Then Many...

It's been a LONG time.  It has felt like a long time too.

Sorry.

Life is hard.

I haven't updated everyone because there is really nothing to say.  From where we are sitting, it looks as though nothing has changed.  Just more waiting.

People ask us every single day..."Any news?"

My answer is always the same..."Nope...just keep praying."

I have done A LOT of praying.

I was thinking to myself earlier today..."when did I start to seek God every morning in prayer and read His Word?"  I couldn't really put my finger on the exact when...I got pretty serious about my relationship with God about 9 or 10 years ago but I did not make time for daily prayer and reading the Bible till a bit later.

I do now.

I wake up everyday, walk downstairs, and ask God to protect them.

And He has.

I ask God to perform miracles.

And He has.

It may look as though nothing has changed, but it has.

I know He is working.  I was praying a few weeks ago and asking God why they aren't here yet and just a bit after that I began doing my Bible study when I came upon the following scripture that I want to share with you....

"On him we have set our hope, that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.  Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."  2 Corinthians 1:10-11

Now, this scripture is out of a letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians and he is speaking of the hardships they faced during a missionary journey.  He realized that they could do nothing to help themselves, they simply had to rely on God.

We are in the same place.  We can do NOTHING to help ourselves or these two precious girls, we simply have to rely on God.

I felt the Lord speak to me through this scripture..."Then MANY will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of MANY."

I am asking MANY of our friends, family, acquaintances, and those traveling this same journey to lift these children in prayer to God...not just our children but the many orphans waiting on families to bring them home.  I know a lot of the people who know us pray for our children daily and I am forever grateful to you, but I am asking you to do more.  On Sunday, November 16th at sundown, we will begin fasting and praying for these children for 24 hours and we are asking you to join us.

Please pray that the exit visa suspension will be lifted.

I would love to know if you join us in this :-)

Do It Anyway

This trip has been so much different in so many ways.  Elysee (except for the first hour) started the week off happy and full of excitement but as the week went on she withdrew more and more.  I have no idea why. 

Maybe she was exhausted.

Maybe she knew that I was going to leave.

Maybe she missed her home.

This week, instead of crying and screaming, for the most part, she kind of froze.  She would shut down and stare off into space not wanting to talk or interact with anyone.  The good news is, during our last trip when she began to scream and cry or shut down, she wanted nothing to do with me, but this time, she only wanted me J  It was a good feeling to be able to hold her even if she wasn’t talking to me. 

Thursday evening she shut down again but she sat in my lap for over an hour taking stickers and putting them on my arms and hands.  She finally came out of it a little and brushed her teeth and went straight to bed.

 

On Friday morning, we all went to the pool.  Elysee has a love hate relationship with the pool but on this day she decided she wanted to get in her little blow up boat (thanks Erica!!!) and have someone push her around, so I ran back to the room and prayed as I put on my bathing suit that she would have a good time in the pool and not flip out J  When I got back, she let me pull her around for a bit and then she saw one of the other kids counting in English and jumping off the side of the pool so she asked me to put her on the side.  Then she did the coolest thing!  She counted to ten in English and jumped into my arms!  She did this about a thousand times over the next hour and I loved every single second of it!  At one point, one of the other ladies there tried to catch her because I had caught another little boy in my arms but she stopped and waited for me to give him to someone and then jumped to me!  I had so much fun and she was so happy!  Thank you God for this memory!

After the pool, we went back to the room for lunch and then I got out some paint and a brush and she and I sat outside of our room while she painted.

It started off really fun and then she tried to paint the table next to us and I told her not to and she looked at me like any other three year old would and painted it anyways.  I told her “no” and gently took the paint brush and paints and took them inside.  On the way in she began to hit me.  I walked all the way over to the sink and shut my eyes and began to pray.  I asked God to help her to make the right choice.  I asked God to give me wisdom in how to respond.  I asked God to give me joy no matter how she acted.  And I asked God to help me show her his love.  By this time, she was standing next to me hitting my leg over and over and I opened my eyes and looked down at her and I did something completely not natural for me.  I put my arms out to her and asked her to come to me and she stopped hitting me and jumped into my arms.  I was really quite surprised at her reaction and mine as well which was definitely from God.  I picked her up and took her outside and snuggled until she fell asleep in my arms.  I pray, if only for that moment in time, she understands that I love her even when she is hitting me.

 I finally had to wake her up because we only had about a half hour until both of the girls were going home and she just sat in my arms until they arrived.  I had worked it all out in my head how I would tell her in Lingala what was happening and in my head I never cried…but it was much different when I tried to say it to her.  I told her, “you are going to your house, I am going to my house, and I will be back to get you.”  Try saying those words to a three year old who is staring at you with big brown eyes looking completely confused.  I prayed and prayed for God to give me peace and he did.  I handed both of the girls over on Friday evening and yet again walked away having no idea when I will see either of them again.  This is hard.

A few weeks before my trip, I told God I was just plain angry with him.  I was mad that he has left us in this place of uncertainty.  I was mad that he has not brought our girls home yet.  I truly believe that God has the power to bring them home so I was angry that he had not.  It was a really hard time for me.  I’m not sure if I have ever been that angry at him or at anyone.  I screamed and cried and cried but God has done what he always does if we let him.  He has comforted me.

I was reminded that this has been and continues to be his plan…not mine.

In my heart I plan my course, but You determine my steps.  Proverbs 16:9

Part of the reason I feel like I was so mad was because God wasn’t working this all out the way I wanted in the time that I wanted him to.  I have to continue to remind myself that this is his plan.

I was reminded that his timing is perfect.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…  Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,4

God is the creator and sustainer of time.  Nothing is untimely to Him.   If I believe that, I have to trust him in every single moment. 

I was reminded that throughout this process he is molding me and teaching me to be more like him. 

I consider it pure joy whenever I face trials of many kinds.  Help me to know that the testing of my faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work in me so that I may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.  James 1:2-4

I was reminded that choosing joy in the midst of our circumstances and being thankful for his abundant grace are the keys to being joyful.  I am not happy about where we are in this process but I can choose to be joyful because of what Jesus has done for me.  I have so many things to be thankful for and once I was reminded of this, I began to see God working all around me. 

I have thought about the fact that someone may someday read a part of my writing on here and instead of being drawn towards adoption and orphan care they would run.  I pray that is never the case.  This process has been long and messy and really hard but there is not and has never been a moment I have wanted out of it.  If God is asking you to do something now or in the future that you are afraid to do or that you think is just too hard…do it anyways. 

Do it anyways…

Not because you owe him anything, which you do…you owe him everything.

Not because he will love you less, which he won’t…he can’t love you any less…he IS love.

Not because you have to earn your salvation, you definitely do not, that price has already been paid.

Do it anyways…because it is the coolest thing in the world to be right smack in the middle of his will for you watching a storm rage all around you but have his peace over you all at the same time. 

Adoption is really messy and really hard.  It is hard to love someone who kicks and screams and wants nothing more than to get away from you.  It is hard to show love to someone who is hitting you.  It would have been so much easier to not do this, but we made a choice, out of obedience to God, to love his children.  It is a choice to enter into messy, hard places but isn’t that what Jesus did for us?  Didn’t he come here and suffer and die for you and for me?  Isn’t that a little bit more than messy and hard?  When he asks you to do something you know is going to be messy or hard…do it anyways out of love for him and for what he has done for you and for no other reason.  

Lynsey

Ups and Downs

On Wednesday morning,  I woke up and got the coffee going and looked back over at Elysee’s bed and she was sitting up so I went over and sat down on her bed and she crawled right over in my lap…a great way to start the day! 

The day on Wednesday went pretty well…very few crying spells and mostly two very happy kiddos!  Elysee only cried about a minute when we came into the room for bed and then she asked me if she could change into her jammies J  She loves to change clothes…all day long!  She loves to pick them out, put them on, take them off, fold them…she just loves clothes!  She also loves socks and has to have them on at all times!  I brought some bows for both girls hair and Elysee has loved to pick them out and put them on both of them….she usually likes to have about 5-8 on at a time J  They are both eating very well and sleeping well too.  The baby has been getting up once a night to eat which has been wonderful!  I love getting to snuggle with her alone during the night J 

I have been praying over both of the girls when I get up in the middle of the night and it has been a very sweet time J  I love how God works in our heart over time and now I do not only pray that I can bring them home soon but I mostly pray that they will grow to be strong women of faith who love God and love to make him known no matter where they are.

Thursday morning, the first family had to leave to go home and so the first of the children were taken from the hotel back to the foster home.  Please pray for all of the families and children here and that God would give them the strength and peace to leave.  I cannot explain how hard this is to watch or to go through but I know that God sees our tears and hears our prayers and that he is with all of us in the place.  There are so many adoptive families here this week...many from our agency and many who have lived here for months with their kids they cannot take home yet.  I was lying in bed last night thinking about all of the prayers that are said within the walls of this hotel for these children and it made me smile.  I know that he hears us and I know that his timing is perfect…we just have to trust him.

After the first family left, many of the ladies went to an orphanage to take supplies and visit (including Elizabeth).  When the van left, Elysee immediately began to flip out…not just cry but seriously flip out!  She wailed and kicked and screamed.  I had no idea what to do so I took both of the girls into our room and tried to see if she wanted anything to eat but she did not.  She just kept screaming so after a few minutes, one of the cleaning men came in and held her and tried to talk to her but nothing was really helping.  She finally stopped crying but she was staring off into space and not talking to anyone.  He told me that she was tired and he left but I feel like it was much more than that.  I think she saw all of the cars and thought I was leaving or maybe she just thought someone was going to take her…I don’t know.  I tried to tell her I was not leaving yet but she wouldn’t listen.  I finally just picked her up and rocked her back and forth and prayed over her for about twenty minutes out loud and she finally calmed down.  I got out some smarties and got her to try them and once she did she started smiling and playing with me.  She finally ate lunch and then we went back outside and she was happy again.  It breaks my heart to see how scared she is and think there is nothing I can do about it but God has reminded me that he is the one that can heal her heart so that is what I am praying for. 

The baby has been very happy and cuddly…she did cry a bit last night before bed but I just took her outside and rocked her and she was out in less than ten minutes J 

I am so thankful for my time here with our girls.  I cannot even put into words the joy it brings me to see them growing and healthy and happy where they are.  Adam has told me that our kids at home are doing well too in my absence.  It tears my heart in two when I think about Eva and Eli at home without me…I miss them so much and then my heart breaks to think about leaving our girls here and going home…it is horrible to have your heart so attached to little ones on two different continents…I cannot wait for the day we are all in the same place J 

Elizabeth and I have another day with the girls before they go back.  Please pray that Elysee will not be scared and that we would end our week with joy in our hearts that we are together.  Please pray for God’s peace and comfort to pour out on us when we say goodbye.

Thank you for your prayers…he is listening and working for our good and his glory J

Lynsey

We're Here!!!

Elizabeth and I arrived on Monday afternoon, only a few hours behind schedule J  Papa Xavier was at the airport to meet us along with two other families so we waited and waited for our luggage and then took off to the hotel.  The drive was very exciting as always!  We had about ten minutes to unpack our things in our room before Elysee arrived.  I heard the van pull in and I ran out to see her!  Her reaction was about the worst I could have imagined.  She began crying immediately and clung to one of the ladies who brought her.  She would not come to me at all.  I immediately began crying even though I told myself I would not…it’s hard to see how scared she is.  The baby came a few minutes later and she was asleep so I grabbed her in my arms and began kissing her all over! 

She has grown so much!  About an hour or so after both girls arrived, Elysee began to warm up to me.  She asked me to take her to the pool and so we swam a bit and she was back to her old self!  She laughed and smiled and we had a wonderful night!  Elizabeth went out with a few others to the grocery store so we have plenty of food now J

I was so dreading bedtime and Elysee did cry for a bit before bed but she let me hold her and rock her until she fell asleep J  Elizabeth got the baby all ready for bed and she went right to sleep.  Then we went to bed around the same time…Elizabeth and I were exhausted! 

Everyone woke up in great moods this morning!  Elizabeth and I were rested and the girls were all smiles!  We spent the morning playing in our room which was really great!  I made Elysee toast with Nutella and she ate four pieces!!!  Elizabeth went back to the grocery store today with a few others so one other lady and I had four kiddos in our room for lunch…they were a hoot!  Eating everything and into everything!!!  Elysee and one of the other little boys wrestled for about an hour…it made me laugh so hard thinking about the day we get to bring her home to wrestle Eli J 

We went swimming for a bit today and Elysee sat at the edge of the pool and dumped cup after cup of water on her head while laughing hysterically!  I was even able to get the baby in for a bit and she really liked it too J  After swimming we headed back to the room for a nap and Elysee cried for about an hour before she finally went to sleep.  She woke up in kind of a dazed state that she stayed in for about two hours but after dinner she began to smile and laugh again J  We celebrated one of the little boy’s birthdays tonight so everyone had cake which Elysee loved! 

Tonight was amazing!  I told Elysee we had to leave one of her friends rooms to come back to our room for bed.  She grabbed her Dora doll, waved goodbye, and walked out the door….then she began to scream!  She screamed while we walked back to the room and continued once we got inside.  Then about five minutes later she stopped, we picked out her jammies, played on the bed for a few minutes and I told her it was time to go to sleep and she laid down on her bed, I covered her up and she kissed me goodnight!  AMAZING!  I could not believe it! 

Elizabeth has been a HUGE help so far and I am so thankful for her willingness to come!  She has cooked, cleaned, shopped and played with both of the girls. 

Please continue to pray for the girls…the baby has had an upset stomach and both of the girls have a bit of a cold L

Well, that’s it for now… Thank God for a wonderful two days filled with smiles, hugs, kisses and snuggles! 

Lynsey

Lessons in Generosity

So Adam and I have a 2004 VW Jetta that has had some problems lately :-)  Adam was driving it home about a month ago and he could not take it out of 3rd gear so he drove all the way home through some neighborhoods praying that he would not get into a wreck seeing as how he could not stop and he could not go any faster!  He made it to our mechanic's where they worked on it and in the end decided that it needed a new clutch.  They called Adam and told him that the car was ready and the dollar amount of the bill and Adam called me to let me know.  I was not thrilled but... we had to have a car so Adam was going to pick it up that evening.  Adam said a little bit later that the mechanic called back and said that he felt bad about the amount of the bill so he was going to knock a couple hundred dollars off...

What?  Have you ever had this happen?  Who does that?!?

Then last week, Adam went outside to put air in one of the car tires because he has to do this every couple of weeks...for a time period we will not mention...don't judge....we've had more important things to pay for lately :-)  So he comes back inside and says...we have new tires on our car!  To say that I did not believe him would be an understatement!  I think I said something like..."we do not have new tires...how would we have new tires???"  It was kind of late so we both went out there with a flashlight and started looking at them and I still did not believe him.  I don't look at tires very often and I could not decide if they looked new or not :-)  Adam said that he knew they were new because they had tread on them!  lol!  So Adam took our car back to the mechanic's the other day to get it inspected...which by the way, it would not have passed if we did not have new tires...and the mechanic started laughing at him!  He said he really wanted to call Adam a few times to see if he had noticed yet!  So basically...they were working on our car and someone was there and said it looked like we needed new tires and they paid for them!

What?  Have you ever had this happen?  Who does that?!?

So God has been teaching me about generosity lately:-)  I was out early jogging one morning last week and I was praying while I was running and I asked God to help me be more generous.  I have experienced AMAZING generosity through God and his children over the last two years and I really wanted to see what he would do through me.  God immediately brought a person to mind and a dollar amount to send them.  I kind of chuckled and thought...well, I better go home and mail a check!  I ran home and told Adam that I felt like God told me to send this amount of money to this family and he said, "okay!"  So I wrote a card out and put a check in it and we put it in the mailbox.  I went about my day and had kind of forgot about it...until that evening when someone gave us the exact dollar amount that we had put in that card. 

What?  Have you ever had this happen?  Who does that!  

God does :-)

God is teaching me about generosity lately and it's been really cool :-)

Elizabeth and I are heading to the DR Congo on Sunday morning...it's finally here!  God has provided everything that we need and I am excited to see what he is going to do on this next trip!  Please join us in praying for...

Safe travels.
The girls to remember who I am and that we bond quickly.
God to lead us in where he wants us to go and what he wants us to do.
Our families back at home.
Great health.
USCIS approval and that we would be granted custody of the baby.
The visa suspension to be lifted.

Thank you to everyone who gave us formula and vitamins!  We can't wait to get it where it needs to go!!! 

Lynsey

Prayers

Please be in prayer today for the baby.  Our Agency called this morning to let us know that she has a fever and was being taken to the doctor.  We also received word over the weekend that Elysee has been sick as well.

I explained to Eva and Eli that the baby was sick this morning and asked if they would pray for her and they both immediately began to pray out loud to God :-)  Eva asked that God would help her to feel better and that he would heal her which I thought was very sweet but Eli's prayer was the COOLEST!  He just yelled as loud as he could, "Thank you God for helping sissy!"  His prayer was a reminder to me,

 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7

Join us in praying for healing and protection for both girls and praise God for what he is going to do.

Lynsey

It's been a long time...

It's been a long time since our last update so here are a few things that have happened :-) 

Adam and I finally got home on April 30th from our trip to meet our girls.  Our trip home was an adventure...we took a few extra plane rides, a whole extra day and we had to get a ride from Dulles to Roanoke instead of flying but we arrived safe and sound and greeted two very excited kiddos...along with some very excited grandparents! 

Life has been pretty good since we returned.  I had a hard time adjusting to life here without our girls but God has given me his grace to get through this period right now and I am thankful.  We have received a lot of pictures and videos of the girls since we have been gone which has helped!  We still do not have any new news on the visa suspension...only that they are still planning to begin issuing visas later this year so we are still praying for that :-)

Adam and I had the opportunity to speak to approximately 90 people last Saturday night about meeting our girls and our experiences in the DR Congo.  It was a great night and I was so excited to share with so many people!!! 

About a month ago, our agency let us know that they are taking another group to the Congo in August and I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to go so Adam and I had been talking about it and we had decided that Adam really could not take off of work but we just couldn’t decide if I should go or not.  We really needed to let our agency know if we were going and we just could not make up our minds so finally it occurred to me, I should ask God if he thinks I should go J

One afternoon a few weeks ago, I sat down on the couch during nap time and I started praying asking him if I should go.  I asked him if it was wise to spend the money we had left to go back and see them knowing that we may have to pay foster care fees for awhile and I asked God to provide the money for the trip if he wanted me to go.  So right after I finished praying, it occurred to me that I had not gotten the mail for the day so I ran outside to get it and there was a card in our mailbox from a friend and I started opening it up as I walked back up the driveway and when I opened it, there was a really long note written in it that I did not even see because there was a check for $1,000 right on top!  I literally just stood in the middle of the driveway with my mouth hanging open.  She had written inside the card,

"I am not sure what your needs are but God does and he told me to give this to you :-)"
Talk about an answer to prayer!  That check was in our mailbox before I even asked him! 

So we told our agency I was in and I would be bringing someone with me…I had no idea who that someone would be but I knew God would tell me who so I started praying everyday…throughout the day, God tell me who to take with me and even more importantly, tell that person they need to go!  Well as the weeks went by, I asked a few people and they were unable to go so almost two weeks ago on a Sunday night, Adam and I sat down and talked about it.  I really had to know who was going because we had to send in our info to get visas or we weren’t going to be able to go so I do what I usually do when I don’t feel like God has answered my prayers…I take matters into my own hands and I start making a list!  I texted the first person on my list and I said, hey…do you want to go to the Congo with me?  So that person obviously wanted to pray about it so the next morning, I went to bible study just really down…I kept asking God why he wasn’t telling me who to take.  Well I sat down at the table with all the other ladies and the leader welcomes us and says, "Lynsey, do you have anything you want us to pray about," so I kind of fumbled a little from being put on the spot and then I told them I needed someone to go to the Congo with me and I explained all that it would entail and asked them to pray God would tell me who to take and tell that person they needed to go.  So we went on with Bible study and when it ended a friend, Elizabeth, walked up to me and said, "I think God is telling me I need to go with you!"  I was so excited!!!  So she talked it over with her husband and they agreed and I told her that the very first thing she needed to do on Tuesday was go get all her shots and get her passport expedited.  Well originally, weeks ago, I had told our agency that I was going to go the second week in August and I knew that Elizabeth could only go the first week so I needed to get my hotel reservation changed but when we talked to Papa Xavier at the hotel on Tuesday morning he said all the rooms were booked…we could not go the first week.  So I told Elizabeth that and Adam and I talked about it and we decided that we knew God asked me to go and we knew that he told Elizabeth to go with me so we were going to go ahead and spend the hundreds of dollars it would cost to get her shots and passport in faith that God would open up a spot.  I really wanted to see him do this.  Well Tuesday morning I was just sure he was going to perform a miracle but by Tuesday night I was doubting whether he was going to do it.  We had been able to talk to our agency reps who were planning the trip to see if maybe someone had decided not to go and they assured us there was no room.  Elizabeth and I talked about it for awhile that night and were both just upset.  We just could not understand why he would tell her to go and then not let us go.  And at one point, I looked at Elizabeth and I said, "well, it wouldn’t be a miracle if there were any rooms open."  Well I went to bed that night very upset and the next morning, Adam woke me up at 6am with his cell phone about an inch from my face saying "Look!  Look!"  And I said, I" can’t see it! Where are my glasses!" ha ha!  So I put my glasses on and he had an email from our agency saying…."there has been a cancellation…do you guys still want the room?"  How cool is that!!!!  Our God is ABLE !!!  We just have to ask him!

I am super excited to be heading back in a month!!!  I can't wait to see our girls!

I would love prayer for the following:
-That Elizabeth and I would receive our visas and that all of the travel would go smoothly.
-For both of us and the girls to remain healthy.
-That the girls would remember who I am and that they would begin to attach to me quickly.
-For God to provide his peace and patience for all of us during the trip.
-For God to open our eyes and ears to his plan for our next steps for ministry in the DR Congo. 

We will also be collecting powdered baby formula for the next few weeks to take back to the orphanages in Kinshasa.  Any brand would be wonderful! 

Thank you so much for your prayers and continued support!

Lynsey