For I AM GOD, and there is no other!

"...For I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45

Thank you all for your continued prayers. The Deckard's have received a favorable ruling from the Judge.The Deckard's can now continue with the process of bringing Chase home. This is amazing news for them and for those of us waiting as well. 

Have a wonderful weekend and continue to keep the Trivette's, Ben & Eli in your prayers as the waiting continues for many of us. 

Give Thanks... Even when it's hard to do!

I write with a heavy heart tonight, saddened by the events that have taken place today. 

Without going into complicated details, I'll list the 2 main prayer requests... 

First, a local family at our church is devastated tonight as they've anticipated their adoption for quite some time now of a baby boy. He was born on Monday and the Mother has decided to not give him up for adoption. Please pray for peace & comfort in their lives. 

Secondly, the Deckard's & Trivette's are in need of our prayers again at 1am (our time) 8am (Ugandan time). The details are lengthy, so I'll not make you read through them all but there are some legal matters that need to be bathed in prayer tonight. It is vitally important that we ask for the Holy Spirit to intervene in this process for them and allow hearts to softened so that these families will receive a favorable ruling. 

I know that these emails are intended to update you on Eli. He is doing amazing and is in the best care ever, being loved by some amazing women. If he could speak, I know he would tell you to pray for his dear friends Ben & Chase and their families right now. That God give them peace & comfort & to calm their anxieties. Our God is in control, they know this, we know and we must continue to pray in faith. 

Although I am mentally, physically and emotionally drained after today... I am reminded of the feeding of the 5000. There they stood, the crowd of 5000+ and clearly there was a problem. Humanly it was not possible to feed all these people with the limited resources provided, BUT Jesus saw the opportunity and showed his glorious powers right there in front of their eyes. I pray tonight as many of us look at our current situations, we stop focusing on the problems and instead, seek God in prayer as we pray expectingly for Him to take our problems, our situations that are humanly impossible and turn them around to glorify His kingdom. May we also remember an important part of this scripture, "He gave thanks." May we all continue to give thanks to our Lord & Savior during these times... as He has always been faithful and true! 

Court, Prayer and a New Beginning

My love for these two families have grown so much in just the past few days! They truly are family in so many ways. God has brought us all together for a reason and we have prayed, laughed, smiled and cried all together even though we are miles apart.

Court is tomorrow morning for the Deckard's & Trivette's. As you & your family go to bed tonight, please be in prayer for them. At 2am & 4am (EST) they will be seen in front of the Judge for the adoption of Chase & Ben. This can be a very scary & stressful time for an adoption family. So this is what we all need to pray for:

• The Judge. That she will be compassionate and understanding. That she will see the need for Chase & Ben to be with their forever families. That she will see the love they have for these 2 boys. That in the end, she will give a favorable ruling for both families.
• The Family. That the Deckard's and Trivette's will have peace & patience tomorrow with all that takes place.
• The Boys. Chase & Ben's lives have been turned upside down, in all the right ways, but life is still a little hectic right now for them. Pray that they will feel the love of their parents and not be too anxious or unsettled about anything.

Tomorrow's a big day and what better way to support Eli's 2 best friends than by bathing them in prayer tonight. (Thank you in advance)!

A Bittersweet Day

I went to bed last night with so many thoughts running through my head... because I knew in just a few short hours it would already be Saturday Morning in Uganda and that meant the Trivette's and Deckard's would going to Mrs. Elizabeth's house (aka the Foster Home) to unite with their sweet boys, Ben & Chase. 

And so, I laid there praying. Praying for joy, excitement and a smooth transition for these 2 families. But deep down, I also knew this day would be bittersweet, because Eli would be seeing his 2 best friends leave with their new forever families and he would not. Don't get me wrong, he may not have any idea what was really happening, but his day-to-day routine would change and he'd be sure to pick up on this. 

So then I woke up this morning and all I could think of was my little Eli watching this exciting thing happen before his eyes with these two amazing families and wonder where his family was. And so I prayed some more... please God, give him peace. Please Lord, let him understand and be reassured that someone is coming for him as well. Please Lord, be with his sweet soul and not let him be sad. Please Lord, let this day be exciting and not disheartening. I guess deep down, I was really praying these things over myself as well. 

And then I got an update from Emily... these were her words... 

"Sweet friend, your boy is SO sweet! I was able to love on him for a while this morning and assured him you were coming!!!!! Praying SOON!! Hang in there!!" - Emily Trivette

I had a huge sigh of relief! God had answered my prayers and in that moment, I just knew that my Eli understood and that he would be ok. 

It reminds me a bit of the disciples, when they found out that Jesus would be leaving them. Their dearest friend, their confidant, their master, their teacher who had been with them for so long would not be with them much longer. He spoke to them... 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” -John 14:1-4

So, to my dear Eli, we are preparing a place for you. You will LOVE your new room, toys, clothes, books (and all the other stuff everyone has got you that I have no idea what it is :) But more importantly, we are coming. We will not be leaving you there and what you saw Chase & Ben experience today, you too will experience very soon. We love you and pray for you each and every day! And there is an entire village waiting to love and kiss all over you. We'll see you soon! 

Some must lose it all, for others to gain everything.

In life, some must lose it all for others to gain everything. This has been on my mind for several days now and with today being September 11th, I found it fitting to go ahead and post. 

I'm first reminded of all the many victims of the 9/11 tragedy and their families that are hurting today. But that brings me to all the many soldiers that have fought so hard for our country and given their lives so that we, you & I, can have the freedoms we have today. Think of those in Syria right now, that aren't free and facing such horror in their own home town. It it such a blessing to live where we do, but we must never forget the price at which this freedom has come. 

Freedom is amazing, but someone gave their all.  

Over the past few days, I've been reminded of the loss that my child has experienced. He may not fully understand it all right now, but there has been tremendous loss in his life, that will forever be apart of his story. This was sparked by an article I read by April Swiger, "Praying while you wait." She goes on to talk about how, 

"Adoption is born out of loss and brokenness. Whether the child is a newborn infant, a teenager in foster care, or a toddler from Africa, there is always loss involved.I always get squirmy when I see adoption sentimentalized, giving the appearance of “they all lived happily ever after.” Don’t get me wrong, I love a good adoption story, and I have wept over quite a few “gotcha-day” videos! Adoption is beautiful, Biblical, and emulates the heart of the gospel. However, in order for us to gain children into our family, these children will lose everything and everyone they have ever known."

While deep down in my heart, I know that Eli will be one blessed little boy, I also know he has lost so much in order to gain us, as his family. His biological mother, she has lost her son and may never know the wonderful things he will accomplish in life. 

Adoption is beautiful, but someone lost their child.

Lastly, and most importantly, this brings me to our freedom in Christ and our adoption into his family. "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8) While salvation is free to us, it came at a price. Someone had to pay for all the many sins we have & will commit. Christ came not to be served, "but to serve, and to give his life as ransom for many." (Matt. 20:28) So if salvation is free to us because Christ has already paid the price, have you accepted Christ into your heart? Or are still a slave to others, to the world or even to religion? "God sent his son to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children." (Galatians 4:5)  

Salvation is free to YOU because Christ died for YOU.  

Anxiously Waiting...

Exciting news... the Trivette's & the Deckard's are leaving for Uganda!!! 

The Trievette's (Emily & David) will be leaving this weekend. Their court date is on Sep 11th. You can follow their story at:
 http://trivetteugandaadoption.blogspot.com

And the Deckard's (Ali & Josh) will be leaving next Wednesday. Their court date is on Sep 17th. 

This means 2 things... 1) We should be getting pictures and maybe even a video clip of Eli very soon. 2) We hope to be getting our phone call soon as well, to go get Eli. 

Keep praying for these families... and Eli, Chase, Ben & Daniel. 

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Still waiting on our phone call for the court date...

We've had to change our email address, so please be sure to make the changes in your address book so that you don't miss out on any of the updates. If you're not receiving the updates, please email or text me and we'll make sure that you get added. Simply send an email and type "Eli" in the subject line. 

Just a reminder, this Wednesday, we will be sharing about our Journey to Uganda at Oak Grove Baptist Church. Potluck dinner is at 5:30pm & service is at 6:30pm. We will be showing the film Journey to Jamaa by World Vision. All are welcome!

Please continue to pray for Eli & all his friends at the foster home.