Priorities

Sundays are busy days in our home, actually that is probably every day. I recently have heard myself say "it's crazy" in reference to our schedule a few too many times. My goal this week is to lessen the "craziness" and focus more on the Lord.

There are some things in our schedule I can't change. I can make sure, however, that my priorities are in the right order. I am the best mom I can be when I start my day in the Word and in prayer. For that matter, I'm the best I can be at just about everything I do when I am disciplined in my Christian walk. The longer I know the Lord the more I see how far I have to go in my Christian life and I want to run my race to the finish and do it well.

We serve a God who is Holy and blameless (He has a myriad of other attributes, as well). He is worthy of us giving our best to Him daily!

In Franklin Graham's book, The Name he said, "We contemplate what He gave on the cross--His life. But you see, Jesus gave His life every day in His Father's Name. Should we do any less?"

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23

Why Guatemala?

Why would we choose to adopt from Guatemala? The quick answer would be that Guatemala was the country that the Lord laid on our hearts. But there is more to it than that.

Guatemala is close as far as airline flights are concerned. You can travel there in a day and the expense is not outrageous. We looked ahead and wondered if the child we brought into our family would one day want to return to Guatemala for a visit or perhaps even to live. It really is a little selfish on our part, we wanted to be able to visit them should they choose to return to their home country.

Another reason we chose Guatemala was because of the Children's Home that we had come to learn about. We saw their mission, not just for the children of Guatemala but the whole of Guatemala. We all have the same great need - The Lord! The founders of this Children's Home desire to share the gospel with all the people of Guatemala, partially through outreach and church planting.

Of course, travel required to Guatemala as you adopt was a factor as well. Some countries require you to stay for two weeks or more and with a family already at home this is more difficult.

But, ultimately, the "quick answer" is the real reason we chose to adopt from Guatemala. The Lord laid the children of Guatemala on our hearts.
As things seem to be heating up with the politics of the Hague treaty it is the Lord that we are leaning on. The Lord has led us to this spot in life and we desire to trust Him as we wait and pray for Nathan to come home to us.

I wrote a letter yesterday to an official and put it in my "draft" file. I prayed about it and thought about what should be the right response to the DOS(Department of State) news lately. As I thought about Christ's ministry I saw that He was a man of action. So I decided to send my letter. I also sent a couple of other emails. Ken and I will continue to bring before the Lord in prayer the children of Guatemala, the decisions being made over the next three months do not just affect us, they affect all of the orphans in Guatemala.

"And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5

A Time for Everything

There is truly a time for everything and most of all everything is in the Lord's timing. This morning Ken's dad went home to be with the Lord, he was 84 years old. Glen had struggled with Alzheimer's disease in the last couple of years and really had not known for a while that he was with us.

I have known Glen for 19 years and know that he is fully healed today and praising the Lord. We will miss him. He was a man of God, disciplined in spending time with the Lord and in prayer. He had lived a full life and had spent many years in service to the Lord.

I am so grateful to Glen for the way he raised up his family. The godly example that he showed to his family has been priceless. I am so thankful for the molding he did in Ken's life. His example has helped to make Ken a wonderful, tender, loving husband and a great dad! Thank you Glen for staying close to the Lord all of your years.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

A Steve Green moment....

I drove to Springfield today to have our new POA authenticated. On the way home Brandon and Molly were asleep in their seats and I was enjoying some music. This song came on the radio:

The Plan (sung by Steve Green)

(chorus)
I don’t need to have the plan in hand,
I don’t need to have the end in sight,
All I need to do is follow you,
wherever you lead and do what you ask me to. (repeat)

Trusting you, Lord, with all my heart,
following you all my days;
whether I can or can’t understand,
I’ll acknowledge you in all my ways. (chorus)

Though I am pressed on every side I am not in despair.
My faith in you will carry me through though
I may not see where You’re leading me. (chorus)


I had just mailed off this very important piece of paper and it hit me that this child was truly in the Lord's hands. Nathan Rodolfo's plan is truly of the Lord's making. We are willing to follow the Lord in this area and we have certainly put our hearts in the Lord's hands and into this adoption. I seek to daily trust Him for Nathan's safekeeping and homecoming.

As a sidenote: I would highly recommend a Steve Green concert. We have been to two in the past and have enjoyed the music and the worship.

(I couldn't resist the picture, he is such a cutie!)

Celebrations Everywhere!

We are in midst of a fall festival in our hometown, it seems the whole place comes to life. But little compares to the joy of hearing of our referral! We would like to introduce to you ...

Nathan Rodolfo

"God's Gift" to our family

He was born on August 28th, which was Natalie's 10th birthday. Natalie had prayed that we get our referral on her birthday. I asked if she minded sharing her birthday and she said a resounding "no".

Ken has been gone on business and phoned very late last night saying he thought we should name him "Nathan". The neat thing is that Nathan was the name we had chosen to give our eldest child, Allison, if she had been a boy. The Lord knew we would need that name at a later time.

He is a beautiful child and we are rejoicing in the blessing that the Lord has brought our way!

Matthew 18:5

"And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5

I was running an errand for a friend this afternoon when my cell phone rang. It was our oldest son, Joel, telling me that when I got home I needed to call the agency back because we had a referral! He was a little excited. [Joel asked me yesterday after school if they had called yet-did he think I wouldn't tell him? :)] Well since I was driving away from home I called from the car. Amazingly I held it together as I heard the news while driving down the interstate-I wouldn't recommend this. I then had to call Ken who is out of town until tomorrow to tell him the news.

We are at the beginning of a long journey, but we know that we can trust the Lord to guide us as we go and we are ever so grateful for that. Please pray that we would wait patiently as we go through the process of bringing our son home.

Adoption Benefits

There are many benefits that come with adoption, some are more obvious than others. (They are not necessarily in order of importance.)

The most obvious benefit is the child that becomes a part of your family forever. Recently Molly(6) came and sat by me with her Bible and asked, "Mom, do you know why I am reading my Bible?". I said, "no". She replied, "Because the song we sang in Sunday School said if we didn't read our Bible we would shrink!". What a blessing to see Molly putting into practice what she is learning about the Lord.

A second benefit was that going through the process of adoption has each time brought Ken and I closer together. As we have gone through the bumps, interruptions, delays together we share a bond that grows stronger.

Thirdly, our relationship with the Lord is strengthened. Because so much in adoption is out of our control, we have to trust the Lord more fully. We trust that He loves and cares for the particular child more perfectly than we will ever be able to. We trust that every day in that child's and our own lives were written down before we were born-nothing that comes about is a surprise to Him.

Fourth, adoption has shown us the open hearts of our children. With older children in our family I sometimes wonder what they "really" think about another child in our home. Allison (17) is busy looking at colleges and mentioned one day that she wasn't sure about going too far away for college because she wanted to be able to be a part of our younger children's lives as they grew. And if that doesn't warm my heart as a mom this did... Joel (14) was talking about our family and said, "When we all have families our family get-togethers are going to be awesome!"

Fifth, adoption has opened my eyes to the grace of God in my life. As we have met many people intimately involved in our adoptions I have come to realize that if the Lord was not directing my path the path I would have taken may have been quite different. Sometimes it is a seemingly small turn that sends us in a different direction.

I could go on but I will leave you with this sixth benefit of adoption. Adoption gives our family a daily reminder of what the Lord has done for us by adopting us into His family. He takes each of us with all of our imperfections (sin) and cleanses us from the inside, inviting us into His family forever. Wow!

False Start

It was a little discouraging to get this news today. We were to have received an official referral today, but instead were told that the birth family had changed their minds and were picking the child up from the children's home today. It has been our prayer since we heard of this child that the birth family would have a peace about their decision, they did not.

I asked Ken today what he thought we were supposed to be learning from this process and he simply replied, "patience". So we are continuing to pray for the Lord's perfect timing in this adoption. We also pray that we will glorify the Lord throughout this journey. He is walking us through this time and He is worthy to be praised!

(I think I received today another small glimpse into how the Lord feels when He draws one of His children to Himself and they turn away.)

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

(9/7) As I have had a chance today to mull these events over I am again reminded that I have to simply trust the Lord, that is what He is teaching me. He is reminding me that He is trustworthy!

Labor Day

We are waiting on word from our agency about our referral. We were told last week that it would be any moment. With a long weekend ahead of us we had to find something to do, so we started a small project. Well, maybe not so small. Ken and Joel started Saturday tearing out all of the landscaping in the front of our home and we finished the job today along with adding some new plantings. We still have a ways to go, but we are off to a great start!

The younger kids rode bikes and rollerbladed all over while we worked. We will all sleep well tonight, which is a blessing because maybe tomorrow is the BIG day! We are so looking forward to hearing who the Lord will be bringing to our family! We know that whoever he/she is we will be very excited to get to know them and the Lord will bless all of us through this journey.

Oh, and Molly lost her first tooth!

Update: No news today (9/4), but keep praying. :)
Update: A little news (9/5), more should come tomorrow. Praying for the Lord's guidance. :)