Yesterday, Dec 17th I took Jeff's medical form to leave for the doctor to complete when the biopsy results were sent. I spoke with our doctor's medical assistant and she said she will have the form completed by the end of the day. She knew that we had been delayed and wanted to help us get going again. She then shared with me their desire to have a baby and their 5 1/2 years of infertility. They are in the midst of an embryo adoption. We talked and cried a bit. As I left the office I told her that I would be praying for her and her husband. With in 5 minutes of us getting home I received a call that our form was complete and we could pick it up at any time. Of course I went and got it! We have the last piece to the homestudy puzzle.
Tonight as I write, I am so thankful to God for the blessing of our 3 children. I hurt for Jessica and her husband, and pray that they are able to have a baby. I also think of all the children in the world who don't have a mommy and a daddy. As our boys pray each night they pray for their baby sister and that God will keep her safe and healthy.
I see God's goodness in the midst of our delays and am thankful for the time I had to talk with Jessica today. Had we not had this medical delay I likely would have never known about Jessica and her husband's situation and would have not know to pray for them. What a great reminder to me to trust even more in our Father's plan! Who do you know that has a prayer need? Have you stopped to listen as people you meet share a need? If not, I would encourage you to. You will be glad you did!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
God has a plan!
It has been several weeks since I last posted. I wanted to catch everyone up on our adoption. To start with, I want to share a few verses with you that is so fitting for what we have experienced in the last weeks.
Ephesians 3:14-20 says: "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
On November 15th Jeff had his doctor appointment for his adoption physical. That morning he had a weight gain that was unexpected. It brought us to our knees. We prayed that by 3 PM when he weighed at the doctor he would be below the weight he needed to be to meet China requirements. He made it. To God be the glory. He went for bloodwork on Tuesday morning and was scheduled to go Thursday to have his tb test read and get the form signed. We were then going to have our home study complete and sent off to immigration before the cost increase the following Tuesday. Thursday morning the nurse called and sad that Jeff's PSA (prostate) test came back high and he needed to see a urologist. They had an appointment scheduled for him on Dec 1st, nearly 2 weeks away! I was able to find an appointment the next morning with another Urologist. He did an exam and didn't find anything of concern, so he wanted to redo the PSA blood test on Monday. The Monday after Thanksgiving we received the news that his PSA level had gone up again! He needed a biopsy. The nurse said they do biopsy's on Friday's and Monday's. Jeff would need be off some of his supplements for a week before the biopsy but they were scheduling weeks out. We didn't want to wait weeks to know what was going on. Once again, were on our knees praying that God would open an appointment for us on December 10th. I was prepared to search for another doctor if it was not possible to get it done before Christmas. When the scheduler called on Tuesday, she said we have Friday, December 10th at 3:15! THANK YOU GOD for hearing our prayers!
Through out those weeks we never doubted God was in control and that His plan was better then our plan. We just had to trust that no matter the outcome we were safely in God's arms and He had a perfect plan! Were we nervous? You bet! Were we asking why this was happening? Maybe not Jeff, but I was! Even in the mix of emotions our confidence was in our Lord God!
The doctor was running behind and didn't start the biopsy until nearly 4 PM! He found nothing of concern on the ultrasound. That was great news! Yesterday the phone rang and the doctor called to say that there was inflammation but no cancer! PRAISE THE LORD! God is Good!
In the midst of waiting we had no choice to be reminded of "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
So for an update on the adoption process... we will pick up Jeff's Medical form on Monday and will have our homestudy complete on Thursday and will be able to apply for immigration before the end of 2010! We are going to Arizona for Christmas, so we will take Jeff's birth certificate to the Arizona Sec of State office for authentication, rather then mailing it. That will save us a little money.
In the midst of the rush of the last few weeks, I am so thankful for the prayers of so many and for our faith in a great God. He has sustained us and reminded us time and time again, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:14-20 says: "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
On November 15th Jeff had his doctor appointment for his adoption physical. That morning he had a weight gain that was unexpected. It brought us to our knees. We prayed that by 3 PM when he weighed at the doctor he would be below the weight he needed to be to meet China requirements. He made it. To God be the glory. He went for bloodwork on Tuesday morning and was scheduled to go Thursday to have his tb test read and get the form signed. We were then going to have our home study complete and sent off to immigration before the cost increase the following Tuesday. Thursday morning the nurse called and sad that Jeff's PSA (prostate) test came back high and he needed to see a urologist. They had an appointment scheduled for him on Dec 1st, nearly 2 weeks away! I was able to find an appointment the next morning with another Urologist. He did an exam and didn't find anything of concern, so he wanted to redo the PSA blood test on Monday. The Monday after Thanksgiving we received the news that his PSA level had gone up again! He needed a biopsy. The nurse said they do biopsy's on Friday's and Monday's. Jeff would need be off some of his supplements for a week before the biopsy but they were scheduling weeks out. We didn't want to wait weeks to know what was going on. Once again, were on our knees praying that God would open an appointment for us on December 10th. I was prepared to search for another doctor if it was not possible to get it done before Christmas. When the scheduler called on Tuesday, she said we have Friday, December 10th at 3:15! THANK YOU GOD for hearing our prayers!
Through out those weeks we never doubted God was in control and that His plan was better then our plan. We just had to trust that no matter the outcome we were safely in God's arms and He had a perfect plan! Were we nervous? You bet! Were we asking why this was happening? Maybe not Jeff, but I was! Even in the mix of emotions our confidence was in our Lord God!
The doctor was running behind and didn't start the biopsy until nearly 4 PM! He found nothing of concern on the ultrasound. That was great news! Yesterday the phone rang and the doctor called to say that there was inflammation but no cancer! PRAISE THE LORD! God is Good!
In the midst of waiting we had no choice to be reminded of "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
So for an update on the adoption process... we will pick up Jeff's Medical form on Monday and will have our homestudy complete on Thursday and will be able to apply for immigration before the end of 2010! We are going to Arizona for Christmas, so we will take Jeff's birth certificate to the Arizona Sec of State office for authentication, rather then mailing it. That will save us a little money.
In the midst of the rush of the last few weeks, I am so thankful for the prayers of so many and for our faith in a great God. He has sustained us and reminded us time and time again, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Giveaway Fun
Who doesn't love giveaways? One of my favorite bloggers is having 30 days of giveaways. You can participate too! Click on the picture above to participate!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
We are adopting from China!!!
Many years ago God laid on Jeff and my hearts that we should someday adopt. We were both drawn to Asia, but at that point not to any specific country. After doing a great deal of research and praying we felt that God was leading us to China! We are so so blessed to have a great support group of families from our church that have already adopted from China. I also have an old high school friend that is too adopting from China. She and her family are just a few steps ahead of us in their adoption journey, but she has been such a huge help to me along the paper chasing process! Thank you Jerusha!!!
I will be posting when events happen in our adoption journey. To catch you up to speed, in mid August I started calling adoption agencies. I talked to people from several different agencies but really did not find a good connection and a confirmation from God that I had found the RIGHT agency for us. One evening Jeff mentioned that we should also consider Central and South America. That surprised me a bit, but I knew that the only country in Central and South America that might work for us was El Salvador. I certainly have a love for El Salvador. I was able to go on a mission trip there with our church in March of 2009. We also have 2 dear couples from our church that serve as missionaries in
El Salvador. While searching for agencies that work with El Salvador I found an agency in Georgia that I would have never found any other way. They also work with China. I called them the next day and never ended up talking to the El Salvador Coordinator. The China coordinator was on the phone with me for an hour! She answered questions for me in a way that I had not found with the other agencies. Her family is blessed to be traveling soon to get their second adopted child from China. After completing our conversation I was racing out the door to get to the gym and in the quietness of the 2 minute drive to the gym I really felt God telling me, "This is it!" Wow!!! It was in the depth of my soul that I knew that I had found the agency that would help us find our new daughter!
Shortly there after I found the agency to do our homestudy and I am proud to say that by Friday, November 19th it will be complete and our I-800A (application for approval to bring a new child into our country) will be in the mail!!!
I am now busy getting documents ready to send to the appropriate Secretary of States for Authentications. Wow, I am learning so much. As we go through each step of this great journey we believe that God is going before us and directing our steps! Your prayers are appreciated as we take each step in the process!!!
I will be posting when events happen in our adoption journey. To catch you up to speed, in mid August I started calling adoption agencies. I talked to people from several different agencies but really did not find a good connection and a confirmation from God that I had found the RIGHT agency for us. One evening Jeff mentioned that we should also consider Central and South America. That surprised me a bit, but I knew that the only country in Central and South America that might work for us was El Salvador. I certainly have a love for El Salvador. I was able to go on a mission trip there with our church in March of 2009. We also have 2 dear couples from our church that serve as missionaries in
El Salvador. While searching for agencies that work with El Salvador I found an agency in Georgia that I would have never found any other way. They also work with China. I called them the next day and never ended up talking to the El Salvador Coordinator. The China coordinator was on the phone with me for an hour! She answered questions for me in a way that I had not found with the other agencies. Her family is blessed to be traveling soon to get their second adopted child from China. After completing our conversation I was racing out the door to get to the gym and in the quietness of the 2 minute drive to the gym I really felt God telling me, "This is it!" Wow!!! It was in the depth of my soul that I knew that I had found the agency that would help us find our new daughter!
Shortly there after I found the agency to do our homestudy and I am proud to say that by Friday, November 19th it will be complete and our I-800A (application for approval to bring a new child into our country) will be in the mail!!!
I am now busy getting documents ready to send to the appropriate Secretary of States for Authentications. Wow, I am learning so much. As we go through each step of this great journey we believe that God is going before us and directing our steps! Your prayers are appreciated as we take each step in the process!!!
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