Ephesians 3:19-21 "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 in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Thursday, November 20, 2008
To Him that is able to do immeasurably more
We are so blessed to introduce Mya Josephine Nielsen (mya=mine, josephine=God will increase). We are excited to bring her home the first week of December.
Ephesians 3:19-21 "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 in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:19-21 "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 in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Taylor and Psalm 1
This morning Kim was reading her Bible and Taylor decided he wanted to join her. He ran upstairs and got his Bible, came down and started to read his new favorite Bible passage. They have been working on Psalm 1 in school. I thought it was pretty cool to see them do this together.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A Significant Change In Our Adoption Plans
A couple days ago we got an email from an adoption coordinator at our church asking if we would consider changing our adoption plans and praying about a domestic adoption of an African-American infant from Alabama.
We were pretty taken aback, but we desired to be open to what God might have for us. Yesterday, we were quickly put in touch with the adoption folks in Alabama and were told the details of the case. It was very unusual that they were having a difficult time finding a family for a healthy infant with a great background, but many involved in the case were praying that God would bring just the right family. We seemed to be a great match but we would need to have all of the money by the time of placement (thousands of dollars in a very short time period) and we needed to tell the adoption coordinator in AL within 24 hours if we would be able to cover the cost.
We prayed that God would make it clear whether He wanted us to move forward by either closing doors (having another family interested, not being able to come up with the money in this short period, or both of us not feeling a peace about it) or that He would obviously provide. The limited story is that in this short span of time God provided in amazing ways through his people and it looks like we’ll have a new baby girl added to our family in about two weeks! Kim and I plan to fly out there to pick her up sometime during the first week in December.
She was born on Oct. 27th and at the time of this writing we have not given her a name. Right now she is in the foster care system in AL. We got a chance to talk to her foster mother yesterday and she said baby girl is doing very well.
What about our plans for international adoption from Bulgaria? Great question. This has been a bit agonizing for us to come to terms with, but the short of it is that by faith we are moving forward with this opportunity, but don’t feel like we have decisively closed the door to international adoption in the future. Who knows, perhaps we’ll be a family of five in a few years! There are needs for adoption in almost every corner of the world and we believe we are following God’s leading with this amazing opportunity.
Let us know if you have any other questions. We are very excited for this new addition to our family!
We were pretty taken aback, but we desired to be open to what God might have for us. Yesterday, we were quickly put in touch with the adoption folks in Alabama and were told the details of the case. It was very unusual that they were having a difficult time finding a family for a healthy infant with a great background, but many involved in the case were praying that God would bring just the right family. We seemed to be a great match but we would need to have all of the money by the time of placement (thousands of dollars in a very short time period) and we needed to tell the adoption coordinator in AL within 24 hours if we would be able to cover the cost.
We prayed that God would make it clear whether He wanted us to move forward by either closing doors (having another family interested, not being able to come up with the money in this short period, or both of us not feeling a peace about it) or that He would obviously provide. The limited story is that in this short span of time God provided in amazing ways through his people and it looks like we’ll have a new baby girl added to our family in about two weeks! Kim and I plan to fly out there to pick her up sometime during the first week in December.
She was born on Oct. 27th and at the time of this writing we have not given her a name. Right now she is in the foster care system in AL. We got a chance to talk to her foster mother yesterday and she said baby girl is doing very well.
What about our plans for international adoption from Bulgaria? Great question. This has been a bit agonizing for us to come to terms with, but the short of it is that by faith we are moving forward with this opportunity, but don’t feel like we have decisively closed the door to international adoption in the future. Who knows, perhaps we’ll be a family of five in a few years! There are needs for adoption in almost every corner of the world and we believe we are following God’s leading with this amazing opportunity.
Let us know if you have any other questions. We are very excited for this new addition to our family!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Why Adoption?
I've been thinking a lot about this question, or more specifically, "why are we adopting from Bulgaria", the last couple of days. My husband posted a great post on his blog entitled, "Why Adoption" and I've been reading a lot of other adoption stories, including following my friend Shadley's upcoming adoption from Ethiopia. She posted a great letter from the director of their program about what is happening in Ethiopia. I think my frustration lately has been my inability to really find out much about Bulgaria. I want to see and feel the need and know we are a part of it. I want to be able to explain this to others.
We knew for a long time that we would be adopting but choosing where to adopt was a lot more difficult for us, namely me. We prayed and sought God's wisdom and call and when Bulgaria openned once again to adoption this summer we definitely felt this is where God was calling us to adopt from. Why now do I oscillate between passionate certainty and feeling shaken by doubt? If you know me well, you know that this can be a pattern in other areas of my life and in my spiritual walk as I seek to know that I am doing everything "right" and in the "best way" (also called perfectionism:)).
My answer to my emotional upheaval came through our pastor, Ryan's, message on Sunday. He spoke on Luke 4-5 and specifically answered the question of why Jesus healed some and not others, why did he perform miracles in some cities and not in others. As he unpacked Jesus' answer to this question, the main thrust was that it was in accordance with "His Sovereign Freedom". We don't serve a God that we can neatly explain. He is Sovereign and He is Free. He does not have to explain himself to us (see Job). We see this in healing and miracles but also in His Sovereignty over salvation. Our God is mysterious, good, gracious, and he doesn't always do what we think he will (or should). My answer came simply that God is God and I am not. His ways are higher than my ways--Isaiah 55:9.
I'm sure I will continue to struggle through days of emotional doubt but my assurance does not lie in my ability to neatly explain why or even point to specific facts. My assurance simply lies in God's call. My answer to "why adopt from Bulgaria" is simply that God in His Sovereignty has choosen a little Bulgarian girl to be grafted into our family. I don't really know where this fits into the grand scheme of things, but I do know that we are called to display His glory and goodness by reaching out to one and making them our own. This is enough. What an amazing reminder of my own journey into being grafted into God's family. I don't know the reasons and can't neatly explain it, but I am so thankful that He choose to give me new life and make me His own! He is Mysterious and I trust in His Goodness.
Kim
We knew for a long time that we would be adopting but choosing where to adopt was a lot more difficult for us, namely me. We prayed and sought God's wisdom and call and when Bulgaria openned once again to adoption this summer we definitely felt this is where God was calling us to adopt from. Why now do I oscillate between passionate certainty and feeling shaken by doubt? If you know me well, you know that this can be a pattern in other areas of my life and in my spiritual walk as I seek to know that I am doing everything "right" and in the "best way" (also called perfectionism:)).
My answer to my emotional upheaval came through our pastor, Ryan's, message on Sunday. He spoke on Luke 4-5 and specifically answered the question of why Jesus healed some and not others, why did he perform miracles in some cities and not in others. As he unpacked Jesus' answer to this question, the main thrust was that it was in accordance with "His Sovereign Freedom". We don't serve a God that we can neatly explain. He is Sovereign and He is Free. He does not have to explain himself to us (see Job). We see this in healing and miracles but also in His Sovereignty over salvation. Our God is mysterious, good, gracious, and he doesn't always do what we think he will (or should). My answer came simply that God is God and I am not. His ways are higher than my ways--Isaiah 55:9.
I'm sure I will continue to struggle through days of emotional doubt but my assurance does not lie in my ability to neatly explain why or even point to specific facts. My assurance simply lies in God's call. My answer to "why adopt from Bulgaria" is simply that God in His Sovereignty has choosen a little Bulgarian girl to be grafted into our family. I don't really know where this fits into the grand scheme of things, but I do know that we are called to display His glory and goodness by reaching out to one and making them our own. This is enough. What an amazing reminder of my own journey into being grafted into God's family. I don't know the reasons and can't neatly explain it, but I am so thankful that He choose to give me new life and make me His own! He is Mysterious and I trust in His Goodness.
Kim
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Taylor Reading to Autumn
Taylor likes to read books to Autumn in the morning before we eat breakfast. This morning it was Mr. Brown Can Moo. Can You? by Dr. Suess.
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