One Smile Closer :: the Lucht family

When Justin and I first decided we were going to adopt from Ethiopia we were able to meet the Luchts. We all had breakfast together at my brother and sister-in-laws home in Murfreesboro, TN. They answered many of our questions and told us all about their wonderful adoption agency, that just so happens to be AGCI, the agency we ended up choosing. Their son, Silas, is seriously one of the cutest kids I have ever met. The Luchts are also in the process of adopting a baby sister for Silas. Go on over to their blog to follow their journey. My sister-in-law, Kelsey, took these amazing pictures and donated all of the proceeds to our adoption fund. I love that girl! Visit her blog to see more beautiful pics of the Lucht family.

Praises and Prayer Requests: November

So, when I started this blog I said that I would update post praises and prayer requests and I think that July was the last time I did that. I really got sidetracked when we had to switch countries. November is adoption awareness month and it is also a big month for us, so I thought it would be a good time to stop and praise God for what He is doing and to ask for prayer. November is a big month, because we have been doing lots of fundraising and we are hoping and praying that we will be able turn in our dossier this month.

Praises

1. We have almost all of the documents we need for our dossier. The only major thing we still need is our home study.

2. Our home study social worker is working on our home study and hopes to send it to AGCI this week.

3. Our One Smile Closer photography fundraiser is going really well. My best friend, Mia organized an event in her neighborhood this weekend for Justin to come and take pictures. It was wonderful. He did 9 photoshoots and sold 7 t-shirts. He also did a couple of other photo shoots this week and raised a little over $1500 for our adoption just this week.

4.Our first t-shirt order came in last week and we sold all of the adult t-shirts the first day and had to order more.

5. Our MOPS meeting this week was about adoption.

6. We have been so blessed by the support we have received from family, friends, and complete strangers. Many have bought t-shirts, bought tickets to our benefit, or given donations.

Prayer Requests

1. That we would be able to finish the last few documents for our dossier this week. Like I said we don't have much left to do, but I just want to mark everything of our list this week.

2. That our home study will be completed and submitted soon and that it will not require many revisions.

3. That we can submit our dossier soon and get our names on the wait list!!!!!!

4. Our benefit is this weekend! Our friends have been working so hard on our lunch and silent auction. We are praying everything goes smoothly and that we make some money for our adoption. I am so excited for this weekend!

5. The Lord will use our story to bless others.

Today is Orphan Sunday

Please watch this video and pray about how God may be calling you to care for the orphans. We are not all called to adopt, but as Christians, we are all called to do something. We can't say these children are not are responsibility, that someone else will meet their needs. Instead, we need to ask what we can do to help. I love this video, because Justin and I have been saying all along that we are adopting, because we are adopted. We love because He first loved us. He knows our fears, our doubts, and our weaknesses, but He desires to use us anyway. I am so thankful that God adopted me as his daughter and that he has called us to adopt a daughter from Ethiopia.

Why Love Orphans? from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Another Post About Waiting

Today, I was at the mall with Jaxon. We were waiting in line at Chick-fil-A, and Jax was admiring the baby in line ahead of us, because as I have mentioned before the boy LOVES babies. Seriously, they are right up there with Toy Story and suckers. So, the mom of the baby asks Jax if he has any brothers or sisters. I told her that he had a big brother, to which she replied to Jax, "Oh, so you are the baby of the family?" He looked right at her and said, "No, our baby lives in Africa." Of course she looked very puzzled and I jumped in to explain about our adoption. The lady and her mom were so sweet and had lots of questions.

One question that I seem to be answering a lot is, "When will she come home?" "Is it soon?" My standard answer is that it will be a while. First, we need to get on the waitlist and then we will wait 12-18 months for a referral. By the way, the social worker who is doing our home study, said she may be ready to send our home study to AGCI next week. I am really praying that happens! Anyway, I am still having a hard time with the inevitable wait time.

When we were trying to get pregnant the first time, it took us longer than we hoped and I started to think about adoption. We decided to become foster parents while we waited on God to answer our prayer for a child. It made perfect sense to us. We were waiting for children. There were children waiting for homes and families to love them, so we just did it. It happened so quickly and it was exactly what we were supposed to do. I have no doubt about that.

In the beginning of 2010, we felt the burden for children in need of families, again. We decided to pursue adoption. We didn't know where to start and we began to pray for God to lead us. I will be honest I wanted to choose the most quick and painless way to adopt a child. I mean, really, who says "please God lead us to our child the hardest, longest, most difficult way possible?" Um, not me! Well, I have found that things are not going to be quite as quick and painless as I would like. I know it could be much worse, and I am not complaining. I have found that this time God wants us to wait. He wants us to wait for the child he has chosen for our family. It hurts my heart to think that a year from now I will still be longing to hold my daughter. It is hard for me to think about waiting so long, when I know there are children all over the world who need homes now. I don't really understand it, but I know we are doing exactly what we are supposed to do.

One of the most important things I have learned through all of this is to just be obedient, whether God calls us to not wait another minute to do something, or if He asks us to wait for years on something that our heart desires. He will give us what we need, no matter what it is He is calling us to. He is teaching me so much and blowing me away with His blessings, and we haven't even technically began our wait.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

One Smile Closer :: the Edwards family

Pictures of My Own Family

We have posted lots of family pictures on our blog, but most of them have been of the beautiful families that are helping us bring our daughter home. We really needed some pictures for our dossier, plus we just needed an updated family picture, so here are a couple that my sister-in-law, Kelsey took of us.

A few weeks ago, Justin was taking pictures of some of our friends kids and Sawyer kept saying, "Take my picture, Daddy." So, we did a little mini pumpkin patch photo shoot of our handsome boys.
Sawyer was really getting into it and kept posing and smiling. Our busy 3 year old even stopped to smile for a minute.
Oh, how I love these happy boys!
We have gotten a lot done in the last couple of weeks. I can finally see a light at the end of this long paperwork tunnel. We are really praying that we can get submit our dossier and get on the wait list by the end of November. We are busy, busy with fundraising and are incredibly thankful for the support we have received. We are selling t-shirts, taking lots of pictures (10 sessions scheduled this weekend), and our One Smile Closer benefit is coming up November 13.

One Smile Closer :: the Amos family

Justin was able to take pictures of the beautiful Amos family last week. Carey leads worship at his church. He and his wife, Shelley were some of the first people to welcome us when we moved back to Louisiana last year. Their daughter is a beauty, as you can see. We are so thankful for this sweet family.