It's Christmas time again!!

Well, Christmas 2008 has come and we are (still) a family of five. A year ago, we had hopes that our family would have grown by now in number, but it didn't. That certainly doesn't mean we haven't "grown" though. Our girls become more beautiful each year. Ellie will be a teenager in just a few days and she is so much like her mom that I am scared to death!!! Our little 'monkey in the middle' wakes up every morning with a smile on her face ready to take on the world. (She is just like her Daddy!) And our 'baby' is now a Kindergartner who loves going to big girl school.

Todd had a great year on the farm and with the shift from less cotton to more corn, he has been able to do things with us this fall that were not possible in the past. I'm all about 'going green'! He definitely knows how to grow corn!!

We've had two new babies in our family this year. My big brother had his first daughter, Shelton and my sister had her baby this week. Baby Aiden is 5 days old and will have surgery on Monday to correct a serious heart defect. My God is good and I have no doubts that He will heal Aiden's body on Monday.

We have spent the last year pursuing foster care and are actually licensed foster care parents with the Alabama Baptist Children's Home. Things moved pretty slowly for a while (the foster care program is relatively new at the Decatur campus). We have had several calls for potential placements, but none of them were meant to be. Basically, we are on 'standby' for children who need a temporary home. We have come to realize that we have to make ourselves available for God to use us as HE SEES FIT. He has blessed us with three beautiful children and we could never thank Him enough or even find words to tell you how important they are to us.

I have a peace today that I didn't have a year ago. I have more patience, more tolerance, more understanding, and more love. I have peace that God IS taking care of orphans in their distress and He IS choosing people to be a part of that. I don't feel like I am running after God anymore begging for Him to let me in on the plan. I feel like we are open (and ready) and when GOD is ready for our family to serve, He will let us know.

We hope your family has a Holiday season full of blessings! Thank you for your friendship!!!

Love,

The Isbells

AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Have I ever mentioned that I am impatient??????? We thought we had a placement a week or so ago, but it didn't work out. To be honest with you, I am bored. I want a kid (or kids)... If we don't get a placement soon, our girls are going to get WAY too many Christmas gifts because I have too much free time on my hands (which means I'm doing a lot of shopping!)

Show Hope!!

Ellie and I got to volunteer at a Stephen Curtis Chapman & Michael W. Smith concert last night in Birmingham. I LOVE talking to people about adoption. And I LOVED spending the evening with my precious daughter who came home even more fired up to do what she could to raise awareness for the orphans of this world. http://www.showhope.com/ is the Shohannah's Hope website and they have lots of great info for anyone out there who wants to know more. November is National Adoption Awareness month, and they also have some ideas on how you can get involved. (You know, you don't have to adopt to be involved...)

I ordered my Christmas cards tonight!! What??? Am I insane???

Here's my reason...

See, down here in the South, it doesn't always rain as much as we need it to (remember, I'm married to a farmer). So anyway, in desperate times, when you need a rain really bad, you'll start doing crazy things to get one- like washing your car, throwing your umbrellas away, etc... Murphy's law usually kicks in and stirs up a mud hole for your nice clean vehicle or a good soaking rain right as you step outside to go to a wedding. So, I ordered my Christmas cards (with pictures of my "family" on them) hoping that we will have a placement before they make it off the UPS truck. It's worth a shot, right??? HaHa

God is SO good to me... He gives me laughter, even in times when I want to be frustrated. My new favorite song is "While I'm Waiting" from the movie Fireproof. (The artist is John Waller.) I'll try to get a link posted so you can hear it, but just go on and buy the song-You will LOVE it!! It has become a daily prayer for me...

I'm Waiting
I'm Waiting on you Lord.
And I am Hopeful
I'm Waiting on you Lord.
Though it is Painful-
But patiently I will wait.

I will move ahead bold and confident-
I'll be taking every step in OBEDIENCE.

While I'm waiting-
I will serve you
I will worship
I will not fade
I'll be running the race, even while I wait!

It must be time...

Todd and I joke that anytime we are involved with a wedding, we have another kid, so it must be our time!! The girls were in a cousin's wedding this past weekend in NC and they were beautiful (of course)!!
This is the groom's sister (and our favorite 17 year old cousin), Carly... My girls LOVE her, and she is so sweet to them.
Who needs a bride???
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Ed... Isn't love great!!!???!!!??

OK, so what is the latest on our 'kid'??? We are still waiting... There have been some staff changes at the children's home that we feel like are going to be for the best. As far as we know, we are now offically ready for a foster care placement (although I won't believe it till the doorbell rings). I'm taking the wedding as a sign of good luck for us...

World Changers '08

Ellie and I had the opportunity this past week to go to on a World Changers Missions project. (All the way in Florence--HaHa) And while I NEVER want to roof another house as long as I live- can I get an "Amen" from the Nailheads-- it was a great trip!! Ellie and most of her youth group spent the week doing street evangelism and shared their faith and the salvation of Christ with the people of West Florence. Eleven people were saved because these kids went out and let God speak through them!! How awesome is that??

This is my "crew". The guy in the center is Phillip, our crew chief for the week. He is a 73 year old retired missionary from the IMB who served in the Phillipines for 28 years. And let me tell you, he worked circles around everyone else on the crew!!! We had youth from Washington state, Kentucky, and Alabama.
This is the FIRST roof we completed. We ended up doing TWO more before the week was over!!!

The latest update on our foster care is not so encouraging. We received a letter from the children's home letting us know that our social worker is resigning to return to seminary school. I'm hoping this explains why we have not heard much from them in the last few weeks. We are trying so hard to be patient... It is just so frustrating to know there are so many kids who need homes and we are SO ready to provide that...
God's timing is always perfect.

Summer Time!

Guess where we've been??? We started our summer off with a BANG and went to see Mickey Mouse! We had a GREAT time (of course). The girls have officially finished the school year and we will start in the Fall with a SEVENTH grader!!!! a third grader and our 'baby' goes to Kindergarten. (When did this happen?????)

Here's a recap of what we have done so far with our summer. (And yes, it did just start 3 weeks ago)
-Went to Disneyworld
-Had our first limo ride!
-Got out our waterslide (We've been waiting)
-Completed TWO Vacation Bible Schools (In the same week)
-Swam at the YMCA
-Emma started Summer Camp
-Ellie had a week of Youth VBS (including a trip to the water park, bowling, and a concert)
-Chipper got a haircut (He looks so cute!!!)
-I completed my Hepatitis A shot (why not?)
-The girls participated in the Walk for Life
-We hosted Ellie's youth group for an overnighter
-Completed a preproject work day for our upcoming World Changers Mission Trip
-Finished up some final details for the ABCH (Foster care stuff)
-Attended Todd's 20 year class reunion
-Signed up for the summer reading program
-And the other boring stuff like work...103.8 fevers/ Dr visits... Todd's running irrigation... etc...

No wonder I'm tired!! Hopefully we can slow down (a little) now! I LOVE life even when it's this crazy--

What we are doing now...

One of the verses I have found that I love the most is Psalm 127:1
"Unless the Lord builds a home, the work of the builder is useless." Isn't that an AWESOME thought! You have probably figured out from the picture that we are (almost) a foster care family through the Alabama Baptist Children's Home. I'm officially back to being "giddy" about the thought of a child or children coming into our home---maybe even soon????? It feels SO GOOD to be where you are supposed to be. I struggled (even when things were going great with our Ukraine adoption) if we were doing what we had been called by God to do. God closed doors and opened others, in His perfect timing-and although I would have loved to have the cash back- Ha Ha- other than that it seems like all is working out perfectly according to His will!! Doesn't He mention something about that in the Bible???
I still check in on all my Ukraine friends every now and again and I still pray for you. I still pray for the children of Ukraine. I still pray that doors will be opened, laws will be changed, and children will find HOMES!!! God works ALL over this world and we are so blessed that He has chosen us to be a part of His plans!!!!

The News

We are putting our Ukrainian adoption on hold. It sounds like such a simple statement, I know. Believe me when I tell you that it has come from A LOT of prayer, thoughts, discussions between Todd and I, etc. Don't think we are giving up because of the mix up with our paperwork. We have spent a lot of time praying that God would lead us in the right direction and we have to pay attention when he speaks. It is so easy to assume that the need for adoptive families in foreign countries is so much greater than the needs here in the states, but it simply isn't true. Now, don't misunderstand what I am saying. We are not talking about number of children. We are talking about number of children who are free to adopt. We have realized that the children of Ukraine get hung up in the system just like the children of the US get hung up in foster care.
Somewhere along the way, this adoption changed. It has become about "getting a good referral" and how many people are waiting. It is a competition to see who is going to go to Ukraine and come home with a "good" kid ( or even a kid at all). This adoption is not now, nor was it ever, about what "we" were gonna get.
My head is so full of things I would love to share with you, but I can't find the words. Our 171H is good for another year or so. God may turn us around tomorrow and send us back, but right now, we are no longer pursuing an adoption through Ukraine.
I will continue to pray for all of you out there. I KNOW you are going to come home from Ukraine with the child you are supposed to have. I KNOW that you will be blessed because of your faithfulness. I also know, too- that MY family has a blessing and a child in store for it. I'm not sure when, but hey- that's no different than before!
I've enjoyed this journey. Todd and I have talked about it, and there is NOTHING that we would have changed. We have grown as individuals, we have grown as a family, and we have come full circle with our desire to "care for orphans in their distress".
"God places the lonely in families" and He has a child for our family. We are thankful for that.

With a little sadness, but a lot of FAITH- We say "Good-bye"
Melinda
toddmelinda@bellsouth.net