One More Home

Dossier:   (a) One of those elusive words in the international adoption world that includes one syllable that sounds sophisticated and French because the 'r' is silent and the 'e' says 'a', but really it's    (b) One massive stack of paperwork wherein you become the most organized creature on the planet, compiling every ounce of marital, financial, physical health and mental stability certification and verification needed and then, after having each piece emblazoned with a golden seal that you traveled miles to obtain, you are forced to send it out into the world wanting nothing more than to hand deliver it to every stop it must make because this has become your "Precioussss" and no one else is responsible enough to touch it! Okay, so maybe I don't quite look like Gollum just yet.....This, my friends, is what our dossier really does look like: 2013 According to our updated home study that's the first date that we contacted L

Dear Child, I must confess that I don’t know your name. I’m not even sure if we were introduced to one another, and even if we had been, with the many names that had been given to me in softly spoken syllables, I’m not sure I would be able to recall yours. But, I could pick out your face. In a crowd of children, I would remember you. Standing under the brilliant Haitian sun, the heat causing the skin of my back to sweat, I can recall the moment one little body pressed itself against my side and wrapped slender arms around my waist. A tiny little sun adding its rays to the one overhead. Big brown eyes, so bright and shining that I could barely make out the outline of the pupils, and a smile full of teeth that were still those of a child, not yet making way for the expressions you’ll have when you’re older. I hope you know I tried. I came with the best of intentions when I stepped aboard that plane a week ago. You were a point of focus for me – go love the children w

3  So he told them this parable:   4  “What man of you, having a hundred sheep,  if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine  in the open country, and  go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?   5  And when he has found it,  he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.   6  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for  I have found my sheep that was lost.’   7  Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who  repents than over ninety-nine  righteous persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:3-7, ESV Once again the hot topic button of abortion has been pushed on social media and everywhere I look, people are in a frenzy to post, repost, blog all forms of emotional responses. They're angry, disgusted, defensive, and upset. And I understand, friends, I really do. I try not to venture into current event discussions like these, not because I don't have an opinion, but b

I had originally just wanted to open this blog post with one verse, 1 Corinthians 13:13, but before I did, I took the time to take a step back and look at the entire chapter. It's so good and so applicable to how I'm feeling that I'm going to share it in its entirety: "If I speak in the tongues of me and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy going or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends . As for proph

On this first day of Spring, it seems like the widespread panic of the Ebola virus and the way it filled every news feed was so long ago. Friends would post the most recent articles and warnings of how Ebola could possibly have found its way to the U.S., and people chose sides about quarantine issues and expressed their outrage about the threat to our personal safety. Borders closed, travel plans were cancelled, and even as I planned a trip to Kenya, a location thousands of miles from Liberia, friends and family worried for my safety. Not surprisingly, I was questioned extensively by customs upon my return to the US about who I visited in Africa and if anyone I came in contact with was ill. It's understandable that we choose to protect our own, to make sure we we do everything to keep those we love from being at risk. But now that the chaos has started to die down, in my own little self-centered way of only thinking of how things concern me, I really haven't given much more

I got a call from my social worker yesterday. Miss Carol Ann is busy revamping our home study, and she needed to ask a few questions regarding the changes we're making in our adoption. See, back when my husband and I filled out our original paperwork and started this journey, we had to ask ourselves what kind of parameters we would set for the child we would welcome home. And I'll be honest, I designed a neat and tidy little box that I felt comfortable with. If God wanted to me to follow His lead and adopt a child, that's just fine, but how about we make this a joint endeavor? I'd say yes to His call to adoption, and in return He'd give me the control the rest of the way. Country? I pick China. Number of children adopting? 1 Age? I think we're okay with up to 4 years old. Sex? Little girl, please. Special needs? We feel we can handle minor special needs. Check, check and check. We're good. Right, God? Now, if you'd like, we can debate thought

I can remember the popping sound that the tin roof made as the Kenyan sun high above started to heat up the metal. The day was bright and sunny and filled with the excitement of being back on red African dirt, and I was able to push past the reaching fingers of jet lag that were trying to drag me down. I hadn't expected to wake up that Saturday morning and hit the ground running, but when God gives you the opportunity to witness the work He is doing, you don't decline the invitation.  In fact, I always find great delight in the unexpected gifts He has, the ones that aren't on the trip's agenda. That first morning spent in Kenya was just that - a beautiful gift. I followed my guide up the hill towards a school house located at the back corner of the property, my lungs getting their first chance to try and breathe while climbing the elevated hills of Tigoni. Our visit happened to fall on a Saturday when the Neema girls were meeting, and we were getting the chance to s

"But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Confessional time, friends - Mike and I, we have reached a place of weariness and discouragement. We have come upon a stumbling block in our path, and right now, I think we're just sitting on the ground with bruised knees from the fall and bloody scraped palms from trying to catch ourselves. We didn't even see it coming. If you could go back just one week in our lives, you would find two people who were hopeful that this week would have brought a new opportunity, a hopeful outcome, a change for the better. I had hopes that maybe this love I have for helping the fatherless in this world would be allowed to take root in my work life as well, that maybe I could take a step away from business and a turn towards a deeper ministry. It was right there on my horizon one day, and I kept my eyes on it expectedly, waiting patiently for my time, but it seems that was me

"Not all those who wander are lost..." Taken from the Poem "All That is Gold Does Not Glitter" by JRR Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings novels It has been a while since I have given a status update as to where we are in the process of our adoption. For those of you who have lovingly walked beside us in this journey and have given us words of encouragement, I send my sincere thanks. This road is a long one, and we have cherished your support along the way. That being said, there's been a change of direction for our family, and I hope, as I share our most recent adventure, that you won't jump ahead and try to guess the outcome. Instead, I ask that you simply read the story, coming alongside me as I share how God has been working in our lives. On Wednesday, October 29, 2014, our agency shared on Facebook a need for a family to take in 3 sisters, ages 3, 10 and 12 from Latin America in order to prevent them from having to separate. I didn't see