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. 

What a week... What an awesome God!

This week has been full of wonderful things! So many wonderful things, that Paul & I are actually exhausted. I guess we should get ready for more exhausting weeks ahead of us in preparation for little Eli :) We have just recently found out that Eli weighs 14lbs and is 25in long. We love learning new things about him! He is also now on formula. Even though he didn't take to it at first, he's doing great now. 

Annie Agarwal posted our pictures from our photo shoot this week. We love her! We love the photos! And we can't wait for our family pictures to include Eli! Check out her blog and the photos by clicking here. 

Friday we had a shower at the Albritton's home. We were showered with love and many, many wonderful gifts! But our favorite part was getting to see all our friends and share photos of Eli with them.

On Saturday we had a shower at our church. Our church family is so important to us and we know will be a very important place of worship for Eli as well. 

The shirts are coming to an end. We will be placing our final order on Thursday, September 5th. So if you haven't ordered your's yet... do so soon by emailing us with your shirt size & quantity. Remember that every $ we raise will help bring Daniel home to his parents, Shawn & Melissa. 

Lastly, we have prayer magnets. If you didn't pick one up at either of the showers and would like to have one sent to you, please let us know by texting, fb, emailing, with your address and we will see that you get one. It's a great way to just remember to pray for Eli as he waits for us. 

Eli is growing - PRAISE THE LORD!

We received some updates today... Eli is growing and getting so big. So are the boys (Ben & Chase). Thank you all for your prayers. 

We are sending out a package in the next few days. This package will include our affidavits (which they need in order to schedule our court date) and it will also have a book that I've recorded and read to him. Along with a photo album of our family. And I just might try to stuff an outfit in there as well, so that we have an idea of his size. 

What we can tell right now is that he probably is no longer in size 1 diapers and could possibly be wearing 6-9 month outfits (just a guess). 

We have several more pictures and he smiles in so many of them. For this momma, that does my heart good. 

Thank you all for continuing to pray for him and the boys in the foster home. Remember the ladies in your prayers as well, as they are the ones looking after our little ones right now. They are such a blessing to have. 

We hope to have more updates soon (maybe even a court date). 

Namanya Shirts $15

Don't forget that we are still selling the Namanya Shirts for $15. The Trivette's (Ben's parents) received the profit from the first order and now the Goggin's (they have baby Daniel, who is in another orphanage in Uganda) will receive the profit from the 2nd shirt order. Email me the sizes you want by Sep 1st or if you are coming to any of our adoption showers you can order then as well. 

September 4th - Sharing about our Adoption Journey

I'd also like to personally invite you all to join us on September 4th at Oak Grove Baptist Church at 5:30pm. We'll have dinner at 5:30pm and then service at 6:30pm. Paul & I will be sharing about our adoption, why Uganda and also showing a short film from World Vision that gives a better understanding of why so many children are abandon and left as Orphans. Hope you can join us!

Namanya Shirts are everywhere!

The Namanya shirts were a huge hit! Thank you everyone for your orders. We will be announcing on Sunday the amount that was raised from our first order and introduce to you the Trivette's.

Here are some of the pictures that have come in of others wearing their shirts. Don't forget... if asked about your shirts... take the time to share about adoption with your friends & family.

If you have a shirt and want to send in your picture, please do so by Friday evening so we can include your picture with the Trivette's card.

If you didn't get a chance to order your shirt this past time, we are placing another order on September 1st. The cost is $15 per shirt (including toddler & onesies). Email your orders to: McJad_99@hotmail.com

Eli's Updates

It's been a few weeks now since we found out that we were matched with Eli. Just looking at the few pictures that we have of him has caused us to fall even more in love. 

Many of you have been asking when we will leave, have we received any updates, etc. So here's a few answers to your questions. 

1. When will we be leaving? We have been told that we will leave sometime in September or October. However, the way this process works... when we get "the call" we will need to leave within 7-10 days for Uganda. This is not much notice, so our "goal" is to be as ready as we can be by September 1st. 

2. Have we received any updates? We've been told not to expect any additional updates before we leave. If we do, it will be a complete surprise & blessing! 

(Pictures can only be seen through our Email Distribution list. If you did not receive an email today, you are probably not on our email distribution list. If you would like to be added for future updates & pictures, please email us at mcjad_99@hotmail.com and in the subject line put Eli's Updates. If we have accidentally left you off the list, we apologize and please just resend an email. Thanks) 

3. How old is Eli? Because Eli was found abandoned in the forest, his birth date and his current age is really unknown. The doctors and caregivers have guessed that he is around 5/6 months. 

4. Who are Baby Mace, Chase, & Ben? During the adoption process, many families meet other adopting families. We have been very blessed to have known some that have already gone before us like The Graham's who adopted Baby Mace (originally from Hardee County who now live in Parrish). We have also been blessed to meet (virtually) 2 other families that will be going around the same time as us to Uganda. The Trivette's are adopting Baby Ben (we will be meeting them on Saturday and all the t-shirt $ has been raised for their adoption) and the Deckard's are adopting Baby Chase. I introduce these 3 families to you by their names, because you will most likely be hearing more about them all throughout this journey. So other than getting to know them, what's so special about these "random" people you may say... Mace, Ben, Chase & Eli are all from the same orphanage. They will forever have a bond and our families will forever be connected because of this reason. I will be asking throughout this journey to keep these families in your prayers and I'd like for you to be praying for them by name. Deal?!  

I'd also like to personally invite you all to join us on September 4th at Oak Grove Baptist Church at 5:30pm. We'll have dinner at 5:30pm and then service at 6:30pm. Paul & I will be sharing about our adoption, why Uganda and also showing a short film from World Vision that gives a better understanding of why so many children are abandon and left as Orphans. Hope you can join us! 

We have 2 baby showers coming up in August. We are so blessed to have a church family (not just Oak Grove) but an extended church family as well, Brothers & Sisters in Christ, that are so gracious to help us out with preparing for Eli's arrival. I'm overwhelmed with love and joy for each and everyone of you that have either purchased an adoption shirt, given financially, prayed, shared our story with someone else, or planning to attend one of the showers.

Every time I look at Eli's picture I think to myself, "Thank you Jesus for all your many blessings in my life and for never leaving me or forsaking me and for looking out for Eli, even when he was all alone." I'm reminded so often that any one of us could have been left to starve & die in a forest, but God's mercy, love & grace is everlasting and always enough! 

More updates to come...