SO EXCITED!!!

Sometimes I still can't believe we are actually doing this! Every time we take another tiny baby step in the process, I am once again caught by the sense of amazement! "Oh, my! We are really doing this!!!" The process, both concrete and emotional is incredible! 

We are dreaming of this little one that God is planning to entrust to us...wondering who she is, and where she will come from...what color hair does she have and how old will she be? Like I said...incredible...

So, today, I officially called the trainer for our PRIDE "pre service" classes...I can hardly believe it! Classes start in March and we are working on finishing up the application process...then we head for the "Home Study" stage...which can take 3-6 weeks(to gather all of the data...then, I believe I remember the director of our agency saying his goal is to get the home study completed as quickly as possible {not sure exactly how many weeks) and then we get news (God willing!) of final approval!)...what an incredible adventure! =) 

We crave your prayer support through all of this...there is nothing quite like the prospect of having someone go over your personal life details with a fine toothed comb to bring out the sense of(or at least fear of) being "less than" like never before! We both need prayer to remember that who we are in Christ is what matters...we are children of the High King...He has a plan...and we can trust Him to open the right doors and to close the doors that we should not pass through.  It will all be for His Glory, regardless!

One foot in front of the other...each day, a seperate part of the journey..."Follow me" He says...so we will!

SO excited! =) Thanks for reading...

(PS...little did we know, God had plans to entrust TWO beautiful children to us!  Sugar Bear Boy )

First Steps...

This week, we started out taking the first steps...gathering application materials and ordering the required documents.  We have barely begun this journey and already we've encountered the love, joy and excitement of the community surrounding us! Thank you for the encouragement, hugs, congratulations and expressions of excitement! They have already been a great source of encouragement to us both! =) Please continue to pray that we will clearly hear God's voice leading us through the maze of  preparation! One foot in front of the other, one stroke of the pen followed by the next...that is where we are at right now. We are finding it is important to remember that God's timing is perfect! The length of time it takes to accomplish any part of this journey is precisely planned and guided by His faithful hand! But, your prayers and support help us to remember that daily!

Thanks again to all of you! It means so much!

Wondering...

Here we go...hand in hand! I feel so excited! So scared! Mixed emotions all around...and all of it wrapped up in a sort of disbelief...I am actually working on an adoption application! If you had asked me 15 years ago if I had ever thought I would be doing that, I would probably have told you no...in fact, 15 years ago, all I could think about was getting pregnant again...I had just lost a baby that past September and I was completely devastated...it is so strange to think that if God continues to open doors like He has been, I will have a daughter someday! Wow...a girly-Q...our sweetheart...so amazing! I wonder where she is...I wonder who she is...who she's with...is she born yet? What color are her eyes...her hair...how old is she? I wonder...and wonder and wonder...and I dream and dream and dream...we spoke today of nursery/bedroom colors for her room...and looked at how we might decorate it...we  spoke of names and dreams and what every day life will be like with her here...it's scary...cause we don't know exactly *how* she will come to us...will we end up doing a private adoption? Will we find that Foster-to-adopt is God's plan for us? I confess, a part of me is really hoping for a baby...I would love the opportunity to do that once again...to be the one holding her at 3am when all of the world is asleep...I want to work each day at taking things one moment at a time...and really enjoy her! I want to get down on the floor and look at the world from her perspective...I want to feel the weight of her against my chest (in a front pack) while I get those things done that I must do...I would love that...yep, even diapers...I would love to do diapers again!LOL! Too funny to think that...but, the world looks very different at this stage of my life. It's taken me this long to learn what really matters. So, I fill out pages and pages of paperwork and research the classes we will take...and trust that God knows what is best for every single step of the way...we will someday have the child that God intended for us to have and to love...He knows exactly what we need and what she needs!

Let the dreams begin!

January 17, 2011  
Prayer Requests:

Please pray...

That God will continue to help us hear His voice and seek His face...

That we will see open doors for exactly what they are...and that He will give us the courage to walk through them......and closed doors for exactly what they are, as well...at which point, we may need the strength to walk away from that door and move on...

That we will find favor in the application process...not only in the approval, but all of the steps along the way...that it will be as straightforward as it can be. 

That our little girl, wherever she is, is safe and  knows the comfort of Jesus right by her side. 

That God will start now to prepare the hearts of everyone who will be involved in this process.

That God will grant us the Grace and peace to take this all as it comes and enjoy it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Much love

Kelly & Jeanene

(PS...to see that little girl today read You Are My Sunshine)

Prologue to a journey...

For seven and a half years now, Kelly and I have worked and fought the hard good fight to build a marriage and a family...it has been an incredible challenge, but so worth it! We have faced many tough times and multiple battles...but, God has won the war...If God is for us, who can be against us? No one! Not even us! The last 2-3 years have been especially tough...we have seen in many ways(looking back) how hard the enemy has fought to destroy our home and our marriage...and how we had been playing right into his hands in our determination to “be right” and protect our personal rights against each other...it is never God's will that a husband and wife fight against one another...we were designed to walk through life hand in hand, facing the future with God in the lead. It is really important to remember who the real enemy is! (And Who is truly in control in the end...IF we will trust Him!)

About one year ago, as we faced some of our toughest challenges, I began to pray that God would redeem our family...our home, our marriage...our life, for the kingdom. We are no good to the kingdom with our heads down, buried in the muck of self centeredness and the “preservation of our personal rights”! Something that we were all struggling with tremendously(and still do...I mean, c'mon, we're human after all!)

Shortly after I started praying that prayer, we had a house flood!LOL! I know that sounds strange...but, you have no idea how much God did through that one event to begin the process of redemption! He cleared our home, and improved it...He gave us a way to sort through all of the clutter that had built up due to both of us working full time, combined with my becoming very ill(Thyroid issues...which He had just begun to address a couple months before.) He placed ALL of us in a very small space(8 weeks in a hotel will create a level of “contact” that can't be denied!LOL!) and forced us to face our issues as a family...

After moving back into our home, He continued the redemption for my part through my schooling. I took classes in counseling techniques and understanding addiction and alcoholism that opened my eyes to the realities of my life leading up to this point..all of the ways that my perspective had been damaged and distorted...and He showed me how that had happened to all of those around me who were struggling to cope with this family disease as well! He filled me with compassion and forgiveness and set me free from years of regret, pain and shame. It was an incredible ride...Now I have this sense that He has renovated those rooms in my heart that were ravaged by the storms of life, and He then walked out, dusted His hands off and closed the door. I don't live there anymore...I can walk back into those rooms with someone who is suffering from those frustrations and that kind of pain...I can share and I can empathize and I can pray...and then, I can leave and live my life in the light...what a healing experience! I look forward to seeing all of the ways that God will use all that He showed me in those classes for the kingdom!

He then set about restoring our finances and helping us gain balance. If there is one thing about blended families that is really difficult to grasp, it's the blending of two homes...two household leaders...two styles of handling money, etc...add to that a young marriage and the emotional needs of many children and you have the recipe for a real financial mess. But, little by little He revealed to us where our thinking was wrong...and where we needed to look to Him for direction, strength, perspective and guidance. We are currently enrolled in a series of financial classes at the church, and we are SO excited to see it all start coming together! Again, we are witnesses to His redemption and amazing grace in our lives...

But, that is not all! LOL! (Is it ever with God?!) For the rest of the story so far, read the following post!! =) We genuinely need your prayers...and, please, feel free to share your thoughts with us!

And so the journey begins...

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. Matthew 18:5

Over the last seven years, God has done many miraculous things for Kelly and I...starting with our wedding day. There have been several times over those years that we dreamed of a child of our own...talked about adoption...and wondered if the day would ever really come. Kelly has two lovely daughters and I have four beautiful sons...after years of consideration and months of continual prayer and deliberation, the time has come. Today we met with the director of "New Life Adoptions" here in Wenatchee...There are mountains of paperwork and classes and an unknown number of days ahead of us! We are on our way...following God through the many doors ahead, as He opens them. 

In our research we have found countless stories of families like ours who had thought of adoption, but always hesitated(it seems SO big and SO expensive!), yet once they moved forward, God provided the way to bring their child home...it seems too big...too expensive...impossible... An immovable mountain...But, we know that nothing is impossible for Him.  So, like those families, we are ready to step out in faith, knowing that God will see to it that His plans for our family and (If it truly is His will) for our daughter, wherever she may be, are fulfilled. We know this is a dream that is the picture of God's heart...adoption. He adopted each of us and gave us a knew name...and He was SO excited, He tattooed that name on His Hand...and wrote it on His heart!  We look forward to learning all that this process reveals to us about the love of God...we are already starting to sense that excitement! 

This blog will be our primary means of keeping family, friends and supporters informed and involved in the process! We will be doing several fundraising activities (and are happy to accept donations from those who feel led to do so, but prayers are so very much appreciated, as well!) to help cover the needs that will inevitably arise from this adventure!  If you have any fundraising ideas that you would like to share, please feel free to comment here! We will be scouring "Craigslist" for many of the items we need as time goes on. 

I will also establish and keep up to date a current prayer needs list for the areas of greatest need and focus that we encounter in preparation for our child's arrival...we will be preparing to cover the basic needs of a baby(3 years and under) and the needs we have to modify our home(her future room needs a safe egress window installed before she can sleep there!) and we are asking for God's provision of a  new electrical panel and an improved heating/ac system installation(s) before bringing a young child home!  (But, only He knows what we really need!) Perhaps that will all come later!

We have seen, many times over, where God has called communities to participate in the "homecoming" of a child through adoption. We believe it is part of our calling as a church body to "care for widows and orphans in their distress" (James 1:27)...we invite you to join us now (in whatever way that you feel lead) as we start this journey!

Current prayer needs are:

1.    Firm direction on the choice of an adoption agency, and the agency that will provide our home study. (we believe this one has already been answered!)That God will direct us to a social worker who has His will for us in mind...

2.   God's guidance and direction when completing the application process... especially in the area of hearing His clear will for the "special needs" possibilities and "age range" selections of our application. We want to be open to accept whatever God has for us. We also need to be open to whatever preparation that may require!

3.   Guidance and favor as we submit our application and start the home study process.

4.  The funds to begin necessary repairs to our home and the installation of an egress window in that future downstairs bedroom. 

5.  The necessary elements to begin preparation for covering her needs when she comes home. 

6. Peace and a calm, watchful heart that is prepared to wait this process out!

7. Continued growth and strength to keep our eyes on Jesus, in our pursuit of God's will and His purpose for our marriage. 

8. And last, but not least...protection and a sense of love and peace for our little one wherever she may be!

Practical needs that some of you might feel lead to address:

Practical help in getting our yard completed(this coming Spring), our exterior cleaned up...replacement of the soffits(eaves?).  Expertise on installation of an egress window...(If anyone would like to donate the cost or equipment to install (or labor for installation)an egress window in the room downstairs where our daughter will sleep(so she is close to our room) that would be such a tremendous blessing!)

If you should feel lead to give monetarily, we will be having several events that will you afford that opportunity...or if you would like to keep it simple...there is a Paypal button in a couple of places on this blog...all donations go to making our home ready for the child that God has for us! Once that need has been met, the remainder is going to be put together as a donation to "New Life Adoptions" so that they can continue to help other families fulfill God's purpose for their lives through adoption!

We simply cannot shake the sense that she is out there waiting for us...whether "out there" means she has already been born or not, we do not know...but, we are praying for her and for her birth family every day...we are also praying for the countless children in our world who wait for their forever families to come and give them new life!

Thank you so much for joining us on the journey!

By His Grace Alone

Kelly and Jeanene

"Behold, I make all things new!"