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

Answered prayers...

I believe God answers prayers. I wish every answer He gave was what I wanted to hear, but it is not. It turns out we were NOT submitted on October 15th like we have thought for the past two months. Turns out we were NOT submitted at all.
It is what it is. I would LOVE to tell you what now, but I don't know. I am discouraged, but that is OK. I still believe God has a plan for our child/ my family, but it doesn't make this setback any less painful. I've gotta give myself a little bit of time to process all of this and then we go again. That's what you do for your children. You grieve your losses, celebrate your blessings, and get up and keep going.

Our Christmas Elves!!!

Click on this website to see our little "elves"!! It is TOO FUNNY!!
It takes a minute or two for it to load, but it is worth the wait!

Merry Christmas from all of us!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1730490495

All I want for Christmas...

O.K. I've held out long enough, I will now torture you with my 'latest' song!!!
(Sung to the tune of "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth")

All I want for Christmas is our travel date,
our travel date,
oh our travel date.
All I want for Christmas is our travel date,
so we can plan our trip to Ukraine.

It's been so long, since we turned in-
our dos-ee-aa to the country Ukraine,
gosh oh gee, how happy I WILL be,
to get our in-vi-tation!!!

All I want for Christmas is our travel date,
our travel date,
oh our travel date.
All I want for Christmas is our travel date,
so we can plan our trip to Ukraine!!

(Everyone please hold your applause). It looks like I'm not getting my Christmas wish since Christmas is in a few days, but that's OK. I actually spoke to our social worker and she says that it should be "soon". Some of the other Lifeline families that were submitted in October have gotten March appointments.
I put a link to the Rahn family on the right. They are from Virginia ( I think)- and we don't personally know them, but I have fallen in love with their blog. They are adopting two older girls. It tugs on my heart to hear them talk about their "girls" and all the others who are there in the orphanages. I know God is preparing me for whatever age referrel we are going to receive. I want them ALL!!!!! I want to look each and every child there in the eyes and tell them they are loved, wanted, cared about, prayed for.
I am excited! I'm ready to GO!!!

A journey of Faith and Worship

OK, so I've been a little bummed because we've not heard anything about our date and because of that I have not really felt like posting anything lately, but I want to share with all of you out there a little bit of Sunday nights message from our pastor. (I hope that's ok, Bro. Dwight- I'll try not to mess it up too much).
Bro. D was preaching on the Magi (wise men) and the journey they took to Bethlehem. Todd and I got tickled because he said -can't you imagine the conversation the wise men had with their friends...
"where are you going?"
"we don't know"

"How long will you be gone?"
"we don't know"

"When will you be home?"
"we don't know"

"what will you find when you get there?"
"we don't know"

But then (Bro. D) said "All the wise men knew was that they were doing what God had told them to do!! It was a journey of faith!" (Sound familiar to anyone else other than us??)

Bro. Dwight went on to talk about the wise men's journey also being one of worship. That in everything they did, they worshipped God. Their purpose was to worship, they sought out the joys and blessings that God had waiting for them at the end of their journey. They had NO details, only a promise from God that something wonderful would be waiting for them when they reached the place where they were headed. And they WORSHIPPED while they were going. My prayer is that those of us on this "journey" whether it's paperwork or plane tickets right now, will see God in EVERYTHING. May we look around and see God in EVERY STEP, even if it is waiting!! Todd and I have never really been lacking in faith for this adoption, but maybe God is waiting on me to worship him and give him the honor and glory that he deserves.