Their loss is our gain...

Last night as we were tucking the kids in for bed Iris prayed first. This is how it went; 

Iris: Jesus, bwess Mad-win, Kirsten, Hey, Befany, Rynie, Gigi, Captain-Huggyface in Gigi's Belly. 

I pray for Luke?

Me: Yes

Iris: Jesus, bwess Luke, she stops

What Luke Momma's name?

Me: I don't know, baby. (tears start flowing)

Iris: Okay, Jesus bwess Luke's mommy. Make her happy.

Jeremiah leaned to me and said, "Momma, Luke has two mommies right? You're his mommy and he has a mommy in Ethiopia."

These sweet prayers were a strong reminder for Al and myself that we need to be praying for this family who's loss will be our gain. It's intense to think on and without trust in the Lord, it's an impossible weight to bear. So thankful that I don't have to bear that weight. We don't yet know "who" Luke is. We pray for our son by name, we have an idea of what age he will be, but beyond what country he's in, it's all still a mystery. 

As Al and I laid in bed last night praying for our kids, we prayed for our son's birth family as well. For the loss he will experience. For the relationships he'll make while in America World's Group home. That his story will be well documented so he'll know more of who he is and where he came from. We prayed that his parents, family and any siblings he has in Ethiopia would know Christ so that one day, we can all be reunited in heaven. We know that God has called us to be a part of this little guys destiny and when we stop and think of all the details He is working out on our behalf we can't help, but praise Him. What a privilege to be a part of this story! 

Thank you for your prayers! Our home study is complete and we are moving forward with all the dossier paperwork! 

Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year!

Our holidays looked a little differently than in years past. We didn't travel to Oklahoma, or see our family as usual. It was hard, it was different, but it wasn't miserable. Christmas Eve we went to our Christmas Eve service then had dinner with the Roe's and several other families. We celebrated Christmas morning at home with just the four of us. Jeremiah expected to find snow on the ground, after his initial disappointment he was still excited that it was finally Christmas! Our dear friends, the Print's came over for breakfast and to play with all the new toys. After nap we headed over to the Liss' to celebrate Christmas dinner with the Oliver's, Lestarjett's and so many more. While we missed our family and there were some tears from me, we really did have a great Christmas. Here are a few highlights from our day.

Christmas morning excitement! 

Taking the babies with us to Christmas dinner

Iris and Lisa having some Play-doh fun! 

We are moving right along in the adoption process! We have begun our home study and the paper chase continues with applications, documents, more documents and notaries. God has been so faithful to provide through so many ways! Many of you have given us gifts, we've sold necklaces (a great success, so we'll be doing that again soon!), and we've had extra monies come in and go straight to the adoption accounts. The costs are great, but God is a great provider! Always feel free to email us any questions you have, we would love to answer your questions! We look forward to the Christmases when we have our whole family together!

Thanksgiving Reflections

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts to paper so forgive me if this is a bit jumbled, but I do want to share. I am running a Thanksgiving Day 5k tomorrow morning and immediately afterwards Jeremiah is running his first Kids Fun Run 1k. He is adorably excited about it and cannot wait for people to cheer for him.

All day today I have been emotional thinking about him running this race. It was 4 years ago that the Lord first called me to begin running and I ran this same race on Thanksgiving day, 2008. See, we had been trying to conceive a baby for several years and we had lost 2 babies to miscarriage. Al & I both felt like this run was unto Jeremiah. I didn't really know what that meant, just that we were committed to do anything the Lord called us to, not to waste any days just waiting. Each time we trained we prayed for the baby boy God had promised, but also asked what else He might have for us in our season of preparation. When I ran that race I was carrying a teeny tiny little guy that only God knew existed. I found out the Saturday after Thanksgiving that I was pregnant. Now that tiny little miracle is a walking, talking, running little boy!

He doesn't know what this race means for me, but I do. The bigger picture for us this year is that Jeremiah and I  are racing to raise support to bring the next member of this family home through adoption. I look forward to a night like this in the future when I can sit down and blog after the kids are in bed and remember the race Jeremiah ran for his brother Luke, still unknown to us in Ethiopia. I know that Thanksgiving I'll be a mess watching my boys run side by side, a couple of promises fulfilled. Don't worry, Iris will be right there with them! I'm confident she won't let them do much without her.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, encouraged us and sowed into this adoption financially! We are so thankful for each of you! We are very close to having another payment to send in and then we'll be starting our home study! Exciting days ahead!

If you see me tomorrow at the race, don't be surprised if you see a few tears of joy. God is so good and I am ever thankful for his faithfulness. He who promised, truly is faithful.

Martha

Sponsor Jeremiah is his first 1K! Click the link to the right or contact me for a mailing address...

Remember if you'd like to run, walk or skip in the Turkey Trot 5K, you can join our team and get your own sponsors! Email me for more details, marthaandal@gmail.com. We love you and appreciate ALL the prayers and support!

We're adopting!

Thanks for visiting our blog! We used to be so diligent about updating this page with photos, stories and thoughts. Then, life took over! Now that we are in the process of adoption, we knew this would be a great way to keep friends, family and maybe even soon to be friends, up to date on our process, up to date on our events and up to date on our cute kids!

About a 16 months ago the Lord gave Martha a dream that was so real she couldn't shake it. That same night He gave a friend a dream that tied to hers and made the word, "adoption" enter our prayers and vocabulary. Over the next 4 months it was confirmed in two other dreams that the Lord had a little boy for us in Ethiopia. We began praying and asking the Lord for the right timing and the right people and He led us to America World Adoption Agency. We were approved for adoption this month and we are harvesting the funds we need to move forward. Keep checking back for more information and watch this page for events and ways you can serve us through this process. We covet your prayers!

To donate, click one of the links on the right!

Much love,
Al, Martha & the kids!