Room's Ready

O.k.  So I know that this is a bit premature, but I decided to go ahead and get the guest room turned into the boys' room.  My eldest son used to have a western cowboy room.  I hung the cowboy curtains, got out the plaid quilt, hung the metal star, put all the board books on the red bookshelf and tried to imagine our cutie twins sitting in the chambray arm chair reading Pat the Bunny.  Wearing cowboy boots, of course.

10 Sent In

Tomorrow I put in the mail the last of the bulky envelopes filled with papers that were poured over for hours to request adoption grants.  Although the process and information requested for each organization is similar, they are all very different and all very time consuming. 

I have applied for 10.  Ten organizations that exist to come alongside of families and give financial aid and support for the large expense of adoption.  Ten organizations who probably can only give to 20% of the applications they receive.

They were mailed with many prayers and a verse repeated round in my head.

Psalm 50:10  For every beast of the forest is Mine, 

and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

My God has no shortage of funds.

Happies

Going through this adoption process has made us the recipient of many little "happies" from God.

I love the way He led us to our agency.

I love the way He led us to our country.

I love the way He led us to our boys.

I love the way that the most unexpected people have come along our path to encourage and support us because they have a heart for adoption too.

I love the way that my passion for orphans has exploded through this process and how I will never be the same.

I love how our boys have been living in a foster home with 2 other little boys their age and one of them has arrived in his forever family last week - and lives 20 minutes away from us.

I love how God crossed my paths with a girl who grew up as a missionary kid in our country, speaks the language, knows the culture and even has recorded worship music in that language for us to learn now and who is willing to share the culture with me.  We met 2 days after we got our referral.  What a sweet God-Happy.   (So if you pass a 12 passenger van that is rocking and booming with native-sounding drums and worship music sung in Lingala with 8 blond haired, blue eyed kids singing and dancing....that would be us!)

I am embarrassed to tell you that last year this time if you had asked me about our country, I could not have shown it to you on the map and probably the only thing I might have commented on was that Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine released a song about a dance that sounds like our country name.  Shameful, I know.

But as I started learning, the more I wanted to learn.  I am in the process of writing a paper for our agency to educate myself and to have for our boys and family to read about our country.  It's taking me forever to finish because I can't stop researching and I can't stop writing.  (I pity the girl who has to read it from our agency - hope she's got a few hours.)  And with each new story, fact and statistic that I read, my heart becomes stronger and stronger drawn to that country.  My heart feels a greater bond for our boys because I am learning about a piece of who they are.

This knowledge is also piercing as the history of this country can bring you to tears.  And with knowledge comes responsibility.  Responsibility to bring about greater awareness of the opportunities for adoption.  Responsibility to pray for peace, strong leadership, and stability in this country.

And what is amazing is that in the midst of my learning, sharing and writing, the word is spreading.  People are becoming aware that it's not a Miami Sound Machine song but a country in Africa with many orphans needing families.  God is stirring the hearts of His people to act now in caring for the orphans. 

Last year when I was "interviewing" adoptive parents to research the possibility for my family, one friend and mom listened to my questions, answered them politely and said very frankly yet lovingly, "Cassie, just get the ball rolling.  God will show you what do to, but you just have to get the ball rolling."  She was right.  No more excuses.  No more procrastinating.  There's no better time than now.

He had placed it in our hearts.  He had stirred it up more.  He was ready for us to get the ball rolling and He showed us.  He continues to show us.  He's multiplying His plan also because as of today, 3 other families who have asked us about our agency and our country, have signed up to adopt themselves.  It's not because of us and anything I have said.  It's because God is working and stirring hearts to bring His children across the ocean to His families here in America - to be forever families.

It's a beautiful web He's weaving.

Fank You

Lydia's prayer (age 3 1/2)

Dear Jesus,

Fank You dat day can come to our house

cuz we don't have enough bruvvers.

(translation)

Dear Jesus,

Thank you that they can come to our house

because we don't have enough brothers. 

And all the Fish boys said?????

"AMEN!"

Little guys, we sure can't wait to add you to our family!

Sisters and Bruvvers alike!