First walk through with Social Worker!

Wow...ok, so we had our very first "home visit" from the social worker who will license us for Foster Care. (Step one!)  It went well! It's a bit nerve wracking to have someone come in and inspect your home for safety and qualification to care for a child! 

God has been speaking to our hearts in recent weeks...and we sense that our call is to love the children He places with us, regardless of the likelihood that we will be able to adopt them. Our call to care for infants who have been exposed to drugs in utero has grown all the stronger...and so, now we prepare with the desire to give those little ones what every little one deserves...a wonderful welcome into a safe and loving home...and a beautiful place to sleep and play and a family to love them. If that is only for a season until God reunites them with their parents, so be it. I don't think there is any way for us not to open that we will be given the privilege of adopting a little girl of our own. But, I have sensed a real shift in perspective for myself and for our family. 

We now have a list of what exactly is left for us to do in order to be licensed by the  State of Washington to foster children! =) First on that list is egress windows in the basement, two of them to be exact! Once we have those installed and take care of a few other requirements(fire extinguishers and smoke detectors, a crib and carseat, etc) we will be ready to turn in our paperwork and the licensing will begin! Once we turn the papers in, within 90 days our home will be licensed!! (She told us there would be NO problem with licensing our home what-so-ever! Phew! Just need to get these requirements completed!) 

So, now we wait on the Lord...several of these items that we must have to be licensed are going to cost a significant amount of money! =) So, those of you who have been *thinking* of turning in your used cell phones for recycling in our fundraiser, or buying a t shirt, please do!! We have a collection box in the volunteer office at WFMC(Becky's office area) that is just waiting for those old phones! =) If you can't get to that collection box, please let us know at the email listed below and we will be happy to pick them up from you, wherever is most convenient!

Here is what we need and where we are at this point!

Our minimum goal is $3000.00...those funds will provide: 

Two safe egress windows in the basement
Fire extinguishers and smoke detectors
A lock box for medications.
A gun safe.
Furnishings for the nursery:
A crib
A dresser
A safe car seat that ranges from 5-35 pounds in weight limit.
And,
A few items of basic clothing in various sizes (newborn - 3 years) so that we are prepared for a last minute call to pick up a little one who needs  a safe place to stay right away!

We are *more* than happy to accept donations of infant clothing(for girls) in any of those sizes and if anyone has any of the other items on that list that they would like to donate, please contact Jeanene ASAP! (welcomingme@ymail.com) We are open to whatever means that God uses to meet the needs listed above!

We are hoping to raise further funds to make a donation to the agency that is helping us so that they can keep their doors open and help other families answer the call to serve in this manner! But, we need to meet this goal in order to become licensed to care for the children that God would send to us, to begin with! 

Please *do* pray for increased work for Kelly and I both, as that would help us in moving towards this goal as well! 

Thanks again for your prayers! And, thank you for reading.  

Faith to start walking

Faith
 by Steve Arterburn


"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." - Matthew 17:20

Desperate to find a home, an orphan girl in India asked a missionary teacher from a nearby village for help. The missionary had no money or room for the girl but promised she’d pray and ask God for his help. She told the girl to do the same.

That evening, the teacher received a letter from an American friend, containing enough money to provide for the orphan girl. She summoned a messenger the following morning and asked him to go to the neighboring village—a day’s walk from her home—to find the girl.

To the teacher’s surprise, the messenger returned with the girl in half the expected time. When asked how she traveled so quickly, the girl reminded the teacher, “We both prayed to God for help…I thought I might as well start walking.”

Faith is active. Thinking and praying are necessary elements, but the true test of our faith is when like the little girl, we start walking.

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

Phew!!! Phase one paperwork complete!

I am thrilled to say that the application paperwork(so far) for the adoption process has been completed and turned in! Yay! I am SO relieved...it was very detailed and there was a ton of documentation required...not a problem, but a challenge and a relief to hand it over and know that we can move on to the next step in the adoption application process!  Of course, I still have SOME paperwork to do for the Foster licensing piece...but, not nearly as much(so far!LOL!) 

It feels amazing to be this far down the path! A couple months ago we were still just talking and praying, and phrasing things in terms of "If this is what God is doing...".  Now I am just sitting back and watching Him move...waiting to see how it will all unfold...where will the money come from for the windows?(Is there a wedding out there that I don't know about!LOL! I have no question the funds are coming...just curious where from, He never fails to surprise me!LOL! I am always saying "Wow...I would never have thought of that!") What will the room look like when we are done? How much more paperwork is involved in the Home Study "homework" that we will get soon...how will the 2-3 hour interview that kicks that off go? What will the DCFS licensing worker think of our home? Is it going to be more complicated or less complicated than I am anticipating to get licensed? =) SO many questions...only one answer. God knows. He's got this all mapped out...we just aren't there yet!

Thanks again to all of you who are donating your old cell phones and pda's and ink cartridges to us! It is going to be such a big help in getting this all together! Please go take a look at our family fundraiser tshirts, as well!(you can just click the ad on the left of this page!) They are definitely a great tool for building awareness about the need for adoption...and the proceeds will help us in this journey to bringing a new family member into our home, and our world.  The book is still available for those of you who were interested in purchasing one, and the proceeds from that are going straight to our adoption fund as well! 

There is much ground to be covered in this journey...

Thanks for taking the time to read!

New day...

"You make beautiful things...You make beautiful things out of the dust......You make beautiful things out of us...that song is running through my head every moment.......You make  me new...You are making me new......"

I am full of wonder...what is ahead? No fear...I know that He knows...I know He has beautiful plans for us and for whatever child He chooses to use us to touch...to love...to teach...to shape...just wonder...what will that look like? Who will she be? Who will we become? It's all so amazing! The culmination of years and years and years of life and pain and struggle and experiences that I would have passed on if someone had asked...but, they are all coming together to make us who we are and who we will become and what we need to be for this child.   So many facets...I am always amazed at how many facets of experience and how many levels of life and moments God can touch through *one* act...just one...He can change everything in our view...our entire spectrum of experience and frame of reference and the circumstances of millions from *one* movement...*one* motion. 

Tonight I go to my first meeting with the case worker through DSHS...tons of info, I guess...and we take one more step. Every time we take a step I find myself thinking "we are doing this! Wow...we are really doing this!"  It's hard to take it all in...thank you all for continuing to pray for us as we take each step! It is scary and wonderful and amazing...did I mention scary? LOL!   We need your prayer support...it is all part of God's plan for us...your prayers... He knits us together through them, you know?  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR7VOKQ0xJY  

Amen and amen...thanks for reading, we love you Church family(and our family and friends)...in our broken imperfect way, we love you all!

=)

A step forward...

I am so excited! (I say that alot, don't I? LOL!)  God has opened doors to a wonderful opportunity for our family to move forward on this road to adoption!
One of the things we have needed to do is start fundraising to help defray the cost of preparations, legal fees, and the collection of funds for a donation to the agency that is helping us through all of this! (They do not charge a  fee {although the costs incurred in helping families averages about $8000 per family!}. They do ask that those families who can make a donation would do so. We are more than willing to do the work necessary to come up with the funds to make a donation that will, at the very least, cover the costs they incur in helping our family through this journey!)We have been praying long and hard about how to go about fundraising. These are hard times for everyone!  We could go with the usual car washes, garage sales, etc. and we may yet do that! But, we had a sense that there was something else ahead for us to do. A different way to raise the funds and do the work without asking those folks who already have enough on their plates to give monetarily. We knew that God would provide a way...we just did not know how! 

Of course, He did just that through an opportunity that we found which will allow us to raise funds by recycling! We are going to start with a "Cell Phone Drive"!  We will simply be asking folks in our family and community to give us their old unwanted and unused cell phones, pda's and ink jet cartridges! That's it...then we package them up, send them in to recycle them and we get the recycle fees back to fund our adoption efforts! I have looked at several adoptive families(and business that were raising funds for adoption agencies) who have used this fundraiser and it is so simple, no cost to the families who donate...just straightforward donation of something you probably don't even want around...in fact, if you're like us, you just didn't know what to do with your old cell phones...and you weren't just going to throw them away!   

No one is limited to the cell phones that they may or may not have in their kitchen drawer! If any of you are interested in giving of your time to help our family with collecting phones, please let me know...it really just means asking your circle of friends and family if they have any old unused cell phones or pds's to contribute. If they do...simply ask them to bring those to you over the course of the next few weeks, then you can let me know and I'll be happy to come pick them up from whatever location you prefer! Each family that asks their extended circle of influence to donate,really adds a great number of cell phones to our collection!

We may also be setting up donation boxes at some central locations, local businesses, etc. 
We have also been offered the opportunity to participate in a fundraising project through AdoptionBug.com The site was created by an adoptive Mom who wanted to help other adoptive families find a way to fundraise for their adoption efforts without having to buy a bunch of stuff up front first! (which kind of defeats the purpose of raising funds!)  Our "Family Store" will be up and running this Thursday February 9th, or Friday the 10th. I'll be sure to post a link as soon as it is available! 
As always, thanks so much for stopping by and reading!

Joy...

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” - Psalm 126:2

What a beautiful morning. Not every day in life is like this one, so I want to take the time to stop and really feel the wonder and gratitude that is soaring in my heart...God has been so incredibly faithful to me and to our family...changing our hearts in ways we never would have thought possible!

This week, we were delighted to listen to our pastor Josh Brooks speak on the very thing that God has been telling us for over a year now...the parable of the sower...we had been the third kind of seed for far too long...we had allowed the worries of this life, (the battles of blended family development) and our individual desires to stand up for "our rights" with each other to completely derail what God would have been doing in us and through us. The wonderful thing is, even in our messy broken state, He was moving...He was teaching us...although, it was somewhat limited because every time He spoke truth to our hearts, it was whisked away by everything that we allowed to distract us from it.  I am very grateful for the work of His spirit in us to make us continue to long to be healed of this...One year ago, about this time...God placed a very powerful longing in my heart for us to be what He created me to be...to pray for our family to be set free of our self centered mindset and our muck.  It is wonderful to bear fruit because the Spirit is moving in our hearts. We can claim no credit what-so-ever...if it had been up to us, we would still be where we were a year ago today...and it was not pretty, let me tell you!


Psalm 40: 2-3 says it perfectly.

 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Amen and amen. Thank You Abba for Your love and faithfulness.  

We are a living example of how all that God does and wants to do in the lives of His people is about His generosity and His Grace...not about their righteousness or good works. He moved in our family when we could not have deserved it less. And, now we are being set free a little more each day.