What will Father's Day Look Like?

This morning, I am up early.  John has asked for pancakes for his Father's Day breakfast, so the cooking will begin soon.  As I sat in the quiet, I decided to look through some photos, and came across this one of John and the kids.

 

I can't help but wonder... What photo will we have next Father's Day?  Will there be a #5 we are blessed to call our own?  Sitting right there in the middle of all of that love?  There are still MANY hurdles in our way, and we are praying that God will show us His Will for our family very clearly through each of those hurdles. 

 We will need

Medical Clearance

from my doctor. 

~ He will have to say ((in his grumpy bedside manner)) that I am completely fit to become a parent again.  We are not sure of his answer, since he is a glass less than 1/2 full type of guy.  I parent Kyle and Kristelle just fine with this disease, but will he okay me to love another?

Answered!!! 6/23!  

Doctor was totally in favor of this! 

We will also have to pass the hurdle of  guardianship.

If I were to get pregnant tomorrow, no one would question me as to who would care for the child if John and I happened to die before he was grown.  Not the case with adoption.  We have to have a plan for this.  We are hearing that sometimes writing your retired parents down on this form doesn't suffice, but that's the only option we have.  That would be the down side of coming from small families.

Answered!!! 6/19!  Thank you Jesus for friends who stepped in to help with this!

Then there is the hurdle of finances for

all of the legal costs...  yeah, enough said.

But at the end of the race? 
There's a little boy, about to give up hope that anyone would ever want him, love him, call him their own.  That in our eyes, is worth the risk, worth the journey, worth the tears and frustration along the way.  Because God's heart is for us to love and care for the orphans, and that's just what we desire to do.

Break our hearts God,
for what breaks yours.
Show us what WE are
to do with your words.
Remove any hurdle that is
 standing between us
and the path you have for us,
and give us a spirit of
 courage as we walk this journey.


2 Timothy 1:7  God didn't give us a cowardly spirit but a spirit of power, love, and good judgment.

Prayers, please?

Our family embarked on a new journey last week.  One that God has been steering us towards for over 2 years, but fear has been keeping us back from.  I love the advice a friend has been pumping into me the past few months...  things like, "You only need to ask God 'what is the very next step?' and listen hard without concern for the future"  and, "sometimes God goes so crazy against what makes sense to us so that He gets some mad glory"

She was right, John and I have discovered both of these things to be true in the past two years, so why were we holding back?  We know what God has called us to not only in the deepest part of our hearts, but here, in His word...

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. ~ James 1:27

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. ~ Matthew 18:5

So, you see... our family of 6 is in the process of becoming a family of 7, with the addition of an 8-12 year old Ethiopian boy filling one of the beds upstairs.  (yes, paper adoption, this time)

We discovered this week, that if we lived in Ethiopia, this process would take a month, and cost roughly $17.  Well, sadly we don't, so this journey we just embarked on, will take 2353 times as much $ to pay for all of the travel and legal fees, (homeschool mom, giving you some math) and could take 18 times as long to get bring our son home. 

Yeah, we will need some financial help, and prayers for patience... but we are excited to watch the craziness that is our family, turn into mad glory for the One we are supposed to be living for anyway!!!  God is good, and we know He has awesome things in store for us.