Adopting Together

Here are some pics from our fundraising party on Saturday.  What an incredible night.  It was amazing to see so many friends and businesses come together to support the night.  So many donated food, services, and supplies.  So many helped us prep the food, the bridge, the decorations, etc.  So many helped the event by volunteering and helping us clean up afterwards.  Also, we were so blessed by the different families who gave donations and wrote really encouraging notes and prayed such awesome prayers over us.  I think one of the greatest blessings was the overwhelming sense that we are not alone but that so many are a part of this journey with us now and what a great celebration it will be when we finally get to bring our little one home.

Climbing the mountains of adoption

Well we are pressing on in our adoption journey.  We have completed our Psychological Evaluation and our Home Study at this point and are waiting to get the results back from both of those.  We are still not sure if we are going to be considered sane or insane...I will let you all know.  At this stage we are now working with a consultant company that is assisting us in completing the Dossier which is the massively huge packet that will be mailed off to Honduras for translation and approval.  The Dossier includes the Home Study, Psch Evalutaion, our pet medical records, fingerprints, every possible paper on us notarized, every inch of medical info that is possible, and on and on.  It is really mind boggling.  I am learning to just walk through the hoops and not gripe and complain (even though it is tempting).

The Fall season has brought challenges to us.  It was definitely easier to get paper work done and feel momentum in the summer but the insanity of the Fall schedule has really strained us.  We are also at a stage of life where we are figuring out how to manage everything: 2 working parents, kids old enough to have real school work and tests, kids old enough to be participating in extra-curricular activities, church activities, etc.  When you throw in adoption on top of all that it can be challenging.  There are days where we feel like throwing in the towel and discouragement lingers over us.  I find myself more naturally praying in a dependent and desperate way these days for sure.  As I look at what needs to happen and get done I simply do not have the answers and do not know how it's going to happen.

I feel like we are entering into the next level in the adoption journey.  Level 1 consisted of the initial decision and letting people know that we were doing this.  Level 2 consisted of the first round of payments and paper work that really added a whole new level of reality - 'ok we are really doing this'.  I feel like we have entered into Level 3 now.  We saw God provide financially to cover all of our Level 2 finances (over $7000) and it was wonderful confirmation that He is with us and He is our Jehovah Jireh, our provider.  So we got to the top of that mountain only to discover that it was a foothill and not a mountain and now a much larger hill is in front of us again.  We are now needing to raise around $12000 worth of funds and navigate a whole list of paper work items to reach the top of this next hill.

So we are stepping out and trying to keep on moving.  We are teaming up with Josh and Suzanne Bramlett, who are also adopting, to raise money through donated items at our church garage sale this Saturday (October 13).  We are also stepping out to host a big fund-raising party on October 27th here at the Bridge, our youth building, that will consist of grilling out together, family games, and a chance for us to share what we're doing.  Anyway, thanks for your support, your prayers and taking time to read my ramblings.  May God bless you and may you step out and seek Him first today in all you do!

in Christ,

Brian

What Jesus thinks about kids

In Mark 9:37 it says, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."  In the culture of Jesus' day and even today, children are often looked at as nuisances, in the way and not welcome.  Jesus spoke this word directly against that attitude.  He very clearly tells us that whoever welcomes a little child is welcoming Him.  Larry Wilson, the leader of our mission team this week in Honduras, shared a story from a few years ago.  He was working on a mission team and during his time in one of the small Honduran towns a little girl walked up to him.  Some of the local people said that she was a vagabond.  The dictionary defines that word as disreputable or worthless.  That is what that little girl was told.  So many of the little kids here believe that they have no value.  They are abused, neglected and mistreated. 

Eric Riggle, who has been coming here for years, shared a testimony today about a little girl.  He shared that God has given him a gift.  His gift is the ability to work with his hands and make things as a carpenter.  Eric has helped install roofs, built a house for a pastor, built a huge deck/platform for a youth center, tables and chairs for kids, and many more things beyond that.  With tears in his eyes he shared that this week God gave him another ability....the ability to make a little girl smile.  This little girl is standing beside Eric in the picture and her name is Marjorie.  Eric met Marjorie a couple of years ago on another project and she was missing her front teeth.  At the beginning of the week she would never smile.  Eric cared for her and spent time for her and eventually by the end of the week she gave him a huge smile.  Eric had become the hands and feet of Jesus to this little girl, communicating to her that she mattered to God.  This week that little girl wandered over to our church and found Eric again and they were reunited.  He learned that she has become a leader in her Sunday School class and also is one of the worship leaders in the church now.  Her life has been changed because someone believed in her and noticed them and loved them.

I heard a quote today that goes something like this, 'Don't ever get so big or so important that you don't have the time to answer a phone call from a 2 year old with a plastic toy phone.'  I like that.  Jesus cares about these little ones and so should we. 

Rich

Normally when i think about rich, i would tend to think about having a lot of money.  The reality is though, rich, is being connected to God.  When you surrender your life to Christ, you are connected to the One who created everything from nothing and the One who owns a cattle on a thousand hills, which is old school language for, uh, everything.  Because of His lavish love and mercy and glory He adopted me into His family and calls me His Son, wow.  I am starting to understand wealth in terms of relationships.  Truly the most wealty and rich people are those who are rich in relationships.  First, a relationship with God through Christ, and second through relationships with others.  That's been one of the biggest blessings about doing these short term mission trips is that my heart feels deeply satisfied as I grow richer in relationships through serving alongside of other brothers and sisters in Christ and through spending time with these kids and youth each and every day.  One of the biggest tragedies is getting sucked into the lie that money will make you happy and to do anything it takes to make money including burning bridges, taking shortcuts, and walking all over people.  One a sad ending for those who choose that path.  Everytime I go to a funeral of a person who was rich in relationships, it is profoundly powerful.  Never does anyone celebrate the money they made, but rather the relationships they made...their relationship with Christ and their relationship with others.

Pray for the North East

One of the things I've enjoyed very much about mission trips in the past is getting to know our team mates.  We have a great group serving alongside us from Vermont and it has been very challenging to learn about the state of the church there.  Vermont is the least Christian state in the U.S. and to hear one of the ladies share about it was powerful.  They truly walk around as the outcasts, aliens and strangers in their community up there.  They long for Christian fellowship in their schools and businesses but it is very hard to find.  We need to be praying for our brothers and sisters up in the Northeast.  Also, the pastors up there have the highest burn-out rate of anywhere in the country.  It is difficult when you are pouring out your life and you see little fruit.  But there is a strength in these Christians and a determination to depend on Christ for everything that is very challenging to me.  They are waiting upon the Lord and standing up for him boldly and expectant of what He is going to do.

Honduras

It's wonderful to have the opportunity to be here in the country that we are trusting God for an adopted child from.  i am so grateful to God for this opportunity because He has made it possible through the generous donations that people in my church have given.  All of you who have given are a part of this trip and your generosity encourages me and challenges me to trust Jesus more and more.  It's a beautiful country, very tropical, and the people are very friendly and have contagious smiles.  It was special to work with some of the kids from a village here yesterday and laugh with the, hold them and spend time with them.  I couldn't help but imagine our own future child as i looked into their faces.  Will write more soon....

Second Phone Interview

Well last Thursday we had our second meeting with Gladney.  This time we talked with a lady who focuses on Latin American countries.  So we learned a few more things specific to Honduras.  Our immediate steps right now are filling out gobs of paperwork known as Group 1 and Group 2.  Some of the items are just on us to fill out and get completed while other items are a little more dependent on others like getting our 5 references to fill out their forms and mail them in.

Last Friday we had another donation of $1000 come in so we are so thankful for that family who gave towards our goal.  That puts our total account up to $7600.00 at this point (praise God!).  I am really pumped for Whitney as she has also decided to step out and go on our church's mission trip to Honduras at the end of July.  I know this is definitely out of her comfort zone but I think it will be a powerful week of going and serving the people down there and also getting to know the country first hand where our future child will come from one day.  Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and interest in this journey!

in Christ,

Brian