Weekend with the girls

So last Thursday night and all day Friday I went to PINK Impact at Gateway Church with my sisters, mom, my sister's mother-in-law, and her soon to be sister-in-law(confused yet??). It was WONDERFUL!!!!!! I texted Mike on Thursday night that I was in girl heaven. I mean, a full 2500 seat auditorium with excited women singing worship songs with my absolute favorite, Kari Jobe, clapping, hands raised! It was so wonderful. Of course, we sang my song, Healer several times(turn up your speakers as I have programed to play when you visit my blog). Robert Morris' message that night was on the whole chapter of John 9. I've really liked the first 5 verses of that chapter for many years now. Back when our secondary infertility was so fresh, raw, and painful, I read those verses over and over. It wasn't anyone's fault that the man in the chapter was born blind. But, God used it for his glory! I think our being led to adoption to build our family was the same way. God wasn't/isn't punishing Mike and I for any sins by making us suddenly infertile after very easily having a child by birth(he is now 13 Yikes!). When I had a tubal pregnancy in October of 2004, that wasn't a punishment either. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people to. We live in a fallen, imperfect world. What I haven't ever seen before was all the other amazing truth in the rest of the chapter. Now, I was planning on outlining all those points for you. But, I left my Bible and PINK notes on the closet floor of Katy's apartment. They are on the floor because I have a curse of waking up early every single day of my life!!!!! So, at home, and at other people's homes, I read my Bible and journal, in the closet :) You will have to return here for the message notes later. Anyway, it was truly one of the all time top 3 sermons I've ever heard(and I've heard a LOT). As I've mentioned before, our little prince, Dillon, has some special needs. He has a severe speech/language disorder and some other issues. Abby and I pray every night for God to heal him so he can communicate clearly. He can't sing songs, he can't tell the stories of what happened at school. He is trapped inside. He knows exactly what he wants to say but struggles so hard, he gets frustrated and gives up. He is very good at charades and mimicking. I understand what he is saying more than most people. But, at 6yrs old now, we need a miracle!!!!! I'm asking everyone to please please please place my sweet boy at the feet of Jesus and ask for a miracle. Some of you may be thinking "but God doesn't heal people anymore, those kind of miracles ended with Jesus' death." OH, but you are wrong!!!! God clearly says in the Bible that he is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Why would He stop doing miracles. That is old religous baloney! Psalm 77:14 says You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

So, let's ask God to display His power and see what a glorious testimony He gets. If you want to learn about miracles, click herehttp://gatewaypeople.com/index.php?action=res_series_details&sid=166 and choose the sermon that talks about miracles at the bottom. It is well worth your 30minutes!!!

Prayers and Paperwork

Our little man turns 16months old tomorrow!!! I bought the first package of diapers today(size 4 because he is a chunky monkey). I've been taking the mounds of paperwork in stride and haven't felt much anxiety(totally different than with our first adoption). But, the realization that he will be at least 18.5months old when we go get him is sobering. Bless his innocent little heart. For the past 15months he has lived with the only mommy and daddy he knows, his precious foster family. In a few months, two strange white people will show up taking video, taking pictures, crying, and holding him. Then, in a flash his foster family will be gone and he will be whisked away across the ocean to leave his homeland. It is very sad to think about the changes Hudson will experience. However, at least he will have a forever family. Did you know the Bible mentions taking care of the fatherless at least 40 times??? Psalm 68:5-6a says A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads the the prisoners with singing... and James 1:27a Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..
We are so darn blessed to have the privelage of parenting Carter, Abby, Dillon, and soon Hudson. I could never have dreamt of such a great life for myself. Will you join us in praying for Hudson's heart to be at peace, for him to adjust quickly, that the Holy Spirit will whisper to Hudson that we are safe and loving.
So, what's next you ask? Well, we've sent out reference letters, been fingerprinted locally, have to see our doctors and be tested for HIV, syphillis and TB--for the 3rd time! Then, we must write an update to our old autobiography from when we adopted Dillon, make an evacuation plan for our home, get employment verification, be fingerprinted by the FBI, pay the U.S. Immigration office almost 900.00 to get the okay to bring an orphaned child to the US, and things like that.
Also, please join me in praying for my sister's foster angel, baby J. She has been with them 4 months and they(hey, our entire family) are completely smitten. Yes, they want to adopt her, but most of all, they want what is best for baby J. We are praying for God to be glorified in her life and also, for M. and B. to become her forever family!
Thanks a million.
Oh, to my dear friend Frances at work: THANKS for the carseat. You are a treasure!!!!

My Garage Overfloweth

Thank you everyone who has donated items for our garage sales. The one Saturday went really well and we sold a lot of stuff(thank you Jeff and Susie for donating so much to sell). My garage is FULL and I have more to pick up at several people's homes. The next one is April 25th. Thanks again all.

Thankful Thursday

We copied a family on my favorite blog www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com and began having Thankful Thursday. Every Thursday evening, we go around the dinner table and tell what we are thankful for. Tonight, we had much to celebrate!!!!!!!!!! You see, we took that first step of faith towards bringing Hudson home, even though it looked too hard, too expensive, too "fill in any blank you can think of." God is doing exactly what His word promises, that if you obey, He will honor and take care of his children, after all, he is the Heavenly Father. I'm almost embarrased to tell this, but yet another HUGE miracle!!!!!! We found out today that a grant foundation is giving us 4000.00 towards our expenses. I know, it is insane! I can't fathom how much fun Jehovah-Jireh(the God who provides) is having blowing our minds with all this blessing. All I can say, is thank you and I trust you! AND, we know this baby coming to us is one amazing little fella!
Also, I have to say how thankful I am for my sweet husband who loves me so well!
I'm so thankful for our good, steady jobs.
I'm so thankful for good health insurance
I'm so thankful for my Mom and sisters who never get tired of me calling and saying "you'll never believe this!"
I'm so thankful for my 13yr old son who loves to hang out with his family and is excited about his baby brother coming.

Big Step Done

We did our homestudy yesterday! Our same social worker that was with us when we started the process to adopt Dillon(6 years ago) came over. She's a friend of mine and it was nice to catch up. It is starting to feel real!!!!!!!! I'm "nesting". I've made a list of things I need for Hudson. We are planning our future with the little man. We set the table a few days ago and it hit Mike that he'd take our last chair at the dinner table ;)
We know that he is very well cared for by his foster family in Korea. We pray for God, the Father to the Fatherless to prepare his little heart for such a huge change in the next few months!

Just amazing

Why am I such a wimp? I mean, seriously, throughout the past several years, God has showed himself faithful to us over and over again. I'm not saying things are always easy and smooth, or that we always get what we want. But, the Lord never fails to show up and remind us that He really is control. I'm telling you all this so that in a few days, when my feeble minded self begins looking at the mountain in my way, and starts to doubt and get faint. Then, I can be reminded of His working and relax a bit(that's the plan anyway). Yesterday at church, the pastor was talking about when God speaks to you. The Holy Spirit speaks to your heart. You know it is Him, when you can confirm it in the Word(and not open to a random passage, point and hello--God's will!), circumstances and testimony of fellow believers affirm it. I was feeling pretty darn sure that adopting Hudson was God's will for our family. Then, I went to Gateway Church evening services with my sisters and parents. My favorite worship leader, Kari Jobe, was on stage. Then, the intro started and my youngest sister and I whipped our heads around. It was "the" song. You know how for a season, a particular worship song ministers to you so mightily that you feel your heart pound when you hear it? She started singing "Healer", which is on her new cd by the way. I've loved this song and prayed it for our son Dillon for about 8months now. How powerful it was. Some of the words are "I believe, you're my portion, I believe, you're more than enough for me, Jesus you're all I need, Nothing is impossible for you.." You get the idea. I left feeling very refreshed. I can't tell any details, but this morning I talked to someone who has inside knowledge about our sweet boy's situation and she spoke words of peace and affirmation to me. THEN, you won't believe this! My good friend from our agency emails me. It seems that an anonymous donor has paid for our homestudy---1500.00!!!!!!!!!!! Don't you see? God doesn't give you the vision of HOW he will do it. He asks you to take that first step of faith and obedience. Then, watch how HE unfolds his plan. A few days ago I prayed "Lord, you are gonna have to blow the roof off with provisions for this!". He already has :)
Closing verses for your enjoyment and my reminders:
2 Cor 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously., verse 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

From my heart(soapbox) about how all this came to be

So, here are a few non-coincidences that have happened over the past few months to lead us to a place where we can say, YEP, God called us to adopt Hudson(Mike had the name idea and I love it!). We have not been interested in starting the typical adoption process of paperwork, sitting on a waiting list for an infant with 20 other families since bringing home Dillon. As many of you know, our sweet little man(he's 6) has some special needs. He was only 4.5months of age when he came home, so to those who ask "did you know about his problems when he came home?" I have to ask if you know about any special needs that might develop later on down the road when a child is only 4.5months of age? Anyway, our eyes have been open to all the precious children in the world who deserve a loving mommy and daddy but get passed by because of medical or developmental "what ifs, maybes, and could be." My heart yearned and ached for the millions(143million to be exact) orphaned children inthe world, but especially those passed over because of a special need. We knew that if we adopted again, it would be using our same agency, a child in Korea, and most likely a toddler boy! So, for the last 5months or so, we'd been consistently saving for whatever God called us to do. The money was earmarked for missions or adoption. We are very frugal and tithe faithfully off our gross income. We are not at all wealthy, at least according to American standards(ask a starving child in Haiti that question and we are filthy rich and spoiled!). We drive old cars, live in a house/neighborhood that we can afford, and do our best to honor God. The Lord has multiplied our money. Have you ever balanced your checkbook and had an extra 400.00 that shouldn't be there? Well, it has happened to us the last 2 or 3 months. This baby boy's Korean name is a combo of Abby and Dillon's except one letter. His birth history is an exact combo of Abby and Dillon's birth histories, except for 1 other item that could possibly be something to deal with later, or might never turn into anything. Our pediatrician thought he looked great. He's developing perfectly on target. When we were really stressed and praying for God to give us an answer about whether or not to move forward with his paperwork, Mike was in a classroom staring all day at a plaque right in front of him that said Be still and know that I am God(psalm 46;10). All our reasons for not adopting this child were selfish ones: money, time, and disruption of our smoothe life. So, we sent in the initial paperwork a week and a half ago. There was another family looking at him, so we had to wait a week for the social work committee at Dillon to decide which family fit best. We prayed so hard all that week of waiting that if this would overwhelm our family, cause financial ruin, or we were not the right family for the little boy, then would God please close the door firmly and let Dillon Int. pick the other family. On Tuesday was the meeting. That morning in my daily Bible reading time, my Psalm passage was chapter 46. I had not picked to read that, it was my Read the Bible in a year pre-planned passage for that day. I read verse 10 and got chills "Be still and know that I am God." The committee decided our family was the right one for Hudson. Am I nervous-YEP! I'm thrilled and scared all at the same time. We aren't clueless people. We realize there are sacrifices and choices to make. Will Mike have a new truck anytime soon-NO. Will our kids get vehicles for their 16 birthday-NO. I'm sure we will survive ;) God's Word proves over and over how he provides for the people willing to obey and step out in faith. Look at the miracle of feeding the 5000 with a few fish and loaves. Where God guides, He provides. As for Hudson's "what ifs" that kept him waiting for a family--what if he does end up with a medical issue? At least he will have a loving mommy and daddy(and siblings) to walk with him through that. Is our son Dillon less deserving a family because he has special needs. NO. If any of you have been around our little crazy man, you agree that he brings joy and laughter to everyone he meets. He is the reason I titled this blog Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, I know this full well.
So, there you have it. Sorry for the soapbox ranting. Just had to get it off my chest ;) We are delighted at this privelage to raise another beautiful Korean child. Carter, Abby, and Dillon are super excited and are showing his picture at school. Carter discovered that carrying around Hudson's picture was a good chick magnet!!!
We move on to the mountain loads of paperwork phase. We also move on to fundraising. We are having a HUGE garage sale next week and April 25th. If anybody has decent stuff to donate, I'll come pick it up and label it all for you. Proceeds will go to help bringing little Hudson home to his forever family.
Thanks,
Libby

Unbelievable news

We are adopting again!!!!! I'll tell the whole story later, but suffice it to say, God has orchestrated every little detail to bring this about. Hudson is our new son and he is waiting in Korea. We found out on Tuesday evening, March 10, that the social work committee at Dillon International(the same agency we used with Abby and Dillon's adoption) picked our family to move forward in adopting this precious 15months old boy. He has been waiting for a family for many months and we think God was saving him for us! Check out those chubby cheeks just waiting for us to kiss them. His foster family is doing a wonderful job of caring for him. We are expecting to travel to pick him up in mid summer.