Counting Down The Weeks!

We received our Letter of Confirmation from China! We were expecting this to arrive at the end of January, but we were so surprised to receive it yesterday! We found out about it 10 minutes before Tony (our oldest) walked across the stage at his college graduation. What a surreal moment for Dexter and I. A few weeks ago I had the thought pass through my mind while cleaning the house that wouldn't it be neat if God surprised us for Christmas with news from China. He knows my thoughts and blessed us with the most incredible gift. So now we sign the letter and overnight it to the agency on Monday. They will send it back to China, and we will have Travel approval within 3-4 weeks. We should be leaving around the 1st of February!!!! I really cannot put into words all that we are feeling. It has been a yearning in my heart for years, confirmed by the Lord a few years ago, a pursuit down 3 different roads, and now it's only a few weeks until Maggie Mae gets to come home to her family. What an incredible gift from the Lord. Once again, His timing is incredible. This last week has been full of Him speaking words of Life, setting me free from chains, and providing for our needs. His ways are higher and I love being reminded of that.
We were planning on doing a few more fund raising events when we thought we were traveling at the end of March. For now we are going to try and have one more yard sale with all the things we still have left. We are still in need of about $9,000. We are by no means worried about this because we have been overwhelmed by His provision through the community this year. We know He will complete what He has started. Please continue to pray for Maggie Mae's health. We have not gotten any updates and probably will not before travel. Our prayer still remains that God will be glorified through her life, whether that is through healing her eyes or through the way she embraces life with a visual impairment. We definitely believe in the miracle of healing and know God can heal her, and we will continue to pray for His will for her life. Have a blessed Christmas season remembering the still, quiet way He came into this world.
Let Earth Receive Her King!

Logged in and counting down!!!!

As of September 27th, we are officially logged into to CCAA in China. What that means is they have our stuff and let the paper route begin. It should take 3-4 months for our papers to get approved and a Letter Seeking Confirmation sent to us. When we sign and return that letter, we will be traveling within 8 weeks. So for now we are looking at Feb. or March for travel!!!!!
We had a great day out picking up trash in Macon County. We are so thankful to all that came out and helped that day. The Pancake Breakfast was a huge success thanks to the Magdon family. In addition, the Pike Road Arts and Crafts Festival was fun and we shared our story for about 7 hours, literally. Spiritually and financially, it was more than Dexter and I could have ever imagined. God's story is an incredible one and people need to hear what He is doing now, not just what He has done in the past. He is the same today as yesterday and will be the same tomorrow. He is the only constant thing we have. Speaking of constant, we are experiencing a constant flow of support for the rest of our fees and travels. We are now officially all going to China thanks to a generous family member who is going to pay for our trip. This is a huge blessing for our children to meet their sister with us and get to experience this culture first hand. It will be awesome having our children with us!!!
So for now, we wait and continue to seek God on how He wants us to raise the remaining $10, 845. So far to date, He has provided over $12,000 through fundraisers and individual donations!!!!!
Many have asked if the other agency in Florida has returned our money. We have not heard anything from them other than promises they are not keeping. However, the Lord revealed something to me the other day that has brought a renewed perspective on this. I have been walking by faith throughout this process believing He will provide; however, that promise of the $11,000 from Florida was like an insurance policy in my back pocket. The other day, after having a meltdown over their dishonesty and avoidance of us, I sensed in my spirit the Lord telling me to let it go, and rely totally on Him. You see I thought I was relying solely on Him, but somewhere I believed the lie that "if God doesn't come through then you always have the money they owe you." Well there is no IF with God. He has a perfect plan that is His, and He will see to it that His plan prevails. So once again, God is teaching me so much about following Him recklessly and abandoned from the ways of this world.
I close with this scripture that I have been meditating on and cannot seem to move from it. It happens in the throne room of God and I can't imagine being anywhere else, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Revelation 4:8

ENDURANCE TRAINING

About a year ago I decided to start running. I went to the local bookstore and bought a book to guide me in my training. The whole concept of the book is to build your endurance by following a Walk/Run program. I was pumped, motivated, ready to conquer this thing I have always wanted to accomplish, the 5K. To many this is not a big goal, but to me, it was huge. I began to run in a neighborhood, but found that not very convenient, since I have to drive to get to one. So my creative husband decided to get on the tractor and cut me a running path around our 16 acres. It was perfect. I just went out the back door and got to run on our land which I love. Everything was going great in my 13 week training program up until I got to week 3. As I was running one day, I stepped into a rut from the tractor and did something to my knee. I pressed on that day, rested the next day, and got back out there the next day. After about 10 minutes I knew I could go no farther. I really felt defeated. I rested the knee for a few weeks and tried again back in the neighborhood. All was going well for a little while until I got Pneumonia. By this time I am thinking maybe this is not for me. Once I got out of the routine of training it was over. About 7 weeks ago, I decided I would just start working out a little each day to get back into the routine. About 4 weeks into it I decided to pick up that 13 week Walk/Run training program and got on the treadmill. Much to my dismay, the old knee did not like it. I wasn't sure if I needed to go see a doctor about it since the only time it bothered me was when I ran. So I stopped running again. This past weekend our family went to Stone Mountain, GA. It was absolutely beautiful and we had a blast. We took the tram up the mountain and had every intention on taking it back down. Well, me and the kids started following a trail from the top and realized it was the trail to the bottom. So we waited for Dad to catch up, he was lost in "photography land", and set out for the bottom. About half way down my knee started to hurt. Immediately, I got discouraged because whatever was wrong with my knee was keeping me from doing the things I enjoy most with my family. I pondered many thoughts on the way down. What should I do? Should I make an appt. to see a doctor? Should I just stop being active? When we reached the bottom and got on flat land, I was fine. By the evening I forgot about it.
So why do I tell you this long tale? Well yesterday I had an appt. with the chiropractor about my neck. I have been in therapy for months trying to change the curve of my neck. However, this doctor looks at the body as a whole. I began to tell her about my knee history, and she proceeded to check my hip. Now I know I said the problem was with my knee, but she proceeded to work on my hip. You see, my right hip was out of alignment causing strain on my knee. Sometimes we get so focused on where we think the problem is that we never see what is causing it. From my perspective something was wrong with my knee and I needed to fix it or just stop doing the things I love. But, from the perspective of someone who knows how the body was created to work, the problem was not originating in my knee. This was a huge example of the Kingdom of God. In His Kingdom, He has a perspective that we do not have. We see things on the surface and want to fix them. He sees the root that entangles us and wants to free us. The enemy loves to distract us with a "knee ache", but God wants us to focus on Him and see things from His eyes.
Walking through this adoption process has been and incredible journey. We walk some and run some and have gotten a little injured along the way. We have seen Him move and provide in ways we could not have imagined. It's not about His "view from above". It's about His view from within us as He walks through us. "...those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31
A quick update on the process: Our paperwork went to China September 15th. We are told there is about a 6 month wait to travel once they receive your paperwork. So we are looking at March, 2010 to travel. Fundraising is going well. Yard sales have been great. This Saturday Oct. 17th we are picking up trash on a 2 mile stretch of road in Macon County for $1,000. Have you ever thought there was value in trash. Well for us there is! Also on Saturday November 7th we have our Applebees Pancake breakfast and the Pike Road Arts and Crafts Booth. We still have not heard anything from the other agency in Florida except they are planning on returning some of our money, but that has not happened, so we are not counting on it. We are confident of one thing. God has and will continue to provide to bring our daughter home. He has put on the hearts of many to make eternal investments in her life.
As for me, my pray right now is this, that my family will live in a peaceful dwelling place, in a secure home, in an undisturbed place of rest (Isaiah 32:18).

Fund Raising Event Schedule

While we are in wait mode, the Lord has provided several fund raising opportunities for us. The following is a list of the events scheduled thus far.

Saturday August 29th - YARD SALE - The Magdon's house in Sturbridge
Saturday November 7th - PANCAKE BREAKFAST - Applebees on Taylor Road
Saturday November 7th - PIKE ROAD ARTS AND CRAFTS BOOTH -
The Marks House Pike Road

The Macon County TRASH PICKUP is in the process of being scheduled. We'll let you know on that date.

If you have items to donate for the YARD SALE, call us at 286-4035 and we'll come by and pick it up. Bobby Magdon is heading up the PANCAKE BREAKFAST and has tickets to be sold!!! We are in need of items to be sold in the PIKE ROAD ARTS AND CRAFTS booth. A few have responded to paint some pictures, build a few things etc. Another idea is to go to a local business and see if they will donate a gift basket or collect items and make one up yourself. This will be a fun booth with something for everyone.

Once again we are overwhelmed by the GOODNESS OF GOD. Just today I got an email from Bobby Magdon. He sold 65 tickets in 15 minutes for the PANCAKE BREAKFAST!!!! But more importantly, the people in his office are receiving a touch from the Lord through this journey. It is a beautiful picture of God's children being in relationship with one another enjoying the journey together. Blessings to you all. Keep praying for our baby girl!!!

DOSSIER COMPLETE AND MAILED ONCE AGAIN!!!

Finally, without much difficulty, our dossier paperwork and home study are complete and mailed to AGCI. They will review it, and if everything is in order, it will be authenticated and mailed to China. As soon as China gets it, they will process it and log us in. This could take a few weeks. We are told we will travel approximately 6 months from the log in date. We have had a great summer doing fund raisers and hanging out with friends. Of the $10,230 we need, we have $5.000. This money was generated by donations from individuals, fund raisers, and personal savings. We are still hopeful that our first agency will be returning some of our money by the end of July which will make up the remaining $5230. God has provided thus far, exactly what we need when we need it. It has been amazing to see everyone get involved in some way with this process. Dexter has said many people will be remembered by certain things they did. He thinks we will be remembered as the "Professional Yard Salers":):) I'm not sure that's what I want to be remembered as, but I will say the Lord has been ministering to many people through these sales. We have met so many interesting people and were able to share God's love with them. It looks like we will be doing another one in the next month or so due to the overwhelming response in donations. So, if you put off that cleaning out job and need some motivation to give us your stuff, here it is. Remember we made $2500 doing 2 yard sales. We still have to raise another $10,000 to complete the adoption and travel.
Usually when I write, I feel inspired to speak what the Lord has spoken to me. This time is no different. Lately, I have been pondering ways to share the gospel with others and what is the main thing I want to share. Two things stand out the most, God's unfailing and unconditional love and reconciliation. Reconciliation is a big deal to God. So this is what I have been thinking about a lot lately. If this is such a big deal to God, then we need to be asking Him what relationships in our own life need to be reconciled? I can tell you this. I already know of a few people that I can not wait to be back in relationship with. Our journey here on earth is about LIFE, and satan wants to steal, kill and destroy our relationships. Well, there's something for you to ponder also.
Thank you once again for your prayers and willingness to participate in this journey with us.

The Narrow Gate

"SMALL IS THE GATE AND NARROW THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO LIFE, AND ONLY A FEW FIND IT." Matthew 7:14
This scripture takes on new meaning for us as we write this. Once again we are overwhelmed by His faithfulness and provision. We are children of a trustworthy God.
Since our last entry, I (Patricia), have spent a week in Honduras visiting our boys in Forgotten Children Ministries. Meanwhile, Dexter took care of the kids, worked a full week, and planned a fundraiser. We set up a concession stand at the Pike Road 4h of July Celebration and sold hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and drinks. Between food sales and donations, we added $525 to the adoption fund. This weekend we had another yard sale and sold $755 worth of stuff. Thank you to all of you who donated items, iced down drinks, flipped burgers, and raced to be TOP SALESMAN (you know who you are:):). In addition to these fundraisers we have also received over $650 in donations.
As indicated in earlier entries, we were supposed to be receiving some of our money back from our other agency by the end of June. We have not received anything yet, but after a very good conversation with the man in charge, Dexter feels confident they will be doing as they promised. Riding home today from the yard sale, I was meditating once again on the scripture above. You see the broad road and wide gate seemed obvious. The agency needs to just return our money promptly. It would be that simple. However, the Lord really does want the community involved. Therefore, He guided us down the narrow road. Through that we have been able to talk to so many people about our adoption, their adoption, but most importantly about our relationship with the Lord. So many divine appointments, too numerous to mention. One result, LIFE. God is and has always been what this is all about. We just get to be a piece in the puzzle. Our eyes have been open to so many things in the world around us. Our children have gotten to be apart of all of this too. Some things are better learned in the field.
We should be sending all the paperwork to AGCI at the end of the week. Our hope and prayer is that they can send it to China by the beginning of August to get us logged in. We should have about a 6 month wait for travel. So we are looking at possibly January, 2010. As God leads us, we will continue to raise funds for travel, which will be about $10,000. We are anticipating many more incredible stories to share. Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm and interest in this journey. The Kingdom of Heaven is advancing and infiltrating our lives and the lives of those among us.