Just waiting....

I know many of you have been checking our site over the past few weeks to see the status of our adoption. I have hesitated writing anything, because I honestly did not have anything to share. We are currently waiting for the next list of special needs children to be released by the CCAA. They have generally followed a pattern of posting the list in the latter part of the month. We have been holding our breath for days - just waiting for the CALL. For those of you waiting, you know how tough this can be. I have run though a ton of emotions.

Anyway, I did receive a call from our agency this morning. The new list should be posted next week. Since tomorrow is a holiday in China, we know that nothing will be posted until at least Monday. :(

I ask that you pray with us. I just want to see her face. I know she is out there - I have total faith in that. My heart just longs to meet her.

Till later....

What a Weekend

You may want to grab a cup of coffee - this will be a long post, it has been an amazing weekend. Let's start with Friday night, and go from there. On Friday evening, we just spent some much needed downtime. We went for a walk as a family and then hung out with our neighbors. Terry says we look hilarios when we all go for a walk. With all of our kids, we look like a herd of some sort. The kids played until after 11:00 pm. I think Trenton was asleep before his head hit the pillow. :)

Now, let's move on to Saturday morning. I have been registered to attend the Hope for Orphans seminar since the first of the year. Starting an orphan ministry in our church has been a desire of mine for a long time, but I just never knew how to start. This was an amazing training. Everything is so organized. They give you suggestions on a structure and help you see how this could fit within your church. Jason Weber from Family Life is a wonderful presenter and is also an adoptive father. I am very excited about the future for 2 Rivers Church and our orphan ministry. Stay tuned...

We also had the opportunity to conduct our raffle drawing for the fundraiser. I cannot thank you all enough. We raised more than $2,000 for our adoption. PRAISE GOD!!!! I am humbled by your love and support. If you would like to check out the winners list, visit our fundraising blog.

We will have other fundraisers going on over the next few months. We currently have other donated items posted on EBay. Check them out if you get a chance. We also plan to have a Yard Sale the weekend of May 15 & 16. If you live in the St Louis area, come check it out.

Now, let's talk about that concert. I had the opportunity to attend the United Tour concert with my friend Angie. Just a few words about Angie. She is a loving mother, wife and awesome woman of God. I feel so blessed to have her as my friend.

The concert was SOLD OUT and a packed house. We had front row - center tickets!!! That was so cool!!! Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith have been some of my favorite Christian artist for many years. Their music is real - it touches your heart right where you are. Michael share some very special thoughts about God's heart for us. It helped me to see a lot in myself. I may post more about that later - just not sure how to articulate it right now. But I was blessed! We also had the opportunity to hear from Geoff Moore regarding Show Hope. Geoff is a wonderful artisit and song writer. It was really neat to hear him talk about his little China girls.

After the concert, we had a chance for a meet and greet with Steven Curtis. He is a great guy and I hurt for all they have endured this past year. Please keep them in prayer as the one year anniversary of Maria Sue's death approaches. Theirs is a pain I cannot even imagine.

So, now we are headed off to church. It is the 10 year anniversary of 2 Rivers today. We are having a tent service on our ground. It should be a great day.

Enjoy the pictures - till later....

Michael W. Smith - even better in concert!

Geoff Moore - what an amazing guy!!!

Mr. Steven Curtis Chapman

SPRING IS HERE!!!!

Finally, Spring is here. You can tell the temperatures are getting warmer in our neighborhood. It is amazing how all the families begin to venture out of their homes. It is almost like bears coming our of hibernation. :)

I took some new pictures of the kids this evening while we were out for a walk. I am practicing my photography skills. What do you all think???

Till later...

Adoption Ministry

I am really excited about a workshop that I am attending this weekend. For months, I have felt that God is leading us to start an Orphan ministry at our church. The difficult part is knowing HOW to get it started. We have a lot of people in our church with a desire to get involved, but we were unsure of what we needed to do.

Family Life has developed this course to help enable churches to start an orphan ministry. It is being held at Calvary Church in St Peters, Missouri. They still have spots open, if you are interested in attending.

Till later...

An Amazing Birthday Present

I had a birthday a few weeks ago. It was pretty uneventful, but still a nice birthday. We had dinner at O'Charley's and the kids sang happy birthday. Just a nice evening with the family. It had been a really tough week at work, so we kept things pretty low key.

Well, yesterday, I got a belated birthday gift. Through a charity auction, we won tickets and backstage pass with a meet and greet for... the Steven Curtis Chapman concert later this month. Yep, my girlfriend Angie and I will be sitting on the front row at the United Tour concert and then meeting Steven Curtis after the concert. WOW - that is the coolest birthday gift ever!!! Have I mentioned lately how much I love my family! Thanks guys!

Till later....

Adoption Update

I wanted to share where we are with our adoption process. As you will read in a previous post, we did not receive a referral when the March Shared List was posted. I have spent the past few weeks feeling very defeated. I had gotten my hopes so high. Tessa asks constantly when we will go get her "baby Tia". Yep - that's right, we have a name for this little one. Her full name will be Tiana Jo (insert Chinese name) Harlow. But to everyone in our home, she is baby Tia.

So, for now we wait until the next list is released later this month. Please keep us in your prayers.

Till later...

Upward Soccer

We have a new little soccer star in our home. Trenton has joined an Upward Soccer team. They are sooo adorable!!! I really don't think they totally get all of the rules of soccer, but they sure have a good time.

Till later....

The true reason for Upward - to teach these precious little boys about the love of Jesus Christ