Our homestudy is complete and our Lifebook sent in! Yay! We are that much closer to bringing our baby home. I am not sure i have ever been so excited to wait for something in my life!
Once our agency receives our homestudy along with our Lifebook we will be available for profiling birth mom's whose preferences are a match to us. We are hoping in the next week or so that will begin happening.
We also had our first big fundraiser and that went so well! Brian was able to get a roof job and a bunch of guys to volunteer their time and energy to help us. It was such a blessing to us to be able to see the willingness of our friends to help us in such a way. The weather was perfect and Brian had just enough help. Thank you so much to all who helped!!
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
The Little Things
My heart is dancing. I love the sweet little moments that God gives me where He reminds me once again that He not only loves me but He also delights in me! Lastnight was one of those sweet moments and it still warms my heart now as I am thinking about it.
Four years ago Brian and I were living in a rental house as we were house hunting for our own home. It was sunny, warm and yard sale season. Our neighbors a few houses down were having a yard sale so we went to check it out. I saw the cutest matching pack-n-play, swing & stroller set or at least I thought so. It was one of my favorite french patterns and I absolutely loved it! We however at the time didn't need any baby stuff so we didn't think too hard about it. Of course now that we are in the process of our adoption baby things are on my mind a little more frequently. I had thought about this set everytime I thought about baby sets and how much I loved it.
A few days ago I mentioned it to Brian how I wish we could find something like that for our baby. I saw a set that looked very similar to it for sale so we went to look at it. It was the same exact set! We pulled up to the very same house where we went to the yard sale 4 years ago! She had put it up and just decided to pull it out to sell again. We were blown away.
I know it is a small thing but it was so sweet to me. God truely does delight in us and that is no small thing. Oh how I love Him!
For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take DELIGHT in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will Rejoice over you with joyful songs.
Zephaniah 3:17
Four years ago Brian and I were living in a rental house as we were house hunting for our own home. It was sunny, warm and yard sale season. Our neighbors a few houses down were having a yard sale so we went to check it out. I saw the cutest matching pack-n-play, swing & stroller set or at least I thought so. It was one of my favorite french patterns and I absolutely loved it! We however at the time didn't need any baby stuff so we didn't think too hard about it. Of course now that we are in the process of our adoption baby things are on my mind a little more frequently. I had thought about this set everytime I thought about baby sets and how much I loved it.
A few days ago I mentioned it to Brian how I wish we could find something like that for our baby. I saw a set that looked very similar to it for sale so we went to look at it. It was the same exact set! We pulled up to the very same house where we went to the yard sale 4 years ago! She had put it up and just decided to pull it out to sell again. We were blown away.
I know it is a small thing but it was so sweet to me. God truely does delight in us and that is no small thing. Oh how I love Him!
For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take DELIGHT in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will Rejoice over you with joyful songs.
Zephaniah 3:17
Monday, April 22, 2013
Steps of Faith...
Welcome to the beginning of our story.
"We make our plans, but the Lord dertermines our steps" Proverbs 16:9
I have never had a desire to start a blog of any kind. However the thought of this blog kept coming up over and over again to the point where I could no longer deny the fact that I was going to enter the blogging world. This blog will mostly be me sharing bits and pieces of my heart and inviting you, if you are interested, to take this journey with me.
Seven years ago I married the man of my dreams. We were happy, healthy and full of dreams and plans for our future together. We envisioned a cute little house with a few children of our own at some point but we were in no rush for babies to come. We first wanted time for just us and we thought when we were ready to have children a few years down the road we would.
A couple years into our marriage we decided we were ready for children and we wanted to have them now. Children were now apart of our plan. So we tried. They did not come. Never did we ever imagine we would struggle with infertility. This has been a long and at times heartbreaking struggle for us. This as also been one of the biggest faith testers we have yet to encounter. We found ourselves asking questions like, "Has God forgotten us?" & "Are His plans really good for us?" We didn't know what to do and we sure didn't understand. It was a pain we had never known.
Even in the midst of all that God has proven Himself to us both, especially to me. Even though I didn't understand and honestly I'm not sure i completely understand now either, I do TRUST Him. I have by no means walked this road perfectly but there are a few things i have come to know. I KNOW He loves us. I KNOW He has not forgotten us. I KNOW He has more in store for us then we could ever ask or imagine!
For the last few years adoption has been something that has tugged on both mine and Brian's hearts but we were never quite sure how to proceed and if that tugging was God or just our desire to have children.The whole concept was unfamiliar as well as overwhleming to us so we would just bury the idea and go on with life as we knew it.
Fastforward to the beginning at this year and our hearts began to stir once again in the area of adoption. I was not sure if I was willing to let my heart go there but my wonderful husband couldnt shake it. Brian began to pray. The Lord began answer. Doors just started opening for us in places we would never have even thought. It seemed that God was directing every step we were taking to something or someone with information we needed. God began to make it clear to both of us that this would be the year we would step out in faith and persue adoption. We feel we have been in a time of preparation for this for the last several years and that this is the path the Lord is leading us down and we are so excited!
We have already chosen the agency we will be working with and have applied and been accepted. We also have already had our 3 homestudy visits and we are just awaiting the final paperwork to come back so we can finish up this process.
While we are so excited it is still a little overwhleming at times. This is a huge step of faith for us. Questions frequently run through my mind like "How will our family react?" "Will we be waiting long?" "How will we afford this?"
We of course are trusting God to provide and we are sure this is His leading but these questions are still there as we wait. Waiting is always the hardest part for me because i want so badly to do something but wait I must.
This new adventure has only just begun! We will keep you updated along the way.
~Brian & Jennifer
"We make our plans, but the Lord dertermines our steps" Proverbs 16:9
I have never had a desire to start a blog of any kind. However the thought of this blog kept coming up over and over again to the point where I could no longer deny the fact that I was going to enter the blogging world. This blog will mostly be me sharing bits and pieces of my heart and inviting you, if you are interested, to take this journey with me.
Seven years ago I married the man of my dreams. We were happy, healthy and full of dreams and plans for our future together. We envisioned a cute little house with a few children of our own at some point but we were in no rush for babies to come. We first wanted time for just us and we thought when we were ready to have children a few years down the road we would.
A couple years into our marriage we decided we were ready for children and we wanted to have them now. Children were now apart of our plan. So we tried. They did not come. Never did we ever imagine we would struggle with infertility. This has been a long and at times heartbreaking struggle for us. This as also been one of the biggest faith testers we have yet to encounter. We found ourselves asking questions like, "Has God forgotten us?" & "Are His plans really good for us?" We didn't know what to do and we sure didn't understand. It was a pain we had never known.
Even in the midst of all that God has proven Himself to us both, especially to me. Even though I didn't understand and honestly I'm not sure i completely understand now either, I do TRUST Him. I have by no means walked this road perfectly but there are a few things i have come to know. I KNOW He loves us. I KNOW He has not forgotten us. I KNOW He has more in store for us then we could ever ask or imagine!
For the last few years adoption has been something that has tugged on both mine and Brian's hearts but we were never quite sure how to proceed and if that tugging was God or just our desire to have children.The whole concept was unfamiliar as well as overwhleming to us so we would just bury the idea and go on with life as we knew it.
Fastforward to the beginning at this year and our hearts began to stir once again in the area of adoption. I was not sure if I was willing to let my heart go there but my wonderful husband couldnt shake it. Brian began to pray. The Lord began answer. Doors just started opening for us in places we would never have even thought. It seemed that God was directing every step we were taking to something or someone with information we needed. God began to make it clear to both of us that this would be the year we would step out in faith and persue adoption. We feel we have been in a time of preparation for this for the last several years and that this is the path the Lord is leading us down and we are so excited!
We have already chosen the agency we will be working with and have applied and been accepted. We also have already had our 3 homestudy visits and we are just awaiting the final paperwork to come back so we can finish up this process.
While we are so excited it is still a little overwhleming at times. This is a huge step of faith for us. Questions frequently run through my mind like "How will our family react?" "Will we be waiting long?" "How will we afford this?"
We of course are trusting God to provide and we are sure this is His leading but these questions are still there as we wait. Waiting is always the hardest part for me because i want so badly to do something but wait I must.
This new adventure has only just begun! We will keep you updated along the way.
~Brian & Jennifer
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