A journey with prints of His goodness!

Hey Ya'll!

 Wanted to share with you just another provision of the Lord as we get closer to traveling to bring our boy home.

We found out about 2 weeks ago that our homestudy was expiring due to the lengthy process that has taken much longer than we intended. There are now a lot of things that need to be redone, appointments to schedule, and extra payments that need to be turned in. We have four weeks (till the end of April) to resubmit it all. Praise God that we JUST got covered for health insurance as of April 1st after months of applying and being turned down.  He is soooooo good to us!

Over the weekend while carpet browsing with my sweetheart he got a call from one of his friends. This nameless friend wanted to know how things were coming along with the adoption. He has given to our adoption financially in the past, and this last gift came at the perfect time and the exact dollar amount that we needed to turn in :) he wanted to know if financially we were set, or if we were lacking and if so what amount.

i LOVE the way the Lord cares for us through using the body of Christ!!

All of the things we need to get done is going to cost us roughly $1500. Our friend wanted to provide whatever dollar amount it was going to cost to get the homestudy redone. man are we so grateful!!!! Thank you friend for your extreme generousity and listening to the voice of the Lord! We love you!

Our God is so good and all of his ways are so good!


 "I am the Lord, in my time I will hasten it."

Isaiah can't wait to have our first family picture with YOU!

Draw near

Hebrews 10:5-7

5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;

6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.

7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.''

Lately Micaiah has been asking a lot about wanting to see God and what Jesus's body looks like. His mind is so filled with wonder as he is taking in new ideas and learning from mommy and daddy. They are taking so much in on a day to day basis I forgot how much little phrases and short teachings stick to their memories.

For example: our church just finished up 1Corinthians 12,13, and 14 as we will begin to put into practice the spiritual gifts during our Sunday morning service. 2 weeks ago we discussed tongues and prophecy. After the service the kids and I did a Costco run. We were passing by these 2 Chinese ladies having a discussion (in their language) as we were leaving and addy stopped me and said "mommy mommy look speaking in tongues" Oh my goodness!!!!! I love her!! I could not stop giggling over this :) As she sits with us each Sunday she is listening and these truths are sticking she just needs the shepherding of her parents to expound on it in a way she understands.

Ok. Sorry, I just had to share that.

Alright, lets keep going! When I was meditating on these verses above it reminded me of the sweet conversations that have been going on between Mac and I.

When the Son of God came to earth he came with a body that was prepared for him from the foundations of the world. Literally the Hebrew text reads "ears you have dug for me." He was the slaughtered lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. Jesus Christ would put on flesh. 100% God 100% man. He would endure suffering and sorrow. Shame and rejection. Sadness and loss. Immense pain and abandonment. He became our sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. Perfect obedience to the will of God.

This perfect obedience paved a way for us to draw near to the throne of grace with confidence. Our long record of sin nailed into the precious hands of our Savior.

 

Oh to be able to draw near!

Draw near when our lips want to simply sing his praise

Draw near when distractions seems to be pulling us away from our Lord

Draw near when sorrow and pain seem like it won't cease

Draw near when our fuse is so short with our children just one more thing is going to send you flying over the edge.

Draw near for discernment in decisions for your life/families life

Draw near to a God who is "slow to anger and abounding in love" when we need his forgiveness

 

Oh to be able! As I write this for me personally I am so so thankful to be able to draw near to Him when sadness overwhelms my soul. His closeness is what gives me rest. We dwell in the shelter of the Most High. Psalm 91:1-2.

This week I know at least for me there will be things that will try to steal my attention and pull me away from that resting place rather than sink deeper into it. In everything may we seek to draw nearer and deeper!

Thanks for dropping in!

Steph

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Isaiah Olinger

HIS STORY!

Isaiah's story for the most part I am unaware of. His exact age, the color of his eyes, his smile, what makes him happy & what upsets him, why he is in the orphanage, how long he has been there, and the state of his little heart.

God however is aware of every single little detail from before he was in his mothers womb. Details of his life that I will never know.

What I am confident of is that he is our son. We will love him and welcome him from the moment we see him! He will become a part of this family's story :) oh I can't wait!! And the 5 of us (and if the Lord sees fit to give us more children) are on a much bigger scale day by day taking part in His story and journey for our lives!

Most recent update: We are still #3 on the waiting list. Referrals have been stagnant for a while. From the most recent information we have received they are going to begin picking up again this month. We are hoping for a referral in March! We are all set to go. Give or take a few minor things ;)

Isaiah 60:22 "I am the LORD in its time I will hasten it."

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A rich dwelling.

Colossians 3:16 "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."

When something is dwelling in you richly it's only logical to come to the conclusion that what is in "full measure" will spill out of you. "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."

This last verse eats away at me and not always In a good way. The sin that dwells in me does not want to own up to the fact that the way I just yelled at my kids and the look my face just made towards them (using personal examples here) was because that anger and lack of patience was already there in my OWN heart. It's not enough to rely on that one really good message you heard on Sunday, or one quick 5 minute devotional on Monday to pull you through a whole week where the enemy is out to kill, steal, and destroy.

I am learning that this dwelling has to be a daily discipline. When you are dwelling you remain there, you abide there. At some point in the last two weeks I had some very tough and challenging days. My husband had a clean up for his job that put him out of the house and away from us for 3 1/2 days :( during that time I lacked so much motivation to do anything. I'm talking about from mopping my dirty floors, doing school with Addy my kindergartner, and neglecting the very thing I knew I needed most. The quietness of a heart stilled before The Lord with the Word of God opened and a heart of repentance and readiness to receive from Him. Instead I continued to do the very thing I knew would slowly keep stealing my joy and leaving me feeling empty. I praise God for his steadfast love and mercy towards me! This week has been much better because of his grace not my own "cleaning up" of my mess.

There have been several verses I have been sitting on lately that reemphasize this constant dwelling I would like to share.

First: Psalm 1:2 "his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." I have been talking to a dear friend who shared with me that this word "meditate" means to "mutter." In other words being at a place where you can recall his words, his promises. Speaking, reminding, and encouraging yourself with them all throughout the day. Knowing them not just with your mind, but with your SPIRIT!! The battle for our hearts and attention is heavy. For me it starts at the moment I roll over out of bed and the first thing I'm drawn to do is grab my iPad on the nightstand and start clicking.

Colossians 3:1-2 a little side note here. These verses meet me so much where I'm at right now with my struggles that I'm currently memorizing them. Of course ALL scripture at any time is good to memorize, but I find it very helpful to find scriptures that deal with your current situations and have them there to fight against those moments of sin and weakness.

Here Paul says "seek and set your mind on things that are above and not on the earth." I know how much I'm daily pulled towards the love and attractions that this world so carefully puts before me/us that we begin to think if we don't get this thing right now then we can't be fully content.

I must be setting my focus and aim on The Lord, and seeking after him. He will give us the grace and meet us with mercy when we don't get it right. I mess up so much! Sometimes the Word of Christ is dwelling so richly in me I just want to sing and jump and dance for all of his wonderful works!! And then there are the times that my vision and thoughts are so clouded and distorted by this world that I can't seem to get past how many things are wrong with my home and how badly I want to change it, or the times I rush my kids in bed because I am so ready for my day to be over that there was no praying for them just get the lights off and doors shut so I can go veg out and watch_______? I realize how selfish and bad that sounds but there is my sin laid out bare.

This a day by day growing and maturing in these things. We have a God who says that " he daily bears us up" he knows we need him and that we are absolutely helpless without his tender guidance and strength. He leads and guides us with such love and compassion.

Thanks for taking the time to read. May God richly bless you with his presence!

Steph

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FLASHBACK

 Was looking through some (well a lot) of pictures today going back at least 5 years that have been downloaded on my loves computer. It's not often i get on his because he uses it for work everyday and there is really no need for it anymore since i have an ipad now. 

Wanted to share a few.

There were sooooo many more i wanted to upload but here is a handful of them :)

 In no particular order..

This is 2 days before i left for Indonesia. Here is just part of our small group on our way out to Sweet CeCe's but not before a picture :)

At the airport saying goodbyes

after a long nine hour medical clinic and the ride back home. I miss being there!!

up close and i mean close with this little guy! These people had him as a pet chained to a tree.

HOME WITH MY FAM!!!

transition to this cute thang!! this is Amos he was at the same babies home in Uganda that Isaiah is currently at :) we spent the whole day with him in Nashville and we had funnnnnn

Moving on to Addy's 1st birhtday! WOW! This i can hardly remember. Thankful for pictures!

When our dear dear friends the Gales lived with us! Eden is now 4 in a half. Her and Addy are like 2 peas in a pod :)

Addy and mom! I can tell just by looking at this pic it was probably a lazy day where we wore pajamas for most of it! No little Mac here yet.

Mike, Addy, and Jude :)

Next few are just random fun with the camera. There's Micaiah!

Silliness

Jared when he was sportin the buzzed look!

 These made me smile and think back on just how faithful the Lord has been to us over the years :) thought i would share a few with my small little group of followers! love you all!!

Family Evangelism

It's been almost five years since we moved into our house in the heart of Cordova after leaving our 2 bedroom apartment shortly after addy was born. We have such a great Neighborhood! Sadly, I wish we could say we knew more of our neighbors. It seems like we always have the best intentions of doing some type of outreach or heck just knocking on the door to introduce ourselves but it always ends up falling through the cracks.

For Christmas this year we planned ahead of time to bake cookies, order some good solid gospel tracks, and include with it all an invite to our church Christmas service

With everything all ready to go I could feel some nervousness rising up in me. I'm not even exactly sure why. Maybe it's the fear of the unknown. Who will open the front door, will they be accepting of you, will their looks be one of kindness or rejection, will they receive your gift or not...

those thoughts can consume me if I'm not careful and cause me to begin to fear what I know The Lord has put in my heart to do. I was blessed to have a phone call with a dear friend who prayed over some things going on in my life and this outreach being one of them. Praise God for conversations like that!!!

Everything ready to go ;)

Our neighbors :)

 

Proverbs 29:25

"The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trust in The Lord is safe."

Lord, let NOT the fear of man cause us to shudder back from making known the love of our Savior! Whether its going around to our neighbors or going to the ends of the earth keep us faithful to you, for it is you working in us for your good pleasure.

Psalm 91:1

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shelter of the Almighty."

Ahhhh I LOVE the words dwells and abides. We dwell in his shelter, we abide in Him our king!! What shall I fear??

May we find our strength to build his Kingdom in his everlasting love for his children.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

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Our trips and birthdays!

So we have some pretty awesome friends who even though they live about 6 hours away from us we try to seize every opportunity there might be to get some time with this family.

This is them :)

we love us some time with the Barker's! Allison has a wonderful blog where she post about all aspects of her life as a mommy, wife, sister, friend, and daughter of Christ. Its so great! Her website is www.afterhissmile.com if you would like to swing by there sometime.

At the beginning of this month we went up to Nashville to meet them and some other dear friends to celebrate their son Jude turning 4. Instead of going in to detail all about the trip I snapped a collection of pictures of our time there, (doesn't quite sum it all up) we were there just a day In a half but we very much enjoyed it :)

NASHVILLE + FRIENDS + LOTS OF LITTLE ONES = QUITE A FUN & BUSY TRIP!

 

Then there is this man.

My guy!!

On December 11th the kids and I put together something pretty simple for Jared's birthday! Just the way he would like it. "Keep it simple" that's his motto for just about everything :) he is without a doubt one of the greatest blessings I have received from our gracious Heavenly Father. I pray The Lord gives us many more years not to just celebrate birthdays together but all of life's joys, hardships, and victories. He is our rock and leads us in the way of The Lord sooooo well.

Psalm 50:1

 

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