Another Snag

Shannon's prints did not go through with the FBI! We were afraid this would happen because her prints don't take well. The local PD told her she should have been a burglar. Shannon will go tomorrow to have then done again. We can send up to 5 sets of prints and we will send 5 sets and pray one will get through!


I started reading in Job this morning. It always strikes me that Job lost everything and still praised the Lord. I think of the folks in Haiti who have just lost everything. I have a difficult time complaining about this snag in our process under our circumstances, which are far better than so many people in our world.

Pray for the folks in Haiti. Pray for those who lost family members, friends, loved ones, and everything they had.

Pray for Mei as he continues to sit in the orphanage. At least he is in a place with climate control and is far better off than the many orphans in Haiti who have nowhere to go and flies all over their bodies.

Pray that our government will get over their red tape issues and let orphans from Haiti in so we can treat them and help them live! So many of them could die soon if they don't get food and medical attention.

Pray for our BCM's Spring Break mission trip as we prepare to head to the Dominican Republic to minister aid to refugees coming out of Haiti and potentially help in Haiti as well. Pray the lord will continue putting everything together as He has thus far.

And after you are done praying for those less fortunate than us if you have time could you lift up Shannon's prints that they would take good this time?

"Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed" - Proverbs 28:27

I heard a guy talking about Haiti today. All he wanted to talk about was the looting. I pray we don't lose sight of the dead bodies in the street because we are too busy judging people who are doing whatever they can to live another day. I am not condoning the looting, but I am glad I am not in their shoes trying to fight to live another day! Pray! Pray! Pray! And then Act! Act! Act! Let His light shine. Show his love to the world-especially Haiti where it is much needed right now.

Mei's Verse

1 Samuel 1:27 says, "I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and He has answered my request" (NIV).

When I reflect on this verse I will forever have a mental picture of the last day at the orphanage this past summer. I stopped to catch one last glimpse of Mei through the glass before I left. I sat there watching him cry and cry because I had just sat him in his crib after holding him for about an hour. As my heart was being crushed within my chest I asked the Lord, "Let me have this boy!" Samuel Mei Deavers is already very much a part of our family and we are so very close to brigning him home. How close is close? I don't know! I just sense we are very close!

Praise the Lord for He alone is the One who hears our prayers and answers them according to His will for His glory. Praise the Lord.

Hopefully Back to the Upswing

After a long day of waiting yesterday we hope the agency is in the process of getting their internal communication issues straight and our adoption back on the upswing where it was. We have a few extra hoops to jump through now, but nothing that should keep us from being able to bring Mei home. Tomorrow we are going to go to Build-a-Bear to let the kids build Mei a Bear and possibly put their voices with it. We want to send it to Mei sometime soon with other gifts as soon as we get the official and final approval (hopefully soon!!!).

Thank you all so much for your prayers. We continue to walk with the Lord through this process trusting his timing and will.

Roller Coaster Week

This has been a roller coaster week for our adoption and we are not off the ride yet. Tuesday we found out things were going very good in country where we are trying to adopt Mei. Wednesday the agency emailed to say our home study looked great and was looking good pending our FBI prints coming back alright. Yesterday we had a conference call with the agency and the roller coaster began a downward turn.

A lot of the work to secure Mei for us has been done apparently without keeping the ladies within at the agency in California in the loop. This, plus more communication breakdowns within their organization, have caused red flags to go up for them. They are now concerned that we have 4 children and one special needs child already (whose special need is minor and basically a non-issue at this point in his life). They are concerned we would not be able to handle Mei and his special needs. They are having a hard time understanding why we would want to adopt a child who is "unadoptable" by most standards. I truly believe if they had been in the loop from the beginning we would not be in this position today. However, I also believe the Lord is in control so I accept where we are and we continue to roll with it. So, in a few hours, our social worker will be having a conference call with the agency to go to bat for us and our ability to take care of Mei's needs. We pray this will turn the roller coaster back into an upward turn.

Sometimes, on a roller coaster, as you get about half way down the down side and the fear begins to fade you get to experience a slight glimpse of you that tells you, "Enjoy the ride! You are still on the tracks! You are going to make it through this." As Shannon and I sat around the table this morning we had one of these moments. While checking our bank account online Shannon saw where the check we wrote the FBI for our background checks had finally cleared the bank. Hopefully this means they are finally processing our prints. In that moment I felt the Lord saying, "Enjoy the ride! Don't fear the ups and downs that come along the way. I've got this under control. You're still on the right track - my track!"

Thank you Father! We trust you! Always!

Our friend Tinsley just showed us this video from Building 429 - what a fitting song and the video actually is dealing with a woman who lost her son and adopts another (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6LTfueFPpM). Wow - the Lord continues to speak to us...

Pray @ NOON today (EST)

Please join us in praying at noon today. Our social worker will be having a conference call with the ladies in California at that time. She agrees we are more than capable of taking care of Mei and his needs and she is the one the agency should be listening to when it comes to this decision. That is what a home study is for - to determine if the family is capable of adopting a child. Our social worker has already deemed us more than capable.

Pray that she will be able to share in a way that will clear up the communication breakdowns. Pray the Lord's will be done.

I will post more when we know more. Thank you for your prayers.

Awkward Moment

We had an awkward phone conversation just a few minutes ago with the agency we are working with. The  primary lady we are working with is a Christian, but the other ladies are not. These are the ladies who run the organization. They have been great to work with and I can appreciate their diligence and concern for the children they are helping place with families. The problem right now is that they are having a hard time understanding why we would want to adopt a child that is considered "unadoptable" by most standards. They don't get why we would want to adopt a special needs child who has limb deformities especially since we already have 4 children.

Pray they will get beyond this and approve the adoption and that this would be a chance to be a witness to the ladies in California.

Father, your will be done.

We wait to hear...

Home Study

We are so close to our home study being done. We are still waiting for the checks to come back from the Federal side of things here in the US. Thankfully the agency we are using went ahead and began looking over the documents and are working with us to get ahead of the game while we wait for the Federal checks to come back. This is another amazing act of God since they have been sticklers for doing things by the book up to this point. For them to go ahead and begin approving the home study without all of it being there is GREAT!

Please pray for me today and for the next several days as I call the federal folks here to try to get them to expedite things for us. Pray that I will get connected to the right person when I call who will have a soft heart to help us. That is all it will take - the right person on the other end of the phone - and they could go grab our paperwork out of the pile and get it approved on the spot if they wanted. I have heard stories of this sort of thing happening so I know it can. Ultimately pray for the Lord's will to be done. He is in control and He has a plan, which includes His perfect timing. If He wants me to get the right person on the phone when I call it will happen.

Thank you all for your prayers. We are closer and closer to bringing Mei home! We wait...