God is so good!! When we are obedient, it is amazing the blessings He puts in our path!! We got home today to find a donation from someone we do not even know! And were then told of another donation from co-workers of our sister-in-law. Neither of these are large amounts, but we are so very thankful for them. It doesn't matter if all you have to donate is $5, it means so much to us that people are willing to donate at all to help us bring this little boy home. We also had a young girl at our church decide to donate the full $20 she earned from her grandma for getting good grades to help bring this little guy home. This is a girl who does not usually have extra spending money, so this makes it even more of a sacrifice. I can't wait to put up pictures on here for y'all to see the precious one you are donating to :)
I must admit, we had gotten off track for a few days, hadn't been putting God first. When we realized we were letting all the little details of the adoption process frazzle us and distract us from God, we stopped and turned to Him. We could do none of this without Him. It is because of His love for us that we are able to love others as we do, including this little boy we have never even met.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Prayer Please!!
Please pray as we are making the decision of bringing home one little boy or two! We are praying for God's guidance in this and would appreciate all of your prayers as well. What this would mean is more time in country (which means more funds for food/lodging/cab fees) as well as about $12,000 more in funds needed. We know that God will provide if this is His will. Please pray that we would have wisdom and discernment about this decision.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Yard Sale Success!
I can't list the number of people who helped, donated, bought, and prayed for the success of this. We didn't even plan on doing this 2 weeks ago, but then again 4 weeks ago we had no plans for adopting a special needs child or a child from a different country. This just proves that God has his own timing, and if we are sensitive to His Spirit, we will be blessed!
We had a church from a near by community donate their remaining trailer full of very nice used clothing as well as racks, tables and some other misc. items. Several complete strangers dropped off several truck loads of very nice items as well as items from family and friends. Special thanks go to our pastor and his wife (Harold and Debbie Carman) for use of their enormous tent and their land: the Rodriguez family for their help in set up, translation and prayers: Heather and all her help (and truck): Steven and Ashley for all their help and tent set up (not a fun thing, way too many spikes and sledge swings): And many others who I can't remember right off hand. Your talents and gifts of items or time are a blessing to us and this precious little fella we are trying to bring home.
We raised a total of $1473.50 over two days of sales! Lots of hours, little sleep, lots of hard work and a lot of talking to people about the adoption!
You Guys Rock! Thank you again! Please continue praying, this process is going quicker than we thought!
We had a church from a near by community donate their remaining trailer full of very nice used clothing as well as racks, tables and some other misc. items. Several complete strangers dropped off several truck loads of very nice items as well as items from family and friends. Special thanks go to our pastor and his wife (Harold and Debbie Carman) for use of their enormous tent and their land: the Rodriguez family for their help in set up, translation and prayers: Heather and all her help (and truck): Steven and Ashley for all their help and tent set up (not a fun thing, way too many spikes and sledge swings): And many others who I can't remember right off hand. Your talents and gifts of items or time are a blessing to us and this precious little fella we are trying to bring home.
We raised a total of $1473.50 over two days of sales! Lots of hours, little sleep, lots of hard work and a lot of talking to people about the adoption!
You Guys Rock! Thank you again! Please continue praying, this process is going quicker than we thought!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Our first post, an introduction
Welcome to our first ever blog! We are thrilled that you took time out of your busy life to take an interest in what God is doing in ours!
My wife and I were married shortly after high school and have been together for over 15 years now! We have been unable to have children although there is no medical reason that the doctors have found. It is our belief that our first 15 years of marriage has been a time to enjoy each other, pursue what we wanted and learn to love each other as we were made to do. Now, we feel it is our time to use what we have learned and pursue what God has in store for us.....and what a ride he has planned!
We have felt a pull towards adoption several times over the last 5 years, doing a class here or there, looking at children on foster sites, observing others who have gone through foster parenting or adoption, but we have lost heart in the past. Feeling that adoption might be right but not knowing when, where or who! Well, after a recent visit to a friends house to see their 2 baby girls (9 months and 5 years), we knew our calling.
Our friends had gone through a program called Reeces Rainbow (www.reecesrainbow.com) and had, through a multiple set of miracles, just returned home with 2 sisters from Ukraine with downs syndrome. After telling us some of the circumstances that these children face over there we prayed, and acted upon what God was guiding us to do. See, these children are seen almost as "throw away" babies over there (here too but 90% are aborted). Most Downs children are put into an orphanage at birth and between the ages of 4-5 are sent to a mental institution to live out the rest of their lives, with little or no hope of ever knowing a real family. We are now in the adoption process for a little boy in Ukraine with Downs Syndrome! We can honestly say, we never thought we would have the desire to do this....after all, everyone wants a perfect, healthy baby, either through natural child birth or adoption. And though I do still desire that child, this one seem so special to me.
God reminded me, I was a misfit, someone who didn't measure up to His sense of perfection (who could, He's God), I sinned every day against Him and His standards (my actions, lack of actions, words, even our thoughts), but He still pursued me! He gave me chance after chance after chance (the longsuffering we read about) until He changed my heart. He called me His son, He no longer sees my sin (Jesus paid the price, the sacrifice that needed to be made to atone for my sin), I'm seen worthy to be in His presence, Worthy to be called His son! That's why we are doing this, this little guy is worth to be called our son! He is created in the image of God, just like all of you! Worthy to be loved, demanded of our Heavenly Father to be loved and cared for (the widows and the orphans), cherished in God's eyes and ours!
We have been cautioned, warned, tried to be talked out of, but we can't. God has put such a passion in our hearts for this little guy, we have to....but not with a sense of having to, but one of pure joy! We know this is a life long decision. We don't know the full medical, emotional, physical conditions (although Reeces Rainbow does their best to accurately describe any known or though problems) but we feel that no one is guaranteed that even a healthy child will not succumb to problems on any one of these levels. We simply know in advance, and that is a blessing from God.
We have seen many ups and downs over the past week and a half as this has taken off quickly! With every down God provided us with an amazing lift that can only come from Heaven. He loves us!
Trust in Him!
Joel and Rachel
My wife and I were married shortly after high school and have been together for over 15 years now! We have been unable to have children although there is no medical reason that the doctors have found. It is our belief that our first 15 years of marriage has been a time to enjoy each other, pursue what we wanted and learn to love each other as we were made to do. Now, we feel it is our time to use what we have learned and pursue what God has in store for us.....and what a ride he has planned!
We have felt a pull towards adoption several times over the last 5 years, doing a class here or there, looking at children on foster sites, observing others who have gone through foster parenting or adoption, but we have lost heart in the past. Feeling that adoption might be right but not knowing when, where or who! Well, after a recent visit to a friends house to see their 2 baby girls (9 months and 5 years), we knew our calling.
Our friends had gone through a program called Reeces Rainbow (www.reecesrainbow.com) and had, through a multiple set of miracles, just returned home with 2 sisters from Ukraine with downs syndrome. After telling us some of the circumstances that these children face over there we prayed, and acted upon what God was guiding us to do. See, these children are seen almost as "throw away" babies over there (here too but 90% are aborted). Most Downs children are put into an orphanage at birth and between the ages of 4-5 are sent to a mental institution to live out the rest of their lives, with little or no hope of ever knowing a real family. We are now in the adoption process for a little boy in Ukraine with Downs Syndrome! We can honestly say, we never thought we would have the desire to do this....after all, everyone wants a perfect, healthy baby, either through natural child birth or adoption. And though I do still desire that child, this one seem so special to me.
God reminded me, I was a misfit, someone who didn't measure up to His sense of perfection (who could, He's God), I sinned every day against Him and His standards (my actions, lack of actions, words, even our thoughts), but He still pursued me! He gave me chance after chance after chance (the longsuffering we read about) until He changed my heart. He called me His son, He no longer sees my sin (Jesus paid the price, the sacrifice that needed to be made to atone for my sin), I'm seen worthy to be in His presence, Worthy to be called His son! That's why we are doing this, this little guy is worth to be called our son! He is created in the image of God, just like all of you! Worthy to be loved, demanded of our Heavenly Father to be loved and cared for (the widows and the orphans), cherished in God's eyes and ours!
We have been cautioned, warned, tried to be talked out of, but we can't. God has put such a passion in our hearts for this little guy, we have to....but not with a sense of having to, but one of pure joy! We know this is a life long decision. We don't know the full medical, emotional, physical conditions (although Reeces Rainbow does their best to accurately describe any known or though problems) but we feel that no one is guaranteed that even a healthy child will not succumb to problems on any one of these levels. We simply know in advance, and that is a blessing from God.
We have seen many ups and downs over the past week and a half as this has taken off quickly! With every down God provided us with an amazing lift that can only come from Heaven. He loves us!
Trust in Him!
Joel and Rachel
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