When one hurts

"If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. 

            1Corinthinans 12:26 

About half of my "friends" on facebook are people that I don't know. They are people that I am getting to know though, through the adoption world of technology. Such an amazing thing.  

Some I do know and who are dear friends that have either just finished their adoptions or are in the midst of it.

Lately I have been seeing more of the hurt that comes with adoption. I have been watching families..so many families... fight for their children. People who are caught up in ridiculous red tape, people who have no clue what is coming next, people who have to make horribly difficult decisions. People dealing with lack of money, feeling alone, paperwork after paperwork, waiting after waiting, negativity. Whatever it is.

The Lord keeps bringing to mind the 1 Corinthians verse. When one part of the body of Christ hurts, we all hurt. When one rejoices, we all rejoice.

I have been in constant prayer for those families, ours and others I don't even know about. The Lord has even been waking me up in the middle of the night to pray.


In Isaiah 10:20-34 God is telling His people to not be afraid when the Assyrians come and destroy all they know. He never told them there wouldn't be a battle, he told them to trust in His promises and don't be afraid. God never said it would be easy and God never said the fighting, the hurt, the pain, the not understanding would not come. But He did say, "Do not be afraid."

We need to put on the full armor of God in whatever battle the Lord has us fighting, but we can't do that if we are clinging to our idols (There are devoted things in your midst, You can not stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you." Joshua 7:13) and not the One who already has the victory.

"Let not your heart grow faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them for the Lord your God is He who goes with you in fight for you against your enemies." Duet 20:4

One of the most amazing things that I have seen is families who have nothing left in them to fight have been clinging to the hope that is Jesus Christ. So many of them have been singing praises to our King in the midst of these crazy battles.  I have watched them put on Gods armor and be His vessels. Truly amazing and also horribly convicting on my end.


Father, please keep painfully destroying all that is keeping me from you. Lord I am praying that you will give strength to your children and that you will bless each and everyone of them with your  peace, peace that surpasses all understanding. Help  us to cast all of our anxieties at your feet and to continue this calling with our eyes fixed on you.

I can't wait for the day that I can rejoice with all of you!!!

                                                                         

 

Day Dreaming!

I have four posts that are half written and I just can't seem to finish them.

All I am doing is praying and day dreaming about our little Caleb. <3

There are some people in Ethiopia right now who are loving on our little boy for us and who are also taking pictures.
I am DYING to see those pictures!!! Seriously.... dying!!!! :)

The kids have been playing with the enormous about of baby dolls we have around here, pretending they are Caleb. They are going nuts waiting for their little brother to get here.
 Caleb will be in our boys room and they have been begging us to get the crib all set up. I don't even know if we have all the pieces for it. I really need to get on that.

We have also been praying for a July court date.

I have always told God (and whoever would ask) that I was done having kids. "I did not have a kid at 21 to have another at 30. No way did I want to start over." 

Can't you just hear God laughing!?!

Thankfully I am not in control and I am excited to say that I will be a proud momma again at... well.... 30! I will be 30 on July 29th. So how amazing would that be to be in Ethiopia loving on our little man!?!

Hey it could happen!

Again, I am not in control. God has the perfect timing and God knows when we will get to see him and pass court. BUT if we do get a court date, then we need to buy tickets ASAP. As of right now they are $2000 a piece and going up!

I felt sick to my stomach knowing we would have to keep asking to finish off these funds.I have nothing to sell, nothing to offer.  We are waiting to hear about a matching grant......And then something cool happened.

My hubby is a Police Officer and one of his colleagues was sharing our story with some church friends and one of those people handed him a check to give to us!! Then yesterday my hubby was working and another colleague came up to him and handed him some money and told him that he had been wanting to support us.

WOW!

To God be the Glory!

Little by little we will get those plane tickets!

I had a friend tell me during our "Help! We need our referral fee"  time, that if I don't put the need out there, how is anyone going to help? I am taking her advice and putting the need out there.

Just to be able to make our first trip (Please be a July court date) we will need $4500. Unless tickets go up, but that is the need now ( it could go down. you never know) .  We have $855 towards those cost now. So we need to raise $3645. The thing is that once we do get a court date, we need to purchase tickets right away. So we won't have 7 days or a limit. So if you are feeling led or maybe you just want to spread the word to give someone else the opportunity, we would really, really, really appreciate it!

Please keep praying for the Lord to prepare Caleb's heart for this crazy family he is apart of and for him to stay healthy and loved on. Pray for our funds and for a court date before the courts close.  We know and have peace that the funds will be there, God is never late.

Help us win a grant!

We are still fundraising with Ordinary Hero! We get 40% of all sales towards our travel costs to see our little Caleb.

Starting today and ending Tuesday, they are going to award the top three sellers with an extra $500!!! That means not only will we get 40% of the sales but we could also (with your help) get an additional  $500!

How awesome is that!?!


 I absolutely LOVE Ordinary Hero merchandise. They even have some cute new shirts out.

I really want this one for myself!

I can picture all three of my boys wearing this one!

My girlie girls want this one bad!

You get a purchase you will love and  help us get our Caleb here at the same time!

You can click on the Ordinary Hero picture on the right of my blog and don't forget when you purchase to choose our name in the affiliate box so we get the credit.

Remember grant contest ends Tuesday!!!


Blessings,

Homeschooling, things are changing!

 I usually order our curriculum in February or March  for the next year. This time God told me to wait. He had other plans about what we would be doing next year.

He made a way for my friend and I to go to the once a year homeschool convention. I have never been and was excited to see what it was all about. I assumed that God was having me go so I could see what He was calling us to next year.  That was only part of His plan.

Jenny and I at the convention (Gaylord Palms)

The Tuesday before we left God had called us to Classical Conversations. Before I knew it everything was starting to change. Our homeschooling and our curriculum was working for us. We had a great year. The kids even tested high, but God didn't think so.

The more the hubby and I prayed and learned about Classical teaching the more we fell in love. The more we knew this is exactly where our family needs to be. God has even called me to be a tutor for Classical conversations next year. Talk about taking me out of my comfort zone.

I have met and been to a training session with the women I will be working along side. I loved seeing the Lords hand in all of it. I will not only be working and praying alongside women I have never met, but also my dear friend I have known for over 7 years (she has seen it all with me) and another women who I greatly admire and who I met when the Lord first called us to homeschooling. These women are truly humble servants of the Lord and want nothing more then to Glorify God.  I am honored to come alongside all of  these ladies and to serve the Lord together.

These are just some of the women. Thanks Mary for the pic.

Though I am excited, I am also nervous. Like I said, God is really calling me out of my comfort zone and is changing my whole way of teaching. I really believe this will benefit our whole family. I also know that I am not going to be able to do all that God is asking if I am not making my quiet time with Him a priority everyday!




When I was at the convention I heard a speaker by the name of Bev Bradley. I went to two of her sessions. One of them was about "10 things I wish I would have done differently." I wrote them down and thought I would share.

1. Spend more time with the principal.
    -Don't take on to much
    - Encourage him in what God is calling him to do

2. Do not compare yourself to other people or their kids.

3. Have more fun!

4. Have a daily time of rest for everyone.
    -Unplug!

5.Ask your kids more questions.
    -How can you pray for them (no matter their age)
 
6.Enjoy the things that they enjoy.
 
7.Do a lot less paperwork

8.Seek the Lord, serve Him!

9. Poor into them what God wants them to become not what you want them to become.

10. It can not be about you.


School is out for us right now. I never finished all I wanted to get done this year, but that is the beauty of homeschooling :)

He is not done and what's next!

I meant to post this last week, but I have not had a chance to even sit down.

My hubby has an addiction to bibles. He is constantly going into the Family Christian bookstore to see what is on sale and then calls and tells me what he wants next. He does buy a lot of bibles that he gives away, but he also has a collection that are all his, I'm not even allowed to touch them :)

Well...... I can no longer make fun of his addiction. By going there so much he has met most of the employees and has told them about us adopting. Through him I was able to meet the manager who is an amazing women. During the time that God was working through all of you to bring in our fee. She had her whole store working on a way to help us raise above that.

They all made fliers and had a table set up in front of their store and we were giving away food and prizes and she even had the Veggietales come out! We were all so blown away!!! Only God!

Melissa (the manager) and I

We love the Veggietales!

People that showed up that day had such giving hearts and we were able to raise $410!!!  All of that money will go towards our travel cost. Plus we still had some of you giving even after we raised our fee!!

Only God!

It's hard for me to believe that once we raise our travel costs then we will be fully funded! I can not wait to say that word.



What happens next?

More waiting. We wait to get a call that we have a court date. When we get our date we will travel to Ethiopia and meet our son for the first time. Then while we are there we will go to court and stand before a judge and say we want Caleb to be our boy. Then (Lord willing) we will pass court right then and there and he will be ours forever!!! Actually, I can't wait to say that word. After all of that excitement we will come back home and wait for an embassy appointment, then we go back to Ethiopia and bring him home!!!!!

The time frame can vary. We are praying that we get to travel towards the end of July and  then have him home by his first birthday. Most people think it would have to be a miracle for that to happen. I have to agree, but we also know if it is the Lord's will then it will happen. So we are going to be praying for a miracle. Please pray with us.

Thank you all so much for your support. Please continue to pray for Caleb, for court, and for the rest of the funds to come in, when it all happens it will be quick!

 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
 

Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
  Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.

  

One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
  On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
   

They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
   

They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
 

The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your saints shall bless you!
   

They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
  to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
   

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
   

The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
   

The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
   

You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
 

The  Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
 

He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
  

The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 145

Of course He did!

We had exactly 7 days to raise $6100 so we could say "yes!" to our precious Caleb.

God did it in 5!!

Of course He did!!

I wish I could say that the whole time I was praying and updating my Facebook status with where we were, that I knew that it was going to come in, I wish I could say that I never let it stress me out, because after all God is the one who owns it all, but I can't.

This weekend I went to the once a year Homeschool convention. My friend and I planned and payed for it months ago, so there was no backing out. I am so glad that I went. I will blog more about it later, but it was a wonderful distraction.

On Friday I was really having a hard time. Between some of the negativity that people were saying  on top of me all ready feeling insecure, I was losing it. It was all sin of course and I was desperately trying to give it to God. After all there was nothing that I could do to make people give. I didn't want anyone to feel like they had to anyway, but I was worried it would not come in.

Thankfully God had me run into a wonderful lady named Mary. She has this wonderful gift of encouraging and rebuking you at the same time. I just laid everything out for her. Not just my fears with the money but also all the changes that God was making to our home schooling (will blog more later) and other things. Everything just came at me at once and before you know it my joy was gone. And then since my joy was gone I was even more upset that I would allow that to be taken from me..... Hello....I have waited over a year to find out who our son was and I was not even enjoying it!!!

After she basically told me that I was living in sin I thanked her for loving me in that way and I went outside to pray. I just needed to let it all go and at that very moment. thanks to Lord, I did.... Finally! My joy was back and I was able to not just enjoy the fact that I will be a mother to five kiddos, I was also able to have my heart open to receive all that God was showing me during the convention.

Because of the Lord working through all of you, we are able to send in the paper work and the money to say Yes to our Caleb. We are waiting for the money from paypal to hit our account and then off it will go. What an amazing feeling.

So many of you wrote us thanking us for allowing you the opportunity to be apart of this. Only God!

So many of you gave out of your poverty. You gave knowing you had to pull it from somewhere else, like groceries or bills. Only God!

So many of you prayed and were spreading the word and you have no idea who we are. Only God!

We prayed that we would not be in this situation when we received our referral. We prayed that we would not have to ask people over and over again to help us. Yet, God had other plans and I am thankful that He chose this route for us. Watching all that He did made me fall on my knees in worship. How could you all see my status and the money keep dropping and not praise Him?

I am truly in awe of His faithfulness.

I wish I was a women of amazing words so that you could feel what we are feeling and so that we could properly thank each and everyone of you.

Every single person that gave will be on the back of our puzzle for Caleb. I have not had the time to put it all together but I will take a picture when it is all done.

From the bottom of our hearts THANK YOU!!!

Thank you Jesus for calling us down this road of having another one of your precious children in our home.  I am so undeserving of any of your goodness and yet, you continue to bless me anyway. Thank you Lord for this amazing humbling experience. May you have the Glory and Honor forever. Amen!


I can't wait to tell you more about what God has done. Today was incredible! I will blog more later.



Also for those that may not have seen  it, here is our video of seeing Caleb for the first time. And yes, my hubby is beyond thrilled, He is a man after all and he wasn't going to cry;)

Singing His praises,

It's a BOY!!!!!

I can't believe that I can finally say  that WE HAVE SEEN OUR SON"S FACE!!! Oh and  what a precious face it is!

I will have to blog about "the call" another time, but it was amazing and quite funny.

Let me first tell you his name.

We will call him  Caleb (his given name, which we will not share yet) Maser

God gave us the name Caleb when we first started this adoption process and it seemed so fitting with some people against what we were doing (just like Caleb in the bible) and yet we knew that even though this road would be difficult, God had all ready paved the way. He had a precious boy picked out for us!

Caleb is 9 months old!! He has the most amazing smile and is a little chuncker! I can not wait to hold our little Caleb and tell him all about his brothers and sisters.

One thing that I wish we could do was just enjoy this referral, which we are!!! but we still have to pay the $8300 fee so that we can say "Yes, we want him to be our son!" This is not the route I wanted to take, but this is what God had planned.  I am reminded of Luke 5 when Jesus tells the men to put there nets in the water and they reply, but Master we have toiled all night and nothing...... Like I am saying Lord, we have asked a billion times all ready!..... but they obeyed Jesus and their nets were so full they were breaking....

We are in this position of asking, again.. and we are going to obey, but this time we know our boy. SO we humbly ask you to help us pay our referral fee. We have exactly 7 days to pay it. We only need $6,100.  No amount is to small. A little adds up very quickly. If you could please also share our blog so that others may have the opportunity to give.

For everyone that donates we will write your name on the back of Caleb's puzzle. That way we can also have it completed by the time he comes home <3

For those of you wanting to see pictures, we would be so happy to show you. You don't even have to ask, we will probably show you several times! but we can not post his photo on the internet just yet. Not until he is legally ours.  We will have a picture with us so we can show you when we see you!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Please help us spread the word. You can donate using our paypal to the right or you can send us a check. Send me an email for our address masermel@yahoo.com.

We will update the total every couple of hours. Anything above the referral fee will go towards our travel cost.

Thank you all so much!


In awe of His goodness!