Bringing Justice to Orphans

Waiting on Jesus

2011-12-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

Waiting on Jesus
December 24, 2011

This year has been a big blur. It seems as if it’s only been a few weeks long, yet I hardly remember any of it. How can time past this fast without me knowing it? Does this have to do with my age? Is this what I have to look forward to from now on?...years passing by in a matter of minutes? I woke up this morning and realized that I have been living with a teenager for almost a year now. (This could explain some of the blur?) This year we celebrated our firstborns 13th birthday! Is this possible? And my baby? Well, the last time I gave birth was 10 years ago. So, there is no longer a baby in this house. What in the world has happened here? This just can’t be right. And both these boys cause us to be filled with wonder and swell full of proud joy and I hold tight to the precious moments flying by. Savoring every moment I can.

A friend said to me at the beginning of this year, “2011 has got to be better for your family than 2010”. And a couple of days later, I got a terrifying phone call from Jeff- breathless and voice waning, I heard the words, “I crashed and it’s bad”. Knowing that he was at a motocross track that day with a friend and aware of his history of making jumps on his motorcycle that take my breath away, I imagined the worse. After hospitals, surgery and weeks of rehab, though it was tough, I’m so thankful that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. But this was only January. What would February bring? To my shock and surprise, just shortly after Jeff’s accident, I got another phone call. This time, a phone call bringing the best news ever! Now I was hearing the words, “you have a daughter!" These are words we had waited to hear for a couple of years now. We finally have our Bella. Little did we know what was in store for us next.

After receiving an estimated time-frame of when paper work would be approved and travel would be possible we braced ourselves for a wild summer including a trip to India to bring our long awaited child home. In the meantime, we watched miracle after miracle unfold. The LORD began weaving different people into our story and we watched prayers being answered left and right. From bringing long sought out translators for Bella’s specific language that no one had heard about around here… to friends taking trips to visit our daughter with updates, pictures and videos...to God bringing in over $30,000 to meet our outrageous adoption costs to travel to pick up our girl. He was moving mountains and we were getting excited! Sweet friends showered us in June to help us with the many needed things to bring home a daughter while mom and I prepared a wonderland of a pink room for her and a place to forever call home.

And it all came to a screeching halt when summer came and went and we still had no daughter at home. We were given news that there were delays in India and paper work was not moving and it could be months. So, beginning in August we walked into a different kind of season of waiting. One that would bring so much heartache and hurt, one that would bring me to the end of myself and force to me to fix my eyes on Jesus alone. Waiting day after day, month after month, now no longer to hear words that speak, “we have a daughter”, but ones that bear news that we can “go get our daughter”. Knowing that we weren’t the only ones now waiting on this news, but that on the other side of the world waited another who longed for her mama and daddy to bring her home. This is now a longing and yearning so strong, that I eagerly awake every morning- before eyes even open - and reach for my phone to check for news that will bring two worlds together.

Yet we still we wait. But I know waiting is never in vain. God is teaching me even now as our family has transitioned into this Advent season and we have been reflecting on biblical History. “Advent.” The word comes from a Latin term that means “ toward the coming." I’ve been reminded of many others who long waited, yet did not wait in vain. Noah waited for the rains of salvation, Abraham waited to be the father of many nations, the Israelites waited for the Promise Land, David for a kingly throne as a young man and the list goes on and on. Ultimately they were all a part of a people who waited generation after generation for a LONG awaited and prophesied Messiah. A lineage of people who’s longing and yearning gave birth to the One who was to come. Jesus, the one in whom we now rejoice. Let’s face it…. waiting is very hard, and in a culture that has no patience to wait on anything, we as the Bride of Christ, now find ourselves waiting like the saints of old once again. Paul tells us, we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons. Romans 8:23

It’s no coincidence this time of observing Advent has caused me to shift my focus of waiting on Bella, to a focus on my waiting of my own adoption. So many similarities. Am I just as eager each morning that I wake up to hear news of our daughter to anticipate also the coming of the One who will soon come back for me? Even now He too is preparing a home for us. Jesus says, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:3 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 3:20. It’s so easy to eagerly anticipate the glittery things this season brings. But I wonder if we are eagerly waiting on Jesus for His return? He is coming again…..and this begs the question, “are we ready”? What if each morning we awake with eager expectation of a new day with the possible coming of a returning King? To be sure, some have grown weary and have even fallen asleep and we may question why He delays. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Waiting on the Lord is never in vain. Our waiting on Bella has not been in vain. As the end of this year draws to a close, I’ll not only be eagerly waiting on our daughter, I’ll be eagerly anticipating the One “toward the coming”. I’ll be waiting on Jesus. Ready for His return.

Merry Christmas!

The Wilbanks

Waiting on Bella to come HOME!

Nothing

2011-12-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

No updates
No changes
No Bella
Nothing

So many of you continue to ask about updates on our approval to go and get Bella. And we don't have any. In Sept, CARA in India asked for another 3 months to finish backlogged paper work for 550 families and they told us they would have them all completed by Dec. 31st. We were hopeful we'd know something by Thanksgiving and as that time quickly disappeared I have been clinging on to a Christmas surprise. But as of today, we've been told that there has been no updates from CARA to our orphanage on our paperwork.

We know that God won't be one second late on His plan for our daughter to come home. However, honestly, that just flat out doesn't erase the hurt and the ache I feel in my heart over my little girl. As if the first two years waiting on a referral weren't hard enough....it's almost been a whole year since we were matched with our precious girl.... and it's almost unbearable that we've still not gotten approval so that we can bring her home.

So, until then, we continue to eagerly and expectantly WAIT.... and PRAY.... and HOPE daily that some good news will come soon.

Another Beautiful Adoption Story

2011-10-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Stewarts from Together for Adoption on Vimeo.

An UPDATE!!!

2011-10-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

Friends,

We have waited for for 4 months to even get word that India has received our paper work and today that was confirmed! I believe this is evidence of answered prayers! So, the good news is, they have received our paper work and have reviewed it! But there is also bad news. They are requesting 3 additional documents. I can put those together fairly quickly, run them down to Montgomery to have them apostilled and mail them off for India by Wednesday. But these are more delays that can affect us by weeks!

Although India wants hard copies of these documents.....a copy of them can also be received via email in the mean time. (hoping that is a benefit to us!) So, at this point when India receives our additional paper this could go a couple of different ways. We could go back to the bottom of the 550 cases, or be at the top waiting to be approved.....or some other weirdness in between those two options. But, I'm so encouraged that there is some movement here! At the same time, the enemy is still hard at work on our family and has still not let up on me in regards to my health. So, I'm asking you....for those of you that have entered into the battle with us, to keep fighting for us in prayer! Keep asking God for the things that seem impossible and the miracles we need to get this baby girl home!

Lastly, another blogger friend sent this post to me as a way of encouragement tonight and I can't tell you just how much of an encouragement it was. (thank YOU Meredith!!) It documents my EXACT THOUGHTS and FEELINGS on this adoption and the battle that we are in and our desire to fight for our child to come home. Please consider reading this. It is SO SO good!

Till she comes home,

Warfare Prayers and a Miracle

2011-10-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

Friends,

We are in need of your prayers. Let me update you and tell you why.

Our papers for Bella went for approval to New Delhi in June this summer. At that time we were told we would received approval in about 15-30 days to which the papers would then be forwarded on to the state courts and spend another 30 days and then we would apply for passport and bring Bella home by the end of the summer.

Obviously, none of that has happened. In fact, our papers are still in New Delhi and going on 100+ days now. The last several weeks we were notified of back log in paperwork in Delhi that was causing delays but that they would complete all backlogs by September 3oth and we remained hopeful as that day was quickly approaching... that our papers would be approved and we would move on to the next step.

But, September 30th had come and gone and we still had no approval. We've been notified of a remaining backlog of 550 adoption cases and they have now indicated that the pending adoption cases are projected to be cleared by December 31st 2011. We don't know where we stand in that 500+ adoption cases....but we are in there somewhere and now have no idea just how much longer this will take. Regardless, bringing Bella home by the years-end is fading quickly. It's looking more like it will be next year sometime. We are extremely disappointed to say the least.

On another note, over the course of the last couple of weeks I've been experiencing some serious difficulties (medical in nature) that by all means have proven to be nothing but spiritual warfare.
This attack from the enemy has drained me both physically and mentally to where at the end of the day I am weak and exhausted. I have been clinging to the LORD just to get through each day. I have experienced some extreme opposition to say the least.

This experience has me gathering thoughts on how these continued adoption delays could also be warfare related. It wouldn't surprise me. We've had all kinds of difficulties, road blocks and set backs along the way, but this time it just feels offensive. I was reading just last night a few other adoption blogs about how the enemy brought on extreme attacks during the home stretch of their adoptions. Similar situations such as ours were mentioned. I was even reminded of Russell Moore's statement,

“Adoption and orphan care is not charity; adoption and orphan care is not another denominational program. Adoption and orphan care is spiritual warfare, because adoption and orphan care is about Gospel and about mission.”

And that just about sums it all up. The enemy would like nothing more than to try and put an end to this adoption....or delay or discourage or distract. With all that said, I am asking you to please consider entering into some warfare praying for us and our Bella. At this point, there is no reason why she could not come home! We are ready, she is ready, her room is ready.....and travel expenses have been fully funded. (PTL) We just lack one thing......our DAUGHTER!

This is not to say that we think we know the best time for Bella's homecoming or that we are doubting God's perfect timing and sovereignty. By all means....HE KNOWS BEST! and we trust Him completely and know His plans and timing will not be thwarted or delayed. But at the same time we have a real enemy that would love to opposed us in every way with the Bringing Home of our "orphaned no more" daughter. SO.....I'm sensing the need to call on prayer warriors to join us in this battle to get our Bella HOME. And SOON!

This is going to take a miracle to make all this happen by the end of the year....but that is what we are hoping and praying for. And we KNOW that our BIG GOD is capable of the impossible. So, will you join us?

We desperately covet your prayers.

Some Bloggy-Changes

2011-09-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

As we round the corner of this adoption and make our way to our sweet daughter Bella, I decided to update the blog a little..... and give it a new look!! I have also created a new blog "button". I would love it if you would grab the html code for our button and share it on your blog or website. We would love to invite as many that would like to join us on our journey and watch God continue to do AMAZING things as we bring our Bella HOME!!!

If you are receiving this post as an email you can click here to go to my updated blog. Bringing Justice Blog

**update**
We received news that "they" are still behind in processing adoption paper work. What should take about 15-30 days to process is taking 90+ days for us. We ask that you continue to pray for us as we wait for God's perfect timing to bring Bella home

Some really exciting news about what God is doing in the waiting and some new pictures of our girl to come SOON!

Football and Bella?

2011-09-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

******Extension on sale is now Wednesday Sept. 21st!

Yeah...well this is the only time you'll see me blogging anything about football. :-) Thanks to some dear friends of ours.....they are helping us with our remaining adoption expenses. See info below.

Smoked Boston Butts for SALE
just in time for Football!

BIG FOOTBALL Weekend 9/24/11with 2 HOME games!

Alabama vs. Arkansas at Tuscaloosa

Auburn vs. Florida Atlantic at Auburn

Get game ready and pre-order a Smoked Boston Butt for your gathering or tailgate party!

$35 each or 2/$60

3-5 pounds after cooking

All proceeds will benefit the Wilbanks adoption of Bella

Jeff and Brittnie Wilbanks have been in the process of adopting their little girl, Bella, from India for 2 years. Please help them raise the remaining funds to bring her “little butt” home to Alabama. You can read more about their journey at www.bringingjustice.blogspot.com

Pickup times are Friday, September 23 at 6 pm or

Saturday, September 24 at noon at

Hoover Regions (the Met) RV Park

Contact Romin to order at romin@securethinking.com or 321-231-3364.

Cash or checks accepted at pickup

Plan your football weekend now!

Deadline to order is Wednesday, September 21st at Noon

Hosted by Romin and Audrey Hirschy/Travis and Anne Diggs

The New Site is up and "Running"!!

2011-08-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

Friends,

I wanted to report that our turn out for our Charming Charlies fundraiser was a HUGE success. There are some ladies that are some SERIOUS accessory shoppers! What a fun day we had!! Thank you to all who came out to support us!

Also, I spoke again with our agency today and there is still "No News" on our paper work. We are all at a loss over this HUGE delay! At this point clearly the possibility of travel this summer is over. Now we are hoping at this point just to be there before Christmas. Disappointing, but we are still completely confident in God's plans for our family. They are GOOD plans!!

Lastly, In my last post, "Running for a Cause", I mentioned that I was working on a website to help get this "Runners for Bella" thing going. Well, the website is finally finished and up and "running"! You can click on the link and take a look around at the new site here. Runners for Bella

Also, you can find out those who are running for Bella. :-)

Running For A Cause

2011-08-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Calling all Runners:

Friends and family.....if you are a runner and/or know someone who is and would be interested in running for a cause.....then this info might be for you.

I'm looking for runners who are preparing to run in a upcoming fun-run, race or 1/2 marathon etc that would be willing to run for Bella. The plan would be simple. Share with your friends and family why you are running and call on them to donate toward your cause (Bella). Money would go directly to helping get the remaining funds in to bring our daughter home!

I'm currently working on a website that will allow you to have your own web link to share with friends so they can find out what you are doing and will allow them to donate directly on that page.

If you are interested in this or interested in putting together a "team" of runners that would like to run for Bella....please let me know. Please also send this blog to anyone that you know that might be interested.

Hoping to hold her soon,

This is going to be fun!

2011-08-17T12:36:00.001-07:00

Friends,

So many of you continue to ask about where we stand with getting our sweet Bella home. As most of you know, we should have been to India and back already with our daughter. BUT...obviously that has not happened. There are some changes in India's adoption process and the changes are causing delays and backlogs in paper work. Well our paperwork is caught right in the middle of it all. We have NO idea at this point when our paperwork will be approved. So, we continue to wait. Honestly, I am at complete peace with this. God has just covered me in peace while we wait and I'm trusting in His sovereignty 100%. He knows what He is doing and when our little girl needs to be home for her benefit and ours. He LOVES her SO! I know He is holding her in complete peace as well. I just praise Him for His loving kindness.

In the mean time....we still continue to try and raise the remaining funds needed to bring our darling home. Still about $4,500 left to raise. We still have some adopted shirts left if you want one. But let me tell you about an exciting event coming this Saturday August 20th!! This is going to be fun! Charming Charlies in Bham is helping us raise money for Bella! Here are the details.

When: Saturday, August 20th

10:00 AM to 9:00 PM

Where: Charming Charlies

216 Summit Blvd. Suite 130,

Birmingham, AL 35243

Come in and shop anytime on Saturday August 20th from 10am-9pm and tell them you are with the Wilbanks Adoption social. You will sign in and receive a bracelet indicating you are there to shop for our fundraiser and when you checkout 10% of your purchase will go toward bringing Bella home!

Haven’t heard of Charming Charlies? It's a ladies fashion accessory boutique. Go here for more info: http://www.charmingcharlie.com/home\

Isn't that neat?

Come out and see us Saturday.....and please help us spread the word. EVERYONE is invited!! The more the better!

Till she comes home,

Orphan Sunday 2011

2011-07-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this video for Orphan Sunday!!! You gotta see it. Orphan Sunday is right around the corner.....coming Sunday November 6th. How can you serve the orphan? What is God calling YOU to do?

Orphan Sunday 2011 from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Why India?

2011-07-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

About 10 years or more ago and without any rhyme or reason I fell in love with the people and place of India. I can’t explain exactly how it actually happened. It wasn’t over night but with in a short amount of time some how God birthed a love in my heart for India and it’s people.

As this love began to grow it just so happened that the church we were members of at the time had partnered with some mission teams in Karnataka, India. The staff and members of our church began to meet and learn about the people of Karnataka and the work that was to be done there and my love for India began to take shape. At the time I had little ones at home and did not feel led to actually travel at this point but stayed totally enthralled and connected through the work that was taking place.

Around the same time I had found an amazing ministry led by KP Yohannan, called GFA (Gospel for Asia). As I read what KP had to say about the people of his homeland and the statistics of India I began to get more of a glimpse of the vast lostness and darkness of this nation and how desperately they needed to hear about our Savior! In those moments, my heart was pierced and my love deepened.

When we moved to Alabama 5 years ago, Jeff connected with an old buddy from where he grew up and to our surprise, he was a missionary that traveled world wide and had been to India several times. Anxious and hopeful God would define my passion for India we had him over for a weekend visit. Our friend’s gifting and purpose for his mission trips was videography. So he brought to us not only stories and experiences of God’s work in India. He brought to us faces. Faces of the people who were so desperately seeking the ONE who created them in His image. Faces, so beautiful yet so empty and full of hopelessness.

This changed the whole thing for me. After our friend left, I watched the videos all over again and then wept for hours. I wept for the nation, I wept for the people… for the children….the many children on the streets, naked and rummaging though trash and living in slums. I wept over the look of brokenness and hopelessness. I just wept. I hadn’t’ known a hurt in my heart like that before. God’s heart. This is how He felt too.

So, how do I get there? And when? I tried to get to India by taking our missionary friends suggestion and jumping in with a group who were going back to India soon. I tried seeking out a couple of other opportunities to make a trip. But, no. God said not now. So I pushed the hold button. During that same time of heart ache I began to have dreams. Dreams about the people of India and the huge harvest out there and the workers who were so very few. All I could do was pray and ask God to show me why He had put this love in my heart and what He would have me do.

And then….exactly 2 years later….the LORD sent me a HUGE message. He flat out called us to “Bring Justice” to the orphan and oppressed and He showed us what do to. “Adopt”. "Adoption", such a simple word, but an enormous world. Where would we begin? From where would we adopt? We began to think and pray. So much need...how would we know? Where has God shown us the most need lately? God whispered, India. Yes....this is it!

After all these years….my hearts passion finally made sense. After years of a growing love for a people and a country….it was all coming together. We have a daughter in India. No, not a daughter. OUR daughter! God put a love in my heart for India because our daughter was there. This was ordained for us before the foundation of the world and He was revealing it to us now. Who can fathom this?

I don’t believe the story ends here. In fact, I know it doesn’t. So many other things we hope will come out of this for the people of India. Some things that are happening even now that will leave our hearts in India for quite some time….and some things that will come later. I can’t wait to share it with you all soon.

What has God put in your heart? Be patient and wait for it. He has great plans in store for you. All for your good and His great Name and Glory.

For the Fatherless,

Don’t miss these fun opportunities to win!
A Chance to Win.
Let's have some Fun!
and our Tshirt is still available here:
"Adopted" Tshirt

All helps us get our sweet girl home!

A Chance To Win!!!

2011-07-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

UPDATE!!!!!
These "Out of the Box Framed Hymn Cross" art pieces are now selling for $40. If you enter for the contest to WIN one of these, We'll give you a $10 discount on buying one! TODAY (7.15.11) is the LAST CHANCE to enter!

This is so exciting! Here is another offer to win fun stuff!
Would you like to win a beautiful framed hymn cross like this?

A very talented friend of mine who has her own business called "Out of the Box" is offering a piece similar to the winner. For a chance to win....this is what you do:

Go to the top right side of this blog and find the donate button named "Out of the Box Framed Hymn Cross" and follow the instructions to make your $10 donation.

For every $10 you donate you will be entered into the raffle. So, if you enter $20 you will be entered twice or $30 for three entries etc.

Deadline is July 15th! We'll announce the winner by July 18. :)

Sound Fun?

Let's bring this baby home!

Let's Have Some Fun!!

2011-07-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends-

Why don't we have a little bloggy fun while we wait for Bella to come home! Take a guess at what our travel date to India will be and I'll give away a Stabucks gift card or Yogurt Mountain (or something like that) for two!! One guess per person and make your guess in the comments section only. I'll announce the winner (who ever gets the closest) once we get the info and I'll mail you your prize!!

Thanks for joining the fun!

For all those precious children,

Brittnie

Bella's Big Girl Tea

2011-06-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Polly offered to put together a very special day of showering for Bella. We obviously didn't need a baby shower....but we certainly needed some girly PINK in the house! So Polly along with some other of my sweetest friends put together "A Big Girl Tea" to celebrate Bella's coming home and to shower her with gifts. I thought that I would share some snippets of the day.

Here is the precious invitation that went out.

Here was the sign in table.

The DELICIOUS food that was provided.

Some beautiful pink embellishments

This tree was so special. It had pictures of Bella all over it along with some very precious scripture about orphans.

The opening of gifts

The pink girly things that Bella received!

I LOVE this gift. Bella is going to need to learn how to ride a bike so she can keep up with her big brothers!

The ladies that made it all happen.

What a beautiful day to celebrate our precious girl....and one I can't wait to share with her when she finally makes it HOME.

Praying Bella home SOON,

Exciting Updates on Bella!

2011-06-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

We have some exciting updates on Bella!

A couple of weeks ago our Adoption Agency flew to India to work on the partnership they have with our orphanage and to solidify some other adoption processes as well. In that process they were going to be able to meet our Bella and spend some time with her and the other children in the orphanage. We were so excited about this trip because that meant that we could not only get some new pictures and updates on her, we could also send her some gifts and letters from us!

We were told that she did not know anything about us and that she probably wouldn’t until we received more approvals for her. Also, we were encouraged that our gifts needed to be a little less personal and that the letters would obviously need to wait until she understood she had a family coming for her. So, we went and purchased some girly gifts, got some family pictures of us together and poured our hearts out in letters and put them in the mail to go with our Agency to India.

We had been out of town the same week that our agency was in India. I checked my email nearly every hour in hopes of finding some updates on their visit there. The night that we returned home and we were all together on the couch together unwinding a bit…. the email came! Our Agency had spent the day with Bella! We got some fun pieces of info about her current height and weight and her favorite color. Pink! I was thrilled about this. But the shocker to us came when we read that she did in fact already know about us! Taking that info in changed the way we thought about her entirely. Wow. She knew she had a family. How exciting!

The next day came and we received a couple of new photos of her and a teaser video. She had changed so much already! She looked beautiful….bigger of course and her hair quite a bit longer! But then finally a couple more days later and the long video came of an interview of her. Our Agency asked her questions about things that she liked. It was so cute to see her thinking of the answers. And to our sheer excitement, the orphanage staff translated our letters to her right there all on video. Whoa. It was truly amazing watching her taking it all in, looking at our photos and listening to our words of love. It didn’t take long for her to get very emotional. And of course…..we did too.

When we set out on this journey of adoption our hearts were set on an infant. A baby we thought….we’d love to have a baby! But, we never thought that God would do a number on our hearts and break us over those precious older children….most who don’t have a chance of getting adopted. And now….watching our daughter who is able to take in every word we were saying to her and for her to understand what it meant that she had a family who loved her and would come and bring her home soon just took things to a whole new level for us emotionally. Wow. What an awesome and holy moment.

When our agency returned home, we also received Bella’s sweet birth certificate and her report cards! Our daughter is a straight A student! How cool is that? She is really a smart little girl. We got tickled to know that one of her favorite subjects is Math. Yeah….well maybe she can teach us Wilbanks a thing or two in that subject. That is definitely not our strong point. :-) She is also learning English in school, which is such a blessing for us and her for when she gets home. We’ll all have lots of learning to do.

Remember our cool story (a previous blog) about “Translating and a Big God?” Well our new friends will be traveling to India in a short couple of weeks….and they have already received permission from the orphanage that they can go and meet Bella! Isn’t that neat? So we are in the midst of putting together some more gifts (personalized this time), letters and pictures. We are so thrilled that God would allow this trip for our friends and for us to see pictures of Bella one more time while we wait. Speaking of waiting. We are in need of just a couple more approvals before we travel. We are told that it is still possible to travel this summer. That’s means we are just a few weeks away! We can’t wait to get her in our arms.

Lastly, since we started our fundraising just a couple of months ago, we lack just about half the amount that we set out to receive the estimated $15,000 before we travel and finalize this adoption. We are just about $7,500 away from what we need to get to get this precious girl home. Please continue to pray for us that the LORD would provide the remaining amount needed to get her home and that He would get her home real soon.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18

For the Fatherless,

Adopted Shirts

2011-06-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

We have designed a shirt to sell to raise some money to bring Bella home. Cost is $20 per shirt.

The idea of this shirt is this: If you are in Christ....you have been adopted. And we are now children of God!

"adopted" is on the front of the shirt
1 John 3:1 is on the back of the shirt.

****Currently we only have 1 adult small left in this shirt!!!! ******

We also have a women's shirt that has pink writing instead of white.
****WE HAVE ONLY 2 Ladies Small's left in the pink!*****

Let us know if you would like to buy one by leaving a comment with your contact info. And please...feel free to share this shirt/blog with anyone who would be interested in buying a shirt!

Translating and a BIG God!

2011-05-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

Shortly after receiving Bella’s referral we started processing all the things that would be needed for her when she got home. My dear friend Jennifer, who adopted her 6 year old son (at the time) from Guatemala informed me that we would greatly benefit from having a translator the first few days we arrive back home in order to help us all get adjusted. I am so thankful for that piece of advice from another adoptive mom in a very similar situation. I'm not sure I would have thought of that.

Because of the location of our daughter and a special language she spoke we knew it would be difficult to find someone to help us. Jennifer and I began a journey of prayer and searching out the person that might possibly be able to translate for us. We began talking with every Indian friend, neighbor and family at local schools to see if anyone spoke this particular language. Jennifer even put flyers together for us to post on the International students board at UAB hoping that out of all those international students….someone might possibly know about Bella’s language. But…..nothing.

Confident that God would provide exactly what we needed….we just continued to pray. In the mean time, I began to research this particular language and area in India. To my discovery, I found that only a small number of people with this same language were actually living in the United States and they were pretty much all living in one particular state. And no….it was not our state. Our chances of a translator seemed small. But we knew that certainly would not hinder our BIG God!

One evening about a month ago while in an "adoption" meeting that we were having at our church, a friend of mine was asking me some questions about Bella. Then she asked me, “which part of India is she from? She went on to say….”because I have a friend that just married a guy from an area in India that I have never heard of and speaks a language that starts with a…….” In my mind I'm thinking, “Yeah right….there is no possible way in ALL of India that your friend married a guy that is from the same place my daughter is from OR speaks the language she speaks.” Hesitant, Jeff pokes me and says….. “tell her!”

So I share with her the name of the place and language that Bella speaks and guess what? Y E P!!! (I told you-- He's BIG!!) Stunned I could barely find the words to say and try to communicate to my friend that this is a near impossible thing and that through her at that very moment….she had the answer to a prayer we had been asking the LORD for quite some time. Can you just take this in with me? That is just amazing, friends!!!

So, I begin to learn more about this friend of hers. She used to live in Birmingham and had been members of our church for a long time, but recently married this guy from India and they currently lived in……yep……the state that I mentioned above. (I am having to keep all this specific info private for the safety of our daughter…so please just bare with me here) How would I have found that kind of a connection other wise?

Now I’ve got a number to call and someone to talk to about possibly translating for us when our daughter gets home. So, anxiously I connect with this girl on the phone and talk to her about her husband and the language and if they’d be willing to help us. They were thrilled to help! It actually turns out that they are also interested in adopting from the same place as well and were so happy to be able have a part in our adoption. oh, BUT….the story grows!!

I found out in that conversation that not only is her husband from the same state that Bella is currently living…..that some of his immediate family still lives there!! Guess what??….not just the same state, but the exact same town and that they also work in some of the local orphanages. ARE YOU CATCHING THIS!?? There is NO way this is a coincidence. This is a BIG BIG God and one that has shown us a glimpse of how beautifully and carefully He has woven in all the personal little details of this adoption.

Now, though I can not say at the moment…..I believe there are much bigger reasons of the significance of the family living in the very same little town….and I will hopefully share those later….but for now…. what it means for us is that in all of these wonders shown us by God….my new friend and her husband are also traveling back to his home to see his family (for the first time as a married couple) in July through the beginning of August. Again...just more awe! Our hope and prayer is that we will be there at the same time with them to introduce Bella to the guy who will be helping her to get adjusted when she gets home and to possibly help us some while there. At the very least they can take her some gifts and things from us on their trip when they travel. We will see what all the LORD has in store.

As far as translation goes with them living in a different state….we’ve actually been told by Bella’s international medical team that this is a good thing so that she doesn’t form an parental type attachment to someone so similar to her. We’ll just plan on phones calls and Skype to get us through our language barriers! And WHO knows what all will happen down the road with this amazing connection. But for now…we just rejoice and marvel in a God who just never ceases to amaze us. Time and time again He shows Himself in this process, affirming our path to Bella. Let’s give Him some PRAISE!!!

*Updated!!**Photo Session Fundraiser for my Home Town Peeps!

2011-04-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

*****this has been updated 5.11.11!! Don't miss out on this great deal!!

Check out what a friend of mine from my home town has put together for us to help us Bring Bella home! So for all you Alvin and surrounding area folks...this is for you!

Bringing Bella Home

A Photography Fundraiser

by Melissa Rose Crowder

Jeff and Brittnie Wilbanks, being called on by the Lord, began an adoption process 2 years ago. They are happy to announce that they will soon be parents to a beautiful 7 yr old daughter from India.

Adoption is a big financial journey as well. I have teamed up with The Wilbanks by holding a Family Portrait Fundraiser. All proceeds from this event will go towards bringing Bella home.

For a $100 donation now you can set up a session with me up to 6 months. 1/2 hr session gets you 10 images FREE on a CD ...that's a $200 value! (postage is $5 if I can't hand deliver).

If you would like to participate, please contact me at mkcrowder@sbcglobal.net to set up your own session.

You can also contact me at 832-689-5241.

You can view my photography website here.

God Bless, Melissa Rose Crowder

If you choose not to do pictures, you can still donate, no amount is too small.

A Painting Success!

2011-04-06T10:19:00.000-07:00

The last two weekends we've been painting up a storm over here! Why? A friend of mine approached me months ago about having a painting fundraiser to help us raise some money for our adoption. Not being the artsy type AT ALL, I agreed not knowing if anyone would be interested in that kind of thing in the slightest and honestly put it off awhile.

Since we received our referral in February I knew I better get a move on SOMETHING to help us get the funds we need to bring this darling home. So, off we went to planning some painting sessions (kind of like Sips n Strokes but minus the sips) :-) We called it "Brush Strokes for Bella" The minute I sent out the email invitations I was floored at the interest and excitement! We had people that wanted to bring their friends, their Sunday School members and even their children for mommy/son/daughter dates!

And I am so happy to say that these couple of classes raised a little over $1,500! We were so overwhelmed! The LORD really surprised us with this one! And I have to say that I never knew I'd love this kind of painting so much. I think the other ladies would agree with me as well. It was truly a blast and a blessing all at the same time. I can't wait to show our Bella the precious pictures of all the ladies that painted to help bring her home.

I want to share a couple of pictures with you so you can see how fun it was.

Our first session we painted crosses.
This was mine that I painted for Bella's room!

Precious!
2nd session receiving their instructions for our floral painting!

The master artist showing us how it's done!

Finished products! Simply beautiful!

If you'll take a look over on the right hand side of this blog you'll see the remaining funds needed to travel to pick up our little girl on our financial tracker! $15,000 is A LOT of money.....but already with only a couple of painting classes we knocked a bit of a chunk out it. We trust the LORD will provide the remaining funds in time.....since He is the one that called us to this journey.

If you are interested in helping us bring in the remaining funds to get our daughter home....here are some of the ways you can do that.

1. If you love coffee....we have a coffee store. Click here for store. $5 per bag goes toward our adoption.

2. A friend of mine is offering a Spanish Class one afternoon or evening and the cost of the class will go directly to our adoption. Date and time forthcoming. Let me know if you are interested.

3. My friend Heather is donating 40% of all the money she makes this month (the entire month of April) on her Mary Kay website to our adoption. Shipping is entirely free! Click here for her site. So, if you interested in any MK products of any kind at all....go check out her link. Feel free to pass this link on to others. (***Also, Mother's Day is fast approaching...might be a good gift idea?)

4. Of course....you can donate money via check or (credit card through our PayPal link) on this blog. Simply click the donate button on the right hand side of the page.

Lastly....we truly need your prayers. That is what it is going to take to get this sweet one home.

We Have A Daughter!!

2011-03-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

We have a daughter!

The time has finally come! It has been 2 LONG years and I am so thrilled that the LORD has finally revealed the daughter that He has chosen for us. In my last blog called, “Glimpses from God?” I shared with you some instances that would indicate perhaps that God was about to make His move and bring forth that referral. Well, believe it or not…we received that referral the very next morning! The phone call came completely unexpected. I had no idea the LORD would act that quickly!

Our agency sent the referral via email that very next day and we said “yes” to her verbally, but it actually took over a month to get those papers to our house from India so that we could put pen to paper to make it official! We got those papers this past Tuesday and couldn’t wait to get our signatures on them!

And now we are getting a tad bit silly. But it's such a fun occasion!

We excitedly wrote our names in those blanks that asked if we would take her as our daughter and sent them back to India that very same day! Praise the LORD! So, this is why I am just now sharing the news via the blog world! If all goes well with the necessary approvals in India we are on a fast track to bring our daughter home in possibly 3-5 months. We shall see.

I am very limited on what I can say about her and the circumstances right now but I can tell you that she is 7 years old and PRECIOUS! When we started this journey 2 years ago we had an infant on the brain and over the last several months the LORD has done a number on our hearts over the older children. (still plan to blog about this topic soon) And even though we initially said we would prefer a child 6 years old and under, who in the world could say no to this face? Please meet our sweet Bella.

So many more details to come in the days ahead of God’s hand in this whole process. Only Him. He is so worthy of all our praise.

Children of God

2011-03-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

Love this new video by Third Day!

Glimpses from God?

2011-02-06T15:41:00.001-08:00

In the last couple of weeks a few things have happened that have perhaps been little glimpses of God that our Bella will hopefully be here soon? First....I had my first dream of her. Jeff and I took one look at her and said....that's our girl! A sweet friend messaged me a couple of days ago where she also had a dream that we got her.

And then....just Friday night....I was packing a weekend bag for our oldest son and ran to get him a towel for his suitcase. I grabbed a towel out of "Bella's Bathroom" and walked downstairs to put his name on the tag. Just before I put the pen to the tag...I noticed the name, "BELLA". What? Wow! Looked again and just below the name was the coolest thing. "Made in India". I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. So exciting!

It may sound a bit silly....but what are the odds? Right? Those were some of mom's towels from her house in Texas that she gave me when she moved in with us. With out thinking I just placed them in Bella's bathroom. No one had any idea what precious words were written on that towel. Until now. Such a sweet moment.

Lastly, there are finally some changes happening in India right now in the adoption world. And hopefully they will have some very positive affects on our adoption...and we are praying this will cause things to happen much quicker than anticipated.

Glimpses? I sure hope so.

We are so ready.

Lead me to the Rock....Revisited

2011-01-13T06:11:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to ignore it since yesterday. But it still sits there making itself known. The lump of grief.....it's there....right in the middle of my throat sitting there so thick and heavy. Even forcing its way up in the middle of the night while I lay trying to sleep. I try to shove it back down. With force I keep it at bay so it won't turn into the ugly cry. You know what I mean....the one you can't control.

Stopping my mind over and over from thinking of the details that happened on January 13th 2008 that led to my father's death. 3 years ago today. So long ago...yet so fresh on my mind it feels like yesterday. So, rather than recalling raw and painful memories ....I am choosing to reflect on the precious ones today. I am resurrecting some words (below) I typed 2 years ago in memory of my sweet daddy. *Sigh*. How I miss him so.

Psalm 61:1-2
Lead Me to the Rock
A Psalm of David.

1Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Psalm 61 was a similar prayer my father had been offering up to God for about five months. At the news of his cancer, he began calling on the only one who could rescue him. All of us were crying out to God for deliverance from that evil disease. However, God didn’t answer quite how we expected. As I type this letter, a year ago today, this very minute my father left us and was delivered home to be with the LORD.

In his last few days, the cancer had taken its toll on my dad’s body and left him bed ridden and very incoherent. While watching him slowly slip away from us, my mom and I received a precious gift from the LORD the day before my father’s death. We witnessed miraculous things and experienced incomparable joys!

Dad had woken up from a deep sleep and began carrying on coherent conversations with us. His personality came to life as he began his joking and playing pranks on my mom which brought us sweet laughter. We got to huddle and love on one another and talk for long periods of time. We were able to express fears as well as provide assurance of provisions for mom once dad was no longer with us. We spoke of the difficult situation at hand and of how much he would be dearly missed. Precious conversations!

Later, to our surprise, dad sat up in bed and requested his glasses and the news paper, not hesitating for a second to go straight to the sports page. We even enjoyed a playoff football game together where he was happy to share his thoughts and opinions on players and teams as he always did. To our delight, dad didn’t waste a minute to ask to enjoy the sheer pleasure of swigging down 2 chocolate (milk chocolate Bluebell of course) milk shakes. Don’t think for a minute that he didn’t exclaim, “Mmmm, that’s so good!” one more time.

We laughed, we cried, we reminisced, we prayed together, confessed, forgave, loved deeply and reconciled all things. All of life’s earthly pleasures were enjoyed to the fullest one last time. As well, all eternal questions and decisions were completely squared away as we thoroughly discussed salvation in Christ alone, by faith alone. Dad reaffirmed his trust and hope in the LORD as he uttered the sweetest words, “who else do I have?” God demonstrated great mercy and grace to us. Never had we experienced such loving presence from the Father.

But, one thing left mom and I stunned that day. Dad spoke of a dream he just had that morning. As he described the dream, he told us he found himself walking down a long path. At the end of the path he sat on a rock and there he began talking to God. At the time it didn’t make any sense to either mom or I. We pondered it, then accepted it and moved on.

Today we fully know what was happening in what seemed to dad as a dream. It was the answer to the prayer he had been praying all along. “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I”. It was not an answer of temporary deliverance. Jesus led dad down the path to The ROCK of his salvation, where he would find himself just the next morning, talking with God face to face, permanently. I praise you FATHER for letting us enjoy him one more day before you delivered him home.

Dad, I love you and miss you dearly.
With love always,
Your daughter, BB

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Change of Plans

2011-01-08T11:43:00.000-08:00

The following is from the "Together for Adoption" Website.

Saturday Fox Family Night Movie – Adoption
by Dan Cruver Published Jan 7, 2011

Jedd Medefind:

As discussed in a previous post, the made-for-TV movie “Change of Plans” airs this Saturday night (8 PM, 7 Central). Following the movie, there will be a LIVE 45 minute webcast on adoption and foster care. Viewers will be able to submit questions to a panel of experts, including former Alliance Board member Paul Pennington, director of Hope for Orphans.

Also of note, a thoughtful Change of Plans Discussion Guide has been prepared for the movie as well. If you’ve got a group coming over to watch the show or just wanted to stimulate a good conversation among your family, the guide could be a helpful launch point.

You’ll be able to watch the webcast at http://www.familiesforall.org/.

For more information on the show, check here.

Uganda Magazine Necklaces & Bracelets

2011-01-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

Uganda Magazine Necklaces & Bracelets

Help us bring our daughter home!

We are currently selling Ugandan Necklaces and Bracelets to help us raise money to bring our daughter home from India.

Each bead is made from recycled paper and individually rolled. The colors in the beads are the colors that are in the paper. All the necklaces and bracelets are one of a kind and handcrafted by the widows that live in remote villages in Africa.

By purchasing these necklaces and bracelets from us you are not only helping us raise the funds needed to bring our daughter home from India but you are also helping the widows of Uganda to live and thrive in their everyday lives. What could be better than fulfilling the mandate of James 1:27?

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.

James 1:27

Here are some of the beads I have available.

I have a few of these left.

They are long ones (58"-64") and they are $30

These are all medium size necklaces (34"-38") and are $30

Aren't they beautiful?

Let me know if you are interested.

It's a NEW YEAR!

2011-01-01T14:44:00.001-08:00

It's a NEW YEAR...and I sure hope we bring that sweet girl home this year!

Please LORD...Bring Bella Home this year!

Jesus Our Manna

2010-12-25T07:45:00.001-08:00

JESUS OUR MANNA

Another year has come and gone and who can fathom this great wonder of time flown by. 365 days passed yet again and countless times we (sometimes unknowingly) experience God’s mercy and grace. And what a year it has been. In our last Christmas letter we “ended” with the “beginnings” of building a new house. With mom’s move from Texas into our prior home, we needed a little more room and this year we have it! How very thankful we are for this huge blessing. We love our new house! The house has met all our needs as a growing family. More room to give mom space of her own. She now has her own “house” in the basement and she loves it! We also needed more room upstairs so we can bring those precious babies home that God has called us to through adoption. God has provided for what He has called us to and we so grateful.

We really had no idea of what we were getting ourselves into with building a new house. It nearly consumed our lives. It was however so much fun picking out all the things “we wanted” for it like colors, styles, flooring and cabinets etc. And we definitely tailored it to our liking…Texas style! How could we not? But between finishing the house (which we did a good bit ourselves) and moving into the house in early July, we really spent every waking minute for months getting things done and settled. We keep calling our summer, “the lost summer”. And it really was. We totally missed out on all the fun the summer brings. But outside of our house consumption…we actually did experience some unforgettable times that the LORD allowed us to have as “makeup” for our lost time. A grace-covering if you will.

One of those times was the LORD calling Jeff and providing for him to go to Africa. He spent two weeks in Uganda with a mission team to help orphaned children. Whoa. What an experience for us all. He had some incredible opportunities to feed children, help build a new walk-in cooler and freezer and even tie in some electricity for a couple of people to have a light bulb for the very first time. Can you imagine? How we take our blessed lives for granted. By far, opportunities to share the gospel to a people who have never heard were highlights. But witnessing extreme poverty firsthand was definitely eye opening to say the least. How all of our hearts have been changed. Another covering of God’s grace was the day our sweet Jadon gave his life to Jesus. With grateful hearts we praise the LORD for answering prayers that we have prayed for our children since their time in the womb.

Those were some definite highlights of our year. But, It would not be “real life” if I shared only our joys and the good times if I did not come transparent before you to show you our life’s sorrows and pains. Nothing hidden here. Just our lives sliced open wide for others to see that we get cut and we bleed like all humanity. And we have bled while we continue to wait for our Bella. I can’t believe an entire year has passed by and we still don’t have her. It’s truly heartbreaking to wait such a long time to bring home a little girl who desperately needs a family. Though, I guess waiting could have been more painful if we were sitting around twiddling our thumbs. But, this year’s busyness with the house has helped ease the pain a bit in our wait. We actually were so close to getting a little girl just a few weeks ago when we accepted a referral match….only to lose her at our saying “yes” and waiting to hear back to proceed. She went to another family who got in a “yes” before we could. So now we wait again trusting God to deliver our child at the right time. He knows what’s best.

Along with all the good that came with the move into a new house…. there was some not so good. There were particular situations that came about during the building of this house that caught us completely off guard. Never have we experience such hardship. The unforeseen challenges tested us in every way physically, emotionally and spiritually. With those challenges came also the difficulty of carrying two mortgages (which we knew was a great probability). Our old house has still not sold in this crazy economy and we continue to foot the bill for two houses. I think it goes with out saying that this has left huge financial burdens. I have said on numerous occasions that this year we are just trusting God for daily bread. Truly we have depended on Him daily for our every need. And over and over He has provided. It has caused me to focus on these particular verses here recently. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.” John 6:48-50

This particular verse refers back to a period of time in the Old Testament where God’s people were in the wilderness after having just been delivered from slavery in Egypt. God brought them to a desert land where they literally had to trust God for daily bread. It was total dependence and God was faithful to provide daily through a honey wafer called manna. His provisions are most certainly sweet. Clearly, it’s the times in the wilderness when we see God’s hand of provision most clearly. This has been true of us…to be able to watch as He shows up at the right time and place to provide for our every need. To witness firsthand how He very clearly makes Himself known as Jehovah Jireh. (The LORD provides) We praise Him for His goodness. But, if we were left with just temporal earthly blessings alone, this indeed would not be sweet. Even the Israelites died in the wilderness after eating the “mystery bread.” Even it did not preserve life then and it does not preserve it now. We need something more.

We are in desperate need of another “manna,” the true bread that comes down from heaven to give us eternal life. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life” and anyone who eats of this bread will not die. Praise God that He does more than provide for our earthly needs.... He provides for our eternal ones. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3 This is truly the mystery. That God would step out of Heaven and come down to us as manna. Real food. Real Life. Is this not the real meaning of Christmas? This is why we celebrate this time of year. If we fall short of just looking forward to getting life’s earthly temporal pleasures and possessions during this Holiday, we would still go hungry. But we now no longer have to be starved from the only thing that can satisfy. We now have all we need. We have the bread that comes down from heaven. Jesus our manna. Will you partake of this bread with us this Christmas?

Merry Christmas!

The Wilbanks

A long Over-Due Update!

2010-11-17T17:05:00.000-08:00

Well, let's see....50 blog posts in 2009 and only 6 in 2010. I think there is something wrong with this picture. Between late April until now we have been extremely busy. We were finishing up the building of a new house ourselves, moving in this summer, and we are still painting, staining, etc to make this house complete. Not to mention there has really not been much to report. So, needless, I'm lacking on blogging.

BUT I am going to catch you up to speed. Thankfully, we do have a new larger home to bring home babies in. For that...I am so grateful. But, it still could be some time before we get them home. Our agency has been working on solidifying partnerships with orphanages in India for many months. Currently there have been two partnerships made which is a very good thing! However, one orphanage is in the process of getting licensed in order to actually "do" adoptions. The other is complicated. (i might blog about that some other time)

Our best bet at this moment is the orphanage that is working on getting licensed. We are told it could be another 6 months before they are approved to make referrals. So, this is looking like the one we are waiting for. We are still also waiting for CARA (Central Adoption Resource Agency) to pass their newest adoption guidelines that might also allow us to have a quicker referral. BUT...we've been waiting on them to push those guidelines through since we began this process in April of 09. So, I'm not banking anything on that option.

The other twist in this story is that it is becoming increasingly harder to adopt an infant from India. Adoption agencies are finding that India is really allowing less adoption of infants and more adoptions of older children and children that are severely special needs. The more we hold out for an infant....the even longer it will be to receive a referral. So, we have been doing some serious thinking and praying! And to our surprise...the LORD really did a number on our hearts! (hoping to blog on this NEXT!)

We realize that this adoption is NOT about us. It has nothing to do with us. But it has everything to do with God's heart for ALL the children out there that do not have homes. It's about Him setting the lonely in families!(Ps. 68:6) Who are WE to say, what, where when and how old? Right? Especially after being reminded that it is the older children that are often over looked because more people want infants and these older children age out of the system and are left out on the streets to try to make it on their own. You can only imagine what that might entail.

So, with all that said, we have decided to be willing to receive a referral of a child age 6 and under. This will help us out with a lesser wait and it allows for God to have His way with us. We also are willing to receive a sibling group if available. So, who knows what the LORD has in store for us. But we are open to what ever He wants and have cast aside what it is that we think we want. We will be blessed with whom ever the LORD chooses.

So, lastly...there is somewhat of a glitch in this whole process. Since our moving into the new house...we've yet to sell the old one. It has been on the market now for over a year and since moving to the new house in July...this has put us under a pretty tough financial strain. AND to make matters more interesting...our immigration papers are expiring (it's already been almost 18 months!)and need to be renewed. So, we begin the journey of starting over, getting all new finger prints done, backgrounds, police clearance, updated home study, DHR approval, Immigration approval and consulate approval etc. And hoping that we will even be approved.... given our current financial status.

We are trusting in God alone to work all this out for us. To me it seems impossible. But, I know the ONE who says nothing is impossible with HIM. So, there we place our trust. Knowing that He will work all things for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

We truly covet your prayers at this time.
To God alone be all glory.

Hope for Orphans

2010-10-22T13:01:00.001-07:00

Cry of the Orphan

2010-10-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

A special message from Show Hope,
Focus on the Family, and FamilyLife

YOU are God's Plan for the Orphan

The United Nations reports that the number of orphans around the world waiting for help is more than 140 million.

This global crisis is present even in the United States where over 120,000 children now wait to be adopted from the foster care system.

But God commands every Christian to act and to care for orphans and we would like you to join us this fall as we serve the orphan.

To help raise awareness of today's orphan crisis, we, along with our friends at Focus on the Family, and Hope for Orphans (a ministry of FamilyLife), worked together to produce Answer the Cry, a special video program hosted by bestselling author Francis Chan. Answer the Cry features musical performances by award winning artists Steven Curtis Chapman and Mark Schultz. Answer the Cry also addresses ways that every Christian can have an impact on the life of an orphan.

This special program is available to you at no cost--visit CryOfTheOrphan.org/Promote to learn more about the video and how you can utilize it for an orphan awareness event in your community. You can help us promote Answer the Cry by sharing this page with your friends!

Will you also consider joining us on Orphan Sunday (November 7) to stand for orphans, to defend the fatherless and care for the least of these? More details on how to get involved are at CryOfTheOrphan.org.

Here's How You Can Help
Find ways to help orphans
at www.cryoftheorphan.org
Find more Orphan Sunday ideas
at www.showhope.org/OrphanSunday
Inform your family and friends by forwarding this message

More than 46 million orphans in Africa.
More than 71 million orphans in Asia.
More than 10 million orphans in Latin America.
More than 120,000 orphans in the United States.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:27 (NIV)

Isaiah's Story

2010-10-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

From the "Together for Adoption" conference this past weekend.

Isaiah's Story from 31Films on Vimeo.

1 year ago and prayer

2010-04-01T08:19:00.001-07:00

One year ago today we dove into a mound of paperwork and started on our journey to see our Bella! It's crazy that it has already been a year!

Would you all continue to lift us up in prayer as we are waiting on God's timing to bring us our daughter? We are so anxious to see her face.

Also, please continue to pray for the LORD to provide all the money we need to finish the adoption. We have already seen an out pour of love from so many in the last year to allow us to come to this point.

As of now we are about half way there financially..... and so far the grant money has not happened. With the economy there is a shortage of grant money and the number of families applying far out weight the money available.

We proceed with confidence that the LORD will provide for us as needed....but we do covet your prayers at this time.

In the meantime we are getting so close to moving into our new house so that we can welcome our daughter into a new home and her own room!

Give Him some praise! He is so worthy.

Blessings,

Next Step......Referral!!

2010-03-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

It has been entirely too long since I have posted a blog and I have missed it! We were in an very long waiting process for a few different things....and rather then bore you with all the details, I chose to hold off.

BUT.....now.....I have some updated news and can't wait to share it with you!

We FINALLY received our Indian Consulate approval. Yea! Now our Dossier is off to India! However, even though we have been waiting on consulate approval, the exciting news is that we have a representative that has been actively seeking our Bella!

Now that our Dossier is on it's way to India it is indeed official that we are currently JUST waiting on our baby referral. We are the pilot family for our Agency and so there is no waiting list. We are first in line. So, now it's just the waiting game.....waiting for them to call us with a referral. I am beside myself with excitement of course....but realize that we may wait any where from a month or two....or many months to receive this news!

Please being praying for us and that we will have that referral soon. Can't wait to see her sweet face!

Blessings,

1 Year Adoption Blogiversary!

2010-02-01T08:09:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone!

It just dawned on me today that it has already been a year since we began our adoption journey and made the first post on our adoption blog! Wow! So Happy Adoption Blogiversary to us!

So much has happened in that time frame already. We've had ups and downs, acceptances, approvals, road blocks, speed bumps, set backs, filled out mounds of paper work and had our lives evaluated by so many people. God has changed me...and the way I think about adoption and the orphan. In a good way of course. I have learned so much that I don't think that I am the same person that I was a year ago.

As of right now, we know nothing. We are still waiting for consulate approval and I have heard nothing from our agency. Please pray for us with this next approval so we can move toward a baby referral. I am so anxious to be in that place of anticipating a call about a baby!

Thanks so much.

As a way of celebrating our one year blogiversary....please leave a comment and give me a shout out! I would love to know if you are following us. Would also love to know whether or not you have already adopted, in the process or even thinking about it. Would love to connect more with all of you out there!!

Blessings,

Born To Die

2009-12-24T23:22:00.000-08:00

December 24, 2009

I have just one question. Where did 2009 go? So many things happened in such a short amount of time I can hardly believe a year has come and gone. As with any year, we had the good and the bad as always. But lots of big events took place this year. For starters we sold mom’s house in Texas. This obviously was a very hard thing to do. Not physically, but emotionally. Initially we thought that a friend of moms was going to buy her house, so she didn’t bother with putting the house on the market and instead focused all her attention on doing some packing and retiring from the Texas school system. But, just before it was time to move, plans had changed and mom needed to locate a Realtor.

We put her house on the market and would you believe that the house had a contract on it in just 3 days! The LORD took care of that one in a heart beat. He is so amazing! We witnessed His mighty hand at work all around us during the entire process. The move went very well and mom was on her way to Alabama. We moved her in with us in early June and at that point spent the entire summer looking for houses that would work for all of us to live in together. But to no avail. In the mean time, the LORD was continuing His hand of provision in landing mom a new job at the middle school here (just before the school year started) doing what she loves most…teaching Special Ed. students. And while it was evident we weren’t going to find that perfect home for us, the LORD had something different planned all along. He was building us a house.

I wish I could tell you all of the details that go along with that statement. They are truly amazing. This house is exactly what we were looking for all along. (Of course it is, The LORD is building it!) Another neat thing about this house is that it not only has the perfect set up for mom, but it has lots of extra bedrooms for kids! And since we only have 2 kids….you may be wondering (if you don’t already know) that we are expecting more! The LORD has drawn our hearts toward adoption over the last year and we’ve got our sights set for a baby girl in India! We have been through the most interesting journey of our lives going through the process of adopting a child. We have filled out mounds of paper work and had our family raked over with a fine tooth comb. It has been interesting to say the least.

But we have learned so much about the LORD than we ever expected in this journey of adoption. We’ve learned more about the Father’s heart for the orphan as well as the whole concept of our own spiritual adoption in Christ Jesus. It’s been a mind blowing awakening. In my statement earlier I mentioned “kids”. We are working through the possibility of getting a sibling group of girls from India, but if the LORD wills just for us to have one this time around….then we plan to adopt again. There are too many babies out there that need a home for us just to stop with one. We’ll leave all the rest up to the LORD and just walk forward in obedience as He leads. I hope to be writing this time next year about a new member of our family!

So, lots of good as I mentioned this year but along with the good, came the bad. We had to endure yet another loss this year. I wasn’t sure my heart could actually take losing another loved one. This makes three years in a row that we’ve had to say goodbye to one of my closest family members. First it was my mamaw, then my father and this year it was my papaw. That’s too tough to even absorb. When we lost my papaw, we lost one of the kindest and most gentle souls I’ve ever known. He was a man who gave of himself to others all the time. I watched him literally give up the things on earth that he dearly enjoyed to care for my mamaw when her health was declining. With what little he did have he was always sending me checks in the mail letting me know that “he couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather give his money to”. He probably did that with everyone. Such a precious man. My papaw was loved by everyone and he is dearly missed.

The last few days, I have been reflecting on yet another who gave himself for others. My mind races to Philippians 2:6-9 that says, “Though he (Jesus) was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a servant and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (NLT) Our pastor says every year “that the main emphasis of Christmas is not on the infancy of Jesus but on the deity of Jesus.” When you look at it like that you begin to realize (as much as humanly possible) all that He gave up to be born in human likeness. Jesus Christ gave up all that was rightly His to step into time to be born as a human being and ultimately humbled himself in obedience unto death.

Let’s be honest. When we think of Christmas, do we just see a baby lying in a manger, or do we see the King of the universe stepping out of heaven, giving up all His privileges to become an ordinary baby headed for the cross? Yes, He was born in Bethlehem but He was headed for Calvary. Putting it another way, He was born to die. Why? Love. It was love that drove Christ to such a humble state for our sinful account so that for all who truly believe might be saved! It’s one of those things you have to ponder deeply to even begin to conceive the slightest bit of its profundity. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it. Ephesians 3:18-19 That you may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Trees, lights, presents, family and food are all nice at Christmas. But, I’ll take the humble King. Will you worship Jesus with us this Christmas? Not as an infant but as King, born to die so that we might be saved!

Merry Christmas!

Just need to say Thanks!

2009-12-23T14:21:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!!

I wanted to share something.
The other day when I sent our Dossier off, I also had to include a REALLY BIG check with it for several different large fees that were due.

The cool thing was..... I didn't even have to flinch while writing the check from our adoption account because.....ALL the money we needed was in our adoption account!

The LORD has been so gracious to make sure we have had exactly what we need, when we need it and HE has provided the money through all of you!! So, Thank you all very much for your generous giving to help us bring our daughter home!

Here is a picture of our dossier all put together in the folder that I sent. I meant to share this picture on my last post.

Dossier is off!

2009-12-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Well, since my last post about getting our I-797C I've been a very busy girl, trying to get everything finished up in my Dossier to take it all off to have it authenticated. (first at the county level and then at the state level)

I realized early last week that some of the documents were near expiration so I was running around like crazy to get them updated and notarized again before I could drive to Montgomery for Authentication. There was another document for mom that had not yet made it to us that I was also able to get my hands on last week as well.

Anyway, it all worked out and I made my trip to Montgomery last Friday! Everything went as smooth as could be. AND...I just made a trip to Fedex and sent everything off just a few minutes ago! So, it's official....the Dossier is on its way to the Indian Consulate and then on to India!!

Please pray with us that it all gets there safely and that the LORD will start paving the way for us to get our daughter!!

We Got It!

2009-12-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

WE GOT IT!!

We received our I-797C in the mail just now. SO, we have officially been approved to adopt a baby from India! Now it's time to get that Dossier to India so we can get a baby referral!!

Praise the LORD,

Brittnie

We Did It!

2009-11-20T08:44:00.001-08:00

Mom, Jeff and I made it over to the USCIS office this morning for our electronic fingerprints. Let me just say what a neat experience this was. Since we have never been to an immigration office before, I really didn't know what to expect. We were the only people from the US there. The rest were from every other country. Met some really interesting people. I got to chat with one young man who was Czech and was applying for a visa to be an official US Citizen. He left his home and family behind and came over in 1995 to pursue a photography career and has now decided to stay officially. I was completely intrigued by his story. Would have loved to sit down with everyone in that office to find out their story as well. It's amazing how the nations can all be together in one room in Alabama. That would be a place I could totally dig working at.

Ok...I'm rambling.....sorry.

Thank you to everyone for praying. We did not have any problems this morning with fingerprints. We did it! Everything turned out great! We were told it takes 24 hours to get the results....so hopefully by Monday things will be moving along with getting our approvals. So exciting! I am loving this journey we are on. I have learned so much and have been down paths I would have never taken had we not answered this call God gave us. Thrilling ride!

One last thing I have to share. The guy that took my fingerprints today reminded me of a very amazing truth. While he was pressing my fingers onto the scanner....I glanced over and noticed a chart with the 9 different types of fingerprints that people have. You can see them here I questioned him about it and asked him if he would tell me which type I had. He shared with me that I had a very common print. So, my response was, "rats...I was hoping I had something extraordinary". And his answer was, "you do.....no one else in the world has your exact prints".

Oh yes.....I knew that! (how dumb of me not to think of that) But what I was reminded of today in that little office with the nations....was how awesome my God is. That He has created billions in His image and yet every single one of us has been created absolutely unique . Mind blowing. Thank you guy in the Immigration office for reminding me of that!

Now...there is a set ( or sets ) of unique fingerprints out there that God is leading us to in India.....so I better get busy with the next step.

Have a fabulous weekend.

Picture This: Change for Orphans

2009-11-18T18:07:00.000-08:00

Family Man: The Michael Oher Story/ The Blind Side

2009-11-16T15:19:00.001-08:00

A lot of you have probably heard of the new movie coming out this Friday to theaters called "The Blind Side". Here is an article from World Magazine about the story.

All-American Michael Oher went from the streets as a 15-year-old son of a crack addict to potential NFL Rookie of the Year on the love and dedication of an adoptive family that wouldn’t let him fail. The movie that tells their story hits theaters in time for National Adoption Day—and recognition that about 130,000 Michael Ohers are waiting for a family to adopt them | Amy Henry

MEMPHIS—Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy adopted as a family motto, "To whom much is given, much is required," they had no idea just how much would be required, nor that they were adopting far more than words.........

Read the entire story here.

Also, found a great website where Steven Curtis Chapman talks about the movie and also offers some of the film clips and notes to go along with it. You'll want to check it out here. The Blind Side.

I am so very excited to see what God is doing to bring awareness to those who have no home or family. May our eyes be opened to this huge need in our own country and across the world and that we will rise up and do something about it!

Immigration Update

2009-11-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update on our adoption process.

USCIS (Immigration) has received our home study, our I-800A application (Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country) and they have now issued our appointment date to have our electronic fingerprints done. The appt will be next Friday the 20th. So once those are done we hope to receive our approval shortly after that.

Things are looking good and moving forward!

Orphan Sunday!

2009-11-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

Orphan Sunday at Hunter Street!

Today is Orphan Sunday. On this day, I pray that you will meditate, pray, and listen with fervor!

Orphan Sunday Passage:

Romans 8:14-29

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Orphan Sunday Prayer*:

Today pray that through His church, God would create a haven and a home for orphans according to the flesh and orphans according to the spirit; that what we are about is more than a niche group and more than a way to provide rest for the hurting; that we would be Gospel people willing to stand face to face with the satanic powers and to drive them back with the Gospel that loves abandoned children like us; that God would cause us to scream "Abba!" like never before. Amen.

Orphan Sunday Sermon:

Adoption and the Renewal of Creation, Russell Moore (Watch brief video interview and read session summary)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Jack Lavallet

* Adapted from Russell Moore’s closing prayer in his sermon referenced above.

____________________________________________________________

Tomorrow is Orphan Sunday. Here is your verse, prayer, and sermon for day five. Be on the lookout tomorrow morning for one more email!

Verse Five:

Exodus 22:22-24 (ESV)

22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

Prayer Five*:

Pray that our church will recognize that there are no throwaway people in God's economy; that we will be humbled by His love; that we would adopt, foster, fund, visit, or otherwise serve the orphan not out of altruism or social justice, but out of the Gospel of Christ compelling us -- the orphans need to know Christ, just as we do, and that they are made in God's image, just as we are. They need to know that God cares about them.

Sermon Five:

Orphan Care and Jesus, the Great Servant of the Poor, Michael Easley (Watch brief video interview and read session summary)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Jack Lavallet

* Adapted from Michael Easley’s closing prayer in his sermon referenced above.

2 Days until Orphan Sunday!

2009-11-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

We are just two days away from Orphan Sunday. Here is your verse, prayer, and sermon for day four.

Verse Four: Matthew 25:35-36, 40 (ESV)

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Prayer Four*: Today, pray for street children. These children live under bushes and in dumps and sewage pipes. They may eat meals out of trash cans. Many people walk by them without seeing them or view them as pests. Ask God to open the churches’ eyes to help them see the orphans all around them. Ask the Lord to provide food and shelter for the street children.

Sermon Four: The Gospel, Social Justice and the Missional Church, Ed Stetzer (Watch brief video interview and read session summary)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Jack Lavallet

* Adapted from the “40 Day Prayer Guide for Orphan Care”

http://saddleback.com/orphanstudy/index.html

3 Days until Orphan Sunday!

2009-11-05T11:04:00.000-08:00

We are just three days away from Orphan Sunday. Here is your verse, prayer, and sermon for day three.

Verse Three:
Ephesians 1:3-5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

Prayer Three*:
Today, pray that every member of your church would remember and acknowledge and praise the Lord that before the world was made, He loved us and chose us, and that His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ and that this gave Him great pleasure. (Ephesians 1:3–5)

Sermon Three: Adoption and the Pursuit of Racial Reconciliation,
Scott Roley (Watch brief video interview and read session summary)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Jack Lavallet

* Adapted from the “40 Day Prayer Guide for Orphan Care” Saddleback prayer guide

Orphan Sunday Blog

4 Days until Orphan Sunday!

2009-11-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

We are just four days away from Orphan Sunday. Here is your verse, prayer, and sermon for day two.

Verse Two: John 14:18 (ESV) “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Prayer Two*: Today, ask God that of the 2 billion Christians in the world, 7% would show hope to a single orphan, looking after the child in their distress. Ask the Lord to convict the church around the world that if we did this, there would effectively be no more orphans. Ask the Lord to show each of His followers that we can each do something.

Sermon Two:
The Freedom of Adoption, Scotty Smith (Watch brief video interview and read session summary)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Jack Lavallet

* Adapted from the “40 Day Prayer Guide for Orphan Care” (http://saddleback.com/orphanstudy/index.html)

PS – Don’t forget about the concert Sunday night! Join us at 3:30 PM in the Chapel. We hope for upwards of 400 attendees! Click here for more information: http://orphansunday.wordpress.com .

5 Days until Orphan Sunday!

2009-11-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

From one of our Adoption Ministry leaders:

We are just five days away from Orphan Sunday. God has done so much and is doing so much to lead us to defend the cause of the fatherless. I am very excited to see what God is going to do this Sunday and the following two Sundays. As we pray about and approach this time of service and testimony, let's make an extra effort to understand our Father's heart for adoption. Each day for the next five days I am going to send you a verse to meditate on, a prayer to pray, and a link to an audio sermon from the recent Together for Adoption Conference that many of us attended. Please try to meditate and pray each day and to listen each night. The sermons are so Spirit-filled and humbling; I think they will change your life and help you to cry out “Abba!” with passion like never before. Without further ado…

Verse One:
James 1:27 (ESV)
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Prayer One*:
Today, pray that the Lord would give you a personal sense of responsibility for the next 5 days (and beyond) for praying for orphans, your pastor, your church, and your community. Ask Him to break your heart for the orphans. Ask that He would help you to see orphans with His eyes and His heart. Ask Him to use these 5 days to change you and your church.

Sermon One:
Adoption: Making Outsiders Insiders, Dan Cruver (Read session summary)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Jack Lavallet

* Adapted from the “40 Day Prayer Guide for Orphan Care” SaddlebackOrphan Study

PS – Don’t forget about the concert Sunday night! Join us at 3:30 PM in the Chapel. We hope for upwards of 400 attendees! Click here for more information: Orphan Sunday Blog

Just Love Coffee Fundraiser!

2009-10-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

We have an exciting announcement. We have signed up with Just Loves Coffee to help us raise funds for our adoption!

For anyone that loves coffee or knows someone who does,we now have coffee that can be purchased from our store and a portion of the $$ goes to help us bring our baby home! Check out our store here! Wilbanks Coffee Store

Each bag is $12.95 and we will receive $5 per bag. So, if you love coffee and you would be interested in helping us bring our baby home….we would be so grateful for any purchase(s).

You can read more here about Just Love Coffee.

When Your Parents Don’t Approve of Your Transracial Adoption

2009-10-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

I have heard this over and over. Apparently this is a really big issue for some families. Hopefully this can be of some encouragement to those who are encountering this problem.

The LORD is up to crazy things!

2009-10-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

After much silence on updates on our adoption process....I finally have one! But before I tell you I wanted to share what the LORD has been doing these last several weeks.

The LORD is up to crazy things! That's all I can say! When you say things to Him like, "here I am LORD...use me...send me".....you never know what's going to happen.

So, here is a glimpse of what He is doing.

#1 He is building us a house. A house that will suit the needs of all of us including my mom. I wish I could tell you all the details now....but I'll save it for another time. The house will have plenty of room for our expanding family. which brings me to point number 2.

#2. We are requesting 2 babies instead of 1. Now...we don't know that we will get 2 babies. It would have to be a sibling group...but the LORD has gotten us to the place where we have said "yes" at the possibility! Most likely we'd go back for a second one anyway...so why not take two at one time?!!

Never in a million years would I have thought my life would turn out like this or look like this....but it is thrilling! More thrilling than I would have ever planned myself. My plan was too safe, too ordinary and boring....God's plan is much more exciting!

Ok...so update on adoption process....Our home study was finally approved by DHR and is currently at Immigration. We will send in our I-800A...go in for fingerprints and get that Dossier to INDIA!!!

Please, please pray for us. We have gone to battle with an enemy who hates what we are doing. We will encounter road blocks, set backs and struggles....and we will need your prayer support.

All for His Glory,

Though I was born an orphan

2009-10-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

A New Hymn Concerning Spiritual and Physical Adoption by Eric Schumacher

Though I was born an orphan,
Abandoned and alone,
Enslaved and bound in darkness,
Without a hope or home,
The God of grace and mercy
From his eternal throne
Ordained to be my Father,
To claim me as his own.

That I might be adopted
The Father sent his Son
To live in full obedience
And die for all I’ve done.
Now through his resurrection,
Through faith, with him I’m one.
A member of his household,
I am an heir, a son.

To soothe my fearful spirit
The Spirit from on high
Was sent to be a witness
That “Father!” I might cry.
O How I love this Father!
I’m never left alone.
For he comes to dwell with me
Until he calls me home.

If I have this adoption,
I cannot close my home
To widows and to orphans,
Abandoned and alone.
Lord, fill me with compassion
To love the fatherless,
That I might show the nations
How great my Father is!

Simply awesome! Thanks Eric!

You can read Eric's post about the new hymn here.

Miracle in Franklin

2009-09-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

No words for this one...just tears. WOW!

There is still time! T4A Conference 2009

2009-09-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

There is still time to sign up for the Together for Adoption Conference 2009.

Click here to go directly to the site

Together for Adoption Endorsements

We are pleased to announce that the next Together for Adoption (T4A) conference will be held at Christ Community Church (Franklin, TN) on October 2-3, 2009 (see conference schedule, childcare information, and list of hotels).

Registration for our breakout sessions is now open. Visit our Breakout Sessions page for instructions.

Join us as we explore “Our Adoption in Christ: What it Means for Us and for Orphans.”

Registration: $40 per single or $60 per married couple. Group rate is available (email dan.cruver@TogetherforAdoption.org for information). New: College Student Rate: $25 (Parents may also utilize this rate for children 9 years old and older).

With over 132 million orphaned and vulnerable children in the world, what our world needs is Christians who have been freshly gripped by the stunning vertical reality of their adoption by God. If anything can mobilize the church to address our world’s orphan crises, it will be the good news of vertical adoption.

Join us as we seek to connect the dots between our adoption by God and the adoption of children. Registration is now open. Click on the animated button in the left sidebar to register.

General Session Speakers and Topics:

Michael Easley, Topic: Orphan Care and Jesus, the Great Servant of the Poor

Michael Easley recently joined the pastoral staff of Fellowship Bible Church (Nashville, TN) as a teaching pastor (read his church bio). Dr. Easley came to Fellowship Bible Church from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, where he served as president (and currently president emeritus) since March of 2005. Michael and his wife, Cindy, have four children, three of whom were adopted.

Russell Moore, Topic: Adoption and the Renewal of Creation

Russell Moore has served as the Senior Vice President for Academic Administration and Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary since January of 2004. Dr. Moore is also a preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, where he ministers weekly. He is a senior editor of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity. Dr. Moore has also written the forthcoming book, Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches. Russell and his wife, Maria, have four children, two of whom were adopted.

Scott Roley, Topic: Adoption and the Pursuit of Racial Reconciliation

Scott Roley is Senior Pastor of Christ Community Church (Franklin, TN). Based on his experiences in local mercy ministry, Roley authored God’s Neighborhood: A Hopeful Journey in Racial Reconciliation & Community Renewal which traces his personal call to racial reconciliation and community renewal and shares the powerful narrative journey of a white pastor’s identification within an African-American community. He followed that book with its sequel, Hard Bargain, to be published in 2009. Scott and his wife, Linda, are parents of a multi-ethnic family and live in Franklin, Tennessee with their five children, three of whom were adopted.

Scotty Smith, Topic: The Freedom of Adoption

Scotty Smith is Pastor of Worship, Preaching and Teaching at Christ Community Church (Franklin, TN). Scotty is Founding Pastor of Christ Community church, a member of The Gospel Coalition, and author of five books: Unveiled Hope, with Michael Card; Speechless, with Steven Curtis Chapman; Objects of His Affection; and his latest two, The Reign of Grace and Restoring Broken Things, with Steven Curtis Chapman. Scotty and Darlene, his wife of thirty-five years, have two adult married children.

Ed Stetzer, Topic: The Gospel, Social Justice and the Missional Church

Ed Stetzer is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay’s Missiologist in Residence. He is also Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Ed has written numerous books, two of which are Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living (with Philip Nation) and Breaking the Missional Code (with David Putman). Ed and his wife, Donna, have three daughters.

Worship will be led by Kevin Twit of Indelible Grace. Zach Nielsen, blogger at Take Your Vitamin Z, will be live-blogging the Friday night / Saturday conference. The list of our excellent breakout sessions (four breakout session slots) and other conference details are forthcoming. Childcare will be provided—limited availability, additional fee. Together for Adoption Conference 2008 audio. Review of Our First Conference.

Orphan Sunday. November 8th 2009

2009-09-07T17:14:00.001-07:00

What is God calling you to do?

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Finally!

2009-09-03T06:19:00.001-07:00

Wanted to update everyone. I have had to resort to posting only videos while we wait and wait and wait for some movement on our adoption process.

After the home study was ready, then it wasn't, then it was....then it went to the International agency for review, then back, then ready for DHR, then not, then ready, then not......Did that make sense? It didn't to me....but that is what has been happening on our end here. We have just been riding the waves as they come.

But, FINALLY our home study is officially at DHR. Currently we are being told that DHR approval is taking 6-8 weeks. This is WAY too long for a home study to get approval from DHR before it can go to Immigration. (USCIS) In fact, it just so happens that only Alabama (maybe a couple others) has this step of going to DHR for approval before USCIS. So to me this seems like unnecessary waiting.

But, it is a step we have to take to get closer to our baby. Please pray with us that some how DHR will process our home study quickly so it can move on for Immigration approval. Once we have that, we can send our Dossier to India!

For now, we are focusing on the task at hand. The LORD has given us lots of Kingdom work while we wait for baby girl to get here. So, we are staying VERY busy!

Blessings,

PS....be on the look out for our coffee fundraiser coming soon!

Joy of Adoption--Facts

2009-08-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

3 by 3 by 3: Exchanging the Comfortable and Ordinary for the Insane and Extraordinary

2009-08-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Check out this video about the Weimer Family who have grown their family 3 by 3 by 3. You can read their blog here.

Also, the Weimers are leading a breakout session for the Together for Adoption Conference 2009.

Adoption Testimony much like my own

2009-08-06T17:55:00.000-07:00

Orphans: The Treasure of Jesus

2009-07-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Who Should Attend Conference 2009?

2009-07-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

This blog by Dan Cruver ~ July 20th, 2009
from his Together for Adoption blog

As all of you who frequent this blog know, we have our next Together for Adoption conference on October 2-3 at Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee. It is a conference we are very excited about.

From time to time I’m asked this question, “Who should consider attending your conference? It seems like a really niched conference.” Here is my answer to this great question: Our conference is for anyone who has been adopted. Now don’t conclude too quickly that you know what I mean by that answer.

Every Christian has entered God’s household through adoption (Ephesians 1:6; 2:19). There is no such thing as a Christian who has not been adopted by God, period. All of us who are members of God’s family were adopted.

Since Christianity has a vertical to horizontal movement (i.e., we love because God first loved us, we forgive because God in Christ has forgiven us, etc), our conferences are both about our vertical adoption (i.e., God adopting us in Christ) and orphan care and horizontal adoption (i.e., couples adopting children). Not all Christians are called by God to adopt a child, but all Christians are called by God to care for orphans in some capacity (James 1:27).

If anything can mobilize the church to care for orphans, it will be the truth of our adoption by God. When we were without hope in this world, God brought us near through adoption. Who better to care for orphans than those who have experienced this amazing grace.

If you desire to learn more about what it means to be adopted by God, you will find this conference to be very profitable. We are convinced that the more we think about God’s gracious provision of vertical adoption, the more we will see and appreciate His glory, grace, beauty, love, etc. Adoption is first about the glorious God of the universe coming to profoundly needy people in the person of His Son to give us the adoption as sons (Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5).

When we grow in our understanding of who this God of grace is and what He has done to adopt us through Jesus Christ, we will find our love for and our pursuit of Him progressively increasing. So, ultimately, we want to see people grow in their enjoyment of God as their Father to the “praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). If this kind of talk resonates with you, let us encourage you to consider attending our upcoming conference. You will not be disappointed.

Even though our conferences are about vertical adoption, don’t think that orphan care and horizontal adoption will be a conference afterthought. Just take a look at our conference poster. No, we believe that Christians who are deepening in their understanding of God’s gracious provision of adoption as sons will find themselves joyfully compelled to extend this same kind of compassion to orphans, both here and abroad.

Christians who love the wonderful provision of vertical adoption will become increasingly passionate about “visiting orphans in their affliction” (James 1:27), whether through short-term mission efforts, humanitarian assistance, adopting a child, or assisting others in the adoption process in some way. Certainly, God does not call every Christian couple to adopt, but He does call the church to care for orphans—adoption being one way that the church can fulfill this calling.

So if you have been adopted by God and believe that God has called the church to care for orphans, let us strongly encourage you to prayerfully consider attending Conference 2009.

Winners!

2009-07-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Thanks so much for your participation in the "Adopted for Life" book giveaway! It was hard for me to only draw two names! I wish I could give a book to all of you.

Here are the winners......

k (aka Kristi Wilbanks) and Anna Parker.

Congratulations ladies! I will get the books out to you ASAP!

For those of you that would like to try again, you can go to the Together for Adoption site and check our their book giveaway here.

Also, Amazon has them here for $10.87.

This was fun. I'll have to do something like this again soon.

Blessings to you all,
Brittnie

Book Giveaway

2009-07-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I have been away from the blog-world far too long and have missed it! Just as a quick update: things are about the same as they were last time I updated the blog on our adoption process. However, we did meet our second financial goal on time! What a huge blessing! We are now working on the next financial goal which is a Big One. You can check out our new goal tracker on the right hand side of the blog(in blue).

OK, I want to do something fun. I want to have a book giveaway.
I have finally finished reading Russell Moore's new book called,
"Adopted for Life" and it is wonderful! I think everyone should read it. YES...even if you are not adopting. So, I am giving away 2 copies of the book! If you want to know more about the book click here.

If you would like to have a copy of this book, please comment on this post with your name (and your blog site if you have one). On Sunday the 12th I'll randomly select 2 names and post the winners Monday.

Sound good?

Please spread the word!

Give the Father some Praise!

2009-06-24T16:29:00.001-07:00

Check out what happened today!

Adoption and Orphan Care Resolution: Passed

A Prayer for the Fatherless on Father’s Day

2009-06-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

A Prayer for the Fatherless on Father's Day

When waiting is painful

2009-06-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

Check out Dan Cruver's post on "Waiting"...on the Together for Adoption website.

Final Homestudy Interview

2009-06-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally made it to the end of our Home Study! Our last interview was yesterday and it went really well. Our Social Worker came over to our house to inspect it and to ask the boys some questions and a few other things. It didn't go like I had been anticipating all this time. It was alot easier! She didn't ask the questions we prepared for and she didn't go into the rooms I cleaned the hardest....oh well. It's over and now we can put one big thing behind us on this adoption journey!

Now, we wait for our social worker to actually write the entire home study. We will then send it to our International agency for review and then we will submit our finalized home study to USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). This process is to determine our eligibility and suitability to adopt a child from a Hague Convention Country. Once this is approved, we'll be sending home study and Dossier documents to India. This process could take up to 90 days. I pray that it doesn't, but we'll see.

Can we just get a baby already?!

Please be praying for us during this process.

One Love Coffee Adoption Fundraiser

2009-06-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

To all you families out there that are in the adoption process or about to be....You need to check out "One Love Coffee Adoption Fundraiser". Spread the word!!

One Love Coffee Roasters’ two primary focuses are coffee and orphans. Rob Webb, founder of One Love Coffee Roasters, and an America World adoptive dad knows personally how expensive the adoption process is. The thought of having to raise tens of thousands of dollars to adopt a child is staggering to many. It can be the obstacle that stands in the way of a family’s commitment to adopt, and many times slows down the process of bringing an adoptive family’s child(ren) home. Many people don’t know where to start. One Love Coffee Roasters wants to be that starting point for raising money to help unite families with their children. (quoted from AWAA blog)

"We try to make it as simple as possible. One Love does not ask or require you to purchase anything. We handle all of the order processing: we set up a web page specifically for your family with the coffees you have chosen to sell, fulfill the orders, collect payment securely online, and then send you checks for your portion of the sales for each month. All that the adoptive family needs to do is to fill out the application to validate your adoption process, send the link to their One Love web page to as many people as possible to generate sales for the fundraiser, and notify us when your adoption is complete!

When the adoption is complete, your friends and family who purchased One Love Coffee can continue to do so on our main storefront and continue to support orphans with a portion of the proceeds of all One Love Coffees going to the AWAA Transition Home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.It’s that simple!

Our current goal is to sign up 100 families before September 2009, when we will officially open our doors for business. Just visit http://www.onelovecoffees.com, click on the “Sign Up” link at the top menu, complete the form, and your store will be ready to go when we launch in September."

But Then There's Jesus

2009-05-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

But Then There's Jesus: A must read excerpt from Russell Moore's new book called "Adopted for Life".

I have not gotten my hands on a copy of the book yet since I am currently reading 3 other books at the moment.....but it is on my list to read next! Have heard nothing but wonderful things about it so far!

Read what others are saying here.

You can learn more about Dr. Russell Moore at his website and blog here.

On Adoption and Orphan Care: A Proposed Resolution

2009-05-19T13:50:00.001-07:00

On Adoption and Orphan Care: A Proposed Resolution

Posted using ShareThis

Might He Want More Praise?

2009-05-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

I have been lagging behind on the blog and not giving the LORD His due Praise! You'll want to check out our second financial goal tracker! God is providing!

We will have a couple more goals to meet once this 2nd goal is met. So, we are about half way there in our financial goals overall. This is wonderful news!

Please use the comment button to give God some glory!!

Progress!

2009-05-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Just a little update here. I had my second Home Study Interview today! It went so great. I really love our social worker. She is fantastic. Very helpful and thorough and is really easy to talk with . She has made this home study thing a really easy thing for us. I am so thankful for that. Jeff gets to meet with her next week and then she'll come into our home shortly after and do the final interview with us and the boys.

On another note, things seem to be coming together very quickly! All of our documents continue to come in ahead of schedule. I received my passport today! Yea! Jeff's should be here in a day or so. Also, we hope to have a rough draft of the home study in a week or so and will then send it on to our International agency for review. All of our Dossier documents are coming together and we hope to have everything on its way to India in a month or so. I can't not tell you how exciting I am!

I know the really hard part is just ahead of us...the waiting for our baby referral. But, just knowing that we are really making good progress is encouraging for me right now. I can not tell you how the LORD has had His hand of protection over our family in preparation for this adoption. Protected upbringings, protected marriage...even the number and gender of our children are all working together exactly for the India Adoption requirements. Thrilling.

That is about for now.
Thanks for sharing the journey with us and thank you so much for your continued prayer support. We are so grateful.

Living Upside Down Through Adoption

2009-05-11T07:45:00.001-07:00

a must read post on how adoption has turned this family’s life upside down and how the Gospel calls all of us to live upside down in some way.

Click for Article here

Some India Stuff

2009-05-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

Wanted to share my heart for a minute. I have been so broken for a week. For starters, I have been following a group of Bloggers on a trip to

India

with Compassion International. The LORD broke my heart over

India

several years ago and I have been praying for that country and the people from that time on. But this past week while following the bloggers journeys, was a fresh reminder of the reality of the extreme poverty in this country and the desperate need there. As if their piercing stories weren't enough, I heard some more news Monday that broke my heart yet again. I want to share it with you, but want to give some India Adoption facts first so you'll see where I am coming from.

While researching adoption in

India

before we got started I learned the following things:

It is difficult to adopt from India due to popular opposition to the adoption of Indian children by foreigners.

Once a child has been abandoned, the orphanage they are placed in will make many efforts to find the birth family. They must attempt to find an adoptive family in India 3 different times. If that search fails, the baby will become available for International adoption.

However, non-resident Indian applicants are being given preference in intercountry placements.

If the baby is not placed in a non resident Indian home, then they will be illegible for adoption by Non-Indian families.

Because of this process, babies usually don't come home until they are 10 months or older. In most cases they are older because the length of adoption and process is more complicated for applicants who are Non- Indian.

India leans towards adoptive couples with infertility issues.

Can not have more than 2 children already in the home. ( in some cases they will allow 3)

Parents with two children of the same gender are expected to adopt a child of the opposite gender.

See how it can be seem difficult to bring home all these babies?

Check out these recent Adoption numbers from India:

2008: 307
2007: 411
2006: 319

Seem fairly reasonable?
Then check out China adoption numbers:

2008: 3911
2007: 5453
2006: 6493

We are talking 25 Million orphans in India here!

Maybe I should say that again. 2 5 M I L L I ON babies that need homes! How hard should it be?

The news is that the India government agency that oversees adoptions, CARA (Central Adoption Resources Agency) has proposed new (positive) guidelines for Indian adoption. We have known about this for awhile now, because a lot of the Adoption Agencies have put their India program on hold until these guidelines come through.

But the new guidelines have been delayed since 2007. We have been praying that they would move forward this year in order to get more babies adopted and home quicker!

But, today they are still delayed. Which brings me back to my heart ache mentioned above. I inquired again Monday as to why the continued delays. One of the answers I received was that the religious groups (Hindu) view orphans suffering a positive thing because it will help them in their "next" life.

WHAT?

Gut wrenching!

25 Million Orphans suffering with little care and food and this is a good thing?

It has caused me to hit my face and begin fervently praying over these precious little ones even more!

So, this is what we are up against. We have been watching a few families bringing home their babies from India. So it's still moving....but its not an easy thing.

Please continue to pray! Not just for us bringing home our baby.....but for the 25 Million babies that need a mom and a dad, a place to call home and love, love, love!

Some random new happenings

2009-04-27T19:41:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!

If you have been checking in with us, you will have noticed that we just about met our first goal of $5,000. Wahoo! Isn't that exciting?! Thanks to all of you very much that donated money and have been faithfully praying. God has been so gracious through all of you and we are truly appreciative!

Here are some new updates since the last post.
We got our medicals done, passports sent off and signed our life away on our International contract and payed the first program fee. It has really been a whirlwind of emotions for me lately as I wrap all the paper work side up and begin to just wait on the LORD to work it all out.

Currently we still have a couple more home study interviews to go, wait for everything we sent off for to come back and then when all that is finalized in the next couple of months, we'll send it all off to India and wait for our baby referral.

Which brings me to my next comment.... At the time we send off the paper work to India, there will be a whole new set of fees. So, I have removed the donation tracker from the first goal and placed a new donation tracker up for our second goal. I have posted a deadline of June 15th, but this could change either way.....we could need it sooner or later, depending on how fast the LORD pushes all the approval through. I'll keep you posted.

For now, we wait to see how God moves to provide the next financial goal.

as a quick side note, several of you suggested that I set up a way for people to make online donations. I have provided that opportunity on the right hand side of the blog. You can click the donate button and use your credit card right from the blog. This is a handy and convenient tool for those of you that are looking for "quick and easy".

This is it for now.
Many blessings to you all,

Some Updates

2009-04-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

Thought that I would update everyone!

These are things that have happened since my last post.

1. We are officially approved by International Agency!
2. Set up Bella Account!
3. Got passport pictures!
4. Got our first set of fingerprints
5. Ordered certified birth and marriage certificates
6. Had our first Home Study Interview!

The interview went great! I love our social worker and hope it will be a great process as we move forward in our interviews.

Ok, off to work on my autobiography!

Sea of Fees

2009-04-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Well, we’ve come to one of the hardest parts of this Adoption Journey…. “The financial aspect”. Now that the adoption is taking off, we have jumped into a sea of fees. Currently, some of the fees we are facing are mandatory parenting classes for International children, certified birth/marriage certificates, criminal history checks/fingerprints, visa Passports, immigration filing and International Agency service fees. In order to complete the requirements above as well as, the home study, foreign document preparations, etc…we must submit payment ASAP. Once the requirements have been met and courses/paperwork completed (which is roughly around 3-4 months) we begin the wait for our baby referral.

Some of you have asked how you can help in the adoption process. If you feel as if the Lord has led you in the direction of helping financially, that opportunity is certainly available at this time. Currently, outside of prayer, this is the most pressing need. Jeff and I are going to open up a checking account tomorrow for adoption donations. All donations will go into that account and will be used for adoption fees only. So, if you would like to donate, we would be glad to accept your donation! I would like to note that once the Home study has been completed and is approved, we will then be eligible to apply for grants!

To help you see our needs and to help you pray through any amount the Lord might be leading you to donate, I have posted a donation tracker on the blog, which will list “current fees to-be-paid” as well as, how much has been donated to-date. The tracker will also serve as a visual for you, in knowing how to pray for us! I would encourage you to check the blog for updates and or subscribe (if you haven’t already) so that you can join us in this journey and witness how the Lord is meeting our financial needs and goals. Please know that we are not just looking for “big” donations. Every dollar counts for something in this process so whatever the Lord lays on your heart is greatly appreciated!

In addition to the tracker, I have also created a tool for you to use to help us with spreading the news of our adoption and financial needs. There is a button on the right side of this blog, which can be added to any blog and or web page. Simply copy the HTML code and paste it on your blog site and or web page. This button will link anyone who clicks it directly to our site and will allow them to get involved.

BTW….if I haven’t told you yet and you haven’t already seen the button; you’ll notice that Jeff and I have picked a first name! (We decided we needed another “B” name in the family since I am overrun by “J’s”!)

Thank you so much for your love, support and prayers for us in this journey. It means so much to us. We can’t wait to see how God brings it all together!!

Blessings,

Decisions

2009-04-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

Great news!

We have finally decided on a International Agency! We made the decision yesterday. The funny thing is....is that the agency we have decided to go with was not even in our list of agencies to consider. The LORD surfaced this one unexpectedly. I love a good surprise!

We have turned in our application and will wait for our approval to come which should be by next week. Informally we are already approved, but we must wait for the formal approval before moving forward in their program.

Now for the greater news.....We are first in line for the India program! No waiting list! I am so, so excited about this. It is such a blessing!

On the local front....we've started our home study process and our very first meeting/interview out of the 3 we are supposed to have is next Wednesday!

So, things seem to be in full motion. Praise God! I am elated at this progress.

I know we've still got such a long journey, but it feels real now!
Thank you for your prayers!

Be the Answer!

2009-03-31T11:06:00.000-07:00

Came across this adoption video today and had to share it!

Answer to prayer!

2009-03-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

The LORD has answered prayer today!

We received a phone call today from a close family member who told us they wanted to help with our adoption. We have been waiting on a certain amount of money that was needed to get our home study rolling and this person had offered the exact amount needed. Isn't that awesome!? I am so excited to see the beginnings of God's provision in this adoption. This is just a start. So, so much more to go!

Just wanted to share this with all of you!

Research

2009-03-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

My piles of research papers on Intl. Adoption Agencies.

We are actually down to two agencies to decide from now.
And one of the agencies has a temporary hold on their India program.
Hmmm.....which one will it be LORD?

Together for Adoption

2009-03-04T11:25:00.000-08:00

For those of you that are adopting or are interested in it or involved in some type of adoption ministry....here is an upcoming conference that you might want to check out.

Click Links below:

Together for adoption Conference 2009

Together for Adoption breakout sessions

Prayer

2009-03-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

So many of you continue to subscribe to our blog. That is so exciting! Thank you very much for joining us on this journey.

I just wanted to ask everyone for prayers today. I am sure you will see a post from us on requested prayer often during this adoption road. I have been working on sorting a lot of things out most of the morning and it is hard not to be discouraged with waiting times and adoption fees.

Would you please pray for the following two things?

#1 our upcoming selection of International Adoption Agency. We are still praying through which one to go with. However, I am leaning heavily toward one in particular but still not 100% sure.

#2 money. Just to begin we'll need about $6,000.
It looks like our India adoption is going to be roughly $30K.

I am confident the LORD will provide all that we need in His timing....however, we would love everyone to be praying with us on this!

Thank you,

Our Adoption Calling

2009-02-19T10:56:00.000-08:00

Friends and Family,

I am very excited that so many of you have decided to join us on our adoption journey. Thanks for subscribing to the blog for the updates!!

I have been anxious to share with you how this adoption thing came about, but first, I would like to address a couple of funny things that have come up. I guess when the word gets out that “someone” has decided to have a baby….that stories get started and questions arise. So I would like to clarify some of these things.

First….I am not pregnant. So that should answer that question and the “when are you due?” question.

I have to say….that I have heard when a couple finally completes the adoption process and the parents are about to pick up their baby….that the mother in many cases becomes pregnant. Jeff and I have discussed this and we’ll happily accept that situation should it happen to us.

Which brings me to the second clarification….No, we are not having infertility problems. I say this lightly knowing that some couples do struggle with this and I want to be sensitive to it. However, that is not the case for Jeff and I. We are not having any complications with trying to get pregnant. We simply have not been trying. I apologize if that was too much information.

And lastly….We are not adopting just because I feel like I should since I was adopted.

Our adopting has nothing to do with me and my adoption (I’ll share that story another day) but simply a calling from God to do it.

So now....let me share with you how that calling came to be.

After having both our boys Jeff and I have had the discussion over and over whether or not to have more children. (we've always wanted a girl) It was something we really wanted but feeling overwhelmed in the throws of ministry and with the sense of "little" extra time we really just kept the idea of a baby in the back of our minds in hopes that maybe the LORD would “surprise” us with another or give us a clear “yes”or "no" answer of whether or not to try again.

My heart had already been softened to the idea of adoption after hearing on a couple of occasions of pastors speaking their hearts on the issue and giving unimaginable statistics on orphans around the globe. In March 2008 I received a series of messages via email and internet in regards to Christians stepping up to the plate and adopting these babies that needed a home and a family.

At that series of messages I began to feel that the LORD might be speaking to me personally but thinking to myself that it was impossible for our family in many aspects. After a few months went by and nothing came of it and the LORD seemed silent on the matter I specifically remember thinking that maybe I misunderstood and that it must have not been a message for me after all. Besides, Jeff would never go for it, right? Little did I know that this silent time for me was exactly the time frame in which the LORD was beginning a work in Jeff’s heart regarding adoption.

That summer at Jeff’s preteen camp one of the camp owners pulled the leaders aside including Jeff and began pouring out his heart on the matter of adoption and sponsoring orphaned children overseas. His message really spoke to Jeff. One night in passing after his return from camp, the topic of babies came up and out of the blue the words came out of my mouth, “Let’s adopt one”. Nothing was said at the time but a day or so later Jeff inquired of me and asked me what I was talking about and if I was really serious? We began to discuss it and this is when the LORD got us both on the same page and we begun seeking direction on what God was calling us to do.

Some time later I was spending time with the LORD and was praying through 1 Samuel 3:9 where Samuel answered God and asked Him “to speak for His servant was listening”. I sensed the LORD say to me over and over, "listen to me". So, I began calling on God as Samuel did, to "Speak LORD for your servant is listening". I ask the LORD to tell me what was on His heart and for Him to share it with me. I sat in silence for what seemed an eternity waiting to hear if the LORD had anything that He wanted to say.

Then the words came to my heart, “open My word”. Not being a fan of playing bible roulette, I hesitantly opened my bible wondering if I had heard incorrectly. And there in the pages my bible had opened to was Psalm 99:1-9. The first verse that I saw was vs 6. You’ll need to read it: Psalm 99:6 Samuel also was among those calling on His name. They called to the LORD and He answered them.

How bizarre is that? I sat there puzzled as I had just finished reading about Samuel and was also calling on the LORD myself and waiting for an answer. So, I backed up in that chapter of Psalm 99 and began to read the passages from the start. The thing that captured me most in those verses was vs. 4. which says, “The mighty King loves justice”. Those words played over and over in my mind while I anxiously continued to listen for what the LORD wanted to say to me.

I devoted the rest of the day to listen for God’s word to me when it finally came unsuspected later that afternoon while watching a orphan video and seeing Psalm 10:17-18 stream across the screen which says, Lord you know the hopes of helpless, surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them…..You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them.

When I read those words, I was totally stunned and it hit me like a ton of bricks….The Mighty King was wanting to bring Justice! THIS IS IT! This is what the LORD has wanted me to hear. This is what He wanted to tell me. I sat there and bawled like a baby for the longest time and then trying to compose myself I scrambled for the phone to tell Jeff what just happened. Could this be our answer? It has to be. Were we to be the vessels of His justice to the orphans?

As if this were not enough evidence of what was on God’s heart and what He was asking us to do.... there was more! The next few days there were unexpected calls from friends who felt the LORD had placed it on their heart to pray for us to adopt a baby with out having a clue what God was already doing in our hearts.

For the next several weeks, the idea of adoption was every where we turned. Even to the degree of it showing up one day while the boys and I sat watching one of their afternoon TV kid programs. I sat there with my jaw hanging as the story was about a little boy and his parents adopting a baby girl and going over seas to pick her up.

These were some pretty amazing evidences of God’s calling us to adopt. It became clear that God was confirming our prayers. So, here we are about to take the first steps forward in this process not knowing exactly where it will lead and how long the journey will be. We walk forward in obedience and trust the sovereign hand of God to bring it all about and at just the right time.

We have heard from many people that adoption can be an extremely hard and emotional journey. So, we ask for your prayer support. We also know that International Adoption is very expensive and can be anywhere from 10-35K. So we realize this is a complete faith walk and we have no idea how this will all turn out.

Thank you again for joining us on this journey and we truly covet your prayers at this time.

(For those of you that are curious about how we chose India as the country to adopt from, I’ll share that story on another blog soon.)

Join us on our journey

2009-01-29T12:45:00.000-08:00

Friends and Family,

It is with great joy and excitement that I share the news with you that God has called Jeff and I to adopt. We have seen the need of orphans around the globe and have heard the heart of God over and over on this matter and know it is something He has called us to.

Knowing that there are millions of orphaned children that are waiting for a home both in the United States and around the world we believe the LORD has called us to adopt internationally. At this time we are looking into adopting a baby girl in India.

We have begun the adoption process by working with a local agency. At this point we have been assigned a social worker, begun filling out paper work and will be working on a home study very soon.

We would love for you to join us on this adoption journey. If you would like to receive updates on our journey please find the place on the side of this blog to subscribe and enter your email address.

I hope to have the full story of our calling up for you soon.

Bringing Justice to Orphans

Waiting on Jesus

Nothing

Another Beautiful Adoption Story

An UPDATE!!!

Warfare Prayers and a Miracle

Some Bloggy-Changes

Football and Bella?

Alabama vs. Arkansas at Tuscaloosa Auburn vs. Florida Atlantic at Auburn Get game ready and pre-order a Smoked Boston Butt for your gathering or tailgate party!

$35 each or 2/$60

3-5 pounds after cooking

All proceeds will benefit the Wilbanks adoption of Bella

Jeff and Brittnie Wilbanks have been in the process of adopting their little girl, Bella, from India for 2 years. Please help them raise the remaining funds to bring her “little butt” home to Alabama. You can read more about their journey at www.bringingjustice.blogspot.com

The New Site is up and "Running"!!

Running For A Cause

This is going to be fun!

Orphan Sunday 2011

Why India?

A Chance To Win!!!

Let's Have Some Fun!!

Bella's Big Girl Tea

Exciting Updates on Bella!

Adopted Shirts

Translating and a BIG God!

***Updated!!****Photo Session Fundraiser for my Home Town Peeps!

For a $100 donation now you can set up a session with me up to 6 months. 1/2 hr session gets you 10 images FREE on a CD ...that's a $200 value! (postage is $5 if I can't hand deliver).

A Painting Success!

We Have A Daughter!!

Children of God

Glimpses from God?

Lead me to the Rock....Revisited

Change of Plans

Uganda Magazine Necklaces & Bracelets

It's a NEW YEAR!

Jesus Our Manna

A long Over-Due Update!

Hope for Orphans

Cry of the Orphan

Isaiah's Story

1 year ago and prayer

Next Step......Referral!!

1 Year Adoption Blogiversary!

Born To Die

Just need to say Thanks!

Dossier is off!

We Got It!

We Did It!

Picture This: Change for Orphans

Family Man: The Michael Oher Story/ The Blind Side

A lot of you have probably heard of the new movie coming out this Friday to theaters called "The Blind Side". Here is an article from World Magazine about the story.

Immigration Update

Orphan Sunday!

2 Days until Orphan Sunday!

3 Days until Orphan Sunday!

4 Days until Orphan Sunday!

5 Days until Orphan Sunday!

Just Love Coffee Fundraiser!

When Your Parents Don’t Approve of Your Transracial Adoption

The LORD is up to crazy things!

Though I was born an orphan

Miracle in Franklin

There is still time! T4A Conference 2009

Orphan Sunday. November 8th 2009

Finally!

Joy of Adoption--Facts

3 by 3 by 3: Exchanging the Comfortable and Ordinary for the Insane and Extraordinary

Adoption Testimony much like my own

Orphans: The Treasure of Jesus

Who Should Attend Conference 2009?

Winners!

Book Giveaway

Give the Father some Praise!

A Prayer for the Fatherless on Father’s Day

A Prayer for the Fatherless on Father's Day

When waiting is painful

Final Homestudy Interview

One Love Coffee Adoption Fundraiser

To all you families out there that are in the adoption process or about to be....You need to check out "One Love Coffee Adoption Fundraiser". Spread the word!!

But Then There's Jesus

On Adoption and Orphan Care: A Proposed Resolution

Alabama vs. Arkansas at Tuscaloosa

Auburn vs. Florida Atlantic at Auburn

Get game ready and pre-order a Smoked Boston Butt for your gathering or tailgate party!

*Updated!!**Photo Session Fundraiser for my Home Town Peeps!