What is your call?

I just came across this by Bono. He made this speech when he recieved the NAACP award. It was heavy.

"God has a special place for the poor. The poor are where God lives. God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is where the opportunity is lost and lives are shattered. God is with the mother who has infected her child with a virus that will take both thier lives. God is under the rubble, in the cries we hear during war time. God is with the poor and God is with us if we are with them."

"WHERE you live should not decide WHETHER you live or WHETHER you die."

Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. James 1:27

Eighty seven percent of women in Kazakhstan have been raped or molested. It is a staggering number!! Innocent children are often the result of this in-humane treatment of women. Mothers often have no other choice but to give their children away due to strict religious beliefs. Families will not allow the shame of a "bastard" child to taint their family, when often times it was a family member who committed the offense!!

God desires our hearts to be broken when we hear these things. The second part of James 1:27 states that we should refuse to let the world corrupt us. It is so easy to turn a blind eye. To become callous. Media shows so much violence, and when we see or hear these statistics, we just rack it up as one more problem today. I have so often turned off these statistics out of self-preservation. I feel like I can't hear one more thing. I become so used to hearing these that I no longer let it reach my heart. But God hears.... He sees.... and He moves on peoples hearts to hear. Every one of us has a call on our lives to serve God. I cant help but cry now... My heart breaks... But isn't that where God wants us to be? When we begin to hear and we open our eyes to see, it is often times painful. Can you imagine what God must go through every second of every day?

My desire is not to preach. I don't believe that everyone is called to the same thing. We all are different parts of the Body of Christ and we all have different functions. I'm not saying that you should adopt, that is God's call for me. My hope is only that what I have written will cause you to think, mull it over, and listen closely to God. What is your call?

Our Christmas Prayer!

Our cousins told us about a Christmas song that always makes them think of us... They suggested that we google it and grab a box of tissue! Oh man did we need the tissue!

We tried to copy a link on the blog..but we were unsuccessful!=(

So, we posted the lyrics! We encourage you to google Merry Christmas by Third Day!


There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
And prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

The ride has begun!

We are already learning the meaning of the word "patience!" After 10 long days of excitement, worry, and anticipation... we got THE phone call!!! The intake supervisor said she had some VERY good news and some bad news to share with us.(My heart sank) The good news was that not only were we APPROVED to move forward with the adoption but while reviewing our application the director of the agency told the committee "I do not need to review any further,this is God's plan for this family, please notify them asap!" (To GOD be the Glory!) We were beyond excited; not only were we APPROVED but God had answered our prayer very clearly! We had prayed just two days before that not only would He prepare our hearts to move forward with the adoption but make it clear to those reviewing our application that this was HIS will! We serve a mighty God! Now for the bad news... she began to explain that the time frame would be longer than expected instead of around 9 months it would be closer to 18 months! As much as we would love to hold our child sooner rather than later, we were prepared for the wait! So, this did not come as "bad news" to us! BUT after reviewing the information for Kazakhstan adoptions with the cordinator for Kazak she had even MORE GOOD NEWS! The actual time frame as of now is 12-15 months! So, hopefully by daddy's birthday (4-5-2011) he will be holding his prince or princess! We are completely in awe of how God has directed and provided for us!

Our intake cordinator began to explain the answer to the BIG QUESTION! "What comes next?" We will begin parent training to prepare us to be parents to an internationally adopted child. We will also begin the home study phase and LOTS of paperwork! We have already begun the 1st of many stacks of paperwork!=)

We are very excited about the journey that has just began! We ask that you begin to pray for our special someone. Pray that God will provide loving people to protect and watch over them until they are able to rest safe in our arms!Pray that their hearts will be prepared to receive us! We are so thankful for your willingness to pray for our family during the journey!

Happy Kazakhstan Independence Day!

Did you know that the United States was the first country in the world to recognize Kazakhstan’s independence? On December 16, 1991 Kazakhstan became the last Soviet republic to declare itself an independent country. Since then the country has worked to develop its economy and international prestige. It is now considered to be the dominant state in Central Asia and is a member of several international organizations. It is the ninth largest country in the world and is ethnically and culturally diverse with 131 nationalities and a population of 16.4 million of whom 67% are Kazakhs.

and THE Paperwork Begins...

After sharing with our friends and family about our plan to adopt from Kazakhstan we had no idea when God would tell us to begin THE paperwork. It was immediately after sharing that Marty and I both knew that it was time. We had a very busy week but knew that the calendar was free on Thursday evening.(We had plans to go out for dinner to celebrate the 1yr anniversary of his accident!) BUT we decided we would stay in and complete the 1st application for our special someone!!! Satan knew that GOD was at work in our life and we were following HIS plan for our life... We had just created a name for the blog and opened the application when we were suddenly hit with a MAJOR obstacle from satan... We were devesated not knowing if we would be able to move forward with the adoption... That is when God said "Do you believe what you are praying for your child? Are you holding to ME?" because "I have plans to give YOU a future and a hope." Trusting in Him we were able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family. Very thankful not only for what God had done in our life but what in faith we knew He was going to do in our future! We knew we may have to put the adoption on holds for several months...BUT GOD IS MIGHTY! We received a phone call the following Monday with GOOD NEWS! God had taken care of our obstacle and we could move forward with the adoption!!! WOOOHOO! We were able to submit our
1st application on a VERY special anniversary! One year to the day that Marty "woke up" from the accident! We are beyond thrilled to begin the journey!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Hold to Jesus

When Marty & I began the adoption process it was very important to us that we record all of the obstacles and blessings that we face while on our journey to meet our special someone in Kazakhstan! So, we decided that by creating a blog we could record our journey as well as share with our friends, family, and those who may be considering to answer God's call to adoption in their own life. We spent several days discussing and praying about what we would name our blog... "Hold to Jesus" is our prayer for our special someone! We pray that whatever he/she may be experiecing they will hold to Jesus because He has "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."-Jeremiah 29:11

The following lyrics are my prayer for our special someone...
We can't hold her/him YET.... but He can!


Hold On To Jesus
By Erin O'Donnell

You're a little piece of heaven
You're a golden ray of light
And I wish I could protect you
From the worries of this life
But if there's one thing I could tell you
It's no matter what you do
Hold to Jesus
He's holding on to you

The world will try to tell you
That might is more than right
That beauty's on the outside
And being good's a losing fight
But remember what I've told you
Because the world will make you choose
Hold to Jesus
He's holding on to you

Hold on to Jesus
Cling to His love
Rest deep in His mercy
Whenever things get rough
Don't lose sight of His goodness
And don't ever doubt this truth
That when you hold on to Jesus
He's holding on to you

Hear me dear Jesus
Rock this little one to sleep
Keep her close when she's scared
And give her grace when she is weak
I know she'll stumble
But I know she'll make it through
If you hold to her just like
You said You'd do
Hold her Jesus
And she'll hold on tight to You

From the beginning...

We are very excited about the journey that God has allowed us to be apart of. We have created this blog to allow our family, friends, and those interested in our call to adoption to follow the journey.

I am Sheila and I have been married to my husband Marty for almost 2 years! I knew even before meeting Marty that adoption held a place in my heart...When I envisioned my life as a wife and a mom it always included adoption. At the age of 18 I was allowed the amazing opportunity to go on a mission trip to Romania where I worked at a Christian children's camp and assisted in medical clincs. After my first trip to Romania I knew that God had placed the calling to adopt in my heart. A few years later I met my husband; we both knew that we wanted to start a family not long after we were married. But Marty and I did not share the same calling for adoption. He thought it was wonderful..but he thought it was for those who could not have biological children or after we started our "own" family. We had discussed the idea of adopting a few times but had decided that we would allow God to show us His plan for our family.

9 months after being married I received a terrible phone call... Marty had been in an accident on the way to work and they asked if I would come and identify his body! While on my way to the scene I was notified that he had been airlifted to LSU medical center and would not make it through the night. I spent several weeks visiting Marty in the ICU not knowing if he would ever wake, or remember me, or if I would have MY husband. God daily reminded me that He would not give me more than I could handle.GOD IS FAITHFUL-Marty not only woke up but he was able to come home months before the DR's expected.

A couple of months after Marty came home I was invited and encouraged to leave his side and attend a Women of Faith conference. It was a great weekend but what spoke to my heart most was a testimony by Steven Curtis Chapman. He told his adoption story..and God began to remind me of the calling He had placed on my heart. Several times.. I told God NO! I thought, "how can Marty & I prepare for an adoption, we are going through so much. Besides, Marty is not even interested in adoption..." God said, "I will not give you more than you can handle...and He then asked how do you know he is not interested?!" When I returned from the conference I revisited the idea of adoption with Marty. Little did I know God had been preparing his heart for adoption!!!! The accident had forced Marty to slow down and take in all of the blessings that God had given him. He knew that God allowed him the opportunity to survive the accident to serve HIM in a mighty way! What better way to share God's love?! We began daily seeking and praying that if adoption was God's plan for our family that he would show us what agency, what country, when to begin, and most importantly who!

After a few months God confirmed in our hearts that adoption was His plan for our family, and what agency we were to use. So we began looking to see when/if they would be having a seminar in our area. We were amazed to see that they would be having a seminar in our area in just a few weeks!(God is good!) We anxiously registered with the intent of exploring China adoptions. A few days before the seminar I told Marty "God said NO to China." He said "Ok..where did he say?" I said "Im not sure..maybe Russia area. but not exactly Russia!" Im sure he thought I was crazy! When we arrived at the seminar God immediately confirmed China was not where he was leading us.. BUT it wasn't until the end of the seminar that God told us where! We listened to a couple share about their adoption, it was while they were speaking that God spoke to us BOTH and said thats it-Kazakhstan! We were both eager to answer His calling but "God, where in the world is Kazakhstan?" Kazakhstan is located between China and Russia!!! It all began to make sense!!! God has confirmed what agency and where...but we still did not know when and who.

We continued to pray about when our journey would begin. Marty was asked to share with our church family his testimony about the accident and his life since. God told him to share with them about the plan to adopt. We had committed to God but we were scared to make our commitment public not knowing when we would begin the adoption process. God said "have Faith in ME and I will show you." So, in faith, Marty shared our GOOD news with our church family! Almost immediately after sharing our commitment God told us to begin NOW!