Lead Me

I absolutely LOVE this song by Sanctus Real called Lead Me. I know it is a few days after Father's Day, but I wanted to list this song as a dedication to my hubby and wonderful father Brad! Thanks buddy for always leading us with strong hands! You're gonna do great with a little girl!


PS -- Make sure you listen or view the words to this song... very powerful! (sorry the words go off the screen a bit)





Sanctus Real - “Lead Me”


I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?
Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're in independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?
Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”


So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?


To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up
I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Clock Stalker

Ha!  Thought that graphic was funny, but actually, the Referral Clock has moved to August!  What does that mean, you ask?  Well, 2 weeks ago it was on June -- now it's on August!  It looks like more little girls are becoming available for adoption!

For those of you who don’t understand what the “Referral Clock” is… it’s a time line from our Agency of where they are with giving out referrals. It gives waiting families an idea of where they stand.  Right now they are matching little girls up with families that submitted their Dossier in August of 2009.  So, that means an approximate match time of 10 months +/- . . which would put us somewhere in the November-range for a referral.  But, this can all change depending on how many girls are available for adoption, how many families submitted dossiers in certain months, whose paperwork is ready, etc… But, maybe with a lot of prayer the clock will continue to chug ahead for all families -- no matter if they are waiting for a boy, girl or siblings.  (I know of a family that has been waiting quite some time at #1 for siblings -- praying for you April that you meet your kiddos soon)!  We know the children are there and available, it’s just a matter of who has their paperwork and birth certificates ready to go. (as you will see from an older post – getting paperwork ready for these little kiddos – in towns that do not speak the same language – is quite a daunting task.) I have to believe that all the changes are for the better and for the good of the biological families, the agency and the adopting families. My heart breaks, however, for these little ones who are in orphanages in the meantime, waiting for the legal stuff to clear, so that they can finally be loved by a family.


Plus, with the unknowns of the new travel and court processes, it's anyone's best guess on how that could delay (or perhaps speed up?) the process. 


I must admit though… I’m a clock stalker -- I check that darn clock every day… just in case.  I hope and pray it keeps chugging along so these kiddos can get home in the arms of their forever families.
Could you keep all of the families and children in your prayers? 

5 months waiting

Well, another month has flown by, but not for a moment have we not thought about having “E” home with us. We talk about it all the time as a family. We know that each day that passes is one more day closer to her.

Baseball season is over so now that our busy-ness is over, we can slow down, rest and wait. (at least until the fall sports start). We just returned from a little escape to the beach. We literally left from our last ball game to travel to the beach. Wow… what a little sunshine, fresh air and rest can do for the soul.  Amazing!


So, for the summer, we plan on hanging out with the boys, enjoying them, enjoying our families, and just slowing down and enjoying the ride. . . all while knowing who is in the drivers seat :)

Questions with some fun

I must say, we have been getting a few more questions and looks of concern from people when they find out we are adopting. It’s comical, really. I totally appreciate people who don’t understand why we are adopting. Adoption certainly isn’t for everyone and I’m sure we have some difficult time ahead of us. Questions from people are entirely natural and actually I welcome them. It’s not like we decided overnight to adopt and didn’t think about it, pray about it, and weight the options.  So questions from friends, and even stangers are normal.  It also gives me the chance to tell about the miracle of adoption and how God can plant a seed in anyone’s heart for a child (either naturally or through adoption). . . sometimes when you least expect it.


So, with that said, here is a list of some of our latest questions. Now  -- I must make a disclaimer -- I think adoption is as very serious thing....not for everyone, not for the weak at heart... but at this point in the game, we are starting to chuckle at some of the questions we get, so please don't be offended by any of my answers or the bit of sarcasim in my tone -- it's all in good fun!  :) 

“Why would you want to do that?” (well, that’s a long story, but basically because we can – we have room in our hearts and our home for another child that has no home, and because God placed it in our hearts) 

“You know the baby will be black, right?” (Nooo…. Really? - smile, smile)

“Why don’t you just wait for grandchildren, if you like babies?” (Ummm… yeah, I just smiled at that one)

“Is this a church ‘project’?” (Uhh.. no, this isn’t a “project”, it’s a life we are talking about -- our daughter - our family)

“Isn’t that really expensive?” (First of all, how do you put a price on a life?   And, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not any more expensive than the car you drive, and our we'll have our daughter (God-willing) a lot longer than you will have your car) :)  

“Why did you pick Ethiopia?”  (another long story (you can refer to older post) but bottom line, they have the greatest need – skin color didn’t matter to us, nor the stigma that goes with children from Africa. I think in the end, Ethiopia picked us.)

“Don’t all those babies have AIDS?” (no, while it is true that many children are orphaned because of the AIDS epidemic, most of the children are safe from the disease. Others, however, are not so lucky, and there are many wonderful families that adopt these beautiful babies).

“Aren’t you afraid you are going to get a sick child?” (No, screenings are performed to the best ability that the country can do (which is sometimes minimal).   Many times some of the children are a bit malnourished and behind a bit and need some special TLC, but bottom line is there are no guarantees in any child (bio or adopted). We will get what God feels we can handle).

“Why don’t you adopt from your OWN country.” (We get this one a lot.  We don’t feel strongly either way over US adoption verses International adoption. All of these children need forever families. We did feel funny, however, creating a ‘pick me’ book for a mother to look through and pick our family for her baby, over a couple who has no biological children.  So, in the end, we decided with Ethiopia since there is such a great need, the children are confined to orphanages (not foster families), and many people pass over Ethiopia because of the stigma of disease and skin color. We just felt Ethiopia was the place and I think it was a personal choice for us.. and again, I think Ethiopia picked us).

When will you be ready to throw in the towel – i.e., get tired of waiting and just give up. (NEVER).

What do your boys think about it?  (they are thrilled beyond words and can't wait for their little sister to come home!)

My personal favorite (when someone finds out we are adopting) is the blank stare, the blink of the eyes or scrunching of the face, and then changing the subject like they didn't even comprehend what we said... makes me giggle. 
 
Ohhh, how I can imagine the questions once little E comes home.  It's all good though. . . I'm sure she will melt through the hearts of some of the toughest critics.