Laura is amazing at what she does! She is SO creative. Don't know what I am talking about?! Go to www.pitterpatterart.wordpress.com. I wish I was half as talented as she is. I love every piece!! :)). She is doing a giveaway every month they wait for their referral for their new son! Check out her site. I am really hoping I win!
PS. Sorry I've been MIA. Will return soon with pics of our newest addition, Levi Steven. :))
Monday, December 12, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Our Day in Court
By Charlie Beal
I always thought my first time sitting at the lawyers table in a courtroom would be much different. You see, I wasn’t exactly the model high-schooler. I wasn’t a terrible kid, but like many teenagers these days, I got caught up in the excitement (and stupidity) of underage drinking, partying, and basically doing a bunch of stuff I shouldn’t have. I’m sure I did a few illegal things back in the day, so I always thought my first time in court would be a terrible and humbling experience, filled with tears and remorse.
Although, I didn’t have it totally correct, my first time in a courtroom was, in fact, a terribly humbling experience. Today, surrounded by family (a handful of our many supportive prayer warriors), my wife, daughter, son and I sat and listened as a judge declared that Jeremiah is ours for all intensive purposes, “as if born to us.” The tears of remorse I thought I’d cry were replaced with joyful slowly moving ones as the judge spoke.
With Jeremiah sitting on my lap, happily playing with Lightning McQueen and Francesco Bernoulli, I listened to the judge use words like, “authority”, “judgment”, and “decree.” These words are common in a courtroom and while they might not bring to mind anything significant to others, they definitely caught my attention.
Those words spoken by the judge reminded me of our Heavenly Father. How we are adopted through the brutal death of Jesus…how we can live in hope and love…and how one day we will stand in front of God on our day of judgment.
You see, from the Mt. Everest of paperwork…to the incredible financial cost…to the excruciating waiting period, the entire adoption process was tough and at times seemed like there would be no end. But there was an end…a glorious end! Today was a day of celebration, but one thing stuck out to me…we didn’t have to die for Jeremiah to bring him into our family. All the work, time, and money spent on bringing Jeremiah home by far pales in comparison to what Jesus did to bring us into His family. Our Savior lived a perfect life, was brutally beaten, and paid the ultimate price, so we could be adopted into the family of Christ.
Today, we stood in front of the judge without fear, knowing we had done everything right to bring Jeremiah home and into our family. One day we’ll stand before God and Jesus will be right beside us knowing He did everything right to bring us home and into His family.
Life throws us all kinds of curveballs; full of discouragement, sin, and pain, but because of Jesus, there too will be a glorious end.
Humbled by His love, grace, sacrifice and forgiveness, I thank Jesus for today…for using Jeremiah to remind me of my own adoption and how I’m forever His.
I always thought my first time sitting at the lawyers table in a courtroom would be much different. You see, I wasn’t exactly the model high-schooler. I wasn’t a terrible kid, but like many teenagers these days, I got caught up in the excitement (and stupidity) of underage drinking, partying, and basically doing a bunch of stuff I shouldn’t have. I’m sure I did a few illegal things back in the day, so I always thought my first time in court would be a terrible and humbling experience, filled with tears and remorse.
Although, I didn’t have it totally correct, my first time in a courtroom was, in fact, a terribly humbling experience. Today, surrounded by family (a handful of our many supportive prayer warriors), my wife, daughter, son and I sat and listened as a judge declared that Jeremiah is ours for all intensive purposes, “as if born to us.” The tears of remorse I thought I’d cry were replaced with joyful slowly moving ones as the judge spoke.
With Jeremiah sitting on my lap, happily playing with Lightning McQueen and Francesco Bernoulli, I listened to the judge use words like, “authority”, “judgment”, and “decree.” These words are common in a courtroom and while they might not bring to mind anything significant to others, they definitely caught my attention.
Those words spoken by the judge reminded me of our Heavenly Father. How we are adopted through the brutal death of Jesus…how we can live in hope and love…and how one day we will stand in front of God on our day of judgment.
You see, from the Mt. Everest of paperwork…to the incredible financial cost…to the excruciating waiting period, the entire adoption process was tough and at times seemed like there would be no end. But there was an end…a glorious end! Today was a day of celebration, but one thing stuck out to me…we didn’t have to die for Jeremiah to bring him into our family. All the work, time, and money spent on bringing Jeremiah home by far pales in comparison to what Jesus did to bring us into His family. Our Savior lived a perfect life, was brutally beaten, and paid the ultimate price, so we could be adopted into the family of Christ.
Today, we stood in front of the judge without fear, knowing we had done everything right to bring Jeremiah home and into our family. One day we’ll stand before God and Jesus will be right beside us knowing He did everything right to bring us home and into His family.
Life throws us all kinds of curveballs; full of discouragement, sin, and pain, but because of Jesus, there too will be a glorious end.
Humbled by His love, grace, sacrifice and forgiveness, I thank Jesus for today…for using Jeremiah to remind me of my own adoption and how I’m forever His.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
We've been busy...
So we haven't been around lately because...
We've been busy. Everyone says that but really we have been!! :-)
A few updates
1. We are pregnant. Since we've been blog absent for so long I am now 32 weeks. We weren't expecting this to happen so soon but we are excited!
2. We found out the two boys that we were praying about and for have a family!!!! We couldn't pursue adopting them because we found out we were pregnant. It was bittersweet but we knew God had a plan. Obviously those sweet boys were meant to be with another family.
3. Jeremiah is talking NON STOP! It is so cute. We just love hearing him mimic and talk in sentences. Hearing car, car, car, truck, truck, truck...BIG TRUCK, BIG TRUCK, BIG TRUCK over and over in the car can get annoying though. ;-)
4. Emmy has lost two teeth now! She is swimming like a pro and is an amazing sister.
5. We are LOVING summer! We are soaking it up, going to the pool everyday!
6. We are still praying about God's plan for our fourth child. We believe God wants us to adopt again. Both Charlie and I feel passionately about this. We are praying for God's leading!
7. I am on the Board of Directors for our Agency in my state of Oregon. I am excited for this opportunity!
8. We just went to court for Jeremiah's adoption ceremony. It was such a special day!! Charlie wrote about it so I will post that next.
Well that is all the updates I can think of...Blessings!!
We've been busy. Everyone says that but really we have been!! :-)
A few updates
1. We are pregnant. Since we've been blog absent for so long I am now 32 weeks. We weren't expecting this to happen so soon but we are excited!
2. We found out the two boys that we were praying about and for have a family!!!! We couldn't pursue adopting them because we found out we were pregnant. It was bittersweet but we knew God had a plan. Obviously those sweet boys were meant to be with another family.
3. Jeremiah is talking NON STOP! It is so cute. We just love hearing him mimic and talk in sentences. Hearing car, car, car, truck, truck, truck...BIG TRUCK, BIG TRUCK, BIG TRUCK over and over in the car can get annoying though. ;-)
4. Emmy has lost two teeth now! She is swimming like a pro and is an amazing sister.
5. We are LOVING summer! We are soaking it up, going to the pool everyday!
6. We are still praying about God's plan for our fourth child. We believe God wants us to adopt again. Both Charlie and I feel passionately about this. We are praying for God's leading!
7. I am on the Board of Directors for our Agency in my state of Oregon. I am excited for this opportunity!
8. We just went to court for Jeremiah's adoption ceremony. It was such a special day!! Charlie wrote about it so I will post that next.
Well that is all the updates I can think of...Blessings!!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
He giveth more grace by Annie J. Flint
He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas!
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
Monday, December 13, 2010
Are we adopting again?!
By Charlie Beal
My Life is Not My Own
Go ahead and say it with me, “My life is not my own.” It sounds pretty powerful, doesn’t it? For me, saying these words is exhilarating. It gives me visions of being the selfless person I’ve always wanted to be…a life-changer, and somewhat of a hero. It makes my chest puff out, my muscles feel a little bigger, and my self-esteem sky rocket. But in truth, when I stop and really think about what these words mean, my selfish side takes over. The initial joy and motivation the words bring is almost instantly gone when I think of reality of what my life would be if I truly lived by those words. Visions of me never getting time to go on a date with my wife, never getting time to myself, or never getting to take a guys golf trip, are all that fill my mind. The new truck I want, the Hawaiian vacation, the country club membership…all gone.
If you have kids, you probably understand that really, your life is already not fully your own. From the moment you wake up to the time you go to bed, you basically exist to meet their needs and keep them safe. Whether you go to work to make money to support them or make meals, bath them, and comfort them, your every day goal is to take care of them first and yourself second.
Why is this subject even on my mind these days? Well, I’ll try to give you the short version. As you may know, we adopted our sweet boy, Jeremiah, from Ethiopia in March of this year. The night before we left for Ethiopia, I had a dream we would meet our next child on our trip. In the dream, I was hanging out and playing soccer with a boy at an orphanage. At the end of our time together, I told the boy, “If you’re here a year from now, I’ll come back for you.” It was a very vivid dream, but was quickly forgotten when we arrived in Ethiopia because of the hectic first few days we had there. The first day we met our son, the second we actually got to take him with us, the third we went shopping, and the fourth day we visited a few orphanages.
At the second orphanage we visited that day, we blew up balloons and played with many kids. After a few minutes of playing, a 5 year-old boy walked up to me, said something in Amharic, grabbed my hand and led me into the orphanage. Inside, he very proudly showed me his bed and took me back to the classroom where he pointed to English letters and pronounced them as best he could. After getting through about half the alphabet, he grabbed my hand again and led me outside, where he quickly pulled out a soccer ball and kicked it toward me. Like a ton of bricks, memories of my dream hit me at full force. While continuing to kick the ball back and forth and acting like a fool to keep him laughing, all I could think was, “Is this our next child? Is God really doing what I think He’s doing right now?” After a few more minutes of me flopping around like a rag-doll and letting him score goals on me, he suddenly stopped, staring at me intently, and let out a loud karate, “Waaaaa” while striking a Bruce Lee-stance. (Funny, as our 5 year-old daughter was in the “karate” stage.) I thought, “He’s happy, he’s goofy…sounds like a Beal to me.”
A few days later, we saw the boy at the Transitional Home after his doctor check-up and I was fortunate enough to get to play with him a little more before we headed back to the hotel. Before leaving, however, we let a representative from our agency know that, “if he is still on the Waiting Child list in six-months, we would like more information on him.” Long-story-short, he is still on the list and (SURPRISE!!!) he has an older brother…and (SURPRISE-PART DEUX) they both have medical conditions.
After finding out about the brother and the medical conditions, I thought, “We probably don’t have the money to support two more kids, let alone kids with medical conditions.” Plus, I’ve always heard you shouldn’t adopt a child older than your current oldest child. Apparently, it can screw up the dynamic of the “birth order.” With all those reasons, I quickly dismissed the idea of adopting these boys, while Becca continued to bring them up to me. I felt bad, but I’m the man in the relationship. I’m supposed to be the logical one and not do things which could “harm” our family’s future (ie…put us into debt, etc…). Well, after a few months now, Becca hasn’t stop bringing them up to me and to top it off, one night Emmy prayed, “And God if you want these boys in our family, we’ll say yes.” (Picture my jaw hitting the floor and tear-ducts going into full production.) The innocent faith of a 5 year-old can really put things into perspective for a logical-thinking grown-up. Becca and I just looked at each other and agreed we should look into it further.
So here we are, trying to imagine life with 4 kids, a mortgage payment, a school loan payment (which acts like a mortgage payment), day-to-day expenses, all while hearing in the back of our hearts and minds, “My life is not my own.” Those words never ring so true than when I imagine if something happened to Becca and I, and our children were left with no one to love them, care for them, read to them, or hold them. I would want someone to take them in, no matter the cost or hardship their new parents may face. When I think of our children alone, the conviction can’t be any greater. My life is not my own.
Imagine if Jesus decided on the cross, “Nope. I really would like to help you guys out, but this whole thing is putting a lot of stress on me. I mean, let’s be honest, you’re asking a lot of me.” Fortunately, He stayed the course and showed, in the truest sense of the words, “My life is not my own.” So, why shouldn’t we?
Please pray with us as we lay our future in front of God…pray for our hearts and minds…for wisdom and peace with whatever God holds for us. Most importantly, please pray for these two boys…that God would provide a loving family for both of them, whether it’s us or some other family. We serve a mighty God who knows our hearts, knows what we can handle, and knows how to provide in all things.
I’ll close with this…Jesus has prepared an amazing banquet for all who come to Him and there is ALWAYS room for more at His table. Last time I counted (and here’s when I faint), there are 8 chairs at the Beal dining room table. Please pray.
My Life is Not My Own
Go ahead and say it with me, “My life is not my own.” It sounds pretty powerful, doesn’t it? For me, saying these words is exhilarating. It gives me visions of being the selfless person I’ve always wanted to be…a life-changer, and somewhat of a hero. It makes my chest puff out, my muscles feel a little bigger, and my self-esteem sky rocket. But in truth, when I stop and really think about what these words mean, my selfish side takes over. The initial joy and motivation the words bring is almost instantly gone when I think of reality of what my life would be if I truly lived by those words. Visions of me never getting time to go on a date with my wife, never getting time to myself, or never getting to take a guys golf trip, are all that fill my mind. The new truck I want, the Hawaiian vacation, the country club membership…all gone.
If you have kids, you probably understand that really, your life is already not fully your own. From the moment you wake up to the time you go to bed, you basically exist to meet their needs and keep them safe. Whether you go to work to make money to support them or make meals, bath them, and comfort them, your every day goal is to take care of them first and yourself second.
Why is this subject even on my mind these days? Well, I’ll try to give you the short version. As you may know, we adopted our sweet boy, Jeremiah, from Ethiopia in March of this year. The night before we left for Ethiopia, I had a dream we would meet our next child on our trip. In the dream, I was hanging out and playing soccer with a boy at an orphanage. At the end of our time together, I told the boy, “If you’re here a year from now, I’ll come back for you.” It was a very vivid dream, but was quickly forgotten when we arrived in Ethiopia because of the hectic first few days we had there. The first day we met our son, the second we actually got to take him with us, the third we went shopping, and the fourth day we visited a few orphanages.
At the second orphanage we visited that day, we blew up balloons and played with many kids. After a few minutes of playing, a 5 year-old boy walked up to me, said something in Amharic, grabbed my hand and led me into the orphanage. Inside, he very proudly showed me his bed and took me back to the classroom where he pointed to English letters and pronounced them as best he could. After getting through about half the alphabet, he grabbed my hand again and led me outside, where he quickly pulled out a soccer ball and kicked it toward me. Like a ton of bricks, memories of my dream hit me at full force. While continuing to kick the ball back and forth and acting like a fool to keep him laughing, all I could think was, “Is this our next child? Is God really doing what I think He’s doing right now?” After a few more minutes of me flopping around like a rag-doll and letting him score goals on me, he suddenly stopped, staring at me intently, and let out a loud karate, “Waaaaa” while striking a Bruce Lee-stance. (Funny, as our 5 year-old daughter was in the “karate” stage.) I thought, “He’s happy, he’s goofy…sounds like a Beal to me.”
A few days later, we saw the boy at the Transitional Home after his doctor check-up and I was fortunate enough to get to play with him a little more before we headed back to the hotel. Before leaving, however, we let a representative from our agency know that, “if he is still on the Waiting Child list in six-months, we would like more information on him.” Long-story-short, he is still on the list and (SURPRISE!!!) he has an older brother…and (SURPRISE-PART DEUX) they both have medical conditions.
After finding out about the brother and the medical conditions, I thought, “We probably don’t have the money to support two more kids, let alone kids with medical conditions.” Plus, I’ve always heard you shouldn’t adopt a child older than your current oldest child. Apparently, it can screw up the dynamic of the “birth order.” With all those reasons, I quickly dismissed the idea of adopting these boys, while Becca continued to bring them up to me. I felt bad, but I’m the man in the relationship. I’m supposed to be the logical one and not do things which could “harm” our family’s future (ie…put us into debt, etc…). Well, after a few months now, Becca hasn’t stop bringing them up to me and to top it off, one night Emmy prayed, “And God if you want these boys in our family, we’ll say yes.” (Picture my jaw hitting the floor and tear-ducts going into full production.) The innocent faith of a 5 year-old can really put things into perspective for a logical-thinking grown-up. Becca and I just looked at each other and agreed we should look into it further.
So here we are, trying to imagine life with 4 kids, a mortgage payment, a school loan payment (which acts like a mortgage payment), day-to-day expenses, all while hearing in the back of our hearts and minds, “My life is not my own.” Those words never ring so true than when I imagine if something happened to Becca and I, and our children were left with no one to love them, care for them, read to them, or hold them. I would want someone to take them in, no matter the cost or hardship their new parents may face. When I think of our children alone, the conviction can’t be any greater. My life is not my own.
Imagine if Jesus decided on the cross, “Nope. I really would like to help you guys out, but this whole thing is putting a lot of stress on me. I mean, let’s be honest, you’re asking a lot of me.” Fortunately, He stayed the course and showed, in the truest sense of the words, “My life is not my own.” So, why shouldn’t we?
Please pray with us as we lay our future in front of God…pray for our hearts and minds…for wisdom and peace with whatever God holds for us. Most importantly, please pray for these two boys…that God would provide a loving family for both of them, whether it’s us or some other family. We serve a mighty God who knows our hearts, knows what we can handle, and knows how to provide in all things.
I’ll close with this…Jesus has prepared an amazing banquet for all who come to Him and there is ALWAYS room for more at His table. Last time I counted (and here’s when I faint), there are 8 chairs at the Beal dining room table. Please pray.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
One year ago today...
One year ago today I was working in Emmy's class
One year ago today I didn't have my cell phone with me which was and is a normal occurence
One year ago today I didn't expect to get a call about you
One year ago today I thought we'd have to wait at least another month to hear your name, see your picture, and learn everything about you
One year ago today Daddy was FREAKING out because he got "the call" and couldn't get a hold of me for about 2 hrs.
One year ago today I was helping a classroom full of preschoolers glue, cut, write, color, share, and get a snack.
One year ago today Daddy was mad at me for not having my phone attached to my body. See we had made a deal neither of us could look at your picture without the other.
One year ago today when Daddy called and told me we got "the call" I didn't believe him.
One year ago today I started crying when I realized it was true.
One year ago today I drove too fast to get home so I could see you for the first time.
One year ago today my hands were shaking as I opened the file with your picture.
One year ago today we saw your beautiful face.
One year ago today we fell in love with you.
One year ago today we prayed for you with your beautiful face in our minds and heart.
One year ago today I felt so happy that I finally got to see you!
We love you Jeremiah Eyob...
First picture we saw of you!
One year ago today I didn't have my cell phone with me which was and is a normal occurence
One year ago today I didn't expect to get a call about you
One year ago today I thought we'd have to wait at least another month to hear your name, see your picture, and learn everything about you
One year ago today Daddy was FREAKING out because he got "the call" and couldn't get a hold of me for about 2 hrs.
One year ago today I was helping a classroom full of preschoolers glue, cut, write, color, share, and get a snack.
One year ago today Daddy was mad at me for not having my phone attached to my body. See we had made a deal neither of us could look at your picture without the other.
One year ago today when Daddy called and told me we got "the call" I didn't believe him.
One year ago today I started crying when I realized it was true.
One year ago today I drove too fast to get home so I could see you for the first time.
One year ago today my hands were shaking as I opened the file with your picture.
One year ago today we saw your beautiful face.
One year ago today we fell in love with you.
One year ago today we prayed for you with your beautiful face in our minds and heart.
One year ago today I felt so happy that I finally got to see you!
We love you Jeremiah Eyob...
First picture we saw of you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)