Understanding God's Heart for Adoption

November is National Adoption Awareness Month. For obvious reasons, I am very passionate about adoption. I cannot say I always have been. I have never been against adoption, in fact I've always considered it a great way to build a family. But the kind of deep passion that moves you into action and makes you want to change the world came more recently.

It was 4 years ago when we decided to adopt a little girl. Initially we started the process because we felt called by God to adopt a child. Beyond that, we were mostly driven by the desire for the daughter we did not have biologically. It was May 2009 when I first saw a photo of my daughter, and my heart began to change.

I have to say that I think since adopting Eliza, my love for all my children is different, because through adoption God has opened my heart to a deeper kind of love - the kind of love my heavenly Father feels for His adopted children.

Ephesians 1:5 says he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.

He feels a love born out of choosing us and waiting and longing for us to choose Him in return. It is easy to love a child that accepts you, relies on you and loves you back, but it can be heartwrenching to love a child that pushes you away. This is why there is great rejoicing in heaven every time one person comes to faith. This is the love God has for each of his children.

Am I saying if you want to experience God's love on a deeper level, you should adopt a child? I shamelessly say YES! If you're thinking about it, why not check into it a little bit more. Yes, it's a huge responsibility; Yes, it could be one of the hardest things you ever do; and Yes, it could be one of the greatest blessings of your life.

Just look at one of the blessings I could have missed out on.

Eliza's Birthday (better late than never)

These pics are a long time coming. Our sweet girl turned 2 last month, but I forgot to bring my camera to her birthday party, so thank you very much Grandpa Wayne for sending us some pictures from that special day. Oh how much Miss Eliza has grown since her 1st Birthday (sniff-sniff).

Opening presents...unlike the boys, she loves to get clothes. (or in this case, super cute halloween pj's)


So grown up with her purse and cell phone. (sigh)


Oh Aunt Jennifer, how we wish you could have made the birthday cake. It would have looked SO much better than mommy's attempt.


This year, she used a fork to eat her cake instead of the faceplant technique.

Scout Family Campout

This past weekend was the annual Cub Scout Family Campout for our district. We had such a fun time playing games with all our scouting friends. It got a little bit cold for my taste on Friday night, but Saturday was a perfect autumn day.

On my soapbox today...enjoy

As I was diligently working to put together our adoption dossier (which is almost done!), I came across this video on another blog and had to share it. I have been thinking so much more about the issue of what happens to young girls who are orphaned or in poverty since begining our adoption of an older child. I suppose when we adopted Eliza, I didn't think much of it, because the truth is that she was an infant girl (infant girls are adopted much more than older children or infant boys). Even though she was labeled as special needs, her needs were not severe and I knew she would have been adopted by another family if we had not chosen to adopt her. With Vishakha, it is different. She is already 5 and has a special need. She has been in an orphanage since birth, and no family has chosen her until now. I often think of what life is like for girls like Vishakha who are not chosen by families. What happens to them when they age out of the system??? It's a horrifying thing to think about. Watch this video, and if you'd like to learn more, visit The Girl Effect website. This is such an important problem in the world, and definitely not spoken of or acted upon often enough. We who have so so much, can do something or give something that is so small to us, and it could change the life of not just one little girl, but generations.

Random Cuteness

This one melts my heart. So sweet.





Isaac Playing in the Fountains at Crown Center

Chocolate Covered Cheesecake on a Stick= YUMMMM!

The T-Rex Cafe

Fun in the Pool

And my favorite...can you tell I keep my cell phone in my back pocket?

One year ago...

We met our precious daughter. Click here to read more about that very special day.

Plans to Prosper, Not to Harm

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

This has long been one of my favorite bible verses. It is so reassuring and full of hope, especially when times are hard. For those who've been following along with the saga of our old house vs. new house. You might guess that I have been holding tight to this verse these past few months. Turning over control and anxiety about the vacant nightmare was an almost daily task. Trusting in God, and trying to be willing to accept His plan, His timing, and His will over my own seemed like an endless process.

Waiting for the unknown outcome gave me a big push to fill up my soul with more of Jesus. It was either that or sit around eating chocolate and feeling sorry for myself (which I also did a time or two). The more I filled up my life with thoughts of Him, the less room there was for anxiety, and peace began to prevail.

As I let go of control and trusted God more, I also began to feel gratitude instead of self-pity. I began to look at all God has given me, instead of wonder what He might take away. I began to remember that I have so much, and it is all because of Him. By all logical standards, we should not have the house we built. It is WAY nicer and bigger than we should be able to afford, but God in His grace paved the winding road that made it possible.

So, I began to think.....If God, in His infinite wisdom, saw fit to give us this house, perhaps it was not just to pamper his spoiled kid. Perhaps He had a purpose all along for us having this house. And so I started praying and seeking God's wisdom. I started asking Him how we could use this gift to serve His kingdom.

It was so obvious once I asked. The empty spare bedroom become like an eyesore. It was like it cried out to be filled. I knew that God intended for us to adopt again. To be a family to another child who needs a home. We certainly had room in our hearts and our home to be mommy and daddy to one more. And that brings us to Vishakha.

We probably had no business requesting her file, since, at that time, we still had a vacant rental house eating up every last dime of our income. But after seeing her and reading her profile, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I bugged Ken until he caved in and let me request her file. And after reading through the file, I was so ready to bring her home. (I know...surprise). Ken was very unsure, but God (with very little nagging from me which was not easy) slowly brought him to realize what my heart already knew...We could no more leave her in India than we could abandon one of our children. That's because God already knew that Vishakha was to be our own.

So we decided we wanted to adopt her. We would wait for the rental house to either sell or get rented out again, then we would call the agency to proceed with her adoption. And we didn't have to wait long. I believe it was the same day that I got a call from a somewhat frantic man. His family had just moved here from across the country. They had a house all lined up, but when they got here it was full of toxic mold. They were living in a motel and they needed a house to rent yesterday. They came and looked at the house and moved in right away.

So, it would appear that all this time I was not waiting on God like I thought, but God was waiting on me. Waiting on me to listen and obey and receive another blessing beyond what I asked or imagined. Praise the Lord.

Here We Grow Again

It's finally time to let out this HUGE secret I've been holding in for months. We are so excited to announce that we have been approved to adopt a precious little one in India. Her name is Vishakha, and she is five years old. She is currently living in an orphanage in Pune, India which is about 75 miles from Mumbai.

We first saw Vishakha's face in the Holt magazine. She was one of 4 waiting children highlighted in the spring issue. When I read her description, I thought, wow, her needs sound very managable. Ken and I had talked about adopting again, as we certainly have the room in our home and in our hearts for one more, but I don't think either of us thought it would be this soon. After discussing it for at least a month, we decided to request her file.

We knew after reading her file that we could be her family. Only one thing stood in the way. That darn vacant house that still remained unsold/unrented. Within days of decided that we wanted to pursue the adoption of Vishakha, a family came and looked at the house and moved in the next day. So, we have renters again, but yeah, no more vacant house.

Then we let the agency know that we wanted to be her family. I thought it would be a slam dunk, and they'd just assign us, but it was a little more complicated than that. Since we have a large family already, and we'd be adopting an older child out of birth order, the agency was hesitant to refer her to us. We were determined to fight for her anyway, and I guess that paid off, because yesterday our family was presented to a committee, and after reading through our file and interview notes, they decided to grant us another daughter.

We are now in the beginning stages of compiling the massive amounts of paperwork required to bring our sweet daughter home. This could take several months to a year to get processed, but eventually, we will be travelling to India to bring her home.

On a side note, if you happened to see a crazy person dancing in the Target parking lot yesterday afternoon, it might have been me. That's where I was when I got the call.

Sorry no picture. India won't allow me to post a picture until we get her home, but trust me, she's adorable.

Ian is Eight!

Wow! Time is flying by this summer. We celebrated both Nathan and Ian's birthdays by going to the T-Rex cafe. The boys had so much fun, and I got some great pictures. Unfortunately, my memory card reader is messed up, so I'll have to post them another time. Until then, here are some recent pics of my big boy, Ian.






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Nate the Great is no longer Eight

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to post, but I did want to honor my big NINE year old Nathan. Happy Birthday to my sweet, smart, silly, super cool son!