4 years...

Today, I celebrate 4 years of marriage to the man I love. Just 4 short years ago this afternoon we were saying, "I do" in a small church in my hometown of Alabama. And oh, what an adventure it has been ever since!

In the last 4 years, we have spent almost 8 months overseas in Thailand, Burma, India, Swaziland, South Africa, The Grand Cayman Islands, Canada and Mexico. We started a non-profit organization that has helped care for over 200 children around the world. We've snuggled majestic tigers and ridden massive elephants. We've stared at zebras and giraffe on Safari and wondered at the beauty of Niagra Falls. We've spent time in slums, leper colonies, refugee camps, and brothels. We've been blessed to explore together and to serve together.

We've moved across the country - twice. We've lived in snowy Michigan and sweet home Alabama and spent a lot of time in Arkansas too. We've also spent a lot of time traveling between those three states! I wish I knew how many hours we've spent in the car together since we got married. I think it's safe to say, A LOT. We've also spent a lot of time in airplanes together... and a lot of time stuck in our office together working full-time from home. Surprisingly, we haven't killed each other yet. Even more surprisingly, we still like each other! ;)

In the past 4 years, we have grieved together and celebrated together. We have loved through sickness and health. We've experienced great success, and devastating failure. We have had our hearts broken. We have seen extraordinary miracles. Through our non-profit organization, we've had the incredible opportunity to buy a Children's Home in Thailand, to buy land for a Children's Home in India, and to make an incredible impact on the lives of our children in Africa through education initiatives and sustainability projects. We are continually humbled to see how God uses us... two flawed, stubborn individuals - just because we're willing to be obedient. (even if sometimes we don't have the best attitude about it! He is too good to us!)

On our 1st Anniversary, Rusty surprised me with an incredible trip to DisneyWorld! My very first trip to the most Magical place on earth was... well... magical! We were super broke, but had some dear friends who gifted us their timeshare and skymiles, and some other dear friends who gifted us Disney tickets. (Seriously, we were SO blessed!) It was a trip I will always remember, and it was just the sweetest time to celebrate our love.

On our 2nd Anniversary, we were working in Thailand, and we were surprised by the most incredible event on our "special day". Our Karen partners, Hebrew and SerneGay, had decided that they too would get married on April 18th! That day, we got to share "our day" with this extraordinary couple. A couple who has very little. A couple who has given up their rights and their lives to care for children in a refugee camp.

That day I got to make another Bride feel special... just like my friends and family did for me 2 years before. I did her hair... I did her makeup... and I was even recruited to create the flower headpiece she wore to her ceremony. If there is anything that could make our "special day" even more special, it's that we now get to share it with this amazing couple. They even sent us an anniversary message this year!

Happy Anniversary from Rusty Jackson on Vimeo.

Our 3rd Anniversary, we had just returned from a month in Africa and we were exhausted! A planned trip to the beach became, "can't we just stay home?" and so, we rested instead. We did manage a nice dinner out though... ;) This Anniversary signified something very special - we had now been married long enough to adopt a child from Thailand!

And now, here we are, at our 4th Anniversary. We are being pretty boring again this year, and just going out to dinner on a PF Chang's gift card I got months ago. But this year, there is so much MORE on the horizon! This year we will buy our very first house (though it is the third home we've lived in together) and we will spend hours upon hours working on adoption paperwork to bring home our Baby Girl! This year at our anniversary dinner, we will not only get to reflect on the wonderful blessings God has given us in the past, we will get to focus on everything He is doing for us NOW, and all He is going to do to over the next year get our little girl home and into our arms.

I can't help but wonder how many more anniversaries we will have before our sweet Kate is home. Will it be just one more? Will it be two? Could we possibly be on our way to get her this time next year? Either way, we are feeling very grateful to have each other today, and excited about God's future plans for us as husband and wife and mom and dad to-be!

Years ago, I got some wonderful advice from an incredible couple who led my college ministry. They told us that you would know who you were supposed to marry, when you knew you could do more together for the Kingdom, than you could apart. As I look back over the last four years I am more convinced than ever that this is true for me and Rusty. Together, we have accomplished more than I ever could have done alone. Together, we are a complete team!

Thank you Rusty Jackson for sticking by my side through all of our crazy adventures! Thank you for being willing to take great risks to be obedient to what God has called us to. I love you, and I'm grateful to have you as my partner in life. I can't wait to see what the next 4 years has in store for us!

Gia's Storybook Baby Shower

Last Thursday marked 6 months since sweet Gia came home, which means I am at least 7 months overdue on sharing pictures from her special Baby Shower with you! Oops! So let's get to it, shall we? It seems like Spring is the perfect time to have a baby, or to announce a pregnancy (or an adoption!) Maybe this blog will give you some ideas for a special Mommy-to-Be in your life!

Gia Love's Homecoming ~ October 11, 2012

This was my very first baby shower to plan, and I had so much fun! Gia's shower was a Storybook Baby Shower, because at the time we didn't know when she would be coming home. We weren't sure what size clothes, shoes, etc she would need, but we knew books would be a "perfect fit" no matter how many weeks passed before their travel call. Plus, her mommy Malerie is a teacher who LOVES books! So we decided to stock her bookshelves. (This is a great shower idea for any adoptive moms who are in the "waiting" process. You can't go wrong buying books!)

The Invitations

For the invitation, I used a play on words from most Fairy Tales (and the fact that sweet Gia was far, far away in Korea...)

Invitation insert ::

We went with Cherry Blossoms for the invitations and other decor as a tie to Gia's Korean heritage. The invites, envelopes, inserts, stickers (for party favor bags), and place card holders were all created on Vistaprint.com. (They were actually wedding thank you notes that I edited into custom Baby Shower invites!) I love that you can often find matching print items on Vistaprint, you can design and edit them yourself, and they are typically a lot cheaper than any other printing company!

Custom Book Plates

The custom book plates were a little trickier, because they weren't available on Vistaprint. So, I took a screenshot of the cherry blossom branch (I know, I'm so sneaky!) and pulled it into Microsoft Word. Then I created custom book plates with 3 and 1/3 x 4 labels (Avery template #5164). 

Of course, you can always find super cute custom book plates on Etsy!

DIY Name Banner

This little pretty took a lot of work, but I am absolutely in love with the outcome! I read several DIY tutorials for banners, and then picked which techniques would work for my idea. I wanted a cloth banner that would stand up over time, so it could be used for birthday parties or room decor in the future... but I didn't want to have to sew it.  Luckily, I came up with a design that I think turned out really cute!

What do you think? If you're interested in a step-by-step tutorial of how I made this banner, just comment below and I'll consider sharing that in another blog :)

DIY Book Wreath

My co-hostesses tackled this project to decorate the front door, and it looked SO cute! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture the day of the party. But it was a beautiful "storybook" addition to the front door! And the winner of our Korean Trivia game took it home as a door-prize (quite literally!) To make your own DIY Book Wreath, just follow these instructions.

DIY Napkin Flowers

These dainty little flowers were cheap, easy, and beautiful! They really made the party feel more girly and complete, and the best part is, I can use them over and over again! (good thing too, because even though they're easy, it took forever to make as many of them as I wanted!) I used this tutorial, and my end result was...

I love how versatile they are! I used them to decorate the balcony, and to fill vases around the house. You can also hang them on the wall, or tie them to a present!

Adoption Shower Games

I'm not a huge fan of the typical shower games anyway, so the fact that this was an adoption baby shower gave me an excuse to get creative! I chose games that were adoption themed, or that were Korean themed (to focus on Gia's birth culture). I think everyone really enjoyed the change!

Our first game was an "Around the World" matching game, with the word "baby" in different languages. I downloaded it online here, and we raced to see who could get the most correct answers in the least amount of time!

Our second game was a Korean Trivia game that I created. I researched fun Korean facts and made cards with each question (and a multiple choice or T/F answer). Then I made little Korean flags on cardstock. I read each question aloud, and the person who answered correctly first got a flag. When the game was over, the person with the most flags won! I'm inserting my questions and my flag template below, in case you'd like to use this game for your shower! (Just right click to save them!) You could easily create a similar game for another country for your adoption shower!

And now that the party was planned, the games were prepared, and the house was decorated, it was time for the shower to begin! Malerie loves breakfast foods, so we decided on a Brunch shower. As you can see, we had a wonderful morning with several of Malerie's family members and close friends. 

We served Gigi's Cupcakes (yum!), chocolate covered strawberries, fresh fruit, homemade sausage balls, cinnamon rolls, and mini blueberry muffins. We also had some chocolates and pink candies to snack on!

For our drinks we had ice water, sparkling grape juice in the punch bowl, coffee, and an assortment of hot teas.

For my other decorations I used vintage Fairytale Storybooks and lots of classic Little Golden Books. They were such a sweet addition to our tables!

(Above) I just adore the vintage set of Fairy Tales my mom bought when she was in college! 

We had so much fun celebrating Mom-to-Be Malerie and helping her prepare to bring her little girl home! Plus, I think it helped her to have this fun event to look forward to in the midst of waiting to get their travel call. And now, it's extra special when I get to babysit sweet Gia and read her these books!

Malerie and her hostesses (myself and Stephanie Howell). 

Katie Howell was our third hostess but she wasn't able to come that day. We missed you Katie!

We love you so much Malerie! Congratulations again on your sweet baby girl! 

Organizing the Chaos

As I explained in my last post, it's been a little chaotic at our place. Apparently, buying a home AND starting the adoption process at the same time will do that to you. So in the face of all that chaos, I decided to be proactive and get organized before my husband found me drowning in a pile of paperwork before I lost something in the move.

While I can't control much in the midst of these two huge, life-altering processes (because Lord knows if I could, our baby girl would be HOME, and we would already be moved in to our new house!) I can be organized. And that, at the very least, makes me feel like I have a handle on things. So for those of you who aren't the best at organization, I thought I'd share how I organized our adoption files! Maybe it will help you get a handle on things too.

First, I went to the office supply store (oh, how I love the office supply store!) Here's a list of what I bought:

• One large plastic file box with a handle (I chose a waterproof box just to be safe!)
• Hanging files
• Manila file folders
• Clear plastic velcro file pockets
• Color coded plastic folders
• Large 3 ring binder
• Clear sheet protectors
• Plastic colored pocket dividers (I like these because I can stick things "to file" in the pockets)
• Various paper clips/large clips
• Post it notes
• A 3-hole punch
• A stapler
• Good pens (These are my favorite! They're so easy to write with, but the best part is the ink is fade-proof and water-resistent. That sort of thing is important when you're signing extremely important adoption documents!)

Then I got to work! It took me a while to come up with a filing system, but once everything was in it's place I felt so much better. Now all those stacks of papers are safe and sound in their box or binder, and I can access what I need quickly! Plus, it's easy to take this box and binder with us when we have a meeting at our adoption agency. Anything we need is with us and accessible then!

Here are my labels for my Hanging Files and Manila folders:

• Placing Agency
• Contract & Application
• Adoptive Family Profile
• Contract Agency
• Application
• Home Study
• To Do :: Homestudy
• In Progress :: Homestudy
• Complete :: Homestudy
• Dossier
• To Do :: Dossier
• In Progress :: Dossier
• Legalization :: Dossier
• Complete :: Dossier
• Misc
• Basic adoption info, adoption questions/advice, general information about Thailand, info for Adoption Conferences

This helps me keep both finished documents and documents still "to do" in order. I put everything our agencies sent us in our "To Do" folder for our homestudy and dossier, and then I move them to the "In Progress" folder when I'm ready to work on a particular section. We will work on those documents for a few days/weeks, and then mail them to our agency. Once a stack of documents is ready to be mailed, I make a copy of each page, and transfer the copies to the "Complete" folder. The "Legalization" folder is for documents that have to be sent to the Dept. of State to be stamped/legalized before I submit them to our agency.

I use the clear velcro file pockets to protect a stack of papers before we deliver them to the agency office, or to protect a finished section of paperwork that's important (for example, our Adoptive Family Profile.) I use the plastic colored folders to separate a section of documents within our "In Progress" folder. For example, that might hold all the documents we've ordered in one place (birth certificate, marriage license, etc) while the "in progress" folder also has education and misc documents in it. This may be me taking the organization to the extreme, but I've found that the easier it is for me to find documents when I need them, the better!

I will probably add a "FINAL" folder to both the Home Study and Dossier files. That will hold the final, edited, approved, and submitted version of our Home Study and Dossier once they are mailed off.

{ Thank you to Mandy's Moon for this cute stork graphic! } 

In my 3 ring binder, I have the following sections:

• Home Study
• Contact info for our Contract Agency
• Instructions for the Home Study in clear sheet protectors
• Dossier
• Contact info for our Placing Agency
• Instructions for the Dossier in clear sheet protectors
• Expenses
• a running list of expenses (printed on cardstock)
• copies of all our checks and receipts in clear sheet protectors
• Encouragement
• Misc bible verses, poems, and notes from friends that are encouraging. I love being able to flip to this section if I'm having a tough day, or really missing our little girl!

I know some people file everything in a binder, but that was just too risky to me. I like having our paperwork in the file box (safe from water, dust, etc) and using the binder as more of a reference tool. It also keeps me from having to put every page into a sheet protector and then having to take it out when I want to work on it. This just made more sense to me.

I'm sure this post was boring to those of you who aren't adopting, but I hope it helps an adoptive Mom or Dad out there who's feeling overwhelmed! If you'd like to download my Expense List template, I'm inserting the PDF below. It's a great way to keep up with how much you've spent and when you made payments. I printed it on cardstock and punched holes in it, then put it at the front of my "Expenses" tab. I update it each time I write a check. 

*Can any other adoptive parents think of something I missed? Feel free to post other helpful tips and suggestions in the comment section! Happy filing ya'll!

Welcome to the Chaos!

Wow... it's been kind of quiet around here, huh? Sorry to get you all excited and then just disappear! I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. But in my defense, the reason for my lack of blogging is because it's been anything but quiet at our house! Since we shared our wonderful news, it has been pure CHAOS!

The past month went a little something like this...

• Feb 25 - We were APPROVED to adopt from Thailand through New Beginnings.
• Feb 26 - We started looking for a Hague agency in Alabama to do our Contract Home Study.
• Feb 28 - We were pre-qualified for a Home Loan (to buy our first house!)
• March 1 - We received our Adoption Contract!
• March 2 - We started house hunting!
• March 6 - We had a phone meeting with our adoption agency in New York to get some follow up questions answered, and had a phone meeting with someone from Lifeline about a contract home study.
• March 7 - We had a phone meeting with someone from Villa Hope about a contract home study.
• March 11 - We signed and mailed in our Adoption Contract with New Beginnings.
• March 12 - We chose Lifeline for our Contract Home Study and submitted our application.
• March 13 - After a lot of online searching and driving around looking at houses for sale, a precious friend texted us a "For Sale by Owner" in the lovely historic neighborhood of Crestwood (Birmingham). We got a quick response from the owners and decided to immediately go take a look! This was the first house we went inside, and we instantly fell in love with it!
• March 15 - We brought my parents down to see the Crestwood house, and to get my Dad's expert opinion (he designed and built our family's house, so he has a very discerning eye!) We couldn't help but wonder if it was "too good to be true", and I honestly expected my Dad to find some glaring problem with it. Instead, they both fell in love with it too! But they agreed we should have a look inside a few more before buying the 1st house we'd seen.
• March 16 - We, along with my parents, viewed 4 other homes for sale and quickly decided the Crestwood house (yes, the first one we'd seen) was THE HOUSE for us! We knew if we didn't act quickly, that someone else was going to get "our house"!
• March 17 - We signed the Purchase Agreement for our first home! (Talk about exciting!)
• March 19 - We signed our mortgage paperwork. (Talk about stressful!)
• March 20 - We got all the paperwork for our home study. (All 120 pages. Talk about overwhelming!)
• March 21 - We had our new "home-to-be" inspected.
• March 22 & 23 - We finished our first stack of paperwork for our home study.

... and now coming up is March 28th - which will be our first home study interview!

WHEW! Are you tired yet? Because typing all that definitely made me realize why we've been just a little bit stressed around here! When we tell people we are running a non-profit, adopting and buying a house all at once, they look at us like we are nuts. We have been making jokes about how we "thrive in chaos" (because lets face it - if you know us at all, then you know that our lives are a little bit crazy!) Others have teased that this will be like "ripping off a bandaid" - because we'll get all this stress (adoption + homebuying) done at one time! The truth is though, these are all really good things. I hate to complain at all, because honestly while we feel some stress we also feel SO BLESSED to finally be able to move forward with our adoption and to buy our first home!

Photos Clockwise :: With our friend and soon to be neighbor Heather (who found the house for us!), 

me and Rusty signing the paperwork, and us out front with Brian and Mike (the sellers and our new friends!)

One thing that makes this timeline really incredible though, is how quickly this house fell into our laps. We expected to be searching for weeks or months - but we knew if we could find a home, close on it, and move in before our Home Study was over (3-4 month period) then we wouldn't have to pay the $500 fee to update it. So when the very first house we looked in happened to be the one we fell in love with, we knew it had God's hand all over it! We also knew it was special when within 5 minutes, I met 3 other young women my age in the neighborhood who are all adopting internationally! And the icing on the cake was that our new across the street neighbor is named KATE! And did I mention the fact that this home is practically "move in ready"? We had been looking at foreclosures and fixer-uppers and were shocked that this gorgeous little cottage was exactly in our price range. We really believe it's God's way of taking care of us - because between this adoption and running The Sound of Hope we do NOT have time for 100 DIY projects!

So all that to say... welcome to the Beautiful Chaos that is our life right now! If I don't blog as much as I should, or I forget to respond to an email, or a look a little frazzled when you see me in person, now you know why! I'm just trying to soak in and keep up with all the blessings God is throwing at us right now! ;)

What's Next?

I am OVERJOYED and overwhelmed! Since I shared our wonderful news on my blog and facebook, we've had over 400 "likes", 70+ comments, and almost 400 blog views. WOW! Our baby girl is so loved already, and she's not even here yet!

We are still so thrilled, and so grateful to God for this incredible miracle! We can't thank you all enough for celebrating and REJOICING with us! Thank you for understanding how special this news is, and for being a part of it through your prayers and your comments. I wish I could hug you all and respond to every kind word you've posted! We feel truly BLESSED to have such wonderful friends, and we can't wait for sweet Kate to meet you all!

So... what's next?

Now that we got our approval, we are officially moving forward with our adoption! We have already applied and been accepted by our agency, and we were just waiting on this approval to take the next step. That means we're officially "paper pregnant" as they say in the adoption world! I know many of you are wondering, "what's next" and the most important question -  "How long until she's home?!" I was kind of emotional on our last phone call with our adoption agency, so I might be missing some details - but here is our best understanding of our timeline and our "to do" list!

Home Study & Dossier

Right now we are waiting for our contract to come in the mail from our adoption agency. Once that is signed, our next step is completing our home study and dossier. The home study will be done with a social worker through a Hague approved adoption agency in our state (Alabama). If anyone has any advice for us deciding between Villa Hope or Lifeline (or another one we might not know about) please feel free to share it! We're hoping to find a social worker that has experience working with Thailand, but we know Thai adoptions are rare. Our home study is extremely important, so we want to be sure we choose the right agency!

The dossier is a fancy word for "a lot of paperwork" that is needed for our adoption. I don't even know what all we need for this - we should get a list some time in the near future. From what I understand, completing both the home study and the dossier should take anywhere from 3 months to 6 months. Then we'll be waiting for a referral!

Referral

A referral is a photo and file of a child available for adoption. It will likely be around 1 year (after our home study and dossier are complete) before we get a referral - though it could be sooner. Our adoption agent said she's seen some happen in 6 months. Once we get a referral, we will have it reviewed by a doctor from the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham. The doctor will be able to explain any health issues or concerns we might have. We have been approved to adopt a "healthy infant" (from birth to 2 years old) or a child with mild special needs (for example, a child that was born premature). We could get a referral for a child up to 3 years old. Then we'll pray about it, and if we feel peace about that referral we will accept it and be "matched".

Travel

Once we are matched, she said to expect a 4-6 month wait time before we can travel to get our little girl! At that point we'll prepare to meet our sweet Kate, and when we get the call, we'll travel to Thailand and bring her home!!!

Our Adoption Agency

We'll be using New Beginnings Adoption Agency in New York. We have had a wonderful experience with them so far and we are so excited to be working with them! The orphanage we'll be adopting from is Pattaya Orphanage in Thailand. They are a Catholic run orphanage in Southern Thailand, and everything we've seen about them is just incredible. You can see their website here, including photos of the children who have been adopted from this home (just scroll to the bottom of the page). I have stared at those precious little faces for months and prayed for our Kate. And now we finally have the opportunity to adopt a child from this home!


The Timeline
Adoption timelines are tricky, because a lot of it is out of our hands. We have to file a lot of paperwork and wait on approvals from different government offices.... have fingerprints done and wait on clearances to get back from the FBI... wait on referrals to come from overseas (which depends on how many children are available for adoption), and the list goes on! We believe that our best case scenario would be around 14 months - though that is not likely at all. We are more likely looking at an 18 month - 24 month timeline (2 years) until she's home. It could even be longer than that. We are of course praying for things to go as quickly as possible, but we are also trusting that God knows what timeline is best for us and our little girl!


***Adoptive Moms - if there is anything I've missed or any important questions I should be asking our agency right now - please feel free to comment and give me your advice! 

I'll keep you all updated as we get more details and move forward with our home study. Please keep us in your prayers as we work and wait to bring our baby girl home!

We're APPROVED!!!!!!!

"Come close and listen, all you who honor God; 

I will tell you what God has done for me..."

Psalm 66:16 (CEB)

Today, we got the most wonderful phone call of our lives. We have been APPROVED to adopt our little girl from Thailand!!!!! After a year of closed doors and disappointment... a year of "no's" and "why don't you try a different country"... a year of tears and discouragement... we have a YES!

Khun Toy reviewed our Adoptive Family Profile and was (according to our adoption agent) "very impressed" with us! She agreed that we would make great parents for a Thai child, and even said she'd like to meet us next time we are in Thailand. She also looked at our website for The Sound of Hope and loved our work and our organization. (More evidence of God's hand in this process there - because our new website just went live in December! If we had applied last year, she wouldn't have been able to see it! He is in EVERY detail!)

We have laughed and cried and praised GOD over and over again since we heard the great news! We knew from the very beginning that God was leading us to adopt a little girl from Thailand, but we have had to fight every step of the way up until now. It would have been easy to doubt (and we have at times) and easy to give up. But God has renewed our strength step by step, confirmed His plan to us day by day, and surrounded us with WONDERFUL people to encourage us along the way!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts to every person who has prayed with us (and fasted with us) over this decision! We are so humbled by your love and encouraged by your faith. We could NOT have done this without you! They say it "takes a village" to raise a child. I don't know about that - but it definitely took several "villages" worth of people praying to get this approval - which gets us one giant step closer to bringing our daughter home!

This all seems so surreal. As much peace as I have had, and faith that we have had that we would hear a YES, it is still extraordinary to know that God has done this for us!!! He has made the impossible, POSSIBLE and He gets ALL the GLORY! No more doubt or fear for us now... just lots of working and waiting! I pulled out some books we bought for Kate today, and a couple of little dresses a friend in Africa gave us for her that we've had packed away, and I have just looked at them and cried happy tears. God has made a way for our family - He has done a miracle for us! No longer will I have to say, "We're trying to adopt." We ARE adopting, and we couldn't be more thrilled! 

If you are reading this right now and struggling through your own "impossible" journey, then I hope God will use this to encourage you. We have been there and we know the heartache and doubt you're feeling - but you must TRUST and BELIEVE that God is working "all things together for your good" behind the scenes! I told Liz (our adoption agent) today that I am grateful now for all the closed doors. We are SO excited to be working with this specific adoption agency, this specific orphanage in Thailand, and adopting a child from the specific city where Rusty's cousin Sam lived. I can see now why this direction was BEST for our family - but God had to close so many doors to get us here. The song lyric "God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you" definitely applies. It has been a broken road but it was necessary to get us to this destination. Through all our heartache and disappointment the past year, He was working "all things together for our good"! (Romans 8:28) We just couldn't see it until TODAY! 

Please keep us in your prayers as we officially begin this process! Pray for wisdom as we choose an agency for our home study, for favor for all the documents we have to have approved, and for this process to move as quickly as possible. And of course, please pray for our precious little girl! There is a good chance she has already been born. Please pray for God to protect her, to keep her healthy and safe, and to let her be loved and cared for well until we can bring her home!

"Those who hope in Me, will not be disappointed." 

Isaiah 49:23

"I will sing about the Lord's faithful love forever; 

I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations with my mouth."

Psalm 89:1

He Is On Our Side

For those who aren't friends with me on facebook - the latest update on our adoption is that our paperwork is definitely in Thailand, and it could be being reviewed at this very moment! It's crazy to think we could have an answer as early as tomorrow (though it may take a few more days/weeks.)

As I shared in my last blog, I have surprisingly felt a lot of peace the past few days. We have had so much confirmation that God was in this whole process, and I really believe this is the moment He's been leading us to all along! And of course, it's been amazing that we've had SO many people praying for this process and for us. I believe we will be approved and that GOD will get ALL the glory for this miracle!  But I have had my weak moments - when my flesh took over and I felt that all too familiar fear and panic set in. In moments of doubt and anxiety, I've had to remind myself that He is on our side!

This song has really comforted me today, as has the TRUTH that God is for us, and God is for adoption. He created adoption after all (read Ephesians 1) and He makes it very clear in scripture that He will love and care for orphans. His heart is for the least of these, and He blesses us when we care for them.

So when I wasn't listening to Bethany Dillon today, I've been burying myself in scripture. I'm continually reminding myself of TRUTH when I doubt, and these verses (many from friends) have really blessed my heart today. I thought I would share them here for anyone else out there who might be struggling with doubt or fear on their adoption journey! I hope these verses speak TRUTH and PEACE to you today!

God cares for orphans.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

John 14:18

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”

Psalm 68:5

“God sets the lonely in families…”

Psalm 68:6a

God is ABLE. Even the impossible, is possible to Him!

“For nothing is impossible with God.”

Luke 1:37

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit”, says the Lord.

Zechariah 4:6

 “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth 

by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard or you.”

Jeremiah 32:17

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

Jeremiah 32:27

God hears our prayers.

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, 

he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—

we know that we have what we asked of him.”

1 John 5:14-15

God fulfills His promises.

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment

of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” 

Luke 1:45

“Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”

Joshua 21:45

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”

Hebrews 10:23

“God will make this happen, for He who calls you is faithful.”

1 Thess 5:24

God opens doors that no man can shut.

… “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

Revelation 3:7-8

God will fight for you.

“Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them.
The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, 

all the way that you went until you came to this place.”

Deut 1: 29

God will give you PEACE.

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:7

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

Isaiah 26:3

“Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.”

Isaiah 26:12

We must PRAY and have FAITH.

“... I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 

‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:20

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, 

believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Mark 11:24

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.”

Romans 8:25