Showers of thanksgiving

Christmas - a time of hope, expectation, waiting, and thanksgiving. This season has brought about so many extra emotions this year as we wait on the Lord's timing and provision in the next step of our adoption process. We believed that after our 2nd chocolate pie fundraiser we would have enough to pay for our next step, and through God's faithfulness the orders came in, the pies went out, and YES we have enough to send out our retainer and payment today! We are rejoicing as the Lord has once again showered His love upon us and has added to our bucket again.



We are continuing to pray for our children daily. We are constantly talking about them and imagining how different life will be next year when they are home for Christmas. We eagerly await our first meeting and bringing them home. I have my Amharic cd in the car and am constantly listening to it, trying to learn some phrases. We are believing for our friends who are in this process with us, knowing this is such an incredible opportunity to see God's hand move.



We know this Homestudy process has many steps to complete, but we are very eager to begin. Yes, we look forward to the fingerprinting, home visits, and paperwork! Bring it on Lord!!!

"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8:25. The Lord has given us so much grace in this time of waiting and hoping. We have tried to be patient, but there have been times when my heart is longing for this to be done now, in my time, but, the Lord continues to remind me to be patient. I am trying. I am thankful for His provision. I am keeping my eyes on Him and praising Him through this season. My heart really is overflowing with thankfulness to even have this opportunity before us.

Thank you friends for your prayers and support through this time! We are so thankful to be surrounded by so many who are believing with us.

blessings,

Anne

The Waiting

Hello friends,

Although I want to report great and glorious events in our adoption process, I can report at this moment, that our bucket is filling drop by drop. I am so completely blessed by God's faithfulness and yet so frustrated by my own impatience. I feel once again, like a horse inside the gates, dancing with excitement, ready to be released to run the race! Only to be held back by God's loving hand and to hear Him say, "It's not time yet, Child, wait for Me. In my perfect timing everything will come into place."

I see others running their race and rejoice with them. Honestly, I am so happy for everyone involved, knowing that some of our children will be here in a few short months! I am praying for their process to go smoothly and without delay, I am just having a hard time waiting for our turn. My mind wants it now, my heart wants it in God's time. Please don't get me wrong, I am thankful to be in the gates at all. Perhaps, the Lord has a work to complete in my own heart or perhaps our child has not yet come out of the village. So many things have to be put in order for all of this to come to completion.

I am smiling as I write this because I am rejoicing in all the Lord has done up to this point. I am blessed by His hand in my life, His saving grace, and His love that continues to feed my soul each and every day.

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope." Psm 130:5

I am looking forward to seeing His hand continue to move in the lives of these children, to bring them into loving homes and give them a place of permanence, where they can learn of His love and salvation.

Blessings,
~Anne

Standing together

God is so faithful!!! Last night, many of the people who are adopting from Drawn from Water met together for the first time. What a feeling to know that we will most likely be in relationship with these friends for many years to come! The unity in that room, for me at least, was almost tangible. The bond I already feel with these new friends is ...... honestly, I cannot even find the words to express my joy. I have been praying for these families for weeks now, and what an awesome feeling to now be able to put faces and families with those prayers. It's all becoming so real!!!! Some families are farther ahead in the process and are giving us tips on how to handle all the paperwork. My prayers are with them as they go down this road ahead of us. I continue to pray for the children also, for their transition to their new families and homes.

As I was reading in 1 Peter 2 this morning, I got to verse 4 and had to stop and praise the Lord. Verse 4 says, 'He was rejected by people but He was chosen by God for great honor.' Then, in verse 9, it says, 'But you are not like that (stumbling because you do not know God's word), for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God for He called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.' I felt like these were key verses for our children on the way. They have been rejected by man, but never by God. He has chosen them, literally, drawn from water, to give Him the glory and to show others His goodness. He has called them out of darkness into the light of His love!!! I am amazed by God's faithfulness yet again as I contemplate all of this. His hand on their lives, for 'such a time as this' to be saved and brought into families that will love them unconditionally, as they always should have been.

My heart and mind are still trying to wrap themselves around the reality that doors continue to open for these little ones to be adopted. They have been moved into a new home and are being cared for by awesome people who love them very much. They are all healthy and happy.

Our next step in this process is to begin our homestudy. We are currently preparing for a fundraiser, tomorrow, selling pies. The Lord has been so faithful in bringing people into our lives that actually want a pie and are sowing into this ministry along with us and also people that don't want a pie, but are willing to give a donation anyway. So far the count is at 33, so we will be up early, baking. I'm very excited about all of it. I keep saying to the Lord, 'another drop in the bucket' as order by order comes in. Enough drops will fill the bucket to overflowing, and that's what we are believing God for.

We continue to be thankful for all your prayers, emotional support, and financial blessings. We pray that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, surrounded by family and friends.

As always, thank you for taking this road with us,
blessings,
Anne

Baby steps

Hello,
Wow!!! So much has happened, starting with my lack of computer skills that kept me from posting sooner. Well, a couple weeks ago, I was approached by a friend who offered to pay for the first stage of our journey. I was shocked, amazed, blessed, confused, thrilled, scared.....yes, lots of emotions were going through my mind all at once! I knew God was going to provide, but was honestly shocked (but thrilled) when He did. So, after praying about it, we accepted the money and sent in our application. We received word today that our application was accepted! We were all so excited!!!! Truly, words cannot express the thankfulness in our hearts for this opportunity to continue with this journey.

We continue to pray for our journey as well as those families in our church who are at the same place and for those ahead of us in their own adoption process. The Lord is drawing all the families together, and soon we will begin meeting on a regular basis to pray for all the children, to encourage one another, and to strengthen our relationships so that when all of our children make it home, we will continue to meet so they will have relationships with each other.

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us and for those who will continue. We are believing God for great miracles in this process and give Him all the glory.

As Ephesians 3:20 states, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory."

Thank you for walking along side us on this journey, we continue to be blessed.
~Anne

The beginning

Wow! We are starting on a very exciting journey here as the Lord leads us through this adoption process. Last February, our church, the Rock of Roseville, showed a video called "Drawn from Water." It told about a tribe in Africa that forced parents to kill their own children because of tribal superstitions. Our church has been very instrumental in helping 10 of these children after they were literally rescued from drowning in the river.

A family from our church packed up and moved to Africa to care for these children. They left in May and have been instrumental in caring for and providing tons of love to the children. In August, it was decided that these children need moms and dads permanently, not just temporary guardians.

Bruce, Emma, Sam, and I spent weeks praying and fasting over whether or not this was for us. We have decided that "Yes, definately!" this is a road we want to take. We continue to pray for the children, the families they will be united with here, their adaption to a new life, and for other families in our church who are in the process of adopting as well.

We look forward to what the Lord has for us as we wait for Him to show us when to send our initial paperwork in. I am so eager, but will gladly wait. As Proverbs 19:21 says, 'Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.'

Thank you for taking this journey with us. We are truly blessed!
~Anne