What a blessing this weekend has been!

Thank goodness it is Monday!  Said no one ever!  This past weekend was such a blessing for our family. On Friday, we were really busy!  First, it was Laurie's birthday and words cannot express how much she means to me and our family.  We are blessed to have an awesome Wife and Mother!

After a morning doctor visit for me, we completed our scheduled interviews with our social worker Lyndsey. Again, Lyndsey is awesome at what she does and made the interviews very comfortable.  We are ahead of the process and hope to have our paperwork sent off by January!

One thing that we realized from the interviews (other than we are introverts), is how much our adoption is allowing us to spread the gospel.  When asked what my feelings were about the adoption process, I sat back and thought about two things. Oh my!  We are consumed with paperwork and training, I almost forgot what the end reward was, A SON, however even with being buried within the process there have been opportunities for us to tell our story.  When we tell our story we cannot even begin to tell it without first mentioning, why we are called to adopt.

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27 (NLT)

This gives us an opportunity to spread the gospel to individuals who we may have never reached out to on our own.  We were orphans who were rescued from sin, through the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection three days later of our Lord Jesus Christ.  As a living testament to our belief, we are to live as James 1:27 instructs us, go and do, do not sit and listen.  We are not rescuers of orphans, but are the rescued!  The video below is well worth the couple of minutes.

Francis Chan For Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

So beyond bringing home our son and brother, we have been given a platform to proclaim God's glory.

That was pretty much our Friday!
Saturday began early with a trip to Lexington to watch Kentucky football! GO BIG BLUE!  While the outcome was not what we had hoped, the time Laurie and I had together was better than any win. We even had a couple of surprise guest, Jason (BIL) and Carrie (SIL), who secretly made their way to Lexington as well. After a early dinner, we enjoyed a quiet night with no kids! (Even though we missed them tremendously)

A side note to Saturday, my Aunt and Uncle gave us there old living room set, which is awesome!  We are very grateful for their kindness.

As we awoke on Sunday, our nerves began to set in.  We had been asked to speak during our Orphan Sunday Service about our journey.  At first we were reluctant to speak.  With all of the other families who have adopted within our church, surely they were more qualified to speak about the topic, however after much prayer we decided it was important to tell our story.  Without those other families in our church, getting up, and telling their adoption stories over the past two years, we may have never pursued adoption.  The level of orphan care in our church is amazing!  So many families doing as they are called to do!  On stage we had families from (5) nations, including the United States who have or are in the process of adopting!

To our surprise, we were overwhelmed with family members coming to see us talk.  It was awesome having my Nana, Mom, Brothers, Sister, and Niece visiting to hear our story.  Combined with Laurie's Mom, Sister, her Husband and their kids, we truly could feel the support of our family.

As the service began, my emotions started to get the best of me, I NEVER CRY, but the Lord was pulling on my heart.  Our turn came, and with God's power and grace, we were able to tell our story.

While each families story is different, we wanted to express that when God gives you a command, FOLLOW IT!  Do not give in to easy excuses such as, lack of time, lack of love, lack of money, but have faith in the power of our Lord.

“Faith makes all things possible… love makes all things easy.” ~ D.L. Moody

Adoption or foster care may not be for everyone, but there our things you can do to help orphans around the world.

Ten Ways Every Christian Can Care for the Orphan

1. Plead with the Father for Them

2. Speak Up For Them

3. Give Them What They Need

4. Support Those Who Support Them

5. Provide Them a Safe Place

6. Go Visit Them

7. Give Sacrificially to Them

8. Cheer Them On

9. Give Them a Forever Family

10. Mobilize Your Church for Them

So as you can see, our family was truly blessed this weekend!