Jackson Reid-2months!

I can't believe how fast 2 months has gone by. Jackson Reid is now 2 months, growing fast, and is SOOOO sweet!! We are truly blessed to be his parents!

At 2 months old he is. . .
-smiling all the time!:)
-wakes up every morning with a smile
-laughing out loud
-likes to play with his hands
-likes to play with mommy's hair
-holding his head up almost all of the time
-very active! Loves kicking and throwing his arms around
-grabs the toys on his activity gym so that the music will start
-nursing well,no bottles
-sleeps between 3-5 hours between feedings most nights!Occasionally 6-8 hrs!!!!
-looooves his soothie passy!
-has started to out grow some of his 0-3 month clothes :(
-loves bath time!
-cuddler
-went out to eat with mommy & daddy
-loves story time with daddy
-loves music (favorite song-Jesus Loves Me)

Jackson is 2 months and 2 days old today! We went to see Dr Daher for 2 month checkup, shots, and MORE blood work! We are still waiting on the juandice to go away! Praise God the number looked better today...so NO visits to the specialist! WOOHOO! Jackson was such a BIG boy he cried for about 30 seconds during the shots and just gave mommy puppy eyes during the blood work! Of course, mommy couldnt wait to hold her sweet boy as soon as it was over!Weight 10 lbs and 15 oz Measuring 24"



10-14-10 7lb 20"

11-16-10 8lb 10oz. 22"

12-16-10 10lb 15 oz. 24"

Jackson Reid has Arrived!

WOW! 6 months since the last blog?!?! Time has definitely flown by, especially the last 8 weeks!!! On October 14, 2010 we welcomed Jackson Reid Cantrell weighing 7lbs and measuring 20 inches! Pregnancy wasn't exactly easy and delivery did not go as planned...but life since has been absolutely WONDERFUL! God has truly blessed our family! Jackson has taught us the meaning of unconditional love!

We can't wait for Jackson's baby brother/sister to join our family! We are currently praying that God will continue to guide us along our journey. We are praying that He will show us His time. Kaz is currently still not accepting applications. We know that when it is Gods time for us to welcome him/her to our family He will open those doors!

The Winding Road

Our last blog entry was dated February 7, 2010. There has been alot that has taken place in our lives in these past 4 months. We have gone through some valleys, but God has faithfully helped us up the mountain. We just wanted to share a little about what has transpired:

February 8- The day prior to our 2 year anniversary, Sheila shared with me an incredible blessing from God, we will be expecting our first child in October of this year. Our first thoughts were excitement as well as shock. We were focused on the adoption journey that God has called us to and have been overwhelmed by our blessings. We notified our agency as soon as we verified the pregnancy with our Doctor. Due to the length of stay in Kazakhstan, our agency suggested that we freeze our application process until the child we are carrying is close to a year in age. This was a hard decision, but one we felt was in the best interest of our family. We were eagerly anticipating the arrival of the child we are carrying as well as the arrival of the child born in our heart as we started this journey. Soon after, Sheila began dealing with several issues due to the pregnancy. Many days off work, several visits to the hospital, and many sleepless nights took a toll on the two of us physically, mentally, as well as spiritually. Rather than drawing closer to God to show us His will, we neglected quiet times and time in the Word. After two months of major sickness, we both questioned how we would handle one child much less two. Satan began to fill our minds with doubt and fear that caused us to look at what we were doing with a cloud of doubt. Over the course of this time, I prayed daily that Sheila would regain strength and energy and that we would be able to enjoy the pregnancy. God answered these prayers, however we neglected to continue our prayers for our call to adopt. God had provided us with a special blessing, so we would just pick up His call for us at a later date. We serve a mighty God, yet we doubted his faithfulness to sustain us in both the pregnancy and adoption.

Over the past few weeks, God has been placing signs before both of us to follow his will. Due to Sheila's illness, her Doctor said it would be in her best interest to step away from teaching her preschool Sunday School class. Sheila and I began attending our young adult Sunday School class together for the first time in our marriage. We are blessed with a very gifted teacher who has taught us about spiritual truths as well as how to study God's word effectively. Sheila was touched by a message from a group at our church. We recently had a group of 11 travel to Africa to work at an orphanage and perform medical clinics. As the group was sharing about their trip at Church, someone stated their amazement at how the people would just cry out to God in the middle of worship. We have a close friend who has been dealing with a spiritual battle and the testimony spoke to us that this was what they needed to do; to cry out to Jesus. However, we neglected to apply this to our own journey. Yesterday as we traveled to a Doctors check-up we were discussing this matter. As we finished and turned the radio up, a song came on that word for word described everything we had been discussing and experiencing; Cry out to Jesus. God can turn simple moments into reaffirming ones in the blink of an eye. As I woke up for work this morning, I just felt tired and didn't jump up for work. I wound up heading to work about an hour later than anticipated. As I pulled out of the driveway, I ejected a CD that I have been listening to endlessly by a group called Casting Crowns. As turned on the radio (I usually listen to ESPN Radio), it was preset on AFR. At that exact moment, the DJ began a taped interview with Mark Hall, lead singer of Casting Crowns, talking with him about his international adoption experience. He talked about waiting 5 years after answering the call until he held his angel. He talked about the burden God had placed on him to respond to the call and love His child. God had used Steven Curtis Chapman to open Mark's heart to adoption. If you read some of our first entries, you will see that our interest in adoption began through Sheila's experience listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's testimony at WOF. I immediately sent Sheila a text message telling her that I cannot wait until our family will be complete. At the same instant, Sheila was recieving a message from a friend telling her to listen to the interview that Mark Hall gave on AFR. Guys, this was "Divine Intervention" if I must say so.

After not updating our blog in 4 months, we want to update everyone on the happenings God is guiding us through. As you may be aware, Kazakhstan has suspended International adoption. Sheila recieved an email about the suspending of International adoption in Kazakhstan last week. The day before she had heard "Heaven is the Face" by Steven Curtis Chpaman.From the very beginning of our journey God used this song to speak to her heart. We knew that it was no coincidence that she heard right before receiving this news. We also know that we serve a faithful God and are continuing to pray that he will direct our path. We have renewed our commitment to daily seek his will for our adoption journey, wherever that path takes us. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Jackson Reid Cantrell in October and we also eagerly anticipate the arrival of our angel that God has chosen for us.

We are amazed, thankful, blessed by the way God has provided for us and continue to give Him praise!

For those who would like to continue to follow our journey, we plan to continue the blog and hope for no more 4 month delays between updates. Please keep our family in your prayers. Love you guys!

Unfailing Love

For our faithful followers we are sorry that it has taken us a few weeks to update you on the journey! We are so grateful that you choose to follow and pray for us along the journey. We have been very busy with work, the weekend in Austin,TX to celebrate our favorite 10 year old's Birthday, and preparing for our home study evaluation.

We could write an entire blog on the ways that satan has tried to attack and discourage us but who wants to give him any glory?! NOT US! Although, we could write a blog about how satan has been at work we WILL write about GOD'S Faithfulness and Unfailing LOVE! We want to say thank you to all of you that have allowed God to use your words, text, emails, and FB messages to encourage us! We have literally stood in awe of how MIGHTY our God is! We could go on and on with examples... we will share a just few with you!

Satan attacked and within seconds we received this "Hi Sheila! I love your blog and am really encouraged by you and Marty's heart and answer to God's call to care for orphans."


During another time of discouragement we received this message " just hearing about you're faith and what God is doing in you're life is so encouraging and it just brightens my day!"

On Saturday, Feb 6th we had our home inspection for the home study. Last week was a very stressful week as we prepared our home. The morning of the inspection Satan attempted to convince us that our home would not be sufficient and then we received this message "is today the big day? praying for u guys! God already has a precious child picked out for y'all. This is just a stepping stone that will take you to him/her! I can imagine your nervousness but I know your home will be perfect!"

The home study inspection could not have went any better!!!! We looooove our social workers and were pretty convinced they looove us too! :)


Satan attacked.. God used His child to remind us "you will both be awesome.....relax.....my prayers will be with you....."

Satan attacked and God restored us by using his people to remind us "we're praying."

Satan tried to discourage and God used our family coordinator to remind us "I’ll be in touch! In the meantime we’ll just pray and trust God that His timing will be perfect for your family!"

Another example of God's faithfulness and unfailing love...Satan tried to discourage us about the financial commitment of adoption. Just an hour later we attended a prayer meeting held at a friends home to prepare our hearts for the upcoming revival. God spoke to my heart "you can't have revival and have a stronger love relationship with me if you don't trust me" I responded "but God I do trust you.. remember Marty's wreck, remember all of the little ways I trust you daily." God then asked but do you trust Me with EVERYTHING?" He then used testimonies of other's during the prayer time to show me that I didn't trust Him with EVERYTHING! He makes the sun shine,He makes the flowers bloom,He's The ultimate healer, and he sought after the heart of one man for 59 years before he chose to accept Christ..BUT My God NEVER gave up on him!!!He spoke to my heart over the next week to trust Him with everything...after all this is His plan for our life and He will provide!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"
-Proverbs 3:5

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him"-Jer 17:7

We could literally go on and on listing the ways, the words, and the people that God has used to encourage us, restore us, and keep us focused on the plan that He has for our lives and Baby Cantrell!

up next.. we should receive our completed home study on Tuesday, Feb 9th!!!(Happy 2 year Anniversary to us! WooHoo!) God's timing is alwayyys perfect!

Then we will apply with the U.S. Immigration, fingerprinting with the FBI, gather lots of documents and have then notarized and apostilled..

Finally,we will be able to send all of our documents to KAZAKHSTAN!!!!!!!

We can not express how thankful we are for your continued prayers for our family! We can't wait until we are able to introduce to you BABY CANTRELL! God's timing is perfect!

Some may be wondering how I am able to blog on Super Bowl Sunday! Shouldn't I be gearing up for the BIG game after all the SAINTS are playing in their 1st Super Bowl ever?!?! Well, I must be honest I'm not a football fan at all BUT I am excited for the Great State of Louisiana, the beautiful city of New Orleans, and all of you TRUE fans who have waited for this day your entire life!

My God Reigns

We wanted to take a moment to update you how God has been guiding our journey lately. In one of our previous post we asked you to pray that we would be reminded that this is HIS Journey and HIS TIMING! He has definately revealed that to us during the past few weeks.

HOME STUDY-We thought that we had researched and chose the best home study agency in North LA. (I still believe that they are a Great agency!:)) BUT they were not who God had planned for our journey. We tried to arrange a meeting with them several times but due to our schedule conflicts, their schedule conflicts, and them being over booked. We decided to take the advice of a friend and contacted a different agency. When we called them I had NO PLANS of changing agencies I just felt that God was trying to show me somthing... After the 1st 5 minutes of the phone call it was obvious that God had plans for us to change. I said "No God, besides I'm sure he can't meet with us for several weeks anyway." So God said "just ask" and to my suprise the agency was willing to meet with us the following Saturday. (this call was on Thursday!) We booked an appt and met with them on Saturday! We knew from the moment we walked into the office we were where God wanted us to be! When introducing themselves they explained that God had given them a talent and they wanted to serve Him by helping to get children out of orphanges and into loving Christian homes! Now for the Bonus-They also plan to have our home study completed 5 months sooner than we expected! That means 5 months closer to meeting Baby Cantrell!!! PRAISE GOD!


We also had our very 1st conference call with our family coordinator from our adoption agency! We are very excited to know that she will be assisting us along the journey! She seems GREAT!:)


It's so neat to see God at work! We received an email this week from a couple from Shreveport. We met last summer when they hosted an international adoption seminar for our agency. (That is also when God told us WHERE to adopt from!) They recently met a couple who just started the adoption process with our same agency. The couple is in their mid twenties and just returned from serving on the mission field in Kazakhstan working with orphanages! They asked if we would be interested in contacting them?! We said OF COURSE!(Special thanks to Allen and Danise for thinking of us!) We contacted the couple and asked if they would be interested in sharing with us about Kaz. They said they would LOVE to visit, show pictures, or whatever they can do to help us learn more about Kazakhstan! We are beyond thrilled about this! We will not only be able to learn more about Kaz and orphanage life from them, we will also be going through the adoption process at the same time! What an encouragment that will be! We are so grateful for God allowing our paths to cross! "My God Reigns!"

I would like to share with you a quote from this couple that really blessed my heart. "It thrills our heart that people from America are going to adopt from a country that most people have never heard of. The Kazakh people are incredibly resilient, hospitable and also incredibly lost so it is very cool that your little one will get a chance to hear the GOSPEL!" -Praise God!


Thank you all for continuing to remember Baby Cantrell, Marty and I in your prayers! We are very grateful for your love, prayers, and support!

Why Adoption?

I just read this forward while blog reading. I'm not sure who the author was, but it was a very poingnant look at the realities of the orphan.

"Occasionally I hear people wonder out loud if adoption is really the most "efficient" way to help the orphan crisis. It may seem like a lot of time and resources are poured into a relatively small number of children, when in theory more could be helped by contributing to some type of institutional setting that could numerically care for more.

I believe Jesus was on to something though when He took just 12 disciples under His wing. I also believe He knew what He was doing when He designed the family. Relationships, not institutions, change people. And relationships are rarely efficient, they are time-consuming and costly.

Psalm 68:6 says that God sets the lonely in families. There are a lot of lonely "orphan" people in this world, and they are not looking for a ministry or an institution, they are seeking a friend, some type of family to belong to.

I started crying while reading Song of Solomon yesterday and in chapter 5 her friends kept asking her, "Why is your beloved better than others?" and after describing all his loveliness she says, "this is my lover, this is my friend." That's Jesus! Our relational God, our Father, our Friend, our Bridegroom. He is the author of adoption. Another beautiful thing about the family is that people are committed to you for the rest of your life.Here are some revealing numbers as to what happens when a child ages out of an institution:

"143,000,000 Orphans in the world today spend an average of 10 years in an orphanage or foster home
Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but… Every YEAR 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT of the system
Every DAY 38,493 children AGE OUT Every 2.2 SECONDS, another orphan child AGES OUT with no family to belong to and no place to call home
In Ukraine and Russia 10% -15% of children who age out of an orphanage commit suicide before age 18. 60% of the girls are lured into prostitution. 70% of the boys become hardened criminals.
Many of these children accept job offers that ultimately result in their being sold as slaves.
Millions of girls are sex slaves today, simply because they were unfortunate enough to grow up as orphans."

Pray! http://www.adoptuskids.org/ and http://www.rainbowkids.com/ as well as http://www.untilallhavehomes.org/ or Chances by Choice (HIV positive adoption) have listings of children waiting for homes. You can pray over the situations you hear about, bringing each child before the throne of God.

In our own neighborhoods there are children living on the`fringes' of foster care that need a family to unofficially adopt them. You can also support families that are adopting and you can spread the word to others who are thinking about it. I pray that there will also be more family situations established in third world countries.

My sister was telling me about an "orphanage" she visited in Venezuela that was more like a family. It had 10 children living with a married couple who cared for them and were supported by local churches. I would love to see more of that in Liberia, where kids are off the streets and out of run down orphanages and into a family situation where they are cared for by parental figures, a mom and a dad.

May God give us His heart for the orphan!"

Author Unknown

The Impact of One Life
"When a stone is dropped into a lake, it quickly disappears from sight-but its impact leaves behind a series of ripples that broaden and reach across the water. In the same way, the impact of one life lived for Christ will leave behind an influence for good that will reach the lives of many others."

1st Home Study

We were so excited to begin the home study process! Not that its going to be fun at all but it is 1 step closer to holding our child! The agency was willing to schedule our appt after hours so that we would not have to work around work schedules! So, I took the 1st available appt they had-Tuesday,Jan 12th at 530! I called Marty SO excited and he reminded me that his kids had a very important FFA competition Tuesday, at 500! I was kind of sad because I knew the next available appt would be 2weeks away...but I knew his kids had worked so hard for this competition. When i called to reschedule I was surprised to find they had a cancellation and now had an appt available after hours on Thursday, Jan 14th(my Bday!) I was SOOOOOOO excited and quickly had The "perfect Birthday" planned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I received a phone call today(Jan 12th)explaining that they had double booked and our appt would have to be moved to next Tuesday.... I was def very sad! Sad that we will be starting a week later(but Ive come to expect that with the adoption journey.) What really broke my heart was that "My perfect Birthday" will not go as planned! SELFISH I ADMIT!!!!! But starting on my Bday was SO special to me! After being sad and feeling sorry for myself I was reminded that this was a surprise to me BUT NO SURPRISE TO GOD! It was HIS perfect timing! I decided to do something to make my self happy(since Marty's not here to entertain me!lol He is still at the FFA competition.)


1st! I indulged in Monkey Muffins!!!=) Marty and I have began counting calories! Trying to take better care of ourselves in 2010! I decided who cares about calories today?! Monkey Muffins are guaranteed to put a smile on your face!=)If you need to smile here is the recipe!

Monkey Muffins
Added by Ree Drummond

Prep Time 10 Minutes
Cook Time 15 Minutes Servings 12 Difficulty Easy

Ingredients
•Leftover Bread Dough (or Refrigerated Biscuit Dough, Cut Into Thirds)
•Butter
•Sugar
•Ground Cinnamon
•Sweetened, Condensed Milk
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or cut refrigerated biscuit dough into thirds). Place three into each muffin tin.

Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on more sugar and cinnamon.

Allow dough to rise, if applicable, or just go ahead and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

Remove from oven and immediately drizzle plenty of sweetened condensed milk over the top of each one. Be generous! Allow rolls to sit for a little while to absorb sweet, sticky milk.

Scoop out with a spoon and serve to hungry humans.


2nd! Season Premier of American Idol! Guaranteed to make you LAUGH!!!!!!=)



Thank you for continuing to follow our journey and lift our family up in prayer! Please continue to pray for our child, pray that they are being cared for and loved! Pray that God will provide loving people to protect them until they are able to rest safe in our arms! Pray that we will be patient and remember that this journey is HIS plan and HIS timing! Pray for us as we meet with the home study agency on Tuesday, Jan 19th.

Timeline & Prayer Request

March 28, 2009-God called us to adoption. We began to pray about when, where, who.

June 6,2009-Adoption Seminar(God told us WHERE)

September 27,2009-We surrendered our hearts to adoption

November 15,2009-We shared our calling with friends & family

November 19,2009-We knew it was time to submit our application, but Satan presented us with an obstacle!

November 30,3009-Praise God our obstacle was taken care of!!!

December 4,2009-Submitted the application to our agency

December 17,2009-Received our APPROVAL!To God be The Glory!



Since then we have been VERY busy! We have completed our international adoption training!WOOHOO! Learned alot BUT so glad to be done!LOTS of paperwork!!! Contacted our home study agency-more paperwork & lots of documents to gather! Cleaned out the room for the future lil Cantrell!!!=) Child proofed the house!:) Read two AWESOME books- The Strength of Mercy-Making a Difference in the world one Child at a Time by Jan Beazely and Adopted for Life by Russell Moore! I HIGHLY recommend reading Russell Moore's Adopted for Life if you are being led to adopt, considering adoption, or if you are totally against adoption!!!! Russell does an amazing job explaining our adoption by Christ! AND we have also sumbitted our 1st installment to the agency!


We would like to ask for your prayers as you follow our journey to our Kazak Prince/Princess!!! Please pray for his/her birth mother-pray that she will be given peace, pray for those taking care of them while in the orphanage,pray for his/her health, pray that he/she will be open to receiving us, pray that those we come in contact with through the journey will see Christ in us, pray that the Lord will prepare our hearts to be the best parents we can be, pray that the process will go as smooth as possible-pray that as we are about to be interviewed by social workers..they will be confident that we are called to parent this child, pray that our dossier will be received by Kazak gov on time, pray that our financial needs for the journey will be met, pray for safety as we travel, pray that the judge will grant us custody of the child God has chosen for us! Marty and I are very grateful to have you follow our journey and for the prayers that you are lifting up for our family! We love you all!