the some of the art that was auctioned.
kids working on art projects.
tim is so proud of his dolphin/whale on steve's face.
many thanks to all who came, donated, participated, and just plain had fun!
we had our first homestudy visit last night. everything went rather well, and it wasn't as scary as it was made out to be. our fire and safety inspections are done (and no, our house wasn't raked with a fine tooth comb), now it's on to the questions about why we want to adopt and what kind of parent we think we will be. i hope everything else goes this smoothly.
I am amazed and quickly becoming humbled by the generosity of others. We have had friends give us money for our adoption…that I understand. However, it still amazes me. They are giving us money, sacrificing Starbucks, and other things all to give to us so we can get children from
So being the future Dad of the two children I thought I should post something. I'm not very good at writing but I'll try my best. The thought of suddenly having a family of four (six if you count our dogs) can at times be extremely overwhelming. Two children running around our house named Samuel Anton and Rowan Alexi. Brothers from another country unwanted by their birth parents, but wanted by Liz and me more than words can express. It reminded me of a verse that my life group is currently reading Romans 8:25-27
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
It's nice to know that all the nights I spent lying awake talking to God about why we can't have children he old fashioned Biblical begatting way was not in vain. He heard all my mental indiscernible cries and understood what I meant even when I wasn’t sure. My doubt is slowly being replaced by joy even when the mountain of adoption seems to tall for me to climb I remember that God is the one that showed me this path so no matter how hard it gets He’ll carry me when I can go no farther.
so things are starting to kick into high gear! we have all the paperwork for our homestudy, and the first visit set up for two weeks. my amazing friend laura has our first benefit planned for June 28th...more details to come.
one of our biggest challanges right now is picking a name for samuel's brother. steve and i can't agree thus far. you'll have a name for the rest of your life, and your parents will have you forever if it's not a good one:)
samuel anton
for those who don't know, we have decided to adopt from russia. our application has been approved, now comes the pile of paperwork required by the US and Russian governments. one thing we will get to do is to name our children(yes, that's right, children...we want to bring back brothers). we decided last week that the oldest of the 2 will be names samuel anton myers. while they will have somewhat "american" first names, we wanted them to have russian middle names...we decided on samuel for the first name because of the story of samuel in the Bible. hannah, his mother had prayed for years for a child, even saying "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life..." one day hannah found she was with child and rejoiced, she gave birth and called him samuel "Because I asked the LORD for him." we asked God for a child, and this was His response...not quite like hannah, but close enough.we wanted to have a middle name that started with the letter a...and i know, the poor kids initials will be the same as his name...as least he won't forget. we landed on anton which is russian for "to go into battle." ironically enough, it is also the last name of a friend of mine...but i don't think he husbands family is russian. anyway, i feel very much like samuel will literally go into battle and fight some spiritual wars. steve and i have always felt like our children will do some amazing things for the Kingdom of God, and the names seem fitting.samuel anton myers...wherever you are, we love you and can't wait to meet you!
for your little one
it still amazes me how amazed i am at the amazingness of God. steve and i have decided to adopt, and as we have started telling people, it seems like a billion resources have been presented to us, and even some unexpected ones.today a coworker walked up to me and handed me an envelope. "what this," i asked. "for you to read later," she said. i walked back to my desk, opened the envelope to find a card with a check inside...a blessing and a gift of support for our adoption. i balled my eyes out.this adoption process is so not for me, but rather for the glory of God and the kingdom. i never thought i would be so deeply touched by the people i work with everyday, or the child that i have yet to meet.thank you to my dear friend - your generosity is so undeserved and unexpected. i can't wait for you to meet our little one!
