Sunday, April 21, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Thank you for your prayers!
We received word that "W's" medical information came back and it looks great! We have not seen it yet but we were told that he is fine. So THANK YOU to everyone who prayed!
Along with "W's" medical information we found out that he "might have a sister." A young girl around the age of nine or ten was brought to the orphanage and "W" and she were both very excited to see each other. Our agency was sending someone who speaks Swahili to communicate with this little girl to see if they are in fact siblings or if they just know each other. We do not have an answer yet so please pray that we would receive this information soon. We also ask that you would pray for wisdom for Adam and I and that God would tell both of us what he wants us to do. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support!
Lynsey
Along with "W's" medical information we found out that he "might have a sister." A young girl around the age of nine or ten was brought to the orphanage and "W" and she were both very excited to see each other. Our agency was sending someone who speaks Swahili to communicate with this little girl to see if they are in fact siblings or if they just know each other. We do not have an answer yet so please pray that we would receive this information soon. We also ask that you would pray for wisdom for Adam and I and that God would tell both of us what he wants us to do. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support!
Lynsey
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
His timing is perfect...
The weekend was not off to a great start.
Adam picked up our Roanoke County background check letters and they were not done correctly so we had to start all over. Then I opened the mailbox on Saturday to find our State background check requests had been returned to us because we filled out the wrong form when submitting them...this was the correct form 6 months ago but not now....so we had to start all over again. It was a frustrating weekend for us...the never ending paperwork... then I woke up on Monday morning and I prayed. I was determined to be joyful no matter what came. I also prayed for a little bit of encouragement in the adoption arena. A lady in my Bible study group said that she prayed last week for a little encouragement in a matter than she had been praying about for years and the Lord gave her some. She suggested I do the same so that Monday morning, that is exactly what I did at 4:45 am before I began working...it was tax season after all :-) The rest of the day played out like it usually does, taxes, breakfast, play, lunch, play, taxes, play, dinner, taxes... and then I finished all of the tax prep I was going to do for the day around 7:30 pm and I closed down my computer and walked inside. Adam was standing in the living room, kids at his feet, laptop in one arm and phone in the other. He looked up at me with the biggest smile I had seen in awhile and said..."hold on, let me put you on speaker phone, she just walked in..." And the conversation went something like this.
"Hi Lynsey, its Debra from EAC."
"Hi Debra!"
"We have a little boy that came to the orphanage and we want to know if you are interested in him."
Adam opened up the computer and I saw his picture...and the tears started. This is the moment I have been waiting for, for over a year. This is the encouragement I asked for :-)
"His name is "W", he is 3 years old. That is all we know. We are going to have his medical testing done and should have that back for you in about a week. He looks pretty healthy but we wont know for sure until we get his tests back. I want to know if you are interested in him?"
"I don't understand. How can we get a referral if we aren't even on the list? We don't even have our dossier submitted."
"You are almost there and you have been waiting in the Ghana program for awhile already and he meets your criteria. He needs a home."
"Of course we are interested!!! We will pray about him tonight and let you know for sure in the morning."
The next morning, I got up, asked God to speak to me directly about "W" and whether or not he is the child God has picked out for us and this is what happened. I opened my Bible study questions for the day and that days questions were on Genesis 35 so I started reading. I got to verse 11 and this is what it says...
"I am God Almighty, be fruitful and increase in number."
So I stopped and I prayed that if this is the Lord speaking to me about "W" that he would confirm that to me. I finished reading chapter 35 so I started answering my Bible study questions for the day. One of the questions asked me to go to Isaiah 1:16 and this is what it said...
16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.[a]Defend the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
I had written a note next to this verse over a year ago..."I know God is calling me to do this - how???" And now God was answering my question. I felt him tell me in my heart, this is how I want you to do this, this adoption, this little boy, this specific time.
We started this journey long ago.
I couldn't get pregnant and we prayed.
We finally got pregnant and we still prayed.
We knew he told us to adopt.
We worked on paperwork for a very long time.
We sent it all to the wrong country.
We prayed and he told us to change directions.
We started all over again.
WHY is this taking so long????
I have asked this question over and over. And now I know..."W" just got to the orphanage.
God is sovereign and his plan is perfect. His timing is perfect.
So we began the waiting again, this time for his medical information. Debra told us this would not be an official referral that we could accept until they had his medical information back so we waited, and waited and waited. We waited to share the news because it wasn't an official referral and we wanted to be sure but we are sharing this information now because we need your prayers. One of the main things God has taught us through this process is that prayer works! Ask him to move mountains to get "W's" medical information back to us. Debra said it would be a week so at the end of the third week, Adam asked her if we should be concerned that it was taking so long and she said, "No, not at all, this is Africa."
On Thursday, I started my day out like I have so many times lately, praying to God to please bring our FBI clearances in the mail today. This was the last piece of information we were waiting on to send in our completed dossier. Right after the mailman dropped off our mail, I prayed and walked to the mailbox and I was so excited to finally see a letter from the FBI but it was only my clearance letter. Adam's was not there. So I called Adam upset that the letter was not there. "They should have been together, how could they get separated?" Adam assured me it was no big deal and it would probably be in the mailbox tomorrow. So I got off the phone upset. I went to pick up Eva from preschool and on the drive home, I talked to God. I asked him why he let the letters get separated? He knew how bad we needed them and he just let one of them get lost. And then I heard the perfect song on the radio for my situation, it goes like this...
"I don't know what you are doing, but I know who you are."
...and I told him that I trusted him even though I didn't understand. So Eva, Eli and I walked into the house and I started making lunch and someone knocked on our door. When I walked over, it was our next door neighbor, Mr. Scott standing there with a letter in his hand...he said, "this got put in my box today." I jumped up and down when I saw the letters FBI on the front! I told Mr. Scott how I had been waiting and praying for this letter and thanked him profusely for bringing it over!!! How cool is that!
So we have everything completed and mailed. It will be translated and then sent to the Congo. What we need prayer for right now is "W's" medical information to come back. We cannot officially accept him without his medical information so please pray that it will come back quickly and pray for wisdom for Adam and I. Since "W" is not officially ours yet, we have not told Eva and Eli so please do not mention this to them.
I am SO tired of waiting but I am not tired of watching God perform miracle after miracle on our child's behalf. I am not tired of asking him to speak to me and hearing his voice. I am not tired of seeing his plan unfold and I am not tired of him showing me time and time again that he is sovereign and his plan is perfect. Thank you God for not getting tired of me.
Lynsey
Adam picked up our Roanoke County background check letters and they were not done correctly so we had to start all over. Then I opened the mailbox on Saturday to find our State background check requests had been returned to us because we filled out the wrong form when submitting them...this was the correct form 6 months ago but not now....so we had to start all over again. It was a frustrating weekend for us...the never ending paperwork... then I woke up on Monday morning and I prayed. I was determined to be joyful no matter what came. I also prayed for a little bit of encouragement in the adoption arena. A lady in my Bible study group said that she prayed last week for a little encouragement in a matter than she had been praying about for years and the Lord gave her some. She suggested I do the same so that Monday morning, that is exactly what I did at 4:45 am before I began working...it was tax season after all :-) The rest of the day played out like it usually does, taxes, breakfast, play, lunch, play, taxes, play, dinner, taxes... and then I finished all of the tax prep I was going to do for the day around 7:30 pm and I closed down my computer and walked inside. Adam was standing in the living room, kids at his feet, laptop in one arm and phone in the other. He looked up at me with the biggest smile I had seen in awhile and said..."hold on, let me put you on speaker phone, she just walked in..." And the conversation went something like this.
"Hi Lynsey, its Debra from EAC."
"Hi Debra!"
"We have a little boy that came to the orphanage and we want to know if you are interested in him."
Adam opened up the computer and I saw his picture...and the tears started. This is the moment I have been waiting for, for over a year. This is the encouragement I asked for :-)
"His name is "W", he is 3 years old. That is all we know. We are going to have his medical testing done and should have that back for you in about a week. He looks pretty healthy but we wont know for sure until we get his tests back. I want to know if you are interested in him?"
"I don't understand. How can we get a referral if we aren't even on the list? We don't even have our dossier submitted."
"You are almost there and you have been waiting in the Ghana program for awhile already and he meets your criteria. He needs a home."
"Of course we are interested!!! We will pray about him tonight and let you know for sure in the morning."
The next morning, I got up, asked God to speak to me directly about "W" and whether or not he is the child God has picked out for us and this is what happened. I opened my Bible study questions for the day and that days questions were on Genesis 35 so I started reading. I got to verse 11 and this is what it says...
"I am God Almighty, be fruitful and increase in number."
So I stopped and I prayed that if this is the Lord speaking to me about "W" that he would confirm that to me. I finished reading chapter 35 so I started answering my Bible study questions for the day. One of the questions asked me to go to Isaiah 1:16 and this is what it said...
16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.[a]Defend the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
I had written a note next to this verse over a year ago..."I know God is calling me to do this - how???" And now God was answering my question. I felt him tell me in my heart, this is how I want you to do this, this adoption, this little boy, this specific time.
We started this journey long ago.
I couldn't get pregnant and we prayed.
We finally got pregnant and we still prayed.
We knew he told us to adopt.
We worked on paperwork for a very long time.
We sent it all to the wrong country.
We prayed and he told us to change directions.
We started all over again.
WHY is this taking so long????
I have asked this question over and over. And now I know..."W" just got to the orphanage.
God is sovereign and his plan is perfect. His timing is perfect.
So we began the waiting again, this time for his medical information. Debra told us this would not be an official referral that we could accept until they had his medical information back so we waited, and waited and waited. We waited to share the news because it wasn't an official referral and we wanted to be sure but we are sharing this information now because we need your prayers. One of the main things God has taught us through this process is that prayer works! Ask him to move mountains to get "W's" medical information back to us. Debra said it would be a week so at the end of the third week, Adam asked her if we should be concerned that it was taking so long and she said, "No, not at all, this is Africa."
On Thursday, I started my day out like I have so many times lately, praying to God to please bring our FBI clearances in the mail today. This was the last piece of information we were waiting on to send in our completed dossier. Right after the mailman dropped off our mail, I prayed and walked to the mailbox and I was so excited to finally see a letter from the FBI but it was only my clearance letter. Adam's was not there. So I called Adam upset that the letter was not there. "They should have been together, how could they get separated?" Adam assured me it was no big deal and it would probably be in the mailbox tomorrow. So I got off the phone upset. I went to pick up Eva from preschool and on the drive home, I talked to God. I asked him why he let the letters get separated? He knew how bad we needed them and he just let one of them get lost. And then I heard the perfect song on the radio for my situation, it goes like this...
"I don't know what you are doing, but I know who you are."
...and I told him that I trusted him even though I didn't understand. So Eva, Eli and I walked into the house and I started making lunch and someone knocked on our door. When I walked over, it was our next door neighbor, Mr. Scott standing there with a letter in his hand...he said, "this got put in my box today." I jumped up and down when I saw the letters FBI on the front! I told Mr. Scott how I had been waiting and praying for this letter and thanked him profusely for bringing it over!!! How cool is that!
So we have everything completed and mailed. It will be translated and then sent to the Congo. What we need prayer for right now is "W's" medical information to come back. We cannot officially accept him without his medical information so please pray that it will come back quickly and pray for wisdom for Adam and I. Since "W" is not officially ours yet, we have not told Eva and Eli so please do not mention this to them.
I am SO tired of waiting but I am not tired of watching God perform miracle after miracle on our child's behalf. I am not tired of asking him to speak to me and hearing his voice. I am not tired of seeing his plan unfold and I am not tired of him showing me time and time again that he is sovereign and his plan is perfect. Thank you God for not getting tired of me.
Lynsey
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
A Roller Coaster
This past week has been a roller coaster! Friday before last, I was on a mountain top high because God had confirmed to Adam and I that we were supposed to change countries and so we mailed in our registration documents and were officially in the Congo program. Whew....what a relief! I had prayed and prayed, and lets face it, whined and whined to God "please tell Adam that we are supposed to adopt from the Congo!" and he finally did and I was thrilled! Then came the bad news...this would mean that we would have to wait some more. This would mean that we needed more money, a lot more money. This would mean that we would need new fingerprints done, an updated home study, amended immigration approval, a new dossier and all of that would have to be sent to the Congo and then we would go on a waiting list...again. It truthfully was more than I could handle. I became overwhelmed with sadness and cried and cried to God. Then twice last week, in two completely different settings, this verse came up..
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3
I have memorized this verse. TRUST. TRUST. TRUST. Jesus, for the JOY set before him, endured the CROSS. I can endure a little more waiting, more paperwork, more money. He has reminded me over and over this week...
While you are waiting, I AM WORKING ALL THINGS OUT FOR YOUR GOOD AND FOR MY GLORY!!!! Be patient, my timing is perfect.
I do not know why this is taking so long but I cannot be fearful and trust him at the same time, so I choose to trust.
On Thursday of last week, Adam and I went to get our finger prints done again and we mailed off our request for local, state and FBI clearance again. We also received our updated home study and mailed that to USCIS for an amendment to our immigration approval. As soon as we dropped off all of the information at the post office, I prayed out loud "Now it's in your hands, God." And this statement made me laugh out loud at myself...it was never in my hands to begin with! We serve a God who is sovereign over ALL and I praise him that it is ALL in his hands ALL the time. I am praying daily that God would move mountains to get all of this paperwork back here and then to the Congo so that we can go and get our baby, please pray with us.
In the meantime, God has laid something on my heart that I want to share with you. Over the last couple of months, two people have asked me if I had heard of "Forget the Frock?" This is a tradition that the Fox Family started and I checked out their blog and it really spoke to my heart...Here is the info they have on their blog...
“It’s simple really.
We commit to give up our Frocks (you know those fancy little dresses we love to slap on for Easter). Yep, we kiss ‘em goodbye and spend our money on something to wear on Easter Sunday that serves a PURPOSE… T-shirts that feed hungry babies, precious orphans actually.
People, who for Easter do something as simple as wearing a t-shirt that helps care for the orphan. Because GOD says “pure and faultless religion is to look after the orphan and the widow and not allow the world to corrupt you.” James 1:27
So here it is… The Easter Challenge… let’s toss aside our Fancy Frocks and let’s join forces to care for the orphan… let’s…
Forget the Frock, Feed an Orphan!!!
“God is for people who are for his people and orphans are HIS people. So if you are for the Orphan… God is for you. ” -Jen Hatmaker
Are you on board? Or maybe still on the fence… Just aren’t sure where to snag your new Easter Shirt… Check out FeedingTheOrphans.org… every last drop of the money you spend on your “Easter” shirt goes to feed hungry babies in Ghana!
So I looked at FeedingTheOrphans.org and you have got to check out this website! http://feedingtheorphans.org/from-sydney this is an AMAZING story about 7 year old girl you have got to read! It's short so take a minute and listen to what God is doing through this little girl and her family. If they are out of your size or the shirt you want, you can also purchase shirts through http://www.147millionorphans.com/ .
Join our family on Easter in Forgetting the Frocks and Feeding an Orphan!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3
I have memorized this verse. TRUST. TRUST. TRUST. Jesus, for the JOY set before him, endured the CROSS. I can endure a little more waiting, more paperwork, more money. He has reminded me over and over this week...
While you are waiting, I AM WORKING ALL THINGS OUT FOR YOUR GOOD AND FOR MY GLORY!!!! Be patient, my timing is perfect.
I do not know why this is taking so long but I cannot be fearful and trust him at the same time, so I choose to trust.
On Thursday of last week, Adam and I went to get our finger prints done again and we mailed off our request for local, state and FBI clearance again. We also received our updated home study and mailed that to USCIS for an amendment to our immigration approval. As soon as we dropped off all of the information at the post office, I prayed out loud "Now it's in your hands, God." And this statement made me laugh out loud at myself...it was never in my hands to begin with! We serve a God who is sovereign over ALL and I praise him that it is ALL in his hands ALL the time. I am praying daily that God would move mountains to get all of this paperwork back here and then to the Congo so that we can go and get our baby, please pray with us.
In the meantime, God has laid something on my heart that I want to share with you. Over the last couple of months, two people have asked me if I had heard of "Forget the Frock?" This is a tradition that the Fox Family started and I checked out their blog and it really spoke to my heart...Here is the info they have on their blog...
“It’s simple really.
We commit to give up our Frocks (you know those fancy little dresses we love to slap on for Easter). Yep, we kiss ‘em goodbye and spend our money on something to wear on Easter Sunday that serves a PURPOSE… T-shirts that feed hungry babies, precious orphans actually.
People, who for Easter do something as simple as wearing a t-shirt that helps care for the orphan. Because GOD says “pure and faultless religion is to look after the orphan and the widow and not allow the world to corrupt you.” James 1:27
So here it is… The Easter Challenge… let’s toss aside our Fancy Frocks and let’s join forces to care for the orphan… let’s…
Forget the Frock, Feed an Orphan!!!
“God is for people who are for his people and orphans are HIS people. So if you are for the Orphan… God is for you. ” -Jen Hatmaker
Are you on board? Or maybe still on the fence… Just aren’t sure where to snag your new Easter Shirt… Check out FeedingTheOrphans.org… every last drop of the money you spend on your “Easter” shirt goes to feed hungry babies in Ghana!
So I looked at FeedingTheOrphans.org and you have got to check out this website! http://feedingtheorphans.org/from-sydney this is an AMAZING story about 7 year old girl you have got to read! It's short so take a minute and listen to what God is doing through this little girl and her family. If they are out of your size or the shirt you want, you can also purchase shirts through http://www.147millionorphans.com/ .
Join our family on Easter in Forgetting the Frocks and Feeding an Orphan!
Monday, March 4, 2013
It's working!!!
This morning started off a little rough...Adam called our social worker and explained that we switched countries last Friday(she only works part time and is off on Friday's so this was our first time talking to her since the switch). Adam explained that we needed an updated homestudy as soon as possible so that we could send it to immigration and she immediately said that she was really busy this week and then she was taking vacation next week for ten days. Adam called to let me know and I was so upset. I am just not good at waiting...so I immediately felt anxious and started trying to figure out what to do so that we could get her to update this before she left on vacation and in the middle of all of this I just stopped and prayed. I prayed scripture back to God, I asked him to move mountains and people to get this done quickly and then I taped cards of scripture around our kitchen so that I could read them all day and I immediately began to relax :-) Adam called me back at lunch to let me know she had updated the homestudy and already sent it to EAC for their review and approval! Yay! Keep praying...it's working :-)
Sunday, March 3, 2013
A new command...
And this is how it happened...
I wrote this e-mail on January 28th to a couple of friends:
I know this is probably going to sound really "out of the blue"
but could you guys pray that we are going in the right direction with the
adoption? Last week for some reason I looked on our international agency's
website and I looked at the "waiting children" list and in the past
this has always been older children and usually from China (which we do not
qualify to adopt from) but this past week there were a lot of young children
from the DR of Congo and so I started to look at this country and I am just
overcome with the feeling that we are supposed to adopt from there. The more
research I do into this country the more my heart is pulled toward there...this
is one of the absolute poorest countries on the planet right now and the wars
that have been going on there are horrible...everywhere I look it talks about
"mass killings and mass raping of women." There is a little girl
named Mireielle who is 3 and I need you guys to pray that if we are supposed to
adopt her that God would confirm this to me but more importantly, speak to Adam
about changing countries. And if this is not God's will, that he would take this
desire from my heart. The thought of these children growing up there just takes
my breath away....the thought that some of the little guys would become child soldiers
or the little girls would be raped and killed just does me in. I am guessing
the reason there are so many children there waiting is that the DR of Congo is
a place that you are warned not to visit unless you are humanitarian aid... I
know that if this is what God has for us, that He will protect us but that is a
little scary too...so just pray :-) I have
mentioned this to Adam and haven't gotten much of a response so I am just
praying and waiting :-)Pray for my patience too
:-)
Life kept on going and I kept on praying...
Then a week and a half later, I was praying the same prayer to God, "please confirm that we are supposed to change countries or please take this desire from my heart." And then I opened my Bible study homework and that day's study was on Genesis 22:10-12,
10 Then
he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand
on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God,
because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
And the first question I read after reading this passage was, "Describe how you might follow Abraham's example of faith and obedience when he received a new command from God?"
And I knew...without a doubt....that God was telling me we were supposed to be changing directions. I know that may seem really weird but everything in me knew that God was telling me we needed to change countries, that he was giving us a new command too.
And that same day I read in my Bible study notes...
"The instant God's voice called for a change of direction, Abraham gladly obeyed. What a necessary lesson for all who follow God! Are your eyes fixed upon God... as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress? Psalm 123:2 It is wrong to imagine that God will never change the direction in which He leads you. When God requires a new step, are you ready to follow Him?
So I kept on praying, and praying, and praying. I prayed a lot for patience and that God would help me to not go ahead of him...I did not want to bug Adam about this and I knew that was going to take the restraint of the Holy Spirit!
This past Wednesday I woke up just overwhelmed with frustration that God has not told Adam yet...anyone who knows me, knows that patience is not my strong point. So I prayed to God that morning asking him to help me to be patient but I also told him I didn't understand why he wasn't telling Adam! Why would he tell me and then wait so long to tell Adam? And that same day, the coolest thing happened.
That afternoon I noticed there was a message on my cell phone (for those of you who know me, this is a miracle in itself that I noticed there was a message one the same day it was left! he he!) and when I checked it, it was Debra from our international agency calling to discuss the differences between adopting from Ghana vs. the DR of Congo. I was so excited! Adam must have called her and asked what we would need to do to switch countries so I immediately called him and said that Debra had called him back and left a message for him to call her. Adam sat there silent on the phone and said, "I didn't call Debra.... she said she wanted to talk about adopting from the DR of Congo? Talk about divine intervention!" Adam called her back and she explained the differences in the two programs. She had just returned from a trip to Africa where she had spent time at the orphanage in the Congo and she said, "If God has not specifically called you to Ghana, we need you to go to the DR of Congo." She went on to explain to him what a great need there was to adopt these children. And that night Adam and I talked it over and we both agreed, this is where God was calling us to. These are pictures taken of the orphanage where our child will come from.
We mailed our paperwork to EAC to switch countries on Friday and now we need your prayers! EAC has contacted the representatives in Ghana to try to get our dossier back which is filled with lots of original information that we need to send to the DR of Congo now. Please pray that we will be able to get this information back quickly! Please pray that we would be able to get our home study updated quickly and that the immigration paperwork would come back quickly and most of all for patience with the process and that we would learn to trust God more everyday through this process.
There are three really cool things God has opened my eyes to in the last couple of weeks that I wanted to share with you too...
The first is that I say all the time that I trust God but this is really where that trust is being tested. It occurred to me that in the past my children have been with me since conception. As soon as I knew of them, I was able to keep them safe. I protected them and I fed them and I have done this from the beginning…before I even knew what they looked like. But this is different. I know that I have a child but I don’t know what they look like or where exactly they are or if they are sick or hungry…and I cannot protect them and I cannot feed them but God can. He has reminded me over and over that his timing is perfect and he loves them more than I ever can and I need to trust that he is with them even while I am not. I was feeling very overwhelmed with anxiety about this on Friday morning and I was praying and asking God to help me to give all of this to him. And a scripture had come to my mind and I couldn’t remember it word for word but I knew that the gist of it was, worry about nothing pray about everything. And I decided that after I finished my Bible study homework, I would need to look that verse up so that I could write it down and memorize it this week. And when I opened up my Bible study for that day, guess what the verse was?
6 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
I just love God and how he has reassured me throughout this process that this is his will and that he is right here with us.
The second
one is that over six months ago, an old friend contacted me from a firm that I
used to work for and asked if I might be interested in working from home during
tax season for them? This was really out
of the blue because I had not worked there in over seven years but what a
timely offer seeing as though we needed A LOT of money for the adoption! So Adam and I prayed about it and we decided
this was one of the ways God was going to provide some of that money! Well, by the time tax season started, we
already had all of the money we needed for the adoption which really made me
wonder why God provided this job for me, and now I know. We will need at least another $2,000 and God
knew that!
The third
is that I went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic a few years ago and
I was really bummed that I did not take Spanish in high school! Adam and I even had a conversation where we
talked about how Spanish would have been so much more useful. Adam took German and I took French…when I say
I took French, I mean that I started my first year of French in 8th grade and
continued to take it all the way through high school, and then college. By the time I finished college, I was fluent
in French. Well, a couple of years ago,
our parents took us to France and I was so excited that I was going to finally
use all of that French I had learned. I
quickly learned that I had forgotten most of what I had known and so I tried to
brush up a little on it and when we got to Paris I was so excited! The first time I tried to talk to someone,
they just looked back at me and responded in English! I was kind of bummed. But guess who will speak French? Our new child!!! Isn’t that cool! God knew that 17 years ago I would need to
take French because 17 years from then, I was going to need to communicate with
a little person God was creating specifically for us.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
About your blogger…
I think I’m technically an author on this blog, so it’s
about time I posted something.
This post isn’t as much directly related to our adoption as it
is a profile about the better half of this set of soon to be adoptive
parents. So without further ado, let’s
get down to it…
Lynsey Stultz is an amazing woman, who I am extremely blessed to have as my wife. I thank God for our 7+ years of marriage, they have been the best years of my life. I am thankful for all the time we spend together, for all the laughter, all the smiles and the occasional tears. I am looking forward to many more years of seeing your eyes twinkle and your little mischievous grin!
One of the reasons that I love Lynsey is her kindness and generosity. Lynsey has a big heart that breaks when she sees people hurting. I’m sure some of you have experienced this through cards or plates of cookies and/or brownies, and if you haven’t, please know that you are being diligently covered by her prayers. Lynsey puts the needs of others before her own needs, and will work tirelessly to see that those needs are met.
I love Lynsey because of her love for God. Lynsey is dedicated to Bible study and prayer. She provides an excellent example for both me and our children. She inspires me to be more disciplined in my own study and prayer life.
Lynsey is an awesome mother and home-maker. Eva and Eli are blessed to have the greatest mother in the world! Our new child has no idea how wonderful his or her new mom will be! Lynsey is so patient and caring with our children. She works hard to be sure that they are learning new things daily, and she is responsible for shaping them into the wonderful little people that they are. Somehow, after she does that, Lynsey still manages to cook us hot, delicious, healthy meals, and keeps our house as clean as possible (especially considering that she has a 1, 3, and 32 year old working against her!).
Lynsey, these are only a few of the reasons that I love you! I hope that you know I appreciate all of your hard work for me and our children, and I look forward to whatever God has in store for us in the future.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY LYNSEY – I LOVE YOU,
Lynsey Stultz is an amazing woman, who I am extremely blessed to have as my wife. I thank God for our 7+ years of marriage, they have been the best years of my life. I am thankful for all the time we spend together, for all the laughter, all the smiles and the occasional tears. I am looking forward to many more years of seeing your eyes twinkle and your little mischievous grin!
One of the reasons that I love Lynsey is her kindness and generosity. Lynsey has a big heart that breaks when she sees people hurting. I’m sure some of you have experienced this through cards or plates of cookies and/or brownies, and if you haven’t, please know that you are being diligently covered by her prayers. Lynsey puts the needs of others before her own needs, and will work tirelessly to see that those needs are met.
I love Lynsey because of her love for God. Lynsey is dedicated to Bible study and prayer. She provides an excellent example for both me and our children. She inspires me to be more disciplined in my own study and prayer life.
Lynsey is an awesome mother and home-maker. Eva and Eli are blessed to have the greatest mother in the world! Our new child has no idea how wonderful his or her new mom will be! Lynsey is so patient and caring with our children. She works hard to be sure that they are learning new things daily, and she is responsible for shaping them into the wonderful little people that they are. Somehow, after she does that, Lynsey still manages to cook us hot, delicious, healthy meals, and keeps our house as clean as possible (especially considering that she has a 1, 3, and 32 year old working against her!).
Lynsey, these are only a few of the reasons that I love you! I hope that you know I appreciate all of your hard work for me and our children, and I look forward to whatever God has in store for us in the future.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY LYNSEY – I LOVE YOU,
Adam
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