The last 3 months have been full of changes and transitions and newness. And while this can all be overwhelming, sometimes frightening I am so thankful that God calls us out on these faith steps. Just to name a few things that have happened....Lily started Kindergarten, Scott changed jobs, Annie started a Pre-K 3 program, we put on a crazy production of The Last Five Years to continue raising funds for our adoption, and so much more. And through it all God has protected, provided and loved us through each process and step.
We continue to wait to bring our sweet boy home but while we wait I am reminded we have much to be thankful for. You are one of those things we are thankful for. Thankful for our family, who supports and loves us through the ups and downs of life. Thankful for our friends who continue to walk through this thing called life with us. Thankful for our church that continues to challenge us to be more like Jesus. Thankful for the many people who pour their lives into my girls and show them Jesus with each hug, bit of encouragement and as they teach them. Thankful for our health and the health of our family. So often I am reminded that we are not guaranteed the next breath and each morning as God allows us to rise I am thankful. I suppose I could go on for another 4 paragraphs listing the things I am thankful for but ultimately I am thankful that we serve a God who sees worth in us through His son Jesus.
So today I am reminding myself to be thankful. Thankful in the midst of our wait and yearning for our son. I know he is worth this wait and would be worth 10X the wait.
#bringsamuelhome
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
Life as We Know It!
Well, Fall is officially here. As for us in West Texas, you wouldn't actually know it. We are still pushing through 90+ degree weather and wearing our flip flops and shorts. We have very few trees and the ones we do have, well our leaves won't change, you'll just wake up one morning and they all look dead and tragic.
That being said, it's football season and school is back in session. Lily started Kindergarten this fall and she is loving it and doing so well. We were blessed that Lily was accepted into our academic magnet elementary school, Reagan! Go AllStars! (I say that because Scott and I figured out with 3 or 4 kids going there we could be at this school for 12+ years...might as well be all in right?) Anyway her teacher has been amazing thus far and we couldn't be happier. Anna started a 4 day pre-k 3 class where they are essentially learning basic things while learning the structure of a classroom. For Anna this is great!! She has been doing so well and making all those who have day to day contact with her laugh. She really is such a fun kid!
In other news as of June 1st of this year Scott transitioned out of his role as the high school Youth Pastor at Crossroads Fellowship. (We still attend this church and love our church family and staff but felt as though God had other plans for us at this time in our life.) Scott currently is working with our family at Howell & Windham Advertising and shows me up on a weekly basis as he has a natural gift and ease with clients. I'm so thankful to call him my husband, friend, support, encourager and helpmate. He is always willing to go above and beyond to support our family and make sure we know we are loved and taken care of.
After the excitement and busyness of the summer has died down we have all settled into our weekly roles and routine and find this a nice change to the chaos of summer. For those who have been asking we are still currently number 30. I checked yesterday, because I am frustrated, and we have been at number 30 for 11 weeks. Based on current trends within our agency we are thinking we will get our referral sometime next summer. That could mean May and it could be end of August. There are no guarantees or timelines that we can be assured of, only that this is what we think might happen. As we come up on the 3 year mark of when we started this process, and 2 year mark of our dossier being sent off, I can grow tired and weary and as I said before frustrated, but I daily try and remember that God has called us to this. We trust Him, we know His plans are greater and bigger than we could dream or imagine and we know He is growing us. Growing our faith and dependance on Him during this waiting period. Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Yes! And that is what I remind myself daily. I know another year is nothing in the grand scheme of things when I will get to bring my little boy home. So I promise if our number happens to change any time soon I will let you know!! Trust me, I might put an ad in the paper at this point I will be so excited.
Once again, thanks for your love, support, encouragement and prayers.
That being said, it's football season and school is back in session. Lily started Kindergarten this fall and she is loving it and doing so well. We were blessed that Lily was accepted into our academic magnet elementary school, Reagan! Go AllStars! (I say that because Scott and I figured out with 3 or 4 kids going there we could be at this school for 12+ years...might as well be all in right?) Anyway her teacher has been amazing thus far and we couldn't be happier. Anna started a 4 day pre-k 3 class where they are essentially learning basic things while learning the structure of a classroom. For Anna this is great!! She has been doing so well and making all those who have day to day contact with her laugh. She really is such a fun kid!
In other news as of June 1st of this year Scott transitioned out of his role as the high school Youth Pastor at Crossroads Fellowship. (We still attend this church and love our church family and staff but felt as though God had other plans for us at this time in our life.) Scott currently is working with our family at Howell & Windham Advertising and shows me up on a weekly basis as he has a natural gift and ease with clients. I'm so thankful to call him my husband, friend, support, encourager and helpmate. He is always willing to go above and beyond to support our family and make sure we know we are loved and taken care of.
After the excitement and busyness of the summer has died down we have all settled into our weekly roles and routine and find this a nice change to the chaos of summer. For those who have been asking we are still currently number 30. I checked yesterday, because I am frustrated, and we have been at number 30 for 11 weeks. Based on current trends within our agency we are thinking we will get our referral sometime next summer. That could mean May and it could be end of August. There are no guarantees or timelines that we can be assured of, only that this is what we think might happen. As we come up on the 3 year mark of when we started this process, and 2 year mark of our dossier being sent off, I can grow tired and weary and as I said before frustrated, but I daily try and remember that God has called us to this. We trust Him, we know His plans are greater and bigger than we could dream or imagine and we know He is growing us. Growing our faith and dependance on Him during this waiting period. Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Yes! And that is what I remind myself daily. I know another year is nothing in the grand scheme of things when I will get to bring my little boy home. So I promise if our number happens to change any time soon I will let you know!! Trust me, I might put an ad in the paper at this point I will be so excited.
Once again, thanks for your love, support, encouragement and prayers.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Knocked it Out of the Park!
For those friends and family who follow our crazy life you know that this last weekend, August 9th & 10th, we had our two night fundraiser. Scott and I, and a ton of other people, put on a production of The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown. To prep for the show and get the word out, Scott and I went on 4 news stations, had an article in our local newspaper and put posters up all over town. Not to mention many facebook and twitter posts inviting anyone and everyone. And I am overjoyed, thrilled, humbled, in awe....I don't have enough words to express how incredible this weekend turned out.
So many people made this weekend memorable and possible. My mom, little brother and his girlfriend surprised me by coming in from California to support and cheer on our family and to be here for an important event in our adoption journey. My mother in law kept my children too many times to count as we rehearsed, prepped and just used Granny for what she is best at...loving those girls! Carl & Jane Moore, LuAnn Lane and Sandy Faulkner literally brought this story to life and volunteered their time and talent as a gift to our family. (They are beyond special to us.) And over 500 of our friends and family came out to support and love on us, friday and saturday night. Not only did so many come and support us but local businesses sponsored our show. I could never write enough or say enough about how awesome these companies are. Odessa Pumps, Howell & Windham Advertising, Apple Electrical Contractors and Fletco are local Odessa/Midland companies I would promote, support and use for whatever you need!
And when thinking about this weekend I tried to figure out what my favorite part was. Some memorable moments for sure are hitting a note I thought might never pop out of my tired throat!, laughing at Scott as he made me sit on stage waiting for his entrance, watching my little brother laugh at me on stage when most people weren't even paying attention or getting one of the best hugs from my mother in law. Some others are just looking out at the familiar faces of so many people in the audience or watching LuAnn Lane (our musical director) skip 2 entire pages of music and somehow keep herself composed and get everyone, including all 5 musicians, back on track. But while all of these are great moments, the best one for me was knowing that my sweet boy is loved. He may not be born yet, or he may be only weeks, days or months old and already he is loved. He is loved, cherished and eagerly awaited by a community of hard working, God loving, pull together kind of people. Philip Knight, the father of 3 who spoke before the show, said it beautifully. 'Most people hear of a problem 3000 miles away and think well thats not on me. So there are orphans all over the world, as long as I don't come in contact with them...not my problem right? But the people of Odessa/Midland are not cut from the same cloth'!!! And when our family came before you saying we have been called, our hearts have been broken, there is a little boy who is waiting and he is our son, you did not hesitate to step in and help. You did not cautiously stand by watching but actively stepped up to the plate and can I just say...KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!!!
I can enthusiastically say that this weekend helped save my little boys life. Samuel will grow up knowing and hearing of the people who believed in our family and believed in his future. So from the bottom of our hearts THANK YOU! I wish there were words that could adequately express our gratitude to be a part of this community but nothing conveys the depth our hearts have felt. We love you all so much and cannot wait to bring this little boy home!
So many people made this weekend memorable and possible. My mom, little brother and his girlfriend surprised me by coming in from California to support and cheer on our family and to be here for an important event in our adoption journey. My mother in law kept my children too many times to count as we rehearsed, prepped and just used Granny for what she is best at...loving those girls! Carl & Jane Moore, LuAnn Lane and Sandy Faulkner literally brought this story to life and volunteered their time and talent as a gift to our family. (They are beyond special to us.) And over 500 of our friends and family came out to support and love on us, friday and saturday night. Not only did so many come and support us but local businesses sponsored our show. I could never write enough or say enough about how awesome these companies are. Odessa Pumps, Howell & Windham Advertising, Apple Electrical Contractors and Fletco are local Odessa/Midland companies I would promote, support and use for whatever you need!
And when thinking about this weekend I tried to figure out what my favorite part was. Some memorable moments for sure are hitting a note I thought might never pop out of my tired throat!, laughing at Scott as he made me sit on stage waiting for his entrance, watching my little brother laugh at me on stage when most people weren't even paying attention or getting one of the best hugs from my mother in law. Some others are just looking out at the familiar faces of so many people in the audience or watching LuAnn Lane (our musical director) skip 2 entire pages of music and somehow keep herself composed and get everyone, including all 5 musicians, back on track. But while all of these are great moments, the best one for me was knowing that my sweet boy is loved. He may not be born yet, or he may be only weeks, days or months old and already he is loved. He is loved, cherished and eagerly awaited by a community of hard working, God loving, pull together kind of people. Philip Knight, the father of 3 who spoke before the show, said it beautifully. 'Most people hear of a problem 3000 miles away and think well thats not on me. So there are orphans all over the world, as long as I don't come in contact with them...not my problem right? But the people of Odessa/Midland are not cut from the same cloth'!!! And when our family came before you saying we have been called, our hearts have been broken, there is a little boy who is waiting and he is our son, you did not hesitate to step in and help. You did not cautiously stand by watching but actively stepped up to the plate and can I just say...KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!!!
I can enthusiastically say that this weekend helped save my little boys life. Samuel will grow up knowing and hearing of the people who believed in our family and believed in his future. So from the bottom of our hearts THANK YOU! I wish there were words that could adequately express our gratitude to be a part of this community but nothing conveys the depth our hearts have felt. We love you all so much and cannot wait to bring this little boy home!
Monday, July 1, 2013
Overwhelmed, humbled & in Awe!
Well, as most of you know Scott and I are putting together a production of "The Last 5 Years" by Jason Robert Brown. While this show does not necessarily have the best ending...sad...the music is absolutely beautiful and has been a favorite of ours since we saw the original production over 12 years ago. So far we have had an absolute blast putting everything together and more than that we have been floored by the friends who have come out to support, encourage and help promote this evening. The show will run for only one weekend, August 9th and 10th, and since we are taking all proceeds to fund the remainder of our adoption we are trying to maximize resources, time and our ridiculously generous and talented volunteers.
That being said, I cannot begin to describe how out of this world this experience has been so far. Scott & I have always been incredibly blessed with amazing family and friends but the amount of people willing to give of their time, talents and resources to support our family and help bring Samuel home has been overwhelming to say the least. There is no possible way we could thank everyone enough or express what their help and love has meant to our family. This process has reminded me that we live in a community and a place where people surround you, love you and walk you through every journey of your life. So thank you to EVERYONE! Whether you have given 10 minutes, 10 days or 10 months of your time, we love you and could not have done this without you.
And while this night proves to be one of fun and laughter and beautiful music there is something way more important to our family that we want to share. Our hope and prayer is that people will walk away knowing more about the orphan. That people will realize, that while the numbers associated with the orphan crisis can be daunting and overwhelming, that every person can do something to help, to be a voice and to possibly change the life of a child. I've been doing some research and putting together some information to share...I'm going to post some of it below just to give you an idea of why God has called us to adopt. Like I said...these numbers are overwhelming and while some days adopting only one child seem like a small effort on our part, if we all came together and all of us did something how could we change the current orphan crisis? How could we impact the world for the better? Both across the ocean and in our own backyard.
Once again, love y'all! Talk with you soon!
That being said, I cannot begin to describe how out of this world this experience has been so far. Scott & I have always been incredibly blessed with amazing family and friends but the amount of people willing to give of their time, talents and resources to support our family and help bring Samuel home has been overwhelming to say the least. There is no possible way we could thank everyone enough or express what their help and love has meant to our family. This process has reminded me that we live in a community and a place where people surround you, love you and walk you through every journey of your life. So thank you to EVERYONE! Whether you have given 10 minutes, 10 days or 10 months of your time, we love you and could not have done this without you.
And while this night proves to be one of fun and laughter and beautiful music there is something way more important to our family that we want to share. Our hope and prayer is that people will walk away knowing more about the orphan. That people will realize, that while the numbers associated with the orphan crisis can be daunting and overwhelming, that every person can do something to help, to be a voice and to possibly change the life of a child. I've been doing some research and putting together some information to share...I'm going to post some of it below just to give you an idea of why God has called us to adopt. Like I said...these numbers are overwhelming and while some days adopting only one child seem like a small effort on our part, if we all came together and all of us did something how could we change the current orphan crisis? How could we impact the world for the better? Both across the ocean and in our own backyard.
Once again, love y'all! Talk with you soon!
• There are 153,000,000 orphans in the world
• There are an additional 20,000,000 “displaced
children” in the world
• The combined count of these categories makes
the orphan population the 7th
largest nation on the
planet – slightly larger than the population of Russia
• In Africa, homeless children are armed and used for
war
• In Africa, there is a concerted effort to extend
children’s lives beyond 5 years of age
• In the US, 25,000 children will leave the foster
care system without families
• 25% of these foster children become homeless,
• 56% of these emancipated foster care children enter
the
unemployment ranks
• 27% of the emancipated male children in foster care
end up in jail
• 30% of the emancipated females in foster care
experience early parenthood
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
We're Adopting!
We're ADOPTING! Ok, so if you've read our blog before you already know this, but because it has literally been 8 months since my last update...thought I would restate the obvious. Yes, family, friends, neighbors and newbies to our blog....we are still adopting. Almost 2 years ago we submitted our dossier to the Ethiopian Government and currently we have 30 other families ahead of us waiting to bring their children home.
Lily, Annie, Scott and I cannot wait to bring Samuel home and while we wait and prepare our hearts, our minds and essentially our lives, we are trying to stay busy by raising funds but more importantly raising awareness to the orphan crisis worldwide. Current statistics state there are over 147 million orphans worldwide. While God has directed us to Africa to bring home our son, the truth is there are thousands of orphans right where each of you live. Children currently in our foster system, struggling to gain a happy stable home life, children living on the streets, begging or stealing, just to survive. And because this is the reality of our world we would love to share with each of you the vision our family has and the ways in which you can help.
On August 9th & 10th we will be hosting an evening of entertainment. As I'm sure most of you know Scott and I have been doing theater for years and it is not only something we enjoy but something we enjoy together. Because of this we have decided to incorporate our love of theater to help us continue our fundraising. All proceeds of ticket sales go straight to the adoption and any other donations we receive. We have some really incredible people who are donating their time and talents to help us because they believe in our family and what God has called us to. I believe this night will not only help us, but be tons of fun. I am posting our flyer below with the information as well as the new designs for the t-shirts we will be selling the nights of our show as well as on our blog and through facebook.
As always thanks for reading, caring, loving and supporting our crazy life.
Lily, Annie, Scott and I cannot wait to bring Samuel home and while we wait and prepare our hearts, our minds and essentially our lives, we are trying to stay busy by raising funds but more importantly raising awareness to the orphan crisis worldwide. Current statistics state there are over 147 million orphans worldwide. While God has directed us to Africa to bring home our son, the truth is there are thousands of orphans right where each of you live. Children currently in our foster system, struggling to gain a happy stable home life, children living on the streets, begging or stealing, just to survive. And because this is the reality of our world we would love to share with each of you the vision our family has and the ways in which you can help.
On August 9th & 10th we will be hosting an evening of entertainment. As I'm sure most of you know Scott and I have been doing theater for years and it is not only something we enjoy but something we enjoy together. Because of this we have decided to incorporate our love of theater to help us continue our fundraising. All proceeds of ticket sales go straight to the adoption and any other donations we receive. We have some really incredible people who are donating their time and talents to help us because they believe in our family and what God has called us to. I believe this night will not only help us, but be tons of fun. I am posting our flyer below with the information as well as the new designs for the t-shirts we will be selling the nights of our show as well as on our blog and through facebook.
As always thanks for reading, caring, loving and supporting our crazy life.
T-SHIRTS
SuperMan Tee $15
Rescue the Orphan Tee $15
(all gender neutral sizes S-XXXL)
Adoption is the new Pregnant $18
(Women's cut tees with glitter embellishment (not pictured) S-XXXL)
Friday, October 19, 2012
Hosting, school days & Life!
Hello blog world! Long time no write! HA! I just cracked myself up! Anyway, lots has been happening in our world. Just a quick update.
Lily started Pre-K 5 days a week and is doing so well!!
This is the first day of school!
Annie is...well Annie! Sometime in the Spring she decided she was no longer answering to Anna and would forever now be Annie. She is stubborn, hilarious and so happy!
This is really and truly such a good picture to describe the awesomeness of her personality.
We also decided to host a foreign exchange student from Liberia Africa for the school year. Raphina is 16 years old and in the 9 weeks we have had her she has taught us so much about her culture, customs and country. She will be staying with us until the end of school year and in that time we will go to Colorado, California and some other parts of Texas. We are excited to share America with her and also our culture and customs.
Raphina's first day of High School in America!
Lily also started attending small groups at our church and at this point it is the highlight of her week. I think she may be the next bible drill champion! She also started playing soccer for the 'Twinkle Toes' this fall coached by her Daddy!!
GO TEAM!!
I'm sure there is tons of other things going on in our lives this fall but this covers the basics. For those who have asked...yes we are still adopting. We are currently number 47 on our list. That means 46 other families in front of us asking for the same (Infant boy 0-18 months). We are about to resubmit a lot of paperwork to the embassy that has updated information. As of this month all of our time dated materials will have expired. And as of 10/28 it will be one year exactly that we submitted our dossier. As of 11/1 it will be 2 years exactly that we started the adoption journey. Tons of dates and facts that seem tedious and useless but are days that have meaning in our life and our little boys. Please continue to pray for us. Pray that time goes by fast enough that we forget it has almost been 2 years and pray that as it goes quickly we don't miss anything! (Best of both worlds right?) Thanks and hopefully I will get on this thing again soon!!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
The Waiting Game
Well, as usual we have been slammed with activities, trips and life in general. Scott took 21 students, teens and adults to Kenya Africa with Tin Roof Society and they had a wonderful time exploring Mombasa while serving in schools. They also went into Nairobi and visited places I'm sure most of these kids had never imagined even existed. And while Scott was in Africa the girls and I went to California to visit my mom and brothers. And while both trips would be considered a success it is always hard to come back together and find common ground. Scott had several encounters with God while serving in Africa, while I played at Disneyland and the beach. We didn't really have the same goals or focus. But God is so good in bringing our family back together with a shared purpose.
A couple of days before I left California I decided to check our "unofficial" referral list. This list is simply a basic cataloguing of all the people in our agency adopting from Ethiopia. It lists families by last name and is placed in order by DTE or Dossier to Ethiopia. (Our DTE is 10/28/11.) Then it gets even more detailed based on requests, male/female, age...etc. I can honestly tell you I rarely check this list. Most people are probably wondering why...& I can tell you, it can be frustrating and rather discouraging for me. When we landed on the list the beginning of November we started at 61. Meaning 60 other families were "in line" before us for the same request. Male infant 0-12 months. And in the next 6 months we did nothing but go up. At one point our number was 63 then 65 and back down to 61 where we have stayed. 8 months and we have essentially seen no movement. But 3 days ago I happened to check and YEAH...we were 57! Now 4 numbers may seem insignificant to most people but 4 numbers was like manna from heaven as far as I was concerned. 4 numbers can sustain me for quite some time. And then today I went to show Scott and guess what....54!! 3 more numbers down! Apparently almost 10 children had clearance in country and were able to be referred to loving families. Meaning families have now been matched with children and orphaned children are no longer orphaned. John 14:18 coming to life!
I also received an email from our agency with a detailed attachment answering a lot of questions while we play "The Waiting Game". And with some of these answers Scott and I find ourselves wondering what are the best decisions for our family. So I ask for you to please pray for us as we pray and discuss our options.
Adoption is a roller coaster ride and until you are on it you cannot understand all it entails. But we know that this roller coaster is one we want to take and one we are humbled and excited to be called to. Love y'all!
The Windham's
A couple of days before I left California I decided to check our "unofficial" referral list. This list is simply a basic cataloguing of all the people in our agency adopting from Ethiopia. It lists families by last name and is placed in order by DTE or Dossier to Ethiopia. (Our DTE is 10/28/11.) Then it gets even more detailed based on requests, male/female, age...etc. I can honestly tell you I rarely check this list. Most people are probably wondering why...& I can tell you, it can be frustrating and rather discouraging for me. When we landed on the list the beginning of November we started at 61. Meaning 60 other families were "in line" before us for the same request. Male infant 0-12 months. And in the next 6 months we did nothing but go up. At one point our number was 63 then 65 and back down to 61 where we have stayed. 8 months and we have essentially seen no movement. But 3 days ago I happened to check and YEAH...we were 57! Now 4 numbers may seem insignificant to most people but 4 numbers was like manna from heaven as far as I was concerned. 4 numbers can sustain me for quite some time. And then today I went to show Scott and guess what....54!! 3 more numbers down! Apparently almost 10 children had clearance in country and were able to be referred to loving families. Meaning families have now been matched with children and orphaned children are no longer orphaned. John 14:18 coming to life!
I also received an email from our agency with a detailed attachment answering a lot of questions while we play "The Waiting Game". And with some of these answers Scott and I find ourselves wondering what are the best decisions for our family. So I ask for you to please pray for us as we pray and discuss our options.
Adoption is a roller coaster ride and until you are on it you cannot understand all it entails. But we know that this roller coaster is one we want to take and one we are humbled and excited to be called to. Love y'all!
The Windham's
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