Big Miracles Come In Little Packages!

I found this poem tonight and I just had to share it with all of you.  It is just beautiful and it captured my heart.

Kisses in the Wind

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.

But remember my child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...

Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.

I promise you, my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.

Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.

But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.

And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

Aurthur unknown

I just have to take a minute to tell you my heart.  I feel so blessed and you all are an amazing group of family and friends.  Just since our fundraiser last weekend we have raised another $300.00.  God is so amazing to watch in action.  My niece who is in boot camp right now a I write this, sent us a letter the other day telling us how excited she is for us.  She also sent us a donation for our adoption.  It is so crazy for me to think that the little girl that use to have picnics in our yard, and sang and played for hours on video is now all grown up and helping to support our adoption.  I had a dear client and her husband give a check and tell us that she is thankful for our family.  We received a check in the mail today from some very good friends of ours who were also there supporting us at the fundraiser.  I can not tell you how amazing it is to see everyone gather around us in prayer and support.  We knew going into this that $28,000 is humanly impossible to come up with and the only way it was going to be possible was through God himself.  Well, he is working hard and we can not thank him enough.  We even received our first set of hats and booties from a girlfriend of mine that is incredibly talented when it comes to knitting. 
     We have turned in most of the paperwork that we had to fill out.  We are now waiting to get our physicals.  We also still have to make a blueprint of our house and an escape route in case of an emergency.  We still have to get the dogs their newest shots and we are waiting to get back our well water tests.  We had to get our well tested to make sure that our water is up to state standards.  We did get our fingerprints done and they are running the background checks.  We still have our classes left to take.  The autobiographies were probably the hardest part.  We had to write our life stories with specific questions that had to be answered.  The funny thing is you can so tell the difference between man and woman when it comes to telling a story.  I answered questions in paragraph form and sometimes it took a few.  Kent's answers were very much straight and to the point.  Sometimes they were only one sentence answers.  His was short and sweet and very much to the point.  Mine were very long winded and very intricate.  I am so blessed to be married to a man that helps even me out.  He is amazing and God knew exactly what he was doing when he through our paths together a little over 16 years ago. 
     I can't wait to get this home study finished so we can start waiting for our referral.  We are hoping to have it all done by the middle of October!  We ask that you keep this whole process in your prayers.  There is a lot of paperwork that has to be mailed here and there and we ask for prayers that it all to be mailed and received in a very timely manor. Thank you all again for all of your love and all of your support.

Miracles Through The Rain

Blessings come even through the rain.  Last night was sure proof of that.  These are just a few of the pictures I took from our Adoption Fundraiser.  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful group of family and friends.  We raised $3059.50.  I don't know about you but to me that number is just awesome.  We are now a little bit closer to bringing our little one home.  We now have enough to finish our Home Study, take the classes we need, and even a little bit left for the next step in our adoption process.  It is so cool that God just keeps providing exactly what we need right when we need it.  I have been watching God do some pretty remarkable things lately and I knew he was going to be in control of the whole day.  When Kent woke me up yesterday he said "Get up get up it's time to get up God is going to do some pretty amazing things today."  That is such a great way to get out of bed.  Thanking and praising him for the day ahead.  We jumped up got ready and headed to church.  We praised God in worship and thanked him for what he has been doing , and for what he still has in store.  We have came to this great place of peace with him because we know that it is not humanly possible to come up with the finances on our own. The only way it is possible is through him.  Even when I got out of bed yesterday and saw the rain, instead of flipping out (like the old me would have) I gave him a great big thank you for giving the ground a drink.  We have not had rain in so long and we really do need it.  I knew that rain or shine his glory was going to be had.  We had the most amazing time last night.  We had friends from so many different parts of our walk there.  We had family members, church family, old friends, new friends, and even a few friends we had never even met before.  We had an awesome worship team that volunteered there time, and gifts.  We also had many people step up to help set up, run the bake sale, help with the silent auction, grill hot dogs, move tables, and help clean up.  We had people praying that could not come and people praying that were there.  We ended up being blessed in so many ways.  Our spirits were so full last night by the time we got into bed that we could hardly sleep.  We were talking about all the events of that day and how incredible our God is.  We talked about all the things we wish we had done (like grab the microphone and thank everyone for coming, & tell the volunteers that they could have as many hot dogs as they wanted.)  We have never done anything like this before so it is all new and it is also a path of learning for us.  We want to tell all of you that came and that prayed that we love you and thank you from the bottoms of our hearts.  We are so blessed that God has put you all in our lives. 

Psalm 72:11-14

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.  I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.  Your ways, O God, are holy.  What god is so great as our God?  You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. 



Taking Time To Count Our Blessings!

     We have learned through the years that it is very important to take time with the Lord.  Even on busy weeks like this one, well especially on weeks this one.  This is not just our Fundraiser week, but it is also Sam's Homecoming week.  She is on student council and has had to be there early every morning before school.  Dawson has had cross country practice or a meet everyday this week.  Kent and I have both been very busy at work as well.  We still have lots to do to get the fundraiser all ready to go.  We have more baked goods to be baked, cookies that need separated into packages, baskets that need to be finished, lots of tea and lemonade to prepare, and a few other little minor details.  We have realized lately that our world has and will continue to totally change.  We have stepped out of this place of comfort that we had found.  It felt very safe and cozy there but now we are sailing into a whole new world.  A world that is lead by God and may at times take us out of our comfort zone.  In this new world faith is the one thing that keeps us going everyday.  When we decided to add to our family we were overloaded with emotions.  We were scared, excited, happy, and did I mention scared?  There is a lot to take into consideration but we knew that God had made our choice for us.  We knew that walking with him he would take care of us.  We are changing a lot a things in our lives right now.  We have been very nervous about the financial aspect of this adoption.  It takes more money than we can even imagine coming up with ourselves.  That is why we know that we have to give it to the Lord and let him take control.  We know that when we finally get to bring our little one home we are going to have to start making a few cut backs.  We feel that God is not giving us this child for someone else to raise them.  We are going to change our schedules so that Kent or I will be home at all times.  We have been very blessed with two wonderful Godly children and we want to make sure that this child has the same upbringing as Sam and Dawson.  We are so excited to see how God's plan is going to unfold.  People keep telling me that a year is a long time to wait.  Well, when I think about how much fun we have had as a family going through this whole process I believe that a year will fly by.  We have seen God move in ways that we have never seen before.  He is daily showing us how blessed we are.    We are trying to make sure that an hour does not go by that we are not thanking him for what he is doing in our lives.  Thank you all for being here with us right now on this most amazing journey.

We Are officially Under Way!

     Today has been a very exciting day.  We went and got our fingerprints taken.  Then we turned in our first set of paperwork and our first payment.  Thanks so much to the My friend Jenny's good friend.  His donation is what got us started!  God has been absolutely moving in our lives every single day.  I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am.  It is so unreal that we are actually here right now.  Tuesday when I was at work one of my co-workers clients was telling me all about her kids who had adopted.  I am so priviledged to have the friends and clients that I have.  Everywhere I look and everwhere I listen I have been seeing God hard at work.  The other day I was watching  House Hunters International and the family was moving from Pennsylvania to Guatemala.  They were moving there to help work at an orphanage.  I know with everything in my heart that God has some amazing plans in store for our family. This adventure has been one of the coolest experiences that we have ever shared.  I keep seeing him all around me everyday.  It has definitely brought my relationship with the Lord to a whole new level.  Thank you all for listening to me vent my excitement.  It probably sounds funny to you but getting a case number today was like winning the big lotto.  We are on our way and totally official now.  Yeah!

P.S.
I was going to put pictures on here of all our paperwork but I misplaced our camera. 
I will get pictures up as soon as I can.

One Tough Week But An Even Tougher God!

     I am sorry that it has been a week since I last posted.  As many of you know we have had some medical issues with Sam and Dawson this week.  Last Sunday we stepped out of our box and got up in front of the church and gave our testimony.  It was like Satan said oh yeah well take this.  Later that day Dawson had to go to prompt care because of problems with his asthma.  Monday Kent took Dawson back to the doctor and I had to take Sam to get a CT scan because of her migraine.  By the end of the week we had made a total of 4 doctor appointments, 2 CT scans, 2 emergency room visits, 4 shots, and one visit to the neurologist.  We are pretty tuckered out physically but we know that this journey is by far the most incredible thing our family has experienced together and we haven't even got to the best part yet.
     We can not thank all of our prayer warriors enough for the prayers for healing and strength this week. Sam is doing much better and we are finally getting some answers about her migraines.  All of her test results should be back Tuesday and we will know more.  Dawson is now back on all his allergy medicines and is doing great.  We are taking this weekend to relax and get all caught back up on homework and housework. 
  We got all of our new home study paperwork on Monday and have been trying to get as much done as we can.  Hopefully by the end of the month we will have it all finished.  For the first time in along time I am really enjoying doing paperwork.  The fundraiser is coming up very quickly.  We are so excited to get to see all of you there and get to tell you in person all the cool things that God has been doing in our lives.  If you can't make it and have any questions feel free to message me on facebook or post any questions you have on the blog. 
     We love all of you and can't thank you enough for your continued  prayers and support! 

Deuteronomy 7:9  Know therefor that the Lord your God is God, he is the faithful God, keeping his convenient of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his comands.