Zero to Sixty in two seconds...

The Heart of the Matter

So, lately, I've been basking in the Lord's word and loving what I'm learning. Learning that because Christ died for me and has conquered death on my behalf, making me one with Him, I can die to myself and freedoms for the sake of others growing in His love. Learning not to put my liberties on a pedestal but set them down them for the glory of His INCREDIBLE name and for the good of others (Romans 14 & 15). After all, who am I anyway to deserve any of this? I am adopted by God through His Son Jesus and the very fact that I have another breath on this planet, another heart beat vibrating through my chest, another day of waking up to His new and glorious mercies is HIS VERY GRACE in my life... GRACE UNDESERVED!!!  So, I'm thankful for His love, patience, kindness, gentleness, mercy, holiness, righteousness and every other "ness" you can think of that He offers. Also, thankful that I am a work, His work, in progress and that I will be finished by Him one day. Thankful that I do not have to grow zero to sixty in 2 seconds.

Nitty Gritty

That zero to sixty in 2 seconds is happening though.  We are mailing our I800a form out to the USCIS (U.S. Citizen & Immigration Services) on Monday and then will have a 6-9 week waiting for approval period. According to our social worker this is the longest waiting period we'll have for the remainder of our adoption process. Kinda scary, not gonna lie! During this waiting time, we'll be getting our Dossier (collection or file of documents on the same subject, especially a complete file containing detailed information about a person or topic) prepared for the country of Colombia so they can then send us profiles of children that are in our criteria. HOLY NIGHT, WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Anyway, we are super excited and prayerfully anticipating God's hand continuing to lead and provide. 

Our family is planning to leave for Portland and Bangor Maine around Christmas to spend some time with family up there, teach, lead music and prayerfully raise some extra resources for our family to be:) Please continue to pray for us as we move forward and quite rapidly from here on out. We've been told that the clock has started ticking and our adoption process now has time sensitive steps involved. Again, while we don't know what all this means, we are trusting in our Great Lord and Savior who does. 

One Big Step Closer...

So, our benefit/ auction/ worship/ coffee shop night turned out to be an amazing night of fellowship; reuniting with some folks and meeting others for the first time. We were humbled and blessed by everyone's presence and the fact that they were there for our two children awaiting us in Colombia left us undone and speechless to say the least! I'm pretty sure I cried at least 10 times that night. The event brought in a miraculous amount of $6,665.00, which is a tiny bit over what we need by the beginning of January! Praise Jehovah Jireh in His provision, through His people, for our two precious Colombian children. Oh, I almost forgot another HUGE detail to this milestone in the process and anyone who knows me for more than 5 minutes knows I ADORE details; I am my father's child after all. Our home study came in the mail the morning of the benefit finished, approved and along with 4 extra copies to send off with our grant applications.  Hallelujah!!! Oh Happy Day you were October 6th, 2012!  

The following weekend found us (Eric and I along with a couple friends) down in Indianapolis at one of our closest friends' conference they had been planning since about 6 months ago. We were honored and humbled to lead around 250 of God's people in song on Saturday night at this wonderful Influence Conference. You can find details on this wonderful conference for next year here @ http://www.theinfluenceconference.com/. While I did not experience much other than good food, a room of sweet singing people and seeing the couple of beautiful familiar faces, I heard it was an event never to forget; so check it out! This beautiful story of God's redeeming and transforming grace in a couple's life will rock your world. Please be blessed by their story here @ http://vimeo.com/50711527.  For those of you waiting for the song list of the songs that were sung that night they are:

Jesus Paid it All
How Great is Our God (chorus & bridge)
How Great Thou Art (chorus)
10,000 Reasons 
Because He Lives
I Am Free (By our friend, Scott Cunningham)
Let Us Adore
Your Love Never Fails
In Christ Alone
Christ Is Risen
We Exalt Thee (chorus)
   
Nuts & Bolts

We are excited to start applying for grants and interest-free loans now that we have our home study to do so.  By the beginning of January, after we have paid off the $6,500 we owe our agency, we will need to turn around and immediately pay a bigger lump sum, only not in monthly payments this time.  So, we are trusting the Lord to provide that amount of $8,500.  Again, hopefully that amount will come mostly through grants/loans.  We have also been told by our agency that at the beginning of January the clock starts ticking with deadlines and expirations of things. We are not afraid, but trusting for His perfect provision and timing in all of this. 

We are praying about/planning recording a professional CD in December to help raise funds as well; We're really looking forward to that and will keep everyone on here posted as that progresses!  As for right now, anyone interested in buying the music we have recorded at the time can do so by clicking on our music tab on the blog. We also have a Finally Home Adoption facebook page that has a TON of items, left over from the benefit, that need to be bought.  And anyone just wanting to donate towards our adoption with a tax write-off can send a check made out to Gospel Community with the word "adoption" written on the memo, attaching a separate note to the check specifying it towards us Woods.  The address for Gospel Community is PO Box 85050, Fort Wayne, IN 46885. Again, this method will ensure you get a tax write-off for donating towards our cause. We are so thankful for you following our progress and lifting it up through prayers and financial support!

Silent Auction isn't so silent...

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to give you a some-what completed list of the items that will be auctioned off at our benefit on Saturday, October 6th, at our benefit.  Once again, it's from 6-9 p.m. and from 6-7:15 will be the "auction" part of it.  By the way, this silent auction isn't so silent... It's looking pretty loud!  We've been blessed with amazing friends/family that are making this thing go off with a "BIG BANG"!

Follow this link to go see the benefit information: https://www.facebook.com/events/354016374673041/

And now, for the list. Drum roll please...

*'fire engine red Squire bullet Stratocaster* from Sweet Water 

*COACH purse*

*8 Chonda Pierce tickets*

*Gold Canyon Candles*

*Lazer X*

*Photography packages (2 different photographers)*

*Haircuts by Sam Studio*

*3 different crochet sets by Carly*

*Full Color Service, haircut & style by Amber @ New Revelation Salon*

*1 Full year of karate including uniform*

*6 month membership to Anytime Fitness*

*6 month membership to YMCA*

*Gift Basket from Downtown Grind*

*Gift Basket from Old Crown Coffee*

*Haircut by Tangles Salon*

*Manicure Certificate by Tiffany's*

*15 prints from Naptime Diaries Prints*

*Yoga gift certificate*

*artwork by Jake Curtis*

*professional teeth whitening appointment with Dr. Brunner*

*2 tickets to the Rave theater*

*gift card to tanning haven*

*tokens and tickets fun cards

*collectors items from Discount Comic Book Services

*4 cute music pins donated by Steinway 

*basket from Brateman's Uniform Supply

*Interactive Bible CD-ROM from Family Christian Bookstore*

*Carmike movie passes*

*Arnold and sons htg and a/c would donate a complete furnace checkup/ service for this fall along with a a/c service/checkup this coming spring*

*Arnold's soft water will donate a 5 stage reverse osmosis water purification system ( drinking water at sink and to refrigerator ) along with installation*

*6 tickets to cinema grill*

*weighted blanket*

*Yo-Yo's gift certificates*

*Trionfale package*

*perfectly posh pampering set*

*2 adult and 2 children zoo tickets*

*$5 gift card and mug to firefly*

*4 higher grounds gift cards*

* 3 - 3Chiropractic sessions *

* Granite City gift card*

* Norwex Gift basket*

* Garage Door Opener*

* Uppercase Living merchandise/gift certificate*
*(2) 2-drawer file cabinets*

Adoption Benefit/ Silent Auction/ Coffee house/ Worship Night

Ok, so our benefit our friend is throwing us is JUST around the corner.  Please check it out, we are SO excited to see what the Lord is up to for this event.  In just 7 WEEKS we have seen businesses donate  their money and services for our wonderful silent auction the beautiful body of Christ going out of their way to post fliers and ask for donations and pray for us and our Colombian children!  We are SUPER EXCITED!!!

The link below should take you to the event.  For questions, please contact Amber Wiesenberg at 260-416-4345

https://www.facebook.com/events/354016374673041/

God bless you

The small things...

So, lately, I've been super busy. In fact, probably busier than I've EVER been for 4 consecutive weeks straight! Now, I've been known to "keep" busy pretty much the majority of my adult life; not necessarily with the "right" things, but none the less, busy!   But this busyness (we'll call her Beezee) within the last 4 weeks that I speak of, is a busyness like no other I've experienced before. Sadly, I'm just now becoming pretty good friends with Beezee. I'm finding her fun and at the end of the day, after spending time with her, I'm laying my head down at night, thankful for her and not regretting her because she's taken me away from my children.   

I was thinking earlier today on this and how I've longed to stay busy with the wrong things. These things haven't necessarily been bad but were wrong for me in the season of life I was in. I know the Lord, being gracious, has used those things for His glory all the while trying to teach me of the important things.  These important things are the things in which the world laughs at. These important things are the things that take time and the reward is years down the road. These important things are my children. 

Now, I know in Matthew 25 Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven and I in no way intend to twist this into something it's not, but hear me out for a second.  

Starting in verse 14 of chapter Jesus is talking about the parable of the talents and what each servant chose to do with their talents. We all know the moral of the story is if we are faithful with the small things, we will be given much.  

I'd like to propose that these important things, my children, are the small things the Lord has asked me to be faithful with for now. I am calling raising them "a small thing" because at the very core of my natural being, it is what I fight against and the world sees as small. I am NOT saying my children are small in importance and I am also NOT saying it is a "small thing" to raise children up in the Lord; I beg to differ on that. Raising children, so far, has been the most complex, yet wonderful thing I've done as a "job". And last, but not least, I am NOT saying that I have bigger and better things to be given over to after my children are raised up.

Stretching this out a little further (thanks for bearing with me), I DO find it interesting that He is talking about the kingdom of heaven in this passage and earlier in Matthew 18 tells His disciples that unless they become like children, they cannot enter into His kingdom. From this, it looks like it may benefit us in more than one way to invest in our children; they can show us a thing or two. After all, I've heard it said, you start to look like the ones you hang with the most. Lord, help us all!

The Soil

I've heard it said that fruits and vegetables grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us get today. The main culprit in this disturbing nutritional trend is soil depletion. While I'm not one that buys everything organic, I believe there may be a lot of truth to this. BUT, this is not a post about buying or not buying organic.

You see, as I was reading my devotional today in Oswald Chambers, he was reminding me that I am to "go on" with Jesus; to continue with Him in His trials.  The last paragraph explained what that looks like as follows:

"The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on 'outside the camp' (Hebrews 13:13).  The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow-- but only the voice saying, 'Follow Me' (Matthew 4:19).  

Finishing this read and moving onto Romans, it struck me...
We are to continue on with Christ through the highs and through the lows. We are to abide, to be renewed.  Now, it is He who sustains us; His grace saving and keeping us. And even the bearing of the fruit is grown by none other than His Holy Spirit.  But fruit will not grow unless there is a solid soil.  Good soil with nutrients and minerals equals a harvest of plenty; A harvest of organic, authentic fruit.

In all of this, I wonder how my soil has been taken care of?  Have I allowed the soil of my heart to be tilled by His living Word, showered by His amazing grace and tamed (like a tomato plant) by His Holy Spirit?  

Oh Lord, thank You for Your grace. Thank You for your truth and Spirit.  Thank You for making me Your own. Please have Your way in me.  Do what You have to do to break ground in me.  


NUTS AND BOLTS

We are still waiting on our home study to be "finalized". It has been written and sent off to our Colombian Agency, Adoption by Shepherd Care. They are in the process of approving it.  Once they approve it (hopefully in the next few days), we will be able to start applying for grants and loans. 

We are having a Finally Home Adoption benefit on Saturday, October 6th from 6-9 p.m.  For more information regarding that, follow this link https://www.facebook.com/events/354016374673041/

Also, my husband has taken on an extra job to help with the adoption.  Please be praying for him, for his health, energy and strength to be sustained in this busy season by the Lord's hand.  

Keep Quiet and Nobody Gets Hurt

To preface this next blog and ones in the future, let me say I am an "adopted by God who is adopting children, blogging non-blogger". In other words, while I love the heart of adoption and am in the process of it, you may find blog updates regarding our process, or you may at times, see me in the raw; depending on what is going on in my life.  


(Clears throat, stage lights dimmed, curtains opened and the story begins)


Bombs going off, people being torn limb from limb, grace is lost in the moment, fires are set ablaze. Debris covers the ground all around reminding the hurt of the recent terror. Welcome to the world of the human tongue!


For a while now, I have posed the question to the Lord of what it means to take a thought captive. Whether it be fact or a straight up lie from the enemy, we are called to take them captive. What does that mean? In all of this, I will be honest enough to say, I've also not had the craziest prayer life.  Yeah, I've prayed for people's circumstances, my circumstances, things that were brought to my attention. The hard part for me is waiting and praying nothing while letting His Spirit intercede for me.  All that to say, I've needed to grow in both areas.  


As I've been asking the Lord about captivating thoughts, He has also shown me that prayer is just that.  


The act of taking a terrorist captive is to put an end to his destruction. He can't make a mess if he's imprisoned. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 it reminds us saying, "Take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete." Prior to that we are reminded that our weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  Our thoughts, terrorists that they are, can destroy. Accusations, gossip, venting for comfort, facts that should only be kept between us and the Lord are nothing shy of a form of that warfare which goes much deeper than each of them on their own. 


Lately, the Lord has been showing me that the second I let a thought, whether truthful or not (and I mean negative of course), out of my mouth, that captive has been freed and is now a refugee running to anyone they can find for help. Besides the obvious destruction we are allowing to go on when this happens, there are three great losses in that moment.  A loss of grace extended to that being and to the hearers. Grace is the very thing NONE of us deserve that not only saves us but sustains us.  I've been recently reminded that I desire grace from others, so I must call on the Spirit to help me extend, even when it's lacking on the other end. The second loss is a loss of intimacy between me and the Father in that moment.  I once had a friend speak wisdom to me about her relationship between her and her husband.  She had stated she is careful to not share much with anyone regarding quarrels between her and her husband because she feels like that is too intimate of a part of her life to share and she doesn't want anyone knowing her husband like she does.  I thought that was so beautiful and true.  I am recently finding that as I keep things between just me and the Lord (not even taking them to my husband) there is a great intimacy that dwells within those boundaries and it's also teaching me to keep quiet and ultimately trust His Spirit to move and for me to sit back and pray. Also, venting to others never changed my mind as much as praying to God for the situation and Him giving me grace to extend when I couldn't give it on my own. The third loss is that it grieves the Spirit of God when we free those captive thoughts by sharing with others. (Ephesians 4:29-30)


James 3 is a great reminder of that battle scene discribed above and I only pray the Lord would continue to work this out in me to where the battle scene stays on my knees and between me and the Father. 


NUTS AND BOLTS


As I stated in my last post, the home study is being written as we speak and we are waiting to take the next step in the process because the contract we are sending in needs to travel with $6,500.00 and we do not have that yet. However, about $1,200.00 has come in (Praise the Lord!) and so that puts us down to needing $5,300.00 in order to mail that contract off and get started on the Dossier.  Please continue to pray, we see the Lord providing through His church and we are encouraged by that.  Thankful for your desire to follow us in this journey, supporting us through your prayers and finances!  God bless you.

Chosen to choose

Nuts and Bolts...

Our home study on Monday, July 16th, went amazing!  I'll admit, I was at peace and not frazzled at all.......until the DAY OF! That morning I woke up to a list of things that I thought we needed to get done by 2:00 p.m. to present a great home study; so we worked hard!  At 1:00, Eric knowing how stressed I was, was so precious and told me to go on a date by myself and be back by 1:45 to pray as a family.  I came back settled and eased remembering that the Lord is in control of IT ALL and nothing will pass His hand without Him already knowing about it and permitting it. When we are busy being Martha and all about "doing" we easily forget foundational truths that we wouldn't forget as much if we were busy being Mary.  Two hours at the table and then one quick tour of our house concluded the meeting.  When I say "quick tour of our house", I mean we could've left the toilets uncleaned and the hole on Elijah's bedroom wall un-patched and not done ANYTHING with the basement!  After our caseworker friend left, Eric closed the door and looked at me with this, "Are you kidding me, you did not just make me do all of that work" look on his face.  Hey, they got done regardless, right?!?

That following Friday, the 20th, was our appointment for all of our physical exams and we are all healthy. HOLLA! Our doctor, who is a Christian was very encouraging to us! Thank You Lord!

We are now at a standstill in the process of adoption.  The next step is to send in our contract with our agency in Florida along with $6,500.00!!!  

This ginormous cost includes:

• $2,500.00 (Agency fee)- Costs related to our agency's (ASC) ongoing services in helping us in this process on the US side of it.

• $2,500.00 (Agency fee)- Costs related to our agency's ongoing services in helping us in this process on the Colombia side of it.

• $1,500.00 (Dossier Processing fee)- As I mentioned before, a Dossier is the french word for bundle of papers.  This cost will provide assistance for us, through ASC, in compiling dossier documents according to Colombian guidelines.

This is the next step and BIG HURL of money and we cannot start it until $6,500.00 travels with it! So, please be in prayer over that.  We're praying that this will come before or by October 1st at the latest!  

NITTY GRITTY...

I was sitting down with my children the other day; Eden 8 and Elijah 7.  We were going through our devotional for that morning and reading how God had chosen Jacob to be the leader.  Even though Esau was born first and had inherited a birthright, God chose Jacob to inherit it after all and not by anything that Jacob had done.  Jacob was not born first so the birthright obviously wasn't his according to birth order and Jacob was not the manly one.  Esau was the hunter and worked outside, his father's favorite.  Jacob cooked with his mom and had her favor.  Pause... I'm not saying only manly men hunt and do not cook! 

After we read the story, I asked my kids, "How does it make you feel to know that God chose you? You did not choose God before He chose you. In fact, the only reason we choose God is because He chose us and gave us the gift of faith to choose Him back!"  

I could see that my daughter may have had a harder time grasping this concept than my son.  She looked bothered and spoke up, "Mom, but I chose Jesus and then He gave me a new heart."  I responded with, "You're right babe, you did choose Jesus. But you chose Him because He was already drawing you and had chosen you before the foundations of the earth were even laid." I remember first hearing this truth that I didn't choose Jesus on my own and being utterly offended for a while.  I felt robbed. Worthless. Helpless. I believed for so long that there was something good enough in me to want God on my own without His help.  NOPE... not the case at all. (Ephesians 2 is my favorite chapter of the bible now!) 

My son, smiling from ear to ear, shouted, "I feel free!"

I thought about that statement for a little while and realized the truth behind God choosing us to choose Him and then feeling free.  How would you feel free knowing that God chose you to be able to choose Him?  Think about it.  Resting on the fact that God chose us, adopted us into his family because of His love and goodness brings freedom, security and peace to my soul. The certainty of salvation in Jesus alone increases as we rest on that truth.  

It's such a mystery, a great tension, that we probably won't 100% completely comprehend until we see Him face to face; God's choosing and us responding. But I am thankful I can rest on the fact that He has chosen me thus equipping me to respond to His amazing grace!

Heart Trouble

So, after one and a half hours of trying to figure out how to change the font of my blog post, here I am!  Great reminder that I am not a natural blogger, HA!  


Since it has been a month of no update, I figured it is time to inform you all as much as I can.  


Our home study visit (scheduled for the 9th of July) was rescheduled for the 16th of July at 2 p.m. due to a schedule conflict of our social worker.  We are excited for him to come into our personal lives this next Monday and see what we are about in the Wood household.  One can hear pieces of your heart and try to make sense of it, but I feel like once they come into your home, is when those pieces start to come together and the game of "RAW" is on! 


After that visit, our social worker friend will take 30-60 days to write a home study review for our agency in Ft. Lauderdale; so they can know us and tell Colombia about us.  Please pray for this visit and for a nice report to Colombia!  Next Friday, the 20th, is when we all get our physical exams confirming we are healthy enough to adopt.  Again, please pray for that to go well.  Those are the next two steps of the process within the next couple of weeks.


So far, $525.00 has come in for our adoption.  This money will go towards part of the home study and our physical exams.  It's been such a blessing to see people come around us and partake in this calling of loving the orphans!  Thank You Lord.


Now, onto the nitty gritty of my heart.  The Lord has graciously been showing me how easily wrapped up and consumed I can become by the process of adoption.  "Wait," you might say, "Adoption is a good thing and one of the ways the Lord wants us to care for orphans." I couldn't agree with you more.  However, when we become consumed with doing something for the Lord more than the Lord Himself, that's a flat-out idol problem. Listen up, I'll tell you what I'm saying. 


Last night, sitting in Redimed with my son who had a fever of 104.4 I was hit with this truth once again, for the 2nd or 3rd time. I was letting my heart be troubled by life's situations and the fact that enlarging our family only means enlarging those types of situations which brought my countenance low.  After about a half hour of sulking in this pouting mood, this thought (from the Lord I believe) came over me.  I, Mandy Wood, am a daughter of the Most High.  I was created to worship Him and bring Him glory.  That is my highest calling in life.  Bringing Him glory comes in different vehicles throughout life.  Sometimes those vehicles take detours, go down bumpy roads, leaving us with bruises.  But, none the less, He will get glory.  It is NOT my job to fret or fear on how the vehicle takes us to our final destination... That is the Lord's job.  This adoption is simply a vehicle to bring Him more glory and He will drive this vehicle how He chooses.  He will provide it with fuel, and even maintain the vehicle after He's done driving it.  I am ONLY the passenger riding with Him, trusting He is going to parade this vehicle around, again for His glory.  AND, if He even chooses to park this vehicle in the middle of the road for a season for whatever reason, I am to trust that.   


Why do I get so caught up in the logistics?  Why do I let my heart be troubled? Because I am human.  Is that an excuse to be carried away by my emotions?  No. It is simply the reason I still fall into that ugly sin of worry.  Throughout scripture we find a constant reminder to not worry or fret.  To trust in God and His goodness and sovereignty.  Also, in Luke 10 we have a great example of a lady busy about getting things done; good things.  She was serving, plugging away at what she knew needed done. We see the Lord graciously rebuke her because she was missing out on the main thing in life, Jesus Himself!  She was missing being fed and nourished by the Great Shepherd Himself.  She was distracted by work, fretting at what was not getting done instead of trusting in Him.  


Lord, help me to remember my role in all of this; to bring You glory in every circumstance, whatever that may be.  Help me trust in You alone and Your navigating throughout my life. 


Oh, and one last thing, we have a "Donate" button now for those of you who have asked how you can financially give.  Thanks so much!  

The Nuts and Bolts

So, It's been a while since I've updated on here and a friend gave me some outside perspective on what she wanted to know regarding our adoption process and progress.  


I had an Arbonne "Party with a Purpose" last night.  All of the proceeds ($120) went towards our adoption.  It was so sweet to see a few women come out to support us in that way.  So, thank you.  (That money will go towards paying our agency in Ft. Lauderdale (Adoption by Shepherd Care) for our orientation we had while on vacation.  That agency is who we are adopting through.) We do plan on having more fundraisers down the road as well. By the way, if you knew about this party and wanted to come and order but couldn't, Angie is still taking orders up until next Friday (June 22nd) I believe.  You can always let me know as well.  


Now onto the steps we are taking currently...
My husband, Eric, and I had 50 questions to answer for our agency who is providing us with our home study (Gateway Woods).  These questions were the same for each of us.  We finally finished them and sent them in.  Yesterday, we received an email from our social worker that we have been assigned to another social worker through that same agency to come out and interview us.  This is the actual home study.  The purpose of this visit is so they can see for themselves and the country of Colombia that we are fit to bring children into our home safely.  They will recover some of the questions that we answered and sent into them, they will look around our house and get to know us and our children.  


Cost of Home Study: $1700.00 (Still needed)


Once we have our home study completed, which could be anywhere from 1-2 months from now, we will qualify to start applying for grants.  Meanwhile, Gateway Woods will send our Home Study off to Colombia.  


The next step is for us to put together a Dossier (French for "Bundle of documents with a label and spine").  Basically, it is a very detailed description of the Wood family and our life for Colombia to see on paper.  We will send pictures, inform them of our hobbies, etc. We cannot move forward with this until we have the money for it.


Cost of Dossier:  $6,500.00 (Still needed)


So, that's where we are at currently.  Hopefully, this will give you better understanding of what we need and how you can be praying for us.  Thanks for keeping up with us!

"Our Feet Are Older..."

For our last morning here on the island, we decided to hit the beach one last time. After taking some pics of the kids splashing around for a bit, we took one final stroll along the shore. On the way back, Eden, our little 8 year old daughter, wondered why her feet hurt while walking on the shells and ours didn't. As Eric explained to her that "our feet were older and had walked on much more than hers have",I had a deep moment for a second. For the believer in Jesus who day after day puts their trust in Him in all things, choosing to believe He knows best, those shells are trials in life; some pretty small and unnoticeable, and others big, rough and sharp around the edges. As our feet continue to walk forward in trials trusting Jesus will not only bring us through them, but He's making our feet to look more like His, even better, our character more like His. The more shells these feet walk upon, no matter the size or lack of mercy they have on my soles or heels, the goal is for my feet to be weathered in such a way, that my eyes stay fixed ahead on Him who has walked before me. Lord, this is my prayer, that I would walk forward in suffering knowing You have a GOOD purpose for that trial. You love me and desire that I look more like You to bring You glory in this lifetime, while getting ready for the next. Amen.

Comin' Home

Welp, the time is here. Today was the last full day of our vacation in Florida! God was so gracious to keep the only day full of rain on this island for today. We were able to do laundry, pack and then go to Sweet Berries for a great custard. We're planning on hitting the beach one last time tomorrow morning if the weather permits. Checking out at noon, we'll head up to Orlando where we'll eventually take off. We'll be landing in Indy around midnight and then drive home from there to find our own comfy beds waiting for us... Sigh. We have had a crazy good vacation, well rested and super refreshed. We are ALL ready to come home to our loved ones and jump right back into the swing of normalcy. Super excited to keep drinking from this cup of Living Water I've been quenched by while here as well as make some good changes to keep me coming back for more. God's word has been SO ALIVE and penetrating to my soul on this trip. I DON'T want it to stop! Ready to check out some new books from the library and read up on some ladies whose lives I read about in the book, Faithful women and their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper. I suggest it to any woman who wants to get excited about a life lived for Jesus. Let these sisters who have went before you bless your soul like they unknowingly did mine. On a different note... Eric and I are finishing up our home study questionnaires and will have them sent out hopefully by Monday. We will then schedule an actual home study visit and get that ball rolling. Please continue to pray for us as we move forward in this. We are so thankful for all the support we have in our friends and family. We love all of you and are glad we have you all to walk through this with us!

Of Course....

Of course this would happen, the question was more, "When will it start?" Adoption is a funny thing. It stirs people to good and to bad. We knew there would be questions to challenge us along the way, we knew there would be people who don't really understand because they haven't had the specific call to adopt; in fact, we were once there ourselves. And quite honestly, I'm sure this is just the beginning of many more challenging comments and questions to come! But some questions just come so unexpected and in a tone that begs curiosity to ask if that person asking the challenging questions is offended at our desire to adopt. We've had that about twice already in our short journey. The first time, there were 3 HUGE questions and then the subject quickly changed. The second time was not that way. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The person asking continues to bring it up as if trying to change our mind. Of course, it's always good to take things back to the Lord and ask Him to sift what is His voice in the matter and what is just man's. All of this kind of reminds me of Nehemiah and how he was discouraged to rebuild the wall after the Lord had given him a burden along with favor from the King and vision. In chapter 4 it talks about how Sanballet and his guys discouraged and were angry. Now, this may be a little different... bare with me. The Lord has called us to do something, not build a wall, but adopt. We don't know when the children will actually be in our arms, we don't know who they are, we don't even know how He is going to provide the miraculous dollar amount that we don't have. We just know He has called us, therefore WILL equip us. He is SOVEREIGN and owns cattle on a thousand hills and will sell a few of those to bring our children home I'm sure. Anyway, the end of this blog goes something like this. Nehemiah and his gang ended up rebuilding that wall and glorifying God in it. The call survived heavy discouragement and attempts to conquer. The vision was carried out, completed. There was much discouragement and even plotting to fight against them (which thankfully, we DON'T have that). And quite honestly, I would dare to say, many naysayers don't even realize what they are doing half the time in their discouraging pessimistic comments. Trust me, I'm no optimist, and I've had my fair share of sticking my foot in the ol' mouth (it's big enough) and not even knowing it! So, there you have it. Have we been discouraged? Yes. Will we remain discouraged? No. Will we continue to walk forward in this and ask the Lord for His wisdom and guidance (to the point where He could say, "Adoption is no longer an option")? Yep. But let the Lord say it, until then, we press on! Please pray for us, that we would not grow weary in this season of pursuing our children. God bless.

Hola Colombia!!!

We've had a great time on vacation so far. We started the trip off staying with Eric's brother and sister-in-law in Indy for a couple of days and then stayed two days in Orlando where we hung out with Eric's sister, brother-in-law and niece. We all had a blast as we visited Downtown Disney and swam in the rain for about 4 hours one of the days. Then traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, where we stayed with a sweet friend (the mother of one of my friend's from home). She was such a delight to us, taking care of us as if we were her own. She sat with the kids for about 4 hours while Eric and I had our orientation with our adoption agency. A few weeks ago we had the first visit of our home study at the office of the agency giving our home study. We were going in thinking we'd be adopting from the Congo. On our way out, our social worker, knowing our hearts for the waiting child, shared her experience concerning waiting children from Colombia with us. We went home, prayed and decided to go on vacation praying and to come back with an answer from vacation, Lord willing. Was it going to be Congo or Colombia? We really believed our orientation with this agency in Ft. Lauderdale would confirm one way or the other, and it did! It's final, we will be bringing our little Colombians! Our orientation was amazing! A lot of emotion and excitement was partnered with the education of what to expect on this journey. Of course that would happen when one of the ladies who met with us adopted from Colombia and the other is Colombian! We left 45 minutes later than we should've but are prepared to walk forward towards bringing our children home from Colombia. Eric and I have a big heart for two specific details in this adoption process. These are: the age range of 0-9 years old and to have 2 siblings. While we will prayerfully consider anything that comes to us along the way, as I said earlier, we are strongly burdened for the waiting child. While birthdays are one of the most exciting days in the year for a child, it it is quite the opposite for the waiting orphan who has no family to celebrate with. Every birthday for an orphan is a reminder that they are only getting older and the chances of them getting adopted goes down with each year. Here are some statistics about Colombia that were tools for our decision making along the way. These statistics reveal a social crisis: * 54% of pregnancies in Colombia are unplanned. * 60% of the population is under the age of eighteen. * There are 800,000 children born yearly. * Over 56,000 children are currently in protective custody. * There are only 8 private orphanages in the country. * Currently over 7,200 children in Colombia are legally free for adoption but are awaiting homes. The government considers these children to be "special needs" because they are over 2 years of age. "Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12 So, there you have it. Please pray for us as we continue on this journey of bringing our children home. Spread the word about our music. Buy a song or two, and help bring our children to us! God bless.

Getting Away...

As I sit here this morning, it's becoming more and more clear to me that we are leaving this Sunday night to go on our first long family vacation by ourselves. We will land in Orlando, stay a couple nights there and hang out with my sister and brother-in-law and their baby and then head down to Ft. Lauderdale for a couple of days. We will be visiting our adoption agency while we are in Ft. Lauderdale. We will then head over to Anna Maria Island near Sarasota for the remainder of our trip which will be filled with fishing, swimming, trolly rides to the pancake place and icecream stops.... Oh and the game Sorry for probably every night that we are there! There will also be much praying as we hope to have a final answer on what country we'd like to adopt from; We've been considering Congo and Columbia. The recordings of our songs were recently put up on Itunes, so make sure to check those out! You can find them either on our adoption facebook page Emwood or Itunes under Emwood and then the song title. I had been really wanting to write two different songs for a while. The song idea was about the gospel and what has been done on our behalf. That we were dead in our sin, an enemy of God appointed to His wrath BUT GOD rich in His mercy came and died for us. (Ephesians 2:1-10, my favorite passage in scripture right now) The other song idea was about adoption. Adoption had been heavily on my heart for 2 years and I wanted to express it through a song. The song Finally Home was written a year ago last March. Eric and I were up in Bangor, ME visiting some loved ones and one day the words "Finally Home" hit me like a ton of bricks. The concept that traveled with these words was that we were Finally Home in Jesus. Our identity has been permanently changed and we have been adopted into the family of God through Christ. Also with that was the concept that one day, the Lord would bring our children finally home to us. Little did I know, we'd write a song in the next 10 minutes that portrayed it all! Thank You Lord for blessing us with that song! The other song on Itunes, Unconditional, was written 10 1/2 years ago while Eric, my husband, was away on an internship in California. We were getting married in about 2 months and I really wanted to write him a song of vows. I had been trying for months and months and months, yet nothing came. Finally, I sat down on the piano with my basic skills and again, in 10 minutes a song came out. I was able to get a hold of our producer at the time and ask him to record it for me. He so graciously did and on December 29th, 2001 Eric and I lit our unity candle to that song. So, there you have it... the history of those songs. Hope you are blessed, encouraged, spurred on by them. Please continue to pray with us as we seek clarity in the days ahead of bringing our beloveds finally home!

Waiting

After 3 years of praying, with adoption heavy on my heart, 2 weeks ago, my husband Eric says, "It's time".  I can't remember when 2 little words like that rocked my world as in that moment!  So, here we are on this road to adoption (heart is beating fast).  We had our first office visit to start the home study process this last Monday (4/30) and decided we will wait until we get home from vacation on June 3rd to take the next step;  Vacation will be a great time to relax and pray as we are just with our family!

This morning I was faced with my first "change up" in the adoption process.  People who have adopted have warned me about these "ugly" little things. "Ugly" is my word because if I'm honest, that's exactly how I see it; unfiltered, raw heart, emotions and all.  I hate waiting.  I have a negative thing about the word "wait". It seems to me like it's a nice way of saying "No".  I guess I still haven't learned that from my childhood years.  I am possibly one of the most impatient people in the world and God knows it.  Oh, and along with the lack of patience, I also have the gift of being able to see the glass as half empty and "shattered" as someone once explained.  So, this ugly little change up was making my heart beat faster this morning but not in the way I expressed earlier.  Pretty sure this time I was not excited but having a miniature nervous breakdown.  Taking deep breaths, I poured my coffee and sat down with Eden, my daughter, and Oswald Chambers (My Utmost For His Highest).  Today's devotional couldn't have been any smaller than being hit upside the head with a 2 by 4 at the very least!

The Patience To Wait For The Vision

“Though it tarries, wait for it...” Habakkuk 2:3

Patience is not the same as indifference; patience conveys the idea of someone who is tremendously strong and able to withstand all assaults.  Having the vision of God is the source of patience because it gives us God’s true and proper inspiration.  Moses endured, not because of his devotion to his principles of what was right, nor because of his sense of duty to God, but because he had a vision of God.”... he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).  A person who has the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue-- he is devoted to God Himself.  You always know when the vision is of God because of the inspiration that comes with it.  Things come to you with greatness and add vitality to your life because everything is energized by God.  He may give you a time spiritually, with no word from Himself at all, just as His Son experienced during His time of temptation in the wilderness.  When God does that, simply endure, and the power to endure will be there because you see God.  “Thought it tarries, wait for it...” The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have already grasped.  It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually.  The psalmist said, “What shall I render to the Lord...?  I will take up the cup of salvation...” (Psalm 116:12-13).  We are apt to look for satisfaction within ourselves and say, “Now I’ve got it! Now I am completely sanctified.  Now I can endure.”  Instantly we are on the road to ruin.  Our reach must exceed our grasp.  Paul said, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on...” (Philippians 3:12).  If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing.  But if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience.  Beware of the danger of spiritual relaxation.

Then, after visiting with Oswald, we went a head and decided to taste some Daily Bread and this is what it tasted like!

Our Daily Bread

“....Sometimes we’re tempted to tune out ‘divine interruptions’ of the Holy Spirit instead of listening to His promptings...Holy Spirit, help us hear Your inner promptings, soft and clear; And help us know Your still, small voice so we may make God’s will our choice.”

(Sigh....)

While I really don't want to spiritualize anything, I can't help but believe God knows what He is doing.  That doesn't mean I'm totally excited all the time, and still not feeling the greatest about this new little change-up in plans (although, notice I left out the word "ugly" this time?).  I have to believe this is for His glory, our best and the good of the world. 

Lord, help me endure as we wait.  Also, help me understand that to wait is being active.  It is not wasting time, yet prayerfully anticipating.  And while my heart longs to adopt Lord, more than that, I desire You.  So, please keep my eyes fixed on You.