So we are in beautiful Central Oregon (BEND, OR to be exact) for our family vacation, post graduation getaway trip! We are having a blast and love, love, LOVE it here.
Random thought I will share with you...this morning I went running on this beautiful trail two minutes from my sisters house. It's much harder for me to run here because of the altitude, yet at the same time the beauty distracts so perfectly you don't need an ipod and find yourself continuing past your normal stopping point because you want to keep seeing the beautiful views!! It's awesome. I stopped at this one part and stretched and just enjoyed the view. I was praying and just in awe that God spoke into existence this beautiful, marvelous world with just His words. He so beautifully fashioned each and every animal, plant, flower, mountain, river, rock everything with His strong powerful words. He took such care and detail to create it all for us to ENJOY! What a beautiful thought. This led me to think how God has and will beautifully fashion my life. He already has the plan and He is step by step putting together what He wants for Charlie, Emmy and I. He will carefully plan, and create with such detail what His best is for us. I need to TRUST HIM. (Do you see a pattern here?!) Trust in His timing, His plan, His grace to save me when I go off His path. He is good.
Please pray for peace in our hearts as we are getting closer questions arise, doubts, fears, excitement we can't contain, and such a longing for this sweet child to be in our arms. Pray for the ORPHANS around the world. Pray that God will ensure justice for these children without a parent/family to stand up for them. PRAY to our mighty God to rescue the fatherless. That they would know they have a heavenly father...
Thank you faithful prayer warriors! :D
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Waiting...and Praying.
So sorry it's been so long since I've written. It's been a crazy two weeks.
First Charlie finished School!!!! This truely deserves a page full of exclamation points but these four will have to do. {wink} We are so proud of our Charlie for accomplishing this major milestone. Although it was a rough 3 year ride we are at the end looking back saying THANK YOU JESUS for helping us all through this. Truely it is all by the grace of God. Thank you everyone for your prayers.
Second, I finished all our our paperwork for the adoption!!!! Yet again I need a page full of exclamation points. Agh...It was alot of work. It really really was. I have to be honest and say I am having some doubts...worries...concerns. Emmy and I went to LA today to get our state certification done and I was praying the whole time. I was just overwhelmed with everything. How are we going to get $7,500.00 in a couple weeks, what if our child is sick, how long will the referal process take, should we bring emmy to ethiopia, what if I get pregnant and we have to stop the process, what if the adoption is haulted, what if we don't pass court over and over like so many others, etc.
Well if any of you have driven to LA, cars like to cut you off often. During my many visits there I have learned this. Well once again a car cut me off. On the bumper was a sticker that read "Jesus es mi paz." I was so comforted by this sticker even if the driver was an idiot. {Joke} Jesus is my peace....I repeated this man times. Alone in HIM I will have peace and rest in His plan for our family. Whatever it looks like. All I can do is trust Him...and I will.
Well we leave this Friday for Oregon for two weeks and we could really use your prayers as we start this new journey of no school and no adoption paperwork. We really are praying for God's guidance to show us where we should be living, and what we should invest our time in while we wait for our little Ethiopian prince or princess. :D We would appreciate prayer for our 171-H to arrive quickly also. Thank you everyone!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
USCIS Application turned in...
So...we turned in our USCIS application. We are really getting closer to turning our dossier in and being on the waiting list. The processing time for USCIS is approximately 6-8 weeks right now. Pray with us for God's favor and for the Lord to move swifly. We only want the child He has for us...the child that is supposed to have the last name Beal...who is supposed to be emmy's brother or sister...and who is supposed to be our daughter or son. So if it takes longer we too know this means that child, our child is not ready yet. Thank you so much for your prayers!! :D
Saturday, May 30, 2009
fun random photo shoot...
Emmy got her hair cut today. Here are a few pics of her new hair-do.
Also Wednesday is my USCIS appointment (immigration). Please pray with us that everything will go smooth and that we can get the last FEW adoption papers done quickly. Thank you! :D
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Homestudy Complete and moving forward...
So our next step in the process is getting our petition to adopt turned in and recieve a form called 171-H. This gives us the OK to adopt from Ethiopia!! :D
We are turning our application in by next week. Usually the processing time is 6 weeks for this form. If it will be a quicker processing time to hand deliver the application I will, if not I will mail it. Pray with us for a smooth processing time and for us to continue to trust the Lord in our waiting. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
We are turning our application in by next week. Usually the processing time is 6 weeks for this form. If it will be a quicker processing time to hand deliver the application I will, if not I will mail it. Pray with us for a smooth processing time and for us to continue to trust the Lord in our waiting. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
URGENT NEED: Forumla Needed for Malnourished Babies in Ethiopia
(I don't post this to GET you to donate. If you do donate out of love, awesome. But I am asking for your prayers for these precious children. God's children.)
"One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.
When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them." Mark 10:13-16
The following is a story from a woman who works for our agency (AWAA) in Ethiopia. She is speaking about the orphange our child will be living...
DUNI'S STORY
Even though I grew up in Ethiopia, I never knew just how badly babies suffered from malnutrition until I returned to Addis and started working at the AWAA office there. The children at our Transitional Home come from very remote areas. Their families are unable to feed themselves let alone their children and usually relinquish them to their local orphanage when it becomes evident their children will die if they don't.
It is hard to see malnourished babies, so tiny, with just skin and bones. I remember the first one I saw, we will call her Gracie. She looked like an old woman in a baby's body. She had big eyes that seemed so wise and testified to what they have seen in the short months Gracie has been alive.
That was a few months ago, since then we have admitted many more babies in such condition. And looking at Gracie today, I can't believe she is the same baby. I knew she was a beauty but it really came out once those cheeks filled up. She is still tiny but the pound she has gained in the past week has made a world of difference in her appearance.
I look at the others and feel the same way I first felt with Gracie, dejection and fear that she may never make it. The right type of formula for such babies is hard to come by. In fact any kind of formula is expensive and hard to come by. We have babies who need this today so we work tirelessly to get the best formula possible for malnourished babies shipped from the US.
It is not fair for a baby to have sad eyes like Gracie's or for a baby to cry out of hunger and not have that need met.
Worse yet, it is not fair for a baby to die because of malnutrition. And yet, that is what happens daily in Ethiopia. Today, I am praying for the babies lying still in their cribs. I am praying I will see them feed soon (they are now on feeding tubes). I am praying that their tiny lifeless legs will slowly fill with flesh and will wiggle and play like normal babies do.
Here's what we can do to help. CHC will raise $12,500 to purchase what is known in the U.S. as "Nutramigen" formula. This type of formula is necessary because traditional formula cannot be digested by malnourished infants.
You can participate by making a gift of any size. A gift of $30 will buy and ship one can of formula to the chidlren in need. Right now if you give $30 it will be doubled to $60! The first $500 we raise will be matched dollar-for-dollar. If we hit our goal, we can send 400 cans of formula to starving infants in Ethiopia.
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO GO TO TOM DAVIS' WEBSITE & DONATE OR LEARN MORE:
"One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.
When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them." Mark 10:13-16
The following is a story from a woman who works for our agency (AWAA) in Ethiopia. She is speaking about the orphange our child will be living...
DUNI'S STORY
Even though I grew up in Ethiopia, I never knew just how badly babies suffered from malnutrition until I returned to Addis and started working at the AWAA office there. The children at our Transitional Home come from very remote areas. Their families are unable to feed themselves let alone their children and usually relinquish them to their local orphanage when it becomes evident their children will die if they don't.
It is hard to see malnourished babies, so tiny, with just skin and bones. I remember the first one I saw, we will call her Gracie. She looked like an old woman in a baby's body. She had big eyes that seemed so wise and testified to what they have seen in the short months Gracie has been alive.
That was a few months ago, since then we have admitted many more babies in such condition. And looking at Gracie today, I can't believe she is the same baby. I knew she was a beauty but it really came out once those cheeks filled up. She is still tiny but the pound she has gained in the past week has made a world of difference in her appearance.
I look at the others and feel the same way I first felt with Gracie, dejection and fear that she may never make it. The right type of formula for such babies is hard to come by. In fact any kind of formula is expensive and hard to come by. We have babies who need this today so we work tirelessly to get the best formula possible for malnourished babies shipped from the US.
It is not fair for a baby to have sad eyes like Gracie's or for a baby to cry out of hunger and not have that need met.
Worse yet, it is not fair for a baby to die because of malnutrition. And yet, that is what happens daily in Ethiopia. Today, I am praying for the babies lying still in their cribs. I am praying I will see them feed soon (they are now on feeding tubes). I am praying that their tiny lifeless legs will slowly fill with flesh and will wiggle and play like normal babies do.
Here's what we can do to help. CHC will raise $12,500 to purchase what is known in the U.S. as "Nutramigen" formula. This type of formula is necessary because traditional formula cannot be digested by malnourished infants.
You can participate by making a gift of any size. A gift of $30 will buy and ship one can of formula to the chidlren in need. Right now if you give $30 it will be doubled to $60! The first $500 we raise will be matched dollar-for-dollar. If we hit our goal, we can send 400 cans of formula to starving infants in Ethiopia.
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO GO TO TOM DAVIS' WEBSITE & DONATE OR LEARN MORE:
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Homestudy behind us!
So our Homestudy is officially complete! Our agency reviewed it in one day...it normally takes two weeks! God is so good. I have been nervous that these last bunches of paperwork are going to take so long. God is teaching me to trust in Him a lot right now.
Charlie said something that really made sense to me. He said in baseball his coach always told them to expect a fastball but adjust to a curveball. If expecting a curveball you wouldn't really have time to adjust to a fastball...it can only work the first way. With God we should do this too. Expect God to do big amazing things. In our adoption we should expect Him to expedite the process, make everything work out perfectly because this far we believe this is His plan and He has provided in everyway. But if He throws a curveball we have to adjust to it and accept it as part of His plan also...even if we don't understand it. We are learning to trust Him...His timing...His plan...His will.
Thank you for your prayers...we are moving along quite nicely. :D
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