Disconnected thoughts of a dad

Last time we posted we thought things were picking up speed. Well maybe not. Things have not moved out of CIS as fast as we had thought. Still waiting. We have been waiting on the final approval form CIS for about three weeks now. It has supposedly been sent three time. The first time, nothing arrived at our house or at Children’s Hope. Then came the second attempt. Much to our surprise Children's Hope received our CIS approval- to adopt from China!!! Now as much as we are willing to follow God's call to adopt from China, our dossier is in Colombia not China. It seams the worker at CIS was working requests from three different families with our same last name. So we wait for the third attempt to get our final approval! International adoption can be very frustrating..... but only if you let it. We believe nothing happens apart from the perfect will of God. We don't pretend to understand why all of these things are happening, but we trust that God not only knows, but also that His hand guides all of this for His purpose and He has chosen the date to put Carolina and Neydali into our arms. So we wait. Some days patiently and other days to my shame - impatiently.
We wait and are at the whim of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). So all this delay is a result of this thing called citizenship. Tonight as I write and as I think on these things I took the time to look up the secular definition of citizenship. Webster's tells me:

Definition of CITIZENSHIP
1: the status of being a citizen
2a : membership in a community (as a college) b : the quality of an individual's response to membership in a community

Hmmm. We most often think of citizenship in terms of our country of origin or a country we have been legally accepted into. 1: the status of being a citizen. I was born in Canada, but that is not what I claim as my citizenship. I have US naturalization papers; again that is not what I claim as my citizenship. God's word teaches me that this world is not my home, and so I cannot claim citizenship of an earthly county. Instead, because of Christ's sacrifice for me, and because I have accepted him by grace through faith, He has gone to prepare a place for me. A place His word tells me where there are many mansions. This I find consistent with Webster's 2a definition of citizenship. Membership in a community. Not that I am deserving of it mind you, but my citizenship is in heaven. I am a member of a community of believers in Christ. I am His and He is mine. He has adopted me as a child of God.

Webster's definition 2b - the quality of an individual's response to a membership in a community. Hmmm. Here is the essence of why I wait. It is my response to my membership in the community of Christ Jesus. His response in establishing this community was to die a horrible death on a cross- for me personally, and for you as well. Each of us who are members of this group (citizens) are called by God to respond because of that membership. He does not call each of us to exactly the same response, since He has many members and many required responses to fulfill His purposes on this earth. For Betty and me the response He has called us to as His citizens is to raise up His children for His glory. So we wait, sometimes patiently sometimes not so patiently, but we wait. Always knowing that the reward is so worth the wait. Being a dad is not about me. It is not even about the children I have been blessed with. It is about Christ. He has entrusted to me these 15 precious children (who knows maybe even more) to lead them to Him that they too may become citizens in His kingdom and know the response He has created them for. My prayer tonight is God will be satisfied with the quality of my response to Him as a dad. I pray also He will bless my response and through my children both adopted and biological He will find clay waiting to be molded by His hands and for His purpose. We wait.

Disconnected thought number 2! We all have our pet rocks- you know those little things others do that really annoy us. Yes I've got my pet rocks too! I'm not proud of them, but they are there. One of mine is shoes left on the porch or on the steps leading into the house from the garage or even on the back porch blocking the door. The thing about this particular pet rock is that it doesn't bother anyone in the family but me- HOW FRUSTRATING! Now think about it. 15 kids. 10 (soon to be 12) who live at home plus my amazing wife. That’s a lot of feet, AND that’s a lot of shoes. A lot of shoes, especially when you consider 6 (soon to be 8) of those feet are female type feet. Do you have any idea of how many shoes come with 12 (soon to be 16) female feet (not to mention 10 male type feet). We have thousands of shoes. Did you know that it is possible to pile 17,234 shoes in front of one doorway- it is. I counted them. I have three doorways- I'm drowning in an ocean of shoes. OK maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, there were only 17233 shoes on the front porch! Does anyone care about this out there? Dads help me out here. OK, never mind. God has been working on my heart about shoes of all things. Recently, I asked my wife if she could remember our house ever being quiet. She just smiled, and I told her one day it will be again. And then I will be very sad. I love my house, I love my life and I love my noisy house. I pray God will never let it be quiet again. I still don't like shoes on the porch... God has been helping me to see the shoes are there because of all the beautiful feet He has put into my life. Beautiful feet need piles of shoes on the front porch. I'm learning to get over it. I now look at the shoes and think of the beautiful feet, and hands and faces that smile at me and say "I love you daddy". But still when nobody is looking I give that big pile of shoes A BIG KICK. Doesn't accomplish anything- but I feel better. Here’s to the four new feet I can't wait to pile shoes on my porch.

I'm so glad God loves me the way I am. He loves me in spite of all the annoying (and sinful) things I do.

Disconnected thought number 3! When I was a young man, other men would talk about cars. They would tell me of their desires; Mercedes, BMWs Audis among many others. Having started my family at a young age, I would find myself telling them all I wanted was a station wagon! They though I was a little weird- OK a lot weird. As our family grew and grew, these guys that talked of fast cars would ask me what I drove. Over time I would say a station wagon (yep - got my dream car!), then a mini van, and finally a 12 passenger van. All along the way I would joke with people and say we had a school bus. Some of them actually believed me (does that say anything about the lovers of fast cars!). Be careful what you joke about. In a few weeks we will outgrow the 12 passenger van. Now I really do want a bus. Betty and I have been looking into used 20 passenger busses (this time I want room to grow- never know when God will plop in another dozen children or so). We have been praying that God will show us His plan for transportation. We can't afford any of the busses we have found. Perhaps it is not His will for us. We submit to Him in this fully, knowing He loves us and will care for us as the perfect father that He is. We can always take the van and the car everywhere we go. Many around the world have only their feet. We are so blessed. I am thanking Him tonight for the abundant blessings I have. God is good.

Getting closer now

A lot of things have happened in the last couple of weeks, but we have been so crazy busy, we have not had time for a blog post- sorry!


Things have begun to move faster than we expected. A little over a week ago we received word from citizenship and immigration service (CIS) that they had approved the update to our home study. This update specifically recommended us for the specific special needs that Carolina and Neydali are dealing with. This approval came back weeks earlier than we expected. This just confirms in our hearts and minds that God is sovereign and it reminds us that He is in control of the time table and is not limited by the "projected waiting times" established by mere mortal men.

God continues to answer prayer in providing support. We received a generous check from a family from across the country we have never met. We will not mention their names as we don't know if they intended this to be an anonymous gift or not. We do want them to know how much we appreciate their gift that will help us bring our girls home. Thank you and God bless you! We followed their adoption journey while it was going on. They adopted from Medellin- same city where we will be going this time.

Last weekend, we got to visit our good friends the Rimas who have adopted 14 children from Colombia. We met them while we were in Bogota on our first adoption journey. They are an inspiration to us and an example for everyone.

The next big event happened two days ago when we found we have been given our final CIS approval. We don't yet have the document, because we had to resubmit a supporting document that was lost. We should have the documentation this coming week. This approval from CIS comes several weeks before we expected to see it! We had been told we should expect to travel around the end of March to mid April. This early approval from CIS blows that time line to pieces! We are not sure exactly how much the time line has moved, but we now anticipate meeting Carolina and Neydali in very early March. YIKES!!! That is only a month away- we are feeling excited and terrified all at once! This week we should get some more clarity on how soon our travel date will come. We will also be able to post pictures soon - hopefully this week.

After all the waiting and all the work that goes into pursuing an international adoption, it is hard to believe that the time is almost at hand. So many hours have been spent compiling documents, running down notaries, racing to the state capital for apostilles, and sending off those overnight deliveries. Each task has been done with love in our hearts for these two precious ones who God is entrusting to our care. We have prayed for them with every thing we needed to accomplish knowing that our God was able to sustain us to the finish line. The journey to this point has been exhilarating even if at time it was exhausting. We have persevered not because of our own strength, but because of Him who strengthens us, because of Him who equips us for every good work, because of Him who is strong when we are weak and weary, and His strength He has shared with Betty and I - always when we needed it most.

Our paperwork process has involved 3 places in Canada, Alaska, Virginia, South Carolina, Hawaii, and West Virginia. We have been fingerprinted so many times our fingertips are permanently dyed from the ink. We have had our names checked with child abuse registries in 9 different states, been checked with local, state, and federal law enforcement- all checks were squeaky clean! Every T has been crossed and every I has been neatly dotted. The mountain of paperwork is complete without spot or blemish. We have spent untold hours in the process (most of the hours by Betty)- and why? All has been done in obedience to the call God has placed on our hearts - all for the reward of hearing two little words:

Mami
Papi

And the reward of 4 tiny arms holding fast around our necks as hot tears of joy stream down our cheeks.

God Bless you.
Jim and Betty

Referal - At Last!

Well, back on 17 November 2011, we were asked if we would consider adopting two sisters with special needs. I wrote about this in our blog back on 20 November. We requested Neydali (age 6) and Carolina (age 9) on 21 November. On 7 December, the authorities (ICBF) in Medellin met to consider this request. At that time they approved for us to become the adoptive parents of Neydali and Carolina!!! They then spent the next 20 days gathering medical records and other documents to put together our referral document. Our referral was received by Children’s Hope International earlier this week. It took a few days, but the entire packet was translated into English- all 90 plus pages of information. This is the most extensive referral packet we have heard of. Everything we have read has served to reinforce in our hearts that these are the girls God has intended for us every since He knit them together in their mother’s womb. In our hearts and through our eyes, we see them as perfectly perfect. We hope you see them through the same lens and hope you rejoice with us.


As we enter into the sanctity of life month, I cannot help but reflect on what God has been teaching me about the value of life over the last couple of years. So often as Christians, we think about the sanctity of life only as it relates to abortion. God has impressed upon my heart that the idea of being prolife is so much bigger than just standing against abortion. Being prolife means to embrace all life in whatever form or fashion God chooses to call it into existence. He does not make mistakes. All of His handiwork is perfect and suited to the purpose for which He has intended it.

God began to awaken in me through the gift of my son Isaiah that what the world may see as flawed He sees as perfect. God does not view things as man sees them, and He calls us to see His people through His eyes. I have often failed in this throughout my life. As we began to identify some of the medical concerns that Isaiah will face, God reminded me He intentionally created Isaiah just the way he is. In the eyes of Isaiah’s daddy and his Heavenly father, Isaiah IS perfectly created. God has great purpose for this little man of mine- Isaiah lives with more joy and enthusiasm than most people I know. As I awakened to these things God brought back to my mind some of the prayers I had offered in my earlier years as a father. And I was so ashamed. I recall always praying that my biological children would be born without spot or blemish. I think we have all prayed that our children would be born 10 tiny toes and 10 tiny fingers- no medical issues. Now these are not necessarily “bad” prayers. But…. My shame comes in the realization that in my own mind and heart, I defined perfection for God and then demanded that He give it to me- nothing more nothing less. My error is in daring to define perfection for the God and Creator of the Universe rather than trusting Him to define perfection and wait patiently for Him to bless me according to His perfect plans for my life. I am beginning to see a little more clearly now.

In my renewed view of life, I can recognize that God creates nothing but perfection, and that He creates for His intended purposes. My God and Savior has created Neydali and Carolina exactly as they are and He has great purpose for them. Betty and I count ourselves most fortunate that He has chosen us to steward them on His behalf. It will be our great privileged to love and nurture them and watch as God uses them to bear much fruit for His own glory. It will be our great privilege to teach them about the great love of Jesus. We ache for the day we will welcome them into our family.

We will return our acceptance of the referral on Monday. The process has changes somewhat since our first Colombian adoption. The process is now much slower. It will take us 8 to 12 weeks to leave the US to meet our new daughters. As we move forward, we covet your continued prayers. We will be able to post pictures in another 4 to 6 weeks.

Here are some specific ways you can pray:



1) For everything to come together administratively so that we can travel.

2) Safety while there. Jim can only stay two weeks this time. Betty and Katie will remain the rest.

3) God's provisioning for our remaining costs. There are still several cost we are praying about and trusting God for. Pray for Him to provision for these needs in such a way He will receive all of the Golry.

4) Transportation- we currently have a 12 passenger van. With the new girls, there will be 14 of us still living at home. We pray that God will provide a 15 passenger van or a small bus. This is our greatest need at this point. We ask you to pray and to ask your churches, families and friends to pray for this. We trust that God is able, and that the prayers of the righteous availeth much!

God Bless,

Jim

Pictures

Happy Birthday Joshua

Joshua Turned 13 yesterday. On Friday night, we had a gathering of men to welcome him as he begins to transition into biblical manhood.  Several men came to gether to give him encouragement and challenges for the journey. I appreciate everyone who came to stand beside him. Here are the words I spoke to my son:

Joshua,

Tonight is a special night. All of these men and their sons have come together tonight to offer you words of encouragement and challenges for you to consider as you begin your transition from boyhood into Biblical manhood. Tonight does not make you a man, but it does put you on notice that you are no longer a boy. Tonight starts your journey, by hearing all these words you can begin to discern for yourself what it means to be a Godly man. Because you belong to Christ and have been redeemed by His blood, all of us here tonight can accept nothing less from you than that you become the man God created you to be and fulfill the purpose He has created you for. It has been said that to whom much is given, much is expected. Because of Christ Jesus you have been given a place in heaven, a seat at His banquet table, the underserved gift of eternal life in the very presence of the Creator of the universe. My son, I expect much of you in light of the immeasurable riches you have been given in Christ.

In days gone by, boys like you dreamed of becoming a knight. To become a knight a boy passed through stages to earn Knighthood. Once becoming a knight, the man was expected to swear his allegiance to his king, commit himself to an honorable life, and service to the kingdom. I want you to view this night as your first step towards becoming a knight of King Jesus. A knight is a warrior, a man who is prepared to lay down his life for others and for his cause. You are called as a knight of King Jesus to put on the full armor of God. It says in Ephesians 6:10-17

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Joshua, you come from a linage of warriors. Eight generations before you, Mitchell fought in the American Revolution. Five generations before you James Monroe  fought in the American Civil war on the side of the south at 17 years old. Three generations ago, Wesley entered World War I as an American Doughboy. Two generations before you, both your grandfathers served in Vietnam. Three of my mom’s brothers served in World War II, one in the British Navy and her twin brothers Sylvester and Thomas in the Canadian Army. Sylvester watched his twin brother die in the twisted barb wire on a lonely battlefield in Europe. You know that I served in the Army for 20 years, my only brother in the Air Force for 17 years. His son has served in Iraq and is now in Afghanistan. Your brother in law James has recently returned from Qatar. You come from a linage of warriors, but this is not the sort of warrior that I challenge you to be. I call on you to commit yourself to be a spiritual warrior for Christ. Before you, you see the trappings of a warrior. The boots, the shield, the flak jacket, the helmet and the sword are the visual representations of a warrior’s preparation for battle. But in Ephesians Chapter 6 you will find the things you need to prepare yourself to be a knight of the true King. I challenge to put on full armor of God:

Stand Firm
Gird your loins with truth
Put on the breastplate of righteousness
Shod your feet with the Gospel of Peace
Take up the shield of faith
Take the helmet of salvation
Take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God

If you do these things you will be fully prepared to battle as a Knight of King Jesus.

Also before you tonight is a quiver of arrows. Warriors require weapons and fellow warriors in the faith. This quiver is mine. It is a visual representation of Psalm 127 which reads:

1Unless the LORD builds the house,those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain. 2It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. 3Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. 5Blessed is the manwho fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
I’d like to reflect tonight on verses 4 and 5 - children are like arrows in the hands of a warrior. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.

For many years I had an inadequate understanding of these verses. My view had been that the point was to fill my quiver and be blessed. I have recently come to understand that the reason a warrior has arrows is to is not to rejoice in the fullness of the quiver, but rather the warrior has arrows to shoot at and kill his enemy. Joshua, you are one of my arrows. I have tried to live my life as a Knight of the King. Any victories I am proud of are only those won for our God and Savior. Notice one of the arrows in the quiver has your name on it. Also notice that one fletching is white and two are black. These colors were deliberately chosen. The first black fletching I chose to represent the first Adam who allowed sin into the world and brought to each of us spiritual death and a need for redemption. The second black fletching represents you my son. You were born into this world under the blackness of sin, loved of God, but in need of a savior. The white fletching has two meanings. First, the white fletching represents the second Adam who is Jesus. He is the perfect sacrifice for our sins - yours and mine. Because of that sacrifice, the white fletching also represents you - now that you are in Christ. He has made you white as snow.

This night is meant to be about you, so why have I brought MY quiver here tonight? Because tonight as you begin your transition into manhood, I as your warrior father draw an arrow from my quiver. You are the arrow, tonight I nock your arrow and draw back my bowstring and take aim with all that you will become and fire you at the enemy. God did not put you in my quiver merely for my pleasure, but for His purpose that is your life. He has allowed me to keep you in my quiver until you were needed for the battle. That need is now here, it is your time to join the ranks of spiritual warriors. It is your time hone your warrior skills and complete the journey started here towards the goal of becoming a Knight. As I draw back my bow I can only aim you at the target of Godly manhood. As I let you fly you must fly true to the mark and plunge deeply into the heart of the enemy. You have much ground to cover before you complete your flight. As I said earlier, a warrior needs weapons and also fellow warriors in the fight.

All of these men who have challenged you tonight are your fellow Knights of King Jesus. We are all gathered here because we commit to help you grow as a warrior and are determined to help you fly true to your mark. Alone a warrior is venerable, but together we are very strong. Each warrior must stand in his place in the battle line. This means we all have unique talents and gifts from God that we are to use for victories in His name not in our name. Each of us must stand in our place on the battle line and defeat the enemy who is directly in front of us. If any of us as warriors fail, then the battle line is breached and the enemy may flood through the gap and wreak havoc behind the lines where our families are. Tonight we challenge you to stand your place and fight for your King by the life you will lead. Joshua son of James, do you commit to become a Knight of the King?

In light of your answer, I have three gifts for you. The first gift is a journal I have been writing for you over the last two years. In it are the things I want you to remember about the journey to biblical manhood. It is written in my own hand and is my love letter to you my son. I have embossed on the cover Joshua son of James. Second, I have for you the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. I have chosen a study bible for you – spend much time in the Word and it will keep you sharp and battle ready. I have embossed the cover your name Joshua. Lastly, I have a gift that is intended to always remind you that you are destined to be a Knight of King Jesus. The last gift is an Army Officer’s sword which will be your visual reminder that you are a knight of King Jesus.

Son I love you and wish all the best of God’s blessings for you.

Medellin Bound

Last Friday, we received a call from Nichole. She had been made aware of a sibling group  of two girls in Medellin and asked if would we be interested. But first...

We have prayed that God would send to us children that are hard to place, children that might face a long wait for their forever family. Our twins were children such as this, several states were searched before God brought them to us. Many families turned down Makenzie and Isaiah- we believe God closed all these hearts because He intended them for us. That He desired to give Betty and I the desire of our hearts times two!

We prayed that we would return to Colombia to welcome two girls that needed our family. God answered this prayer by bringing to us two special needs girls in Medellin. Two girls who are created perfectly in His image needing both the love of a forever family and the love of Jesus. We hope to be able to give them both.

On Monday we received 47 pages of case study for 6 and 9 year old sisters. We will not be allowed to give their names yet nor will we be able to post pictures for a while- sorry- hopefully this gives you something to look forward to! The 6 year old has a cleft pallet and has had 3 surgeries to correct this. She will need at least a couple of more surgeries to resolve her cleft pallet and then quite a bit of speech therapy. The 9 year old girl was born with hip displasia. She has had surgery but the hip problem remains far from resolved. She also has an undetermined problem with her right knee and foot. We expect to work through several surgeries with her when we get her home.

They have not yet been given to us as an actual referral. After reviewing the case study on Monday, we clearly felt God calling us to reach out to them. We sent a specific request to ICBF on Tuesday asking to adopt them. Now, Colombia will have to review our request and then join it together with our dossier. Our dossier is currently in the Bogota regional office. ICBF must recall it from that region and then send the dossier to the Medellin regional office-  then we can be given the official referral letter. At this point, we don't know how long all of this will take, but we think best case we would travel by mid February. And so ....  when Nichole asked us what we thought about this potential adoption, we wasted no time in telling her YES, YES and YES.

We know these are the girls God has intended for us, and pray you will rejoice with us.

God Bless,
Jim

We strongly covet your prayers as we move forward. Here are some specific ways you can pray:

1) For everything to come together administratively so that we can travel.
2) Safety while there. Jim can only stay two weeks this time. Betty an Katie will remain the rest.
3) God's provisioning for our remaining costs.
4) Transportation- we currently have a 12 passenger van. With the new girls, there will be 14 of us still living at home. We pray that God will provide a 15 passenger van or a small bus. This is our greatest need at this point. We ask you to pray and to ask your churches, families and friends to pray for this. We trust that God is able, and that the prayers of the righteous availeth much!

One More Step

On Friday, we were driving to a volleyball match to watch our daughter Kaitlyn. Betty started checking e-mail on her cell phone while I was driving. Fortunately, there was not allot of traffic because she got to one note and let out a yell of excitement. Had there been a lot of traffic, there is no telling how many cars I might have run into because of this unexpected shock to my system. Sometimes shocks are bad things and sometimes they are good things. This was one of the variety that can only be described as VERY GOOD. All the commotion was because of a note from Children's Hope letting us know that our dossier has now been move from the national office to a regional office. Our dossier has been moved to the Bogota regional office. For those of you who may not have been through this process, this is a REALLY BIG DEAL!  It is in the regional office that you are referred a specific sibling group of children. We can now receive a referral at any time! Rejoice with us! While the referral can take days, months or years, because we have asked for an older sibling group, the referral is more likely to come fast than slow. This being our third adoption, I'd like to be able to say that this process is now "old hat" for us and that we are just patiently waiting the day.....

However, the truth of it is that we are swirling with every emotion you can possibly imagine, as if this was our first child not our 14th, 15th and maybe our 16th child. We are feeling giddy, EXCITED, jubilant, EXCITED, terrified, EXCITED, worried, EXCITED, grateful, EXCITED, awestruck... did I mention EXCITED?  We are also feeling very humble that God has allowed us this opportunity. Of all the millions of people waiting to be parents, He has chosen us to steward these little ones for Him and for His glory. He has entrusted in us the responsibility to love and nurture them, but more importantly, He believes He can trust us to raise them in the fear and admonition of the LORD, to one day at the foot of the cross to give them back to Him eternally. Pray for us that we will not fail our LORD in this undertaking. This adoption is not about us, but rather it is about the children and the relationship they will ultimately have with the Father who loves them more than we ever can. We will try to love with the same love, but know we will fall short of God's perfect love. We will do our very best and trust to God to do the rest.

Many of us have often found comfort in the many places in scripture where God's word tells us that "nothing is impossible with God"  or perhaps "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".  In my quiet time recently these promises took on a whole new perspective. Most of these verses giving us this promise point back to Genesis 18:14. This is the first place I can recall anything like this being said in scripture. In Chapter 18 of Genesis, God is promising a child to Abraham in his old age. God asks Abraham " Is anything too difficult for the LORD?" Of course the answer is no! I took comfort in connecting the verses affirming that nothing is impossible with God to a promise of a child to a man who was thought to be to old to become a father. Betty and I stand on theses promises knowing God can grant us children even at a time of life when the world around us thinks us too OLD. If you are waiting for a child, or considering adoption, can I ask you "Is anything too difficult for the LORD?"   We stand as an example of the power of God to answer prayer our prayers and yours. Rejoice with us, be encouraged and be in prayer!

Now things seem to be happening VERY fast. We continue to covet your prayers. Our prayers include:
That the referral will come
That we will finish the course
That God will provide a way for us to get a 15 passenger van or small bus
That God will allow us to somehow expand the size of our house
That He will prepare the hearts of our new little ones
That we will have safe travels
That He will give us opportunity to speak and be a voice for the fatherless
That His will be done in all things in our life

God bless you and thanks for reading our blog.

Here we go

Sometimes you wait and wait.  At other times, you are taken completely by surprise and things seem to take on a life of their own. Today was one of those days!  I sat at home and when I was least expecting it, the phone rang - and it was Children's Hope International. "Hello, is this Jim?"

"Yes".  "This is Nicole, guess what?"

I thought to myself, only two reasons for her to call - approval of our dossier, a referral or both. I dared not hope or guess both. Before I could answer, Nicole tells me, "congratulations, your dossier has been approved!"

Wow.

HOW EXCITING!!!!  This on the same day I emailed the magazine "Adoption Today" to ask if they planned to publish an article I wrote about how we came to the decision to adopt for the third time. How appropriate find out they plan to publish the article on the same day we recieve word that ICBF has approved our request to return and adopt again.

Rejoice with us over God's blessing of our family once again with the joy of children. We now anxiously wait for the referal of our new daughters. We covet your prayers and encouragement. The journey begins anew....

Jim

Last Chance

Thanks to all who have ordered shirts in support of our adoption! We will be ordering on Monday, so if you haven't ordered yet, this is your last chance.

T-Shirt Fundraiser!!!

We are happy to be introducing our first adoption fundraiser! Kaitlyn and Brianne have custom designed Colombia adoption shirts. Show you support for Colombian adoptions and while proclaiming what the Scripture has to say about adoption. The t-shirts will be available in both adult and youth sizes. The price of each shirt is $17 which includes free shipping to our out of town supporters. In order to insure that we have the a shirt for everyone that is interested we will be taking preorders until June 30, 2011. We will place the order on July 1 and keep everyone posted about when they are complete and headed to the post office. At this point, this is the only time we will be ordering this shirts so don't miss the opportunity. To place an order email us with your name, address, number of shirts you would like to order, and the size you would like. We will only be able to accept check and money order. Once you have emailed us your order we will send you the address to mail your payment to. You can click on the shirt to see a larger image.

eight.is.not.enough@gmail.com

Thanks for helping us bring our girls home from Colombia!

1st Birthday!

 

Progress

Updated dossier is on its way to Colombia as of this week!!!

Pictures

Valentines Day

Makenzie loves the piano!

Got enough pacifiers?

15 Red Roses and 2 Arrows

What do 15 roses and 2 arrows have in common? Together, they were my Valentine's gift to my wife Betty. These are not the traditional sort of valentine's gift that a wife would expect, but Betty was thrilled with them- especially the 2 arrows. Perhaps if you continue to read the post, by the end it will all make sense.

God has blessed us beyond anything we had ever imagined or hoped. He has blessed us with 13 amazing children. He has blessed us with 8 of these children through the union of our marriage, then He has given us 3 from the country of Colombia, and most recently God has blessed us with twin babies from Texas. We always wanted twins, but we just never imagined having them in our 50s. God's ways are always perfect and we have had much joy as the parents of this widely diverse "bakers dozen". Had we ever stopped to consider how WE could manage this, we would have been terrified and probably would have run away .... fast.

Fortunately we trusted God for His plan and His provisioning and could not imagine life without any of our children. We have come to recognize that our primary purpose in life - our ministry if you will- is to raise up children who love God and seek to serve Him. My wife Betty is the most amazing person I know. Period. She has been an amazing mom and makes being the mother of 13 look like child's play.

Back in April, we made a post to this blog that a funny thing happened on our way back to Colombia- that was the announcement that God had sent us the babies we had prayed for in a time of life that we could not expect to have babies of our own anymore. God had closed Betty's womb, but He had still given us a desire in our heart for His children. We had prayed for babies without ever expecting we would have one again. As we like to quote around our house, we often would say that with God nothing is impossible. And so as He has done before, starting with Abraham and Sarah, with Hannah - He has done with us, He saw fit to give us the desire of our hearts and sent us the twins through adoption. Isaiah's middle name is Samuel as he is a gift to us in our later years, Makenzie's middle names are Joy Elizabeth as a recognition of the joy God has given us through her life. God gave us the desire of our hearts times two! WOW! A week after we had been given the twins, we received notice from Colombia that the dossier to return to Colombia to adopt a sibling group of two girls had been approved. We had to put this approval on hold for a year because you must wait a year between adoptions with our agencies Colombia program. When we welcomed Isaiah and Makenzie into our family many asked us, are you still going to finish the second Colombia adoption. We said we didn't know because we were just basking in the joy that the two babies brought into our life.

As time went by we knew we needed to decide if we would keep our approval to return to Colombia current or did God simply want us to let go. The babies had brought us so much joy, but we could not escape the feeling that God was calling us to return to Colombia for the girls He has for us there. The family all felt this calling. Betty , Kaitlyn and Brianne felt it most strongly and always felt we would return to Colombia. For me is was not so clear. I have been struggling to discern God's will for this as the leader of our family. I knew if we surrendered to this call, God would fully take care of all the details. For me it was difficult, I remained deeply in prayer for weeks desiring to know God's will in this. I knew the hearts of Betty, Brianne and Kaitlyn. The younger kids I did not know. So what does a Dad do when he doesn't know? Well completely out of character for me --- I asked them what they thought about going through with the 3rd adoption. You would think they would say something like NO WAY. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am amazed at how God has knit these children of mine together. Here are some of the things they said:

I asked them if they had thought adoption had been a good thing for our family- They all answered with a resounding YES!

I asked them if they thought we should adopt again- YES!

I asked the first three kids we adopted if they were glad we adopted them - YES!

We asked the adopted kids if they thought we had treated them the same as the other kids - YES!

I asked my biological kids if the experience of having siblings of another race had changed how they view people who are "not like them" (we now have Hispanic children and the twins are half Hispanic and half African American). They answered:

"It made me realize we are all the same inside"

"My view hasn't changed, they are the same as me and you"

"I used to notice what race people were when I came in contact with them, now I don't even notice."

"Color doesn't matter"

"No, I always felt like it is important to look at someone not by their looks, but instead at who they are as a person."

Answers that can only encourage the heart of their dad.

I asked the first three we adopted what were the three best things about being in our family- one of them told me one of the best things was that we had never lost him. When I asked what he meant, I quickly discovered he was happy that we had never abandoned him as his biological mother had - and I wept over this answer. He has been through so much.

I asked our biological kids if there was anything from their life before adoption that they missed- NO!

One child told us he thought we should get a bigger van and adopt more kids.

I asked my older girls what did they think of adoption 4 years ago and what do you think of it now-

"I thought 4 years ago it was a fun adventure. Now that I have experience it, I know it is sometimes a difficult journey, but the end results are so worth it."

"My views about adoption have changed a lot in the last 4 years. Before we started this process I really didn't know a lot about adoption. I now know that we are all called to help care for orphans. We all need to obey God's command regarding orphans. Not only are orphans blessed through the process, but it also changes everyone involved in the process."

What are the three best things that have resulted from these two adoptions-

"Seeing other people (outside our family) being touched and helping orphans in some way"

"My faith and trust in God has been changed"

What is different in our family that you least expected-

"I never guessed how much this adoption would impact my relationship with God. I am so amazed at how God knew exactly what these kids needed and felt we were worthy to give them that."

Do you think adoption has been a good thing or a bad thing? Why?

"Adoption has been a good thing for our family. It has changed each and everyone of our lives. The kids have been accepted into a loving family and have hope for the future. We have all been blessed with the smiles, laughter, hugs ect... It also tested our faith in many ways causing us to trust and rely on God. We have also seen the amazing way that God provides for the orphans. Lastly, we have met new people (families) and developed relationships with them."

Finally, in response to my question should we adopt again, my daughter Brianne tells her Daddy: "We have love to give to more kids. They sit in Colombia with very little promise for a future. Each day these kids dream of finding a mom and dad who will love them. Yes, we all make mistakes. Maybe you aren't the "perfect" parent, but guess what- due to our fallen, sinful nature, none of us can ever be the perfect parent. You have been a wonderfully amazing Godly role model to me. I could never ask for a better dad. You are striving to obey God in the way you raise us. That is a precious gift to us kids. You are loving, caring, kind and go out of your way to make sure we are supported, loved and raised to honor God. We have love, room and resources to give. How can we say no to these kids? How can we not share our love? How can we not give some child hope for the future?" She then turned the table on me and said: "Now can I ask you what is holding you back? I would love to pray for you that God would give you a clear answer."

After reading this final answer on the final page of answered questions, I was absolutely floored. I was humbled. I was amazed at the depth of these thoughts. I was amazed at how much more clearly my children saw this than did I. If I was holding on to any doubts, at that moment I simply let go. God had used my children to show me His answer- His plan for our family. If God's plan is for us to go- then we would have it no other way. His ways are perfect. To paraphrase from His word:

I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD. Plans to profit you not to harm you. As a family we now move forward- each and every one excited for the LORD to fully reveal these plans - to reveal the children He has wanted to bless us with. WE ARE SO EXCITED- REJOICE WITH US.

Now back to the title of this post. 15 red roses and two arrows. God gave me clarity that His plan was for us to return to Colombia right before Valentine's Day. So my gifts to Betty (who waited patiently for me to clearly discern God's will for our family), were 15 red roses - one for each of our children including the two whom we have not met, and two arrows. The two arrows are symbolic of the two arrows we know God intends to lovingly place in our quiver- and now our prayer is that may He place them there soon.

Jim

December/January

The babies first snow.