Welcoming HIM, Welcoming you

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.  Matthew 18:5

Welcome to our blog.  I will add a disclaimer here on the first day.  Jenny is writing this blog.  Major uh oh.  I am not a writer.  I am a math person.  I like numbers.  Not letters.  ;)  Expect grammatical errors, misspellings, run on sentences.  The creative one in the family will definitely share his thoughts on occasion.  But for the most part, you are stuck with me!  In case you are new to our family, we should tell you a bit about ourselves.  Clay and Jenny met their Freshman year at Baylor University.  After dating all through college, Clay did the only thing guys at Baylor are supposed to do after dating someone for that long....give in and get hitched!  ;)  The first few years of marriage took us on many adventures.  Good and bad.  But, as with all things in life, every circumstance has made us stronger.  Throughout the past 9 years of marriage we have been blessed with two amazingly cute children.  ;)  They have made us grow into responsible adults and have brought us so much joy.  At this point in our lives, many would say that we are living the American Dream!  And, we are.  And, up to a couple months ago...that was right in line with where we wanted to be going!  Two kids, a dog, a nice home, great jobs, cars, family support, and a great church.  What more could you want?  BUT.  There is so much more to be desired in this life.  Our purpose in life is to serve God and serve others.  Are we doing this as well as we could be?  No.  Clay and I realized that our "American Dreams" were pushing God's dreams for us aside.

About 6 months ago, Clay came home from one of his business trips and said he had been thinking about adoption...again.  I say again because this is something we have discussed even before we were married.  We always said that *for us* to have more than 2 children biologically would be selfish.  We got pregnant easily.  And both pregnancies were easy -- minus a little back pain and reflux.  ;)   So, to do that again would be a piece of cake.  We have always said that there are so many children in need.  And maybe one day we could save one of those children.  So, back to the trip.  Clay mentioned the topic of adoption and it honestly startled me.  Because, while we had talked about it, it had been years.  So fast forward a few months.  And during this time the thoughts of adoption keep consuming my thoughts.  Will we?  Can we?  Why would we change how much God has blessed us?  We have it easy.  2 kids.  2 parents.  Retirement, college savings, weddings.  It's all perfectly mapped out.  But GOD did have different plans.  Slowly, each day over the next few months HE began to soften our hearts to this idea.  And, then one Saturday night, while reading a friend of a friend's blog, it happened.  God spoke to me like He never has before.  And.  I knew it was time.  And wouldn't you know, the very next morning at church, He spoke to both of us.  It was adoption Sunday.  Our church showed a video with orphans.  I lost it.  Clay teared up.  We knew.  It.  Was.  Time.  Or was it?  Really?  Are we sure?  Yep.  Because every single time we had a doubt, God would make it clear to us either through our pastor, our devotional, or a random person saying something that would make it clear what we had to do.  Crazy stuff.  Like me reading a blog about adoption and the very next morning at church our pastor using the EXACT same verse in his message.  How does this stuff keep happening!  Well, when God calls you do to something, He doesn't let up.  At. All.  You can choose to ignore Him or choose to follow Him.  And, so, we are opening our hearts and our home.  We are pushing aside all of our "plans" to follow God's plan for our lives.  It may not be easy.  In fact He promises us that it won't be.  I took a little excerpt from another blog: 


"Trials develop godly character, and that enables us to "rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:3-5). Jesus Christ set the perfect example. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). These verses point out aspects of His divine purpose for both Jesus Christ's trials and tribulations and ours. Persevering proves our faith. "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13)."

Yep.  Pretty much sums it up.  So, we are beginning the process now.  We are so excited about this next journey in our lives.  We are excited to meet the new addition to our family.   We have not chosen the country yet, but have narrowed it down to Russia, Ukraine, and Bulgaria.  We invite you, our friends and family, to join us in this journey.  To pray for us and with us.  To pray for our child.  And of course our 2 children already at home with us.  Pray for patience, guidance, and patience.  Did I say patience?  The process can take over 2 years.  Pray for the child.  To know that we are coming for him/her.   We appreciate your love and support.  Obviously, the cost of adoption is not cheap.  Depending on the country, it can cost $35k.   We are not looking at this as us begging all our friends and family for money.  We see it as an opportunity to help a child, who would otherwise live their life in an orphanage, find a place in a family.  To have a mommy and daddy and brother and sister who love them.  And ultimately, to know that God loves them.  If you feel called to help us then that is wonderful.  If you do not, that is wonderful too.  But we hope that all of you will join in praying for us as we begin this journey.