I generally don’t get too personal on this blog. I like to think people come here to see pictures and not hear my personal thoughts and what nots about life.
However, today is different.
Some of you know my wife (Kimmie) and I quite well and others we have yet to meet, but today we wanted to let you guys in on our lives. To let you know what journey we’ve been on and all we’ve been learning. We have a video. And if you have a few short minutes we would love for you to watch it. If not, my wife has written a great summary of our lives over the past year or so. I’ll post it below the video and hope you guys get a chance read it.
If you would like to give toward our adoption fund
please click the “donate” button!
From my wife:
“My endurance has perished: so has my hope from the Lord…But this I call to mind, and therefore, I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”
Lam. 3:18, 21-25
There is such value in one’s story. I am amazed by how the Lord shows that to each of His children. Our story is none more important than another’s, and my prayer is that I am able to fully give testimony to all the ways He has been evident, faithful, and good to us in ours. His Story has sustained our own daily, really moment-by-moment.
Truly the gift of life guiding us in our journey to a new little life.
Our journey to adoption seems to have begun long before we were even aware. The ways the Lord works on our behalf without our knowing is something I am constantly amazed by. Sometime in the beginning of our journey of going to the Lord on behalf of our longing for a child, the Lord gave me Romans 4 to cling to. He showed me the testimony of Abraham’s faith and how “without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about 100 years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.” Although the Lord had not given me the promise of having a child by way of natural birth, I still could cling to the promises of who He was and His word to be faithful to His people. I had begun to live out for myself the truth of Mark 9 as I cried out “I believe…help my unbelief.” Longing to trust He had a plan and He was leading, but still having days I struggled to believe. Yet, His faithfulness is true. He was pruning and developing our family tree in ways we could not have known. Asking us to have faith when we could not see. And continuing to sustain us with His Word, allowing us to truly experience the fact that,
“blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
He was pruning and being the true Vine, bearing fruit in us, and allowing us to realize the reality of John 15 that apart from Him we can do nothing. We were at His mercy to fulfill our longing to have children. It has been a temptation to look at our journey to having children as a drought; dormant; barren. However, we stand in awe of Him who has sustained and allowed us to see that He was forming a child for us all along. His ways are far higher than my own. I never imagined our story would be intertwined with another’s across the world.
For 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 the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Eph. 3:20-21
The details of our story lie in the fact that we have completed all of the paperwork and home study process for international adoption and are overjoyed to announce that WE ARE WAITING ON A REFERRAL OF A BABY FROM SOUTH KOREA! We truly covet your prayers and are deeply thankful for your part in going to the Lord on our behalf.
We also are sincerely grateful to all who feel led to give toward our adoption. We are attempting to raise quite a bit of money through different available adoption grants, photography sessions, photography classes, and a few of my own little “crafty” contributions. The beginning stages of this program goes quite fast, which means the funds are needed sooner than other programs. We are looking at raising this money in what seems to be an unrealistic timeframe; 4-6 MONTHS! This can only happen with the Lord and your help. We don’t have the time and dates set for the fundraisers we mentioned above, but we will keep you guys updated! Grant has also made a paypal available for those who feel led to give a donation at any point.
Please know it is a most humbling experience to be loved in this way. We have already been completely overwhelmed with how the Lord uses His people to bless us.
We would love for you to continue to see our story unfold and also would love for you to be a part.
“Come and see what God has done: how awesome his works in man’s behalf.” Psalm 66:5
