Christmas Eve

Today began well, up early with Buddy to finish up wrapping gifts. After an hour or so we started hearing a strange gurgling sound in the bathroom. When we checked, we noticed air bubbles coming out of the hole in the toilet bowl. We were confused but, who cares about bubbles? Not us, we're wrapping. Another hour goes by and Buddy goes back to our bathroom and finds water coming up out of the toilet and flooding the bathroom! I mean pouring out of the toilet. We turned the water off, check the next bathroom and the bathtub is completely full of blue, soapy water! We run to the guest bathroom where we find that toilet now overflowing onto the wood floor! Now we realize something is clogging the main drain from the house and all the water is backing up. The washing machine was backing up into the bathtub! Buddy is getting panicky as dollar signs fly in front of his eyes. I'm thinking, "why today? why was everything fine when we went to bed and we wake up today, Christmas Eve, and we have this major problem! Come on, Lord, what is this about? What are you trying to teach us?" I know God is in control of every circumstance so I know there is a reason for even this. We start making calls, finally find a plumber at Hiller and schedule a visit. We filled another couple of hours with searching for the outdoor sewer valve thing in the yard (which we never found), and getting ready to go to the Y for a shower. All of a sudden, Buddy finds me and says, "guess what?, all the water drained out and everything is working!" The plumber was on his way and he came, checked everything out and could find nothing wrong. He stayed an hour, left and we only owed $49.00!!! Wow, God is so good! What I was reminded of through this is, one, God is definitely in control of our finances, comfort, and time. Any other conclusion is only an illusion. And He is good and right and loving, so we can trust Him. Thanks for the reminder, help me live in that knowledge each and every day.
And now, as I write, it is 12:27 a.m. on Christmas Day!!! Merry Christmas, everyone. I'll post tomorrow because in the morning, we are supposed to Skype with Bobby!!!!!

This is a picture of Judah saying goodbye to all his friends at the orphanage just before he got in the car to go to the airport to head to St. Louis and his family. He and Bobby are hugging and Joseph (Oatsvall) is looking on. Bittersweet picture.

Rejoicing today with our friends, Ryan and Lindsey Doyle whose son Judah arrived in the U.S. to join his forever family tonight!! What an amazing story... A little boy, orphaned as a baby, living these past four or so years in an orphanage in Uganda will go to sleep tonight surrounded by his mother and daddy, brother and two sisters in St. Louis, Missouri. He will be able to grow up knowing he matters to someone, and not only that but that he is loved deeply. And not because of anything Judah did, but just because God worked out circumstances and desires and connected a family with a boy. Which is the exact thing Christ does for us...He reaches out to us because He first loved us, draws us to Himself, just because He wants to have a love relationship with us. Nothing more or less. Connecting a human with the Divine.

For wonderful pictures of of Judah's homecoming please click on the link to their blog on the right margin.

Here are more pictures of the day Curry James gave Bobby his photo album and stuffed dog. Stephanie, a lady who is at the orphanage now, told me that Bobby is so proud of the dog and shows it to everyone. In these pictures you can see him going around to the mamas showing all of them his book and dog. Soo sweet.

This video was taken immediately after Bobby received his photo album and stuffed dog we sent to him by way of Curry James. She is now back in Nashville and gave me a CD of photos of Bobby which included this video. It is so sweet, Bobby is embarrassed and shy about telling us hello but he does anyway! We love you too, Bobby!

Praying this morning and so wanting Bobby to be here with us, so wanting to hear something from Uganda. As I journaled I asked God to give me confidence that Bobby would be with us, then spent some time in the Psalms where I've been reading for a while now. Today I'm in Psalm 113 and this was included:

Psalm 113:7 - He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people.
and
Psalm 114:8 - [God] who turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.

Thank you, Jesus, for this reasurrance, thank you that you listen and that you are really the one in charge of everything. You are in control of the courts, the judges, the process. You know the desire of our hearts, thank you that you are always and only right and just in all you do and that I can trust you with Bobby and this process.

I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful Thanksgiving focusing on the true blessings in our lives, our relationships with others and with the Lord.

Prayer for a court date

We would love it if you would take a moment (or longer if you want) this Sunday to join us in praying that we hear about our court date in Uganda before the courts take a break for Christmas. This would be an impossible thing otherwise. We totally trust God's timing but also know that in Romans 12:12 it says: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. And Psalm 17:6 I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.
Thank you for joining with us for this pre-Thanksgiving blessing!

Bobby Knows Us!

He knows us!!! Yesterday Curry James who is volunteering at Amani and whose Mom teaches here at CPA gave Bobby his little book and stuffed animal that we had sent over with her in September. The book has pictures of our family, our pets, his room, and our house. Curry said he was so excited and took the book around to all the Mamas and pointed out things to them. This picture is so sweet of Curry helping Bobby to understand the words and pictures. I LOVE the smile he has. These pictures warmed my heart so much. Thank you, Lord.

Buddy's birthday was Saturday and to celebrate we took a trip to Lynchburg, Tennessee to eat at the famous Miss Mary Bobo's. The day was beautiful, warm and sunny. We walked around the square, visited a few gifts shops which were all filled with the same merchandise that we did not want to buy, and talked to a few locals. One of the locals was the shopkeeper at an antique store and was 90 years old. He was as spry as Buddy. The water must be good there or maybe it's something else they drink...Anyway, we meandered over to the boarding house, Miss Bobo's, and after chatting with a few more locals, one of which taught my boss when he was in fifth grade, sat down for some home cooking! Plates of fried chicken, meatloaf, turnip greens, macaroni and cheese (real, not Velvetter), corn muffins, baked apples, green beans, and fried okra passed in front of us. Because they went past Austin before Buddy or me, we still had room for dessert. Man, that boy can eat! I am pleased to say Buddy and I left pleasantly satisfied and Austin had a stomach ache.

While we milled around waiting to eat, in walks my sister and her family from Alabama!! I knew about it but Buddy was completely surprised. A little later, my parents also arrive from Alabama. Both families drove 1 1/2 hours to make this special for Buddy!! All us adults plus Austin sat together along with seven other people who all happened to be from Nashville. Buddy wound up sitting next to a guy he had never met but who works in the same department as him and who he has a meeting scheduled with this week! We made it home in time to go to the high school play, Hello, Dolly! Fabulous. I actually liked it so much I went Thursday and Saturday and I didn't even have a child in it!

So Buddy's birthday 2009 is history, hope it was memorable and full of the things he likes, family, friends and food. I love you Buddy - Cindy

Milestone Month for Grayson

After two long years, Grayson got his braces off today! The orthodontist office gave him a bag of goodies that had been banned during the years of having metal adhered to his teeth. Things like popcorn, milk duds, bubble gum, and tootsie rolls. I think you will agree that maybe the orthodontist is in cahoots with the dentist. Anyway, my baby is growing up! (He's going to be surprised when he reads this! haha) He turns 16 on the 24th of the month! Driving and looking in the mirror at this teeth, wow!

Before / After

This is a picture taken prior to the Homecoming dance which happened back in October. It's a rare thing to see these two boys dressed up, especially one wearing a tie and one a bow-tie! You know there had to be girls involved. They both had a good time, now the jacket will hang in the closet awaiting graduation.

AFFIDAVIT

We got it today!!!!! We are so thrilled. For so long now it has seemed like the adoption is something way off in the distance and a little unreal. Well, now it seems like this really is going to happen! I can hardly wait to get all the paperwork filled out and sent back. Once that is done we wait on the court date. Could be soon...could not, but it is a lot sooner than it was yesterday.

This video is one off a disc I got in the mail last week from Anna Mattingly who worked at Amani in 2007 and again this past December. I love to hear Bobby's voice.

This month is Orphan Awareness month and our church published a booklet with pictures and stories from members who have adopted a child or are in the process of adopting. I loved all the stories and was so involved in reading them all, I was aggravated when I had to get up to sing!!

Saturday we go to the Show Hope Foundation dinnner. Show Hope is Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman's organization which helps people who are adopting. We went last year and sat with our friends the Moore's. I was so impressed and inspired by Mary Beth's words about her continued trust in the control and goodness of God even during the horrible circumstances of her young daughter's death. Buddy and I made a small donation, never, ever, even dreaming that a year later we would be in the process of an international adoption. If you had told either of us that this is where we would be this year, I'm positive we would have laughed and then talked about how crazy you were on the way home. And yet...look where we are! God has such compassion for orphans that He will move through His people to meet the need so that they are taken care of... so...this time next year, it may be you.

I've posted a link to the blog of Arnold's family. Arnold is the little boy in the "I Love You" pictures with Bobby posted in a previous blog. He just arrived in the U.S. with a volunteer and his mom has chronicled his first days here. Very interesting and detailed and I'm so thankful she is recording his food likes and dislikes among other things.

Changing the subject somewhat, along this journey we have encountered various reactions to our adoption decision. Most people are supportive but there have been some who don't understand. That's ok. We are secure in knowing we are doing what we feel God has called us to do, and with older teenagers, our "rose-colored" glasses came off a long time ago. We also know that God isn't going to call us to something and not equip us. I picked this scripture up from the Y this week and know it to be true:

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." 1 Peter 3:13-14

Dana Keck, who just arrived back in the States with Asher (their Ugandan addition), gave me this picture that Bobby drew just before she left Uganda. It is a picture of a girl, (I think it's me)! So cute. She said he cried and cried when she left because he wants his mommy to come. So sad. I'll be there, hold on! Lord, please comfort Bobby and let him somehow be able to rest secure in the knowledge that he will be in a family soon. I know You can give that peace even to a four year old.

Today we received our I600a approval from the US Office of Immigration! I'm not sure what this means except that the US has now okayed and sent our request for a visa for Bobby to the US Embassy in Kampala. (I think) So, another step in the process has been reached and for that, we celebrate!!

Bobby knows!

Listen to this from Lindsey Doyle who is in Uganda with her husband to work toward bringing home their son Judah. She says...

"Hello my friend, I have loved on Bobby like you would not believe!!!! He came up to me immediately the first time I went to the orphanage and said, "Do you know my mommy? You call her and and you tell her to come. I want her." Literally, got to tell him...:"I do know your mommy and she is coming as soon as she can. Bobby, she loves you very, very much!!!!" Each time I go back (which is a lot) he tells me..."My mommy is coming!" PRECIOUS PRECIOUS PRECIOUS!!!!"

Oh my word!! How amazing is that. And how sweet is Lindsey to take time to love on Bobby and make sure he knows a family wants him, and then to take time to tell me. She's my hero! I know it is still a long wait for a little boy but I'm so glad he knows that he is worthy enough to have the love of a family. -

Sorry for the delay in updating my blog. We have been very busy lately rearranging the kids bedrooms then painting Spencer's ceiling and walls. Grayson and Austin now share a bedroom, Bobby will have the back bedroom and Spencer now has Austin's old bedroom. We just finished painting tonight.
The weekend before last my sister's daughter, Kate, came from Alabama to visit and help us get ready for Bobby. She and I shopped at a garage sale, thrift stores and of course, TJ Maxx. Among our finds was an old Red Ryder youth wheelbarrow, a Little Tykes tool set and box, some books, and a few items of clothing. She tirelessly helped move beds, mattresses and other furniture. It happened to be homecoming weekend here, so my boys were consumed with that and only helped a little. Spencer was at UT visiting her friend all weekend. Therefore, Kate's help was essential! She and I ate out at a local Thai and sushi place where I mistakenly ate the blob of wasabi thinking it was avocado. I'll only make that mistake once! (I hope)
We all went Friday to the Dept. of Homeland Security office to be fingerprinted. We were the first ones there and everyone got to miss a morning of school/work so that always makes for an enjoyable time. It has been a little weird having to go through that department, makes me feel like someone thinks I'm a little more important than I do. Now that we've done the fingerprinting, we are finished with all the paperwork for now. We just have to wait on word from Uganda granting custody. Then...I'll find out and let you know.
I'll post some pics tomorrow night. In the meantime, keep praying for us and the other families, the Doyles left yesterday for Uganda. Their blog link is on the right side of this blog.

I love you!

This series is courtesy of Grace Hartmann who volunteered this summer at Amani. Bobby is on the right in a tye dyed t-shirt. There are lots more pictures of Bobby in photos of Cindy on facebook.

A few good things related to our progress this week. We received our home study report and put it in the mail with the Ugandan custody papers! This will be in route for a week (it's a long way to Uganda) and should arrive there early next week. This was the culmination of months worth of work. We were determined to get it off the day the report was faxed to us (Tuesday). So, I left work that afternoon, waited on Buddy to finish work, we drove downtown to the Metro police station, waited on them to run a local police report, drove straight to Kinko's and mailed them off! Whew! I felt like having a party!

Then today we found out that Bobby tested negative for TB which is fabulous. If a child tests positive, they are not allowed to enter the US until they have completed 6 months of medication. Imagine the disappointment many adults and adoptees face when they don't find this out until they are in the country to pick up the child they are adopting. So, I'm grateful they tested him and the other children in process of adoption, and that he doesn't have it.

If this doesn't tug at your heart strings, nothing will! Heidi ( who volunteered at Amani this summer) said he had an injured finger and had hit it on something.

About our progress, tomorrow we will receive our home study report!!! This weekend I just realized we have to go downtown to the Metro police station for one more piece of info and then we can finally mail in our papers to Uganda to receive custody! It will take a while for us to receive notification of this. Pray for us to have patience and trust God's timing.

I talked to Lindsey Doyle this weekend who had talked to Dana Keck (I have links to both blogs) this weekend. Dana, who is in Uganda now, said that every time she goes to Amani, where Bobby is, he runs up to her and asks, "when is my mommy coming?", and "when can I go to my family?" I started praying last week that God would let him know that he has a family and that he is loved. Thank you Lord, for that answer.

Please pray for the Mayernick family who have run into some difficulty while in Uganda. You can find a link to their blog on the right side of this page. Precious family with six children at home.

Here they are eating eggs for breakfast. Bobby is on the front left in striped shirt. Judah is second on right tempting his neighbor it looks like! hahaha. A glimpse of orphan life.

Surprise!!

Tonight I went to the high school volleyball game because the head coach, Pat Perry told me that the girls on the team wanted to do something special for Courtney Keen, the assistant coach. I arrived at 5:00 p.m. as instructed and waited on the JV game to end so that we could eat cake with Courtney and surprise her. Well...imagine my surprise when the girls and coaches lined up facing the bleachers and asked that me and Coach Maddux come down to the front!! I was sooo surprised!! No one can ever surprise me but this team did today! Anna Mitchell proceeded to explain to the crowd that the team hosted a tournament recently and made money. As they discussed the options of how to spend it, like, new equipment, warm-ups, etc., they decided to do something to help bring Bobby and the Maddux kids home!!

I am so humbled to be the recipient of the generosity and kindness of these teenage girls. Only girls receptive to God's Spirit working in their hearts would want to do something so selfless and sweet. God is so good! This gift is amazing! Thank you Jesus and thank you girls for your love for a little orphan named Bobby. He doesn't even know yet that he is coming home to a group of young women who already love him more than he can imagine. What you have done is now part of his life story. All the Hannah's thank you for this wonderful gift.

Another cute picture. Bobby is on the left with the frog on his shirt and Judah is on the far right. These two must be pals because most pictures I see of one also has the other in it. Good thing they will both be in Nashville and at the same church and school!

Dana Keck (her blog is Mighty to Save) left this morning with the Mayernicks flying to Uganda to pick up their children! They expect to be gone 3 to 4 weeks. Please pray for the process to go smoothly and for their families here.

ponderings

And he's talented! I think this is part of a game called, "hi, my name is chubby."


I just hung up from talking to a friend of mine from college. She and her husband have two teenagers and have just begun foster parenting. For around a month and a half now they have been taking care of twins who were only 6 weeks old at the time. Even in the midst of exhaustion, she feels content knowing she is doing exactly what God has called her and her family to do. She said the book Journey of Desire by John Eldridge made a huge impact on her and helped lead them to make the decision to take on the responsibility of foster parenting. She said that she and her husband and kids know that at some point the babies will most likely have to leave and she will miss them but that they knew this when they decided to help these children. She said that God is teaching her that all we really have is today anyway, no one knows about tomorrow for any of us so we have to live in the present, love and enjoy each other to the fullest today. Thank you so much for the reminder, Nancy.

Lord, I lift that family up to you today, please strengthen them, especially my friend, the Mom, give her the energy she needs to take care of her family today. Use each day to draw them all closer to You, to teach them more about You. Thank you for the friends You have sent them to support and minister to them. Thank you for their courage to follow Your call which has not made their lives easier or made them popular but has given them peace and soul satisfaction. Thank You for how You have ministered to me today through my sweet friend.

Here the boys are in line for a "haircut", Grace said it's really a shaving! Bobby is the first one on this end. He doesn't look too worried. We know the family who is adopting one of the other boys (the one in the blue striped shirt). His name is Judah.

Going through lots of pictures today, we are sending a photo album and stuffed animal to Bobby by way of a student who graduated last year from CPA. She is headed to the Amani orphanage to work for three months. Bobby will not be told about us until we receive custody which is likely to happen while Curry is there. So, I took some pictures of our house, the dog and cat, and our family. I hope we don't scare him! We're also giving him a stuffed dog. I sent Spencer and Austin out to find him an animal and they found a stuffed snake, not sure that will be the best thing... We may wait until he is here to get that.

I've been scanning facebook for pictures of Bobby so that I can make an album for him. I feel so blessed to have pictures from when he first came to the orphanage and was about a year old. I'll post a few.

For pictures of the orphanage look up http://www.amanibabycottage.org/. Isn't that a cute name?

Just checked our email and our application was approved by Amani!! We are officially on our way. We had our last visit with Lisa, our social worker yesterday and await that paperwork. We mailed our papers to immigration services, a week later they were returned, we had to add some birth certificates and mailed it back to immigration on the same day. Whew! I'm so glad all the gathering of the initial paperwork is done. This included everything you or your pets or children have ever done, thought about doing or wished you had done.

Many thanks to those of you who wrote reference letters, everyone was so joyful and excited for us. We love and appreciate you.

Here's Bobby!

Isn't he cute! This must be his favorite shirt. Thanks to Grace who volunteered all summer at Amani for these pictures. I love them!

Our Journey Begins

Divine interruption. That's how we would describe the nudging of God in our hearts that created a desire to adopt a little boy named Bobby. Our family currently consists of my husband, Buddy, myself and our three children, ages 15, 18, and 19. Life is moving along at a quick pace which seems to get faster every year.

A few years ago I started reading a blog by Katie Davis, a 19 year old Nashville woman who works in an orphanage/school in Uganda and has an amazing story. Her blog is called The Journey and can be found at http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ . Her story is one of abandonment to the call of God. A story of courage, obedience, faith and stubborn perseverance. And one of God's provision and His pouring out of love to her and the people she ministers to. Because of her, many families have been exposed to the children of Africa and have felt God calling them to adopt. So far, seven families are in the process of adopting a total of nine children from the same orphanage in Uganda! Amazing!

Several weeks ago as I logged on to one family's blog, the first entry was a picture of a little boy with a volunteer and the blurb said that four of his best friends were being adopted and moving to Nashville and he was left behind. My heart melted and I showed it to my husband who felt the same way. We both felt God impressing on our hearts that this is something we could do. The little boy is Bobby and hopefully soon he will be in Nashville and a part of our family. Through the years I have felt a pull toward adoption or foster care but the timing has never been right. We are immersed in a large community of people through church, school, and friends who are adoptive parents. Many of our closest friends have adopted and we love their kids.

I know to most people it doesn't make sense for my husband and I, who have it so easy with our kids at the ages they are, to essentially start over. Honestly, it isn't logical to me either and sometimes I question my sanity. I get scared and doubts take over at times, but I know I wouldn't have this desire, this sense of anticipation, if God hadn't put it there. He never called us to an easy life, just to a life yielded to Him. And in that yielding and stepping out in faith he promises to be there and to be all sufficient. I like how The Message puts this: This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. Rom.8:15 I don't know what the future holds, maybe it holds alot of pain, and maybe it will be harder than I imagine, but I'm being led by the only one I want to please because He is my Abba and the one who loves me the most.