Something New

I changed things up a little around here.  The lack of symmetry is killing me though.  It might look completely different next time you stop by. 
One thing that will probably be sticking around though is my new thingy on the side over there.  It is something that we have been talking about around here for 2 years and 8 months. 

adoption.

This word isn't new around our family.  Liberty has been talking about her sister for years now.  Bless her heart.  What is new is something else that we've never been before.

ready.

Just to sit and type those words brings tears to my eyes.  I have longed to be classified as "ready."  

When we get settled we will be ready. 
When Darrell gets a better job we will be ready.  
When we find a house we will be ready. 
When we finish the house we will be ready.  
When we close on the house we will be ready.

All the while we wait patiently, never losing hope or fervor that somewhere out there I have a beautiful daughter waiting for my hugs and kisses.  Waiting for a sister who has prayed for her and longed for her.  Waiting for a daddy that will adore her.  

Darrell and I decided to stop with one child when we had a precious daughter.  After 3 boys (who are actually men now!) he was satisfied with a daughter.  =)  He even went through a "procedure" so that we would be done for good.  And we were done.  Until January of 2010 when the Lord opened our hearts to adoption.  This was something we had never thought we could do.  Not only that, we never thought we even wanted to.  

Plans.  God laughs at them.   

Fast forward almost 3 years and here we are.  So humbled that God would allow us to even go on this journey.  

Our plan is to adopt a girl who is between 4 and 7.  Or roughly in that age range.  We are adopting internationally.  We've narrowed down the countries, but we are really trying to seek the Lord's will.  We have a small time frame to pick a country and when we do, I will be on here asap letting you know.  

International adoption (all adoptions really) have a way of driving you to the point of insanity.  And possibly over the point of insanity.  There are so many twists and turns.  The rules change without notice.  We expect our adoption to take at least a year, but probably longer.  This is actually a short time frame since we plan on adopting from the waiting child list and are requesting an "older" child. 

So this little Chip In is just so significant in our lives.  It is also a little awkward.  Its not the first time we've needed help.  But to have to ask has a way of bringing you to your knees. Adoption is expensive.  When the Lord took us in, it wasn't cheap.  It cost Him his Son.  Lucky for us we only have to come up with about $30,000.  When this goal is met I will be adjusting it to reflect our new goal for our next expenses.  And please know there will be NO shortage of praises from this family when He provides every dollar we need.
If the Lord leads you to donate to our family, we won't take it lightly.  And we thank you for loving us and believing in God's plan for our lives.  We would also be humbled beyond belief if you would share our website with anyone with a heart and passion for the orphan.  

Eventually I will be putting a few other websites on the sidebar of families who are in the same need as we are.  The Bible speaks so plainly about caring for the orphans.  Not every can adopt.  But everyone can do something little.  There are so many families who have taken a step of faith and started this process with only a few dollars in their savings account.  And they have seen miracles from the Lord using people to help a child find their family. 

Praise the Lord.  His name will be praised in this house for what He has done and what He will do in our lives. 

We are ready.

Love,
Darrell, Cindy and Liberty

 

Second Grade

Tuesday was our first day of school.  It was very low key and uneventful.  We had a mini photo shoot outside.

We started out in front of my freshly painted front door.  The sun was too bright so we moved to the rock wall in the front.

 

 And of course the teacher...

Keeping It Real