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

Goodbye Girls (for now)

We have been having a great time the last two days!  There were a few rough moments but overall, things have been really great.  We have swam a few times but mostly Elysee wants to just play in the room with us.  She has turned into a clown!  She is really funny…doing just about anything to make us laugh.  She has started to help feed her sister and to try to calm her down during her rare fussy moments. 

Each day a few more friends have gone back to the foster home and each time she gets sad for a little bit but not for long.

 

We have just put both girls down for the night for the last time for a while.  We will say goodbye to both of them tomorrow morning.  I think Elysee will be happy to go back to see her friends and she is living in a really good place so although it will be sad to say goodbye, I am leaving her knowing that she is in good hands with lots of people she loves.  It will be very hard to say goodbye to the baby so please pray for peace for us.  Our flight leaves tomorrow and we should arrive in Roanoke on Tuesday night.  I am so sad to leave our kids here but very excited to see Eva and Eli J  I am very thankful for the abundant blessings the Lord has given us. 

Please pray for safe travels, good health and protection for both girls, and that we will be able to return very soon to bring them home. 

Bon Soir!

Lynsey

Thursday and Friday Adventures

We didn’t have internet last night so I am doing two days at once!

Thursday:

This morning started off better J  Both girls woke up and Elysee was smiling and she ate breakfast and played with us for a few hours before we went outside to meet up with her friends.  This is HUGE!  She played with the baby too which was really cute!  They had never met each other before this week so they are not used to each other either.  A little later we went to the pool and she did have a few rough moments but mostly she was all smiles letting her friends pull her around in a little boat.  When we started to come in for lunch she began to scream again and her sweet friend came over and told her to eat so she climbed up at the table and I put the computer in front of her with a picture of her and her friends swinging and she smiled and ate and talked to us for a while.  She does NOT like macaroni and cheese but loves chicken, boiled eggs and yogurt…lots and lots of yogurt!  One of the other moms offered for Elysee to take a nap with their children so that went really well this afternoon. 

Adam kept both of the kids while I went to the foster care home this evening with a few other parents.  In his words, one of the other moms that stayed behind had a squirt gun and she ran around squirting the kids while Adam showed them where to run and get away J  Their little legs were no match for the adults and the toddlers were completely soaked!  Soon after that, several, equally soaked, diaper clad toddlers J  It was a lot of fun and Adam had a good night bonding with Elysee while playing with her friends.  Some of the other moms that stayed behind made dinner and Adam, Elysee and the baby ate in another couples room.  It was quite an event - feeding three toddlers that do not speak your language!  The highlights were the little boy better known as the comedian, stuffing his face with a fist full of pasta and shaking his head vigorously…picture long pieces of spaghetti hanging out of a 2 year olds mouth swinging back and forth while he laughed!  And Elysee declaring she was finished by emptying the remains of her plate of fried fish on her head!  He he!  The end result was full kids, a big mess and a several spouses who were thrilled to see the van of parents pull in! 

I had a good evening traveling to the foster home where Elysee currently lives.  I rode in a van with four other parents, two ladies from our agency and one Congolese driver.  We drove into the nicest part of Kinsasha which is where the foster home is located.  It was huge by Congolese standards!  There are five bedrooms and four bathrooms for 30 kids right now.  When we pulled into the compound, all of the children and the workers were out front singing and dancing welcoming us!  It was the sweetest thing!  We went in for a tour and I got to see where Elysee sleeps and meet all of her little friends J  Once we were through with the tour, they put on very loud music and all the kids and nannies danced and sang and man, can they dance!  I can’t wait to see Elysee dance to some African music!  We also gave each of the kids there a bag of Easter eggs with candy and a toy and they were thrilled!  They immediately began eating all of the candy J  This was a wonderful opportunity!  I got to take tons of pictures and video of where Elysee lives, her friends who live with her  and her caretakers so she can have them forever. 

After we left the foster home, we went to the grocery store which was my first experience with buying food here, Adam whet last time.  It was a pretty nice grocery store with lots and lots of choices!  Everything was VERY expensive though.

When I got back to the room, we brought Elysee into the room kicking and screaming again for a shower and I decided to go and get Papa Samuel who was in another room (he lives at the foster house, and is the house manager) to get him to calm her down and sure enough, all he had to do was walk in the bathroom, speak very sternly to her to stop and she was quiet for the rest of the night!  After the shower, she did not want to get out of the shower so we let her stay in there for a really long time and she eventually came out on her own and got dressed.  She sat in the floor and played with her doll and a toothbrush until almost 10:00 and then Adam asked her if she wanted to go to sleep and she got up and got in bed.  NO TEARS J  Praise God!

The baby is wonderful!  We feed her a bottle at night after her bath and she goes right to bed.  She usually wakes up twice to eat which I think is pretty normal and then usually goes right back to sleep.  Sometimes we have to walk her around but that is it!  It has been wonderful getting to see all of her giggles and coos!  She is precious and loves to cuddle!

Friday:

This morning everyone was great!  Everyone got up all smiles!  Elysee would not eat but she was really happy and we played for a bit together before I had to get showered and ready to head to the orphanage that our baby currently lives in.  I rode with two of our Agency workers, two other moms and the same Congolese driver (Pablo).  We drove to a very different part of town.  We spent about two hours at the orphanage.  I am serious when I say, I will never be the same.  Please pray that the baby’s court process goes smooth and quick so she can be moved to live with Elysee at the foster home. 

When I got back to the hotel, it was Adam’s turn to go and visit the foster home so he could see where Elysee lives J  The baby and I and Elysee all hung out in our room together J  Elysee did not want to go to the pool with her friends!!!  She wanted to stay in the room and play with me!  I was thrilled!  We colored, played with stickers, sang songs, read books…it was great!  When Adam got back, we skyped with Eva, Eli and Grandma.  It went really well and the kids got to say hi to each other which was fun.

Later we had an egg hunt with the kids at the hotel which was GREAT!  They had never done that before but after they realized there was candy in the eggs they were really excited!  Elysee ate most of her candy tonight and then brought her bag in and put it on a shelf so she could find it in the morning J 

Bath and bed went great tonight with no tears from either kiddo!  Thanks for all the prayers…they are definitely working! 

The first couple in our group will be leaving tomorrow and saying goodbye to their kids.  Pray for them please.  One of their kids is the little boy that Elysee loves so much so pray for peace for her as well when he leaves.

Lynsey

Keep Praying!

Oh my have the last 36 hours been hard..sigh…

Yesterday afternoon, Elysee just started to really not like us.  I don’t know any other way to explain it.  She would not come to Adam or I.  She would hug and laugh with others but not us….I cannot even explain the feeling in my heart when she cried when I tried to pick her up.  My heart truly hurt.

At one point, she was screaming and crying in our room, screaming the same thing over and over and I just prayed for her and asked God to help.  I finally realized what she was screaming sounded a lot like a little boy’s name that was staying in another room with his parents from our Agency so I took her over and sure enough…all he did was touch her face and say her name and she instantly calmed down.  This was the first time I really thought through that these kids are her family.  Lord, thank you that she has friends she loves. 

We have made wonderful friends on this trip and I am so thankful for them.  I was swinging Elysee outside while she was screaming and I was trying to calm her…unsuccessfully and one of the mom’s came out and said, “Remember, God sets the lonely in families and he is here.”  Lord, thank you for our new friends. 

There are four other families here from our Agency, each with two kids.  We all ate together last night and when it was time for us to give the baby and bottle and Elysee a bath, we headed back to our room and Elysee immediately began to cry.  We gave her a bath for the first time (well really a shower)and she screamed all the way through it.  Then I lotioned her and put her jammies on and she continued to scream.  Then I sat on her bed, holding her in my arms while she screamed for over an hour.  I started to think I couldn’t do this, that I wasn’t strong enough but I knew that was not from God so I began to repeat scripture over and over.  I kept telling myself that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  I prayed and prayed…at first for God to pour out his comfort and peace on her soul and calm her.  Then a little later, just that he would make her fall asleepJ   Then, I began to sob because I truly felt like God was letting me see a glimpse of what it is like for her.  She was so alone and scared.  Lord, thank you for allowing me to truly see her pain.

Today, we got up and she would not eat.  I took her outside and we met up in a room with some of her friends and she finally began to smile and eat.  A little later we went to the pool and I tried and tried to get her to play with me, smile at me, really anything but she wouldn’t.  Then I tried to hand her a cup and for whatever reason, she threw herself on the ground and began to scream.  I had no idea what to do but then a lady walked over that had come from Elysee’s foster home and she picked her up and talked to her for a few seconds in Lingala then put her in my lap and she was fine.  It was the first time all day she had let me touch her J  Lord, thank you for Mama Linda being there.

One of the other mom’s did talk Elysee into getting in the pool and we had a really great time!  She let me hold her a little and then she let Adam play with her…I was so excited!  Then we ate lunch with some of her friends and when it was time for nap we headed to our room and she began to cry again.  She started yelling the little boy’s name over and over again so we went and got him and he came into our room, looked at her and said, “Elysee!  Lala!”  (sleep!) and she immediately calmed down and got in bed J  Lord, thank you for a friend to calm her.

Tonight we went swimming again and then headed back to the room to take a bath and she started screaming again.  I immediately turned on the praise music and Adam started bathing her.  She continued to scream.  We got her lotioned up and put her jammies on and she continued to scream.  Adam took her over to see the little boy next door and she calmed down until Adam brought her back to the room.   I was bathing the baby and getting her ready for bed so Adam sat down on her bed and held her and told her he loved her over and over in Lingala.  She cried and cried so Adam and I decided I should go and see if Debra from our Agency was here, we thought maybe she could calm her but she was not in her room so I headed back and I could hear her screaming from outside.  I walked in and she started screaming, “Mama! Mama! Mama!” and I looked at her and put my arms out and she reached for me J  I held her in my arms and she immediately stopped!  I cannot explain the joy I felt in my heart...I told her I loved her over and over in Lingala until she fell asleep on me and then I laid her in bed.  Lord, thank you for this little step…

Thanks for praying for us…we know God is doing great things here and we are so thankful he has answered our prayers to be His hands and feet here this week.

We Made It!!!

We made it!  We arrived last night around 6pm which was just a little bit later than planned.  We met Xavier from the hotel right when we walked through border control with a big smile and a friendly handshake!  It did take quite a while to get our luggage but the process wasn’t too bad and we began the drive to the hotel around 7:30 which was about 30 minutes from the airport.  The drive was interesting….it was dark and raining and the driver was honking the horn constantly and slamming on the brakes.  He even rolled down his window to yell at a few people J  Adam and I were both surprised by the amount of people on the side of the roads…they were everywhere! 

We got to the hotel right about 8pm and our contacts from our agency and four other couples with their kids met us outside and gave us a very warm welcome.  I of course was so excited I am not sure I even said hello to all of them before I asked if Elysee was there and one of the ladies said we have a little surprise and there they were!  Both of them!  They were barely awake since it was past their bedtime but we got to hold them and kiss them…it was definitely one of the best moments in my life.  It felt exactly the same as when I held Eva and Eli for the first time J 

We went into our hotel room and did not even lay Elysee down on her bed before she was asleep!  The night went pretty good.  We didn’t have a bed for the baby so she slept in between Adam and I which I was really nervous about and then Elysee was laying next to us on a twin bed and she was all over the place and just about fell out of bed a few times so I was up a lot putting her back in the middle of the bed.  The baby only woke up once to eat and then it took her awhile to go back to sleep but she didn’t cry J  She just played.

This morning we woke Elysee up at 7 because they said she usually gets up to eat at 6 and she was so tired that she fell asleep at the table sitting up…literally…Adam caught her before she fell over!  So we put her back to bed for about an hour and then she got up and was a little happier J  She ate a piece of toast and a granola bar for breakfast and played patty cake with me for a bit.

Adam went to the grocery store which he said was a lot like a CVS combined with a grocery store and got us some food for the week.  When he got back we decided to take the girls over to swim but Elysee was not having that!  I am sure she had never seen a pool before and even though all her friends were in there, she did not want to get in so we went back to the room to make lunch and she started to cry and cry and cry.  She was screaming the same word over and over.  I can’t even explain to you what this did to my heart!  I had no idea what she was saying so after a bit, I walked her over the office to see if Xavier from the airport was there and he was and he immediately took her in his arms and said…we be back… and he took off with her to find one of the ladies that works at the hotel and they calmed her right down.  They carried her back to our room and got her some M&M’s and talked to her for a bit about us being her mama and papa and how we loved her and we had food for her and she was going to have fun with us…and then she sat in my arms clinging to me while she ate a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, some yogurt and a granola bar!  Then I climbed in bed with her and she fell asleep holding my hand and the Tiana doll we brought her J 

The baby is full of giggles and toothless grins!  She is eating and sleeping well so far and seems to be a really happy baby.

Please pray that God would give both of them a sense of peace with us.  Elysee seems to be a little scared but that is probably normal.  She has lived in 5 places in her three years of life with multiple new caregivers and we are just two more to her right now that she does not know.  Pray the Lord would bond us quickly and give us a love for each other that only he can give. 

Continue to pray for Eva and Eli too…Susan said they are doing well but Eva was a little upset last night because she didn’t get to say goodbye to us on Skype…our connection kept failing.  And silly as it may seem, pray that our internet works enough to call them every day J

Thank you for your prayers!

Lynsey