This week maybe??

I'm hoping our time has finally come....we are awaiting her arrival for this week. She can't come soon enough...Please continue to pray for peace and assurance that our Lord is in control and has not given us more than we can handle.

Is This Possible?

How could I miss you when I haven't even met you yet? My heart longs to hold you, see your little face, hold your little fingers, touch your little toes. I can only pray for you right now. Pray that you continue to grow strong & healthy in your mother's womb and that somehow you know I'm waiting for you and loving you already. We pray for your mother that she somehow sees our Lord and Savior and learns of His grace and peace during this time. We fearfully pray that if this situation does not turn out the way we hoped for, that you will somehow know that we loved you regardless and that we will always be praying for you. Oh Jesus...we are on our knees and helpless...have your way with us.

He Had Grace on Us...Why?

The Lord has continued to move in mysterious ways. He is an amazing God, Father, comforter, friend! I am amazed that He would bless us so much. Why did He choose us? What did we do to deserve such a blessing as this? I guess that's it...we didn't do anything. We couldn't do anything to deserve this. He did it for us. It's by His grace we have been saved. It's by His grace we have been blessed. It's by His grace we stepping out in faith and can trust in Him. Why wouldn't you want to know Him? He loved us this much; that He laid down His life for us on the cross that we might be saved! Thank you Jesus!
"I tell you not to worry about everyday life-whether you have enough. Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?" Matt 6:25-27
"Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Matt 6:32-33

Bread Upon the Waters

"Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well." Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

Exhausting

We've only just begun....I know this is true. We are almost ready to send out our letters. Boy, does that take time! It was great writing the letter though; to be able to put into words on paper what we are feeling and going through right now. How we came to the decision to adopt and what the Lord is continuing to do in our midst. I am so blessed to have such a core group of godly, incredible friends that encourage and challenge me. If you are reading this, you know who you are. We are trying to make every effort to raise our initial payment. Chad is working hard at his side business. I just applied for three different jobs at St. Francis. We are trusting that the Lord will open doors where doors need to be opened. Thank you to all who are following and praying along with us. Please continue to pray for Moise, as he is still in the orphanage. Pray for protection over him and that if he is not to be our child that another family comes to take him home soon. I see his face every day..my heart goes out to him.

Coffee & More..

If you visit our Just Love Coffee sight and decided you want to purchase something but are curious as to how much & what goes towards our adoption, this is how it works:
Coffee: $5 each
T-Shirt: $5 each
Travel Mug: $3 each
Tote Bag: $3 each
Hat: $3 each
Coffee Scoop: $1 each
All of this will go towards our adoption on the purchases made by you! Thanks!

Change of Plans!!

I know that we just put the chip in option on our blog for those of you that were wanting to know how and where to send money to support our adoption, but we decided to change our plans. Just received confirmation that we can have money sent to Journey Church and it will be tax deductible to you and then once we are accepted for a matching grant, the money can be sent to the organization! Praise Jesus! We'll keep you posted once we get an acceptance letter on the matching grant. Thanks everyone!

FYI

We have posted an option for donating, Chip In, on the left side of our blog for friends and family that have requested how they can help support our adoption process. Do not feel obligated to donate; this is primarily for those of you that have asked how and where to send money. Thanks again everyone and we are excited to have you all joining in on our process of bringing our baby home!

We have a new Coffee Store!

Last night I was up searching for different ways that people might be interested in supporting our adoption and came across this awesome fund raiser that a family started after they experienced the same frustrations and difficulties with fund raisers during their adoption process! It's a coffee store where you can purchase coffees from all over the world and also has t-shirts, mugs, and much more for purchasing! What's awesome about the coffee is that a lot of it is from Africa! So, you'll not only be supporting our adoption from Africa but the suppliers in Africa that make the coffee; and it's supposed to be excellent coffee to start your day with! So, for all you coffee drinkers that want to support our adoption or those of you that don't drink coffee but may want to buy for a friend, check out the left hand side of my blog and you'll find a link to Just Love Coffee-The Swifts! All purchases go towards our adoption! The t-shirts are pretty slick too! Thanks everyone and please continue to pray for our home study paper work to get done quickly!

Overwhelming

I just got through doing my Bible Study Fellowship lesson and learned about how we as Christians should no longer have fear because we have been set free in Christ. It was extremely encouraging but I turn around and find myself crying over the anxiety & fears of raising funds for our adoption as we wait for our home study to be considered "complete." How quickly we forget the truths we are taught. It's good to be reminded though that he says, "...in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!" John 16:33
Chad and I are working at finding different ways to raise support while we wait for our paper work to be completed. The fund raiser world is an overwhelming one...please be praying for peace that only the Lord can give us. Please pray for discernment. Thank you to everyone already doing this for us.

Hmm...sun

After Haven took her nap this afternoon we decided to go for a walk to Gage park. It was beautiful out! There were so many people at the park with their kids today! She had a great time though and we walked down to the pond in the cemetery to feed the ducks. For some reason I find comfort in walking through the cemetery. It's so peaceful and reassuring to know that when I die I will be in the arms of Christ.
Our last home study visit was on Saturday. It went well and now we just wait. All our documents are in to the KBI, FBI and SRS. Waiting for approval from them that we are good to go. Letters for our references are out and we are just waiting for those to come back in. Have our physical exams set up with our docs for the end of the month. Seems as if we will be waiting for awhile to get all this stuff back in to our homes study agency. It's unfortunate because we can't apply for any grants until our home study is "complete". Feel like we should be doing something in the meantime....I suppose we should be patiently waiting and trusting that the Lord knows what he is doing. We know this is true. He called us to step into this world of adoption and we know that he'll guide us through it. It's a good thing I'm not in control.

Final Home Study Visit

Haven and I cleaned the apartment all day today. Wendy came over and helped. It's good to have her around! I'm praying that Haven is in a good mood tomorrow; she was great today! Please Lord, give her a cheerful and obedient spirit tomorrow for the home study. We are getting anxious....we have filled out a ton of grant applications but can't do anything with them until our home study is complete. It's a hard place to be in....waiting; especially when we have been sent a referral and we have been praying over him for a month now. It's hard not to have the resources to secure him. We are trusting that the Lord knows what is best and that if this little boy is to be ours, that he'll be there when we have the money. It's comforting knowing that God sees the bigger picture.

It's Almost Here!

Our home study is in two days and we anxious and excited at the same time. We don't really know what to expect but know that the Lord sees all things. We continue to hear amazing adoption stories all around us! My cousins, Luke and Laura Brosius just accepted a referral of a little two year old girl from Ethiopia. She is absolutely gorgeous! Seeing a picture of her gave me a glimse into the excitement and awe Chad and I will feel when we accept a referral and finally see our little baby. I'm anxious to get our grant applications sent out. We can't send those out until our home study is completed and approved. Hmm.....seems as if we are at a standstill. I don't like this part...

He Continues to Answer Prayers

Chad made the phone call to our home study agency and told them about our current living situation (with two bedrooms) and our desire to not be gender specific. They told us that if we were hoping on adopting an < 1 year old, that it shouldn't be a problem which sex we adopted. Praise the Lord!

Trusting You

It's becoming more and more real every day! Chad set up our first home study meeting on Feb. 27th. Lots of paper work to complete prior to that time! Have to go to KC to get finger printed and boy do they make a racking off of that! It couldn't be that complicated, surely! Oh, well...what needs to be done, needs to be done. Chad is working hard to make extra money for our initial payment. I am considering taking on another flexible job to make a little extra cash. It's amazing to see how the Lord is already providing the means to our financial responsibilities for the adoption. I was extremely encouraged last night when I found out that Sara Harris is now a mommy to a beautiful, adopted little girl! What a blessing she is going to be to Sara and I can't wait to feel what Sara must have felt last night again. Becoming a mother for the first time (or second in my case with our adoption), is the greatest honor and such a humbling experience. Those of you following my blog, please be praying for our home study to run smoothly. We are currently in a two bedroom apartment and have decided that we don't want to be gender specific with our adoption. This might pose a problem though because most adoption agencies & home studies want the adopted child to have their own space; their own room (understandably so). Our lease is a 1 year lease and it's up in October. We have the possibility of being able to pick up our child in July when we are in Kenya for our mission trip if all the dossier and paper work is finalized and we have accepted a referral before that time. In other words, we would only have a couple of months that we would HAVE to stay in our apartment complex before we could move to a 3 bedroom or home. We don't know if our home study agency is going to make us be gender specific (choosing a girl) so that Haven and her sibling can "bunk" together. I trust that it's all in God's hands and that He sees the bigger picture, but it's still a lot to take in and lay at his feet. Please continue to pray that the Lord provide us with the financial means to adopt and that we are able to get all of our grant applications in on time. Pray that we continue to strive for our goal of becoming debt free by January of next year. We hate to loose track of that goal and desire to honor the Lord with our money. Thanks everyone!

She Asks Me to Pray for Baby

Praying that the Lord bless us with another baby has become common place for Chad and I. It's something we ask him to bless us with every time we come together in prayer. Haven asked me to pray with her last night before bed and I did as usual. It's a beautiful thing to pray over your children and even more beautiful when they ASK you to pray for them. After I was done praying she said, "pray for baby, mommy." I almost came to tears as I got a glimse of the power of prayer and the influence it can have on our children. She showed me for the first time that she understood prayer and how to ask for the desires of your heart. She understood to "pray for baby." She asks me if baby is inside my tummy and I tell her no. I tell her that her baby brother or sister will be coming to us in a very special way; that our baby might be a little older because God is getting our baby ready to have her as a big sister. She is ready to be a big sister and we continue to pray that the Lord provides the finances to bring her little brother or sister home.

The Promise of His Return

We got all of our contracts signed today and our application filled out. Mailed adoption application, contracts, and grant application. It was a relief to take that first step; to commit to our agency and trust that the Lord is going to move through this. It's overwhelming to think about all the grant applications that have to be submitted so quickly. To know that our home study will be right around the corner and trust that God is going to provide that money. I was questioning His power and then I sat down to do my bible study. I was blown away by the truths I found in His Word and through my reading. A quote stood out to me and made me step back and see that if I keep my eyes on eternity and off of the temporary things of this world, I will have inexpressible joy! "When the present-day church decides to give the same emphasis that the New Testament gives to the Lord's return, Christians shall again experience the life-giving power and inexpressible joy in ALL circumstances that the early Apostolic church experienced as they lived thinking of His sure return." I thank my Father for sending his Holy Spirit to teach me and remind me of everything that is truth. I rest knowing that He is in control and sees the bigger picture.

I trust in You alone

My heart is heavy. All the decisions to be made are overwhelming. I know that He is in control. My worries and problems are small in comparison to others and I feel guilty for being anxious and questioning His plans. I continue to go back to the same passage every day from the Word. "I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fall because of all my foes. Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer." Psalm 6:6-9. I know that my God is in control and is calling us to adopt but the process is scary. It's going into the unknown and stepping out in faith that He calls us to. I say that I trust in Him and I want my life to reflect this. Is my life reflecting that I trust in Him alone?