Thoughts....

 I have been thinking about why I have this blog, and what the main purpose of the blog is.
  1) Let of Family and Friends know what was happening on our Adoption Journey.
  2) Share our Faith of Jesus Christ to others.
  3) Help others who are being nudged by the Holy Spirit to adopt!
  4) Prayer Requests
 
Our journey has been none of simple, quick or easy.. It has been emotional right from the beginning.  One would think that when God brings it to you, all will go easy!! Not true.... although we see God's hand through our journey yet today. Our Family had quite a time with our agency at the very beginning and today have left us in a boat wondering if we should paddle or just float.  Some of our family members thought we were crazy, and where not supportive and today....they have a new love for adoptions and other cultures.

 Watching other  journeys of other adoptions who buzz through the system with no problems. (How does that happen?) Although, I am so happy and praise God when some couples who long for being a parent happens quickly brings so much joy to my heart!!
If we never started our journey 4 1/2 years ago, we would of never had the blessing of Brody.  Brody has brought so much joy, love and awareness of the need in our country.  Traveling to  MS and meeting Ms R, and learning about open adoption has opened our eyes.

Watching the older boys with Brody has been so wonderful, and the way they love Brody is the coolest part of being a parent!!!  When Beau or Benjamin drive up, his expressions are so funny!  What would we do with out our little brown eyed boy?  Watching our children grow up during the these past years not only in their faith, but the awareness of needs all over the world...adoption is part of their lives. Our Journey to Marcus is confusing, frustrating, and is left with so many unanswered questions.  Marcus is part of our Family even in Liberia!  We love him, pray for him and when we have an opportunity we send him stuff.  There are family's who are is the same boat as us.  Waiting for Liberia.....as of now adoptions of special needs children are proceeding.  Our hearts break, knowing Marcus is thinking we are coming to get him any day. Our paper work has expired.....and most of the fees that have been paid are somewhere.  It is in God's hands....I do find myself wondering "why God and what is the plan.?"  I find the hardest part is telling your children, it is all in God's hands, and let it be there!

Our Family has met amazing, christian Family's through Katelyn's Fund.  Their prayer support was a huge blessing!

We are not alone, there is a special Family who has been waiting for over 6 years for 2 beautiful children, who continue to need prayers, for the Guatemalan government to please let them be united with their forever family!

This past week a young couple from our area traveled to the east coast to meet their Baby Girl! God is good!

Most likely this will be the last post, and I am going to close up this blog.
Thank You for the prayers, and maybe God's will be to start up when/if Liberia!!




“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 

Our Little Miracle

I can hardly believe Brody will be 7 months old Saturday!  To see him grow and learn is so much fun! I am not sure who is having the most fun when you have 3 big brothers, 1 sister, Mom and Dad cheering you on! Brody is now crawling all over! Sometimes his body goes faster than his arms!  He is starting to say, Mama, Dada, Beau and last night Mark got him to do "hi da!"  It is so awesome to see the his face when the kids come home from school!! Oh he loves his big brothers and Brynn!   He will be busy doing something in the high chair and his arms start doing so big, of course that makes everyone giggle and cheer, which he loves.

He loves cords, remote controls and cell phones. It does not help his big brothers get on the floor and show him the cell phone and he starts a crawlin faster and faster towards them.  He is starting to notice so much around him! To see his big brown eyes lighten up, is such a blessing! He is such a blessing to our family! Brody is finally sleeping through the night! Whew....took a few nights of crying, but he is more rested and now we have to master a good nap time!  2 teeth are trying to urge their way up, so he is trying to bite and chew on anything!

I lift my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2

We are reminded every day, if Marcus would of came home when he was suppose to, we would of never received this little miracle.  Yes, Brody is our little Miracle! We are got all the finalization paper work sent in and now we wait for the day in court to say Brody is paper worthy part of our Family!

~We still do not hear or read anything from Liberia!! Our family asks for prayers, for Marcus and the Liberian Government, and don't forget our Agency! 

PRAYER REQUESTS:

There are so many Family's who are facing cancer in our area.

~Please pray for: Sondra as she continues chemo and radiation.

~Warren as he has surgery next week to remove a growth in the bladder.

~Rodney our SW brother in law who has been receiving treatments.       

~Monica who is suffering with crones flare up and surgery that set her back b/c a leak, and was septic.

~Prayers for a family waiting to get word to travel to ET

to be united with their son, with the ET government changing rules, it is scary!

 Prayers for the family who is praying their 2 home from GuatemalaPrayers for Samaritan's Purse and Joni as they are having a huge crusade in Monrovia! Prayers that many may take a stand and accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour!

Prayers for Birth Mom's

"May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you."
Psalm 33:22

PRAISE:

:) Praise for 2 Family's who are home, (one on the way home) in our area that have been blessed

with little ET girls, and are welcomed home to big brothers!

:) Praise for a family who where blessed with the gift of adoption....Charlie Jace! Praying that your paper work goes fast so you can return home to you family!! Congratulations.

 "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8



Pictures of a Special Boy with a Special Aunt!

When I checked out Joni's Blog,  and here is the cutest little Liberian!!!

You can check her blog off to the side!!

Thank You Joni and Bev!!!

 Still no news on the Liberian front.  We know they Government is working hard on

 trying to set some laws, and we are concerned with the paper work that was done?!

God will praise each one of them! 1 Corinthians 4:15



Praying for our Sweet Boy in Liberia!!
We love You Marcus, and Lord willing we are waiting for the day we can bring you home!!
You are born in our hearts, no matter what happens!

5 Months Old

Brody is 5 months old!! We are so in love with our little boy!

God has blessed us so much!

I have written your name on my hand. Isaiah 49:16

I praise you because you made me in am amazing and wonderful way! Psalm 139:14

The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. Romans 8:16

Preparing for Baptism...

This past week I have been preparing for baptism of our precious Brody. Sunday morning should be less hecktic with the Daylight Savings! Which will come in handy, knowing we will get an extra hour to prepare! Our Family and close friends will all be in church and celebrate afterwards at the All Seasons Center.
It would be awesome to be able to invited all those who have supported us and most of all encouraged us along our way! Beau, Bradyn and Brynn are hopefully going to sing, Safe and Sound by Matthew West, (although there is no accompaniment music, I just hope it will sound ok!) during pictures of our journey. In front of church the family's receive a rose in honor of baptism, I ordered another rose in honor of Ms. R, after all we would not be celebrating this day with out her courage and strength. I am excited for Sunday, it is a huge celebration of God's love for us, and to be reminded of God's care, and our devotion to raise Brody in a home where Christ is the head of our house! I ordered a bunch of pulled pork, I am making cheesy potatoes, baked beans, friends and family are taking salads, bars and of course, have to celebrate with cake!!

This week he had his 2 month check up. He weighs 11 lbs and ll 0z, had his shots, and to Bradyn and Brynn's surprise, the had their flu shots!

Here are some special photos!

Here is a picture of Ms. R and me before we left he hospital!

Precious kisses!

Here is our little Brody leaving the hospital. God's special, beautiful blessing!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is so good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 107:1

Our thoughts and prayers are with all Mom's who placed precious baby's with Family's. It is a huge sacrifice, of courage and strength! We love Ms. R!

Our Family continues to lift those who are in the process of adopting. I ask for prayers for a dear friend and her family, as they continue to lean on God while waiting for Guatemala to let their children come home!

Praise God!

We are so excited....we got the signature we have been praying for!!
God is good, and we PRAISE Him for this wonderful little blessing, Brody Josiah! This journey has been crazy, emotional, and in it all we give Praise to God for His guidance, and leading us to the most precious little boy in the world! We are so thankful for Ms. R, and how she took care of herself during the 9 months! She is the most brave, loving young lady ever!!
Thanks for all your prayers, and we continue to ask for prayers for Brody, Ms. R, and all those who are in the process and are waiting!

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You:
let those who love Your salvation continually say,
"THE LORD IS GREAT"!
Psalm 40:16

Iowa in the Fall

The weather here in NW Iowa has been beautiful! The colors of fall are gorgeous all the trees are turning bright orange, yellow and reds.

Here is the combine, with the wagon loads ready to bring to town or a bin!

All full of corn!

The farmers are all busy in the fields, trying to finish up before the rain/snow set in! Hard to believe last year we h

ad snow already! Our house has fields surrounding us and Brynn was fortunate to get to ride in the combine while taking the corn out! She said it was awesome!

The manure is in the wagon!

The worst part of when the corn and beans are out, the farmers apply manure from the hog buildings! Here is a picture of a manure spreader, knifing in the manure!

Yes, you should smell it out here! You do not want to have a bon fire or grill! While in MS, we tried to explain to Ms. R exactly how this is all done! I still can see her face!

We have a baptism date is place!! We are so excited to have him baptized! We only(haha) have a week left and than we only have to finalize in Iowa!! God is good! Mark talked to our Director of New Horizon's at the beginning of the week, the conversation was, if Marcus would of come home, we would of never have been blessed to have Brody in our Family! We are so Blessed! Thank You Lord, and as we wait for the day we can (Lord willing!) take Marcus home, we continue to pray that God will be with him and Bless him with what his daily needs are!!
Praising God for a wonderful Blogger Family who is welcoming home their son from Liberia today!! Welcome home Daniel!! I am so happy for the S Family!

Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD. Psalm 150

Fall Fun

Brody showing off his Bears pride..haha!

Last Sunday we got together with my Sisters and Parents..it was so good to be all together again!! Jacoby is growing so fast ans is the cutest little guy too! I am so excited to see Brody and Jacoby play together when they get a bit older! My other sister had exciting news too, so next year, Brody and Jacoby (Lord willing) will have another playmate in the spring!


Went to the Pumpkinland last week with Brynn and Brody, of all times to figure out your camera battery is dead! Ugh...these are from my phone!

Saturday was lawn clean up and get the fence fixed from the traveling horse Joe
Brody is so loved by all of us! It is amazing to me how all the family is wanted to just sit and hold this little baby!! Needless to say, I am behind in laundry!













Brynn is so thrilled with her baby brother, as well as the Guys in the house. I am hoping to get a family picture done soon, with football 3 nights a week, church on Wednesday night, it is nice to just sit and home on night with no plans! :) Brody is going to be a Chicago Bears football fan..our Social Worker in Mississippi would like him to like the Saints...so we might secretly like them too!


Sing praises to God,
sing praises;
sing praises
to our King, sing praises.
Psalm 47:6

Brody is doing so well, I had to take Benjamin to the Dr to see if he is able to play football after having a slight concussion, and I thought I would see how much Brody is weighing...wow, he is up to 10 1/2 lbs!! We are trying to get him on a better sleeping schedule..yawn! Brody love to eat every 2 - 2 1/2 hour stretch, this weekend we are holding him off to 3-4 hour stretch. So I was happy to see he is still gaining w/o eating so much. Mark and I went out Saturday night for dinner and a quick run through WalMart, and we found a snuggle blanket..Oh does Brody look like a little cacoon, but he is sleeping more soundly, and even longer in between feedings!



Mark and I want to Thank all of you, whether you prayed for us, brought us a meal, a gift, helped with the kids, encouraged, hugged, and gave us a friendly smile. Ms. R is doing well, and I know prayers have tremendously helped her, and I have not had contact with her for over a week! She has a job, and is moving on, taking a class for CNA!
Although we are getting closer to terminated the rights of the other party. We ask for prayers for him also. I am excited to get an announcement put together and pictures with the family!! God is so good!!
I have been in some contact with some fellow Adoptive Parents who are so close to getting their children home from Liberia!! I am so excited for them, and pray all goes smoothly for the transition!!
Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
1 Chronicles 29:13
Marcus is doing well, as far as we know. The Agency has not updated us with anything, so we assume he is well. Marcus is in good hands, not only God's hands but those who love him very much!! Joni has told us of times she has stopped and he has been to the market with the Ladies..Benjamin is excited to think he is a shopper!! We are just praying some day, the doors will open for us, and the time is right, Marcus will join our Family in America!
Harvest is in full swing all around us! The leaves are changing, fields are getting taken in. God is so good! Mark has been busy at work! We have some colds here and Benjamin's head is healing.

He(God) has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."
Acts 14:17
Have a Blessed week, and May God Bless You with His Joy, Peace and Love!
Hope this all makes sense, I will have to reread this when I get back from a football game!! Go Bradyn!!

3 Weeks!

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14
This is a common site when we go out! Brynn is so eager to show her baby brother Brody! Yesterday I had to go to school b/c she ripped her pants, and was she excited to show her class her baby brother! I could of had a bucket of chocolate chip cookies and the kids would of never noticed!

As you can see, Brynn isn't the only one enjoying Brody!

Brynn after the football game with Beau's helmet!


Our Family is adjusting to having a baby in the house! I look into Brody's eyes and can't imagine life without this beautiful little boy! The only huge change is the getting up at night, making a bottle, grabbing a bag, with bottles, formula, diapers, wipes! Brody has been so good! He has been such a little trooper going to his big brothers football games! We bundle him up and he is all snug in his car seat! He is starting to really look at faces! Mark and I can get the most amazing smile out of his little face!! Yesterday he weighed 8 lbs, 1 oz! Brody is just a little miracle!



We have been so blessed with gifts, food brought in, and support from others! Little Brody is getting quite a closet full! While in the hospital, I heard, "Mr Brody, you are going to be so spoiled!", and boy was Ms. R correct! The days in the hospital, where priceless, getting to know Ms. R. We have spoken a few times, and text every few days, which I except time will heal, and it will become less. I am so proud of how well Ms. R is doing! She is moving on with her life, and I praise God that she is able to do that! I think spending time a couple weeks before and with myself in the hospital, and Mark she has a real feel of what we are all about! I have to get pictures printed and send them off.

Beau and I had a chance to snap some Sr pictures last Saturday! Not his idea of fun! But we got a bit of a start!


Here the football pictures of Beau, Benjamin and Bradyn! I am going to have to learn how football really works!









Thanks for checking in and praying for us!
We have 3 weeks down, and a couple to go as far as the termination paper work for the BF! We heard he got in more trouble, so we are feeling cautiously more optimistic!
"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

SUMMERTIME

What does our Family do in the Summer!!

"Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies." Psalm 36:5

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness" Jeremiah 31:3

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you
with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I pray that you...may have power, together with all the saints,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:17-18

"Whatever is true...think about such things...
And the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8-9

We continue to pray and wait on Liberia to make a move!
Praying for Family's waiting domestically!!

16 Years Ago....

16 Years ago, Mark and I went through one of the biggest challenges in our life! All because of a cement rake handle! It landed wrong, when Mark jumped over a wall at work! Punctured his groin and went through his whole body! Our journey took a year of prayers, doctors, several surgeries, and a wonderful Nurse who was our Angel and is one today, who came to our house at least 5 times a week! Not only she was a nurse, a grandma to Beau, a friend, and a different one on call on the weekends. Beau was only 1, when this happened. God, was with us and still today He is walking with us!





I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. Psalm 77:11

Today, it seems like that happened a long time ago! God willing, next year, when we celebrate Mark's 17th accident anniversary, we have our little ones home!

New Pictures...The wait continues!

God has blessed us with pictures of our little boy,
whom we have been praying for since May, 2008!

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

1 Samuel 1:27

They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep.
Psalm 107: 24

This was the Lord's work, this wonderful lady, whom we only know from emailing. Took time to bring Marcus his birthday goodie bag! She took time away from her children at another orphanage, volunteering her time helping build a better place for children. "Thank You Lord, for bringing her into our Family's life, to bring some joy to Marcus and his family at the Orphanage!"

I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30

To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.

Psalm 3:4

I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me.

Psalm 120:1

Marcus blowing this fun thing! What are these things really called?

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalms 107:1

We all had a special blessing from this little girl in the Buzz Lightyear costume! Buzz was/is a the main toy to our house!

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet… seek me daily and delight to know my ways…" Isaiah 58:1-2

Our Family struggles during this wait time! So many questions, not many answers! When we started this journey in 2 years ago, we never imagined the obstacles we would endure. The process of adoption is not easy! Last night I talked to another family who is also on this journey. Any adoptive family really bears all it privacy, revealing information about fiances, how you deal with children on good days and bad days, joys and the concerns of your heart. Yet, why do us parents/family do this....God places this in a Mom/Dad's heart! It is crazy how you just can't remove the feeling of adoption. To see these pictures of Marcus, just floods my heart to see his sweet face. As our Family continues on this journey, we pray that God Blesses all these children in these pictures and the Nannies. For none of them really know the outside world, of clean water, clothes, bed's without screens, windows, bathroom, kitchen, lights, tv, toys, pets, grocery stores and knowing there is always food on the table. I just praise God that God is there, God is in Liberia, God is here in our home, in our hearts. While the Liberian Gov't continues to wait to reopen...we are constantly looking and praying for God's will for our family! There are so many families who are also waiting for Liberia to reopen. There is a family by us who is waiting for Guatemala to let they're children come home! I know we have been waiting, but this family has been waiting for 3 years for they're 2 children to come home! Please pray for all of us waiting! God is a great big God and without Him, we would be lost!

Thanks for checking up on us!

Blessing's to All of You!