Which way is this plane flying?

You've probably had a few of them...those moments when you think "Oh yeah, weren't they adopting or something? I wonder what ever happened to that?"

Excellent question.

Well, what happened was a couple of things, but mainly this: we put it all on hold. We needed to step back and breathe for a little bit.  When we took the PRIDE classes last winter, we knew that foster care was the wrong direction for our family. It was such a relief to know there was a direction we were NOT to go, even though there were still so many directions we COULD go.

That same week we were made aware of a little guy in Burkina Faso who needed a family and thought that we might be it! But we pursued that route only to find that another family was also pursuing his adoption, and since BF really dislikes allowing families our size to adopt from there, the other family was much more likely to be given approval. No problem - another door closed just meant one more direction we were not to go!

But around the same time as this direction-change there were some big-time concerns going on right here at home...it looked like a very strong possibility that the Mister was going to lose his job. Scrreeeeeeeeaach - halt! The children we have been considering have been special needs kiddos and no job means no insurance!  So we decided that it was time to take a break from the crazy adoption train and wait.

Well, surprisingly, I was able for awhile to really let it go, relax, and wait patiently.  Then the crisis passed and God preserved the job! But summer was.....well, summer. There was a lot going on, a lot of other big decisions and stuff going on in our little world.

By the end of summer, when a conversation was taking place in one of my FB groups about adoption and waiting kids, I typed "...still in a holding pattern and it's time to tell this plane which way to fly!"

Well, I had prayed just a day or two before that "Lord, I wish someone would just hand us a picture and say 'this one's yours, now go get him (or her)!' "  So you know what God did? After I typed that comment, a friend (not knowing what I'd prayed, of course) posted a picture in the group, tagged me and said "...GHANA! There's a little boy named Calvin... who needs a family!"

Since that day there have been lots of moments where God has made it so clear that THIS is the direction we need to go right now. My heart is officially four time zones ahead, staring at every picture we have of him and studying every precious little inch of his face. I did a crazy laugh-cry-hopenooneislooking thing when I got new pictures of him a couple weeks back.  I'm smitten ♥

So which way is this plane flying? Well, at the moment, all indicators say GHANA! Time to renew my passport!

You have $50,000...

...well, you have to power to give it and to do so without spending one single cent of your own money!

Cultivate Wines is giving away $100,000 per quarter to non-profits via a democratic voting system. The winner will receive $50,000, and the five runners-up will each receive $10,000.  Project HOPEFUL has been privileged to be chosen as one of the potential recipients! To vote, you can either register or login through facebook. Once you’re logged in, you will have 1 vote per day. 

We’re sure you can imagine what this much money could mean to Project HOPEFUL’s ability to fulfill our mission to Educate, Encourage, and Enable families and individuals to advocate for and adopt children with HIV/AIDS and other of the MOST OVERLOOKED children for adoption! So be sure to come back and vote for Project HOPEFUL again each day!

Please consider printing off our Get out the Vote reminder card and placing it in a place you will remember every single day from May 1 through June 30.  Every vote is going to be absolutely crucial! Also, every time you vote, would you please tell all of your contacts and ask them to vote, too? The power to multiply votes with these very simple actions is enormous!

Here are the rules:

1.  You must be 21 years old to vote.  If you aren’t, ask your friends/family who ARE.

2.  NO gifts; contests; give aways.

3.  You must sign in using a FB account to vote.  If you don’t have one, would you consider registering for one just for the next 60 days?  You can take it down thereafter….

4.  Absolutely no use of voting companies who do all the work for you.

Thank you so much for your help and support!

Voting Reminder Card

HIV/AIDS Adoption: Teen Selah Twietmeyer Gives Her HIV Adoption Testimony

I just love this girl!!! Please share it on your blogs and social media:




From the description of the video:" HIV/AIDS Infected teen Selah Twietmeyer from Project Hopeful http://www.projecthopeful.org tells how she was adopted from Ethiopia into her family and talks about disclosure...she said "I am not ashamed and not afraid to tell the Truth"...Incredible testimony...repost this link http://youtu.be/sRxDRzZxDbI Tweet: http://clicktotweet.com/020db subscribe http://www.youtube.com/mothertheworld"

Faith - and the ones who love her

Every human life matters to the One who formed each one and numbered their days and lit the eternal flame of their soul.

This one matters....and her family is ready to bring her home and show her that beautiful truth: Her name is Faith

Posts and other things I love on this sunny Monday

Challenging thoughts about requesting 'Healthy' kiddos in adoption: http://5millionminus1.blogspot.com/2012/04/each-one-of-them-is-jesus-in-disguise.html

Some very special sibling love: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10100480867824196

This list of Fundraising families: http://www.projecthopeful.org/waiting-kids/matched-children-and-families

Adoption encouragement from Jen Hatmaker: http://give1save1.com/2012/03/05/guest-post-by-jen-hatmaker/


What links do you love today?

Who do we love?

"God's love is perfect love. It drives out fear, it doesn't expect anything in return..." It's so easy to worry more about protecting ourselves and our families from grief than the fact that a child may die without ever having been loved, and belonged to a family, or heard the gospel from the lips of loving parents who care about his never-dying soul. My heart is shattered daily, I tell you. :(

"Cautious Love"



Can we love the broken, dying, rebellious, forgotten? Who will we allow ourselves to love?

Updating the Timeline

Fost-Adopt can be a short process. Unless you are a procrastinator like me.

Since adoption is something that I have wanted SO badly for so many years, you would think I would be whipping out paperwork and checking off boxes like a Type A Superstar.  Seriously, what is my problem?!

I could blame the 'system' for taking so long between steps. I could even leave it as chronic procrastination, but I know it's more than that. It's fear.  I'm terrified about a whole laundry list of what-if's. I know so much about adoption and the good, bad, and the ugly, and I'm terrified that we will only experience the bad and the ugly and none of the good.

It gets harder and harder to hold on to our resolve to 'get our hands dirty' when you start to see the mud puddles. Intellectually, I believe that we are not in this world to have everything easy and that eternity will be worth any pain, suffering, rejection, and grief that we experience in this life.  But signing up for all that FOR REAL is just plain scary.

But,

" For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline."
 2 Timothy 1:7
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

So today, I am going to look to Him for the power, love, and discipline for each new task on the adoption process timeline and pray for the wisdom to do the same each day for all my days. To God alone be the Glory.

(Be sure to check for updates to our timeline HERE)