker in late August. In addition, we were not allowed to turn in the seven portfolio copies until the October meeting! We completely understand the reasoning for this, but waiting is hard! We were so excited to finally have the portfolios submitted!

Relinquishing our portfolios into the hands of our case worker and hearing the testimonies of God at work in adoption were both worth the long drive to Macon on October 14th!

Portfolio: Page 11

This is the last page of our portfolio. As you view it, remember to pray for the birth moms who will see our portfolio. Pray that God will give them wisdom to know whether or not we are God's choice for them in their adoption plan.

Portfolio: Pages 9-10

The following two pages have been left the original size like the previous pages. If the page is too large for you to view, you can either scroll the page over or zoom out. Enjoy!

Portfolio: Pages 7-8

The pages below are little hard to read when small, so I left them the original size. Depending on your monitor, you may have to zoom out or scroll over to see the entire page. The grandmother-to-be notes are really sweet.

Portfolio Pages 5-6

The following portfolio pages have been left in their original size for reading ease. If you cannot view the entire page, you may change your view setting or scroll over to see the rest of the page.

Portfolio Pages 1-4

THE FIRST PAGE
The first page of our portfolio contains our basic profile. The basic profile has basic information about us and is the very first page of information that birth parents will see. All portfolios have this as the front page, so we had ours printed on green paper.

PAGES 2-4
The next pages of the portfolio contain our birth parent letter. If you would like to read it, click on the following link and select the "Letter From Adoptive Parents" link. The birth parent letter is also printed after the web address. In addition to our profile page and birth parent letter being in our hard copy portfolio, they are also posted on Covenant Care's website (the waiting families list page).

http://www.covenantcareadoptions.com/Pregnant/Adoptive-Family-List/ctl/Detail/mid/1595/xmid/3354/xmfid/10.aspx

God at Work - Even in a Portfolio

Throughout this entire adoption journey, from the international adoption to the current one, God has been ever-present (as He always is)! Here are some examples:

IDEAS
God provided portfolio ideas. The way the portfolio came together and turned out is nothing but God - He just used my fingers and my computer to make the finished product.

TIMING
The portfolio was completed in perfect timing.

PRINTING
Michael's closed at 9:00 the night we printed our portfolio. We needed to make it to Michael's to get the scrap book paper covers and the binding ribbon. We were still at Staples waiting on our portfolio copies at 8:45! While waiting for our copies, the Staples manager came over to talk to us. After hearing what we were doing, he told us we could come back later with a picture of our "new" family and have that picture enlarged (16x24) for free! We made it to Michael's with just enough time to run in, buy the materials, and leave before the doors were locked (Eric even had enough time to go in to BestBuy while I made our purchase).

PROVISIONS
Our portfolio could not be shown until $1,300 was submitted to our adoption agency (fee for showing the portfolio). Since last February, a lady at our church has been having Premier Jewelry Fundraisers for us. We have been stashing the money away in an adoption fund. Some of the funds were used for prior adoption fees (such as the home study earlier in the year). With several other parties held, additional money was raised for our adoption expenses. In addition, more of our puzzle pieces were purchased. These two fundraisers, plus another donation, covered the cost of our portfolio fee (received up until the week we had to turn in our money). We were going to turn in our portfolio fee on October 14th when we had our Macon meeting, but our case worker recommended that we mail it in, so we did just that the following week. Pictured is Eric with the check ready to be mailed! Since then, God has continued to provide for other adoption expenses. GOD IS OUR PROVIDER!

The Portfolio

What's a portfolio? In the adoption world, a portfolio is like a scrapbook. For our adoption agency, our portfolio included the following: a cover sheet, a letter to the birth parents, and information about us (who we are, our life, our families, where the baby will stay, etc.). The hard part about making our portfolio was that is was only supposed to be around 10 pages total, including the cover page and letter. Ours totaled 11 pages. The portfolios are a requirement because case workers show them to birth parents. Birth parents look at various portfolios in efforts to choose the family desired for their adoption plan.

I (Erin) worked on the portfolio for a while. It started with an outline of what we wanted the birth parents to know about us. I tried several times to start the formation of the portfolio but it just wasn't coming together. Finally, the Wednesday before our October 14th meeting when the portfolio needed to be submitted, the ideas finally started to come together. Earlier that week I came up with what background I wanted to use. I then started looking through pictures. I put all the pictures I thought relevant into PowerPoint slides based on categories (marriage, family, kid involvement, hobbies, etc.). In addition to working on the portfolio, that was a crazy busy week for Cross Country. I had a Cross Country meet that Monday and that Wednesday. Every night that week was a late night, especially the night I worked on the birth parent letter. That Wednesday's Cross Country meet was in Macon (2 hours away), which made for an extra long day. I took my lap top and narrowed down pictures on the way there and on the way back. That night was an all-nighter. The portfolio was finished around 7:00 that next morning. I then emailed it to our case worker for approval so that it could be printed that night after work.

The portfolio is all God - from start to finish - from white paper to green paper - from outline to binding ribbon. The earlier days of that particular week were extremely exhausting. I just couldn't stay up later than around 1:00. However, Wednesday was different. God just gave me the ideas and energy needed to complete the portfolio. I wasn't even tired. I sat on the floor of the baby room and worked and worked. Now, just so it's clear, Eric did help with the portfolio in other ways. I am the writer and creative project person in the family, so I volunteered to take on the writing and creative aspects of the task. In addition to having energy to stay up all night and actually think, God gave me the strength for work that Thursday.

After work that day, Eric and I went to Staples to have our portfolio printed (pictured to the left). 8 copies were made because there are 7 birth mom case workers and we also wanted a copy. We then went and picked out ribbon and scrapbook pages (the portfolios are bound in clear paper sleeves because many of the case workers put all the portfolios in a huge binder). We then went home to assemble the portfolios. Seeing the finished product was a relief and a blessing. We also couldn't believe that the time to turn in portfolios had finally arrived! We had been told for so long . . . wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . Turning in portfolios (pictured to the right) meant that birth parents would FINALLY get to know about us! 
  
The following posts will feature the various parts of the portfolio so you can see what birth parents will see. As you see each page, pray for the birth parents who are seeking families for their adoption plans. Pray that God will give them wisdom. Pray that God will unite us with our future child in His perfect timing and that we will patiently pray in the meantime.

The Count Down

We are counting down the days until this Friday, October 14th! This Friday is the day we turn in our portfolio so that it can be shown to birth moms! Please be praying for us as we finish our portfolio. Pray that God will give us the words, ideas, pictures, and creativity to make the portfolio He desires for us to make. Pray that our portfolio will be an encouragement to all those who read it. Pray that the case workers will know which birth moms to share our portfolio with. Pray for discernment for the birth moms as they make their adoption plans. Pray that God will also open up the time for the portfolio to be completed. We have a packed week ahead, so we definitely need God's help!

In preparation for our meeting Friday, we have continued the decoration of our baby room! Eric's mom spent this past weekend with us. She took us baby shopping, which included helping us pick out a crib mattress and gender-neutral crib bedding! We are so excited about the progression of the room because it allows us to include the baby's room in our portfolio! It is definitely a change for us to see a made-up baby bed! We are looking forward to seeing who God has picked out for us to parent! I enjoy going in the baby's room to pray over the bed, the room, and the child that will occupy them. We've waited so long, so we are ready for Friday to come!

Thank you, again, for your support and prayers!!! Subscribe to our blog via email! Type your email address in the blank to the left, and you will receive emails notifying you of new blog posts.

Progress!

Our 2nd mandatory meeting is next Friday, October 14th. That is the day we will turn in our portfolio and $1,300 for our portfolio to be shown to birth moms.

We are having a Premier Designs jewelry catalog show fundraiser this week to help bring in the remaining balance for our portfolio showing fee.

We have been very busy getting our support letters together. They were mailed out yesterday and today! Please be praying for God's financial provisions. There's no telling what the time line will be once our portfolio begins to be shown, so we are trying to raise our adoption fee of $13,000 by November 5th.

Please keep up the prayers. We desire for God to receive all the honor and glory through this process! Pray for our letters as they are received, for the birth moms, for our case worker, and for our future child.

More Baby Steps

August 26th marked another important date in our adoption journey. That special Friday was the day our new caseworker came to our home for a visit. Since Covenant Care is using our home study, this was a get-to-know-you visit. It was honestly like having a friend come over for some time to chat and catch up.

After hearing about one of the wonderful Covenant Care case workers, it was such a temptation to call the agency and request to have that individual assigned to our adoption. However, it was worth the wait to see who God assigned to us. Our case worker is from the same area in NC that we lived in for 6 1/2 years. She moved here 1 1/2 years ago, and we moved here 2 1/2 years ago. She attended a NC church that we know people from. She loves Jesus. She sees her birthmom caseworker job as a ministry. She has heard of our former NC pastor's wife. She formally worked at the NC adoption agency we were going to use if we had stayed in NC. She was at several NC adoption dinner banquets that we attended, but we never met there. Those kind of situations don't just happen. Those are circumstances that God orchestrates!

The visit with this new caseworker confirmed to us once again that pursuing this infant adoption is the direction God is leading us to go. She took time to explain the process to us again and answered our questions. We found out that we will rarely know about our portfolio being shown to birthmoms. In fact, we may not even know about it until we receive a phone call telling us to be at Covenant Care in two days for placement! We also learned that once our portfolio is shown the process could take as little as Christmas time or as long as next Christmas time.

As we have seen in our almost 9 years of marriage, God has perfect timing for everything. In His perfect timing we will be united with God's child for us!

So what's next? You guessed it . . . waiting and waiting and waiting . . . and fundraising and fundraising and fundraising. Our support letters will finally go out soon. We have another jewelry party fundraiser on Oct. 7th. Our portfolio needs to be made. Our portfolio will be turned in on October 14th (the day of our 2nd mandatory agency meeting). Once our portfolio is received with our $1,300.00 showing fee, birthmoms will be able to view our portfolio! Who knows what then!

In the meantime we have gained two important child items . . . a family vehicle and a baby bed! Eric was in a car accident several weeks ago which totaled his just paid off car! Since we had no choice but to purchase another vehicle, we decided on an SUV that has plenty of child space (the first time we weren't getting a vehicle just for us!). Eric's parents also came up last Sunday to celebrate Eric's birthday. They brought a baby crib with them! It was such a blessing to see Eric and his dad put the crib together.

Stay tuned for more updates. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. It is a blessing to know that so many people are rallied behind us on this adoption endeavor!

1st Covenant Care Meeting

Our first Covenant Care meeting took place on August 19th. Several months ago August 19th seemed like it would never come! On the morning of the awaited August 19th, excitement brewed within us as we prepared to travel to Macon for this mandatory meeting.

Even prior to the meeting God was at work preparing the way. Eric was terribly sick last week which landed him in the ER on Thursday. Thankfully Eric's symptoms turned out to be severe dehydration resulting from a virus. Although very uncomfortable from hospital procedures, Eric was able to make it to the meeting. This meeting is only offered twice a year, so it was a big deal for us both to attend! That's a God event for sure!

The meeting was very informative. The 25-30 couples in attendance learned about Covenant Care's history, philosophy, ministry, goals, expectations, and process. Concluding the meeting was our case worker assignments - the moment we have been waiting for for months!!! We have been praying that God would place us with the case worker He wanted us to have, so it was a blessing to finally meet her. Our caseworker already seems to be a perfect fit for us - of course she is since God put us together! We told her about our completed and approved home study because we are ready to move forward to the next step in the process. She said she would contact us soon . . . soon it was!

We received an email last night from our caseworker! We will meet with her this Friday! Please be praying for our meeting. Pray that God will guide our conversation, that He will give our caseworker wisdom to know how to direct us, and that God will give us patience and guidance. Also be in prayer for the baby and birthmom that God is preparing us to meet.

New News and Second Steps

Word was received today from Covenant Care Services that our pre-application has been approved!!!!  We are one step closer to being parents of a domestic infant from GA!

So, what now?

Our home study was completed with the previous adoption agency, so that step is complete. However, there are still several more months of waiting ahead.

June - Fundraising, fundraising, fundraising! We will be sending out support letters for our matching grant. We also have the puzzle fundraiser that we are working on. Raising the funds during June and the upcoming months is crucial, because a child will not be placed in our care until all the money has been submitted to the adoption agency (around $13,000 plus the $1,300 to show our portfolio to birth moms).

July - Mission trip to Thailand (July 6-25)

August - Covenant Care mandatory meeting on August 19th in Macon, GA (this is when we will meet with our case worker for the first time)

September - hopefully working on our portfolio that will be shown to birth moms (birth moms and families will look at our portfolio to see if we are the couple they want to parent their child)

October - 2nd Covenant Care mandatory meeting on October 21st in Macon, GA (hopefully our portfolio will be shown around this time)

Waiting is the word of our lives! How about yours? :) We wait for one thing, and then there is something else to wait for! However, waiting does increase faith!!!!! God's plan is perfect, and waiting is part of that plan. As a dear friend told us tonight, God is still getting our child ready for us. When it's God's perfect timing, He will allow us to meet. One cannot go wrong with God's timing! Although this isn't exactly our time line (we would like the adoption to already be done), God has a perfect time line already mapped out. 

Part of God's perfect time line is us going to Thailand. It is because of the change in adoption direction back in March that we are able to go on our church college mission trip to Thailand again. Eric had two of his college interns compile a prayer/scripture reading calendar for the Thailand team to use in preparation for the mission trip in July. Today's reading is Daniel 6, the familiar story of Daniel and the Lion's Den. In this story, Daniel is thrown into a den full of hungry lions as punishment for not worshiping the king or false gods. He remained faithful to God, constantly served God, and prayed to God regularly, even when it was not popular among the other leaders he was surrounded by. The Bible reveals that God protected Daniel from the lions, which opened the eyes of the king and others to the power of God. God took care of Daniel. I'm sure Daniel was not exactly planning on spending time in a lion's den, but God had that as a special part of His timing. God used Daniel's challenging circumstances to bring others to Himself. Verse 23 says, ". . . no injury whatever was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." This event allowed God to be exalted in the kingdom when King Darius said, "For He IS the LIVING God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which WILL NOT be destroyed, and His dominion WILL be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." Although we may sometimes feel like we are in a den of preying lions of waiting, we are praying that God will use our circumstances to make Himself known, exalted, and honored.

We look forward to keeping you updated on God's hand in this adoption journey He is leading us on!!!

Prayer request:
- pray that we will patiently wait for God's timing
- pray for the birth mom
- pray for fundraising
- pray for Covenant Care (adoption agency)
- pray for Promise686 (grant agency)
- pray that God will continue to prepare us for the child(ren) He has for us to care for (and the same for the child/ren)
- pray that first and foremost that God will be made known, honored, and exalted through this process - He has us on the journey for a reason much bigger than we could ever ask for or imagine!!!!

Grant Approval and Baby Steps

Grant: We found out yesterday that we have been approved for a matching grant! We will fill you in on the details when we receive them! Exciting times!

Taking Baby Steps: I know we are still waiting for our approval with Covenant Care (which we should have in about 2 weeks), but I purchased our first piece of baby clothing this week: a Georgia Bulldog shirt (on sale at Wal-Mart for only $!)! It's been a while since I enjoyed looking at baby clothes, but I'm excited about looking at baby clothes now. It's hard to look at baby clothes when you've been told you will never have your own baby, so that's been something to work through. This new step in our adoption process has even made me feel okay with going in to Babies R' Us to get a baby gate for our puppy. :) Eric and I are excited to see what lies ahead!

Received

We received a confirmation email today from Covenant Care Services. They have received our pre-application. We should be receiving another email within three weeks letting us know when our pre-application is processed.

The Next Leg

As always and without fail, God answers our prayers. We have been praying for wisdom about the next step we should take in the adoption process. Over the course of the past month we have requested information from several adoption agencies and have contacted many people. We both have a heart for the nations, so we were first looking at other international adoption options. We found an international adoption agency that would help us in our pursuit of a Chinese adoption, but then found out that both adoptive parents must be at least 30. The age requirement does not work for Erin! So, what next? We then proceeded to look at other international options as well as domestic options (America). Several years ago, when we first looked into adoption, we wanted to adopt an infant. God has brought us back to that spot. Having a puppy has even helped confirm that desire. Even though we have to clean up poop, loose sleep, and sacrifice our own desires to play with the dog, she's still worth it. On May 4th, a church member approached Erin to ask about our adoption process. Once hearing our latest news, she informed us of a wonderful, Christian adoption agency (Covenant Care Services), that she used for her son's adoption. After researching and praying, we are now in this friend's shoes. Yesterday we mailed our application and home study to Covenant Care, and it was received this morning at 9:06! This agency was willing to accept our home study (which our case worker graciously updated for free)! The agency should probably be able to use our fingerprint documents, too! This means we will not have to start completely over! We are excited about this next step. Please be in prayer for Covenant Care Services as our application is reviewed. Also pray for our future child - pray that God will unite us with the birth mom He has divinely appointed for us. Pray that God will receive all the glory through this next leg of our adoption journey.

180 Degree Turn

On March 24th we completed our blood work as planned. Later that day, we received word from our girls' orphanage that the girls no longer desire to be adopted. Their mom has re-entered the picture and says that she is working on getting her life back on track so she can earn her parental rights back. This news was confirmed by several individuals, indicating a closed door. We were very sad and on an emotional roller coaster at first because we deeply love these girls, but we are trusting in God's plan and have a peace about moving on. We spent the last 14 days in prayer about this situation and in reading the first 14 chapters of Proverbs. God's Word never ceases to comfort, minister, guide, and speak to us.

Please pray for Princess #1, Princess #2, and their mom. Pray that they will continue to learn of God's love, that they will enter into a personal relationship with God, that God will put more Christians in their path, that they will believe they are truly beautiful, and that their hearts will be guarded. Pray for us as we seek God's direction for the next step He would have us take. Thank you to those who have supported us so far; your contributions are not in vain and will help in a future adoption. To those who are reading this blog and have considered adoption, please do not let this discourage you. Putting yourself out there and taking the risk of adoption is worth the opportunity you are offering to children. We know that God has a perfect family put together for us, we just haven't met them yet. In this time we rest in God's promise: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

In the meantime, we have expanded our family anyway . . . we now have a puppy to love on and care for! Here's a picture of our Frenchton (half French Bulldog and half Boston Terrier). Her name is Chara (pronounced Car-uh) - Greek for joy. She is our temporary joy, but Jesus is our forever joy, even in the difficult times!

Checked Off

Another item on the list checked off! Blood work is complete (except for waiting for the results to get back). Since I mentioned before that I strongly dislike needles, as my blood was taken this morning I tightly squeezed two stress balls, turned my head, closed my eyes, clinched my teeth, and sang "Jesus Loves the Little Children" in my head. I also prayed for our future daughters because the blood work is for them.

Please be praying for a meeting we have this Saturday morning. At 9:30 a.m. we will have an interview with a grant committee. Having this grant would be a HUGE blessing.

Transformed Thoughts: Thinking Like a Parent

For eight years Eric and I have been without children of our own in our home. However, we have worked and still work with children on a consistent basis. Even working with children and after hosting our daughters-to-be for two hosting programs already, it is still mind-boggling to think about how in only a few months there will be four permanent people in our home instead of two. We will go from no kids to an almost teenager and a 2nd grader! Unbelievable, but exciting at the same time. Many months ago we began the process of rearranging our budget, considering schools for our kids, thinking about extra curricular activities, discussing various situations, reflecting on what it was like to be parents for a month, thinking about how our schedules will change, etc. Just recently has this all been becoming very real, especially since we are finally in the paperwork stages. We went from talking about adoption to researching adoption, meeting two amazing girls who fit perfectly in our family, waiting for the girls to be available for adoption, submitting an initial application, having a home study, to now waiting for an application to come back to us indicating that we can bring the girls into our country to be called our own children! Now that this is really happening, I am really almost speechless. While thinking about the things I will be saying goodbye to in order to be a mom, I am also thinking about the things I will finally be able to say hello to. For instance, this will be my last summer break without children (except for the hosting program), but how exciting it will be to have summers to pour into two precious children.

Where are we at now in the process? Eric and I go to the doctor at 8:00 tomorrow morning for blood work. This is required for our international paperwork. I'll just think about our princesses while the needle is in my arm! I hate needles, so that means I really love these girls!!! :) The next two weeks will be filled with international paperwork and getting everything ready to send over to our girls' country for translation. After papers are translated, they will be submitted for approval.

Our main focus right now is raising support. We have been researching and applying for grants. We have already completed some fundraisers and are in the middle of a fundraiser now. In the next week or two we will need to submit a payment of around $2,000, of which we still need $1,840. Pray for God's provisions and share our story with others. Tell people about our puzzle piece fundraiser and how much $10 can change two lives forever!

After speaking with our oldest daughter-to-be last weekend via skype, I can see even more why it is so important that these girls, as well as others, have a loving, forever family.

Thanks so much for reading our blog. Please keep visiting our blog as we keep you posted on our adoption process!

Do you have any questions about our adoption? Leave your questions in the comment section.

Faces of the Fatherless: You Can Make a Difference