Love Endlessly Notecards...Bringing Gable Home!

These are busy days as we all prepare for the holidays. It's a challenge to hold our to do lists at bay in order to quiet our hearts to prepare for the season, don't you think? I find my mind filled up (especially as I'm trying to sleep at night!) with ways to earn funds to bring Gable home.
I'm so thrilled to say that our Mercy shirts for Gable were very well received and we sold 80 shirts with 101 former orphans listed on the back of them! So happy! Can't wait to see all those names on the back! GOD IS SO GOOD!
I had a wonderful event at the Burr House...a local open house where I took art and other crafts and sold them for Gable's adoption. I  was able to earn another $700+ for sweet boy's adoption fund! WOO HOOOOOOO!!
I'm so excited to share with you yet another product for you to help earn funds for Gable's adoption.
Remember that Love endlessly painting I made for Esty's adoption auction? Well...we now have it in notecards!

These are excellent quality, printed on heavy card stock and ready for you to write your own personal message to whomever you choose! 

Remember the thrill of getting an actual LETTER in the mail?? You can give this joy to others now...on the Love endlessly cards! And you can feel like a rock star because your purchase helps bring sweet Gable home so we can love on him endlessly!

Packs of notecards and white envelopes are NOW FOR SALE!! You can order these using the "SHOP" tab above or by clicking HERE. Each 8-pack sells for $15. You can also pick up cards at The Weeping Willow florist in Pettisville, if you are local.
These are perfect gifts for teachers, post carriers, hair dressers or any one you need a small gift for!
Thank you so much for supporting sweet Gable!

First Fundraiser for Gable--Mercy Shirts!!!!

Hey EVERYONE!!

I'm bursting at the seams with excitement to roll out our new fundraiser shirts!!

Read more about this design below.

WHY in the world are we doing this AGAIN????

He is why.

{Oh my heart.}

We need to get Gable home so we can properly care for his cancer. (Hepatoblastoma.)

And to love on him silly.

Oh those chubby cheeks!!

This design is something I created over the course of a few days (with some awesome feedback from a few of my peeps!) based on an image I saw in my mind from Hosea 14:3, "In You, O Lord, the orphan finds mercy." The silhouette is specifically God the Father holding our little Gable...safe and sound in His arms of love...but it is to represent the loving care He gives to EACH of our children.

And all of us who have adopted these precious treasures formerly known as "orphans" KNOW what a blessing it is that the Father has mercy on them (and us) and unites us together in heart.

What is going to make this Tshirt/hoodie EXTRA SPECIAL is that it's going to have names of YOUR beloved children on the back! What?? That's right! ALL of our precious kiddos get listed on the back en masse as orphans who've been shown mercy from our gracious God.

This is an example of what our shirt will look like with YOUR children's names on the back!

Yay!!!

The back space is going to be limited, so this will be open for your submissions and T shirt and hoodie orders only for TWO WEEKS. We want to get right on printing and shipping these out to you so you'll have them in plenty of time for Christmas giving! Cut off date for orders will be DECEMBER 7, 2014.

Order using the tab at the top "Mercy Shirts for Gable" or click HERE.

Why Older Child Adoption is So Hard

Jesus is the Light, our Hope

Older child adoption is a beautiful thing...but at the same time it's a deeply hard thing.
And when the face of the child is SO beautiful, SO smiley, NO ONE CAN IMAGINE that it's not all sunny and rosy all the time.
But it's not.
Plain and simple.
When you've fended for yourself for ten long years, in an institutional environment, you learn to survive.
And those skills? They were reinforced again and again in her previous life. They are what made her STAY ALIVE.
You have your life whirl-winded off to another land, another culture, language...you wear different clothes, eat different foods, go by a different name, begin new things like walking, school and self care...
but the old habits are still lying underneath. Ready to rear their ugly heads.
Ready to be employed when deep emotions start to surface.
They worked before! They will work again!
But, well, not so much.
Not here. Not in a family.
My sweet friend sent me a message today. Her perspective on parenting and WHY this might be so hard:
Deeply praying for you all during what looks like a potentially long hard road with her. It's obviously a heart issue...and she's had less than one year of her 11 years of ANYONE teaching her what that even means. You're stuck/privileged (depends on the day how you see it, I'm sure) with having to make up for 10+ years of no one teaching her right and wrong and positive vs negative attention and lying and how to be in a family and the list of what we teach our kids is soooooo long!!! It's hard enough when we get to start from the beginning of their lives! Praying for wisdom and endurance and extra measures of grace for you to give to her, and a softening and opening of her heart to all you've been trying to teach her in these last 10 months!
And isn't that the truth? It's HARD when we start with our children at birth! Let alone massive trauma at the front end! And don't forget to factor in atrocities suffered in the years while waiting for a family. How could we think that we can teach her what she needs in a few months?
We don't. But, on a daily practical basis, we expect things from her to keep our family functioning...afterall she's CAPABLE, but then again...she's not because of so many, many factors.
Older child adoption is hard because we are starting past the middle! We've lost formative years, laying groundwork and building trust. Trying to go backward to fit it in doesn't work because there are paradigms pre-existing in those places in her brain...and they were critical to her survival. I can't in one word, one week, one month, one year say ANYTHING to debunk them. 
It's a slow, plodding work.
Times like these I see the inside out yuck of my own black heart and sit in awed wonder at the grace God has on ME.
Please pray for Esty. Pray for us as her parents. Pray for her siblings. These things affect us all, wear on us all and we need to remember that we are called to this, no matter what.  (This is why adoption is intense ministry!)

We must cling to the hope of Christ in it all.

Then and Now…the Difference a Year Makes!!

Around this time last year, I was madly fundraising and sharing this picture of Esty turning TEN years old…alone, in an orphanage.

Then...and now!

This morning, I had the thrill of surprising her at school with balloons, her favorite cookies, a party hat and a birthday sash! Tomorrow is her actual birthday, but we did a party in her class as a surprise!

And oh my...

WHAT. A. DIFFERENCE. 

One year.

What can be accomplished in the course of a year by a MIGHTY GOD?

He raised 100% of the funds necessary for us to adopt Esty. (Another MASSIVE thank you to every one of you who helped!!!)

He allowed us to get to her in the NICK OF TIME as she was severely ill and went septic the same week we got her out of her orphanage.

He allowed us to find good healthcare in China and provided the antibiotics necessary to save her life.

He brought us home safely, in spite of nasty winter weather.

He has cemented our family together at the heart. This has not been without struggles as older children who are adopted do struggle. But we are a family who embraces one another fully, with great thankfulness to the God who has done it.

He has provided for the hundreds of hours we have spent at doctors' offices, clinics, hospitals in every way: financially, childcare, transportation, emotional and physical strength.

He has healed Esty of some massive things that have been going wrong with her body for a long time.

Esty has become a champion at all her personal care. (This is a HUGE ONE!) 

She is no longer relinquished to the corner and sitting in a wheelchair. She is walking with AFO's (ankle-foot-orthotics) and quad canes! She is riding a bicycle! 

She can put on and take off her massive TLSO (thoracic-lumbar-sacral-orthotic) (back brace!) by herself. And she never has ONCE complained about it. She wears it 20 hours daily.

God has opened her mind to receive a new language…Esty now speaks English nearly 98% of the time. (And I constantly pray that she maintains some of her Mandarin!)

God has taught her what unconditional love feels like. He has used us in this process. It has been hard, as we are so fallen, but He has done it in spite of us.

He has given her laughter. Hearing her laugh, knowing she is safe and that her future has begun is a most amazing and rewarding thing.

And so tomorrow, we celebrate our dear gift named Esty! We can't wait!

Gable's Story…from Another Perspective

We all love a good story…and today I'm going to give you a unique opportunity to observe the adoption of Gable from another angle…my new friend Mimi's.
Who is Mimi? She's a rockstar, Jesus-loving, momma to 11 children. She has adopted some, given birth to others and is a beautiful testimony of walking with God through the hard very hard things.
She's also the momma I was connected with to learn about Gable's special need: hepatoblastoma.
Cuz I had NO CLUE what that meant. (other than "scary cancer.")
Why is Mimi an "expert-in-residence" you may ask? Because her own sweet son has this very same cancer. (Above is a picture of Mimi holding sweet baby Asa.) I received Mimi's name and contact information within 48 hours of learning about Gable. 
But read on to find out JUST HOW EXCEPTIONAL it is that we were connected!
Here's what Mimi blogged on her blog just yesterday:

I haven’t mentioned it here, but a funny little blip came across my radar two months ago.  At that point, we were truly just holding our nose above the drowning waters, knowing we were past the big waves. I got a random message from someone I know very loosely.  She knew Asa had liver cancer and asked if I would be willing to offer counsel to a family who was considering adoption of a child with liver cancer. Easy answer.  But, of course.  And I sat back and began to watch God show off.

Two years ago, not too long before Asa came along, a little boy was born to a Chinese couple, a little boy with a big liver tumor that made his belly stick out like Asa’s did.  And the same couple, I’m sure distraught with the one child policy and the thought of their only heir being imperfect, sickly, left that babe at a hospital.  Diagnosis: hepatoblastoma, the one in a million kid cancer that Asa had, the one that Texas Children’s, one of the few hospitals in the states that treats this cancer, only sees 10 cases a year from all over the southern US. But what happens next is entirely strange.  Instead of getting pitiful orphan care, this Chinese boy got top-notch, cutting-edge medical treatment.  He was stabilized, whisked in and treated with chemo-embolization – chemo straight to his liver and he went through exactly what Asa went through, the horrid secondary effects of sloughing off tumor, called tumor lysis, and he victory of all victories, survived.  It was a long hard road, but it appears, as it does with Asa, no more cancer.  He was put in an orphanage, group type home and he thrived, but no one adopted him, because that big C word, it’s scarier than a lot of more obvious physical disabilities.

But along comes a family, a family who has experienced their own loss, a family who just so happens to speak Mandarin, but God has yanked them up and dumped them in the rural central US, filled their home with a few other physical disabilities, and left them, left them a few hours from the other major hospital in the US that deals with this one in a million chance cancer.  Their house is full, very full, but along their radar comes a smiling face, a familiar face, because dark eyes and round faces are still on their hearts, and a boy named Jun Jun captures them.

And then I was called for counsel.  What is hepatoblastoma?  What does this mean?  Do you understand these medical records?  I was called, the parent of a child treated not only for this cancer, but with chemo-embolization, not a standard procedure in children in the US for this cancer.  Tony and I may be the only parents in the US at this time that would have that experiential knowledge regarding a child. Explain that. You can’t.  But God.

The story departs to a weird, seemingly diverted path at this point.  After all the discussion, the couple who inquired suddenly decided that they weren’t so sure that God was calling them to this child and went to prayer and as back up, they held their arms out and handed Jun Jun to us, the only other couple without gross fear of his condition.  And we were left for a week or so to wrestle in prayer for this boy, and wrestle with the fact that we are a bit older than this couple.  During that week, God turned the world upside down on behalf of this boy.  People began offering this other couple serious money for adoption expenses, expenses on an adoption they weren’t even decided upon, an adoption they hadn’t even announced.  Someone offered to take their special needs kids while they went to back and forth to China – twice.  After this and prayer, it became abundantly clear where Jun Jun was supposed to be.  And after jumping a few more hurdles, last week Jun Jun was cleared by China to be adopted by this family.

And today I sat in church and listened to a man speak about God’s heart for the widow and the orphan and I was again reminded through another story that God truly moves mountains upon their behalf and again, I saw God weave deep redemption from suffering. Dark doesn’t win.  Light does, no morbid second act where all goes wrong.  Great joy! The end game is settled. 

Did you catch that??? There was SO MUCH in what Mimi wrote…let me lay it out so you can marvel over what our MIGHTY GOD has DONE!
* Gable, an orphan, has received TOP NOTCH cancer treatments in China. Amazing. What he has had done is considered experimental in the United States. (Incidentally, he's also had a successful liver resection meaning he will not need a transplant and run the risk of his body rejecting it or being on anti-rejection drugs for his life.)
* We live just 5 hours from one of the two BEST hospitals for treating hepatoblastoma. And we already take Esty there.
* Mimi is a parent of a son who is STILL going through treatment for his hepatoblastoma. After the icky cancer treatments failed him, he was given the kind of chemotherapy that Gable had as a last resort. It is working, but it is UNBELIEVABLY RARE that I would be connected with a parent in the States who has had experience with this type of treatment. (And she loves Jesus!) At one point along the way, she asked me if I had any clue how crazy it was that I was able to talk with her about all of this. I didn't…"was it rare?" I asked. She answered, "BEYOND RARE!!" Yep. That's God at work!
* Mimi was along for the ride while Brian and I wrestled in prayer about actually adopting again. (Oh we were SO DONE. We are so busy. So overwhelmed. So spent. BUT GOD.) She was able to cheer alongside, pray alongside and root for us as we sought to say YES to God. 
* We were promised finances to bring Gable home before we ever said yes to his adoption. That has NEVER happened before!
* We have precious people who are asking us if they can stay with our children when we travel to bring him home. (As a momma, this is one of the big concerns when adopting internationally…and God has taken care of this EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.)
I thought you might enjoy hearing a little bit of the back story to how we arrived at our decision to adopt Gable…from that unique perspective that Mimi has shared.
Following God continues to prove to be a wild adventure and it is SO MUCH FUN to see how His hand weaves all the millions of details together for our good.

Orphan Sunday…introducing Our Soon-to-be-Son!

Source: Hope for Orphans

It's Orphan Sunday today and I am bursting at the seams to introduce you to our newest son!!!
I announced last week that we have been moved by God to adopt again, and we are branching out into a scary new special need: cancer. 
And the questions began…so let me offer up some details!
As of last week, we have officially been approved by his home country to adopt him!

He currently lives in an orphanage that partners with Half the Sky in a provincial city in China.
He is almost 2 years old. (He will be our caboose!)
He is adorable. (and we know we are a bit partial!)
He will be given the English name Gable. (Daddy named him!) Gable is an awesome name we've never heard ever (yes!!) and it means "Strong man of God."
Perfect.
And now…for his pictures:

These were the first I ever saw…the ones that Toby exclaimed, "Oh Mommy! I LOVE him!" about. It is this non-smiling picture that I realized he was ours. That face. That sweet, sweet, uber precious face!!!!
Gable was only 14 months old in these pictures. Since then, there was a visit to his orphanage where I was able to grab this picture from the end of a video where he smiled. This was taken just this past August at 19 months of age:

WHAT. A. CUTIE. PATOOTIE. (I know!!)
So, now you have a face for whom to pray. And we will begin fundraising ASAP!
The other question people want to know is WHEN. We pray that we could get all our clearances and funds to bring him home during the summer next year. Please join us in this prayer.
So happy to have yet another orphan on his way home to his FOREVER FAMILY!!! My arms are aching to hold and snuggle this precious one!

When Intentions Don't Match Up with Reality…Part 2

Okay, so I guess I learned that I am LOUSY at doing part 1 and part 2 posts!! (Forgive me.)
But people, it's now time for PART TWO.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you would be ahead of the game to read PART ONE here.
And now…on to part two. (WAIT A SECOND...I know you skipped part 1!! GO READ IT, SILLY!!)
I concluded part 1 with a list of how we can act in the face of something that takes us by surprise…we can look at it from our limited human perspective, or take on God's perspective.
Because sometimes, life throws something at us that we NEVER saw coming.
And so it is with us. Now.
Up till now, we have dealt with a long list of medical diagnoses which include (but Lord knows are not limited to): collapsed lungs, thyroid disease, arthrogryposis, scoliosis, concussions, spina bifida, congenital hip disorders, neurogenic bladder and bowel and a multitude of broken bones.
Never did I foresee this one being added to the list.
GULP.
The "C" word.

But there it is, big and ugly. Seeking to kill, steal and destroy.
But God.
Let me tell you a story.
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away,  a baby was born.
He was a boy.
Soon after as he was born, it was discovered that he had an odd shaped abdomen. He was pale, listless and clearly something very scary was wrong. 
A frightened set of parents did what was illegal, and unimaginable: they abandoned him. 
Maybe they knew that they could not possibly pay to have the proper treatments. Maybe they knew an orphanage would. Or they could HOPE.
Once found by the police and taken to a local orphanage, an exam was performed. Blood work was taken and the worst news possible was delivered: the newborn child had a massive malignancy in his liver.
Hepatoblastoma.
Incredibly rare. Incredibly scary.
And he was alone.
Over the next months, the baby had 3 surgeries and lots of chemotherapy.
The baby was given special care in the orphanage through a program called Half the Sky. He began to gain weight, hit milestones and a very bubbly personality emerged.
And the boy's papers were prepared so that he could find a permanent home.
He waited. And waited. "Cancer" is a very scary word on a file, you see.
Far away, in another corner of the world lived a mother of seven children. She was busy each day making food, washing clothes and encouraging other people in their own adoptions. She had a VERY FULL life and was not looking for more work.
She was not. She was not.
Her social worker alerted her to the upcoming expiration of her family's home study, to which she and her husband adamantly responded that they were letting it expire as they were DONE ADOPTING CHILDREN. Their family was full.
And expire it did.
But God.
God used the adorable boy on the side bar of this blog "Jesse" to crack open that tightly shut door of their hearts. Perhaps they COULD find room in their home for one more? But after further prayer and consideration of ages and physical needs the answer was clear: he was not theirs.
Once this cracked door let in light…God showed the picture of the baby to this momma of seven children. Her youngest child happened to be sitting on her lap at the time the picture popped up on the computer screen.
"Oh Mommy!!!" he cried. "I LOVE HIM!!"
The busy mother paused as her heart began to pound and tears began to well. In the next 48 hours God did some of the most amazing and supernatural acts to show this mother and her husband that He intended for this boy with cancer to come home to them and to become their son forever.
Gulp.
And they still were not sure. They wanted MORE proof.
So they prayed. 
And prayed.
And asked for other people to pray that God would speak CLEARLY to their hearts.
One person in particular (oh what a blessed woman of God she is!!) responded to the request for prayer in a most unusual way.
She told this family she would personally give them $10,000 to bring him home.
And they were stunned. But still unsure. It wasn't until she gave them a detailed plan of how she would raise these funds for this boy to become theirs that they finally realized that MAYBE this was how God was answering their prayers for clarity!!
And all of a sudden, a flurry of activity began. 
Applications, fingerprints, home inspections and personal interviews were underway. A home study had to be prepared!! (This is funny to someone, I am sure!)
And then, yesterday, after a very long wait, this family got the news that this boy's home country had approved them to adopt this boy with cancer.
They were OVERJOYED!!!!!
They would boldly welcome this dear child into their family of 9 and grow once again. 
~ (I want to say, "the end" but you guys know that this is NOT the end of the story!!)
And so, with great JOY JOY JOY in our hearts we announce that yes,
WE ARE ADOPTING AGAIN…even though OUR plan was to be all done.
Even though our idea was SEVEN…God's idea was eight!!!
And as you may already know, GOD WINS!!!! 

Birth Parent Loss--My Ache for Them

Sometimes it doesn't take much to light a fire in my heart to make me want to write. Sometimes writing is the only vehicle for my intense emotions.
This morning, it was this picture that undid my heart:

Used with permission from Casey Chappell

This glorious image of a boy, head thrown back in laughter, in the arms of his birth mother also in the same pose.
Don't they look so happy? So ALIKE.
Yet she is not raising him. She has spent the past 5 years getting herself together. And she bravely placed her baby into the arms of a family she only knew by letter…trusting they would raise him well.
And they have.
And as in open adoptions, they know one another.
This was a brave post by this adoptive mom…she was celebrating the amazing choice that this birth mother made to give her baby life and not take it from him because it was not convenient for her to become a parent at that time in her life. 
Let me have you read her sentiment in her own words: 

5 years ago today this brave young lady gave birth to this super smart and adventurous boy. Words can't explain how much I admire her courage to place her baby with a family she only knew through a letter.  She's had a long 5 years and is getting ready for the rest of her life and knowing Jack is one of those precious things that both she and Dan and I value greatly. Birth moms are incredible and I'm so glad that I have the privilege to know 3 American women and wish I knew the 2 African women who have given life to the children who call me mom.          ~Casey Chappell

I love this. And it had me in a puddle of tears.
This tender young birth mother! She bravely made an adoption plan for her baby and followed through.
How difficult.
How ripping.
Do we, adoptive parents, pause long enough to fathom what these birth parents go through as they place their precious children for adoption?
Or are we all about OUR timelines, our fundraising, our dossiers, and obtaining our police clearances??
We turned to International adoption for many reasons, and one of which was that the adoption would not be open. We would NOT be faced with the unknowns of visitations from birth family. 
I must say, after seeing this post and hearing stories from my domestic adoptive mom friends…I wish we had the opportunity to know our children's birth families.
I am struck how selfish our desire for closed adoptions has been.
Ugh.
Yet, our 3 "grafted in" children's stories would be the same no matter who adopted them. They all have deep, dark gaping holes of their past. Abandonments. Only one with a note, and it was not personal. 
Their aches are so real. So painful.
I ache to hear our son lament that he wishes he could give food to his Africa mommy…because she might be hungry.
I cry at night when I hear him tell me how much he longs to have been born in my tummy. Really, I think he aches to know the woman who gave him life and to KNOW the answers to his past.
I think of these biological parents who gave away their children in China when they were born "different" than they expected.
And honestly, I had PLENTY of time to choose them as my children, to investigate their special needs and to evaluate if I could "handle them." They did not get this luxury.
As Toby giggles or Esty walks using canes and braces I WISH DESPERATELY I could have their birth mothers standing there with me. I'd place my arms around them and say, "LOOK! That's OUR baby!!! Doing sooooo well! Thank you for making this most difficult choice for them!"
And then I'd plant a big fat kiss on their cheeks.
Adoption is riddled with pain, ache, longing. It's impossible to be torn away from your roots and not have scars.
And it is just as impossible to scoop these treasured children into your family and not feel heavy hearted over the loss your children feel, but also the loss for these nebulous birth parents who are just "somewhere" out there. 
Oh how I wish I knew their names, knew their phone numbers. How I'd love to text the video of Esty WALKING into school on her own this morning. 
I'd love to text the funnies said by Toby. I'd love to show them how he can feed himself because of his surgery. I would love to ask them who is the eternal optimist that put such sunshine into my son's heart!
I'd love to let Zeb's mommy know that he is safe. He is well fed, he is attending school and making amazing progress. That their choices have worked out well for their precious child.
I planted rose bushes for each of these mothers. They are still blooming now, well into the fall, just as their babies are blooming here with us.
But I still cry for them. I still feel the pain of their losses. If YOU were one of my children's birth mothers then I say to you: be at peace. Your child is my treasure. Your baby is happy. Your son/daughter is valued, getting an education, knowing love. Your sweet one is being nurtured to discover their strengths and go after their future with gusto. Medical needs are being attended to. Opportunities abound. I carry your child in our family with utmost care and love. Your child will soar is soaring!!!
And then, I'd hug them...and then cry too.

When Our Intentions Don't Match up with our Reality. (Part 1)

Sometimes, our plans don't work out as we intended. 
Like today, I'm sitting here icing my ankle instead playing tennis. We DID play, but then my ankle rolled and down I went. 

(And um, no, I'm not Serena Williams, but this offered up a great image for when life doesn't go according to OUR intentions!)

What do we do when faced with a situation when what happens doesn't line up with our intentions???
We have a choice.
We could complain. We could whine. We could think of how much better it would have been.
But that doesn't change the current reality. And, it only makes our hearts more downtrodden.
OR, we could choose to praise Him…for the fact that we DID get a good 20 minutes of playing time before I fell. 
That I got the grocery run in before we played. (It'd be much harder to do that limping around the store!)
That I can now sit and finally blog…
So a change in plans, can be a GOOD thing, if we open our minds to accept it.
And that's a little bit like what I've been wanting to blog about.
Back when I was 15 years old, I was an emotional puddle at the foot of the cross. I realized for the first time what it meant that "Jesus died on the cross for MY sins," and I was aching to respond.
But I had a choice.
Why didn't I go running into the arms of Jesus as I longed to?
Fear.
What was I afraid of?
Are you ready?
Being BORED.
I knew a bunch of church-going kind of people that lived boring, flat lives. I saw them my whole life. And I didn't want to join them!
I knew the word COMPLACENT well. And I finally stepped forward in faith with the prayer that I never ever become complacent in my faith. Ever.
I think God must have thought, "Oh silly girl, I will not allow you to slow down long enough to grow complacent. Come on this journey with me!"
Thankfully, and only by His Spirit, did I say yes to Jesus and began my walk of faith.
That's been a LOT of years ago now.
And He has been faithful. I have not grown complacent. I am too busy walking with Him in these amazing adventures to be complacent.
In my husband's terminology, we gave God a blank check for our lives. We have offered ourselves up to Him time and time again. Always wanting to say YES to Jesus when He asks something of us.
And that's scary. Why? Because often Jesus asks us to do things that are waaaay out beyond ourselves. And then, He allows things that we thought we had all sewn up nice and tidy to fall apart.
I think the "WHY??" here (in case you are asking) is so that we will depend on HIM and not on ourselves.)
There are many things God has chosen to do in our lives were NOT our intentions…at least not many of them! 
We did NOT intend to lose babies to miscarriage.
We certainly did NOT intend to have Oskar die at 39 weeks…so close to birth. Ugh. This still sends me reeling.
We did not choose our current location, nor did we even choose to adopt a large portion of our family. 
God did these things. Or depending on how we look at evil in the world, God ALLOWED these things to happen.
But our attitude in response to them makes all the difference. After our first child died, at 5 months gestation, I spoke on the phone with a fellow mom of twins who had the same exact situation. 
She was the MOST bitter person I'd ever encountered.
And she scared me silly. 
As angry as I was that I lost one of my twin babies, a dream I'd had for my whole life, I did not want to become bitter like her.
And so, my response to this "change of plans" was to allow Him to grow me.
It was ugly. It was hard work. And it didn't come to full completion until I lost another baby. 
(really? yes. gah!)
Sometimes, the ways of God look so messed up to us! But He has a gentle, loving plan and if we allow Him, He works it out in our hearts beautifully.
I never foresaw becoming a mother to many nations. I never foresaw living in a small American town. I never foresaw having special needs children. 
But now, I cannot imagine who I would be if these things were not true of me.
Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end if leads to death."
I am so glad that God gets to decide what happens in my life, and not me. (She says with a throbbing ankle and drippy, melting ice soaking her sock.)
It comes down to a choice of acting in faith. 
Will I look at this from MY HUMAN perspective or will I permit myself the joy to allow God's HOLY perspective to win?
If I choose my perspective I will: *shrink back in fear *grumble and complain *give excuses *live a sad version of my life
If I choose God's perspective I will: *KNOW that He has a plan that it incomprehensible to my limited mind *TRUST that He is good, in spite of what circumstances might "prove" *ACT based on His promises        ~that He is GOOD        ~that He is LOVING        ~that He is with me        ~that He has gone before me and is already working *live a life fully dependent upon God's strength, because there's no other way to survive once we obey the radical things He calls us to do (THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF LIVING A COMPLACENT LIFE!!)
This is a "Part 1" blog post. There is something NEW on the horizon for me, for us, and God has blown us away with it all. 
It was not our intention. 
It was not our design.
But it IS His, and soon, I'll tell you!
Stay tuned!

A New Chapter--Serving in Adoptions

It is with GREAT JOY and EXCITEMENT that I have accepted the position as Adoption Coordinator for the non-profit, Children's Lantern in Defiance, Ohio. I am thrilled to be able to serve adoptive families in their adoption process, as well as once they come home.
I did a little trip down memory lane, just wondering HOW did I get here? I love when God does surprise turns in our lives. He had these things planned out long before we ever had an inkling!
I have been "doing" adoption things since the fall of 2010, when God put it on our hearts to expand our  little family of 6 by adding in another child.
We didn't know where to start. We had never had any interest in adoption. We were the blonde, all-American looking family. We had NO IDEA how God was about to rock our worlds!!

We began the process of adoption and were drawn to the masses of children orphaned by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. This led us to Uganda. Which eventually, after a lot of false starts, led us to Zeb.

So then we had five children. We adopted, independently, from Uganda. And it was a whirlwind. We were home with him in a flashing ten months after we decided yes, we felt God was calling us into adoption.
So shockingly fast. So bizarre. We know. 
Then, the ache began. You can read about it HERE. And then, I found him! I didn't know I was looking, but God did. And He directed my path straight to the blog where I laid eyes on my 6th child: Toby.

And honestly, it was only another 10 months until we had to take this picture:

This shot was by the Chinese government the day after "Gotcha" had happened. He still looked pretty scared. The smiles distinctly began the next morning. And he's never stopped smiling since!! :)

And it was BEFORE we traveled to adopt Toby that we knew knew knew that Esty was our daughter too.

But that's crazy, right?

Yes.

Ten months after we were home with Toby, we were back in China to bring Esty home.

And now our "all-American" family has been largely improved upon by the delightful presence of some of the world's neediest orphans. We are ALL better for their arrival and part in our family!

So this crazy path that has exploded into our lives only began not even 4 years ago. It's astounding to me HOW MUCH my life has changed.
Changed for the better. I am less selfish, less concerned about what other people think and my "serving" muscle is way more toned. My heart is broken for the remaining orphans around the world.
A friend of mine once prayed for me that I would find a way to help orphans find their families. I thought her prayer was mighty big, but I echoed it into my own heart. I've been so amazed to watch God use this blog to unite orphans with their families (stories that need to be shared!!) and now with an official capacity serving with Children's Lantern. I am honored to become part of such a phenomenal group of people with similar passions!

Flashback to 2011

I can't believe it's been THREE YEARS since we brought home our Zareb from Uganda!!
I savor these precious images from when we travelled home.

 He seems so little at just under 3 years old!

We had this ridiculous 6 hour layover in Amsterdam…but it gave me time to grab these sweet photos. Looking back, those 6 hours were indeed hard (especially when he took off with another family and I had to chase him down!) but I delight in these images where he looks SO LITTLE!!
And I have to also share this precious one…where my now Kindergartners (!) were taking one another in. Love their fingers touching!

It's been an amazing three years where we've added to our family TWO more times…and Zareb has just rolled with all of it! 
Here's my favorite shot from this summer of our Zebby:

He was so delighting in playing in the ocean! :)

Oh how I am sooooo grateful for this precious boy whom we were given!!