A Little Christmas

All the kiddos had Christmas programs this week.  Peter's school program was Thursday night.  Of course my camera batteries died part way through, but I was able to get a complete video of his piano performance.

We're so proud of how well he is doing on the piano!  He genuinely enjoys it, which is a blessing.

Friday morning, Ruthie and Thomas had their preschool program.  Thomas was a cow at the manger, and Ruthie was a sheep.  For the past few weeks, Thomas has been belting out the Christmas carols he learned for the program.  But when the time came, he didn't sing a note!  The video isn't great, but it gives you the idea of how cute/hilarious it was to watch Thomas the cow not sing:

Finally, some pictures:

Can you find the cow?

Here come the sheep!

Slightly embarrassed cow

Post-production treats

No major updates on the adoption front other than a request for prayer.  The agency we are working through has just opened a new program in Hong Kong that looks like it may be a good fit for us.  Not that China isn't, it is just that we are still so early in the process, we could consider a switch at this point without there being a whole lot of extra work involved.  Please pray for clarity.  These decisions aren't easy and involve a lot of discussion and prayer.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Misconceptions, Part 2

We're continuing our series of posts where we address some misconceptions we worry people may have about what we believe or why we have chosen to adopt. 

Misconception: Those who adopt are somehow better people than those who do not; or, God loves you more if you adopt; or, you are being a better Christian if you adopt; or, (insert any other legalistic ways of looking at adoption here).

No, no, no, a thousand times, no. 

from the Heidelberg Catechism, Question and Answer 60 --

Question:    How are you right with God?

Answer:      Only by true faith in Jesus Christ.  Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments and of never having kept any of them, and even though I am inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is to accept the gift of God with a believing heart.      

Such beautiful words!  It is finished.  We have God's favor, but only because of the work of Jesus, and we can do nothing to add to this work.  So how then do we view adoption as it relates to our faith (because for us it is very much tied to our identity as a son and daughter of God)?  Since we have been given this ultimate gift, we are now “freed to live truly missional and radically obedient lives in a broken world” (Dan Cruver).  Anything we do in this life is God working His plan through us (major emphasis on the God working part).  We are broken people who serve an amazing God.

Update on our adoption progress:
We had our second home study visit last Friday.  This time, we each had to meet individually with our social worker.  She asked lots of questions about our marriage relationship and our childhoods.  The interviews made us realize that we complement each other very well.  We were also reminded that we have wonderful parents (thank you, parents!).  We are hoping that the home study will be complete sometime in January or February.  

 

Adoption Tax Credit

Did you know that there is an adoption tax credit?  The credit has been a huge help to adoptive families, considering not only the high costs of the adoption process, but also the added cost of bringing another child into a family.  The adoption tax credit began in 1997, but it is set to expire in January.  This credit is far from insignificant, and it would be a major loss if it expires.  You can read more about it here.  There is a petition at the end of the article that I encourage you to sign.  Would you also consider contacting your representatives?  Take a few minutes to ask them to vote to extend this credit!  You can find your house representative here and your senator here.

Finally, another shameless plug for the amazon link on the right sidebar -- I know many of you will be doing a ton of Christmas shopping there in the next few days and weeks!  Please take a few seconds to click to the site through our blog.  We are so grateful for those who have already been doing this.  We don't know who all of you are, but thank you!

Quick Update: First Home Study Meeting

We had our first in-person meeting with our social worker this morning, and it went very well!  Our home study is officially underway.  Every adoptive family must complete a home study to be sure they have a suitable home for their new child, and so that the best possible matches can be made between children and families.  The home study involves a series of about 4-5 meetings with our social worker.  She will be working with us throughout the adoption, so she will learn a LOT about us!  We will meet with her together as a couple, individually, and in our home.  She will also educate us about what to expect throughout the adoption process and the years afterward.  And that mountain of paperwork we have to gather, complete, and send to China?  She will help guide us through all of that.  

In other family news, tonight is movie night at our house.  Peter finished the second Harry Potter book, so he has earned the right to watch the movie.   He is pumped!  We are also looking forward to visiting with family next week for Thanksgiving.  We get to see Granny & Gramps (my parents), Uncle Tim and Aunt Lauren (my brother and sister-in-law), and Gran (my grandma)! 

A few recent pictures:

Delicious Coffee!

We posted earlier about how you can help us by buying coffee and using our amazon link.  Thanks to those of you who have already done some of those things!  (To clarify the amazon link: you have to click to amazon through the link on the right side of the page, and then load your cart and place your order all in one session.)

We placed an order through Just Love Coffee last week, because we wanted to be sure that what we are asking folks to buy is actually a good product.  I like dark coffee, so we ordered the Sumatra roast, already ground.  It took our order about five days to arrive, but I have heard from others that their orders came even faster.

Greg says that when he opened the mailbox, he could immediately smell the coffee through the sealed box.  It smelled so good I couldn't wait to make some!  And I was not disappointed...the coffee is strong, flavorful, and delicious!

Please consider purchasing some coffee through the Just Love Coffee link on the right side of our webpage.  The store has a large selection of roasts from many areas of the world.  You can choose to have the beans ground for you, or you can buy whole beans if you prefer to grind them yourself.  So treat yourself to some coffee or buy a few bags as Christmas presents!  Five dollars from every bag will go to our adoption fund.  That adds up, folks!  In addition to our adoption, you can also know that you are supporting a great company.  From Just Love Coffee's website:

And as passionate as we are about creating outstanding artisan coffees, we are equally passionate about helping those in need.  Every delectable cup of Just Love Coffee you drink has a portion of its proceeds go to someone who could use a helping hand.  In our first two years of business we have given over $200,000 to adopting families, non-profit organizations, and the arts. 

This cutie wants you to buy some coffee - how can you resist?!

Misconceptions, Part 1

One thing that concerns us most about making our journey public on a blog is that readers will have some misconceptions about what we are doing or what we believe.  Believe us when we say that at times, we have struggled with some of these misconceptions ourselves (and in many ways still struggle with them).  We both came from backgrounds where we were not exposed to adoption in any real way; not in a way that forced us to actually consider what it meant to adopt or what it was like to be an adopted child or an adoptive family.  However, when we truly started to consider adoption and what it would mean for our family, we found that what we had believed about adoption and how it fits into our faith was seriously challenged and changed.  In light of that, we're going to do a series of posts addressing some of these issues.

Misconception: Everyone should adopt.
We heartily agree that not everyone or every family is called to adoption.  We are all given gifts by God for work in His kingdom, and they are different gifts.  And that is a wonderful thing!  We did not consider that our gifts may be suited for adoption until recently (in fact, sometimes we are still not sure, but praise God, for He is in control!).

However...
It is very important for us to reflect on the fact that as Christians, we are by definition adopted children of God.  How beautiful this picture was to us when we truly considered it!  We have nothing to offer God to qualify for His love and salvation.  As much as we like to think otherwise, we have nothing to stand on and say to God, "I am worthy of being your child."  Yet He freely and lovingly chose us, pursued us, and brought us into His adoptive family.  How can we not turn our eyes toward those who, in this world, are in the same position: fatherless, without any merit to claim adoption into a loving family?

So while not all Christians are called to adopt, all Christians are called to care for orphans and the poor.  We encourage you to consider the poor and others who have no voice.  No really, consider them for a few days and don't look away.  It is frighteningly easy to look away.  Pray for them.  And then pray that God would show you how you are called to care for them.

Need ideas?  Here are a few suggestions:

• Sponsor a child through an organization like Compassion International.
• Help a family adopt by assisting them with fundraising (obviously, we love this idea!).
• Look into starting an orphan care ministry at your church.  Your church could even adopt an orphanage! (Information here)
• Volunteer your time at a local adoption agency or children's home.
• Look into becoming a foster parent.

Stay tuned for more posts in this series.  And if there are specific misconceptions or questions you would like us to address, please let us know!

Halloween fun

As promised, here are some pictures from our Halloween festivities.  Every year, our church has a Reformation Celebration in honor of the Protestant Reformation.  The kids dress up and get candy, but there are also carnival games designed to teach them about the Reformation.  It is a great time where church members of all ages come together to celebrate a major turning point in church history!

 

Thomas burns the papal bulls!

 Even Ruthie gets in on the fun

 Peter takes aim at a turkey

Of course we had to carve a jack-o-lantern:

 Ewwwwwwwww!

 Peter digs in to the pumpkin guts

 Watching Daddy carve

 The masterpiece!

 The boys are proud of their work

This is the first year we have lived in a neighborhood that really got into trick-or-treating.  We ran out of candy to hand out (and made a mental note to get more next year!).  The kiddos had a blast going door-to-door.

Ruthie checks out the pumpkin

Our Thomas the Train, Harry Potter, and Alabama cheerleader!

A Couple Recent Videos

Here's Thomas belting out the University of Alabama fight song.  Roll Tide!

Translation:

Yea, Alabama! Drown 'em Tide!
Every 'Bama man's behind you;
Hit your stride!
Go teach the Bulldogs to behave,
Send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave!
And if a man starts to weaken,
That's a shame!
For 'Bama's pluck and grit
Have writ her name in crimson flame!
Fight on, fight on, fight on, men!
Remember the Rose Bowl we'll win then!
Go, roll to victory,
Hit your stride,
You're Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide!

And, here is a video of Ruthie walking.  We are very proud of her because it took her until 19 months old to finally decide to walk!

Halloween was a major success last night.  Our new neighborhood really gets into trick-or-treating, and the kiddos had a blast!  Stay tuned for pictures...

Ways You Can Help!

Here comes a part of the adoption process that we are truly anxious about: asking for help.  So we figure we better just put it out there right away.  Like tearing off a band-aid, it is better to close your eyes and go for it...

Approximately $30,000.  If you were wondering how much international adoption tends to cost, that's your answer.  This number includes everything from agency and home study fees to travel costs.  Since we aren't the type of folks who like to ask for help, so this is going to be hard for us because we have to ask for help.  We will be planning some more formal fundraising events after the holidays, but there are some ways you can help us right now!

• Use the amazon link on the right sidebar of this blog whenever you make a purchase from amazon.  You don't pay anything more than you were going to already, and a percentage of your purchase will go directly to our adoption fund!  We know there are many of you out there who do lots of Christmas shopping on amazon.  Taking a couple of seconds to click here first will really help us!
• Do you love coffee?  Interested in giving coffee as Christmas gifts?  Purchase delicious fair trade coffee (and other coffee accessories) from Just Love Coffee roasters.  Click the logo on the right sidebar, and you will be taken to our storefront.  Five dollars from every bag of coffee will go to our adoption fund.
• The most important form of support we need is prayer.  Please pray that God will show us clearly what He has in store for us.  Pray that He will bring wisdom, understanding, patience, and perseverance.  Pray for the child that God will place in our lives; a child that is most likely already here on this earth.  And pray that in this moment in our family's journey, as in all moments, that God's will be done!

If you have a desire to help us with this adoption, we are so grateful.  We need you!  We are already very thankful for the support we receive daily from our family and friends.  We recognize that we are bringing a child not only into our house, but also into our larger family and community.  Thank you for your prayers and for walking this road with us.

Phew...that wasn't so bad!

Meet the Players

This is intimidating.  (You mean adopting?  Adopting is intimidating?)  Well, yes, but we were actually talking about blogging.  We promise to write much more on the adoption thing later, but for now, we figure that if we're going to start a family blog, the first thing we should do is introduce you to the family. 

First, us:

We love God and we love each other.  We also love football (but not all quite in the same way, of course).

Our firstborn, Peter:

Peter is seven years old and in second grade.  He loves legos, playing piano, and reenacting movie scenes.

Next came Thomas:

Thomas is four years old.  He is in his last year of preschool before kindergarten!  Thomas loves vehicles, dinosaurs, and dragons.

After that, Mercy:

Mercy was born and died in February 2010.  She had trisomy 13.  She left a hole in our hearts and we miss her.  As time passes, we are able to be more and more thankful for her life.

Next, Ruthie:

Ruthie is almost nineteen months old, just started walking, and lately her vocabulary has exploded!  She loves to read books and play with her brothers.

And finally, there is the child we are, Lord willing, adopting from China:

We don't know much about this child yet, but we do know that God has clearly led us to expand our family further through adoption.  We sent in our application to adopt about two weeks ago, so you have found us at the very beginning of this journey!  Welcome!