Buy a candle help an orphan have a forever family!

My blog friend, April and her husband Jim are hoping to adopt from Uganda too. They are doing a fundraiser to help bring in the funds to adopt. They are trusting God that he will provide the money to adopt. One of the ways she is raising money is through selling Gold Canyon candles. Order a candle for a friend for Valentines Day! Gold Canyon candles make the whole house smell good! If you are interested, go to Jim and April's blog to find out more about the candles and how God is using them to provide a home for an orphan in Uganda.

Second Homestudy Visit

       Henry has been sick with croup all week and Mary Taylor came down with a fever today. That did not stop us from piling our whole family in the car to head down to Columbus, Georgia for our second homestudy visit. Our first visit was in our home and our last visit will also be in our home, but this individual interview usually takes place in Lifeline's office. We each switched off taking care of the kids during each of our interviews. The kids had a great three hours playing at the local Chucky Cheese down the street! That place sure brings back a lot of childhood memories! I loved skiball and trying to get as many tickets as possible and then getting a little dinky plastic toy with my one hundred tickets! That was the best!
        Anyway, the interviews went well. I was definitely emotionally drained after the visit. For an hour and half I talked about my whole life's story. It was hard going to those places I have not gone in a while. It reminded me of how far the Lord has brought me and what I used to be before he changed me. I do not miss the past! I do not wish to go back to my four years in college! They were not the best years of my life! God was working in my life, but I was still so miserable with myself and in bondage to sin. Oh, how thankful, I am, who I am today because of the person and work of Jesus himself! If God had not intervened and rescued me from myself, no telling where I would be and how miserable I would be today. I was an orphan and he rescued me from the destruction of the world and made me his daughter. Oh, what a Good God we serve! I long to bring this kind of love into the life of a child that God has called us to adopt. I will not do this perfectly, but hopefully Christ working through me will show this child unconditional love and acceptance.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that who so ever believes in him, he will have eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." John 3:16

^"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21

Another Family United through the Earthquake

        About two months ago I came across this Haitian adoption blog, A Family for Frankie. It is here that I first learned that Haitian adoptions can be a very hard and long process to go through. A family visits a child several times in Haiti before actually bringing a child home. Somehow, I lost their blog for a while. When the earthquake happened, all I could think about is this family. I could not remember the child's name or the name of the blog, but I just prayed that he was OK. A couple of days later, my friend Andrea, posted about this family. I was so excited to know that Frankie was alive and coming home to be with his family. He arrived on January 23 in Orlando, FL to be with his family forever! I am not sure if there is anything better than seeing an orphan become a son or daughter!

          Of course, we all know adoptions out of Haiti have changed dramatically. There were over 900 pending adoptions before the earthquake. Now all of those adoptions will be completed in the weeks ahead. Frankie is one of those children who is now at home with his family. But, what about all the other children that were already orphans that did not have a family waiting for them? Hopefully, after the 900 children get home, then the others can be adopted. And, then what about the other children that are left after the earthquake without a father or a mother? I have heard it will take at least a year to sort it all out, to make sure the children are not just separated from loved ones because of the earthquake. Then, hopefully Haiti will reopen for adoptions to take place. Until then, hopefully this terrible disater has opened people's hearts up to how many orphans there really are in the world that need to be adopted. Maybe this is the beginning of God doing a mighty work in the lives of orphans around the world!

Husband, Homestudy, Haiti

     My husband just returned this morning after taking the "red eye" from Las Vegas so he could be here for our first homestudy meeting. He has been working out in Vegas for almost two weeks. So we are really glad to have him home! He tried to sleep this morning, but Henry got up five minutes after he laid his head down at 6:30a.m. So after trying to sleep for 2 hours, he finally got up and played with the kids! After playing a while, we decided to get some adoption stuff done and run some errands. Then for lunch, we ate all together at Chickfila before rushing home to clean the house for our homestudy meeting.
      Our first official homestudy meeting went great! We really like our social worker from Lifeline Children's Services and I was not nervous at all. He made us feel very comfortable. We just talked about ourselves! It lasted 2 1/2 hours and we still had more to discuss. He said we could continue the discussion at the next meeting, which will hopefully be next week. After the meeting, we rushed to the post office to finish the paper work for Mary Taylor and Henry's passports. Yes, we are praying and planning on taking both our kids to Uganda with us. Four to six weeks is a long time to be away from your children. So, Lord willing, it will work out. Dee will stay for two weeks and then we are hoping my sister will be able to join us in Uganda. If she is unable to come, we are praying that God will provide someone else to go with us to Uganda to help with our children.
       Seeing the disaster in Haiti, greatly burdons me to help the orphans of the world. It is so hard to watch the images of the suffering Haitian people. The pain they are going through does not seem fair. Oh, how I long to do more for these people. How is it fair that we live in such luxery and other people around the world have nothing and are suffering. Oh.... how I long for Christ to deliever us from the sin of this world and the pain that people have to endure. I have been blessed to be the mother of two precious children, but Oh.... has God opened my eyes to the abandoned children of the world, who suffering silently, with no mother to comfort them! I am thrilled that he is calling our family to take one of these suffering children into our family. I can no longer be comfortable in my little world, worrying about the social pressures of today's society. I have lived too many years in bongage to the "fear of man".  The "fear of man" only leads to destruction and an unfulfilling life. God has recently changed my heart and given me victory to overcome some of these fears. He has opened my eyes and given me "joy in suffering". For this I am truly thankful.

Haitian Orphans going home!

"Slashing red tape or ignoring ordinarily required paperwork,

officials in the United States and the Netherlands have cleared the way

for scores of Haitian orphans to leave their earthquake-ravaged homeland,

according to officials from the two countries."

Orphans from Haiti are going home to be with their forever families! Read this article from CNN, Haitian Orphans Rushed to New Homes Abroad. 

The battle of Self

     About three months ago, we attended the YMCA Fall Festival with our friends the Teacheys and the Arburgs. Our kids had the best time all dressed up for Halloween as an "Individual Band Member" and "The Little Majorette". For the two hours we were there, someone was outside breaking into my car and decides to steal my purse. Yes, you are probably wondering why I left my purse in my car in the front seat for everyone to see. Well, I was raised in a family where we did not lock our doors to our house unless it was time for bed and my parents leave their keys in the car.. in the drive way... unlocked. So safety precautions are not ingrained in me! My husband has changed a lot of this, but you "can't teach an old dog new tricks". So anyway... and my wallet was in my purse! So, after the PA system announced for us to come to the front to tell us our car had been broken into, we were escorted to the administrative office to cancel all of our credit cards. This incident caused my husband a lot of frustration over the next couple months. He spent many lunch brakes on the phone with our bank!
     So, now I make sure I never leave my wallet in my car. I might leave my purse, but I always leave it in the middle console so no perpetrators can see it! Well, this proposes another problem. I often only take my wallet in places with my two kids, so I don't have so much to carry. So, now I am notorious for LOSING my wallet. I leave it on the "sign in table" at the YMCA. I leave it on the floor of the drug store, because I am chasing a 13 month old down the aisle. I leave it on the benches in the "hospital parking deck elevator waiting area." Well, this takes me to Tuesday morning at Piedmont Pediatrics.
      Henry needed to have his iron checked and our Lifeline Medical Form needed to be signed. After finding out that Henry is no longer anemic from drinking too much milk and his heart beat sounded normal, we start heading back to our car. (Two months ago, our pediatrician told us Henry's heart beat sounded irregular, so she did an iron test. His red blood cell count was low, so she told Henry to not drink as much milk and give him an iron supplement.Well, it worked! This was not an easy task restricting his milk intact. I think he was drinking about 40 ounces a day instead of the preferred 20 ounces a day.)
     It was a long walk with two young kids. Mary Taylor insisted on walking most of the way, so she could follow her big brother! Once we got out of the elevator, there was a waiting area before you walk into the parking deck, so I decided to let them run around to burn off some steam. Henry ran around in circles while Mary Taylor tried to catch him. This was a really fun five minutes! It was just nice to stop and enjoy my kids during a busy day of trying to mark things off my list.
      We got to the car and I buckled them in. We drove around the seven circles to get to the bottom of the parking deck and approached the parking deck toll worker. As soon as I started looking for my wallet, I realized that it was not there. Oh great! (I might have said another word) So the lady told me that I could not go back, I had to go forward. She let me through and told me to come back through. (I guess she meant when I found my wallet.) Henry is asking me, "What is wrong mommy?" I am so frustrated at this point. All I can think about is how mad Dee is going to be when he has to deal with everything all over again. So in the midst of my tense and stressed state, I heard the Holy Spirit say, 'Trust me.' But, I thought, 'But my wallet is not here, what am I going to do? How can God help right now? My husband is going to kill me!' So despite what I felt, I said out loud, "Henry we need to pray that Jesus will help us to find our wallet." I was still a complete wreck and very frustrated. I tried to keep saying in my head, 'I trust you, I trust you,' (even though I really did not).
      So, I pulled up to the front doors of the hospital and just locked my kids in the car. Yes, this is illegal! I ran up to the 4th floor of the building where our pediatrician's office is and asked them if they had seen a colorful wallet. No one had seen anything. As I left their office running to the elevator, I thought, 'Now what am I going to do?.... OK... God, I am trusting you.' It was like a battle in my mind.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (Romans 7:15-20)

     I ran to the car and drove back into the parking deck, up and around several circles to the spot where we enjoyed our peaceful time in the elevator waiting area. My wallet was not there either! At this point, I knew someone had stolen it and I would never see it again! But, still having a little faith, I parked my car again and went back to the pediatricians office. The minute I walk in the door, I heard one of the secretaries say, "DeBard..a..lam". 'Oh, that is my name...kind of.' Out loud  I say, "They have my wallet!" It was the security officer calling about my wallet! I said out loud to everyone, "Thank you Jesus!" So the secretary handed me the phone so the security officer could direct me to his office to retrieve my wallet. As, we got on the elevator, Henry and I prayed and thanked God for helping us find our wallet. Once we got my wallet back, the security officer said, someone found it in the bathroom. I know I never went to the bathroom, but who knows. All that matters is they were honest and brought it to the right hands!

      Things don't always have happy endings if you try to trust Jesus, but I am not complaining. I know for one thing, I did not do a good job of trusting him at all in this situation. I tried to listen to the Holy Spirit, but I was still extremely stressed until I found my wallet. But in past situations, I would not have even given Jesus a thought during a stressful time of trying to find my wallet or my phone, or my keys, etc... I would have tried to find it completely on my own. This situation was very encouraging to me that God is changing me and making me more like him, even if it is a tiny bit! I am so thankful that the sanctification process is not up to me!

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. 

No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 

1 Corinthians 15:10

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, 

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

Haiti's Orphans

 While I was running on the treadmill yesterday, I heard the terrible news of Haiti's catastrophic Earthquake. I could not help but think about the 1.2 million orphans of Haiti and the children who became orphans through this devastating event. I could not help but think about all the families who lost their soon to be adopted sons and daughters. Haiti's adoption process is very long and grueling. Families can travel several times to see their children before they finally get to bring them  home. My heart goes out to these families whose children may not have made it. But there are those orphans who are still alive in Haiti and are still waiting to go home to their forever families. The blog, Together for Adoption, posted this video of a family who is waiting to bring their son home from Haiti. Join with me in praying that these adoptions will be made final and not delayed because of this horrible situation. Pray that God's glory shines in the midst of destruction.

Lespwa Worldwide is a nonproft organization to help orphans of Haiti. It was started by a group of college students who understood the gospel, who were compelled to love the orphans of Haiti. They are accepting donations that will go directly to help the relief effort of the earthquake.

What is God's will?

Often we think God's will as "What does God have for me in the future?" Well, God has been teaching me that his will is week by week, day by day, moment by moment. It is a constant reliance on our savior. God's will is reading God's word or listening to the Holy Spirit guided you everyday. I am not sure what the future holds, but I am sure that God has me right here, right now for a reason. He wants me to be in the moment and trust him for my every breath. God's will is trusting him when your kids are breaking down from being in the house for two days in the snow with no husband. God's will is asking God to comfort you when you are feeling down on yourself and all you want to do is eat chocolate and look for things on the internet to buy. God's will is doing as much as you can with two kids, but laying the rest of the"To Do List" down at his feet until the next day or the next! God's will is praying for the person you have seen three times in a week by accident. Maybe God wants to use you in that persons life. There is so much joy in trusting God moment by moment. I do not claim to do this well at all. I am one of the worst, but God has been revealing my sin in this area and giving me "little victories" that I am truly thankful for. I pray that we all seek him daily so we will know his will and find true joy!

 My dad sent this quote to me through email. I love this! It is from January 6th of "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young. The devotion is written like Jesus is talking directly to us.

 I am able to do far beyond all that you ask or imagine.  Come to Me with positive expectations, knowing that there is no limit to what I can accomplish.  Ask My Spirit to control your mind, so that you can think great thoughts of Me.  Do not be discouraged by the fact that many of your prayers are yet unanswered.  Time is a trainer, teaching you to wait upon Me, to trust Me in the dark.  The more extreme your circumstances, the more likely you are to see My Power and Glory at work in the situation.  Instead of letting difficulties draw you into worrying, try to view them as setting the scene for My glorious intervention.  Keep your eyes and your mind wide open to all that I am doing in your life.

Eph 3:20-21; Romans 8:6; Isaiah 40:30-31; Rev 5:13

Over the Top Blogs

The Blogasphere is so fun! It is a whole community I never knew about!
My friend Andrea at Babe of my Heart, nominated me for OVER THE TOP blog! Thanks Andrea!!

The award states you have to use only one word answer the following questions, then pass along to six favorite bloggers, and tell ‘em you did so. What a fun way to get to know each other better!

1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your hair? long
3. Your mother?sweet
4. Your father?crazy!
5. Your favorite food? chocolate.
6. Your dream last night? friends
7. Your favorite drink? tea
8. Your dream/goal? fulfilled
9. What room are you in? playroom
10. Your hobby?crafts
11. Your fear?spiders
12. Where do you want to be in six years? God's will
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren’t? tall
15. Muffins?chocolate
16. Wish list item? babysitters
17. Where did you grow up? Birmingham
18. Last thing you did? cleaned
19. What are you wearing? PJs
20. Your TV? Off
21. Your pets? 2 dogs
22. Friends? supportive
23. Your life? adventure
24. Your mood? content
25. Missing someone? husband
26. Vehicle? Sequoya
27. Something you’re not wearing? hat
28. Your favorite store? thrift
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? today
32. Your best friend? husband
33. One place that I could go over and over? beach
34. One person who emails you regularly? Shelley
35. Favorite place to eat? Chipotle

I’m nominating Rachel, Jane, Naomi, Katie, Summer,and Kelley for the OVER THE TOP BLOG award!
Thank you all, for drawing me closer to our savior!

Pamoja Penda-Act Locally, Give Globally!

"Pamoja Penda is an arts and music festival to help celebrate the grassroots development work being done across Africa.This movement is actively empowering African citizens and equipping them to lead their own sustainable communities."

        I know half of you that read my blog do not live in Atlanta, but those of you who do will want to know about this amazing event hosted by UAPO (Uganda American Partnership Organization). UAPO was started by Britteny Merrill, who grew up here in Atlanta, Georgia. Her eyes were opened to the great needs of Uganda her sophomore year in college and then a year later she started UAPO in 2004. Now, six years later, UAPO has five current projects in Uganda, including an orphanage in Mutungo which allows 180 disadvantaged and orphaned children a place to live.

Pamoja Penda

March 28th, 2010

from 2pm-12pm

at Park Tavern in Midtown

 

        Pamoja Penda is hoping to connect the communities of Atlanta and Africa. The information says 21+, but I am going to see if kids are allowed to come. We don't go many places without our tag-a-longs! If you are interested, the tickets are $10.00 each if you purchase them before January 31st. My friend Mary Stuart is selling tickets, so if you decide to purchase them go to the Pamoja Penda website, enter your email address and enter the code: MIVERSON. All the profits go directly to UAPO for the funding of these five projects in Uganda. Hope to see you there!

Our Orphange

I cannot stop thinking about these pictures taken from the LHBH. LHBH is the orphanage where we will receive our referral. Our friend, Terrell Gilbert, who is married to Jane Gilbert, found these pictures online. Apparently, a group of people took a missions trip to Uganda through African Renewal Ministeries and they found themselves loving on the children of the BCV. BCV houses older children and LHBH is where the babies live. It is crazy to think that our baby could be at this home right now, maybe one of these pictures is our child!

The guest house is where we will be staying while in Uganda.

 

The view from the guest house where we will be staying.

 

Some children who live at BCV.

 

This is one of the babies at the LHBH.

Oh, what a precious little one!

I cried the first time I saw this picture!

 

These BCV children have stickers on their faces.

This is where guests get fresh water to drink.

This is the nurses station at BCV.

This is a classroom at BCV.

 

This lady is probably a widow trying to raise money for her family to eat. You can buy these beads to help support widows and orphans in Uganda. I bought several of these necklaces for family members for Christmas. You can go to 147 million orphans or UAPO to buy them for around 20.00 to 30.00 dollars.

This is the BCV dock.

Looks like they are about to play some football (soccer).

Another LHBH! She looks so sweet and healthy!

Terrell Gilbert also came across one of the only articles I have seen about our orphanage. It is titled,
Uganda: A Place Abandoned Babies Call Home. Most orphaned babies in Uganda are abandoned. Often these babies develop attachment problems, because their physical and emotional needs are not met and they go through such great trauma being abandoned. Once they are in the orphanage they do not get the adequate amount of attention needed to form bonds with their care takers. After being adopted, many of these children have to go through a period of time learning to attach to their new parents. The majority of these children recover within a year, but some suffer from attachment disorders and have to have extensive therapy. Can you tell I have been reading a lot about the problems that you might face with your child that was institutionalized? All the articles I have read say that all institutionalized children will have some sort of attachment issues, but most of them will overcome them sooner than later, especially the younger ones.

But, you know what? God is bigger than attachment disorders! He is a big God who is in control of everything! He is bigger than all the problems our child might potentially have. He has a specific child picked out for us, with a precious personality, that will be perfect for our family. God has a plan to use this child to break us of ourselves and make us rely on him for our strength and comfort. God is sovereign over all the problems and sin in this world. He is making things new through Christ. Wow! What comfort this brings me! God, break me of myself and my fears of the unknown.

How can you help orphans?

Not everyone feels the call to adopt, but all Christians are called to love orphans. Whether it be sponsoring an orphan overseas, giving money to a family that is adopting, being a foster parent, or praying for orphans, we all can be apart of what God is doing in the lives of orphans. I came across this video tonight on The Spirit of Adoption blog.


Adoption from Catalyst on Vimeo.

***I just finished my NCFA training online. Yes, 8 to 10 hours of reading and video clips completed! I have been informed of every possible problem I could have in adopting a child internationally and there are a lot! But, I rest in the fact that God knows the perfect child for our family and he will give us the grace that is sufficient in handling any situation. Hopefully tomorrow, I will finish my medical form and get a little bit more reading done. I got so much accomplised while Henry was gone. I feel like I got a head start. Now, Dee just needs to catch up! Ha Ha! We will have our first homestudy interview with our new agency, Lifeline Children Services on Tuesday. So, we are moving right along!

New Creation

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone,
the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

In Jesus, we are made new. 

In Jesus, we have his righteousness that covers all our sin. 

In Jesus, God only sees his son, not our sin.

In Jesus, we experience God's love. 

In Jesus, we are being changed into his likeness.

In Jesus, we have nothing to fear. 

In Jesus, relationships are reconciled.

In Jesus, there is a peace and a joy.

In Jesus, there is hope.

In Jesus, orphans are rescued!

In Jesus, there is joy in suffering.

In Jesus, there is life!

I am excited to see what God is going to do in my life in 2010! 

I am not sure what the future holds, but trusting in Christ there is nothing to fear.

I know that God is a good God and he knows what is best for me, even when life gets hard. 

The hard things are also part of his plan too. 

Actually, the hard times are when we experience true joy! 

Apostle Paul says: 
              

        For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives,  

        so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 2 Corinthians 1:5

I am praying that we all experience true joy in our lives this year!