"For the Scripture Says..."

... 'Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” Romans 10:11

This morning when we realized it was time to update our blog, we re-read the entry from one year ago today and found it hard to believe how different our lives are now. March 10th, 2011, we were two days away from flying to Ethiopia to bring home Chernet, Mulu and Ruby. We only knew life with three kids then (Tommy, Victor and Vanessa). We had a cleaner, quieter house, quicker departures, and much fewer socks to match. Today, as we reminisce and relish in the blessings that God has poured on us this past year, we can confidently agree that “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” It has been awonderful year of transitioning for all of us- even better than we expected, praise God! And now we have even more exciting news!

We had no idea last March that God would not be finished adding to our family with the adoption of Chernet, Mulu and Ruby. We’ve discovered that the “Room For More” title of our blog meant even more than we thought. We are thrilled to announce that we have begun the process to adopt Pavlina(16)and Vanya(14), biological siblings from Ukraine who were brought to Louisville 8 months ago. They are precious children whom we agreed to house temporarily while other arrangements were being made for a permanent placement. That was almost five weeks ago. We realized soon after they arrived that we are to be the permanent placement! So much has happened in that time with more confirmations from God, especially through Scripture, that we cannot count. Our hope is that in sharing with you some of the details that have brought us to this point, you will clearly see God’s sovereign hand at work and join in us in giving Him the glory.

On January 22nd, we felt “foolish for Christ” (I Cor. 4:10) as we sent out an email to friends and family explaining that we were being convicted to sell our house to be better stewards of our money. Scriptures about being set apart and called to spread the gospel were popping out at us in our daily Bible readings. We thought this might mean we were being prepared for some type of mission work. We committed to praying for 40 days and asked God to give us clarity. Two weeks into our 40 day period, we received an email asking for help regarding two children who had been recently adopted from Ukraine. Tim was sure this was what we were supposed to
do, especially after asking God to help us see more opportunities like what
Jesus describes in Matthew 25 (the sheep and the goats passage). Therefore, we
offered to help temporarily. The first morning they were with us, God told us
this through Scripture (it just happened to be in our reading that day!):
II Corinthians 9:6-8 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or undercompulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may
have an abundance for every good deed.”

Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.”

Matthew 25 :35, “I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed Me… to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine,even the least of them, you did it to Me.”

Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure- pressed down, shaken together and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Every morning, when we asked, “Really, God, you want us to be their family?” He has answered with a big “YES” not only through Scripture but also through little things that confirm this is what we are to do. Here are some examples:

The first week they were here, Ruby (who was never interested in the CD player) constantly played one of Mulu’s new birthday CDs- always starting with the first song, “Jesus Loves Me”. It is the first song we intentionally taught all of our other children. This time God was using Ruby to teach it to Vanya and Pavlina.

The first day they were with us, we went to our homeschool co-op where I was surprised to see Pavlina pull out her Bible while the other kids in the class were pulling out writing pieces to share. I had to smile and say “thanks” again to God when I noticed she had opened to Matthew 25 (…hungry and you gave me something to eat, thirsty…)

Such strong walls built to protect their hearts from more hurt were replaced with so many smiles, laughter and even skipping through the house as we watched in amazement.
Conversations with our other six kids confirmed that they also wanted this to happen.

Just two weeks ago, we sold a bed that was given as an unexpected gift a few months ago. The amount was exactly what we needed for the largest fee of the adoption.

Oh, there is so much more, as I said, too many confirmation to list. So, as we continue to move forward we would like to ask you to pray that God will continue to give us wisdom and guidance as we do something we never EVER would have chosen ourselves- adopt two teenagers from Ukraine! All we can do is keep believing in Him to accomplish whatever it is that He has planned for our family and hanging on to that promise that we “will not be disappointed” Romans 10:11.

Blessings

We are approaching our 6th month home and having an absolute ball! God continues to bless us in so many ways. The kids have all adjusted well to our new family size of eight. Tim and I too feel like this is what the Psalmist meant when he said, "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD... How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them..." (Psalm 127:3,5)

Blankets and Legos are probably the most popular toys in our house right now. In the picture below you can see how much fun we had with the large washers Tim brought home yesterday. He challenged the kids to use them in creating something. He, of course, had the hardest job judging the winner. Chernet made a weight dumbell, Tommy- glasses, Mulu- a person, Ruby- tap shoes, Vanessa- modern art, and Victor- a dinner bell. After much consideration, Mulu won the grand prize (a Nestle Crunch Bar) for artistic expression and creativity. You can clearly tell from the last picture that she is the most concerned with asthetics. Who else comes to breakfast with a purse that coordinates with her pajamas???

Happy at Home

Three months home. The smooth transition is evidence of God's working. Too many good gifts to list! "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is not variation or shifting shadow." James 1:17

Ethiopian Adoption

Our sweet friends, Matt and Katie Beebe, put this video of pictures together for us. You will probably want to pause the playlist (down on the right) so you don't hear two songs at the same time.

Joy Inexpressible

I Peter 1:9 "...and though you do not see him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."

When the pediatrician walked into the room to examine our kids she smiled, shook her head and said, "God love ya!" She was exactly right! It is only because of God's great love for us that we even have the desire to share our love with Chernet, Mulu and Ruby.

This first week home has been so full of blessings and joy. It really is hard to express just how loved we are feeling from the incredible support of family and friends through meals, gifts, pictures, house cleaning, and prayer. You can see in the pictures how much fun we're having in the adjusting. The picture of all the kids in front of the horse was taken at the airport when we welcomed another family home whose adopted kids are friends with ours (Helen and Yared Stotts). It was just 5 days after we got home!

Waiting Eagerly

We are counting down the hours to boarding the plane that will take us to Ethiopia for our reunion with Chernet, Mulu and Ruby. The day and time will be Saturday, March 12th, 3:08 p.m.. Matthew 24:36 says, "But of that day and hour (Christ's return to earth), no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." I. Corinthians 1:7-8 says we are to be "waiting eagerly (for) the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ." I have never been so eager for something to happen as I have been for the completion of our adoption processes. I have to confess though, that I have never felt that same kind of longing for Christ's return. I want that to change. My hope and prayer is that God will place in me an eager expectation for His coming to take us to our eternal home that will be as strong as the longing we have of welcoming these three children into our earthly home. Consider these messages from His word:

Philippians 2:9-15 "For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my beloved,... work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you , both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and inocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I (Paul) will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain."

I Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first."

I Thessalonians 5:23-24 "Now may the God of peace sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."

Matthew 25:31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne."

I Thessalonians 4:17-18 "Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

My hope is that you may be comforted with these words as together we learn to wait eagerly for the return of Christ.

Finally, a date!

"Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established."

God has established plans for us to bring Chernet, Mulu and Ruby home on Saturday, March 19th. We just got the call confirming our embassy date of Tuesday, March 15th and are ecstatic! We can now breathe a little easier and finally zip up those suitcases as we plan to leave Saturday, March 12th.