Wanna know what I just did????

I just mowed the lawn for the first time in my life! I sure have a feeling of accomplishment! Don't ask me why I just mowed the lawn...because the whole time I was out there I was wondering the same thing. Ok, here is my attempt to explain why...well, we have about 384 dandelions growing in the yard, and they have been driving me nuts. In addition, I really need Matt to be able to help get our will finished. Neither one of us really want to be writing a will, but it is something that we have to do. I figured if I mowed the lawn that would free up a little of his time. The woman in me kept wanting to run that thing like a vaccum...it just doesn't work that way! I smell like gasoline and the lawn has crazy lines all over it, but I feel like I actually got something done today! I feel like I should be getting some kind of allowance now! :)

My forever running thoughts...

Here is where I am at! I still have a gazillion things running through my mind. I am still dealing with the anxiety. I am still resting in the Sovereignty of Our Lord and Savior. It is He who sets all things in motion! It is He who is Faithful! It is He who is All-knowing! It is He who has placed this journey on our hearts! And it is He that we are clinging to!!!!

Here are some random, disjointed thoughts that I thought would share--

We hit a road bump in the way that we will report our finances. That had me hardly breathing yesterday...the stress was more than I could take for awhile. Matt is working it through today, and God is in this detail. I can't go into all of the details, because it won't even make sense to you. Just know that satan had me for a moment thinking that we weren't going to be able to adopt our boys! It was a terrible feeling! I layed it out before the Lord this morning and He said, "Is that truth that you are believing?" I answered, "Of course not." He said that I need to believe what is true...it was not Him telling us that we were not going to be able to adopt our boys. It was my mind racing to such a silly conclusion. If in His Sovereign will He would not want us to adopt both boys...we would adjust according to His will. Right now, all He wants is for me to trust Him more!

Tuesday I took off and went to a nearby town to buy blankets for my dear friend that is going on this trip. Ok...I am going to go back here a few moments to tell you about how the Lord brought this most amazing friend into my life. She is Courtney and they are adopting from FHG too. She posted a question on a yahoo group asking if anyone has used FHG. I responded to the group...then sent her a private email. It was from that moment forward that the Lord has bonded us together. We fully believe in couples that can "fall in love" over the Internet...because we have the deepest love and admiration for each other. We have the most incredible God-bond ever. We "talk" numerous times a day. We know exactly the emotions that each other are feeling. We know how to bring each other comfort through the power of the Holy Spirit within us when one of us is struggling with a bad day, a fear, being overwhelmed with the process, etc. It truly is a gift directly from the Lord to have her walk this journey right beside me! Courtney and Brain have 7 children and will be adopting 2 sisters from FHG. Their girls are absolutely beautiful! They have walked this journey before when they adopted a brother and sister from Russia. Her experience with the paper trail is so helpful for me! Our friendship will last far beyond the adoption journey...we are now friends for life...and for that I am so grateful to God!...now back to the whole blanket thing. I bought the boys cotton blankets and am screen printing our photos onto them. I had been going back and forth if I should wait until after our trip to put a photo of us with the boys on it, or put our photos on now and just bring it with us. I, of course, sought Court's advice and she said to bring it with. Mailing things to Haiti is sometime unpredictable...it may get lost, or not make it there for a very long time. So I took her advice and decided to go ahead with getting them done now. She mentioned that she really would like to do this too, but the store in her town was going to charge $50 for the blanket, $25 per photo, and $15 for the embroidering. UGH! I told her that I would go get some blankets and she could send the photos through email. She did just that...I downloaded the photos and off I went with the littlest one to go hunting for blankets. We had a fun day together, we found the blankets, got the photos printed, and everything to the print shop. I am suppose to go back tomorrow to pick our kids' blankets up! I can't wait to see how they turn out. I promise to let you know how they turn out! :) I'll post a picture if I can.

We found a great used van that would fit us all! It is a 1999 Ford van that we happened to come across when we were looking for a tiller for our yard (oh boy, that's a whole other story) anyway, it seats 11! We haven't been out looking for a van, because we were just going to try to get another seat belt added to our van. (Yes, it might be a little comfy for the kids, but hey...it was more budget friendly!) I can just see all of our car seats buckled in safe and sound in this new van! Please pray that the Lord would help us figure out a way to get this if it is His will. The van costs $5300, that is $5300 more than we have...we are strongly convicted to not take out any debt for any of this adoption(the last line was posted purely as a reminder to myself and Matt of what we vowed at the very beginning)! This will have to be a miracle from the Lord...but we know that He is Jehovah Jireh--Our Provider! If this is not His will for our family...we will just keep trusting Him! He knows we want to keep our kids safe...He knows just how that is going to happen! :) We know that He is able to work a miracle, so this is just one more area for us to trust Him.

The most beautiful thing happened yesterday. There is a family also adopting from FHG. The dad and one of the their daughters were planning on going on the missions trip, because the mom is petrified of flying and just couldn't do it. Well, the past few days there have been many people praying because the dd passport was not processed. They even had their congresswoman working on it, but to no avail...the daughter was not going to be able to get her passport in time to go. The husband did not want to go meet their girls alone, so he asked his wife to travel with him...knowing all of her fears. She had some others that came forward in a matter of hours to care for all of their children still at home. Within 24 hours she was on the plane flying to Haiti. Last night our adoption coordinator uploaded photos of this couple meeting their daughters for the very first time. Their girls are 9 and 10 year old sisters. I cried at the beauty of what God did yesterday! He knew He wanted her to trust Him with the flight, and He made that trip happen for her. The photos were such a beautiful testimony of just how much God is in this journey of adoption! I can not wait for those photos to be of us meeting our sons! Trust me...I will post them all! :)

Oh, so you know my forever running list of things to do!?!? Well it is still running...every time I get something done, I remember one more thing I have yet to do! In no time at all, none of it will matter because it will all fade away as we embrace our sons and allow God to use us for His work in Haiti...Oh, I can't wait! Back to reality...my house is still a horrendous "tornado", I still have to pack...well, actually this morning I decided that now was time for me to start getting that done. I packed all of my clothes and all of the boy's clothes. I was feeling all proud of myself for thinking clearly enough to get that accomplished. I started going through the fourteen bags of Target, Walmart, Kmart "stuff" that we have on the floor in our room. (Remember...all the diapers, wipes, ointments, medicines, toys, bottles, formula, etc. ) That is when I found the can of Perimethrin spray...oops...I was suppose to spray all of our clothes before we travel. This spray is to help protect against malaria carrying mosquitoes...and I of course, want that protection. So now I will unpack everything and get it all sprayed down! Do you ever feel so overwhelmed that you can't even get started? :) My list just keeps running...however, I have registered with the embassy, and ordered our travel insurance. I do have the blankets getting done...I still have so much to do, but it will get done...when Matt can help me! ;) He is so good for me...he is so systematic in his approach. He remembers what his current task is and then moves to the next. Me, well...I have self-diagnosed myself with adult ADHD...actually I took an online test, so I do have proof! Needless to say...ordering my thoughts and duties right now needs a little help! :) Praise the Lord for my sweet husband! :)

Hmmm...do you think I have given you enough random thoughts for awhile!?!! I told you I have so many blog posts running through my mind! :)

Your prayers are so greatly appreciated!!! Please pray that I can have order to my thoughts, for the anxiety to subside, for continued provision, and for an openness to hear the Lord in the midst of all of this.

Sorting my thoughts in not easy...

As the title reads, I have been having such a hard time sorting my thoughts these past days. I have so many things running through my mind that it is crazy! I have sat down at my blog about 4 times this week, and can not sort my thoughts enough to actually put a tangible blog post together! UGH! So I decided today to blog about that! :) This week I emailed on of my partners in prayer for our adoption asking her to pray for me because my mind is all over the place. Right after that I started talking about how I was eating cookie dough and how yummy it was...then went back to read the email. I realized how completely random my thoughts were! So I will warn you that if you have a hard time following my thoughts on this post...please just try to make as much sense of it as you can!!!!

Update on Calerbe...thank you for praying for him. I just got word this week that another family is adopting him. He is still sick and they have not been able to diagnose what he has. The family is trying to get a medical visa for him to come be treated in the US, but in order to get that they need a diagnosis...so you could pray that this precious little boy could get the treatment he deserves. I am so grateful that he has a family and that through his illness the Lord revealed His plan to this family. They are adopting another little girl from the orphanage and had been drawn to Calerbe for some time. When the call came out to please pray for him, it intensified everything they were feeling about him and knew God was asking them to adopt him. Praise the Lord for how wonderfully He works!

We have been busy trying to shop for all of the necessary items for our trip. Can I just tell you how wonderfully exciting it is to actually see a package of matchbox cars in our home!?!?! Along with those we have bottles, boys' clothes (matching shirts for them...I can't wait for the pictures), formula, lice shampoo, anti-diarrhea medicine, pepto-bismal, perimethrin (spray for our sheets and clothing to protect against malaria carrying mosquitoes), super-strong deet for our skin, clothing that is 100% cotton, baby toys, baby Tylenol and baby cough medicine (it is not that uncommon for them to get a cough while staying at the hotel), hmmm, let's see what else...protein bars, sunscreen, soap that is not "flowery" because that attracts the mosquitoes there, diapers, sandals, and a variety of other items for the trip. This is not to mention all of the other necessary things that need to happen before our trip. Finish writing our will, register with the embassy that we are traveling internationally, figure out what we are going to pack our stuff in, check with the airlines to see if they will allow us to check our bags through customs where our flight originates, finalize our travel insurance, figure out what kind of media card I will use on the trip, etc., etc., etc.

So in addition to all of this planning we are also trying to get all of the necessary documents compiled to complete our dossier...I had really, really hoped that it would have been completed by now. I rest completely in the Sovereignty of God on all of this. It is just so disappointing to feel like it is so far off. I just heard from someone that right now the background checks are so backlogged that it is taking 2 months to get them back. We need that to come back in order to complete the home study, we need the home study in order to complete the dossier, we need the dossier to be authenticated, translated, and authenticated again before we can send it off to Haiti. Each step hangs on something else and we just have to keep pressing on one step at a time. There isn't anything we can do except pray that the Lord will miraculously bring our fingerprint checks back miraculously fast! Please join us in praying for this!

Oh, I just remembered that I also need to get all of the girl's clothes washed and packed for their time away too! UGH! I need to go finalize our travel insurance right now while Matt can help me...if you could just please remember to keep us covered in prayer! We so greatly appreciate it!!!!!!!!!

OUR PASSPORTS CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I am doing a happy dance! Saturday was my birthday...before we left the house for the day, I checked once more online (a slight obession) to see if we were at least entered into the system yet. We, of course, were not! I was bummed, but continued to ask the Lord to get our applications into the right hands in order for us to get them in time. When we came home that night, I went to check the mail...just in case anyone might have sent me a birthday card...and guess what was in there....two priority mail envelopes from the US Gov. I hurriedly ripped them open and out fell my passport. I kept saying to the girls..."our passports came, our passports came". Our oldest dd took off running to go find Matt to tell him. Our other daughter said, "PRAISE THE LORD!" They knew they were directly from God. I told them that it is just like God to send me a special birthday present like that...our long awaited, many a prayed for passports!!!!! HE is so GOOD!!!! I just love how the girls are getting to see Him so evidently in all of this. They knew it was only from God that our passports showed up. How cool is that!?!? I just love them!!!! :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!! WE APPRECIATE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!!

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR PASSPORTS

Ok, so we applied for our passports about 5 weeks ago...paying for the expedited fees. They were suppose to arrive in two weeks. Well, at this point they are no where to be found. I have made phone calls, sent emails, gone back into the post office where we applied. Our options are to travel to Denver, Seattle, or LA to a main processing center and show them our intinerary. They will issue us our passports immediately from there. Well, since that isn't really an option...next option is to re-apply when we are fourteen days out from our departure date... Pay the fees all over again, paying additional fees to overnight it to Seattle. Then we hope that this time they would get it processed in time to send us our passports in time. There is some type of refund process, but that is a whole huge process in itself. I can't even go there yet! UGH!

The Lord knows right where our paper work is laying. Please pray that it will get in the right hands and get processed quickly. Pray that these passports will come with plenty of time to spare! Oh please help us storm the gates of heaven in request for these passports.

IT'S ANOTHER BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Guys! I am so excited to get to share our family's newest biggest news...I have a little brother!!!! His name is Esaie which means Isaiah in English. Can you believe it?!? Only God could do something so wonderful as that. He gave mommy and daddy the name Isaiah in the beginning of this whole journey. He knew all along that He had two Isaiahs for them. Now not only will we share our Haitian heritage as brothers, but we will share the name Isaiah which means "the Lord saves". They will keep Esaie as his middle name, but have not yet decided on his first name. They are waiting for the Lord to confirm what his first name is to be. So right now, the rest of my family is calling him "the little guy". He is 11 months old and will turn 1 year old the day after mommy and daddy leave Haiti. Can you believe it that in only a few more weeks...I get to meet my forever mommy and daddy! I can't wait! Actually, it is mommy who is even more excited than anyone, I think! :)

Five to Fifteen Minutes...

Yesterday one of my dd said to me, "Mom, you know instead of it taking 5-15 months...I sure wish that it would take 5-15 minutes!" To be honest, I completely agree with her. :)

We had our home visit last week, and all went well. It was nice to have the house all clean for those couple of hours while she was here. Literally, that is about all that it lasted! We have the kids rooms situated. The girls room and the boys room. Oh, doesn't that just sound great?!?! Can you believe it that we are actually going to have a "boys room" in our home? We continue to be amazed with God in all of this. We are still working on getting all of our documents in for our dossier to be complete. After we get everything that we need...much of it has to be notarized...then we send it all in to be authenticated by our state. After we received official state authentication, then we have it all translated into French. After it is completely translated, then we send it to the Haitian consulate in Chicago to be authenticated by them. When we receive it back it is off to Haiti it goes!! Can't wait for that day! Trust me...you will get one big happy post on that day!!! :)


We have not heard an update on Calerbe, but I will post as soon as we do.